The Summer Boyfriend

by Benjamin, Christina

  His prayers had been answered. A heart matching his specific needs suddenly had become available. The odds were unthinkable and Hayden was terrified to be hopeful, especially when his father said they needed to get to Hawaii now if they wanted the heart to be viable.

  Luckily, Hayden’s father had his private plane in the hangar nearby. He wrote Dr. Bosh a check with too many zeroes and so began Hayden’s harrowing journey for a heart. Before he knew what was happening, Hayden, his father and Dr. Bosh were all in the air on their way to Hawaii. Dr. Bosh prepped him on the plane while conversing with the doctors in Honolulu.

  The first thing Hayden remembered about Hawaii, was stepping off of his father’s plane wondering if this would mark the last day of his life or the first.

  Joy

  Jo was grateful when her brothers volunteered to take Kai outside to play catch on the beach. Brock and Piper joined in too and the little group seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, oblivious to Jo’s inner turmoil. She watched them from her little porch sipping coffee with her aunt Pam and Max’s mother, Gina. Of course, Gina was Brock’s mother, too, but Jo liked thinking of her as Max’s instead. It made it easier to forgive the hurtful things she did.

  “It’s so nice to see Kai with Brock,” Gina said, her eyes following her son and grandson playing on the beach. “They get along so well, don’t you think?”

  Pam grumbled something under her breath.

  Jo quickly changing the subject before Pam and Gina fell into one of their usual spats over what was best for Kai. “I’m sorry I didn’t have breakfast ready for you guys. Brock didn’t tell me you were bringing Kai back for a visit today, Gina, or I would’ve been more prepared.”

  Aunt Pam snorted. “I knew he was lying.”

  “My son doesn’t lie,” Gina snapped. She turned to Jo. “I’m sure he told you, dear. Maybe you forgot.”

  Jo bit her tongue. She took another sip of her coffee and focused her gaze on Brock. He most certainly didn’t tell her. He wanted to catch her off guard. He was always doing things like this. He wanted to remind her of the power he held. Of what he could take away if she didn’t cooperate.

  Gina sighed, wistfully. “Brock really does love being with Kai.”

  Of course Brock loved spending time with Kai. Kai was a great kid. And if Brock had it his way, he’d let everyone think that Kai was his kid. Jo’s blood had nearly boiled when Kai called Brock daddy this morning. She knew Brock must’ve been feeding him stories to cause that slip, because Jo was always vigilant at making sure Kai knew exactly who his father was.

  It’s not that Jo wanted to keep Brock away from Kai. He was Kai’s uncle and family was important. But she hated the way Brock acted like he was entitled to Kai. That absolutely was not the case. Kai was her son. And she didn’t appreciate the pressure Brock and his family put on her. But since Kai was born Gina had been a big help to Jo. She never could’ve raised such a wonderful son on her own. Her family and Max’s all pitched in to help.

  Kai’s surprising arrival had been a soothing bandage on the fresh wound of losing Max. A sudden light in the darkness.

  Jo found out she was pregnant three weeks after Max’s funeral. She was already ten weeks along by then. The remaining weeks of her pregnancy flew by in a haze of disbelief. Jo barely had time to get used to the idea that she was going to be a mother before Kai came into her life. It seemed he was eager to bring light into her world, because he came six weeks early in a rushed C-section that terrified Jo. But all of it was worth it the moment she got to hold her son in her arms.

  Kai was a tiny beacon of hope. A reminder that Jo had something to live for and that Max would never truly be gone.

  It wasn’t easy becoming a mother at sixteen, but there was nothing Jo wouldn’t do for her son. He not only healed her heart, but Kai brought happiness to Max’s and Jo’s families, too. They banded together to shower Kai with love and keep Max’s memory alive.

  Things between the Kellers and Wrights went smoothly until last year, when Gina moved to Maui to help care for her brother.

  Gina had a large family in Maui and they always invited Jo and Kai to visit anytime. Kai loved it there so much that Jo decided to let him go to Maui with Gina for the six weeks Jo would be working at ACE. Her one stipulation was that Pam go too. Jo was worried if she didn’t have someone there on her team that the Kellers would all gang up on her and try to keep Kai in Maui forever. They had every right to, according to the custody arrangement.

  Jo wished every single day that she hadn’t signed the stupid thing. But she’d been sixteen when she had Kai. She didn’t have parents of her own and the father of her baby was dead. Max’s family was just as desperate to cling to the piece that was left of him as Jo was. They’d suggested joint custody, stating it was just a way to make sure Kai would always have someone to look after him and more than just Jo to provide for him. At the time, the idea sounded wonderful, but now it was a festering wound. One that only got worse when Gina permanently moved to Maui.

  Her family had been putting pressure on Jo to move too so Kai could be closer to his family. They didn’t care that it meant uprooting his life or taking him away from his other family—Jack, Pam, Ryan, Ethan and Lucas.

  But Gina and Brock didn’t care about the Wrights. They only had eyes for Kai. Brock was the biggest champion of the idea to move to Maui. He wanted it so badly that he’d even had the audacity to try to force her into an engagement, using Kai for leverage.

  Jo’s blood practically boiled when she thought about that conversation. Brock had shown up at Locos, shitfaced at the start of summer. He’d practically groped her in front of the whole bar, forcing her to drag his drunk ass outside before he made more of a spectacle of himself.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “You are, baby.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “No more excuses, Jo. You just need to be mine already.”

  “Okay, I’m calling Lucas to take you home.”

  “Or how ‘bout I take you home?” Brock asked, pawing at her with his sweaty hands.

  When he grabbed her ass and squeezed, she stilled. “Brock, the only reason your nuts aren’t in your throat right now is because you’re my son’s uncle. So, I suggest you remove your hand from my ass before you lose it.”

  Anger flared in Brock’s dark eyes. Sometimes he looked so much like Max it hurt to look at him, but there was never any way Jo would confuse them. Max had kind blue eyes, while Brock’s were dark and deceitful. And right now, the deceit was blatant. “I’m gonna make you a deal, Jo. You marry me and I’ll make sure Kai stays your son.”

  She laughed, thinking he must be joking, but his eyes only grew darker. “You’re insane!”

  “No, the only thing I am is tired. Tired of your rejections. Everyone knows we should be together. That kid needs a father and I’m the closest thing he has.”

  “You are not his father. And just because you share DNA with the man that is doesn’t mean you have any right to talk to me like this.”

  Brock’s hand shot out so fast, Jo didn’t have time to react. He smacked her face, hard, then grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her close. His tongue was practically in her ear when he spoke next. “You think you’re better than me? That you can just tease me, shaking your ass in those tight little shorts all day and never put out? You got another thing coming, baby. I didn’t want it to be this way. I wanted you to want me, but maybe it doesn’t matter.”

  Jo mustered her courage and spoke calmly. “Brock, you’re hurting me.”

  “Good. I want it to hurt. Because that’s what you do to me, Jo. It hurt me when you pushed me away that night. You can’t cry in my lap and get me all hard then shut me out like that.”

  “Brock, that was a mistake. I’ve already apologized for that night.”

  “Well I don’t accept it. In fact, I want you to make it right.”

  “Brock, it was two years ago.”

  “It
feels like yesterday,” he said sliding a hand into her shorts.

  Jo stilled. “Okay, tell me how,” she said playing along. “Tell me how to make it up to you.”

  “Agree to marry me.”

  “Brock. I can’t do that.”

  His hand slid lower, stopping just shy of what he wanted. He rubbed her hard through her panties. “You can and you will, or I’ll tell the court what an unfit mother you are. Hanging out in bars, flirting with strangers, doing indecent things on the beach. Kai spends as much time with my mother as he does with you. And she’s raised two successful sons. What have you done, except let one of them die?”

  His words hurt worse than if he’d slapped her a thousand times.

  “I’ll give you to the end of summer to decide,” Brock crooned, planting an uninvited kiss on her lips. “Nod if you agree.”

  A piece of Jo died, but she nodded. She nodded because Kai needed a mother and Jo needed time to figure out how to fight back. Brock grinned and kissed her again before releasing her and slinking away into the night.

  * * *

  That was five weeks ago. Ever since, Brock had been on his best behavior, saying things like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, expecting they could excuse his actions. He’d threatened her son. He’d threatened her. How could he think she would ever want to be with him after that?

  Jo hadn’t breathed a word of Brock’s threats to anyone. And it seemed he hadn’t either. She did her best to hide her true feelings when he was around, but it was getting harder and harder. And right now, watching him wrestle with Kai in the waves was making her skin crawl.

  How could two brothers be so different? She looked at her own brothers, laughing in the waves. It was true they were each unique and had their own personalities. But deep down they were all cut from the same cloth, raised with the same wholesome values and kind hearts. They put family, trust and honesty above all else. Max had been the same way. That had been one of the things that drew Jo to him. But Brock . . . Brock was nothing like Max.

  Beneath Brock’s flirty smile was a heart of rot. There was something off about him. There always had been, but Max’s death seemed to make it worse. Brock was even more off-kilter since he lost his brother. He drank more and held his temper less. Jo always felt an air of anxiety when he was around.

  The more she thought about it the more she realized she needed to speak to someone about it. Because despite what Brock said, Jo was a good mother. And she didn’t want that kind of poison around her son. She would risk Brock making good on his threats if it meant she could protect Kai from him.

  Jo didn’t really care what anyone thought of her. Her reputation had been trashed from the moment everyone found out she was carrying her dead boyfriend’s baby at sixteen. But what she did care about was what her son thought of her.

  Jo refused to turn into her own mother—so lost in her misery of being abandoned that she’d forsake her own child. Jo needed to talk to Jack. She just needed to make it through the next three weeks of ACE and then he’d have time to hear her out, and she’d have money to hire a lawyer. A good one this time.

  47

  Hayden

  Hayden wasn’t sure he could trust his stomach, but he couldn’t afford to wait. He had nothing left to vomit anyway. And he needed to tell Joy what he suspected before he lost his nerve. He didn’t want to, but she deserved to know.

  If Max’s heart did in fact beat in Hayden’s chest, he couldn’t keep that from Joy, or her son. He’d come to that realization while he sat in stunned silence on the bathroom floor of his hotel suite.

  In the hours since discovering the connection between his transplant date and Max’s death, Hayden had gone from shocked to angry to depressed. His discovery negated everything that he felt for Joy. If Hayden had Max’s heart how could he ever trust it?

  He would never know if he loved Joy or if his heart had some preconceived notion, drawing him to her against his will. He would never know if his feelings for her were his own, or something that came with the foreign organ beating in his chest.

  He honestly didn’t know what to feel or what to think. But the only thing that felt right was talking to Joy about it.

  Joy

  The boys finally came in from the beach and Joy gave Kai a bath and got him ready for the ACE Luau. Jack always threw a party on the beach celebrating the athletes who had made it to the halfway point in their training. It was a big accomplishment and Jack made sure the reward fit the achievement.

  There would be enough food for an army, plus fire dancers and hula girls. Jo brought Kai every year and despite being upset with the way Brock had sprung Kai on her this morning, she was grateful she’d get to share another Luau with her son. Especially now that he was getting old enough to really enjoy it.

  “Mommy, are you ready?” Kai asked bouncing between Ryan and Ethan as he gripped their big hands.

  Jo’s brothers swung Kai into the air and he squealed with delight.

  “Again!” he called.

  They complied and this time Jo caught Kai around the middle and snuggled him close. He wriggled in her arms and she flipped him over so she could blow fart noises on his belly.

  Kai laughed so hard he was nearly in tears. He mimicked the noise her lips made by blowing on his hand. “More farts, Mommy! More!”

  Jo rolled her eyes and laughed. What was it with boys and farts? It seemed they never outgrew the obsession because her brothers still laughed whenever one of them ripped one. Currently, Lucas was attempting to blow fart noises on Ryan’s face, which promptly earned him a headlock.

  “I swear, Lucas. Kai acts older than you,” Ethan said.

  Lucas’s leg whipped out and hooked around Ethan’s ankle, pulling him into the melee.

  Jo grinned. For the first time today she felt the constriction in her chest loosen a bit. Being around her family always made everything better. She hugged Kai tighter and tried to hold onto the moment. But of course it wasn’t meant to last.

  Brock sauntered into the apartment, freshly showered, with Gina on his heels. “So, who’s ready to Luau?” he asked.

  “Me!” Kai, yelled reaching for Brock.

  Jo hid her disappointment as she let her son go to Brock. “Let me just finish packing a bag for Kai, then I’ll be ready to go.”

  “Why don’t I help you?” Brock suggested.

  “Aw, come on, sis,” Lucas groaned. “I’m starving. Can’t Kai just eat there?”

  “No one’s telling you to wait,” Jo shot back.

  “Fine, I’ll see ya there,” Lucas replied.

  “Can I go with Uncle Lucas?” Kai begged.

  Jo looked up, her heart torn between keeping her son all to herself for a moment more or sharing him with her least responsible brother. Thankfully, Kendall walked through the open door and into Jo’s apartment saving her from having to make an impossible choice.

  “There’s my favorite man!” Kendall squealed, holding her arms out to Kai.

  Lucas grinned, “Damn, girl, I know ya want me but you don’t gotta be so obvious.”

  Kendall rolled her eyes at Lucas and scooped Kai up giving him a big hug. “Do me a favor, Kai, don’t listen to anything your Uncle Lucas says.”

  “Hey!” Lucas protested, moving closer to whisper something in Kai’s ear that Jo couldn’t hear. Whatever it was made Kai giggle and Kendall blush.

  Jo watched Kendall holding Kai, Lucas smiling down at both of them, his hand on the small of Kendall’s back, his other mussing Kai’s hair. It warmed Jo’s heart seeing her brother and Kendall together. Jo wished they would stop wasting time—it was far too precious a gift.

  Ethan caught Jo watching the display of adorableness and she quickly swiped away the tears glistening in her eyes. Ethan smiled softly and gave her a wink before clearing his throat. “Hey Kai, why don’t we all take you to the Luau?” Ethan suggested. “Mommy can meet us there.”

  Ethan glanced back to make sure Jo was okay with it and she nodded, mouthing Tha
nk you, to him as they all headed for the door.

  “Can Piper come, too?” Kai asked.

  “Sure thing,” Ryan said, grabbing the dog’s leash on his way out.

  “You can go with them,” Jo said to Brock, who was still hovering around the kitchen uselessly while she packed snacks and juice boxes for Kai.

  “It’s okay, I’d rather spend time with you.”

  Jo dropped the plastic cup she was holding. She couldn’t take it for one minute longer. Now that she was alone with Brock she released all the pent up frustration she’d been keeping locked away for Kai’s sake.

  “You had no right, Brock. No right to bring him here without telling me.”

  “Are you kidding me? I was trying to do something nice. I thought you’d be happy.”

  “Brock, I would be happy if that was the real reason you did it. But it’s not. It never is. There’s always an ulterior motive with you. I don’t know what it is this time, but you weren’t just trying to be nice. Nice would’ve been telling me he was coming so I had food in the fridge or a place for him to sleep.”

  “He can sleep at my place, tonight. Actually, I thought we all could,” Brock said, stepping close enough to snake a hand around Jo’s waist.

  She recoiled instantly and his smooth smile hardened. “What’s the problem, Jo? Was my offer not clear?”

  “Oh it was clear, Brock. And so is my answer. No.”

  “No?”

  “That’s right. My answer to your ridiculous proposal, to your invitation to stay at your place, to you ever being anything more than Kai’s uncle . . . It’s no! And it’s always going to be no. Did I make myself clear enough?”

  Brock looked like he wanted to hit her again. She sort of wished he would, because his bark was always worse than his bite. “You selfish little bitch. What the hell did Max have that I don’t got, huh?”