Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Noah
Walking in the front door of the house I share with Rex, I set my keys down on the counter and take a few deep breaths. I have never been this worked up over a woman, and I have absolutely never stopped myself from taking a home run before, either.
It’s taken everything in me to try and think about other things, but just as I start to have control over my body, I smell her perfume lingering in the cab of my truck, or remember the way she tasted cuming on my tongue, and it all starts all over again.
I hear laughter coming from the back patio and grab a beer from the fridge.
Popping the top off, I head out back to find Rex and Michael still in their suits from the club.
Both are a little better, or a little worse from the more than half-empty bottle of Jameson I see sitting on the table in front of them.
“Hey there, Romeo,” Rex starts off. “How was she?”
“Fuck off, Rex. Don’t be talking about my little sister that way,” Michael says.
I pull up a seat and take a long drink off my bottle, readjusting myself again at just the mere mention of her name. Rex gives me a drunken, smug grin.
Damn it, this is not good.
“That bad huh,” Rex starts.
I set my bottle down and smile. I’m not one to kiss and tell. Besides, this crowd proves to be difficult, seeing that both men would happily kick my ass if I dared to screw things up with her.
“You honestly expect me to sit here and answer any questions about my date? You’re crazier than I thought, asshole,” I laugh, picking up my bottle and continuing to take a gulp, not a sip.
Something has to work to lessen the spell she has over me and the way everything about her seems to follow me home.
“You know, if you even think for a second you might screw this up one day, you better back out now,” Michael warns. “I have no problem making sure to find a way to make you disappear if need be.”
Normally I would respond with some sort of joke to break the tension, but the look the two of them are giving me makes me back up. I know that the protectiveness of a sibling is nothing to be messed with. Hell, I would never let anyone on earth mess with my sister.
“Understood.” I nod at the two of them.
“I’ve heard about your past, man,” Michael begins, filling up both his and Rex’s glasses. “As much as I’m sorry about that, I don’t want to be the shoulder she’s crying on if you decide for any reason that you can’t be the man she deserves.”
I look at Rex, surprised. He was the only one that knew anything about my past with Becky. He wasn’t sworn to secrecy, but I never thought he would go blabbing about it to anyone.
“I confess,” Rex says, slurring a little bit. “I told him. But listen …” he continues, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table. “I did it because I know that if you are even thinking about anything again with any woman, then it must be legit, and I wanted him to know that.”
“Legit or not,” Michael starts, “you fuck with her, I fuck with you. End of story. You got that, southern boy?”
Trying not to glare, but failing miserably, I nod. “Yeah, I got it.”
The thrill of the night is gone. I guess I won’t need that cold shower after all after this unexpected confrontation.
“Good,” Michael says, slapping Rex on the back, which forces him to sit up straight, and then proceeds to pour me a glass. “Now that we got that out of the way. Take a shot.”
“I think I’m good,” I say, lifting my beer.
“To hell you are,” he exclaims, pushing the brown liquid toward me. “I saw the way you walked in here. Something has to quench the sting of getting left high and dry.”
Rex laughs as he and Michael raise their glasses.
“To …” Michael begins, and I just raise an eyebrow.
They both look at me, waiting. I start to sweat a little under their glare, knowing that I have to come up with something good or I am about to get pummeled right here and now. I raise my glass and say, “To not fucking up.”
“Damn straight,” Michael says as we all cheers and take the shot.
“Speaking of which, are you still planning on moving back to Kentucky at the end of December,” Rex asks.
“Yeah … about that,” I say. “I don’t know, I heard of two club owners that might want a little work done on their club. I’m thinking I might make this move permanent.”
At least for now, I think to myself.
“Good answer,” Michael says as he fills our glasses one more time.
They both shoot theirs back, but I sit with mine for a while, realizing the decision I just made.
In only a few week’s time, I have allowed a woman to have a pull over me that I swore to myself I would never let happen again.
And even though I should probably feel anxious and sick to my stomach, I actually feel relieved and secure.
A peace I have not felt the past few years settles over me when I am with her.
As odd as it sounds, she feels like home.
And a wise man once said if it feels like home, you should follow your heart and never look back.
“Speaking of killing the sting,” Michael says, breaking my train of thought. “Rex here is well on his way to erasing a ghost that reared its ugly head this last week.”
Rex pushes back in his seat, slumping low he closes his eyes and holds his head in his hands.
“I thought you promised not to mention her name,” he says, wincing at the thoughts obviously running through his brain.
“Did you hear a name in that sentence? Shit, you’re more fucked up than I thought,” Michael laughs.
Rex raises his middle finger but keeps his eyes closed. A few moments pass, and I am not sure if he is passed out, trying to stop the room from spinning, or dealing with the shit in his head.
“What is all this about?” I ask.
“A certain redhead has haunted him for years,” Michael explains, and my mind immediately goes to Eva’s friend, Gwen. “Poor bastard screwed that door shut on his own a long time ago, and no amount of banging has ever inched it back open again.”
Being the first time I have ever heard anything about it, I look at my friend and see him open up one eye, glaring at Michael.
“If I wasn’t seeing double of you right now, your ass would be on the floor,” he slurs, raising his glass and taking another sip of whiskey.
“Sure, lover boy.” Michael laughs. “She’s moving back home, you know.”
Rex sits up straight. “Shut the fuck up,” he says.
“I heard her say so to Ev at the club the other night.”
My stomach turns as I take in what I just heard.
Eva was at the club the other night? What night?
As much as I know we haven’t discussed being exclusive, those are definitely my intentions, and I don’t like the idea of her anywhere where some other guy could put his hands on her.
Hell, I could hardly stomach the idea of any man looking at her, knowing what they must be thinking.
That first night I met her is proof enough.
“She was at the club?” I try and ask without drawing attention to myself.
Michael smiles as if he knows what I must be thinking, “Yup, two nights ago,” he tells me as I let it all sink in. “That is where this all started,” he gestures towards Rex.
I think about Rex’s issue for about two seconds before being dragged back into my own thoughts about a certain blonde that has rocked my world and turned it completely around in such a short time.
Eva has succeeded in thrilling me in every way imaginable.
Strangely enough, somewhere in losing myself to her, I feel as if I am finding myself, too.
Knowing that I made a life-changing decision tonight, I take several minutes to contemplate if I will grow to regret it.
Even if the thought of her in the local hook-up spot has me a little twisted, I know without a doubt that I won’t.
A smile slowly spreads across my face as I raise my glass to my lips.