Without Warning (Capparelli & Co. Book 1)

by Dee Lagasse

  “Nothing. It’s nothing. Forget it.” I ramble nervously, playfully pushing him. “All is good in the hood.”

  “It’s obviously something,” he says before pushing me back with the same lightness. Instead of answering him, I just push back, this time a little harder. With the same lightness as before he pushes back, but this time I lose my footing and stumble backwards. Just as I’m sure I’m about to fall back on my ass, Chase wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me back up to him.

  I fully intend on pushing myself off him with some smart-ass comment, but the second I look up to him, any will I have to speak or move is lost. Instead, those annoying stomach knots come back and my heart starts rapidly beating. Letting go of the hold he has on my waist, I assume he’s going to step back, so I try to think of the next thing to say.

  Instead though, one hand slides behind my head into the back of my hair and he uses the other to tip my chin up, leaving me no choice but to face him.

  My eyes meet his and I’m done. Gone. Any resolve I had about pushing those feelings away have flown out the fucking window, never to return. My knees buckle beneath me and I find myself grabbing the back of Chase’s shirt to steady myself. Before I can make my excuse of needing air, Chase’s fingers pull on the hair at the back of my neck and his lips crash on mine.

  I didn’t know that it was possible for the world to completely stop and spin faster, simultaneously, until right now. The reality of Chase’s lips on mine hits me like a bolt of lightning and stills me like the sound of waves crashing all at once.

  This is Chase. My best friend since I was fifteen. The boy I swore to let go of ten years ago. With his lips on mine. I mean, it’s not our first kiss, but holy fuck, this is happening. Right now. Jesus, Hollis, get your shit together. Kiss the man back.

  Letting go of the grip my hands have on the back of his shirt, my hands slide up to Chase’s neck. Pressing my fingers into the back of his neck and pulling him to me is all the affirmation he needs to keep going. With each second his lips linger on mine, my breaths become shallow and I feel myself melt into him completely. His tongue slides over mine, so tenderly. Each kiss long, slow, and calculated like he’s reveling in it and cherishing each one I’m giving up to him.

  When he pulls his lips off mine, my eyes fly open. His bright, green eyes lock with mine quickly before they make their way to my lips and back up again. Together, the hand that’s been holding my chin up to face him and the one in my hair, slide down my neck, slowly and meticulously trailing the outline of my body. Every part of me becoming hypersensitive with his touch. Each breath I take comes faster and heavier than the last one before it.

  He finally stops at my waist, wrapping both arms around me, tugging me closer, closing the small gap that was left between us. A cocky smirk of acknowledgment spreads across his lips when I gasp. Leaning back down, he lets his lips hover right above mine, asking me to meet him halfway.

  Just as I’m about to oblige, I hear, “Fucking finally!” from the doorway behind us. Like a snap waking me up from hypnosis, I move back, fear and panic searing through me.

  “I, I,” I stutter as I pull away, stepping back from Chase. “I need some air.”

  Grabbing the sweatshirt I’d dropped on the counter when Chase and I first got to the cabin, I pull it over my head and all but run for the door. Taking the cobblestone path that leads to the backyard, I make my way to my favorite wooden outdoor swing by the firepit. There are stacks of wood ready for the weekend. Bags of charcoal sit next to the three grills.

  “It's the air in these mountains. I can't catch my breath and my heart feels like it's going to beat out of my damn chest,” I explain as Kinley takes a seat on the swing next to me.

  “Oh, okay,” she laughs. “I didn’t realize we were referring to Chase as ‘the mountain air’ now.”

  In an attempt to deny it, to her and myself, I shake my head, “No. It’s not Chase.”

  “It’s always been Chase,” she argues, knowingly.

  Without warning, a flood of all the emotions I’ve been trying to push away hits me like a tidal wave. She’s right. From the very first day he walked into the gymnasium our sophomore year of high school, it’s been him. That’s why even in the two years I was with Noah, I would drop anything if Chase called me. It’s why every time something happened, good or bad, I want him to be the first to know. It’s no coincidence. It’s just Chase.

  It’s always been Chase. And maybe it was time I stopped fighting the universal pull that kept bringing us back to each other.

  Seeing the worried, terrified expression on my face, Kinley reaches for me, “Oh, Hollis.”

  “This is your weekend,” I tell her, trying to come up with an excuse to push this off. It was just a moment, it meant more to me than him. If he felt the same, he would have come after me. It would be him on the swings with me, not Kinley.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” she agrees. “And I want you to march your little butt back into that house and go talk to Chase. Because it’s my weekend and I say so. You’re not getting out of this one, Hol.”

  Standing up, she offers her hand to me, “Come on, Hurricane,” she teases by calling me by Chase’s nickname. “Let’s go make sure your brother hasn’t killed Chase for kissing you and then you can go tell him that you looooove him.”

  “You’re a real pain in my ass, preggers,” I laugh, standing up. She shrugs, and we walk around to the front of the house. As we’re about to go through the front door, the sound of tires on gravel comes from behind us. Tucker’s red Silverado pulls up and parks behind Chase’s truck. Right behind him a smaller black truck pulls up followed by a small black sedan.

  His truck isn’t parked for more than fifteen seconds before Tucker hops out of the driver’s seat and jogs over to us. Pulling Kinley and I both into his infamous bear hug as Kenny and Travis come walking up the driveway together. Davis and Travis have been best friends with Kenny since he moved into the house next to us in kindergarten. When Chase and Tucker moved to Abbott Hills, the only way Chase could hang out with them at first was if he brought Tucker with him. The three of them would get so annoyed when Misha insisted Chase let Tucker tag along.

  Being as smooth as his brother, it didn’t take Tucker long to make friends of his own. For a while, we didn’t see much of Tuck, but after high school every time the guys got together, it was the five of them. I couldn’t imagine anyone else standing next to my brother on the day of his wedding. Right behind Kenny and Travis, with their arms full of bags, are Cole and Ellis.

  “Hand ‘em over,” Travis chuckles, as Cole struggles with her suitcase and duffle bag.

  “You’re a lifesaver,” she sighs with relief, as she hands the bags over to my cousin.

  As Travis is taking Cole’s things, Tucker weaves in and out of the small group of us to help Ellis with her things. The whole group of them—including Chase and my brother—may be sarcastic smartasses, but their mamas raised them right. There would never be a moment any of us girls would struggle if one of the fellas were around.

  “Coming up here never gets old,” Cole smiles, as she one-arm hugs Kinley and me.

  “You guys definitely picked a good time of the year to do this,” Tucker agrees as he looks around, pointing to the bright yellow and red leaves of the maple trees all around us.

  “You couldn’t have asked for better weather this weekend, Kin,” Ellis adds in. “Sunny and 70 tomorrow. Perfect.”

  As everyone continues to go back and forth about the trees and weather, the sound of Davis and Chase’s loud laughter from the kitchen catches my attention. So my brother hasn’t killed him, and they’re laughing. That’s a good sign.

  While everyone else went to bring Cole and Ellis’s bags in their room, I try to sneak into the kitchen. Hip-hop blasting from the phone catches my attention first, followed promptly by Chase dicing up tomatoes while my brother shreds lettuce. The crock-pot I had been looking for is on the counter, the green light indicating that it
’s been turned on is lit up, and the lingering smell of salsa and powdered ranch dressing in the air means Chase started the chicken for the tacos I had planned on making tonight. His Hollis senses must be tingling, because Chase turns around from the counter and flashes me a concerned and puzzled look.

  “How’d you geniuses get into my phone?” I ask, before Chase can go through with asking if I’m okay like I know he wants to.

  “One One Zero Seven,” Davis deadpans. “Come on, Hol.”

  I want to wipe the cocky grin off Chase’s face, but I don’t say anything. This one time I’ll let him bask in it. What else could I do? 1107. November 7th. Chase’s birthday. There’s nothing I could say that would give me any other valid excuse for using those numbers as my lock code.

  “Alright Chase,” Kinley says, putting her hand out. “Give me that knife. One of us can take it from here. Hollis has some official bridesmaid and groomsman things she needs to go over with you. Alone.”

  If looks could kill, I would have just murdered her. Everyone has made their way to the kitchen and all of them are now looking back and forth between me and Chase, knowing full well it’s complete bullshit. If there was wedding stuff to talk about, we would all be talking about it. Not just me and Chase, alone nevertheless. My cheeks are burning by the time she shoos him away from the counter. Davis doesn’t say anything, but nods once, giving me his silent approval.

  Knowing this won’t end until Chase and I at least leave the room together, I roll my eyes and shoot one last side-eye glance over to Kinley. Closing the door behind him once we get to the yellow room I’ll be staying in tonight, Chase turns to me, his face full of confusion.

  “What’s going on Hollis?” he questions. “Everything okay?”

  “No,” I tell him, panicking. “Yes. No. Why did you have to go and do that?”

  “What? What are you talking about?” he asks, his voice laced with concern. “What the hell did I do?”

  “Nothing,” I blurt out before dropping my shoulders and adding, “Everything.”

  “Hollis.”

  The way he says my name with such authority sends chills up my spine. Whoa. Chase Merrimack with the smolder appeal. Fuck. And here I was thinking I could weasel my way out of this conversation. Tucker’s voice on the other side of the door letting Chase know they’re all getting ready to head out saves me from having to explain myself. Seeing my opportunity, I open the door and tell him to “have a great night with the fellas.” Reluctantly, he sighs, following his brother to the front door where Kenny, Davis and Travis are waiting.

  Once I get to the kitchen where the girls are gathered, I pick up my phone to find something more appropriate for girls’ night. Two seconds into me searching through playlists, a text pops up from Chase.

  “Just so you know, our conversation from the bedroom is far from over. See you in the morning, beautiful.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chase

  I hate when things are left unfinished.

  Which seems to be the ongoing theme of Hollis’s and my friendship, or whatever it is we have. Just as Hollis was going to let down her guard, my brother came knocking on the door, letting me know it was time to go. She used it as her excuse to avoid the conversation we desperately needed to have, practically pushing me out the door with the rest of the guys.

  And it’s not that I minded time with the fellas. I couldn’t remember the last time the five of us were able to just sit around drinking beers, eating pizza. Right now, I would just rather be at the cabin, figuring out what the hell was going on with me and Hol though. No matter what she said, there was no way it was “nothing.” That kiss was so far from nothing.

  Respecting her space and the time she needed to move on from Noah had been a priority, but maybe it was time let her know how much I wanted more. More than the back and forth, more than mixed signals, more than the jealousy or the worry when she’s with someone else. Just more.

  “So, Mack,” Davis starts, calling me out specifically. “What’s the deal with you and Hol?”

  “Is this a trick question?” I ask, grabbing another slice of pepperoni pizza from the tray in the middle of the table. As soon as we left the cabin, I knew it was only a matter of time until one of them asked me. To be honest, I was surprised it had even taken this long.

  We left four hours ago, wrapping up our night of “bachelor party” fun now. After confirming the ladies’ plans for the night didn’t collide with ours, Davis’s groomsmen split the cost of renting out Frankie’s Funway. If someone had told me when I was sixteen that the park I spent many nights terrorizing with the guys would be where I spent the night before one of them got married, I would have laughed in their face. But Davis had made it very clear that the strip club was the very last place he wanted to be tonight, so when Travis brought up the idea of reliving our youth at Frankie’s, we’d been all for it.

  Nothing and everything had changed since the last time I had been there. A lot of the park was the same, but we were all older and some of us, wiser. But you put five guys, no matter how old, in any competitive situation and shit was going to go down. After playing the most competitive game of mini golf ever, we headed over to the batting cages, then laser tag, and then finally wrapped up the night with a lap around the go-kart track.

  Most friends would have let Davis win, knowing it was his night, but we’re more the kind of friends that want to make sure you stay grounded. Up until now, we had only heckled each other while playing. Even the short walk down the street to the pizza place had been spent giving each other a hard time and bragging about our personal wins.

  “Hey, man,” my brother adds from across the table. “Davis asked what we’re all thinking.”

  “Do we need to give you the Cappa boys speech?” Travis questions, jokingly puffing out his chest and nodding to Davis before we all burst out laughing.

  “Honestly,” I start when the laughter subsides. “I don’t know. I’m kind of leaving the ball in Hol’s court.”

  “Well, you’d be an improvement over the last guy,” Davis nods before taking a sip of his beer. Without so many words, I just got his blessing. Hollis never required her brother’s approval to do anything, but I know it matters to her. Which means, tomorrow after all the wedding craziness, it was time Hollis and I had a chat.

  After meeting in the hotel restaurant for breakfast, the five of us all head back up to Davis’s hotel suite. Sports Center is playing on the TV in the background, but for probably the first time in our lives, none of us are paying attention to stats and sports news, as the suite slowly begins to fill.

  Over the next hour, Davis’s family trickles in slowly. Once everyone is accounted for, he opens the sliding door of the hotel closet. A dozen suits hang in the closet, each one with a name tag written in Hollis’s big, bubbly handwriting. The first five suits are navy blue, followed by six gray ones. Davis’s is the first suit, his white vest and white bowtie separating him from the rest of us.

  As I fiddle with the navy-blue bowtie that matches the rest of the groomsmen, Lorenzo Capparelli leaves Davis’s side and makes his way over to me. I’ve never feared Hollis’s dad, because I’ve always been the good guy. But there’s something intimidating and terrifying about him coming at me with intent right now.

  “So, Hollis says that she’ll be back home after this weekend,” Lorenzo starts, as he adjusts my tie. “I just want you to know, I’ll be okay if she isn’t. When she came home from college, I told her that the house was empty without kids in it, but I knew the only way she would accept my help would be if I made it about me. So if she doesn’t come back home, I’ll be okay. No matter what she tries to tell you.”

  Just like his son last night, in not so many words, I just got his blessing to move forward with Hollis if I want to. To so many people, this might seem old-fashioned and out of date, but the Capparellis are as close as they come. Their old school family values don’t stop at Sunday dinners. When they say, “family first,” they
really, legitimately mean it.

  That’s why today, every single member of Davis’s family would be in attendance. Kinley’s mom is a US Senator, the combination creating a laughable idea that this would be a “small” wedding.

  “Make sure you fellas turn your phones off,” Davis reminds us as we begin to make our way down to the lobby. “Lord help any of you if you ruin a pregnant woman’s wedding with a ringing cell phone.”

  Kinley and Davis couldn’t have asked for a better day. After listening to Hollis stress as she stalked the weather channel for the last week, even I had been relieved when Mother Nature decided to play nice today. The combination of sunshine and anything above fifty degrees in October is a rare thing in New Hampshire, but the sun was shining, and my weather app said it would be in the low sixties all day today.

  It only takes ten minutes for us to get to the cabin, the longest stretch of the drive the worn, dirt driveway leading to the cabin itself. Stepping out of the limo, we are greeted by my mom and Davis’s aunt, Zia Kat. As soon as I step out, my mom’s eyes begin to water. With Tucker and Davis following behind me, she sighs happily, pulling each of us, one by one, into hugs.

  “My boys,” her voice wavering as she looks all of us over. “Wait till you see Lola, Tuck. And, wait till you see Hollis. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Kinley looks beautiful, but Hol, is just…well, you’ll see,” she says, turning her attention back to me. I had no doubt Hollis would look beautiful, but the way my mom left it made me wonder if there something more she was trying to tell me.

  “Oh!” Kat exclaims as we make our way toward the backyard where the ceremony and reception would be. “The whole reason we were sent out here was to tell you that if any of you fellas need to use the bathroom, make your way inside now. The ladies are behind closed doors.”

  None of us need to go, so while my mom and Hollis’s aunt dip back into the house with Hollis’s dad, the rest of us continue to the backyard. Straight ahead, a large white tent sits, the doors open, allowing us to look in.