He smiled and nodded, reminding me so much of myself and my brothers. It made me remember us as kids. Sometimes I wished we still were. Life was so simple then. I held his hand and walked to the trucks. The guys had already started and I found small things from our apartment that Braydon could carry so he was helping. When we’d moved in last weekend, I’d only had time to get our beds in and set up, and some of his toys. Knowing we wouldn’t be home much this past week, I didn’t worry about the rest, but now I wanted him to see his things, to recognize this as his new and very permanent home.
I chose to carry shit with Brody, knowing he would respect my need for silence. It was so unlike me and I felt the stares from my brothers and their friends, but I didn’t acknowledge them. I’d always been known as the jokester, the guy always seeking out fun and good times, never serious, but that all changed. The responsibility from what happened to Luke felt like a weight I was always carrying and I knew I’d never put down. Things like that change a man.
It changed me.
It took us nearly two hours to unload and get everything where it belonged. Braydon lost interest about an hour in, but luckily the rest of his toys had made an appearance, so he plopped down on his bedroom floor and started rebuilding the train track we had dismantled to move.
I followed the sounds of laughter to my living room. “Thanks for your help guys.”
They’re heads snapped my way, but only Ben spoke. “You throwing us out man?”
I shrugged. “Just figured you all had shit to do.”
Ben grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Well, I’m going to introduce myself to your new neighbor.”
“Ben leave that poor girl alone.” Jax said.
Brody chuckled. “Not a fucking chance.”
Ben smirked. “Who’s coming with me? Jake?”
“No thanks. I’m not interested in making friends with the neighbors.” Especially female ones, but I didn’t add that.
“I’ll come.” Lucy’s brother Landon who’d remained somewhat quiet over the last few hours spoke up.
Ben slapped him on the back of the shoulder. “What the hell are we waiting for?”
They left through the front door and I hoped the others would follow suit. I needed to be alone. Just me and my boy.
I caught the sharp glance Jax threw at Brody and tensed. I knew what was coming. Fuck, I should’ve gone with Ben and avoided the big brother talk. I lowered my gaze to the floor, rubbing my hand along the back of my neck, something I’ve recently noticed all my brothers do when something’s bothering them. I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder.
Jax’s voice tore through the silence. “Luke’s doing good, brother. You can stop beating yourself up for what happened.”
I nodded, but kept my head down. I didn’t want to talk about this.
“Jake.” Brody’s deep voice echoed through the room. “Look at me.”
I sighed, but raised my eyes to my older brother. My eyes skimmed over the line of them, Jax stood beside me, his hand still resting on my shoulder, and Brody stood with the twins across from me, concern marring their expressions.
My eyes met Brody’s, finally, and stayed there.
“You are not responsible for what happened to Luke. No more responsible than the rest of us.” Brody said.
I shook my head, anger filling my gut. I needed them to yell at me, to acknowledge my fault. Not be supportive and understanding. “That’s not fucking true and you know it.”
Jax wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and leaned in close. “You need to let this go. You are not responsible. The man who shot him is the only one responsible.” I started to shake my head, but he squeezed my neck. “No, listen to me. Luke’s getting better. Just today the doctor said he should be able to go home soon. He’s going to be fine. Hell, this could’ve happened, and still could, any day he’s on the job.”
“Jake.” Cam’s voice called for my attention so I lifted my eyes to his. “What I’m going to tell you stays in this room.” His eyes scanned the circle of men. Everyone nodded and he sighed. “There are a lot of details, most I can’t share with you, but it seems the man that shot Luke was one he took down a few months ago for assaulting his girlfriend. Not just assault, but put her in the hospital, fighting for her own life. Somehow he made bail, no fucking clue how he did that, but he did and is out until his trial.”
“How did he know Luke was there that night?” Chris asked.
“Apparently the douche Julie was with recognized Luke and texted him. He was stalling us until they could get there.”
“Fucking Julie.” I seethed.
Jax squeezed my neck one final time before dropping his arm to his side. “Focus on Bray man. That’s all you need to worry about right now.” Jax’s eyes met Brody’s. “We’re taking care of the rest.”
“She’s not getting him back.” My stomach rolled just thinking about her around my son.
“She’s going to fight you. If for no other reason than to piss you off.” Cam said. “Keep your cool. Right now you have the law on your side. She’s not innocent in what happened to Luke so she knows going in front of a judge now would be stupid. She’s not stupid. You staying smart and keeping your cool can only help secure him permanently with you.”
I nodded because he was right. I knew all of this, but I hoped every day I wouldn’t see her ever again. I had no idea what I would do if she came here.
“I…” I started, but then I heard a yell. We all ran for the front door at the same time, then stood in my driveway staring at Ben lying in the neighbor’s yard and straddled by the biggest fucking dog I’d ever seen.
CHAPTER THREE
LANIE
“Beasley! No! Get off of him!” I ran towards the man currently lying on my front lawn, my giant dog straddling him, licking his face.
I shouldn’t have answered the door. I’d watched through the window while the men next door unloaded their trucks of furniture and boxes like some creepy stalker. When I realized just how creepily I was behaving, I threw on yoga pants and a baggy t-shirt I wear because it’s comfortable, not cute. Deciding to forego my contacts, I kept my glasses on and my blond hair piled on top of my head. Paige was working and wouldn’t try to drag me out, so I knew I’d be spending the day at home. Sitting down on the stool at my kitchen island, I decided to get some work done on a new website I was creating. In my zone, I didn’t think when the doorbell rang because I’d been expecting a package to be delivered. When I threw open the door I abruptly stopped in my tracks. Face to face with two men who couldn’t actually be real, they were so beautiful. Neither of these men were my delivery man; he’s around sixty years old with white hair who always talks about his grandkids when he drops off my packages.
“Hi there.” The one on the right with dark brown hair said. I just stared. My brain was sending the word hello to my mouth, but my mouth wouldn’t cooperate.
He grinned and gestured to himself. “I’m Ben. I’m your neighbor’s brother.” He jerked his thumb towards the blond guy standing beside him. “And this is Landon.”
I nodded. That’s it, I nodded and his grin turned into a full-blown smile.
“And you are?” He prompted.
An idiot. Awkward. Social misfit most of the time. But that wasn’t what he wanted, I knew that. He only wants a name, easy right? I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. This was ridiculous, I wasn’t this bad. At least not usually.
Giving myself a quick pep talk, I smiled. “Elaina, but everyone calls me Lanie.”
That wasn’t so bad.
“That’s a beautiful name.” Landon, the tall blond guy with lean muscles straining against the short sleeves of his blue t-shirt, spoke up. He leaned against the door jamb, hands in his pockets and winked at me with his gorgeous green eyes.
“Yeah.” I whispered, causing his grin to widen.
“Lanie.” Ben called my name and I snapped my attention back to him.
“Yeah?” Really? Again, with yeah.
“My brother Jake just moved into that house.” He pointed behind him and off to the right, causing my eyes to flick that way. “He said you two haven’t met, so we thought we’d get that ball rolling.” He put his thumbs in his front pockets and rocked back on his heels. His wavy brown hair looked messy, but in a way that some men would probably use product to make theirs look. His blue eyes sparkled and held mine.
When I didn’t answer, he leaned forward. “We’re a very friendly family.”
I swallowed hard, trying to maintain a smile, but in my mind begging them to leave. I couldn’t be around men who look like these two, which was glaringly obvious.
Ben smiled wide, making his already beautiful face transform into magnificent. “Nod if you understand.”
He was teasing me and I felt my face burn with embarrassment. This was so pathetic. I nodded anyway and mumbled. “Okay.”
“Okay.” His smile was all I could focus on. “So, we’ll definitely see you soon.”
He backed away, Landon following and turned making their way back towards the neighbor’s, no, ‘Jake’s’ house. Now I knew his name. I felt Beasley’s wet nose push against my hand. I guess he hadn’t wanted bothered when the doorbell rang since he only came now to see what was going on. A guard dog he was not. I dropped my hand, petting the soft hair on his head and around his ears. He was tall enough that I didn’t have to bend at all, his head rested right against my hip.
I was just about to shut the door when Ben whistled and lifted his hand to wave at a woman jogging in front of my house. I felt Beasley move, and my hand shot out to grab his collar, but I was too late, he was already running.
“Ben!” I yelled.
He turned, a smile still on his face until he saw the massive dog almost upon him. His eyes widened and I kid you not, he let out a holler followed by, “What the hell is that?”
So here I am, straddling my dog, who is straddling my new neighbor’s brother. This crap could only happen to me.
I pulled on his collar, trying to pull him off Ben, while Landon stood to the side and held his stomach, bent over laughing. “Beasley, come on.” I yanked again, and he must’ve finally felt it because he lifted his head and let me pull him the whole way off Ben.
“I’m so sorry.” I stammered, holding his collar tight when he plopped his butt down and sat next to my leg.
Ben sat up, wiping drool and slobber from his face and I forgot my shyness for a moment, my manners taking over. “I can get you a towel or maybe you should just come in and wash your face.”
Hearing laughter, I followed Ben’s gaze, and saw four men laughing hysterically and my neighbor Jake, who I’d stared at so much through my window I recognized him, grinning.
Ben’s head snapped back to me. “What the hell is that?” He slowly stood up, brushing the grass from the back of his pants and warily watching Beasley who was apparently bored with the whole situation and laid down at my feet, his eyes blinking closed.
“My dog.” I rolled my lips together before sighing. “I really am sorry. His owner before me trained him to come when he whistled and he let him jump on him, but he was only a puppy then and obviously smaller.” Realizing everyone was staring at me and listening, my face burned. “I haven’t been able to break him of that yet.”
I tried to ignore the snickering to the side of us and concentrate on Ben who was rubbing the back of his head.
“Do you need ice or anything?” I asked.
“He’s fine.” I didn’t look to my side, but felt the group of men getting closer and I backed up, trying to put some distance between all of us.
“I’m fine.” Ben said, his eyes once again meeting mine. “But I’m not gonna lie, that fucking hurt.” He chuckled. “That’s one big ass dog.”
I took another two steps back. “Again, I’m really sorry.”
“Oh hey,” he said. Reaching out he wrapped his hand around my forearm. “You can meet more of my brothers since they’re here now.”
I blinked slowly, my mind scrambling to form an excuse as to why that was not possible. I’m busy. I need to do something, anything. But my mind refused to cooperate so I stood still, wringing my hands together in front of me, feeling Ben’s hand warm around my forearm.
He released my arm and I breathed a sigh of relief, but realized all too quickly that he’d only done that to swing his arm up and around my shoulders turning me to face what felt like my firing squad.
“That’s Jax and Brody.” He pointed to two very tall men standing to the side of the group, one with the most beautiful blue eyes I’d ever seen. Having no words, I smiled timidly and nodded.
They smiled and Ben chuckled, turning me again until I faced three more ridiculously good-looking men, two of them completely identical, except for what they were wearing. “That’s Nick, a friend, and my twin brothers, Cam and Chris.”
I smiled at their grins before being turned one more time and coming face to face with the most beautiful man I’d ever seen up close. His brothers were attractive obviously, but there was something different about him, something special, something magnetic. I felt my face get hot, a blush working its way up to my hairline.
“And this is Jake, your new neighbor.” Ben squeezed his arm along my shoulder. “Guys, this is Elaina.”
“Lanie.” I corrected him quickly. Why had I given him my full name? I never do that, but then again, most people don’t cause me to become a mute, usually I babble.
A series of hellos rang out from all but my neighbor.
“Jake.” Ben muttered, frustration lacing his tone.
“Hey.” Jake said dismissively.
“Daddy!” I heard yelled and looked, along with everyone else, back towards Jake’s house.
“Shit.” Jake exclaimed. “I forgot he was playing in his room. I’m doing a bang-up job so far being on my own with him.”
I saw sympathy cross a few faces before the one with the beautiful eyes, Brody if I was guessing correctly from earlier introductions, spoke up. “Don’t beat yourself up Jake. I lose track of Lexi too. He’s obviously fine.”
The little boy made it to Jake and gave him a big smile, looking so tiny standing beside such a large man all the while his head thrown back, looking up at his dad.
“Hey, buddy.” Ben said, gaining the little boys attention. “This is your new neighbor, Lanie.”
“Hi.” His head swung towards me and he smiled adorably. I couldn’t help but squat down to his level. I’d never had trouble interacting with kids, only adults seemed to scare the hell out of me. Talking to kids was easy.
“What’s your name?” I asked quietly.
“Bway.” He smiled back at me.
“It’s Braydon.” I heard from above me and glanced up, my eyes meeting Jakes. “He’s almost two.”
I quickly looked back down at Braydon. “It’s nice to meet you.”
I saw Bray’s eyes widen in excitement seconds before I felt a large warm body press against my side. Reaching my hand up, I grabbed Beasley’s collar. “This is Beasley.”
His little hand reached out, but I saw a large hand fall to land on Bray’s shoulder. “Bray…”
Braydon pointed his thumb back at himself while Jake squatted down next to him. “I pet Bweasy?”
I giggled, finding myself completely enamored by this little boy. “If it’s okay with your daddy.”
His head turned quickly to look at Jake. “I pet Bweasy?”
Jake’s eyes flicked from Braydon’s to mine and forgetting for a moment that I was shy and awkward, I offered him a genuine smile. “Beasley won’t hurt him.”
Beasley leaned further into me, his weight causing me to wobble a little bit to the side. My shyness immediately returned when I felt Jake’s hand wrap around my bicep, ultimately stopping me from falling to the side. My skin was tingling where his hand lingered, his stare locked with mine until I felt the blush rushing up my neck and over my cheeks and I snapped my gaze back to Braydon.
He pulle
d his hand from my arm. “It’s okay, Bray, you can pet him.”
At his dad’s approval, Braydon’s little hand reached forward and Beasley dropped his head, gently nudging his hand with his nose. Braydon giggled, moving forward until he and Beasley were nose to nose. Braydon put his two hands on either side of Beasley’s massive head and leaned in until his face was buried in his neck.
I noticed his hand pulling at the hair along Beasley’s head and neck, and laid mine over his, causing Bray to look over at me. I pulled his hand gently from Beasley and flattened it back out, putting his palm flat and showing him to pet along his smooth silky hair. “Gentle.” I said. “Like this.” I kept my hand on his for another minute showing him how to be gentle, knowing if he wasn’t Beasley would most likely try to walk away.
I heard men’s voices, but kept my attention focused on Bray and Beasley, feeling more comfortable with them.
I silently hoped the men would get bored and walk away.
CHAPTER FOUR
JAKE
Jesus she’s sweet. Even her name is sweet. Too fucking sweet for someone like me and that was true even before the last few weeks of my life. She’s obviously shy. That was clear from the beginning when she had problems just making eye contact with any of us, but with Bray she’s open and smiling. Bray’s responding to her in a way I hadn’t seen very often. He was always moving, going fast, playing rough, but with Lanie he was listening, his eyes focused on her and the task of petting Beasley gently.
I stood when I heard my name and glanced at Ben who was smirking. “What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing man.”
Brody slapped his hand against my shoulder and squeezed. “I’m heading out if we’re done here.”
I nodded. “Yeah we’re done. Thanks for your help.”
Brody squeezed my shoulder before releasing it. “No thanks needed, brother.”
“I’m out too.” Jax said, his eyes meeting mine. “See you tomorrow?” He raised his eyebrow and I knew that was less of a question and more of a request. Tomorrow’s Sunday which meant dinner at our parent’s house for those of us who could go.
Elaina Page 3
