Chapter 33
BOBBY
I pull out of Ever and face Gage with my hands in the air and my body blocking Ever’s as she dresses.
“Nice of you to knock, Gage.” My tone is low and threatening. I don’t share, including giving another man a show.
“I called multiple times. Someone left her fucking phone on vibrate!”
He pins Ever with an accusatory glare when she steps from behind me, dressed in a pink T-shirt and black tights.
I step forward, ready to pummel him with my fists for speaking to Ever with anger. Ever stops me with her hand on my arm.
“You’re home early.” Said in a calm voice, like she didn’t just get caught by her “shadow” with my dick in her cunt. My respect for her grows.
I grab my clothes off the floor and dress. The alarm on Ever’s phone goes off. She walks over to the kitchen counter and picks it up. “It’s noon. Slate’s ordering lunch.”
My phone pings. I check my text messages. “That’s Tony. He and Cameron will meet us at the house in thirty.”
“Good.” Ever puts on her shoes. “I’d like to talk to them about the timeline.”
“You’re gonna convince them to get the house done sooner than eight weeks, aren’t you?”
“You accepted my bet, and I’m going to win it.”
“How are you gonna do that? With your smile?” I put on my shoes and straighten.
“I’m going to shake my thang.” Ever points her fingers at the ceiling and shakes her hips from side to side.
“Uh-uh, I don’t share, sweetness, including you showing off your grabbable hips to other dudes.”
She doesn’t listen to my warning. Of course she doesn’t. She shakes her hips. Smirking, I grab her by the waist and put her over my shoulder. She squeals. I smack her ass, hard. Ever sucks in a breath. I smooth my palm over her reddened flesh under her tights, and her body slackens.
I set her down, and an audience be damned, I capture her mouth with mine. Her fingers weave in my hair. Her other fists my shirt. Every cell in my body stands on end with male satisfaction.
In front of her “shadow,” Ever is willingly submitting to my mouth and tongue.
Submission is like I’ve told her. Submitting to someone isn’t a weakness.
It’s a sign of trust, and Ever is trusting I’ll keep her safe from Gage’s anger and overprotectiveness by showing the motherfucker that she is my woman.
Ever is mine to protect, and not another man’s. Never another man’s.
We break off the kiss, and I take her hand in mine. Ever is all about being on time and sticking to what she’s agreed to, and getting to the house when lunch arrives falls into the same category as work and her classes.
Before closing the door behind us, I glance over my shoulder. “Sorry you had to see us like that, Gage. Seriously, though, give up the fight already. Your boner for me? It ain’t happening. I only have eyes for my woman. Later, bruh.” I make kissing sounds.
Ever laughs, and my male ego doesn’t wither and die a slow death from jockeying a smirk from the moody, overprotective motherfucker.
“You’re not leaving without filling me in on the details. When and where the fuck did this”—he points from me to Ever—“happen?”
Ever squeezes my hand. “Let’s run for it. He’s out of shape and won’t catch up.”
We run to the house, laughing. Gage storms after us.
My steps are light. I’m walking on air, and Ever is the reason.
At the gate to the front door, I pick her up and cradle her to my chest. Her arms wrap around my neck.
I press my face to her pulse point and inhale her scent.
Fuck, I’ll never tire of her scent. Lilac and vanilla with a hint of her own intoxicating sweetness.
“That’s a good girl. Wrap those strong arms around me. Later, I want your legs wrapped tight around my hips as I slide in and out of you so hard and deep your perfect tits bounce.”
“Bobby.” She looks over my shoulder.
Gage keeps a respectable distance. Good man.
The security cameras I had installed alerted Slate to our arrival.
He opens the door. We walk inside. Gage follows and goes on and on to his cousin about catching us in the act, his face filled with disgust. I set Ever on her feet, and we walk hand in hand through the house before lunch, and Arie’s brothers appear.
“I wish you weren’t thinking of renting the place out, but since you are, I hope a nice family lives here. We need more of them than all these students renting, you know?”
I do. Carlos was spot on when he told Ever she’s young with an old soul.
Ever wants this house to experience the sounds of laughter, the pitter-patter of little feet, and family dinners with the tradition of holiday gatherings.
That’s what she told me when we stayed up and cuddled in bed, talking about whatever came to our minds first.
“If you were to live here instead of at the rental with Gage, what would each room look like to you?”
We go from room to room, and she shares her vision with me. The master bedroom and bathroom are last.
“King-size wooden canopy bed. A dog bed at the foot of the bed and another one beneath the big picture window.”
“Wait.” I grasp her chin and tug her to me until her body is flush against mine. “I thought we agreed on one dog and not two.”
“Our golden will need a friend. She’ll be lonely.”
“Oh, so it’s a golden retriever you want, now, yeah?
I thought our first dog would be a Rottweiler?
” I can’t stand the idea of picking up dog shit or stepping in a pile, but I can’t say no to Ever when she came up with the bet and what the winner gets.
Anything that puts a shine in her eyes I’ll readily agree to go along with.
“You said you wouldn’t refuse me.” Ever’s head is down, but her gaze is on me.
Attitude one minute. Shy the next. I like those sides of her. But her uncertainty? I don’t like it one bit.
“You’re right, beautiful. Two goldens it is. If the guys finish the house by mid-October.”
She claps and throws herself at me. Her arms wrap around my neck. I pick her up by the waist. Her legs come up. My little koala is wrapped around me tightly, like I’m a fucking tree branch.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She presses her mouth on mine. “You’re the best.”
Because of her. Ever brings out the best in me, and I aim to continue to be the best man for her, even if it costs me my life.
I now understand the reason Ever fell for Carlos. I now know without a doubt the reason Carlos ate that bullet for me. It wasn’t anything mind-bending, but it did fuck with my mind when the realization hit me.
Carlos capturing Ever’s heart and pushing me out of the way, eating that bullet, came down to one thing.
He was the best man possible.
That was who Carlos was in a nutshell.
He was a good guy through and through.
I’ll be the same for Ever.
I’ll be the best man.
The guy who takes a bullet to save the life of another without thought to his own.