Chapter 9
Bronson
I wanted to slap myself for the words I had said to her.
What the fuck had come over me?
“Okay, well, I hope he’s the one if that’s something you want.”
Those words really fell from my lips... to her.
I growled.
Eyes came to me.
I barked, “I’m not a fucking side show. Get back to fucking work.”
Every pair of eyes that had come to me was suddenly away from me.
Flynn was in the ring sparring with Cash.
The power he just used with the one-two combo, “Good.”
I watched as they did multiple combos.
And then I watched as Flynn threw an upper cut, and I called out, “Control it better next time. Control, boy.”
Just as he did what I said in the next round, my phone pinged with a text.
Normally, I wouldn’t check it when I was training someone, but... hoping it was Lila, I pulled my cell from my pocket.
I felt a smile tug at my lips at the name on the screen.
Lila – Hey, do y’all have plans on Sunday?
Me – No. Why? What’s up?
Lila – Every year, Bax’s department has a potluck. Would you, Cole, and Madalyn like to go with me?
Me – Take it he wasn’t the one?
She didn’t reply.
Fuck me.
Why the fuck had I asked her that?
Because you can’t help yourself.
Not where she’s concerned.
Thank Christ.
Lila – No. He definitely wasn’t.
Lila – It was so bad that Mom promised to stop doing it.
Me – Good.
Lila – Why is that good?
Me – Cause you deserve better.
Like I had any room to talk.
Did I think Lila was the coolest chick I had ever met... yes. She was.
But that fucking nightmare set in the back of my mind like the worst taste of something you have ever tasted.
It stuck with you. Burned into you. Scared you.
I shook my head.
Now wasn’t the time to think about that shit. I knew that if I gave it more headspace, it would take up the rest of my day.
She was silent.
The dots on the screen didn’t move.
Therefore, I texted her back.
Me – We’re in. What time? And where?
Lila – 1 pm. I’ll send you the address.
Lila – *address attached*
I pocketed my phone and got back to work.
***
It was Saturday morning.
I’d already run ten miles with Cole.
Thankfully, because I was a billionaire, neither of us ran out of hot water when we both took showers at the same time.
Cause a man only needed to take a cold shower when he needed to focus or get his raging hard on to go down.
Unfortunately, every time I saw Lila, I ended up in cold showers.
Fucking hell.
I reached out and turned off the hot water. Letting the biting cold flow over my muscles.
Of course, all I had to do was think about her, and my cock instantly hardened.
The woman was going to be the death of me, and she didn’t even know it.
I sighed as my hard-on went down.
Then I finished my shower.
Ten minutes later, I was in the kitchen laughing my ass off.
“It said to mix it at medium speed!” Madalyn cried.
Lila was in tears on FaceTime with my girl.
My girl had wanted to make something to bring to the potluck.
She decided she’d make cookies.
And the result of her trying to make said cookies?
That was the milk-and-butter mixture that splattered all over the cabinets and countertops.
Cole walked in then, stopped, his mouth hanging open, “Well, shit.”
I cracked up again.
“Hey Madz?” Lila called out.
I watched as Madalyn turned her head to look at Lila who was wiping tears from her eyes, “Ask your dad if he wouldn’t mind me coming over and helping you make the cookies? And if he wouldn’t mind me using his kitchen to make my dish too.”
“No need to ask. It’s cool. See you when you get here.”
Now, I had to start reciting every gruesome thing I’d ever seen to keep the hard-on at bay before I had thought I would need to.
Fuck. My. Life.
Forty-five minutes later, Cole was leading Lila into the kitchen.
I jerked my chin up at her as I drank my second cup of coffee.
Seeing the mug in my hand, she quipped, “Still like that black tar?”
I grinned, “Still like that dessert shit?”
“Yep,” she even popped the p.
Then she turned her attention to Madalyn, “So, you wanted to redecorate the kitchen, huh?”
We all burst out in a chuckle.
Madalyn winced, “I’m really sorry.”
Lila was instantly there and wrapped her in a hug.
Whispering something into her ear, neither Cole nor I could hear.
Fucking hell.
The way the woman was with my girl.
Then a sudden thought hit me like a fucking freight train... my girl wouldn’t have this if Lila met someone else.
Fuck. Me.
I sat there with that thought running through my mind as she showed Madalyn how to properly mix the batter, so it didn’t splatter everywhere.
I waited until Lila excused herself to use the bathroom, then I pulled Madalyn in for a hug and asked, “What did Lila whisper to you?”
I felt Cole move close so he could hear too.
She smiled, “She told me that the first time she tried to make something, she burned the water.”
Cole lifted a brow, “How do you burn water?”
“You forget about it and leave it on high on the stove. That’s how. Life lesson right there.” Lila said as she walked back into the kitchen.
I chuckled, “How old were you?”
She winced, “Six.”
I felt Madalyn stiffen in my arms, then she looked at Lila and mouthed, “Sorry.”
I took a chance and looked at Cole, who too had winced.
What did they know that I didn’t?
Before I could open my mouth to ask, Lila nodded, “Okay. Time to check on the cookies. You always want them to be lightly brown and a little soft in the middle. That’s when they’re just right.”
Madalyn moved from my side to check on the cookies.
Cole winked at me, then moved like he was inspecting them.
Then, quick as a flash, he snapped up two of them, all the while Madalyn called out, “Hey!”
I grinned as I took one and popped it in my mouth.
Was it hot? Fuck yes.
But the best time to eat a cookie was when it came fresh out of the oven.
And it had the right ratio of chocolate chips.
Cole did the same, then a beat later he said, “We had to check it for poison.”
Lila looked at Madalyn, “That’s okay, sweetheart. Cause they did that, they are banned from eating what I’m making.
Cole and I both looked at her, and like it was choreographed, we both asked, “What?”
A mischievous glint hit her eyes, “Oh, something I know for a fact that three of you like.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, “You’re making your honey chicken. Aren’t you?”
She grinned wickedly, “Yes, sir.”
I groaned, as did Cole, “That’s not fair.”
Madalyn held her hand up to high-five Lila.
Lila smirked.
See, one day after practice, a hellacious storm had hit, and water was standing badly in the roads. Lila stayed at my place with Cole and Madalyn.
And since I had driven my bike to the gym, I had been stuck there until the storm calmed down.
She cooked that honey chicken, and when I got home, Cole was moaning in the chair, saying he was in a food coma with Madalyn.
I had also taken a bite, and then forgot where I was, and went in for another bite, but pouted when there was nothing left on my plate.
Yes, I had pouted because I wanted more of it.
Shit was like pure crack.
So now, there Cole and I sat wanting some of it.
I didn’t know what he was thinking.
But I was thinking about what I could do so I could have some of it.
As if she could read my mind, Lila called out as she was cooking, “Don’t think for a second either of you can be sneaky.”
“That’s not fair,” Cole grumbled.
Lila turned her head and winked, “Them’s the consequences for stealing Madalyn’s cookies.”
He grumbled.
Then she looked at me and giggled.
“What do I have to do?” I asked.
She brought her hand up and started to tap her finger against her chin.
Right below those lips of hers, I had woken up from dreaming of kissing, one too many times to count.
Then she winked, “Not a damned thing.”
“Lila,” I growled.
She growled, “Bronson.”
“I freaking love this. Most women either flaunt themselves at you or they walk away from you. Classic.” Madalyn cheered.
I narrowed my eyes at her, “Shut it.”
Lila looked at Madalyn and asked, “Wanna learn the secret sauce?”
Madalyn’s entire face lit up, “Would I ever?”
Cole gasped, “Hey! What about me?”
Lila winked, “This is a woman’s world. Didn’t you know?”
“So, the McKinnon household belongs to women now?” I teased.
She nodded, “Yep. And don’t you ever forget it.”
“But only these two women,” Madalyn teased back.
And then Lila taught Madalyn how to make it.
Once it was finished, Madalyn taunted, “Now I can totally make it for myself when y’all try to gang up on me.”
“I’m still her favorite,” Cole grumbled.
Madalyn snorted.
Lila grinned, “Honestly, I love you both equally. I couldn’t choose even if I was forced to.”
Good goddamned right answer.
***
It was three hours later, and we were sitting at a picnic table.
The food would be consumed in about thirty minutes or so.
Cole was talking to a few of his teammates who were the kids of cops on the force.
Madalyn was also talking to a few girls from her school who were also the kids of cops on the force.
Some guy I didn’t know walked over to us and started talking to Lila.
She was friendly, but not in the way she was with us, and when he reached out to wrap her in a hug, I growled.
Her eyes came to me, and there was a clear sparkle in those crystal baby blue eyes of hers.
And when he walked away, I heard Lila growl when a woman walked over to us and adjusted her top.
But I didn’t see her again after that glance.
I didn’t catch a word she said.
Because my eyes were locked with Lila’s.
And we stayed like that, until I saw Lila smile.
“Hey, Bronson?” she asked.
I winked, “Hey, Lila?”
“Dance with me?” she asked.
I sighed.
I couldn’t tell this woman no.
But I’d be damned if I ever let her know that.
Therefore, I nodded.
I stood, took her hand, and led her to the open area where a few couples were dancing.
Then an old song came on, and I watched as Bax pulled Kendra over to where we were standing.
Rest Your Love On Me by Conway Twitty came through the speakers.
I looked down at her as I wrapped my arm around her and placed my hand on the small of her back.
Her right hand went into mine, and her left hand wrapped around my bicep.
“Really?” I asked.
She grinned, “Can you keep a secret?”
I nodded, “Yeah.”
She smiled as she looked over at Bax and Kendra, “My dad was an alcoholic, abusive asshole. He’s now on wife number six.
Anyway, I’d never seen my mom smile. Not until Bax came into our lives.
And when he asked her to marry him, I’d never seen her cry happy tears. I had even cried because I was scared.”
“Then she told me they were good tears. But that’s besides the point.
The reason I’m telling you this is because at seeing my tears, Bax dropped to his knees and made a vow to me.
He said that he was born to be the shoulders that would forever carry all of my sorrow and pain.
And on the day that they got married, their first dance as husband and wife.
.. Bax had me in one arm, and his other wrapped around my mom as they danced to this song.
He said that he was crazy about us, and he hadn’t heard of a better song that showed his love for us. ”
I looked over at Bax and Kendra and smiled.
Feeling something settle deep in my heart.
And I knew that in some alternate universe, when this woman was mine, that would be the song we would dance to at our wedding.
But I learned a long fucking time ago, dreams aren’t reality.
But for this woman... I’d show up in her dreams and try to turn them into a reality.
And that thought... I didn’t know where it came from... somewhere deep inside of me.
But I couldn’t refute it.
Couldn’t lie about it.
Not when it was the god’s honest truth.
We swayed as I moved her across the cleared space that acted as the dance floor.
What I didn’t know was that the other couples hadn’t stayed to dance for this song. Only Lila and I, Bax, and Kendra remained.
I also noticed a few women were wiping tears from the corners of their eyes as the men looked on with pride shining in their eyes.
“What happened, Lila?” I asked low.
She sighed, then she looked away for a beat, and then she looked back up at me, “My dad beat my mom, Bronson. Badly. Over stupid stuff. That time I burned water?” she asked.
I nodded, knowing I wasn’t going to like this.
“It was to try to make her homemade chicken noodle soup because he had beaten her so badly and tried to choke the life out of her. I was trying to tend to her cuts and things and forgot about it.”
She swallowed, then looked away, then, tentatively, I asked, “Did he ever hit you?”
She winced, “Once.”
I stiffened, ready to track that motherfucker down and beat the holy hell out of him, but she didn’t need that anger.
And I couldn’t help myself, “What happened?”
She looked up at me and shared, “I told him to stop hitting her. He backhanded me and then beat my mom worse. Because I dared to tell him what to do.”
Before I could stop myself, I leaned my head down and pressed a kiss on the top of her head, and pulled her even tighter into my body.
Wanting, needing to absorb some of her pain.
And we stayed like that.
Her tight to my body as the song and the lyrics filled the space.
Then I glanced at Kendra and Bax. And seeing the love there... it hit me like a ton of fucking bricks.
The way they both looked at each other... fuck me.
That was the same way Lila looked at me, Cole, and Madalyn.
And I knew... fucking knew, that when she found the one, we would lose it.
But.... maybe... just maybe...
The moment the song was done, Lila smiled up at me, “For that dance, you can have some of the honey chicken.”
I grinned, “Then I’ll be your dance partner whenever you want it.”
I meant every word of that statement, too.