Chapter 10 James
James
Closing the door behind me, I amble from my bedroom to the guest room where Weston is sleeping. I push open the door and peek inside, chuckling at Georgie’s ingenuity when I see him sleeping in a drawer.
Christ, Georgie. A freaking drawer? I shake my head as I pick him up and tuck him into my chest. He likes to be held, and I like holding him.
Besides, Weston sleeps for longer stretches if one of us is holding him, and his mama was practically asleep on her feet earlier.
She needs as long of a nap as Weston will allow her.
The chatter stops when I walk back into the living room holding the baby. Bailey and Annabelle immediately start fawning over him. Even Charlotte pulls her nose out of her phone’s work email inbox long enough to admire Weston. Hayes and Rowdy whisper their congratulations.
But my little shit of a brother doesn’t say a word. He remains standing, slumped against the living room wall, refusing to meet my eyes.
Finally, I crack. “You want to meet the baby or not?”
“I will if you tell us the truth. What’s really happening here, James? I’ve never seen that woman before in my life, but you expect me to believe you’ve been secretly dating her for… hell, at least nine months?”
For a second, I consider breaking down and telling everyone the truth because I hate seeing the pain and confusion on Josh’s face, but… I don’t. I know how it would sound. Insane. Ludicrous. Reckless and impulsive. Everything I just convinced them I’m not.
They’ll come at me with reason, and as irrational as it is, I feel happy with Georgie and Weston.
Yeah, it’s scary as shit to be responsible for Weston’s well-being, but once I put aside my fear, I’m excited about the time I have with him.
My eyes fall to the little bundle in my arms, and I just stare at him in awe, taking him in. He’s fucking perfect.
I may not be Weston’s biological father, but I still feel this unremitting need to watch over him.
It’s a lot like the attachment I’ve always felt toward Josh.
We’re brothers, but because of the family we grew up in, I’ve always had a paternal energy in relation to Josh.
I’ve sheltered him and taken the brunt of things to ease his path.
Now, Josh is an adult, fully capable of taking care of himself, but Weston is just a baby. He needs someone in his corner. I hate quarreling with Josh, but he’ll come around.
“Look, I know y’all have a lot of questions, and I’ll answer them.
Just not right now. I’m exhausted. And stiff from spending the last week sleeping on a hospital bench.
” That’s only part of it, though. Most of my aches and pains are stubborn lingering effects from the wreck.
Still, a few nights in my own bed and easing back into my workout routine should help nurse my sore muscles back to health.
“Tonight, I just want to relax and catch up, okay?” My gaze moves from face to face as everyone slowly nods or murmurs their agreement.
Everyone but Josh.
“How about we order some food for an early dinner?” Bailey suggests with a smile. Since marrying Rowdy, she has taken on the mother hen role in our group. As our manager, Charlotte organizes us, but Bailey is the one who cares for and dotes on us with her trademarked brand of tough love.
“Yeah, and while we wait for food, we can fill you in on how well your ‘it’s a boy’ text message went over,” Rowdy adds with a robust laugh. “Still can’t believe you sent it during Hayes and Annabelle’s engagement party.”
Char frowns. “Just one photo and three little words, and it was all anyone could talk about. Do you have any idea how many questions and requests for comments I’ve fielded after that blasted tabloid article came out?”
“Shit,” I mutter with a grimace. “Sorry about that, guys.”
Annabelle grins. “It took the pressure off me, so I didn’t mind.”
“Wasn’t your smartest move, Dumb, but it was pretty fucking funny,” Hayes adds.
Dumb is referring to me, by the way.
Hayes loves bestowing nicknames on people. You know you’ve made it into Hayes’ inner circle when he gives you one.
When we were in high school, Josh and I got in trouble for fighting on campus, and we had to do a bunch of community service hours.
Part of our punishment involved planning a fundraiser for the school’s athletic department.
Josh and I held a wrestling tournament in the gym…
a mud wrestling tournament. We filled a couple of baby pools with water and dirt and only accepted female participants.
Although we specified that participants needed to wear bathing suits, we strongly encouraged bikinis.
The skimpier, the better. We raised quite a bit of money, but we earned even more hours of community service when the principal found out about it…
and that his daughter was one of the participants.
Afterward, Hayes started calling us Dumb and Dumber, and the nicknames stuck.
At least I got labelled Dumb, and Josh got stuck with Dumber.
As we eat dinner, it’s easy for me to get caught up in the conversation and forget about the drastic turn my life has taken.
After everyone left, I’m walking around the living room, with Weston propped against my shoulder as I pat his back, hoping to soothe him.
He started squirming a few minutes ago, and his little cries are growing louder.
I hear the familiar creak of my bedroom door opening, and a moment later, Georgie strides into the room.
“Hey,” she greets me, coming to stand beside us. “I’ll take him now. Thanks for letting me sleep.”
“I got him. Go grab something to eat. There’s a bunch of takeout in the fridge.”
“James.”
“Georgie.” I counter, staring at her, unrelenting. She needs to eat to keep up her strength.
“Fine, but as soon as I’m done eating, I’ll take him from you and feed him.”
She walks across the living room, giving me the opportunity to watch her hips sway with each step. The way the globes of her ample ass jiggle causes my mouth to water. Fucking hell, I’d love to have those cheeks in my hands with her legs wrapped around my waist.
Jesus, I can’t be looking at her like that. I squeeze my eyes closed. She’s too damn young for me.
In the hospital, it was easier. I could admire her and get lost in the fantasies because I knew nothing could happen with nurses and doctors everywhere and no privacy to be found.
But here at home… it’s just the two of us, and being around her without getting consumed by dirty thoughts is far more difficult than I anticipated.
With a start, I realize I don’t even know how old she is.
Despite having the body of a woman, Georgie looks like she’s barely out of high school, so I feel like a pervy old man admiring her like I am.
She told me she only went to college for a bit, so she may not be much older than eighteen or nineteen.
So, when she comes back into the living room with a plate of heated-up Chinese food, I ask her.
“Twenty-four.” When she registers my surprise, she makes a face. “I know, I know. I look young. I’ve been hearing it my whole life.”
I shouldn’t be as relieved by her answer as I am.
“Aren’t you going to ask how old I am?”
“No.” She pops a bite of chicken fried rice into her mouth and moans softly, like it’s the best thing she’s ever eaten.
My cock twitches at the sound.
After swallowing, she adds, “I looked you up, remember? I know you’re thirty-five.”
The corners of my lips rise in satisfaction. I love that she’s interested enough to look me up online.
With a defensive edge to her voice, she explains, “Before I moved in with you, I wanted to know more about you.”
“Did I pass your background check?”
“Pretty much. There wasn’t much about you online. At least not compared to the other guys in the band, especially Ruston.”
“Hayes,” I correct.
“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Georgie twirls the beef lo mein around the tines of her fork and then sticks the bite into her mouth. A lone noodle slips, leaving a line of brown sauce on her chin. Without thinking, I lean forward, wipe it off with my thumb, and then lick the sauce from my finger.
Georgie sits frozen, eyes wide, watching my every move.
“Sorry, you,” I motion to her face, “had some sauce.”
“It’s fine.” She resumes chewing but looks down at her plate. “So, he goes by his last name?”
He?
Oh, Hayes. “Yeah, he does. He played football all through school, and we always just called him by his last name since he’d wear his jersey all the time.”
“Did you work things out with your brother? I’m sorry for that.”
“Don’t worry about Josh. For most of our lives, it’s just been him and me, so I think he’s feeling a little… left out. If it’s okay with you, I’ll keep inviting him over until he dislodges the stick that’s shoved up his ass and decides to give you a chance.”
Georgie wipes her mouth with her napkin as she nods. “It’s your house, James. You don’t need to run it by me before having your brother over.”
“It’s our house, wifey.”
Her mouth twists into an apologetic grimace. “Sorry about that, too. I didn’t even think about slipping off my ring until it was too late.”
“Stop apologizing, Georgie.” I could say that the weather forecast predicts rain and the woman would apologize, I swear. “It’s not your fault. Those interfering assholes didn’t give us any warning they were coming over.”
Georgie lifts one shoulder and replies quietly. “They’re only interfering because they care about you. You’re lucky to have them.”
Fuck if those words don’t lodge in my gut knowing that Georgie doesn’t have anyone who cares enough about her to even show up at the hospital.
“They’ll come to care about you, too.”
She smiles at me, but it’s a forlorn smile, like she doesn’t believe me.
In my arms, Weston starts to cry in earnest. It’s a small sound at first, but he quickly gains steam, getting louder with each cry. I rock him in my arms, making the shushing noise that one of the online web videos told me that babies like, but it isn’t settling him down.
Georgie puts down her half-eaten plate and motions for me to hand Weston over. But instead, I start walking faster. “Keep eating. He can wait another minute for you to finish, Georgie.”
“James, let me take him. He’s hungry.”
But when I open my mouth to argue that she’s hungry too, I notice two circles on her shirt that are rapidly growing bigger, so I hand over the baby. As she whips off her tee, I get an eyeful of her tits when she unsnaps her bra. I turn to leave the room, adjusting myself in my jeans.
“James, you don’t have to leave just because I’m nursing Weston. I mean, you’re a rock star, so I’m pretty sure you’ve seen your fair share of boobs before. And mine are nothing special.”
She’s wrong, so very wrong. Her tits are fucking magical. Two creamy pillows I’d love to bury my dick between.
“Nah, that’s not—I was just going to grab you a new shirt since,” I motion to her discarded T-shirt, “you leaked.”
Then, I hightail it out of the room, willing my erection to fall.
She’s shown no interest in me, and she just had a baby. Even if she wanted me to scratch an itch for her, it would have to wait another five weeks for her to heal.
Christ, I can’t believe I looked that information up when I was doing my baby research.