“Stop fidgeting, she’s going to love you,” Carter says, taking my hand in his as he drives.
I’m nervous to meet Bella. She means so much to Carter, if she doesn’t like me I don’t know what I’ll do. I start chewing on the corner of my lip, I know he thinks she’s going to love me but she could hate me too, right? I mean, I’m taking up all Carter’s free time now, he hasn’t had a chance to spend much with her lately. She could hate me for that.
The car slows and I look out the window to see we’ve arrived at the rest stop, “This is where we’re meeting them?”
“Yeah, it’s one of Bella’s favourite places, she likes to feed the ducks. Our parents never let her have any pets so I started bringing her here when I got my license. It kinda became our thing,” Carter explains.
We’re a couple of minutes late, since Carter decided to get frisky in the shower and put us even further behind schedule. Carter comes around to my side of the car and opens my door for me. “Relax already, she will like you. Bells likes everyone. Well, mostly everyone. I’m like 99% sure she will like you.”
“Gee, great pep talk, thanks,” I deadpan.
He tugs me out of the car and into his arms, “You got this, My Girl, trust me,” he chuckles.
“Hmm, we’ll see,” I mumble into his shoulder before he releases me. We start for the undercover seating area beside the big duck pond that turns into a stream that twists its way down past all the secluded picnic areas along the path.
Then I see her. I know it’s her from the smile on her face when she sees Carter. She runs at him and he drops my hand in time to catch her in his arms and twirl her around in a circle.
“I miss you,” she says when he places her back on her feet.
A sad smile lifts the corner of Carter’s lips, “I know Princess, I’m sorry. I’ve been training really hard for a fight I’ve got coming up.”
Bella looks down at her sandal clad feet, “Yeah, I know.”
I watch Carter interact with her, and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. He tilts her chin up and gives her one of his ultra rare, real smiles, “I’ve missed you too, you know,” he says when her eyes meet his, “And I want to introduce you to someone really special to me.”
Her eyes shift to me, standing quietly at Carter’s side, and a shy smile tilts her mouth, “She’s pretty,” Bella whispers to Carter, and he grins.
Wrapping one arm around my shoulders he pulls me into his side, “I know, and she’s really smart too. I think you’ll like her,” he tells his sister.
Now that I’m in their little bubble, she looks at me properly, then arches a brow and purses her lips. Her eyes roam over me, examining me, then she turns her gaze back to Carter. “Will she take me shopping so I can get a dress like that?” she asks, pointing at my dress.
I quickly look down, momentarily forgetting what I’m wearing. It’s my Captain America dress, with the Avengers symbol over my boobs and the one and only Captain Steve Rogers splashed across the skirt. Grinning at Bella I say, “I got this one online, I can order you one if you like?”
Her big brown eyes light up, “Yes! Yes please. I want one just like that,” she gushes and claps in excitement.
“Okay, I’ll order one for you tomorrow,” then I point to my feet at my matching shoes. “You want a pair of these too?”
Her wide eyes flash to Carter, “Can we keep her?” she asks.
Carter chuckles and gives my arm a little squeeze, “I’m never letting her go,” he tells his sister.
My heart flutters in my chest. I was right when I we first met, I knew he would steal my heart, and he has.
Bella then takes me over to meet her friend Georgie, who also helps take care of Bella. She’s a gorgeous little thing with golden blonde curls and curves to die for. I’m allowed to call her little because she’s even shorter than me, and that’s saying something.
She’s also one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and I feel instantly comfortable with both Bella and Georgie. So much so, that I tell them about the shoot I’d like to do with Bella as my model.
At first Bella is excited, but then she frowns, “Are you sure you don’t want to use a pretty girl?”
My throat constricts, “You are a pretty girl, Bella. I came up with this whole concept after Carter first told me about you. This entire idea was created just for you,” I tell her honestly, pleading with my eyes for her to believe my words, to believe she is every bit as worthy as any other girl out there.
She swallows, glancing at her brother for confirmation, Carter nods to her, “It’s true Bells, Chance showed me what she wants to do and its perfect for you, Princess.”
Her excitement returns, “Okay, can we do it now?”
I laugh, “Hold up, sweets. I’ll have to organise it with my brother, he’s my boss these days, and I’m hoping he will help me with the shoot,” I explain to her and her shoulders drop. “It will be soon though, I promise.”
Georgie touches Bella’s shoulder, “Great things take time, remember,” she murmurs softly.
Bella sighs and nods, “Okay, will you ring me when we can do it?”
“Of course,” I tell her and she throws herself at me, taking me off guard.
She wraps me in her arms tightly, “Thank you. I can’t wait!”
I hug her back, “Me either.”
Bella, Georgie and I all exchange numbers as we get ready to leave, “It was so great meeting you, Bella. We’ll talk soon,” I tell her, as she gets into Georgie’s car.
“Okay!” she calls back through the closed window and waves as they drive away.
When I turn to Carter he’s smiling bigger than I’ve ever seen before. “What?” I ask.
He shakes his head, “What have we learned today?” he smirks, “That Carter is always right. I told you she would love you, didn’t I?”
I roll my eyes and I flip him off as we walk back to the car, “Don’t go getting a big head now. I’m loveable, it’s only natural that your adorable sister would love me too.”
Carter scoffs, “Yeah, right, that’s why you were picking at your nail polish on the drive out here, and I had to continually reassure you that it would be fine,” he says with an eye roll of his own.
We laugh as we climb into the car, “Yeah okay, fine. You were right about this, this one thing. That doesn’t make you right about everything though.”
He slides the key into the ignition then pauses, looking at me as I buckle my seatbelt, “Oh really? Are you challenging me?” he asks.
I shrug, “Could be, why?”
He grins wickedly, “So you’re saying I’m not always right? Correct?”
I nod, “Yeah, and?”
Turning the key, he shifts his attention to the rear view mirror as he backs out of the parking spot. “Oh, My Girl, I’m going to have such a good time proving you wrong,” he says as he pulls onto the highway, still grinning like a madman.
The next morning, I arrive at the gallery bright eyed and bushy tailed. Not. Carter spent the night proving to me just how right he was when he’d told me that sex with him wouldn’t be lovely but earth shattering, mind blowing, out of this fucking world. My body is tender in places it’s never been tender before, but in a good way. And I’m beyond tired, multiple orgasms are exhausting.
I’m half sprawled on the table in the break room, when Hux walks in, “What the hell happened to you? You look like shit,” he says, placing a cup of coffee on the table in front of me.
I snatch it up, wrapping my hands around the warm mug. “Carter’s cock happened to me,” I mumble, before taking a sip of the heavenly liquid.
Hux flinches, “Uh no, just no. Don’t ever, like fucking ever, talk to me about your sex life.”
I blame the lack of sleep and caffeine for having even said the word cock to my big brother. I wince as I assure him, “Yeah no, that won’t happen ever again, promise.”
He shudders, “Good, now let’s talk about something else before the urge to hunt down your boyfriend and remove his favourite body part overwhelms me.”
Snickering into my mug I take another sip, “You do realise Carter is a MMA fighter, right? You wouldn’t get near his favourite body part.”
Hux glares at me, “That’s not changing the subject.”
I hold my hands up in surrender, “Okay, sorry. Moving right along, do you remember the shoot I told you I want to do with Carter’s sister? With the flowers and stuff?”
He nods, “Yeah, you mentioned it. Why?”
“I spoke to Bella about it yesterday and she’s really excited to do it. I was hoping that maybe you would help me and we could do it on Friday?” I ask hopefully.
My brother mulls it over silently, which is extremely annoying because he’s unreadable. His expression gives away nothing as he sips his own coffee and considers my request. After a minute of total silence, he says, “Have you done any work similar to the concept your wanting to achieve before?”
Yes! He’s on board. Grabbing my laptop case I pull out my MacBook and open it, pulling up the images I took weeks ago when I first started playing with the idea. As soon as my eyes land on the first picture pain spreads through my chest, Papa.
How could I have forgotten that Papa had helped me by striking ridiculous ballerina-like poses for me? I blink away tears as I stare at the screen in front of me. He really was the best father I could have asked for.
But then I look up into Hux’s concerned eyes as he approaches me, and I feel guilty for loving the man who caused my big brother so much pain. A tear slides down my cheek and I wipe it away quickly, slamming my laptop closed before Hux can see.
“Chance,” he says cautiously, “What’s wrong?”
I take a deep breath, trying to compose myself but it’s hard, my emotions are right under the surface, just waiting for me to crack. A lump forms in my throat and I squeeze my eyes shut trying to swallow it down. “Sorry, it’s nothing. I’m fine,” I sniffle.
Hux drags the chair out beside mine and sits, throwing one arm around the back of my seat, “Honey, don’t lie to me. We don’t do that shit. Remember?”
I shoot him a glare, anger rising inside of me. “You’re kidding me, right? We don’t lie to each other? Where was that policy when you refused to tell me the truth about your relationship with Papa for all those years?”
His brows shoot up in surprise at the venom in my tone. We haven’t spoken about what he told me since that day, and I think he must have thought I was over it. Well, I’m not. I don’t know how to get past it. My loving Papa was my brother’s tormenter. How can I ever get over that?
With a deep frustrated sigh, he says, “I told you why we kept it from you. It was for your own good, Chance. What’s the point of forgiveness if I allowed you to be tainted by our pasts?”
I bite down on my lip to stop a sob from breaking free. “What do you mean? What forgiveness?”
Hux licks his lips, choosing his words carefully, “I wasn’t able to forgive him fully until I saw him with you. You changed his entire life, and gave us a second chance to be father and son. It was hard, but it was worth it. Things between he and I were never going to be perfect, but they were a hell of a lot better than they’d ever been before. Bringing up the past and telling you what you wanted to know would have polluted that. It would have taken away the small amount of solid ground we had come to find, and it would have hurt you.”
Unshed tears rim his eyes as he explains his reasons for lying to me, and I know it was never their intent to be deceitful, but to protect. They wanted to protect the fragile relationship they were rebuilding and protect me.
I nod and allow my tears to roll down my cheeks freely. “I feel guilty for loving him when I know how much he hurt you,” I confess.
“Oh, honey, no,” Hux says as he pulls me into his chest, stroking my hair away from my face, comforting me. “He was worthy of your love. Do you hear me? He worked hard to earn my forgiveness, and he became the man you deserved as a father. Don’t you ever feel bad for loving him. Your Papa was not my father. They were two different people, okay?”
Pressing the heels of my palms into my eyes, I try to collect myself as I let my brother’s words soak in. “Okay,” I say on a deep exhale. “Okay, I’ll try.”
Hux hugs me for a few more minutes before saying, “Now, let me see these pictures you were going to show me before.”
We spend the next hour going over potential locations, props, lighting and other details to make sure everything will run smoothly on Friday. I shoot a text to Carter, Georgie, and one to Bella, letting them all know the plan before opening the gallery.