I hear a few bangs, then the sound of a door opening and slamming shut, followed by the sound of heavy boots stomping their way towards me. The second Kayden appears, his face breaks into a shit eating grin, “Hey, cuz. Sorry to keep ya waitin’ but Savannah needed some tending to before we left for the day.”
Shaking my head, I spin around and stomp back down the stairs. “I don’t need to know the details asshole. Just get your shit and let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“What the hell has your girly panties in a twist today?” Kayden joke’s clapping me on the back as he comes around me at the bottom of the staircase.
My body tenses and jaw clenches as I try to reign in emotions. After a few deep breaths through my nose, I feel better, “Nothing. Jackass. I just want to get out on the lake, chill the fuck out and drink some beer. Not stand around your house all day.”
The doorbell rings as Kayden is disappearing into the garage that’s attached to the kitchen to grab his fishing gear and load it into his truck. Brooklyn bounces over to the door, bursting with excitement, as Mya and Braxton enter the house. Spotting us, Braxton raises his hand in the air at all of us, “What’s up assholes! Ready to do some fishing?”
We all take turns ‘bro hugging’ Braxton and saying hello before heading outside where Kayden is pulling his truck out of the garage and into the driveway.
“I didn’t know you were coming. I thought you had plans with your parents’ this weekend?” I ask Braxton as we stand on the stairs watching Kayden load the bed of his truck up.
“I did, but with everything going on they understood Mya’s reasons for wanting to reschedule dinner for another night. I still can’t believe they haven’t caught the piece of shit. Then to know he has the balls to send threats. He is going to have one big ass whoopin’ coming once he’s caught if Kayden has his way.”
My head is reeling as I take in what Braxton is saying. I’ve been busy all week with getting our new construction site set up, and all of our trailers moved to the lot we’ll be building on. I’ve rarely had time to catch up with him on everything going on. I turn towards Braxton to try and speak lower and with a confused expression I ask, “What are you talking about? What threats?”
Braxton has a look of shock on his face as my question flies out at him. “You don’t know? I assumed you’d be one of the first to know...considering.”
“Considering what?!?” I blurt out a little louder this time.
He nervously runs his hand over his shaved head before leaning in closer to me and lowering his voice, “Kayden wants it kept on the down low right now because of everything Savannah’s dealing with. But Brooklyn got a text from Zak the night Savannah was released making threats at her. The police tried to trace it but came up with nothing but dead ends.”
I don’t say another word to Braxton. I beeline it straight back into the house and find Brooklyn and Mya in the family room watching as three women set up massage tables and set out nail supplies.
“Brooklyn!” I bark out causing her to jump.
Spinning around to face me, she presses her hand to her chest and blinks a few times as I watch her inhale and exhale deeply, causing her perfect tits to rise and fall. “Jesus, Dixon! You scared the crap out of me.”
I cock my head to the side. “Yeah. Sorry about that. I guess with getting threats and all you must be a little on edge, huh?”
Her eyes grow large as she searches the room making sure Savannah isn’t around.
“Don’t worry. Savannah’s upstairs still. You. Follow. Me. Now!” My words are short and clipped as I grab her arm and drag her into Kayden’s kitchen.
Yanking her arm away from me, she furrows her brows, “Settle down on the man handling, asshole. Where the hell do you get off bossing me around?”
I take a step towards her, backing her against the kitchen island, and I rest a hand on each side of her body gripping the island. “I’ll boss you around all I want when you decide to keep me in the dark about shit like some crazy assed lunatic sending you death threats.”
Brooklyn’s body sags against the counter, and she drops her eyes to my chest, “I figured you couldn’t care less so why bother telling you. Anyways, Jax has been amazing making sure I’m safe. So there’s nothing to worry about.”
Hearing her say Jax’s name and knowing she turned to him instead of me should make me feel relieved since I did say I wanted to wash my hands of her, but instead makes my blood boil. “I don’t care if Jax, Kayden, or anyone else is handling it. That piece of shit hacked my goddamn company and tried to blackmail money out of my cousin. I take this shit he’s pulling very serious. I don’t take death threats lightly, especially when his boyfriend is lying cold in a morgue. People do desperate things in the name of revenge on a daily fucking basis, Brooklyn.”
She slowly lifts her head back up, locking her big amber colored eyes with mine, “I admit I’m pretty freaked out, it sucks keeping this from Savannah, but I understand why. Jax has been great plus I take self-defense classes. If he ever tried anything, I can easily take his ass down.”
Women. They always think a few self-defense classes will make them fucking superwomen. “Brooklyn, knowing how to beat someone up because of a class won’t help you if the psycho has a gun and is hiding where ya can’t see them. You can’t let your guard down. Not for a single second.”
Her fingers slowly lift from her sides and roam up the front of my shirt where they stop at my chest and fist the cotton of my undershirt. My breathing increases as she gently tugs on it. “Why do you care so much? Last I knew we weren’t on speaking terms and nowhere near being friends. We’ve been nothing but a convenient fuck for one another.”
Fuck.
She’s definitely a girl who calls it like she sees it. What the fuck have I gotten myself into with her?
I bring my hand up to her face, cupping her cheek. The instant my hand touches her face, my dick jumps in my jeans and my heart rate peaks. “We may not be friends, and sure, we’ve hooked up a few times, but there’s no use in denying we’re pretty fucking good together when it comes to the bedroom department. But, let’s not forget, we’ve only been on the no speaking terms since you decided to tell a chick I gave you a STD. Before that, we were forming somewhat of a friendship. I’m still human, Brooklyn. I’m not a total asshole...even if you want to think differently. If someone is threatening to hurt you, I want to know.”
The air around us is sparking and crackling as she licks her lips and stares up into my eyes. A look of want and need is brewing in them as she gently tugs on my tee again. I don’t know what comes over me, but I find myself pressing my body against hers pinning her to the countertop before grazing her lips. My hand slides from her cheek to the nape of her neck as I press my lips harder against hers this time. I feel her body melting into mine as soft moans vibrate against my lips.
“Brooklyn! Where the hell did you disappear to?”
The sound of Mya’s voice shouting from the family room startles us both, causing me to stumble backwards away from her. I wipe at my lips with the back of my hand before smoothing my t-shirt back down trying to rid it of all its wrinkles, thanks to Brooklyn fisting it a few seconds earlier.
“I better get going before Kayden starts bustin’ my balls for telling him not to drag his ass and then go and pull a disappearing act on everyone.”
“Okay,” Is all she says as she grips the edge of the counter and closes her eyes for a moment. I can’t take my eyes off her as I watch her working to pull herself back together. She closed her eyes, shutting away the beautiful, broken mess she revealed to me and replaces it with the fun, bubbly Brooklyn once again. Pushing off of the island, she flashes me a flirtatious smile, runs her hand over my shoulder, which sends a shockwave through my body, “See ya around, Dixon.”
With that, she’s gone. She disappears into the family room, yelling to Mya, and I finally find the strength to make my legs work and head back out to the driveway. Everyone’s hanging out ar
ound the trucks when I step back outside. “There you are. We figured your ass fell in the fuckin’ toilet or somethin,’ you’ve been gone so long. You ready to hit the road?” Brantley asks as he grips the handle to the back door of my truck.
“Yeah, let’s roll.” I spot Alec, instead of Jax, climbing into the truck with Kayden and Braxton faltering my steps. “Knox! Where’s Jax?” I shout across the driveway as I swing my driver’s side door open and step up onto the step bar of my truck.
“Oh, change of plans. He’s staying here with the girls and Alec is coming with us. He’ll stay back at the cabin to watch over everything while we go out on the boat.”
Fucking, Jax. Of course, he’ll volunteer to stay and protect Brooklyn. Like she said in the kitchen, ‘She has Jax. He’s been there to keep her safe.’ I feel like a fucking idiot for getting pissed off. This is what I wanted isn’t it? To live a Brooklyn-free life?
Climbing into the truck, I slam the door a little harder than usual and fire up the engine before peeling the rubber off the tires and shooting down the wrap around driveway. I can’t get away from this house and her fast enough because whenever I’m around her, all my common fucking sense flies out the damn window making it impossible to think straight.
Chapter Nine
My run in with Dixon Saturday was definitely interesting, to say the least. I took Savannah’s advice and used Jax as a tool to see if I could get under Dixon’s skin, and it worked. The moment I mentioned Jax was making sure I was safe, I could see jealousy boiling over inside of him. Why are guys so damn stubborn? We both are stubborn...that I’ll admit. However, Dixon takes the gold freaking medal for most stubborn and hard headed person on the planet.
If he would ask me what I want and wasn’t playing these games of hot and cold, I’d honestly tell him that I wanted him. I’ve never felt this way before so sure I’m terrified by what it is I’m admitting. I know, for a fact, we can’t do a relationship. It would be a disaster, but at least exclusive hook ups would be nice. I only want him, and wish he felt the same about me. I feel bad because Jax has been so sweet and everything I could ever wish for with everything going on right now, but I don’t feel that pull to him like I did before and now do with damn Dixon.
Things with Zak are only making this crazier for me. I’ve felt so isolated these last two weeks, so I’m looking forward to a few days away. I doubt Zak would try to cross borders and go into Canada. I only planned on being in Vancouver until Wednesday and flying home. Though, from the look of things, we now won’t wrap up the action scenes they wanted us to re-shoot until Thursday, so I booked my flight back to Houston for first thing Friday morning.
Saturday night, after our full day of pampering, Mya, Savannah and I spent a while soaking in the hot tub and drinking wine when Mya suggested a fantastic idea: Savannah and Kayden should look into a mini vacation to get away for a while. They can escape the craziness and give the police time to track down Zak. Savannah brought it up to Kayden Monday afternoon when she finished up her first therapy session with the psychiatrist her physician suggested she see to help deal with the trauma she went through during the kidnapping and accident.
He told her he was all for getting away for a few days and even suggested we all come. We, as in, Jax and me, too. I was over the freaking moon because he suggested we all fly on his private jet down to the Bahamas where he has a private island! The only potentially catastrophic part of it all is Kayden also invited Dixon to fly down with us.
We’ll be leaving Friday morning and returning Sunday evening. I can only pray to God we survive this trip, and I don’t end up feeding Dixon to the sharks. After his Mr. Oh so Sweet and Caring Act he put on for me in the kitchen Saturday, I tried to text him Sunday night to see if he wanted me to come over and he texted me back that he was busy, almost twenty minutes after I first sent the damn message.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I pulled up his Instagram on my phone knowing, like most twenty-somethings, everything from gym selfies to what they’ve eaten today to what they’re doing for fun is on there. Sure enough, I find an Instagram photo of Dixon and some botoxed, platinum-haired bimbo with way too much silicone in her chest together at Vertigo.
I tried to tell myself I didn’t care, but then went and vegged out on a bag of chocolate pretzels with Savannah and drank half a bottle of wine before passing out curled up in Jax’s arms. The entire time I was wishing it was Dixon in bed beside me, because I’m the world’s biggest fool thanks to my stupid heart deciding now that it wants to start actually feeling something for a damn guy.
“So, the Bahamas? Do you think they’d notice if I stowed away in one of your suitcases?” Frankie asked, half joking, half serious as he popped another sweet potato fry into his mouth.
The massive ogre looking dude beside me has made people steer clear of our outdoor table where Frankie and I are having lunch. Kayden had Jax help him find the best security in Vancouver that celebrities use while filming up here. So I’ve been stuck with Shrek also known as Big T. I don’t know what his real name is, all I know is he’s pretty damn scary looking and not friendly at all. He keeps to himself and is constantly watching everyone around us as if they’re all crazy people with the intention of hurting me.
I appreciate the bodyguard, especially since Zak is still running loose around God knows where. He’s not Jax. Jax makes it not feel so scary. He’s able to joke with me and keep me distracted, not allowing my mind to run wild.
Taking a long sip of my Coke, I smile with the straw still pressed between my lips and nod my head yes before releasing the straw and setting my glass down. “I’m excited to get away. To the Bahamas no less. And not just the Bahamas—like staying at a hotel or whatever—we’re staying on a private freaking island!”
“I so hate you right now. Not only are you going to a private island but also with two hotties who both have parked their Range Rovers in your parking garage. That’s going to be awkward or really super-hot! Have you ever considered just banging the both of them at once? Save you a lot of time and prepping.”
My jaw, I’m pretty sure, just dislocated before falling onto the table. I blink at him from across the table for a few seconds before I lean over holding my stomach and let out the loudest laugh to escape my lips in weeks. “Range Rovers?! Seriously, Frankie! I think all that rainbow freaking hair dye has poisoned your brain. And a threesome? Even though that sounds super hot, Dixon would probably go all alpha male on Jax and turn it into a dick measuring contest, leaving me lying on the bed having to pleasure myself while they fought over who fucked me better.”
That got Big T’s attention. He clears his throat and interrupts our conversation, “You’re needed back on set in thirty. It’s best if you speed up your lunch if you don’t want to be late.”
“Party pooper.” Frankie pouts, tossing a fry back on his plate.
I can’t help but burst out laughing again. “I’m sorry, my mind just went all kinds of dirty when you said pooper. You know all those porns showing threesomes one in the kitty the other in the pooper?”
This time Frankie joins in with me before yelling, “Check, please!”
As soon as we pay, Big T and mumbles, “Finally.” And stands shoving his chair back loudly before holding his arm out, motioning for us to go. We spend the entire ride back to the movie set laughing and talking about porn. Go figure. Our conversations are seriously certifiable sometimes.
We make it to the set with only a few minutes to spare, so I run into my trailer to brush my teeth and touch up my makeup before rejoining everyone else. When I walk over to the area we’re shooting, I feel my adrenaline start to pump through my veins. Nothing gives me a bigger high than acting. Getting lost in the scene and putting everything out there for the world to see and judge is thrilling. Hopefully, one day, all my hard work will pay off and I’ll find myself on movie posters lining the halls of theaters and billboards showing off my box office hits.
I spend the next hour hanging from
a harness being thrown off a building over and over again before landing on padding on the ground below. By the time we finish shooting our final scene, I’m spent with every inch of my body aching.
“That’s a wrap!” The director shouts from his chair before everyone erupts with cheers and whistles followed by clapping to celebrate. Even though it’s the second time we’ve heard those words on this set, it’s still bittersweet.
I’ve had so much growth in my acting while working with this amazing team. I’m sad to move on but excited for what the future holds. One thing I know is it holds acting in the same space as Shemar Moore. Very. Very. Soon. It’s going to be heaven on earth for this girl. Let’s just hope I can actually act with him around.
Exiting my plane, I head straight for baggage claim to collect my luggage. Thankfully I only have one carry on with me and one suitcase. Savannah FaceTimed me last night to go through my closet so she could pack my suitcases for our trip. We’re all meeting up on the tarmac to board the private jet. It’ll be a step up from coach I just flew in on.
I maneuver in my heels through the crowd of bodies moving in every direction until I see the sign saying baggage claim. I’m surprised but relieved, to spot Jax waiting with my suitcase in his hand already. What a life saver!
“Jax!” I squeal as I stomp in my stilettos towards him and jump into his arms greeting him with a hug.
His free arm wraps around me holding me tightly against him. “Brooklyn.” I love the amusement in his tone as he hugs me hello. I can’t help but inhale deeply, breathing in his cologne he always smells woodsy with a dash of spice. It’s so manly, and exactly how I imagine a hot, badass who could whoop anyone’s ass would smell. He’s definitely all man.
I give him a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the exit.
Heart of Dixon Page 9
