Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Naomi
Nick and Kolter are on the couch playing video games while Mom works a shift at the diner down the road.
She’s been working a lot lately, which means most days I’m home with Nick and Kolter, since Anthony is now in college.
Nick and Anthony are my older brothers, and Kolter, I guess technically, is too.
His dad was sent to jail a few years ago, and my mom took him in. Being Nick’s best friend, he was practically living here anyway, and as of last month, Kolter legally became a part of our family. A brother. My brother.
I’ve been mildly in love with my brother’s best friend as far back as I can remember and fought against him becoming part of the family, though no one knows why.
I’ve done a good job of keeping my crush a secret over the years, but I find it harder and harder the older we get.
I know there is an age gap but that doesn’t matter to me, and I don’t think it matters to him either.
I swear, sometimes when I’m not paying much attention, I’ll find him already watching me.
Kinda like how I watch him when he isn’t looking.
I think he secretly likes me back. Or at least I hope he does.
Now that he’s technically family, though, it’s weird… right?
“Nay! Bring us some snacks,” Nick calls out from the living room.
I frown at his attitude before opening the fridge and the freezer. I consider the options before pulling out some pizza rolls. They could eat like a thousand of them in a day, no lie.
I dump them onto a plate, put it into the microwave and start the timer before making my own afternoon treat. Once I’m done, I carry the plate and my bowl to the living room and set it down on the table.
Nick shoves a pizza roll into his mouth then immediately starts panting. They’re still scalding.
“That’s what you get for not having manners,” Kolter teases before looking to me with a kind smile. “Thanks, Nay.”
My heart flutters at his use of my nickname as I scoop up a spoonful of my own treat and take a bite. I groan in happiness and go to scoop up another spoonful when Kolter leans over.
“Whatcha got there?”
I blink. How embarrassing would it be if I spat food at him while trying to talk?
“Peaches and vanilla ice cream,” I say as clearly and carefully as I’m able, though it doesn’t sound all that clear since my mouth is numbing further with every passing moment.
“Fucking gross,” Nick sneers.
Kolter bumps his shoulder into his. “Language.”
Nick rolls his eyes and refocuses his attention on the video game while I pout in defense.
“You’ve never even tried it! It’s really good! Do you want to try some, Kolter?” I ask, unable to hide the hope in my voice.
It’s like, if he likes the snack I created, then maybe it’s the first step in him liking me? How dumb does that sound?
Kolter looks down at the contents of the bowl for a moment like he’s weighing the risks before he gives me a short nod. I rise to grab him a new spoon, but before I can, he reaches over and takes mine, gathering up a nice portion before lifting the spoon to his mouth.
I watch his lips close around it. I know I’m being a weirdo by watching him so closely, but I can’t help it.
He grabbed my spoon—he used my spoon! His mouth is right where mine used to be.
Nothing can convince me he doesn’t feel the same way now.
I’m practically planning our wedding in my head as we speak.
He gives me a thoughtful nod as he swallows the treat before handing the spoon back to me. “Not bad, Peaches.”
Peaches. A way better nickname than Nay. And even better, he came up with it on his own, for me.
I’m already plotting how I can get him to say it again. Maybe I can record him saying it, so I never have to stop hearing it.
“Peaches,” Kolter says as he looks down at me.
His hands are currently gripping my arms, steadying me. They tense in a way that’s almost painful before he slightly loosens his hold. Wow. He looks so… different. He sounds different.
I haven’t seen Kolter in a little over six years, though we stopped being close long before that.
He’s grown taller since I saw him, he has a beard now, and his thick black hair is almost to his shoulders.
That hair is pushed back from his face, revealing the tattoos that crawl from his hands to his neck.
Paired with his black combat boots, dark jeans and black cut-off leather jacket, he looks every bit intimidating as I know he is.
Every bit as dangerous. The eyes don’t lie, though.
They’re the same beautiful blue ones I stared into all my childhood; that I dreamed of.
His black mask can’t disguise them—I’d recognize those eyes in every lifetime.
He was twenty the last time I saw him, and even though that’s well into adulthood, those six years have transformed Kolter Mayhew completely.
He’s no longer the broken boy with a soft spot for me.
This Kolter Mayhew is all man, and if the way he’s looking at me is anything to go by, I’d say that soft spot is long gone, hardened to stone.
“K-Kolter?” I breathe roughly, still unable to believe he’s actually right in front of me.
Am I drunk? I don’t think I am. Come to think of it, I haven’t had a sip of anything since getting to the club.
“In the flesh. What’s the matter? You look surprised. This is what you came for, right?”
“What? I… Huh?” I stammer like a complete idiot.
His expression twists into a sneer as he shakes his head. “Tongue-tied? Just a few moments ago, you were putting that thing to good use.”
The harshness in his tone catches me by surprise.
I know we grew apart as we got older. His dad got out of prison, he stopped coming home for dinner as often, started hanging out at his dad’s bar…
and then he was just kinda gone. According to Nick, he joined his dad’s motorcycle gang and has been riding that outlaw life ever since.
Mom doesn’t approve but still invites him home for every holiday and birthday.
He always declines. Apparently, he rarely even sees Nick. Maybe once or twice a year max.
“I didn’t know it was you,” I say, blushing as I look down at my feet.
One of his hands releases my arm, forcing my face up so I meet his gaze.
“Nope, you were just getting on your knees for any cock that pushed its way through that hole, huh?” he snarls. “Gotta say, never pictured little Nay to be the whore type.”
His words hurt, like he’s stabbed me in the chest, and I shake my head, trying to throw off his accusations.
He scoffs and releases me with a rough shove. “Get the fuck outta my sight.”
I stumble for a moment before finding my balance. Then a man with a matching leather cut-off comes swaggering over, swinging his arm around Kolter’s shoulders.
“Well, well, well. Who do we have here, Blade?”
“Blade?” I echo as I look between the men.
The guy’s eyes stay on me, running over me in a way that sends a shiver down my spine. It makes me feel exposed, dirty, and I immediately decide I don’t like him at all.
Kolter’s eyes stay on mine, his stony expression never wavering for a moment.
“No one. She’s no one.”