2. Miles
Chapter 2
Miles
“ W hy’d you drag me out of bed first thing in the morning to skate if you were just going to take a nap on the ice?” Rex shouts from the other end of the rink as he passes the puck my way. “Did you stay up too late with a booty call again?”
Snatching the rubber up, I skate back down the ice toward him, dodging the stupid cones he set up with ease. His smart-ass comment getting on my nerves for some reason.
Usually, I just roll with the punches because jokes are our love language, or whatever bullshit they say. But apparently, I can only hear that I’m fucking anything with a pulse for so long before I start getting a teensy bit touchy.
My bad.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Lockwood?”
He chuckles. “I’m just saying, if you wanted to be close to me while you slept, my couch is always open. You don't have to fake working out during your offseason to hang out with me,” he says with a wink. Then his face instantly changes, becoming more intense, like it’s as easy as flipping a switch.
“In all seriousness, you seem…off. Maybe you’re just tired, but you look like your mind’s elsewhere. Which is why I’m assuming you were daydreaming about whatever girl ended up in your bed last night,” Rex jokes, which only annoys me more.
“Fuck off, Lockwood. Not everyone thinks with their dick all the time,” I snap, skating toward the net and landing the puck in beautifully—just maybe a little aggressively. When I turn back around, he's still standing in the same spot, watching me. “But since curious minds are inquiring, I’ll admit what happened last night. I started a new puzzle at like nine, and before I knew it, I was halfway done.”
Rex just stares at me for a moment longer before his face curls into a smile, and he lets out a gruff chuckle. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. I guess I just lost track of time, and the next thing I knew, it was two thirty on the dot, and I was starting on the skyline. Finished the section I was working on, then forced myself to the couch and crashed for a couple hours.”
“You're actually telling me that you were up playing with a puzzle and not a woman?”
“Yep. In fact, I haven't had sex in months,” I say as I skate away toward the boards. He's right about one thing—I'm tired. At this point, I either need a nap or an extra-large dose of caffeine.
“Henderson, you can’t just say that and skate away,” Rex says, an excited tone in his voice that wasn't there just a moment ago. Women aren’t lying; men are just as bad about drama as they are, if not a whole lot worse.
“I can. And I did. If you want more details, get me coffee.”
“Deal. Want to head to Stella's ? I could use a good breakfast burrito, too,” he says as he steps off the ice.
Hearing her name makes the butterflies start, something that has happened ever since the first time I laid eyes on her. It's gotten easier over the years, but there’s something about her that is so appealing, so desirable, that even just saying her name feels like a turn-on.
“Yeah, I can always use a Mama Lockwood hug,” I say as I turn back to Rex, who's looking at me with a quirked eyebrow and a smirk.
“Fuck off, I love your mom. She reminds me of mine, and mine’s down in Tennessee, so your mom has to deal with my BS every now and then.”
“Fair. Plus, it gets her to stop bugging me as much about another grandchild. If she's fussing over you, I might be able to buy a few more months before she starts harassing Sawyer, too.”
“How about this? Let's go get coffee, and I'll spill my stories. Then you can spill yours because that sounds like something we need to talk about.”
He rolls his eyes but dramatically runs a hand through his beard, and I can tell he's got something on his mind that we’ll have to unpack eventually.
“Lead the way, Henderson.”
The quiet calm of Stella's bakery on the weekend isn't what I expected to walk into. Then again, I'm also usually here at least two hours earlier, so I guess I’m just used to the usual weekday rush, where everyone is racing for that first drop of caffeine. This place is slammed until about nine every morning, the door constantly opening as people filter in and out to grab their coffee and snacks to start the day.
Coming in here and being able to head straight to the counter to hug Mama Lockwood was the special treat of my day, all while Rex went in search of Stella to give her shit—like only he can.
“How have you been, Mama?”
“You say that like we didn't just see each other earlier this week, silly boy,” she jokes as she wipes off the counter, throwing the towel to the side and placing her hands on her hips. “I've been good, though. Trying to help Stella whenever she lets me, which, unfortunately, isn't much. Besides a couple of shifts she gives me each week, she still has a hard time letting me take on more tasks. She doesn't need to make this a one-woman show, especially not when it's as successful as it is!”
I chuckle because the thing about Mama is that she doesn't always share everything, but once you pop the top and get her talking, it's like a volcano of information spraying down on you. I love it.
“I know, but you raised an independent woman. You should be proud of that.”
“I am. It’s just annoying because she’s so successful, but she’s stressed out all the time. I want her to have some fun and enjoy her life a little more. How is she going to give me grandbabies if the only buns she’s thinking about are the ones you bake?”
“Well, to start, if you don’t want to stress her out, I’d probably avoid mentioning the word grandbabies to her unless you’re talking about Rory. But that’s just my opinion,” I say, and she swats me with the towel.
“You should try talking to her. See if she’ll open up to you. You two have always been able to talk.”
“I could try. But I doubt she’ll say anything to me. We haven’t really talked to each other much in a while.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just try before you go,” she says, just as Rex comes back from the kitchen.
“Stella says she needs your help when you get a chance, Ma,” he says as she turns around and grabs our food. We hadn’t even ordered, but she knows we get the same thing every single time.
“Okay, here’s your food, and Missy will bring out your coffee in just a bit. Rex, make sure to come talk to me before you leave—I need to figure out my schedule with Rory for the rest of the month. Your dad keeps hounding me to take a trip, and at this point, I’m going to help him plan one just to get him to shut up about it.”
“Okay. You deserve a vacation, so hopefully, it’s somewhere fun.”
“As long as there are drinks and tight butts to look at, we’ll be fine,” she says, causing Rex to gag.
“Jeez, I’m going to go sit down before I lose my appetite.”
“Grow up, Rex. It’s normal to notice people around you who are attractive.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean I want to hear about it.”
“Oh well, you’ll be fine. Enjoy your food boys.”
Grabbing our stuff, we sneak away to our usual table and dive into the breakfast burritos. I’m not even sure what Stella puts in these things, but they’re like crack. Delicious, but not so heavy that I feel like I want to die afterward. Perfect after-work out fuel, which is why I usually come here every morning after my training sessions.
At least, that’s what I tell myself to justify how often I come here.
“I’m going to propose to Sawyer,” Rex says, breaking the silence as soon as we’re both done with our food, obviously not wanting to waste any time.
“That’s exciting, man. I’m happy for you. I’m honestly surprised you’ve waited as long as you have,” I say as my face lights up with a smile.
“Me too. But if I had it my way, I would’ve married the girl a long time ago. I just wanted to give her some time to get her feet on the ground with her studio. She’s had a lot going on these past couple of years with her family, dance, and Rory and me. It can be a lot to handle, and I get that.”
“She’s loved both of you from the beginning. That much has been obvious.”
“Yeah. But I just wanted to give her time to adjust—time to realize if it was too much, I guess.”
“And you think enough time has passed that she’s sure?”
He smiles wide, and immediately, he looks ten years younger, like a young man in love. It’s adorable and disgusting.
“I do. She sort of yelled at me to get my shit together because she wants a baby, but before she has a baby, she wants the ring.”
I shake my head with a laugh. “Sounds like Sawyer.”
“Yup. So, I talked to Max because there was no chance I was giving her father even a second of my time. Max gave me shit for a little while, but then he said he was actually excited about me asking her.”
“That’s awesome, man. When are you thinking about asking her?”
“In the next week or two. Depends on when the timing is right. I already have the ring and everything.”
“I’m excited for you,” I say, my cheeks pulling up into another grin.
“Now, about the fact that you?—”
“Hey, sorry to interrupt, boys. Rex, could you help me for a minute? Also, Miles, if you wouldn’t mind, could you help Stella bring some stuff in?” Mama Lockwood says, her smile warm and welcoming, thankfully interrupting the interrogation I was just about to endure.
I nod, returning the gesture. “Gladly.”
Heading past Missy, who's covering the register, I give her a quick wave before making my way into the kitchen. I haven't been back here too many times, but I've helped Stella now and then, so I know my way around. Going through the back door, I step into the alley where deliveries are dropped off and spot Stella standing there, coordinating everything like a boss.
I never realized how many things you need to have on hand to run a bakery. I forget to make sure I have flour half the time —I'd fail within the first thirty minutes if I had to run this place. But that's why Stella does it. She was made for it, and fuck, she looks so hot while doing it.
“Hey, Trouble,” I say as she looks up from her clipboard. “Your mom said you could use someone to boss around for some heavy lifting?”
She smirks, and I know she wants to send me away, but she also knows how stubborn I am.
“If you're letting me boss you around, I'll take it,” she says as she points to the stack of flour. “Could you take all of those to the pantry for me?”
“Of course.”
I spend the next hour moving flour, sugar, salt, and spices, then get roped into helping with orders. All while Mama Lockwood disappeared with Rex. Convenient . By the time I'm done, Stella looks exhausted as she finishes a phone call.
“Are you okay?” I ask when she walks over to me.
“Not really,” she says, surprising the hell out of me with her honesty.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“I—I don’t know.” She shrugs, glancing toward the door as if she’s expecting her brother or mom to come back. “Not here, at least. But maybe?”
“When are you off? We could always grab a beer and some pizza at the bar across the street. It’s not quite lunchtime yet, but we could make it work.”
“I just have a couple of things left to finish, and then Missy’s closing the bakery this afternoon. My mom and Rex ended up leaving to run some errands, and they won’t be back. So, I guess there’s no point in you waiting for Rex any longer.”
“He left me? What a dick.”
“You’re just now realizing my brother’s a dick? You might not be smart enough to give me advice after all if that’s something you’re learning just now.”
“Why don’t you go back to work, Trouble?” I say, rolling my eyes as she turns back to her computer to work on whatever spreadsheet she’s going over. “Let me worry about my own intelligence. I’ll grab a cup of coffee while I wait for you to finish up, and then we can head out for a beer and whatnot.”