Kenzie
The police were useless. It was the same story every time I went. Brody’s friend tried to help, but unfortunately, there was nothing they could do until there was evidence Chace had committed a crime, and him knowing what went on inside my apartment at night apparently didn’t warrant any cause for concern. Jeremy wasn’t too impressed, and I was running out of ideas to keep Chace away.
“You need a lawyer,” Jeremy said as we walked to my car.
“I can’t afford a good one. Chace has money. Lots of it. I’m worried if it went to court, he’d win.”
“He couldn’t possibly win.” He took the keys from me and ushered me around to the passenger side.
“I’m not willing to risk it. Not yet.”
“Well, it’s bullshit.”
“I know. But at least uni starts back in a week.”
“So?” Jeremy started the car and backed out of the parking lot.
“So, Chace will have to go back to school. It’ll make it harder for him to harass me if he’s living three hours away.” I pointed him in the direction of Ryder’s house so we could go and see Cole.
I was nervous about Cole meeting him officially. He’d seen him a few times at the roadhouse, but they never really interacted, and I wasn’t sure how things would go. I was worried Cole wouldn’t like him because that would mean any feelings I may have had toward Jeremy would immediately become irrelevant, and I knew that would be too hard to cope with. He was quickly becoming a big part of my life, even after only a few days. There was something about him that drew me in.
“And until then?”
“Until then, Cole can stay with Ryder, and once I’m convinced Chace has left town, I’ll bring my baby home. It’s only a few days.”
Jeremy grunted in response and didn’t say anything else about it. “Okay, so tell me what Cole likes.”
“What? Why?”
“Because first impressions count, and if I want to keep spending time with his mumma, I need to make sure he likes me.” Jeremy smiled, and my heart melted at his words.
“You want to keep spending time with me?” I grinned.
“I haven’t got you out of your pants yet, so yeah.”
I punched him in the arm. “And if that happens, then what? You’ll get bored and move on.” I swallowed thickly at the thought that if I gave in to my feelings and things actually progressed that Jeremy might just get over it and find someone else to “spend time” with.
“Not likely. Once I get you out of those pants, babe, I doubt I’d let you put them back on. In fact, I think I might burn them all to be safe.”
I raised an eyebrow and didn’t say a word because Jeremy had just pulled the car into Ryder’s driveway.
We climbed out of the car and walked up the path. Jeremy was fidgeting beside me, straightening his shirt and brushing his hair out of his face. “Do I look okay?” he asked.
I chuckled and patted his arm. “You look…” I tilted my head and examined him, “…better without the shirt.”
“You told me to put it back on.”
“Well, first impressions and all that.” I turned and pushed open the front door. Cole came running from the living room and skidded to a stop in front of me. His board shorts were tied tight around his waist, sunglasses on his eyes.
“Bailey said we can go for a swim!” No “Hi, Mum.” Nothing. He just clasped my hand in his and pulled me toward the door.
“Slow down, buddy. Where’s Bailey?” I tugged him into the house and nodded at Jeremy to follow.
“Getting her swimmers on. Did you bring yours?”
“No, I thought we could go to the park and take the basketball to shoot some hoops.”
“Don’t say shoot some hoops like you’re cool.”
“Hey, I am cool.”
Cole scoffed and rolled his eyes. So much like Ryder. “Who’s that?” Cole looked up at Jeremy with a curious expression on his face.
“This is Jeremy. He lives next door.”
“Hey, buddy.” Jeremy held his fist out to bump.
“No one fist bumps anymore,” Cole said with a shake of his head.
“Cole, be nice.” I tried not to laugh, but the kid’s attitude was too much sometimes.
“Are you the one with the loud music?” He folded his arms and stared Jeremy down.
Jeremy shot a worried look at me before falling to his knees in front of Cole. “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t realise it was that loud.”
“Mumma wasn’t happy.”
“Believe me, I know. She told me off and made me apologise.” Jeremy looked up at me and wrinkled his nose. I watched in awe as he interacted with my son.
Cole’s shoulders lifted, and he sighed. “She does that to me too.”
“Well, that’s only because your Mumma knows best.”
“Do you like cars?” Cole’s face brightened.
“Yeah, I do,” Jeremy replied with enthusiasm. “I fix them up.”
“Really? Uncle Ryder likes doing that too. He lets me help sometimes.” Cole reached forward and grabbed Jeremy’s hand. “Come with me.”
Jeremy stood and allowed Cole to lead him out of the room, but not before shooting a wink at me over his shoulder.
I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. They were getting along great, and if Cole took him to show him toys, that meant he liked Jeremy. A lot. I’d never seen him attach himself to someone so quickly since Ryder brought Bailey home to meet him when he was little. My heart swelled, so much it felt like it would burst out of my chest at any minute as I listened to my son tell Jeremy about each and every one of his cars in his collection, while Jeremy showed the perfect amount of interest to keep Cole talking.
“Well, that’s new,” Bailey said when she walked into the living room.
“What?”
“That smile on your face.” She pushed her finger into the dimple on my cheek. It was a genetic thing; we all had dimples and curls.
“I smile.” I folded my arms and frowned at her.
“Ah, no, you don’t. Not very often. It doesn’t have anything to do with a certain tattooed bad boy, does it?”
“It has everything to do with him. Listen to them.” I pointed down the hall.
“I have been. I’ve been hiding around the corner eavesdropping for the past five minutes. It’s sweet.” Bailey chewed on her bottom lip and studied me.
“It’s not sweet. It’s sexy as hell, the way he is getting along so well with Cole. Not even Nate and Linc are that good with him, and Cole loves them.”
“It’s only a matter of time.” She grinned.
“For what?”
“Until Cole falls in love with him too.”
“Too?” I screeched. “What are you talking about?”
“You, obviously.” She rolled her eyes and began picking up Cole’s stray toys around the living room.
“I am not in love with Jeremy Donovan.”
Bailey shrugged her left shoulder and pursed her lips. “Maybe not yet, but you will be. I guarantee it.”
“You sound like Ryder. This isn’t a romance novel. This is life.” I huffed and refused to listen to her words. I wasn’t in love with him. No way. It was far too soon for those feelings. In lust, yes. That was undeniable. The guy’s tattoos, and arms, and…his neck. I just wanted to lick it. And when he smiled, my stomach flipped, and I had to try my hardest not to become a giggling schoolgirl.
“Yeah, and you only get one, so carpe diem, baby.”
“I am not taking relationship advice from you.”
“Why not?”
“Because you didn’t even know you were in love with my brother.”
“I was eighteen!” Bailey whined. “I didn’t know what it was. And it was Ryder freaking Jones, for goodness’ sake. He was untouchable. A Greek god.” She smiled dreamily.
I screwed up my face in disgust. “Except to you. I believe there was lots of touching and kissing and fooling around for two people in a fake relationship. And who the hell fake-dates, anyway? No one is that good of an actor.”
“Again. I was eighteen and so insecure. And why are we talking about me? Let’s talk about this kiss between you and Jeremy.” Bailey clapped and sat down on the sofa.
“I’ll kill him.” I leaned against the wall and scowled.
“Who?”
“My big mouth, pain in the ass brother.”
Bailey just laughed. “You know there’s no keeping secrets. So, tell me about this kiss?”
“What are we? Fourteen?” I scoffed. I wasn’t telling her about the kiss with Jeremy just down the hall.
“It was pretty freaking spectacular,” Jeremy called from Cole’s bedroom.
Oh, my god. He’d heard.
Bailey burst into a fit of giggles. “Oops.”
Footsteps sounded down the hall, heavy ones. Jeremy appeared in the doorway with Cole on his shoulders and a bright smile on his face.
“Are we going to the beach or what? Me and my little buddy want to go and scope the babes.” Jeremy wiggled Cole’s legs, making him laugh.
“Eeewww.” Cole screwed his nose up.
“There will be no scoping any babes.” I pointed at both of them. “Cole, you are too young.”
Jeremy pouted. “Just one babe, then?” He held up one finger with a hopeful expression on his face. My mouth twisted into a grin that I tried to hide.
“Girls have germs,” Cole announced.
“Not all of them, buddy,” Jeremy told him, his eyes focused on me. I didn’t even know where Bailey was. She could have been right beside me or doing cartwheels on the back of the sofa, for all the attention I paid. I couldn’t tear my gaze from Jeremy. The way he was flirting with me while having a completely normal conversation with Cole.
“The ones at school do.”
“But your Mumma doesn’t, does she? And she’s a girl.”
I wiped my suddenly sweaty hands on my pants.
“She’s not a girl, silly.”
“She’s not?” Jeremy looked genuinely surprised.
“No. She’s Mum.”
“Ah…true. So, what do you say, Mum? Are we going to the beach or not?” Jeremy asked.
“Just waiting on you two.” I smiled.