BEX
Chapter Fourteen
I couldn’t understand how Logan could work the hours he did and still look so damn good.
Despite what happened that first night, we had managed to keep our hands to ourselves.
Mostly. There’d been one time where we used our hands to get each other off, but other than that, we’d been good. And it was driving me nuts.
Watching Logan around the apartment was a lot to take. He rarely came home still wearing his scrubs, but he had a few times in the last week, and the sight was something to behold.
Still, it was nothing compared to watching him move around in normal jeans and a T-shirt.
The black fabric pulled across his chest, leaving no doubt of the muscles beneath.
The short sleeves showed off his biceps, leaving just a peak of the tattoo of the caduceus on his inner upper arm.
More subtle on his dark skin than my brother’s tattoos but infinitely sexier.
Then there were those jeans. There really should have been more of an ode to the way denim hugged a man’s behind.
Or at least a poem on how faded denim hugged Logan’s ass.
He turned and caught me checking him out instead of folding laundry like I was supposed to be doing. His smile was cocky but his words were gentle. “I love your eyes on me like that.”
“I wasn’t looking at you in any way, Mr. Evans.”
At the mention of his last name, his eyes darkened. “Let’s get done before I drag you to the bedroom and…”
“La-la-la.” Dom walked into the room holding his fingers in his ears. “Can you two at least wait until you get rid of me before you get it on?”
I pushed away from the small table and turned to Dom. “No one is getting rid of you. All the kids are doing the LazerGames course because Nick is making them, and it would be good for you. It’s character building and who knows? You might even make a friend or two.”
At least that was the hope. All the teens who were doing the course were friends, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t welcome another person into their group. Besides, most of them had been through some sort of trauma over the last few years.
“I don’t need any friends.” The kid was determined to give me attitude.
Logan turned around and glared at him. “Dom. I understand we are not your parents. At least, not in any way we should’ve been. But you came to us. And we are more than happy to protect you from the assholes who took your mom and stepdad. All we ask is that you show some respect.”
Dom looked at his feet and nodded. “Fine.”
“Another thing to remember,” Logan continued as if he was born to parent a surly teenager.
Or maybe one particular surly teenager. “Bex is your best shot at keeping you, Landon and Victoria together. I’ve seen enough kids come through the ER to know that fostering is hit or miss a lot of the time.
Victoria stands the best chance of getting out of the system, but if you want to stay together, your best shot is staying right here.
In Marina De Ferrier. So, it is probably in your best interest to make some friends.
If the social worker can determine all three of you are fitting in nicely, things will run a lot more smoothly. ”
He rolled his eyes and then immediately apologized. “Sorry. I’ll try.”
“Good,” I said smiling, knowing I was about to upset his apple cart once more. “Because come Monday, you will be starting school at MDF high.”
“What?”
“What?” Logan frowned and I continued.
“We’d discussed it, remember.” We both came to the conclusion he would fall too far behind if we didn’t get him into school soon. But I had gone ahead and actually done it since Logan had a few double shifts that week.
“I didn’t think we’d made a decision yet.”
Dom frowned at me but I carried on. “I have requested a more experienced resource officer at the school and there will also be someone from Salinger on the school property at all times. But Dom, you have a near perfect grade point average, you cannot afford any more time off school if you want to maintain it.”
Father and son both looked ready to argue with me. I could see them forming the thoughts in their mind. They were so much alike it was really creepy. And then I could see they both accepted what I was saying was the truth.
Logan nodded. “You're a smart kid, so it won’t be difficult to catch up on the few weeks you’ve missed.” He turned to me, concern lacing his features. “What do we do about his transcripts? Won’t it be dangerous to get his records from his school in San Francisco?”
I tilted my head to the side. “As you said, I am good at my job. I’ll be enrolling him under a false name and his records will not be linked to his previous school.”
I had already spoken to Nick about it. Between Jared and Tex, they hacked what they needed to and made sure there was no trace of Dom Bayers in any system.
All that remained was changing his name and hoping no one double-checked.
I didn’t want to inform the school yet. I wasn’t sure what gang was involved in San Francisco and if they had connections as far south as San Diego or Marina De Ferrier.
Before I could explain anything further the buzzer sounded and security let us know Cassie was down stairs. She would be babysitting the little ones while Dom went to Salinger Security and Logan and I did whatever Logan had planned.
Cassie had her nine-month-old baby with her as well. Little Daisy was still asleep but like me, Cassie was determined all three children would fit easily into our lives and have cousins and friends and spoiling aunts and uncles and good role models all around.
Victoria was also asleep but Landon, who had been playing with the building blocks on the floor, eyed the newcomer to the apartment. His lip quivered as I kissed him goodbye. I was about to tell Logan we should stay when Cassie held up her hand to me.
“No. I’ve seen our niece and nephews pull this crap. He will be fine.”
I looked at Logan and then back at Cassie. She was right. I babysat for my brothers often enough to know that toddlers crying after their parents left only lasted a few minutes. “If he is still crying in half an hour, call us and we'll come back. We won’t be gone for too long.”
Cassie shooed all three of us out of the apartment and within twenty minutes we were pulling up at the Salinger Security building.
I took Dom through the property, showing him around all the buildings.
We arrived at the training and tactical building on the other side of the property only a short while later.
Besides several obstacle courses, we also had shooting ranges for both rifle and pistol training, two gyms with several rings for sparring and hand-to-hand combat training.
We also had simulation courses which used lasers and a paintball course.
When my brothers opened the doors four years earlier, there were only two gun ranges and one simulation course with a small weight training gym.
I was proud of how much we had grown in such a small space of time.
Even though I had joined later than everyone else, I always knew I would end up working for the family business.
I was about to turn into the LazerGames simulation course, when I received a text from Nick.
Nick: We’re not doing the LazerGames course. Bring him over to the PaintBall room.”
He called it a room but honestly, the course was about the size of two square blocks.
“Change of plan kiddo. Looks like you'll be playing PaintBall.”
Although our courses were all Nick’s designs, with some help from Ollie, everyone knew the general concept. I had no doubt Dom was familiar with it all.
“What all do you guys do here?”
I smiled, knowing his curiosity was peaked. “Stick around, kid. You’ll get to experience it all, if Nick has his way.”
It was true. Nick wanted all the kids in our circle to be trained in self-defense and survival training. The simulation courses were supposed to give those who wanted to go into the military or law enforcement, a leg up. But mostly the kids had fun.
“That’s your oldest brother, right? The one who called Logan down to the parking lot so he could yell at him.”
“Yeah, you’ll meet him now.” I figured I might as well be honest with him. “He’s not happy I kept you from him all these years.”
“Why did you, though?”
I shook my head and smiled. “That’s a long story for another day.”
“And you have a date to go on.” Dom sighed as he spoke, like it was so lame that two adults wanted to go on a date.
Another several minutes later and we walked into the PaintBall course. Nick, the monitor for the day, stood with a bunch of teenagers surrounding him. He held out his hand to Dom. “I’m Nick, or Uncle Nick. You decide. I’m glad you’re here. The boys are a man short, so you’re going to fit right in.”
Dom shook his hand then looked at me. “What do I have to do?”
“They’re playing PaintBall. Just make sure you don’t get shot.”
Dom nodded and walked further into the room.
I let out a long breath and smiled at Nick. “He’s really good with his younger sibling but damn, he has no problem giving me attitude.”
“Sounds about right for any teenager.”
“But I don’t know how he’ll be with kids his own age.” I lowered my voice. “He could struggle to make friends. I know he played sports so he’s probably more sociable than I’m giving him credit for.”
Nick put his hands on my shoulders. “Bex, don’t worry.” His face softened and I was glad to have the support of my family. “He’ll be fine. We have good kids inside here. No one will treat him badly.”
I knew he was right. The worst that could happen was that he got an earful of Skylar’s potty mouth. I gave Nick a quick hug before I made my way back to the car where Logan was waiting.
As I got in, he gave me a sexy smile. “You want to go down to our spot.”
“We are not going to make out on the beach.”
His frown was comical. “Why not? We could get sand in all sorts of unpleasant places. How can you not be down for that?”
I laughed as he started the car. Yeah, things had changed. But only a little. I was not a fan of beach sand. But making out? Yeah, I could get behind that.