Chapter 24
Monroe
It was finally Friday night.
The week had passed quickly, which I chocked up to the fact that there was very little downtime each day. I stayed with Stone every night that week since Monday night. I briefly filled Nikki in on Tuesday since I never went home Monday night. I didn’t get into all the specifics with her because there was just not that kind of time with her having a full schedule at the salon and me feeling the urge to completely change my routine for the exhibition. I was spending my mornings at the studio working on my piece and then once classes started in the afternoon, I didn’t have a moment of free time.
When classes finished, I went to Stone’s place. He made dinner every night since he was finished with training and home before I even left the studio. The great thing about this was that he was a fantastic cook and he made certain I went to bed every night with a full belly. At this point, it was safe to say I had put on the weight I had lost over those two weeks I was without Stone.
Charley and Emme checked in throughout the week, but with everybody’s schedules being so hectic we all resorted to the fact that we’d see each other at the snowboarding contest. The girls knew that Stone and I had worked things out. Once Stone had shared everything with me and told the guys he had done so, they delivered the relevant parts of Stone’s story to the girls.
He seemed to have fallen into this relationship thing relatively easily considering he didn’t have any experience with it nor had he ever planned on having it. Prior to me even leaving the house on Tuesday, he handed me a key and a garage door opener.
“What’s this?” I asked when he placed them in my hand.
“You’re staying here right now, you need to be able to get in. I don’t want you standing around outside waiting for me to open the door for you. Besides, if you ever leave the studio early and get back here before me I want you to be able to come in.”
I figured this all made sense, so I didn’t fight him on it.
So now, I was here at Stone’s place. He had just fed me dinner, showered with me, and made love to me. I was in his bed watching him get his gear sorted for tomorrow. The excitement I felt at finally seeing him compete was something I couldn’t describe. After we worked things out earlier in the week, he told me he had gotten his head on straight and training was going really well. I could not wait for tomorrow to arrive so I could cheer him on.
My phone rang from beside me on the nightstand. I leaned over, looked at the display, and saw that Deacon was calling.
“Deacon,” I greeted as I put the phone up to my ear.
“Hey, kid. How’s it going?”
“It’s going. I’ve had a busy week. You?”
“Haven’t had an opportunity to call you all week, which has bugged the shit out of me. I was unavailable, though. You eating still?”
I smiled. He worried too much.
“Yes, I’m eating.”
“And your heart? Is that any better?”
This was the other thing about being busy. Not only had I not had an opportunity to update any of my brothers on the status of things with Stone and my no-longer-broken heart, but I also did not have an opportunity to consider how I’d tell them. Vaughn would have been my first choice for being the one to whom to break the news. He’d deliver it to Remi and Deacon and talk them down from an outburst. I decided to go short and sweet with my answer to Deacon.
“Mended.”
“I’m sorry, did you say mended?”
“Yeah.”
“Christ, Monroe. What do I not know now?” he bit out, slightly irritated.
“We worked things out,” I answered, quietly.
My eyes went to Stone, who was now looking at me. His eyes had warmed and his face was soft. Vulnerable. This was something I was seeing more and more as time went on.
“We? We, as in you and the guy who fucking shattered your heart?”
“Deacon, please calm down,” I pleaded.
Stone’s face changed and he stopped getting his gear together. He merely stood and watched me.
“Can’t fucking calm down when my baby sister, who passed out from not eating because of this guy, is somehow now telling me that she worked things out with him. Care to explain to me how you worked things out?”
Shit.
“He apologized and we talked. There was a lot that I didn’t know. It’s good now, Deac. Please trust me on this.”
“I swear to God, kid, if this asshole hurts you again I’m not going to be happy. I can’t believe you’d ever be the kind of girl who’d accept the type of treatment you’ve been dealt from him. Essentially calling you a whore weeks ago to making you fall in love with him only so he could walk away from you. You don’t deserve the shit he’s put you through.”
I could feel myself grow more and more upset. A lump had formed in my throat and tears were threatening to fall. I looked down at my lap and stayed silent. I was trying to take deep breaths to control the emotions I was feeling.
I hadn’t come close to accomplishing that when the phone was taken out of my hand. Shocked, I looked up to see Stone was putting up to his ear.
“Deacon?” he called.
Silence.
“Xander Stone here. It sounds like you’ve got an issue with the fact Monroe and I have worked things out.”
Silence again.
Fuck. This was not going to end well.
“Understand your concern; I’d feel the same, all things considered. But you need to know now that Monroe and I are together in a way that I’m not going to allow you to spew whatever shit you’re spewing to her, which is putting the look on her face that’s there right now. You’ve got a problem with us being together you’re going to have to deal with me on that.”
Oh no.
Deacon was not going to receive that well.
“Yeah, and I fucking know I broke her heart. That’s why I’ve been busting my ass to put it back together. None of that changes the fact that I’m not going to allow you, or her other brothers, make this harder for her. The way she feels for the three of you, it’s going to cut her deep to hear negative shit about the two of us. So, you got a problem with it…I get it. You talk to me about it and you don’t bring that shit on her.”
Oh my God.
Nobody.
Nobody had ever stood up to Deacon. I had to wonder if Stone would have had the same reaction if Deacon were standing in front of him.
“Fine. Until then, you got something to say on the subject of Monroe and me that doesn’t result in her being fucking ecstatic, you don’t say it to her. You keep a handle on that and we won’t have an issue when I do finally meet you.”
Silence.
“Looking forward to proving that to you.”
Stone pulled the phone from his ear, tapped on the screen, and set it back down on the nightstand. Tears fell from my eyes and, the minute he looked at me, I burst into sobs. He immediately settled over my body and let me hold on to him for a long while.
“It’s going to be okay, Monroe. I promise,” he whispered softly in my ear.
I took a deep breath and rasped, “I want them to love you. I want them to love you as much as I do.”
“I know, angel.”
“Deacon’s the toughest. They’re all overly protective, but he gets angry. Remi’s rational. He likes to get all the facts first before he makes judgements. I’m close with all three of them, but I’m closest to Vaughn. He’ll cave first. Vaughn will love you because he loves me. Remi will take time, but he’ll get there. Deacon is a toss-up.”
Stone framed my face with his hands and shared, “He has good reason for feeling the way he does. They all do. I don’t like that he’s upset you, but his feelings are justified. We can’t control his feelings toward me, but I’d like to think he loves you enough to not make the situation difficult for you. No matter what, I love you and I’m going to do what I’ve got to do to make sure nobody brings any negativity to you surrounding the situation with us.”
“I don’t want him to not like you,” I murmured.
“I know, baby. I don’t either. And that’s only because I know how much it means to you to have the support of all of them. Don’t worry about it now and let me handle it for you. Okay?”
I nodded.
Stone pressed a slow, sweet kiss to my lips. When he pulled back I suggested, “We should probably get to sleep. You’ve got an important day tomorrow.”
“Yeah. I’ll take care of the rest of the gear in the morning,” he replied.
Stone lifted off of me and rolled to the side. He hit the light on the nightstand and pulled me against his body, my back to his front.
After pressing a kiss to my naked shoulder, he asked, “You sure you’re okay, angel?”
I shifted back against Stone’s body before I answered, “I am for now. Thank you for taking care of me.”
“I always will, Monroe. I know we had a rough start, but I’m here to stay. I will always take care of you.”
“I love you, Stone.”
Stone’s arm tightened around me as he replied, “I love you, my angel.”
*****
Saturday morning came quickly. It felt like I had just snuggled in with Stone to go to sleep and the alarm was already going off. He shifted in the bed and turned off the alarm. I turned toward him, put my head on his chest, and draped my arm across his abdomen.
“Good morning, my love.”
“Morning, baby. You sleep okay?”
“Yeah. Wish I had more time in bed with you, but I’m so excited for today. I cannot wait to see you ride in a contest.”
“Love that you’re going to be there. It’s the last contest of the season that any of the Blackman Boards’ riders compete in, so you’ll have more time in bed with me moving forward.”
I lifted my head to look at him.
“I can’t wait for that,” I admitted. “Unfortunately, that won’t be happening next weekend.”
“Why not?” Stone asked.
“I’ve got my exhibition at a local dance competition next Sunday. I didn’t register for the competition because I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough dancers signed up for classes by then. The hosts of the competition have agreed to allow me to fill all three of the exhibition spots. I’m taking one of my groups of students to do one and Jenna is going to do the other.”
“Are you going to be the third one?”
I nodded.
Stone gave me a look that I couldn’t read.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. Just waiting for you to ask me to come and watch you.”
“Do you want to?”
“Angel, you’re coming this weekend to support me. Of course, I want to come and watch. Just don’t do anything X-rated.”
I laughed. “I promise. I had something planned a few weeks ago and completely changed my mind earlier this week. I’ve been working on choreographing a piece that’s really beautiful. I would love it for you to be there; I just hope you’ll enjoy what I do.”
“Not a doubt in my mind that I’ll love it.”
I gave him a grin before he gave me a squeeze and said, “We need to get up and get moving. Want to feed you breakfast before we leave.”
“Can I do it?” I asked.
“Do what?”
“Breakfast. My man has a big day ahead of him today. I want to do my part to contribute to making that a success. So, can I make you breakfast today?”
“Just being there with me today is you doing your part for me. If you want to make breakfast, though, I’m not going to say no. Just give me a kiss first.”
With that, I gave him a kiss before we got up to get ready and have breakfast. Not long after, we were on our way to Parks Ridge for Stone’s contest.
“There’s our girl,” Charley shouted as she saw me approach with Stone fifteen minutes later.
The rest of our group had already arrived and the girls were already huddled together with Wes standing nearby.
When Stone and I were standing next to the girls, he tugged my arm to get my attention. I looked to him and he explained, “I’m going to go get a few practice runs in before it starts. Stay with the girls and Wes. Emme, Charley, or Wes will let you know what’s happening as it does.”
“Of course. Good luck and kick some ass today, my love.”
Stone chuckled and bent his head to mine.
“Kiss me, Monroe,” he whispered.
I figured it was best to give him everything he wanted on a day like today, so I kissed him. It wasn’t just a peck, either. Finally, Nikki yelled out, “Now I know why she hasn’t spent a night at home in nearly a week. Damn, girl. You’ve been holding out on us.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Stone smiled against my lips.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “She has no filter.”
“It’s okay. Got to go, baby. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Stone gave me a peck on the nose and took off. I turned toward the girls and Wes. Charley and Emme had dreamy looks on their faces while Nikki had a devilish grin. I glanced at Wes to see him giving me a warm smile. I think he knew that I was finally getting what I had searched for back in California for nearly twenty-five years. He had promised me that I’d find what I was looking for if I just gave it a little bit of time in Wyoming. He hadn’t been lying. I gave him a small smile and a nod of my head before I turned my attention back to the girls.
“Nikki’s right,” Charley piped up. “You’ve definitely been holding out on us. We’re going to need details now, mama.”
I coy smile spread across my face.
“He’s so fucking hot, isn’t he?” I asked.
“If the kissing is always that heated, I can only imagine what the sex has been like,” Nikki declared.
“We’ve been working on my list.”
“Your list?” Emme questioned.
“My list of favorite slash best sex positions with Stone. I get a lot of my number one and two.”
“Which are?” Charley inquired.
“Number one is me on top followed very closely by number two, which is Stone giving it to me from behind.”
“Jesus Christ,” Wes bit out. “I knew that one day I was going to find the downside to running my own business and getting out of competitions. I think that day has come.”
Oops.
I sort of forgot that Wes was within earshot and could hear everything we were discussing.
“Honey,” Charley called as she looked to Wes. “You can’t interrupt sex talks. We don’t have much time before the contest starts and we need to catch up.”
“Funny how that works, gorgeous. When I catch up with the guys, it never turns into us comparing our sex lives.”
“Really?” Emme asked.
I found this interesting.
“Wait,” I interrupted. “You mean to tell me that you guys don’t talk about your relationships ever?”
“Relationships, occasionally. Sex lives with women like the four of you, never.”
“Why not?” I pressed further.
“For me, I’m not real keen on them knowing what Charley is like in bed. I’m certain Zane, Stone, and Luke feel the same about each of you. The problem is, all too often, you four can’t seem to keep a lid on the shit you do behind closed doors and then we all end up hearing about it anyway.”
“I find this fascinating,” I announced.
“You shouldn’t,” Nikki offered. “Haven’t you noticed the possessive nature of these guys? Stone exudes macho-man mentality.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tell me about it. He stood up to Deacon last night on the phone.”
“What?” Emme practically shrieked. “What happened?”
I went on to fill them in on last night’s feud between Deacon and Stone. This ultimately led to me filling them in on how Stone managed to mend my broken heart. I did this as we walked to where we could watch the guys ride.
Emme brought her camera and was capturing shots for Blackman Boards. I asked her if she wouldn’t mind getting a shot of me and Stone later that day. I didn’t have any pictures of just the two of us together and I really wanted one. Since Emme was the best photographer in the world, I knew she’d be able to make that happen for me.
Not long after we arrived at the spot we’d be watching from, I realized how nervous I was. I watched as the first couple of riders dropped in and did their runs. We were watching the qualifying rounds. The riders would need to do well here so that they could be one of the top sixteen to advance to finals.
“My stomach is full of knots,” I blurted.
“There’s nothing to worry about, mama. It’s only qualifying. He’ll be fine. Besides, Wes told me the guys couldn’t believe the difference in Stone’s riding from last week to this week. Being with you has changed something in him.”
Stone finally made his run. I watched in awe as he dropped in to the pipe and made his way up each side performing an incredible trick each time. It was amazing to watch.
Stone and Zane both did well in qualifying and were sitting in the number one and two spots going into the finals. Finals were like qualifying in that the riders would each have three chances to make their best runs. After the first two runs, Stone was sitting just behind Zane on the scoreboard. The third round of finals was underway and my stomach was no closer to being settled. The wait wasn’t helping either. Part of me wished that Stone had been first because I couldn’t handle the mounting bundle of nerves in my belly.
“Oh, I think I’m going to be sick,” I announced.
“Are you okay?” Nikki asked.
I shook my head. “I’m so nervous for him. Why is it taking so long for him to get his turn?”
“Zane’s up,” Wes interjected. “Stone’s immediately after. He’s the last to go. He’ll be fine, Monroe. Just relax.”
I turned my attention to the top of the pipe and watched as Zane made his run.
Holy smokes, he made incredible run. There was no doubt in my mind he would hold on to the top spot.
Moments after he finished his run, Zane’s score was posted. Just as I predicted, he was sitting at the top of the leaderboard.
I began shifting back and forth on my feet, anxiously awaiting Stone to drop in.
Charley must have noticed because she leaned into me, grabbed my hand in hers, and shared, “This is normal. Zane and Stone are always neck and neck. They usually score within tenths of each other. He’s going to do really great, honey.”
Hearing this news made my heart swell. I didn’t have much time to process the feelings hearing it gave me because I saw Stone turn on his board and start riding down to where he’d drop into the pipe. I stopped breathing and squeezed Charley’s hand.
Stone dropped into the pipe on one side and rode up the wall on the opposite side. He flew so high out of the pipe and did the most incredible trick. I had no idea what it was, but I knew it was amazing. He landed that trick and moved to the other side where he did another trick. Stone did this several times all the way down the pipe and it was the most magnificent thing I had ever witnessed. It was even better than all of the previous runs I had witnessed him make.
Other than today, I only ever saw him ride one time a few months back when Nikki and I came out to visit Charley and Emme. We all came to Parks Ridge to have a day of fun riding, but eventually the girls and I took a break while the guys showed us their moves on the pipe.
This was completely different. Stone landed his final trick and the crowd erupted with cheers. I screamed right along with them. I was so happy for him. I didn’t care what the result was; I couldn’t have been prouder of him than I was in that moment. It seemed like hours had passed while we waited for Stone’s score to be posted. Logically, I knew that it hadn’t been that much time that we stood anticipating the result, but it was undoubtedly taking longer to get his score than anybody else’s. Finally, there was an outburst of screams. Stone’s score had been posted and his name was sitting in the number one spot.
I looked down to the end of the pipe where I saw him standing. Zane had just walked over and pulled him into a hug to congratulate him. My eyes filled with tears.
Suddenly, I heard Wes’ voice in my ear, “He’s going to want you, babe. Come on...I’ll take you to him.”
The girls and I followed Wes. Apparently, we were going to be watching Luke compete in big air next, so we needed to move anyway. After what felt like a torturously long hike down to the bottom of the pipe, I spotted my man. He was being interviewed. His gaze slid to the side where he spotted me and instantly his eyes heated. Stone quickly finished his interview and stalked over to me. Once I was within arm’s reach, he stretched his arm out, wrapped it around the back of my neck, and crushed me to his body. He held me tight.
Stone’s mouth was at my ear, “I could have won the gold medal in the Olympics before today and it wouldn’t hold a candle to this. Winning this small event with you, my angel, here to love me and watch me…nothing, baby, nothing compares to this moment.”
I pulled back slightly from him and brought my hands to either side of his neck. “I’m so proud of you,” I started. “There isn’t anywhere else I would rather have been today than here to support you. You were amazing.”
Stone pressed a kiss to my lips and said, “Let’s go. Big air is starting soon and we need to support Luke.”
“Okay, but…” I trailed off.
“But what?” he asked.
I pressed up on my toes and whispered in his ear, “Can we celebrate later?”
Stone’s eyes heated and he questioned, “How did you want to do that?”
I gave him a sexy smile and murmured, “I was hoping we could see if there was a new position to add to my list.”
“I was already planning on that,” he shared through his laughter.
I bit my lip.
Stone continued, “If memory serves me correctly, I owe you some time against the wall.”
My eyes rounded.
Stone winked at me.
At that, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and walked me over to where the big air event was taking place. We stayed long enough to watch Luke take the win and congratulate him. Then, Stone took me back to his place where he paid his debt. I was left trying to reorganize my list.