Chapter Twenty-Four
Alyse
Kaden’s parents played it off so well. I really think Kaden has no idea what is going on. I got a text message from Emma saying all of them were there and everything was set.
I avoided talking about the house as best I could and focused on K.C. when talking to Kaden. The house is done. I did the final walk through before I left for Germany.
Bryce and Emma really stepped up and helped with all the furniture that had to be delivered. They even met the movers and supervised all of my personal belongings being boxed. Emma and Jessica even helped Willow to unpack everything for us. I keep going back to Rigs and his idea of fate. Fate brought these wonderful people into my life. I don’t know how I’d make it without them.
Kaden is coming home to his house. To our house.
I pay close attention to his facial expressions, and I’m dying inside to get to the house. I’m a little freaked out that he realizes we aren’t going in the direction of my apartment.
When we stop, I see everyone on the front porch. There’s a huge banner that says “Welcome Home, Kaden!” I’m so excited to see his reaction.
He’s smiling from ear to ear when he realizes even his parents are here. But the moment he realizes that he is in his own living room is one I will never forget.
“Lyse,” he whispers, and I can tell that he might just be crying.
I’m folded into his arms as he buries his face into my neck. I love the feel of his beard. He’s shaking, and I feel him sniff. I can’t hold back the emotions any longer. I wrap my arms tighter around him and rub his back.
“Love you,” he says in his new gruff voice.
“Love you, too. So much. Welcome home,” I say, trying to catch my breath between tears.
We are interrupted by K.C. falling into our legs and joining in on the hug. Kaden reaches down and pulls him up with one arm. His clapping and happy squeals has everyone in the house laughing.
Suddenly the door flies open and Willow comes in out of breath. “Surprise!” she calls out then places her hands on her knees.
“I missed the damn surprise, but I’ll be damned if I don’t make an entrance. Aww, look how cute you three are! I’m so sorry I’m late. I swear that ward would fall apart if I wasn’t there. Apparently, doctors are not required to know something as simple as the alphabet. It took me twenty minutes to find discharge paperwork for one of the patients. It was filed under ‘G’ when their last name was Joseph,” Willow says as she comes over and joins in on our hug.
“I’m just glad you could make it. Better late than never. Have you met everyone?” I ask not knowing if she had the opportunity to with helping in the move or prep of this party.
“I believe so,” she says, looking around the room. Suddenly, her eyes stop and get a little wide. She quickly shifts them to me and gives me this weird look.
“What?” I say, laughing at her expression.
She pulls me from Kaden and turns me so that my back is towards the group. Like she’s trying to block her view from them.
“Who is that guy?” she whispers. She looks like she is starting to break out in a sweat and not from the rushing entrance she just made.
“Who?” I say, starting to turn around.
“Don’t turn around!” she says in a panic.
“Well, how the hell am I going to tell you who it is if I can’t look?” I say, starting to laugh as I notice a flush cross her cheeks.
“Please tell me he’s single,” she says, digging her nails into my arms.
“I can’t tell you that if I don’t know who the hell you are talking about. Ow! Would you stop accosting me?” I say, really enjoying seeing her get this flustered.
I’ve never known Willow to fluster over anyone. Suddenly her face takes on a panicked look.
“Sure! Let me show you where I put everything. I’m just going to show Alyse where I unpacked some of her stuff so she can freshen up. We’ll be right back,” Willow says, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards one of the closed doors off the living area.
She practically shoves me through the door and slams it shut behind her.
I start laughing hysterically at her dishevelled actions. “What the fuck, Willow? Have you lost it?”
“Oh, I’ve lost it. I look like shit. I came straight from the hospital. I’m still wearing my cat scrubs, for fucks sake. My hair. Oh my God,” she says as she spins and runs into the master bathroom.
At least she remembered to pick the right room.
I open the closet and see that all of my clothes are hung and arranged on one side of the walk in. I grab a cute thin strapped tank top that criss-crosses in the back and pull down a pair of cut off shorts that will probably hang on her.
Walking into the bathroom, I see her standing at the mirror trying to brush out her hair.
“Here,” I say, laying the clothes on the long double bowled sink.
“You are an angel. You need to change, too,” she says, whipping off her scrubs and pulling on the clothes. “Oh, this is cute. Go get changed!”
I’m wearing capris yoga pants, so I grab another pair of cut offs and a baby doll t-shirt. I change in the closet and giggle the whole time. I’m running through my head on who she may be talking about and it hits me. Gavin, aka Sporto. It has to him. I’m pretty sure she’s met everyone else.
I walk back into the bathroom and lean up against the sink while I watch her pull her hair into a cute little twist. She freshens her makeup from the contents in her purse.
“Do I look okay?” she says as she twists and turns, inspecting her reflection in the wide mirror.
“You’re gorgeous. So, tell me what this guy looks like and I’ll tell you who he is, maybe. There’s one of Kaden’s friends that I haven’t met myself yet,” I say, smiling at her as I watch her continue to play with a few stray hairs.
“My first thought was why is Tom Hardy standing in your living room? Then I looked again and saw that it wasn’t really Tom Hardy, but a fucking God in human flesh. Holy shit. Tight cropped hair, goatee, I think he had dimples or at least those cute deep creases in his cheeks. Tattoos for miles. He is wearing a blank tank. Those arms. Holy shit. But his eyes. Alyse. His eyes were beautiful, but haunting at the same time.” She stops and leans both hands on the counter.
“I’ve never been affected by anyone like this with one look. Is this what it was like with Kaden?” she asks, letting out a breath and looking at me with a serious look.
“I’m not sure. But I’m thinking, yes. It was all consuming, I can tell you that. I still melt when I look into his deep brown eyes. It kills me that he has to wear those damn sunglasses. I miss the way he makes me feel when he looks at me,” I say, pulling away from the counter.
“Let’s go, freak. You look good and you seem a little calmer. We have a party to partake of!” I say, giving her a hug. “Thank you for everything. The house looks amazing.”
“Anything for you. Wait, you haven’t told me who he is,” she says.
“That my friend would be Sporto or Gavin. There’s a reason for the haunting look in his eyes,” I say, thinking about all the heartache these guys have been through.
We make our way back out into the open living room, dining room, and kitchen. I look around and see all our friends laughing and talking. There’s enough food to feed an army. Kaden is sitting at the high-top counter island that separates the kitchen and dining room. He has a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. I see him nodding and smiling at something that Gavin is saying.
I watch as Gavin stops talking and glances over at Willow. His smile fades and I see his eyes darken. They are haunting and sad, yet I think I see a quick spark that just as quick slips away. He turns and continues to talk to Kaden.
I notice that Willow had a little hitch to her step during the whole heated exchange. Instead of following me over to the island, she diverts to the living room where K.C. is playing with Jessica on the floor.
Continuing over by myself, I lean into Kaden, who instantly wraps his arms around me.
“Lyse…Sporto,” Kaden struggles to get out.
“Hi. Gavin, right? So nice to finally meet you,” I say, reaching out to shake his hand.
He shakes my hand returning the sentiment. I notice his eyes keep drifting over to the living room floor. Oh boy, this could get interesting.
I notice the sun is starting to set, and I feel a little heartbroken that Kaden won’t be able to fully share this moment of our first sunset. With the sun going down, though, we can move things to the deck. I need to get Kaden into a lounge chair. I know he doesn’t want to miss anything, but he’s still recovering.
“Babe, you really need to rest,” I say, immediately getting a shake of his head back and forth.
“I know you don’t want to miss anything. Let me get you situated in one of the wonderful looking lounge chairs out on our deck. That way you can still listen and participate with the group as much as you can,” I say, taking his face into my hands and giving him a little kiss.
I’m given a smile in return and he nods his head in agreement.
I feel bad because there is so much food, and Kaden can’t eat half of it. Emma tried to make soft foods, but all he could stomach was the mashed potatoes. I mixed him up a protein shake and got him situated onto the lounger. With a few soft pillows behind his head, he’s propped and in the middle of everyone. Jessica walks K.C. out but as soon as he sees Kaden in the comfy lounger, he takes off and climbs up and onto his daddy’s side. Thank goodness he chose the good side. I know Kaden tries to shrug it off, but I’m sure he’s still very tender. K.C. isn’t exactly the gentle kind, either. He’s more like a tank, just plowing in and over things.
It’s nice to have everyone here. Rigs even brought his wife and son. I see Jessica take quick glances at the teenager. I think we have another crush in the house. Speaking of crushes, Willow is as far away from Gavin that she can possibly get. I don’t understand that girl sometimes. She is not shy until it comes to men. It seems like she turns into some bumbling goof instead of the head on straight women she actually is.
I sit down on the end of the lounger and continue to just look at everyone that is surrounding us from all sides. I try to get Willow’s attention as she sits and talks with Kaden’s mom. I see her continually glancing over the Gavin’s direction.
Gavin, however, is leaning against the railing staring down at his beer bottle mindlessly peeling at the label. He has a slight smile on his face as he listens to Rigs recall a story of a time they were all together.
“Fuck you, man,” Gavin jests. “It was the perfect pass. I can’t help that Spanks never played with anything other than his own balls.”
I hear Kaden let out a snort and see him shrug his shoulders.
“See, even he agrees,” he says, motioning his hand towards Kaden.
The conversation continues as I lean back onto Kaden’s legs. I feel him gently run his finger through my hair, and I close my eyes for a second.
When I open my eyes, I see Willow standing and moving to walk into the house. A few seconds later, I watch as Gavin pushes off of the railing and follows behind her. I try to stretch my neck to see what may be happening, but I’m at a weird angle. Damn it.
Several minutes go by before Gavin returns and takes his post against the railing. He’s now wearing a slight purse to his lips, and a fresh beer in his hand that he is now aggressively peeling at the label.
I don’t know Gavin, but I trust the guys instincts and can’t imagine they would be associated with someone that was a bad guy. Yet, there is still no sign of Willow.
I whisper to Kaden that I’ll be back and go in to see where she might be. I may be over reacting, but for some reason I feel like something isn’t right.
I find her standing in the living room with her arms wrapped around her mid-section facing the front window. I can see her body shaking like she’s crying. What the fuck?
“What the hell happened, Willow? What are you crying?” I say, hugging her from behind.
“I’m such an idiot.” Her voice is weak and wobbly as she tries to talk through her tears.
“Honey. You are the last person to be considered an idiot,” I say, rocking her back and forth.
“I’m acting like a love stricken little girl,” she says, sniffing. “But that has been quickly stricken down and now I’m standing here crying like my heart has been shattered in a thousand pieces. I don’t even know him.”
“What the hell happened?” I say, pulling her down to sit on the massive sectional Kaden had picked out.
“I came in to get a refill and he followed me inside. My heart and stomach did a little flip, getting all excited. In a matter of seconds, it felt like he reached right in and pulled them out. He basically told me to please stop giving him puppy dog eyes. That he wasn’t some lab experiment to fix and cure and he could tell I wanted to try to fix him. He was fucked up and would only fuck me up in the end. He also said I wasn’t worth even a quick fuck. Talk about punch to the gut,” she says, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“He said that? Said you weren’t worth even a quick fuck?” I say in disbelief.
“Not in so many words, but that’s how I took it,” she says, rubbing her hands on her thighs.
I go to march out there and give this man a piece of my mind when she stops me.
“Just let it go. It’s not worth it, Alyse. It would only make matters worse. I don’t know why I’m so upset. Normally, I would have taken those words and slammed them right back at him. I’d flip it around somehow to make it seem like it was all in his head. But it wasn’t. I was doing exactly what he said. I couldn’t even pull out a white lie,” she says, shaking her head.
I glance over my shoulder and am met with a pair of sad eyes. I can see the hurt and pain in them, yet his face remains stoic.
“Don’t be mad, but I think I’m just going to go. I’m firing all pistons after a twelve-hour shift and am probably just overly emotional from exhaustion,” she says, standing and shaking her arms out. “I’m going to say goodbye to everyone. Including him. I will not let him think he has any power over me.”
“That’s right, girl. You are woman, let’s hear you roar,” I say, standing and pulling her in for a hug.
We make it back out on to the deck, and Willow starts her farewells. Using the valid reason of being exhausted, she makes her way around to everyone. When she gets to Gavin, I hear her say, “No one can fix whatever is broken in you. Only you can do that. I hope you do one day.”
I watch as a slight look of shock comes over his face. He watches her all the way until the front door closes. Our eyes meet for a brief second before he shamefully looks down and seems to try to relieve tension in his shoulders.