30. Garrett
GARRETT
“Do you remember that show we did in California when TCA opened for us?” I ask as Lachlan tunes his bass and Maverick twirls the drumstick between his fingers. TCA—Tin Can Aficionados—is a ska band that’s relocated to Love Beach, South Carolina, doing mostly local shows.
They’d been young, eager, and we’d had a hell of a time on tour with them.
Maverick and Lachlan both nod.
“We had that crazy jam session,” Lachlan reminisces. “It was sick—everyone was vibing. The crowd loved it.”
“It felt easy back then.”
“Are you worried that we can’t have that without Darren?” Mav asks, but I’m already shaking my head.
“No.” When they both stare at me, their eyes wide with disbelief, I chuff out a laugh.
“Fine, I might have before but I can’t make him love this”—I wave my hand between us—“and I’m done trying.
I keep looking up that guy online that Emerson and I saw at the bar.
He was good.” Lifting my shoulder, I add, “I still think he might be good for us.”
“Look at you still scoping out the talent,” Lach teases and I shake my head.
“All I’m saying is that we have options. I’ll play until we find someone or hell, I don’t care if we even look. I just want to not fucking worry every time I go to bed what I’m gonna wake up to.”
“Amen, man. It’s been rough,” Lachlan says rubbing the back of his neck. “He made it impossible to just go out and have a good time. There always had to be more and fuck—more is never worth it at this level. It’s not what we agreed to.”
“Exactly. I’m too old for his bullshit.” Mav adds. “My daughter hears things, you know? I can’t have her looking at me like I’m anything other than the man who hung the moon for her.”
The thought hits me square in the chest both for my friend and for me.
Will I ever get to be a father?
Do I want to be?
We all went out that night to some shitty bar with cheap beer and plenty of fans after the show. Maverick and Faye hit it off and were all over each other, then snuck off to her car when no one was watching.
It was wild.
Fun.
But Faye showed up a couple of months later pregnant and claiming it was his. He never wavered and did everything he could to support her. Their daughter, Olive, is five now and amazing and while he and Faye have an amicable custody agreement, I know it’s hard for him to be away.
“You’re such a hot girl-dad,” Lach snickers, earning a side-eye from Maverick as I laugh into my fist.
“Shut it.”
“And how’s Henley?” Lach teases, knowing how easy the subject of Maverick’s sister, who also happens to live on a nearby street, will spike his blood pressure. As far as I know they never went any further than flirting, but Lachlan still likes to rile Mav up every chance he gets.
“She’s fine. Stay away from her,” he barks before turning his attention to me. “Were you gonna tell me you moved some young, single dad in next door?”
“Samson? Yeah, Colt handled that for Tom. Samson needed a quieter spot for him and his daughters after getting a job working security for Andrews International. He’s Emerson’s bodyguard. If you’re worried whether he’s a good dude, I can assure you he’s been vetted.”
“She thinks he’s hot,” Maverick groans and I can’t help but laugh. “And his mom is there, I guess, with the girls, so Henley was watching Olive and they were all playing.”
“That’s great; what’s the problem?” I ask because I would have thought he’d be pumped that his sister’s neighbor was handpicked and not some random asshole. Colt, Roan, and I made sure that our street and the couple surrounding us were exclusively overseen by us.
We like our privacy and require the knowledge that there won’t be any surprises.
“She’s getting attached. She moved here to get away from everything. She needs to focus on herself and not get mixed up with the hot single dad.”
I gape at him as Lach drops into the chair, wiping tears from his eyes as he laughs hysterically.
“Dude,” I murmur, unable to keep the amusement from my voice.
“I know, but she’s my baby sister, okay? I don’t want to see her get hurt and also? It would help if she didn’t have to tell me how good-looking he is and what a great dad he is.”
“Maybe I need a hot single dad,” Lach muses, his eyes falling suggestively to Mav who flips him the bird.
“Fuck all the way off.”
Ah, so glad we’re getting the band back together.
GARRETT: I need to know what color
EMERSON: What color?
GARRETT: Your lips
GARRETT: I can’t stop thinking about it
EMERSON: You really want to know?
GARRETT: Yes
EMERSON: Did you write a song today?
GARRETT: You can’t just demand a song
EMERSON: I can if you want this exact shade of lipstick wrapped around your cock later
GARRETT: That is not helpful for productivity
EMERSON: I thought it was good for motivation
GARRETT: The only thing it’s done is make it hard to sit
EMERSON: I can sit on it later…
GARRETT: Dammit Em
EMERSON: (kiss face emoji)
GARRETT: Also yes I did write a song
EMERSON: What a tease…
GARRETT: Promise not to tease you later
EMERSON: That’s good because I have the BEST news!
GARRETT: What’s that?
EMERSON: The deal that I’ve been working on in Tennessee went through!
GARRETT: That’s great, Em, do you want to celebrate?
EMERSON: Orgasms will do just fine
EMERSON: And maybe some champagne
GARRETT: Done and done.
The champagne is thoroughly chilled by the time Emerson and Samson pull up to the house. The guys are long gone, but I didn’t want to miss this opportunity to see Samson.
And give him the heads-up that he has one incredibly overbearing older brother sniffing around.
Mav is harmless most of the time, but Henley had been in trouble when she arrived in Ironwood. I didn’t ask for all the details and they didn’t offer. He just wanted her to be safe and that hasn’t changed.
I guess now I can assume it had something to do with a bad breakup; that makes the most sense.
Samson eyes me as I meet them at the curb. “Evening,” I greet and smile as he opens the door and I hold my hand out for Emerson.
“Curbside service? A girl could get used to this,” she announces, letting me wrap my arm around her and pull her into my side.
“You’ll get full service inside,” I whisper in her ear before looking up at Samson. “I heard you met your new neighbor.”
He freezes, his gaze tracking between us as he pushes his shoulders back. “I have. My mother introduced the girls. I guess she has a niece that comes over so they played together.”
“Why does that matter?” Emerson asks, her eyes sparkling when she looks up at me, already guessing I’m prodding for a reason.
“She’s Maverick’s sister.”
Emerson snorts and Samson frowns.
“Who’s Maverick?”
“He’s my drummer.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Samson growls under his breath, “of course he is.”
“Do you know him?”
“Him? No. Your band, sure, but…” His words trail off like he’s running the calculus to determine how much more shit this adds to his plate.
“I’m not saying don’t start something with her,” I clarify as eyes snap to mine. “I’m just letting you know she thinks you’re hot and Mav is pissed about it.”
“I’m not looking to start anything. I have enough women running my life right now.”
“No offense taken,” Emerson deadpans, and I watch as Samson goes sheet-white before she adds, “I’m kidding.”
“About being offended or not being offended,” I try because I think the poor guy could use some clarification.
“I’m not offended,” she replies cheerily and we both watch as he exhales, the relief evident by the sag of his body against the side of his car as he scrubs his palms over his face.
“Honestly, you’re the only woman in my life that doesn’t add any stress to my day,” Samson mutters.
“Hmm, I’ll have to try harder.”
He snorts out a laugh and shakes his head.
“You go above and beyond to make sure I get to be at all the important things for my girls. They are little sparkly, chaos tornadoes and then there’s my mother who is incredible for helping, but if she rearranges the pantry one more time I’m going to lose it. ”
“I guess that means I’m going to have to take the girls for more auntie spa days.”
“Auntie?” Samson parrots and Emerson grins.
“I miss my cousin’s kids. She’s basically my sister so they call me Aunt Emmy.”
“I think his head is about to explode,” I stage-whisper to Emerson as Samson rubs the back of his neck. “Seriously, man, we’re a lot; you need to go and decompress.”
“It’s not that, it’s just… I was married and I didn’t have this much support. I didn’t have people who cared about my kids. I didn’t have options.”
“Well, you have a family here, Nico,” Emerson states. “Those men in the security office love your kids. Jace just took the polish off his nails today because it was chipping.”
“Thanks,” he says, the singular word holding more weight than an entire monologue. Standing together, Emerson and I watch as he gets into the car and drives down the road.
“So, about that full-service experience you mentioned…” she purrs, turning into me to press her full tits against my chest. Her soft curves fit perfectly with my hard lines, the anticipation of teasing her too much to consider as I pull us toward the house.
“Coming right up…”