Chapter 28 – Phoenix
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Hot dick and Honey
Phoenix
On Sunday evening, I stand in the doorway and watch as Helix reads my daughter a bedtime story. When her eyes drift closed, he trails off and is quiet for a moment to make sure she’s asleep. Then he dips his head and kisses her hair.
I’m so fucking lucky to have him. He treats Reece like his own and asked if he could put her to bed tonight since we’ll be gone for the rest of the week and he won’t get to see her.
My twin tiptoes toward me, and we exit into the hallway, closing the door almost all the way behind us.
“She’s so sweet when she’s asleep,” he says as we descend the stairs.
“Right?” I say with a grin. “I didn’t think she would ever go to sleep tonight. She was too keyed up from the game.”
“It was a good one,” Helix says, following me into the kitchen where we grab a couple beers. “I can’t believe Chicago came back and almost tied it in the fourth quarter. I’m glad the Dragons pulled it out at the end, but I wish it had been a home game.”
Me too because then I could have seen Jordie in person, I think.
We settle onto the couch and watch ESPN and all the game highlights for the day while we sip our beers. There was a great clip of Jordie leaping impossibly high to catch a touchdown pass over the head of her defender.
“Phoenix?”
I turn to my brother to find him pulling at the back of his neck, and I lower the volume on the television.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. It’s a good thing.” When he doesn’t elaborate, I raise my eyebrows in an are you going to tell me this good thing move. “Nicolette and I are together,” he says, the words running together, and I can’t help the huge smile that plasters itself across my face.
“Ha!” I crow, poking him in the chest. “I fucking knew you had the hot dick for your lab manager.”
His face scrunches in distaste. “Could you please not say hot dick? It makes me sound like I have an STI.”
Looping an arm around his neck, I pull him in for a hearty bro hug. “I’m fucking excited for you, Hot Dick. I think you two are perfect for each other. All nerdy and shit.”
I’m freaking over the moon about this because no one deserves to find happiness more than my twin.
And Nicolette Bell is such a good fit for him.
She’s brilliant, one of the most renowned biochemists in the world, and I love that she’s strong enough to go toe-to-toe with my brother.
Also, she doesn’t seem to be a psycho bitch like his ex. So there’s that.
“She makes me happy,” Helix quietly admits.
“And that makes me happy, Hot Dick. You need a good woman in your life.”
My twin shoves me, knocking me over sideways onto the couch. “Stop calling me Hot Dick, you idiot.”
I cackle and push myself back up, making a mental note to call him Hot Dick every chance I get.
An hour later, we’ve watched more sports highlights and drank a couple more beers. I nudge Helix with my shoulder when he yawns. “Why don’t you stay in one of the guest rooms since you’ve had a few?”
He nods, agreeing. “You care if I head on up?”
“Nope, go ahead. I’m just going to re-check our luggage to make sure everything is ready to go for tomorrow.”
He stands and ruffles my messy hair. “I’m glad you’re taking Mom.”
“I invited Lorraine to go too. I gave her the choice to go to Disney with us, or I’d send her to England to visit her daughter.”
“When is she leaving for England?” Helix asks with a smirk.
“She rode over on the company plane with Remi yesterday. She was so excited.”
“Good. I’m glaaaa….” The word trails off into his yawn, and I jerk my chin toward the stairs.
“Go on, bro. Pick any room except the third suite on the right. I just changed the sheets and got that room ready for Jordie since she’s cat-sitting for me.”
As if summoned, a little furball darts out from beneath a chair and glares at us, her tail straight up. Helix laughs when Honey lets out the cutest little hiss. He picks her up and cradles her against his chest.
“Aren’t you a fierce little beast?” She attempts another hiss, but it’s weak because she’s too busy cuddling against Helix. He looks at me. “You want me to put her on her cat bed?”
I check the time. “Nah, you can put her on Reece’s bed.
For the first couple nights, I tried letting her stay in there during the bedtime routine, but the kitten is too active at that time and neither of them would go to sleep.
So I promised Reecie I would put Honey in with her before I go to bed.
” I reach up to stroke the kitten’s downy head.
“She should curl up right beside her human and go to sleep now.”
“All right. Night, Phoenix,” he says, climbing up the stairs to the second floor.
“Night, Hot Dick,” I call, earning me some very colorful and creative curses from my brother.
Pulling out my phone, I decide to check Jordie’s stats for the game earlier, and a little voice in my head whispers, “Stalker much?”
“No, research,” another voice corrects, though I’m pretty sure all my internal voices know the truth.
When I type her name into the search engine, a group of photos pops up—not stats but something else—and I frown, clicking on the link.
More pictures appear, and my stomach sinks.
The paparazzi apparently caught Jordie and Miles Soren together, first hugging on the field after the game and then having dinner at a fancy steakhouse.
Fuck, I forgot her ex is in Chicago, and the dinner photos tell a very intimate story. Miles kissing her cheek, the two of them holding hands across a cozy table, him touching her face.
My eyebrows pinch together in annoyance as I scroll. He’s in a suit, and she’s dressed in a red long-sleeved jumpsuit that hugs her every curve. Her blonde hair is down, but she pulled up some on one side, showing off the length of her neck. The same neck my lips were on mere weeks ago.
The scent of apples infiltrates my nose, like the memory of her scent has come to life in my living room.
I toss my phone aside and head for the leather-topped bar in the corner, pouring myself a healthy dose of fine whiskey. When I start to set the bottle down, I think better of it and carry the entire bottle with me back to the couch.
An hour later, I’m still staring at photos of the couple, but the one that has me drinking straight from the bottle is the most recent one, where Miles and Jordie are entering her hotel together.
“Why?” I mutter, as if she can hear me. This hurts. I don’t know why, but it does. All the way to my bones.
The pictures on my screen are nothing compared to the ones my mind is imagining. Miles Soren kissing my goddess. Tasting every inch of her body. Smelling her sweet, pretty scent. Rolling on top of her and…
“No!” I say way too loudly, but I’m drunk as a skunk and not thinking clearly, a fact that is highlighted when I do the stupidest thing imaginable.
I call her.