At Peace (The War Trilogy #3)

by Andria Large

  After we’re decent, Dennis gives me one more languid kiss before unlocking the door and motioning for me to go out. He locks the door back up and shoves the keys into his front pocket. He runs his fingers through his hair and over his face. He checks to make sure his fly is up and pulls down his T-shirt.

  “Alright, back to work,” he says.

  “I’ll probably head home, if that’s okay with you?” I ask.

  We walk down the hall leading back into the bar.

  “Yeah, sure,” he replies with a small satisfied smile.

  “Okay, I’ll see you in a few hours,” I murmur.

  Dennis nods and leans down, giving me a quick kiss on the lips just as we enter the bar. “See you then.”

  He sends me a wink and a private smile before returning to his post at the door. I walk over to the bar where I left my helmet and scoop it up. When I straighten up, Britney is standing on the other side of the bar, hands planted on the bar top, her eyebrow raised.

  “If you two didn’t just have sex somewhere in this place, I’ll eat a beer bottle,” she says dryly.

  A lopsided grin spreads across my face but I don’t say a word.

  “I knew it. Your hair is a mess, by the way.”

  “Just the way I like it,” I say with a wink and a shit-eating grin.

  She rolls her eyes at me but I can see that she’s fighting off a smile.

  “See you later, Brit.”

  “Mmm hmm,” she replies.

  I leave the pub and get back on my bike. I hiss when I sit down on the seat. Shit, my ass is sore. We haven’t fucked that hard in a while. I start my bike and make my way home where I take a quick shower and crawl into bed to wait for Dennis to get home.

  ~ Chapter Seven ~

  ~ Tucker ~

  An incessant pounding wakes me up out of me sleep. Dennis shifts next to me and grumbles something about turning off the drums. I rub the sleep from my eyes and glance at the clock on the nightstand. Jesus, it’s four in the morning. What the hell is that noise?

  Bam…bam…bam…

  It kind of sounds like someone banging on the front door, but who the hell would be doing that at four in the morning? Dennis makes an irritated noise and lifts his head off of his pillow.

  “What the fuck is that?” he mumbles.

  “I don’t know? Someone pounding on our door?”

  “Go check it out. I’ll be there in a minute, gotta put my leg on,” he grunts and rubs his face.

  “Okay.”

  I slip out of bed and pull a pair of sweatpants over my naked ass before opening the bedroom door. The sound is louder now and is definitely someone pounding on our door. I turn a lamp on then pad over to the door in my bare feet and peak out the peephole. There is a grungy looking woman standing there banging her fists on the door. What the fuck?

  I unlock and yank open the door. “What the fuck is wrong with you, lady?! Do you have any idea what time it is?!” I squawk.

  She eyes me in confusion. “Who the hell are you?” she asks.

  “Who am I? You’re the one banging on my door! Who the hell are you?!” I reply incredulously.

  “Your door?” she asks accusingly, her eyes narrowing at me. “Where’s Dennis?”

  Dennis? How the hell does this disgusting looking woman know Dennis?

  “Jesus Christ.” Dennis sighs behind me. “Mom, what are you doing here?”

  “Mom?” I gape and turn to look at Dennis, who has come up to stand next to me.

  “Why do you have a half-naked man here?” Dennis’ mom demands.

  “That is none of your business,” Dennis snaps. “What I want to know is why you are banging on my door at four am?”

  “Every other time I’ve been here, you were never home!”

  “Every other time? How many times have you been here?” Dennis asks, his annoyance clear.

  “At least five or six times in the past week,” she huffs, throwing her arms up in the air.

  Good Lord, I blink back tears from the horrendous stench I just caught a whiff of. It’s like fucking body odor, urine, cigarettes, and shit, all mixed together. Doesn’t she know how to take a goddamn shower before banging on someone’s door in the middle of the fucking night? Shit.

  Dennis swipes a hand down his face and shifts on his feet next to me. “Well, what the hell is it that you want?” he snaps, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

  “You need to pay the bill for the funeral home! They keep calling me, telling me that I need to pay it. Well, I ain’t got the money, Dennis, so you have to pay it.”

  “You’re kidding me, right?” Dennis grits out. “I didn’t even know dad was dead until I got the bill! You didn’t even bother to call me to tell me he was gone! I’m not paying a damn thing!”

  Dennis’ mother waves a dismissive hand. “I didn’t do shit for the bastard anyway. Got him cremated. He’s sitting in an urn on the kitchen table,” she mutters.

  Un-fucking-believable. This woman is unreal. How did Dennis and Lizette turn out so great with parents like this? I glance over at Dennis; he looks livid, not that I can blame him.

  “The bill is not my responsibility,” Dennis says.

  “I’m on the verge of losing my apartment! I ain’t got no money to pay the goddamn bill! You need to pay it so these fucking people will get off my back!”

  “I don’t have to do shit. Just like you never did shit for me. I’m done talking about this, you can go,” Dennis replies, moving to shut the door in her face.

  She gasps in outrage and the next thing I know, I hear a thwack! as she smacks Dennis hard across the face before going batshit crazy. She starts screaming about how he’s a horrible son and how he was never good for nothin’. Her words, not mine.

  Now, some of our neighbors have started to crack their doors to see what in God’s name is going on. She cranks her arm back to take another swing at Dennis, but he’s faster. He grabs her by the throat and shoves her against the doorframe. Her eyes bug out in shock and sudden terror, while her fingers claw at his wrist.

  Dennis looks deadly. His face is blank and emotionless. I stifle the urge to shudder. He looks fucking scary as shit right now.

  “I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Dad when he showed up here,” he says, his voice quiet but lethal. “If you ever come near me or Lizette again, I will fucking kill you and make it look like an accident. Do you understand me?”

  His mother stutters out a “Yes,” and gives a jerky nod. Dennis shoves her into the hallway by her throat, where she ends up sprawled out on the floor.

  “Get the fuck out of my sight,” he snarls.

  She scrambles to her feet while staring at him, her eyes wide with fear. She rubs her throat as she moves as fast as she can toward the elevators.

  “If you think I’m bluffing, just try me!” Dennis calls after her.

  He comes back into the condo and slams the door so hard that the whole wall rattles. I watch as he stalks into the kitchen and grabs the bottle of Jamison from the top of the fridge. He cracks it open and takes a big swig right from the bottle. He hisses and blows out a breath before taking another drink.

  I walk over to stand in front of him. After his third shot, I take the bottle and cap from him, close the bottle up, and put it back on top of the fridge.

  “I fucking hate that bitch,” Dennis wheezes.

  “I can see why,” I scoff.

  I shuffle closer and loosely wrap my arms around his waist.

  “You handled it perfectly,” I tell him.

  “I wasn’t lying. I will fucking murder that twat if she shows her face here again,” he sneers.

  “Oh, I believe you.” I chuckle.

  “I hope she rots in fucking hell.”

  “I know, babe.”

  “I hope she gets hit by a fucking bus.”

  “And gets eaten by rats,” I add.

  “While still alive,” Dennis says with the smallest of smiles.

  “And hopefully flies fill
her half alive carcass with maggots which she has to feel squirming around inside of her because she’s still kinda alive.”

  Dennis makes a face, which has me barking out a laugh. “Too far?”

  He smiles and shakes his head. “Nah, that sounds good to me. Gross as shit, but worthy of her.”

  He leans in and gives me a soft kiss on the lips.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” I grin. “Now…” I start but end up yawning. “…Let’s go back to sleep.”

  “Ugh, yeah, sleep,” he groans and lets me lead him by the hand back into the bedroom.

  Dennis takes his prosthetic off before snuggling down under the covers with me. Sleep comes quickly for both of us.

  ~ Dennis ~

  “I can’t believe she was stupid enough to believe she could hit you and get away with it,” Lizette mutters in disgust as she sets the dining room table.

  It’s Christmas Eve and Tucker and I have come to her and Beau’s place for dinner. Lizette is only a few weeks away from having the baby, so she’s huge and waddling now. She’s all belly, though. She doesn’t even look pregnant from behind; although, her face has gotten a little rounder. They haven’t found out the sex of the baby, wanting it to be a surprise. I’m dying to know. Every time I look at her, I can’t help but wonder.

  I take the plates from her hands. “I wish you would go sit down.”

  She gives me a dirty look. “I don’t need to sit down,” she huffs and pushes against the side of her belly. “I just need this kid to get out from under my ribs, dammit.”

  I shudder. “I don’t even want to know what that feels like.”

  “No, you don’t. It’s not fun.”

  “You look tired, though. We should have done this at our place so you didn’t have to cook and clean.”

  She waves a dismissive hand. “Please, I’m not crippled. Plus, Beau helped a lot.”

  “Good.”

  “So, do you think mom got the hint?” she asks, bringing the conversation back to what happened last night.

  I set a plate down and growl, “She better have.”

  “I’m glad she doesn’t know where I live now. I really don’t want her knowing that I’m having a baby.”

  I hum my agreement. That would only cause more problems. We finish setting the table in silence. It’s only four place settings, so it doesn’t take long. Beau, Tucker, and I bring all of the food out to the table then we all sit down and dig in. The conversation is light and there are lots of laughs. I watch Tucker as he tells an animated and exaggerated version of what happened last night. I can’t help but smile. He’s gorgeous and I know I’ve made the right decision when I decided to pull up my big boy pants and trust him completely again. I feel better and I know he does, too. We’re getting back to being happy together again. He’s really worked hard these past few weeks to prove to me that he’s serious about us being together forever and that he’s never going to leave again.

  I’ve kind of come to understand why he did what he did. I’ve tried to put myself in his shoes and think about what I would’ve done if Lizette hadn’t been accepting of us, and I might’ve done the same thing. I was just so damn blinded and fucking terrified of losing another person I loved that I couldn’t see straight. I’m not going to lie and say that he didn’t fuck up, because he did. He definitely could’ve handled the situation better than he did. But it’s in the past now. He’s apologized profusely and has done his best to make up for it. Now it’s my turn to take the final steps in bringing us back together. I love Tucker and I want to be with him for the rest of my life. And I believe whole-heartedly that he feels the same.

  ~ Tucker ~

  After dinner, I help Lizette clean up in the kitchen. I volunteered because there is something that I want to talk to her about. It’s something that I think she will be totally okay with, but I still want to bring it up before I say anything to Dennis.

  I’m washing the dishes that wouldn’t fit in the dishwasher and she’s drying. Our backs are to Dennis and Beau who are sitting in the living room chatting.

  “So, I’m about to tell you something, but you can’t freak out because I don’t want Dennis wondering what we’re talking about, okay?” I say quietly enough so only Lizette can hear me.

  “Oookay,” she replies just as quietly, her tone curious.

  I meet her green eyes that are so much like her brother’s and whisper, “I bought Dennis an engagement ring for Christmas. I’m going to ask him to marry me tomorrow.”

  I see her eyes widen in excitement and she opens her mouth, but I shoot her a warning look. She snaps it shut and tries to contain herself. She waves a hand in front of her now teary eyes.

  “I’m so excited!” she whispers. “Do you have the ring on you?”

  I nod and glance over my shoulder to make sure Dennis is completely occupied. He is, so I pull the little velvet pouch out of the front pocket of my jeans that has the ring in it. I sure as hell can’t go walking around with a box in my pocket, everyone would see it. I open it up and tip it over into my hand. The black Tungsten Carbide ring with one simple diamond on it lands in my palm. I pick it up and hold it up to show Lizette. She gasps softly, covering her mouth with one hand.

  “Oh, Tucker, it’s beautiful,” she murmurs quietly.

  “Do you think he’ll say yes after everything that’s gone on recently?” I ask as I put the ring away. My worry is that he’s not ready yet and will say no. The past couple of days have been really great and I almost feel like we’re back to the way we used to be.

  Lizette gives me a gentle smile. “Of course he will. He loves you and wants to spend the rest of his life with you.”

  “I’m just afraid…” I start but she cuts me off.

  She puts her hand on my forearm and gives it a firm squeeze. “Don’t be,” she says.

  I study her face for a moment then give her a curt nod. “Okay.”

  She knows her brother like the back of her hand, and if she doesn’t think I have anything to worry about then I trust her.

  “I just wish I could see his face when you ask him. Do you have it all planned out?”

  I shake my head. “No, I was just going to wing it.” I chuckle.

  She rolls her eyes. “Men.”

  ~ Chapter Eight ~

  ~ Dennis ~

  I lie next to Tucker, panting heavily after a round of incredible Christmas morning sex. It was rough and aggressive and I fucking loved it. Tucker seemed to love it, too, considering all of the moaning and screaming he was doing. Tucker bottomed again, and I’m thinking maybe tonight, I’ll let him top. I haven’t had him top me in a while.

  “Fuck, that was so good,” Tucker breathes.

  “Yeah, it was. Merry Christmas.” I snicker.

  Tucker chuckles. “Mmm, that was a great Christmas present.”

  “Yeah, it was.” I sigh contently.

  I turn my head on my pillow to look over at him. Damn, he’s gorgeous in his post-sex glow. His mop of loose dark curls are damp with sweat and all over the place with some stuck to his forehead. His eyes are closed and his plump lips are parted as he tries to catch his breath. His jaw has a shadow of scruff that felt incredible against the inside of my thighs when he teased me before he went down on me. I could stare at him all day.

  Tucker pulls in a deep breath and turns his head to look at me, his bright blue eyes staring at me with all of the love and affection that he feels for me. The corners of his eyes crinkle as he smiles at me. I smile back. Damn, I’m so in love with him.

  Tucker rolls onto his side, facing me and leans in to kiss me softly on the lips. When he pulls back, he studies my face. His smile fades and his expression turns serious.

  “Marry me, Dennis,” he says.

  I blink stupidly at him. What did he just say?

  “W-What?” I stutter, my heart picking up speed.

  Tucker rolls away and opens the drawer of the nightstand on his side of the bed. Taking something out
, he turns back and sits up. He holds out a ring to me.

  “I love you so much, and I know I’ve fucked up, but it will never happen again. I want to be with you forever. You are it for me. I don’t want anyone else. Will you marry me?” he asks, and I can hear the vulnerability in his tone.

  I push up into a sitting position, too. I stare at the ring, dumbfounded. I was not expecting this. I mean, I figured now that gay marriage is legal in all fifty states, we would eventually get hitched. I really never expected one of us to propose. I thought we would just agree to get married, then go and do it. So this is a complete shock to me.

  “Dennis?” Tucker croaks.

  My eyes shoot up to his face. Dammit, I must have been silent for too long. He looks like he’s ready to break down. The hand holding the ring has dropped to rest on top of his thigh and his shoulders are sagging in defeat.

  “Fuck. Yes, Tucker. Yes, I’ll marry you,” I rush to say and grab his face to kiss him.

  Tucker half laughs, half sobs against my lips. His arms come around me and hug me hard. “Holy shit, I thought you were going to say no,” he sniffs, resting his forehead against mine.

  I look at him and see tears running down his face. “I would never say no to you, Tuck. You know I fucking love you,” I say tenderly and reach up to wipe the tears from his face.

  “I know, but after everything I did…” he starts, but I cut him off.

  “It’s over and done with. You’ve apologized, I’ve forgiven you, and I want us to get back to the way we were. I want us to be happy together again,” I tell him, giving him another kiss. “You just shocked the hell out of me, I wasn’t expecting this at all.”

  Tucker grins. “Isn’t that the point of proposing?”

  I smile, give him one more kiss, and then back up enough so that I can fully see him. “True. So, are you going to put that ring on my finger, or what?”

  Tucker bites his bottom lip as he takes my left hand and slips the beautiful black ring with its one simple diamond onto my ring finger. It fits perfectly. Tucker then turns and goes back into the drawer, he comes back and holds out his palm to me. Sitting on it is a matching ring. I smile brightly.