Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
TRACE
I stalked through the living room, the rifle held securely at my side as I peered into the dark, trying to see who I’d heard moving around.
A soft shuffle sounded off to the left, and I knew I was closing in on them.
This was it. Everything rode on making this shot.
Suddenly, the lights flipped on, and I hissed as the light burned my eyes, momentarily blinding me.
A battle cry rang out around the room, and I knew I was done for. My rifle dropped in defeat as the first of the Nerf bullets pelted me in the side of the head.
Cade’s cackle of joy made my miserable defeat all worthwhile, and as I blinked away the white lights in my vision, I saw Cade, Booker, and Dex set up in various spots around the room, unloading their Nerf guns in my direction.
“You know, we said we weren’t going to do teams,” I pointed out as I ducked a Nerf bullet coming straight at my face and then glared at Dex in annoyance. “And we said headshots were off limits.”
“Booo, you’re just sore that you lost.” Dex laughed and then scowled down at his Nerf gun, which was out of rounds.
I lifted my own and got a dart between his eyes before he even had a chance to look up.
“Hey!” he protested. “That hurt.”
“Yeah. I know. ”
He didn’t even look slightly sorry for himself.
Cade came jumping out from behind the sofa. “Let’s play again!”
I looked around the living room and winced. We’d gone from making a den to a Nerf battle, and the place was a wreck. Delaney was going to kill us when she saw the state of the house when she got home.
“Maybe we should tidy up a bit before your mom gets home.”
We might have wrecked the house, but this was honestly the most fun I’d had since…well, probably since I was a kid.
Booker started scooping some of the Nerf bullets off the ground and then gave Cade a look and nodded at the ground. “You’re right, little brother. We should definitely tidy these up.”
Cade immediately jumped into action, and I should have known then that this was all going too easily. But instead, I turned around and started to take down the blanket fort.
It was the giggles that clued me in to my mistake.
And they weren’t all coming from Cade.
When I turned around to see the three of them reloading, I made a quick decision.
Darting forward, I grabbed Cade, who squealed with joy, and threw him over my shoulder as I ran for the kitchen.
“You’ll never take me alive,” I shouted over my shoulder at the others. “I’m taking a hostage this time.”
“Then it’s time for drastic action,” Dex shouted as I rounded the kitchen table and dove for cover, pulling a laughing Cade with me. “I’m getting the super soakers out of the truck.”
Cade looked at me, his eyes wide as he tried to stop the grin from taking over his face.
“Your mom will kill us,” I pointed out.
“She has to catch us first,” Cade told me seriously, and I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my lips.
This was the best night of my life, and I couldn’t believe this could be every day for me. After everything, this was more than I ever thought I’d have. More happiness than I thought I deserved.
I’d only known about Cade for a matter of days, and I loved this kid more than I knew how to process.
And then an idea popped into my mind.
“We have to protect the house,” I told Cade seriously. “I have an idea.”
He rubbed his hands together like a mad genius, and I army-crawled to the pantry with Cade hot on my heels. When I passed him a bucket, he looked like he was about to explode with happiness.
I was just going to have to hope that Delaney could forgive us because we were about to escalate this battle to a whole other level.
Booker sagged back onto the couch with a wry laugh. “If I knew babysitting was this much fun, I’d have gotten in on this years ago.”
“No one would trust you with a kid. You’re lucky that Trace hasn’t got enough sense to keep us away. Anyway, Cade is Trace’s kid, so you don’t get to call it babysitting.” Dex pulled a Nerf dart out from the couch cushion and chucked it at Booker’s head.
“Hey! I’m the responsible one! And you’re right, I’m sorry,” Booker added.
“No. You’re the boring one,” Dex corrected him.
Booker just glared but didn’t correct him. I saw the flinch from Dex from across the living room as he realized he’d struck a nerve.
“Cade’s asleep,” I told them as I came over to join them. “He was absolutely worn out.”
I looked at my watch. It was nearly eleven at night. The girls would probably be out for another hour or two at least. As I looked around at the playful destruction of the house, I decided not to worry about it. We had time to put it all back together before she got back, and it wasn’t like anything was broken.
“He’s a good kid,” Dex said, rolling his head in my direction. Cade wasn’t the only one who was exhausted from playing. “Still kinda weird thinking about you with a kid, though.”
“Tell me about it.” My shoulders ached as I leaned back in the armchair. I may be too old for commando rolls, not that I was going to let on to the other two. “It’s kind of amazing.”
Booker hummed in agreement, and Dex nodded seriously.
“I think I want one,” he told us seriously.
“I don’t think the town could handle any mini-Dexes taking over this place. Imagine the chaos,” Booker said grumpily and then shoved Dex so he’d know he wasn’t being serious.
Dex shook his head and laughed. A couple of weeks ago, kids wouldn’t have even been on our radar. I’d never even considered it with Chelsea.
“So, what happens now?” Dex asked.
I looked around at the mess. “I guess if we take down the fort and clear away the toys, it won’t look too bad. You’re cleaning up any water, though, since you were the one responsible for it.”
“Erm, I wasn’t the one with the bucket,” Dex pointed out and then shook his head. “I meant with you and Delaney.”
“We’re just seeing how it goes. We’ve got a lot of time to make up for, but we’re also different people since the last time we were together. She’s staying here for now, and Cade likes it here. I’m just…I dunno. I’m figuring out where I fit in at the minute.”
“Hmmm, yeah. Play it casual in case you need to back out. Sensible.”
“What? No, that’s not what I’m saying.”
“Sure, sure. I mean, it’s not like you’ve finally got back the woman you always loved and found out about an amazing kid that’s yours. Gotta keep an exit in mind just in case.”
“You’re being a dick.” I knew what Dex was doing. He always did shit like this.
“No. I’m pointing out to you what you have.”
“I know what I have, but it’s not that simple. I can’t just blow into their lives and take over,” I snapped.
“You’re not taking over, Trace. You’re making a family. The family you always wanted with the woman you always loved. I’m not saying that there wasn’t something with Chelsea in the beginning. But we could all see that it was nothing compared to how you felt about Delaney. It was an obligation. What you thought you were meant to do. And it never made you happy. It only made you miserable. But Delaney’s back. She’s here, in your life, offering you everything you’ve ever wanted, and I don’t want to see you miss out on this because you’re afraid.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“Chelsea—”
“Is out of my life,” I blurted out. “She’s gone. Skipped town. And I couldn’t be happier about it. She’s made my life hell for years. She’s not going to risk coming back now. There’s a warrant out for her arrest. I’m finally free. Finally happy. I’m not afraid of Delaney. I love her. I love Cade. This is the life I was always supposed to have, and I’m not going to fuck this up. I’m going to marry her and fill this house with kids as soon as she lets me.”
Dex grinned as I panted from my outburst. Fuck, how did he always get a rise out of me even when I knew he was trying to do it?
But in true Dex fashion, he’d got me to say something I hadn’t even realized I wanted. Because I did want to marry Delaney, and I wanted to do it now. I wanted it all, and I was so done putting my life on hold while I waited for the right time. I’d suffered through years of Chelsea’s abuse, telling myself that it wasn’t the right time to leave. I couldn’t admit to what was happening, to how miserable I really was. I could hear my mother’s voice when those thoughts came into my head now, and I saw it for what it was. I hated that she had so much influence over me, even at my age. Not that I’d known it then. Booker had seen it, but he’d known I needed to find my way to what I wanted in my own time.
I was done living my life for the family. Done doing what I thought everyone else wanted.
It was time to be selfish for a change. To look at what I wanted in this life. There was nothing wrong with being happy, and anyone who thought they had a right to stand in the way of that could go fuck themselves.
“I’m proud of you, little brother,” Booker chimed in, drawing me out of the spiral I was starting.
I looked at him in confusion.
“It’s about time you started living for yourself. This life looks good on you.” He crossed his legs at the ankles and folded his arms over his chest as he looked like he was about to fall asleep. “Don’t fuck it up,” he added.
Dex pointed at Booker like he was reiterating his point and then sagged back into the couch as well.
“Does anyone else feel old as fuck right now?” he asked with a grimace. “I think I pulled a muscle in my ass when I did that epic skid into the kitchen.”
“You mean when you tripped over the rug and fell over, right? And yes, why does it hurt this much?” I tried rolling my shoulders, but it did nothing to ease the ache that was building there.
“You know what this means, right?” Booker said sleepily. His eyes were already closed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he started snoring any minute. He did get up at the ass crack of dawn to get started around the ranch, though.
“If you’re thinking paintball once a month, then I’m in.” I could already hear the gears turning in Dex’s head, and there’d be no getting out of this. He’d probably have something set up within the week.
“No,” Booker said firmly, but I saw the corner of his lips tick up. He was on board, even if he didn’t want to admit it. “Might be time to dust off Grammy’s ring.”
My brow furrowed at the suggestion. “I thought you wanted to use that yourself someday. You’re the eldest. It’s supposed to be yours.”
“Nah, I just didn’t want you to give it to Chelsea,” Booker admitted. “It didn’t feel right giving it to her when I knew you didn’t love her like that. It was always going to be for Delaney.”
Booker was a self-declared bachelor for life. He said he was too busy for relationships. Didn’t have room for the drama. He got on better with horses than he did people. Or at least that was what he said. I didn’t think he realized that his business plan proved him wrong in that respect, but I wasn’t going to point it out to him. It was something he needed to come to in his own time.
“I think you should keep it, Book,” I told him quietly.
He shrugged like he didn’t mind either way and then we all fell into silence.
Maybe I shouldn’t sit back and let him make his own mistakes. It hadn’t exactly worked out for me. I’d been through hell and back while I learned a lesson that I really wish someone had just sat me down for instead.
I wanted Booker to be happy. He deserved to be. And even if he tried to say that he was, I could see the loneliness he felt when he thought none of us were paying attention. He tried to cover it up with his gruff, give-no-shits attitude, but I saw the truth in him.
Our parents had fucked with his head just as much as they did with mine, and it was time to figure out how to show him that.