Chapter 46 Three Months Later
“Any last words?” Spencer nodded to Ol’ Red, hitched to the back of a tow truck.
Pool season had passed, and with all the extra time off, I’d finally come around to the idea of selling my old home on wheels.
The truth was, weeks ago I’d come out here and packed up the rest of my things—not that there had been much. With each box that I filled, a wave of memories rushed through me. Some good. Mostly bad. But at the end of the day, Ol’ Red had been my home.
This hunk of metal was a landing spot for me. A security blanket. A roof over my head, and as a kid, most nights, it was my saving grace.
“No last words.” I smiled, knowing that a huge part of my past was seconds from driving away—any thoughts or feelings I had were going along with it.
Spencer nodded at the driver, and we both watched as Ol’ Red passed us by. With my old home in the rearview, and Spencer by my side, it didn’t take long to realize I was perfectly fine letting the last piece of my past go if it meant the man next to me would be my new safe space to land.
Home wasn’t always meant to be a place. Spencer was my home now.
Off to the side, Spencer’s driver waited for us to finish up. Now that I’d committed to giving up my “just in case this didn’t work out” van, his driver would take us back to the place we both called home.
“Ready for family dinner?” Spencer smirked.
“More than ready. It’s taco night—my favorite.”
A few months ago, Spencer brought up the idea of family dinners. It was a way to start bringing Jax into our lives together. A way we could comingle with both of our sets of friends that we considered family.
For us, family dinner became a nonnegotiable every Sunday night.
While one person here or there may not be able to make it some weeks, it was always a place for us to gather and eat.
To catch up on each other’s lives and tell stories.
Stories about our days, or maybe a memory from our past—we talked about it all.
Something I’d never experienced as a kid but loved to be able to experience with Spencer by my side.
He was raised in a traditional Italian household. While they had all the best pastas you could dream of, our family dinners were more of our style.
Each week we picked a new cuisine, and Spencer would hire a private chef to cook us the best of the best. Tonight wouldn’t be the first time we’d done tacos. I think Spencer knew from the first night we had them, tacos had to be a monthly occurrence because I loved them so much.
Once we arrived back home, we got cleaned up, stuffed my boxes from my van away to deal with later, and set the table. Our friends and family would be arriving any minute now.
When the elevator doors dinged, indicating an arrival, I popped my head around the corner to greet our guest.
Jax was first, along with his girlfriend, Sasha.
“Hey, so glad you both could make it!” I offered a quick hug to them both.
“Always happy to be here.” Jax smiled, grabbing a hold of his girlfriend’s hand, guiding her to the kitchen.
The elevator doors opened once more with my two best friends entering next.
“Girl, you look so good,” I squealed, my jaw dropping at Andi’s short dress—only in Nevada could you wear a cocktail dress in the winter without freezing your tits off.
Andi wrapped me in her arms, rocking me back and forth, giving me a longer hug than normal.
“What’s got this one so giddy?” I eyed Peyton from over Andi’s shoulder.
“Oh, maybe something to do with her not coming home last night after work—or for the last few weeks, for that matter. And every time I catch her texting, she has that crazy look in her eyes like she’s totally gone for the person on the other end of the screen.
Oh, and—" Andi broke our hug to slap a hand over Peyton’s mouth.
“What? It’s true!” Peyton mumbled.
“What she means to say is, I kissed a boy and I may have liked it. But we are going to leave it at that.” Andi sauntered off, grabbing the two bottles of wine from Peyton, leaving me completely shell shocked.
“Is Andi dating someone?” My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. “She doesn’t fuck a man twice, let alone date!” I whispered through clenched teeth.
“There is definitely something going on, but she hasn’t spilled the beans. I’ve been all up in her business every chance I’ve gotten and still no answers.”
Peyton and I walked toward the kitchen, arms linked, meeting everyone while they mingled, poured up a drink, picked at the appetizers, and we all waited for dinner to be served.
The only person missing at family dinner was Jayson—hockey season and all that jazz. He made it every opportunity he could, but he was the one with the most chaotic schedule.
“Mind if I steal my girl?” Spencer came up behind me, his question geared toward Peyton.
“Please. Whisk her away.” She winked as she slid her arm out of mine.
Spencer took my hand in his, walking us over to the bar in the kitchen.
“What do you want to drink tonight?” he asked as he poured up a drink of his own.
“Hmm … I’ll have what you’re having.” I smirked, and the familiar feeling of the situation lingered between us. A déjà vu moment from the night we first met.
“Whiskey. For my independent, smart, and intriguing girl who is always willing to take a risk.” Spencer winked, pouring me up two fingers of the best whiskey.
“Oh, is that so?” I took a sip, tasting the sweet notes of honey run down my throat. “What is it that makes me all of those things?” I fluttered my eyelashes up at him, seeking any reason to receive a compliment.
“For starters. You gave up that van of yours today. That was a pretty independent thing for you to do.”
“Really? Because I feel like that was me giving up the last piece of independence that I had. If anything, now I’m dependent.” I chuckled.
“No, Bella. It only elevated how truly selfless you are. Only an independent woman would give up something of that caliber.” His eyes were zeroed in on mine.
“Okay, okay. And what makes me smart?” I twirled a loose strand of hair around my finger.
Spencer looked over my shoulder, and when we were in the clear, he ran his hand up my thigh. My legs spread out of habit, allowing him access.
“You’re wearing underwear,” he whispered gruffly in my ear. “If you weren’t wearing any, and I found out, you knew you’d be over my shoulder in a matter of seconds.”
“Mmm,” I moaned. “If we weren’t hosting family dinner, maybe I would have left my panties off for you just to see what you would do.”
“Now that intrigues me. Next time, when it’s just us having dinner around here, I’ll make sure to check and call your bluff.”
His finger ran over my lace-covered slit, just enough to tease, before he pulled his hand out from under my dress and straightened the skirt of it that he’d scrunched up.
“Who says that we will be home when I’m not wearing any underwear for you, Daddy?” My playful smile grew.
“Don’t test me, Bella.” His eyes narrowed.
“Okay, fine. I’ll leave the testing for later.” I bit down on my lip, trying to distract myself from being horny for my man and sending each of our guests home so I could skip dinner all together, having Spencer eat me instead.
“So, how am I taking a risk this time, then?” I took another sip of my whiskey.
“That’s an easy one.”
Spencer inched closer to me, taking my tumbler from my hand, and setting it aside so he could hold my hands in his.
“Months ago, you risked any uncomfortable feelings for my happiness. You risked the awkwardness of what these family dinners could bring out, just to make me happy. To bring me and my son closer together.”
I immediately answered, “And it’s a risk I would take over and over again.” I reached up to give him a sweet kiss on his lips. “I love you, Spencer, you’re the greatest risk I’ve ever taken.”
He kissed the back of my hand and pulled me into his chest. His heartbeat thumped steadily and those four words, “I love you too,” tickled my hair.
When Spencer first asked me if I’d be okay with these family dinners, I didn’t hesitate.
Of course, I thought it may be weird the first few times, but I’d known Jax most of my life.
As long as I could forgive him—which I had—then I could get over a few awkward dinners until we all found our new normal.
Jax and I had always been family, no matter how you looked at it. Things may have gotten messy there for a while, but what family wasn’t a complete and total disaster? We were to the point now that I could consider him a friend. And Spencer was able to continue working on their relationship.
We were in a good place.
Finding your person, your happy ending, wasn’t supposed to be an easy task. Sure, we all had a different path to take to get there, but if my twenty-five years of hell promised me a lifetime of happiness in my future, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
THE END.