Dick (Bad Boys #1)

by R. C. Stephens

Dixon has taken a seat beside Grant.

  “Sorry, it was Jenna. How are you?” I ask, looking at him. The button-down shirt he had on this morning is now halfway open, and he’s got a cold beer in his hand.

  “Not too bad. Stressful day. I’m happy it’s Friday. Although it sucks my ex took the kids tonight,” he says and his lips turn down. I love that even when he’s tired, he would prefer his kids around him.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty beat too. When do the kids get back?” I ask more for Grant to hear the answer. “The place is too quiet without them.”

  “It is, and I think tomorrow,” he agrees then looks to Grant. I can tell he hates the quiet by the way he’s nodding his head and trying to withhold the pain in his eyes. “Ge will be by soon. He’s a fun guy. He said he will also take your statement.” He stands up from the couch. “I’ll see you two in a bit.” He pats Grant’s leg and extends his hand for a five. Grant stops watching the TV and smacks Dixon’s hand hard. Dixon pretends he’s really injured, and Grant laughs, proud of himself.

  When Grant’s show is over, I take him to the room to get showered and ready for dinner.

  Ge isn’t what I expected. I’m not sure what I was expecting … I just pictured Ma’s son to be a serious cop, not the playful guy that walks through the door. Still in his uniform, he is a strikingly handsome man.

  “Nice to meet you, pretty lady.” He extends his hand, so I extend mine, and he takes my hand and brushes his lips against the back. He’s smooth. “Hey,” he hollers when Dixon hits him upside the head.

  “Leave Eden alone,” Dixon warns with a cold voice not laced with humor like it usually is.

  “Oh! I’ve pissed off the big man.” Ge continues to laugh. “Okay, okay. Nice to meet you, Eden. I will behave. Promise. I’m Ge.” He lifts his right hand in the air like a scout. As he makes his way into the foyer, his face seems familiar. I’m good with faces, less good with names. I try to jog my memory when I picture him in a silver shirt and black pants. He was dirty dancing with Jenna at the club last week. He slipped her his number. The world is a small place. Now I’m even more curious to ask Jenna. He’s hard to forget with his mocha skin, chiseled cheekbones, and intensely dark eyes.

  “Nice to meet you, Ge,” I reply, just as Ma walks out of the kitchen with her arms wide open, waiting to embrace her son. I begin to love her more and more every day. She is a special woman to have taken a child that wasn’t hers and raise him as her own.

  “Come, we are sitting in the kitchen.” Ma waves us all toward the kitchen. I like that things aren’t formal around here. On the occasion that Blythe brought home guests, we ate at a dining table with a full staff in attendance.

  “So, Eden, I hear you’re Jaden’s teacher. Is he a trouble maker like his daddy?” Ge asks playfully as he places a bite of filet mignon in his mouth.

  “Haha,” Dixon cuts in.

  “Jaden is a sweet boy,” I say.

  “Ma mentioned you were a cop. Do you have any fun stories to tell that are G-rated?” I ask Ge, and then look over to my son, hoping he’ll stop looking as restless and bored as he does now.

  “I work undercover a lot, so I sometimes wear disguises and pretend to be someone I’m not, like another job,” Ge explains.

  Grant’s eyes widen at ‘disguises,’ but then I don’t think he gets what Ge means by pretending to be other people.

  “I can tell you about myself, Grant,” Dixon cuts in with a chortle. “I do fascinating work building new software. Creating new things …” he trails off when Grant yawns.

  “Shot down,” Ge calls out.

  “I’m sorry, it’s a little late for him and it’s been a long week,” I begin to apologize when Grant cuts me off.

  “Sorry, Dixon, you’re the coolest guy I know. I didn’t mean to yawn.”

  My jaw drops and my heart splits in two. I don’t even know what to say. I can’t look anyone at the table in the eye or else my feelings for Dixon will betray me in this moment.

  “Please excuse me. I’m going to put him to bed.” I smile and push my chair back nervously. Taking Grant by the hand, I can’t get out of there fast enough.

  “Sure, Eden, take your time,” Dixon replies. “And, Grant, you’re a cool guy too.”

  Grant turns to flash him a full smile. “Good night, everyone,” Grant says, looking to the table. They all bid him goodnight, and we turn to the back of the apartment toward the bedrooms. I’m on shaky legs.

  “Dixon, man, you didn’t say you had such a hot piece of ass in the house with you,” I hear Ge’s voice from the distance. OMG! I clap a hand over my mouth.

  “Boys! Would you cool it? Ge, have I not taught you manners?” I hear Ma’s scolding voice.

  “Sorry, Ma,” Ge answers with a resigned tone. I want to stand around the corner and listen in to their conversation, even though it’s completely inappropriate of me.

  “The boy likes you.” It’s Ge’s voice again. He must be speaking to Dixon.

  “I know.” I hear Dixon’s response, and it’s only a whisper.

  “Man, I don’t need to tell you that you don’t mess with a mother.” It’s Ge’s voice again. Oh no! He’s warning Dixon away from me.

  “Can we eat the damn steak?” Dixon snaps.

  “Boys!” Ma now cuts in. It’s funny that she calls them boys, and Dixon and me kids. Her son is a cop and Dixon and I are both parents.

  There’s silence so I take Grant and continue to lead him into the spare bedroom. I help him with his pajamas.

  “Mommy, Dixon said Jaden will be back tomorrow. Is it because he is with his mommy now?”

  “Yes, that’s what it means. He sometimes sleeps at his mommy’s house,” I reply knowing my son and where this conversation is headed.

  “You and Daddy don’t live together anymore. Does that mean I have to go sleepover with Daddy? Because I don’t want to, Mommy. Please don’t make me. Please.” Grant’s tone is sad and pleading and my heart breaks.

  I wrap my arms around my son and hold him close to me. “You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to. When you’re ready to see Daddy, then you can see Daddy,” I explain and pray that I haven’t just told him a lie.

  “Okay, Mommy,” he says then yawns again.

  “Let Mommy tuck you in, and then I will go finish my dinner. It isn’t polite that I left in the middle.”

  Grant climbs beneath the blanket, and I cover him up then place a soft kiss on his forehead. “I love you, Mommy.”

  “I love you too, my boy. You have sweat dreams. Tomorrow we will go to the gardens. Think about how much fun it will be,” I say, hoping to distract his mind from things a four-year-old shouldn’t have to deal with. He nods his head and closes his eyes, and I quietly saunter out of the room.

  I walk back into the kitchen as they are wrapping up their meal. Ge is sitting back in his chair, and Dixon has his hand on a glass of red wine.

  “Everything okay?” Dixon asks, and it’s almost like he can tell that it isn’t. None of this is okay. Grant, Blythe, and I may not have been much of a family, but it was all that Grant knew until now. It worries me that my boy has had such a distorted picture of family to learn from. Dixon’s family may not be blood related, but they are a real, loving, caring family.

  “Yeah sure.” I force a smile.

  “Wine?” Dixon offers, holding up the bottle of red. Warmth crawls down my body at the memory of the last time I drank red wine with him.

  “Please.” I could use something to take off the edge.

  The table is eerily quiet now, leaving me to wonder what was discussed out of my presence.

  “What are your plans tomorrow?” Ma asks, breaking the silence and looking at me.

  “I’m going to take Grant to the botanical gardens with my friend Jenna,” I reply. “The steak is really delicious,” I compliment her. She waves it off, but she has real talent in the kitchen.

  “It’s lovely there.” She looks at me then eyes Dixon. I feel like she’s trying to
be a matchmaker, which makes me uncomfortable.

  Ge clears his throat across from me, maybe trying to break the tension crackling in the air from Ma’s failed attempt. “Ah, Eden, if you want, I can take your statement after you finish eating.”

  “I’m done. I’m so full. Thank you for the great meal and thank you again for welcoming Grant and me into your home.” I look between Dixon and Ma.

  “You have to stop thanking me. It’s nothing.” Dixon nods and then downs his glass of red wine. He seems irritated. I’m not sure what’s going on. I hope it isn’t me.

  “Eden, dear, you will have to stop thanking us and just feel at home.” Ma pulls my attention away from a very tense Dixon.

  “Thank you.”

  I’m about to stand up and help clear the table but the maid is already there and ready to clear it.

  “Go on.” Dixon motions for Ge and me to go ahead.

  Ge is all business now and guides me toward a large dining room table. I take a seat at the corner, and Ge sits at the head with a notepad in his hand. We go through the events of the day I left Blythe, leading up to the moment he struck me. I also include that he twisted my arm the night before when I went out to the club.

  “Eden, you know that if you charge him, we will have to bring him into custody and put him before a judge. I’m not trying to turn you off of this. I just want you to be ready because the media may be all over it,” Ge explains. He’s a good guy, and I guess he wants me to be prepared.

  “I know.” My head falls forward into my hands. “He’s going to get even angrier, I know it.” I sigh.

  “Maybe you should consider a restraining order?” Ge suggests.

  “That will piss him off more. He knows secrets about me. I don’t know what to do. My attorney said that if I charge him, then he will be considered a risk and won’t be granted access to my son so quickly,” I say, feeling the need to explain myself.

  “Your attorney may be right. I’m just saying be prepared for backlash. I don’t want to scare you. It’s good you’re staying here. This place is top notch for security. I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve seen cases like this and your husband is a popular guy,” Ge says, placing his notebook back in his back pocket while looking at me sympathetically.

  “I appreciate you taking the time to do this now and warning me. I knew when I left Blythe that this wasn’t going to be easy. Maybe I should hold off for a bit. I know Blythe. I don’t think he’s thought all this through. I don’t think he really wants time with Grant … Does giving you my statement mean you need to charge him now?”

  “No, tell me what you want to do.”

  “I’m thinking I wait a little with charging him. I think he will come to his senses and realize he doesn’t really want to share custody.” I begin and then realize it sounds bad. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I wish my son had a caring, nurturing father, but that isn’t Blythe. He wouldn’t know what to do with Grant, so I worry. His focus is on business and women. That doesn’t leave much space for the needs of a four-year-old boy.”

  “I understand.” His mouth turns up. “I can hold off. I’ll wait for you to give me the go ahead. Does that sound good?”

  “Thank you so much.”

  “I hope it all works out for you. You have my brother in your corner. He’s a good guy to have in a corner,” Ge explains, and I feel like we are talking in metaphors.

  “Dixon and I are old friends,” I explain, just in case I missed something.

  “Sure, that’s what he says too,” he responds, only his tone is disbelieving. “Well then, I will go find the big man. I have to kick his ass with some sparring tonight.” He smiles.

  “Thanks again, Ge.” I turn to leave the dining room and head for the kitchen. Between the wine and this latest information, my head is spinning. I grab a glass of water. No one is around and the kitchen is clean. I take the water back to my room.

  I slip into my usual pajamas of shorts and a tank top. I saunter across the very long hall. I like that Dixon’s apartment is one huge floor. Our penthouse had so many stairs I hated it, especially when Grant was a little smaller. I carried him around with me on my hip wherever I went. As I pass the gym door, I hear Dixon and Ge. Through their heavy breaths, I realize I am the topic of conversation again. Shoot! I want to stop and turn around but curiosity has the best of me.

  “What’s with you and Eden?” Ge asks sternly. “I’ve been kidding around with you, but seriously now …” I hear a loud uh! Dixon must have got one in on him.

  “Nothing,” Dixon responds curtly. I hear more air swishing.

  “Come on, man, it’s me. Don’t give me that bullshit. You aren’t friends with women. Never were. Yet you have her living with you while you have your kids. It seems off for you. I know you don’t bring ladies home when the kids are here,” Ge says. It’s something Dixon has also admitted to me.

  “I told you … it’s not like that. She’s Jaden’s teacher, so she knows my kids anyway. She was in trouble. I’m just trying to be a friend. She needs a friend right now, Ge.”

  “Trust me man, I know,” Ge answers, and now I feel like a charity case. My ego has been wounded big time.

  I lean against the wall and look up to the ceiling. What am I doing listening to this?

  “So you don’t think that she’s hot as sin?” Ge continues with his grilling session. That question garners my attention.

  “I didn’t say that. I’m being a friend. I didn’t say I was blind.”

  Suddenly I hear Ge yelp. I’m thinking Dixon must have floored him. Walk away, Eden, just walk away. My insides dance. Holy smokes, he thinks I’m hot as sin. I have to walk away. It isn’t fair of me to listen.

  “Now there’s my brother. I saw how you looked at her all evening. You more than like her,” Ge persists.

  Boom! I hear a bang.

  “Shit man, chill out.” I hear Ge scold him. I’m guessing he must have done something to make him fall to the ground again.

  “Here, I’ll give you a hand,” Dixon says mockingly.

  “Dixon, seriously, I’m not trying to mock you here. I think you like her, and I think you need to consider that. She looks like a good person. She’s a good mother. That says a lot about a person.”

  I hear Dixon huff.

  “I just want to bring to your attention that you may have something good in arms’ reach. I don’t want your past to come between that. Your past has hurt your life enough.”

  I tell my feet to move. This is getting too personal. I don’t know what happened in his past, and I shouldn’t find out like this.

  “Are we done with this lecture?” I hear Dixon ask.

  I don’t know what possesses me, but I choose that moment to walk up to the open door. I know I should have continued to the family room as planned. I’m clearly not thinking straight. Both Ge and Dixon are wearing head pads, hand pads, tank tops, and shorts. They’re both good looking men in their own right, but seeing Dixon all hot and sweaty makes my belly flip.

  “Ma mentioned you two did Tae Kwon Do sparring, and I was curious,” I say, stepping on my tiptoes. I really put my foot in my mouth by walking in here uninvited. I lose my nerve and suddenly I realize that maybe it wasn’t a good idea intruding on their guys’ night. “Sorry, I’m interrupting. Grant fell asleep and well … I didn’t have a book to read. I …”

  “Eden, it’s fine,” Dixon interrupts my rambling.

  “Yeah, I was just showing Dixon a few moves.” Ge smiles and I can see his eyes roam over my body. Dixon narrows his eyes to Ge in warning. “Honestly, it was fun, Dixon, but I better be going. I have an early shift tomorrow. It was a pleasure meeting you and your son.” Ge smiles and shakes my hand. His is a little sweaty, but I act like I don’t care.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you too, Ge.”

  He takes off the headgear and before he leaves the gym, he turns around. “I’ll go find Ma. Have some tea with her.”

  “Sure, man, it was good to see you,” Dix
on calls out. Then he turns his attention back to me. “So you were interested in sparring?” he asks with that playful grin of his.

  “Maybe.” I squint, losing my nerve.

  “Okay, hold up your hands like this.” He shows me how to hold my hands in fists and what position my legs should be in. Then he gives me possible scenarios of being attacked. I figure it’s a good thing to know, given my history with Blythe. Maybe I could have stopped him from hurting me.

  We go back and forth playfully. Punching the air. A few front and sidekicks.

  “Now you try.” He motions.

  “Uh ok!” I lift my fist up the way he showed me, and I try to punch with as much power as possible.

  “Wait like this …” He takes a step forward just as I’m releasing the punch. “Aghhh!”

  I accidentally punch him in the eye. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Are you okay?” My heart is beating frantically as I fear that I’ve hurt him.

  “It’s fine. It’s fine.” He crouches over, trying to reassure me. “You’re a tough woman. I’m sure no one will start with you.” He chuckles.

  I want to remind him they already did. The bruise around my eye has faded to a faint yellow, but it’s still a painful reminder that my life got shot to hell. I walk over to him and remove his hand from his eye.

  “Let me take a look.” My fingers brush his face along the stubble on his chin. From this close up the blue hue of his eyes is almost translucent. As I look into them, I feel like I’m floating on the sea in the Caribbean.

  Boom! In one swift motion he swipes at my feet, and I completely lose my footing. I think I’m going to hit the ground hard, but he catches me, and breaks our fall. Dixon hits the floor harder, and I land on top of him.

  “I got you back.” He smirks. We both burst into a fit of laughter. Lying on top of him I can feel the rigid lines of his hard body. He smells of sweat and something masculine and delicious. We’re both laughing so hard we can’t speak. When we finally settle, Dixon sits up and I am now spread eagle on top of him. My core deceives me and clenches, and Dixon’s eyes turn heavy and heated. He clears his throat and gets to his feet, lifting me with him.