Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Max
Checking my watch, a Rolex Liz had given me on our fifth anniversary, I figured the rehearsal was over. It was probably a little early for the bonfire since it wasn’t set to begin until eight, so I went to the pub. Gabe and Hunter sat at a table in the corner and waved me over.
“We switched from beer to whiskey?” I pulled up a chair at the end of the table and didn’t have to wait even a second for a server to come by and take my order. “I’ll have what they’re having.”
“I think I’ve heard that line before,” she said, giving me a flirty smile. “Can I get anything else for any of you gorgeous men?”
“Now you’re just angling for a fat tip,” Gabe said. She laughed and left us. I liked that Gabe was humble. It made my job as his part-time back up easier.
“I’m surprised you’re here,” I said to Hunter.
He sighed. “Since I was robbed of my bachelor party rights by my future father-in-law, I decided to take tonight. You in?”
“That’s a tough one to turn down.” I weighed my words and my options.
My chances to take a chance on Natalie were disappearing fast. Tonight and tomorrow night, then it was back to real life.
The server returned and saved me from having to elaborate.
She slid the whiskey across the high-top in front of me along with refreshers for Gabe and Hunter.
“On the house,” she said. Then she lowered her voice and pulled out a pad of paper. “Would you all mind doing me a favor—giving me your autographs for my son? He’s a huge fan.”
“Be very happy to,” I said, taking her pen. “How old is he?”
“He’s only six but he already loves football. His name is Ben.”
“I have a pair of girls. They’re only four, but we toss the football—a Nerf version—all the time.
Kids are great.” I passed the pad and pen to the others and they all signed.
She thanked us and left us with a distinct bounce in her step.
I didn’t know if it was the whiskey or the thought of bringing a smile to a kid’s face that warmed me.
“So kids,” Hunter said, shaking his head. “That’s one daunting thing to take on. I have a team of siblings I’m responsible for, but something about bringing a kid into the world . . .” He took a long sip of his whiskey.
“I bet Cat wants kids,” Gabe said. Hunter grunted.
“You’ll be fine.” I needed to change the subject, but I wasn’t quick enough.
“You like kids—you planning to have more?” It was the exact question I never wanted to answer, not now, not ever.
I hated the answer. Gathering all the self-control I had so that I could sound casual, even cavalier on the subject, as if it wasn’t the one thing that haunted my life, the one fallout from the divorce that was irreparable and devastating.
Waving a hand, I said, “No plans for me.”
“I’m surprised,” Hunter said.
“Why not?” Gabe had no shame in asking. Hunter shook his head, knowing it was a highly personal question, probably sensing something amiss.
I shrugged, the words burning at the back of my mind, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell them the reason, the whole unvarnished truth of it.
“I already have two beautiful girls. My quota. No need to push my luck.” I smiled the kind of smile that I had no doubt looked more sad than happy, and they didn’t press it. I shouldn’t have been surprised when Hunter brought up Natalie.
“You know Natalie loves kids, right?”
Fuck. No kidding. That’s why I was fucked. I picked up my glass and drained the rest of the golden liquid, relished the burn all the way down my throat to my heart. It was the biggest reason why I hesitated to start up something with Natalie.
Because I’d had a fucking vasectomy.
It had been a mistake. A major mistake. Vasectomies were rarely reversible and I’d need to live with that. All by myself. No need to bring these guys down with unnecessary detail. My vasectomy was TMI for this conversation.
“I’d have to be a moron not to figure that out,” I said. “She teaches kindergarten.”
“Then what exactly are your intentions toward her?” Hunter said this with a straight face—no, a serious as death face, his game face.
It didn’t intimidate me and, after a beat, it didn’t surprise me.
I took my time answering because it was the exact question I’d been wrestling with, still trying to come up with a satisfactory answer.
Did I go for a fling between two consensual adults like she’d been hinting at?
Or did I leave her alone because I knew a relationship between us would never go anywhere, and I knew she might want it to?
“I’m interested, but not enough to propose marriage and babies.”
Hunter’s scowl deepened. Gabe grinned, but not at me, at Hunter, amused by his protective big brother act. I pushed my hand through my hair with a sigh.
“Look, I know she’s a special woman. I have no intentions of taking advantage of her.”
“But?” Gabe moved his focus to me as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned in over the table. We were about the same height and I had a few pounds on him, but he was formidable. Hunter wasn’t as tall, but he could probably beat both our asses—at the same time. He was a tough SOB.
All this had nothing to do with reality, but it was the kind of alpha male macho shit that went through a guy’s mind when confronted by two men protecting the woman he was interested in.
It was all chemicals. Hormones. I pushed through the cloud of prehistoric haze to think with my more evolved brain. And I counted on them doing the same.
“I think she’s up to the challenge of dealing with the likes of me. If she doesn’t want what I have to offer, she’ll tell me. I’ll listen. I’ll back off.”
“So what you’re saying is you want a one-night stand with Natalie and if she’s game you think that’s okay?” Hunter’s voice was low and gravelly. He exuded menace. I didn’t back down and I was about to argue with him, my desire for the woman in question clouding my reason once again.
But I couldn’t argue. Because he was right. I shoved both hands through my hair and closed my eyes. “Fuck.”
“That’s more like it,” Gabe said. “There will be no one-night stand with Natalie. Either you’re going to start something special or—”
“I get it. Don’t start something I can’t finish.”
Hunter patted my back. “She’s more vulnerable than she seems.”
“I know she is. That’s why she’s . . .”
“Under your skin already?” Gabe said, smirking.
“I wish I could deny it and tell you both to go to hell, but I’m not a kid, not cavalier in the least about women. Not even here and now at a destination wedding where I’m supposed to let loose and have a fling.”
“Not with Natalie,” Hunter said, to make himself perfectly clear.
“Not with anyone,” I said.
Both men nodded. They knew it would be hurtful if I took someone else to bed now after flirting so openly with Natalie and they didn’t even know about the kisses we’d shared.
It would be hurtful for Natalie—and I had no doubt both Hunter and Gabe would make sure it would be hurtful to me if I hurt her.
But we all knew it would never come to that because I was not that guy, not an asshole to women, or to anyone.
“Let me buy you another whiskey,” Gabe said.
“It’ll take more than one more,” I said.
As it turned out, it took most of the bottle of a brand I’d never heard of and most of the night.
The night I was supposed to be spending on the beach with Natalie at the bonfire.
Hunter and Gabe each made an appearance at the bonfire to check in with their women, let them know the score, but they kept me inside and away from temptation. Rightly so.