Chapter Thirty
Dominic
Nipple rings? I wasn’t expecting that when I picked up the phone. But now, the only thing I see is her perfect tits adorned with silver hoops or bars in her nipples. My mouth waters as I shift in my seat. The black leather is cold as Lee blasts the air conditioning, and I thank God for that. Otherwise, I’d be on fire about now.
“Son…,” Lee growls as he glares at me out of the corner of his eye while weaving through traffic. “If you keep thinking about my daughter with that expression on your face when you’re sitting by me, I’m taking her to get a protection order from you.”
“Do you think that would work?”
“No. No, I don’t. But seriously, she’s my daughter.”
“And our sister.” Sam claps my shoulder from the back seat.
“Fine. I’ll tone it down, but I’ve waited a long time to be in a relationship with Bella, so I’m….” Excited is too mild of a word to use. Coach Hall honks and waves as we meet him on the road. I clear my throat. “I’m happy.”
“Why exactly did you wait if you’ve been interested in Bella for so long? She’s carried a torch for you forever. If I’m being honest, I expected this to happen before she graduated from high school. Not that Kim and I aren’t glad you waited. We weren’t looking to have grandchildren that soon.” His ears turn red. “We aren’t pushing you in that direction right now either.”
He flips on the blinker and eases into the turning lane. Silas’s office is across the street, and both their vehicles are in the lot. Emily was right. Brock is in the office today.
“Dad….” Ben chuckles. “You’re rambling.”
“Sorry,” he grumbles under his breath and pulls into an open spot by the front door.
“It’s fine. We’ve not discussed the future in that much detail, but I respect Bella, and she needs to finish school before we think about kids. And we’ll need a place to live on our own.”
“Damn straight, you will.” Sam unsnaps his seatbelt. “Except….” He looks up at me with horror in his eyes. “That means you’ll move. Bro, we agreed not to grow up and get married before thirty.”
“Exactly.” Ben follows Sam’s lead. “We can’t have your happily ever after breaking up the group.”
I shift sideways and face them. “So, you want us to live there?”
“Whoa.” Lee turns off the ignition, causing the pickup to rattle to a stop. “Living together?”
This trip has turned into a mess. How am I supposed to answer this? We’ve only briefly talked about living together. But I don’t want to say we won’t because I’d like to spend every second I can with her. My head spins. But if she doesn’t want to live together, I don’t want to piss them off unnecessarily.
I swipe my palms on my jeans. “Let’s table this conversation.”
“Good idea.” Ben snaps open the door, swings his legs out and drops to the pavement.
“You didn’t answer. Why did you wait to date my daughter?” Lee opens the door but doesn’t get out. “You’ve had her name plastered on your chest since she graduated high school.”
Heat floods over my face. So much for no one noticing.
“I didn’t think I was good enough for her. My mom is a cook at school, and my dad is a deadbeat asshole con, it’s not like I come with glowing references.” I open the door and climb out as everyone else joins Ben in the parking lot. The hot sun makes the scent of asphalt fill the air. It’s a smothering heat as summer clings to the last few days of September. “And Sam and Ben had made us promise not to date her.”
Lee’s shoulders are tight as he stands in front of his pickup. “I don’t want to hear any of that again. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
He shoves his hand into my back, launching me forward. “You’ve been a part of our family since day one. No one cares about your dad, and your mom is the best.”
“I get that now, but I let things get in my head.”
“Well, get it out.” Lee stops and watches as a patrol car eases into the parking lot and pulls in beside us. It’s Jake. We all went to school together, but he moved away for college and just returned a few weeks ago.
What’s he doing here? I glance around the parking lot. Everything appears to be in place. No broken windows or smashed fenders.
The door snaps open, and Jake unfolds himself from the seat. The monitor on the console is lit up, and the dispatcher is spouting some police lingo over the speaker. “Hey, guys.”
“Jake.” Ben nods.
Jake is in his uniform. Not a crease to be seen. His shoes are polished until they shine. Some people think that small-town cops are wannabe cops that couldn’t make it in the real world. But Jake isn’t that kind of guy. He’s smart, athletic, and easy to get along with, but just so happens to prefer living in a small community over the hustle and bustle of city police work.
“Emily called and said you needed backup.”
“Interesting.” Ben eyes Jake.
“Don’t read anything into it.” Jake frowns. “Emily still hates me.”
“Ah, too bad.” Ben slaps him on the back. “I don’t think we’ll need backup, but it’s good to have you here and back in town.”
Sam nods at our friend. “Are you coming to the scrimmage tomorrow?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Jake grins. “That’s one of the main reasons I moved back to Brookhaven. That, and I prefer not getting shot at on a weekly basis.”
“Right.” Sam rolls his eyes. “It had nothing to do with Emily.”
“Boys, focus.” Lee stomps toward the entrance. “Let’s do what we came to do.”
He swings open the door, making the bell chime, and we file in behind him. The room is cooler, almost cold. Linoleum flooring, cubicles of desks, a main lobby, and a front desk. The scent of leather fills the room. There’s a lot of money in the insurance business.
“What can I do for you?” McKenna, who’s sitting behind the reception desk, smiles, but the expression doesn’t reach her eyes. Not that I blame her. It’s four guys dressed in T-shirts, jeans, and combat boots flanked by a police officer who’s giving off a ‘don’t mess with me’ vibe.
“We need to see Silas.” Lee rolls his shoulders.
“I’d like to see Brock.” Sam glares at his father as if he’s deciding to go off script.
“Sam,” Lee snaps as McKenna rushes toward Silas’s office. “Let me take care of this.”
“You’ve got thirty seconds, and then, I’ll take care of it.”
“What do you want?” Brock, the man of the hour, stomps out of his office and braces his hands on his hips.
“I’ve already told you to leave Bella alone, and you contacted her again.” I tip my chin out as the desire to punch him again fills my veins. Two nights ago, wasn’t enough. He treated her poorly, cheated on her, stalked her, and it needs to end. “You need to stop.”
“Or what?” Brock crosses his arms over his chest. He’s muscular but no match for any of us. Lee could probably take him. He was a linebacker back in the day and built like a brick shithouse.
“I’ll have you arrested.” Jake steps forward and crosses his arms over his broad chest. “Bella is getting a restraining order.”
“She can’t.” His head spins around so fast it almost snaps as if he’s looking to see who’s overhearing our conversation. It’s lunchtime so no one else is around except his father, who’s talking to McKenna as she stands in his doorway, shifting from foot to foot. She points to us, causing Silas to glance around her with a frown on his face.
“She can, and she is.”
“No.” Brock’s face fills with horror as he turns back around. “She can’t.” He drops his arms to his sides. “My father will snap if my name is in the paper. Especially if it’s in the court section.”
“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before you started harassing Bella.”
“Son?” Silas calls out from behind his desk. His blond hair is cut to perfection, accentuated by his deep tan from playing 18 rounds of golf every Saturday with the other businessmen in town. It’s likely colored to keep his youthful appearance. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, Dad, everything’s fine.” Brock relaxes his shoulders and shifts his stance. Asshole. Of course, he gets his nerve back now that his dad is coming to his defense. “We’re just talking about the game last night.”
“Oh, okay.” Silas stalks forward. “That rushing touchdown Levi scored was a beauty.”
“Thanks, it was. I’ll tell him you said that.”
“You do that.” He grins. His tan matches Brock’s, but his teeth are whiter.
McKenna asks Silas something that draws his attention away from us. Brock inches closer to us. “Tell Bella not to file anything, and I’ll leave her alone. I promise I won’t bother her again.”
“It’s too late.” Lee shoves his hands into his pockets. “My wife is involved.”
“That’s fucking bullshit,” Brock spits out while shaking his head. “This is all your fault.” He jerks his head around to catch my gaze. “If you hadn’t caught Bella’s attention, none of this would’ve happened. And just when Tabitha agreed to go out with me.”
Lee walks over to Silas’s office, knocks once, and steps inside. Brock is too busy arguing with us to notice that Bella’s father has his father’s attention.
“Too bad. I’m not going to feel sorry for you, you brought it on yourself. When Bella broke up with you, you should’ve respected her wishes and not violated her boundaries.”
“You’re such a douche.” Brock rakes a hand through his hair. “’Respected her wishes and not violated her boundaries’,” he says in a mocking voice. “Who talks like that? I don’t know what she sees in you.”
“A big dick, piercings, tattoos, a lifted pickup truck with a loud exhaust–”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re more than that.” Ben cuffs my shoulder as Silas’s face turns red. Lee silences whatever he is going to say with a raised hand. “You have manners.” Ben lifts a finger as he counts.
“You have kickass friends.” Sam joins him with another finger to continue their counting. He tilts his head sideways and raises another finger. “Worships the ground our sister walks on.”
“That’s a good one.” Ben nods and smirks. God, I’m lucky to have these fuckers in my corner. I was an idiot to question their loyalty to me.
Silas stands with a grave expression and grasps Lee’s hand.
Ben frowns. “Now, how many was I up to?” He waves his hand in the air. “Never mind. Let’s see….” He makes a production of thinking by staring at the ceiling and then smirking at me. “We can’t forget that he draws pictures of her like a good stalker versus a creepy one–”
“Assholes.” Brock spins on his heel and freezes as he finally sees Lee and Silas together. “Fuck, now I’ve got to make up some story that Bella is crazy so that my dad doesn’t get pissed at me and then deal with Tabitha.” Without a backward glance, he slams the door to his office and paces back and forth inside the small space.
Jake lifts his phone to his ear and waits a beat before saying, “Everything is taken care of on this end. Tell Bella to get the restraining order, but I don’t think Brock will bother her again.