Chapter 19
“You need sleep, baby boy,” Reed said, unable to resist pressing baby kisses against his son’s tiny forehead as he moved to take the bottle away only to go still when he heard it.
The unmistakable sound of a growl.
Slowly pulling back, he watched as green eyes that matched his own narrowed on him as his baby boy turned his head, dislodging the empty bottle with a glare that had Reed swallowing hard as he reached for the second bottle of breastmilk and-
Felt his lips twitch when his son latched onto the rubber nipple with a violent shake of his head and released a soft sigh as he began to suckle, his eyes slowly closing as Reed leaned down and kissed his forehead.
He was so damn adorable, just like his mother and sister, Reed thought as he glanced down to find his baby girl fast asleep in her crib.
She was a tiny little thing, he thought, unable to help but smile as he watched Izzy sleep.
Only two months old and he saw so much of Joey in her.
She loved it when they read to her. It didn’t matter what they read, fairytales, history books, or the hundreds of emails and memos that he had to deal with every week, she couldn’t seem to get enough.
She also had him wrapped firmly around her little finger, just like her mother.
They both did, Reed thought, still wondering how it was possible to love someone this much.
Christ, they were his world, Reed thought, gently pulling the empty bottle away and putting it down so that he could adjust the sleepy baby in his arms. He placed Noah against his shoulder and gently rubbed his back until his little boy was fast asleep.
Kissing the top of Noah’s head, he moved to place him in his crib only to quickly rethink that decision when his son began crying and carefully placed him next to his sister. Within seconds, Noah was fast asleep and Reed was reluctantly making his way to the connecting door.
After one last look at his sleeping children, Reed stepped into his bedroom and closed the door halfway behind him before he made his way through the dimly lit bedroom, careful of the stacks of books strategically placed throughout the room, and climbed back into bed, beyond fucking exhausted.
As soon as his head hit the pillow, Reed closed his eyes and-
Felt his lips twitch when the small woman that drove him out of his fucking mind pushed back against him only to grumble and pointedly wiggled until he took the hint and rolled onto his side and curled up behind her.
He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer, still amazed by just how fucking good she felt in his arms.
“You were supposed to wake me up,” Joey mumbled sleepily as he kissed the back of her neck.
“You were exhausted,” Reed reminded her, closing his eyes as he savored her scent, vanilla and blackberries, and nearly fucking groaned.
“I was fine,” Joey mumbled as he found himself pressing another kiss against the back of her neck as he felt the exhaustion that he’d been fighting all day slowly take over.
“I found you curled up in the fetal position underneath the dining room table, using a cloth napkin as a blanket and mumbling incoherently to yourself,” he pointed out against her skin.
“I was regrouping,” she said, making his lips twitch.
“And the hysterical sobbing that I found deeply disturbing when I took your napkin away?” Reed mumbled sleepily as he felt his wife shift to get more comfortable in his arms.
“I was emotionally attached to that napkin,” Joey said as he found himself struggling to stay awake.
“I sensed that when you professed your undying love for it,” Reed said, moving to kiss the back of her neck again only to sigh when he heard the soft chime letting him know that his night wasn’t over yet.
Praying that it wasn’t another false alarm at the high school, Reed kissed the back of his wife’s neck before he reached back and grabbed his phone only to frown when he saw the message waiting for him.
Did you know that Garrett’s insane?
What the hell are you talking about? Reed texted back, wondering why his brother was bothering him with this bullshit this late at night.
A moment later, a video popped up on his screen. After a quick glance at the door that connected their bedroom to the nursery, he adjusted the volume before he hit play and-
“FUCK!”
-was out of the bed seconds later as he watched his normally level-headed cousin grab a cinderblock and sent it flying.
“What’s going on?” Joey asked as he quickly made his way into the bathroom and grabbed his pants off the counter and yanked them on.
“Looks like Garrett lost his fucking mind,” Reed said, shoving his phone in his back pocket as he quickly made his way back into the bedroom and grabbed a shirt and pulled it on.
“It was bound to happen,” Joey mumbled sleepily as he grabbed a pair of socks and yanked them on before he grabbed his boots and made his way back to the bed.
“I’ll be back soon,” Reed said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead only to feel his lips twitch when he realized that she was already asleep.
After kissing her forehead one last time, Reed quietly made his way to the hallway, closing the door behind him before he moved his ass.
He was out the front door and making his way towards Garrett’s house a minute later, cutting through the strip of woods that separated their properties and making his way towards Garrett’s front door.
He didn’t bother knocking. He opened the door only to find his cousin in the foyer, raising a sledgehammer above his head and-
“FUCK!” Garrett shouted as he slammed the sledgehammer down on the bottom stairs, destroying them on impact.
“What happened?” Reed asked, taking in what had once been the banister lying on the floor along with the top steps before he focused on his cousin.
Instead of answering him, Garrett swung the sledgehammer again, taking out what was left of the bottom stairs.
Once the stairs were gone, he shifted his stance and swung, sending dust, nails, and debris flying into the air.
He didn’t stop until the last carriage broke with a sickening crack and was torn away from the second floor seconds before it crashed onto the hardwood floor below.
“Six fucking years,” Garrett bit out, breathing heavily as he tossed the sledgehammer aside and shook his head in disgust.
“What happened?” Reed asked again, taking in the muscle clenching in Garrett’s jaw and the devastated expression on his face and knew without a doubt that this was about the adorable woman living across the street.
“I destroyed everything,” Garrett said as he met his gaze. “And the best part? It’s not going to be enough to stop me from doing it again.”
“Stupid adorable chipmunk,” Kristen muttered pathetically as she reached for the delicious chocolate milkshake that Amber surprised her with only to grumble, sigh, and pout when the bandages wrapped around her hands prevented her from grabbing the cup.
Grumbling to herself, because it felt right given the circumstances, Kristen used her elbows to steer herself towards the nightstand as she shimmied, wiggled, and flopped a bit here and there until finally, she reached the nightstand, pushed herself up on her elbows, and after a few mishaps, finally managed to close her lips around the straw and-
Damn it.
Sighed heavily when she realized it was empty.
Muttering to herself, she released the straw and flopped over onto her back so that she could stare up at the ceiling while she debated her next move, go downstairs and hope beyond hope that she had chocolate milk in her fridge or lay there and continue staring up at the ceiling while she tried to pretend that she wasn’t thinking about the man that she was supposed to hate.
She just…
She didn’t know what to think anymore.
She should hate him, Kristen thought, sighing heavily as she rolled over onto her stomach so that she could stare at the wall instead.
He was a jerk who turned his back on her over a simple misunderstanding and went out of his way to make her life a living hell for the past six years because of it.
She had every reason in the world to hate him, but every time Kristen tried, she thought about the little boy who used to sneak into her room late at night just so that he could watch her write.
He was the same boy who made her smile when her mother didn’t show up for her birthday and held her hand after she had her tonsils taken out, but he was also the man who broke her heart and destroyed her entire world with three little words.
He was the reason why she cried herself to sleep every night for a year and he was also the man that she-
Really needed to stop thinking about.
Deciding that staring up at the wall was more fun than she could handle at the moment, Kristen reluctantly rolled over and-
“Is she in love with Tristan?” came the softly murmured words that drew her attention to find the incredibly handsome man that was confusing the hell out of her leaning against her bedroom door.
“Who?” Kristen asked, unable to help but frown as she tried to figure out what the hell he was talking about.
“Emily.”
She opened her mouth to give him the same lie that she used when readers asked her that question only to find herself answering, “Yes.”
Slowly nodding, Garrett pushed away from the door and walked away, leaving her lying there, wondering what the hell just happened.