The Vincent Brothers -- Extended and Uncut (Vincent Boys)

by Glines, Abbi

  “Hello, Beau.” The deep familiar voice behind me wasn’t one I cared for. Putting my water down, I slung my towel over my shoulder and turned around to face Harris Vincent, my “uncle,” my biological father.

  “Sawyer isn’t here,” I replied, and headed down the last few steps and toward the field house.

  “I’m not here to see Sawyer. I’m here to see you,” Harris called out, and I stopped walking. Me? He wanted to talk to me? His dirty little secret? I turned back around.

  “What?” was the only response he was getting out of me. I would stand there and listen to what he had to say for one reason and one reason only—Sawyer.

  “I, uh, I saw your practice last week. You looked good out there.”

  My practice? What the hell was he talking about? I had practices in Tuscaloosa. Surely, he didn’t mean those.

  “I came to watch. You’re gonna do good there.”

  Taking a step toward him so he could hear me without me yelling, I asked, “You came to my practice at Bryant–Denny? Why would you do that?” The man hadn’t even come to the hospital when I’d broken my collarbone in little league. He wasn’t exactly active in my life.

  “I went to see both my sons’ practices last week.”

  I froze. He’d called me his son. I started shaking my head. “No, no, you don’t get to do that. I’m. Not. Your. Son.”

  I had to get away from this man. He was Sawyer’s father; I did not want to hurt him. But damn if he was gonna call me his son.

  “You are my son. I don’t deserve you, but you are mine. You can deny me. You can hate me, and you have every right.”

  “Damn right I do!” I roared.

  “It doesn’t change the fact that I’m proud of the man you’ve become. The man you’ve become without any help from me.”

  I was taking loud hard gasps of air. What was he doing? Why was he doing this?

  “Proud of me? Why? Because I can play some football? Because I’m playing at your alma mater? Because that’s just bullshit.”

  Harris shook his head. “No, not because you’re playing on the same football field I once played on, although that does make me feel a touch of pride. I can’t help it. But this is only a brief moment in your life. The man you turned out to be is what makes me proud. You made bad choices and you got on the wrong path, but you were also strong enough to get off that path and find one that would take you somewhere in life. The world wanted to call you a loser, but you were so much stronger than they realized. You fought back. You grabbed the life you wanted, and you fought for it. Even when the rest of the world didn’t think you’d make anything of yourself. You proved them wrong. That, son, is why I’m proud of you.”

  I wanted to yell from the top of my lungs at the unfairness of this moment. I’d needed this man when I was young and scared. But now? I don’t need him now.

  “A wise man once told me that you don’t have to forgive me. You don’t have to like me. But you need to know I love you, that I’m proud of you. All I needed to do was tell you. How you handle it or take it isn’t what’s important. What’s important is that you know.” He gave me a short nod, and the worry lines and defeated expression as he turned around to walk away made something inside my chest burn. I didn’t understand this, but I didn’t have to. Not right then.

  “Harris,” I called out to his retreating form. He stopped and turned back to look at me.

  “Yes, Beau?”

  I swallowed nervously, unsure how to say it exactly. Because his words didn’t make this better. They didn’t fix the past. “I don’t know what to make of this just yet. I may never know what to make of this.” I paused as a memory came to me of Harris standing at the fence during one of my high school football games as he thoroughly told off my coach after I’d been pulled from a game. I’d missed practice the day before because my mama had gotten sick with the flu and I’d needed to take her to the Urgent Care center in Mobile. It was the closest free health care clinic around.

  I’d been put in the game once the coach walked back to the sidelines. Every time I glanced back at the fence during that game, Harris had been standing there with his arms crossed in front of his chest as if he was standing guard over something or someone.

  “That game, in high school, when I’d missed practice the day before. I was benched. Then, after coach got back from a very heated discussion with you, he put me in the game.” I stopped and studied his face and saw the answer in his expression. “You forced him to put me in, didn’t you?”

  Harris gave me a sad smile. “Wasn’t your fault you had to take your mother to see a doctor. It was an unfair decision on Coach

  Madison’s part, and I reminded him exactly how unwise of a decision it would be to leave his best wide receiver on the bench.”

  That didn’t correct all the wrongs. But it did tell me that, at times, even if I didn’t realize it, he had looked out for me. I’d just not known why other instances in my life had looked bad and then were suddenly okay with no explanation. Had it always been him?

  “Coach wasn’t a big fan of mine,” I replied.

  Harris raised one eyebrow. “Well, you weren’t exactly the most dependable guy on the team.”

  I let out a short laugh. “I played just as good hung over as I did sober.”

  The smile on his face wasn’t something I was accustomed to seeing directed my way.

  “You probably did,” he agreed.

  We stood there staring at each other as if we were afraid everything would go back to usual the moment he walked away.

  “Look, son”—he cleared his throat—“or Beau, if that’s what you’d prefer I call you. If you want to go get something to eat sometime, or get a drink, or whatever . . . just call. I’ll be there.”

  He turned and started walking away when I didn’t respond. Before he got too far away, I called out, “You can call me son, if that’s what you want.”

  Epilogue

  Four years later . . .

  SAWYER

  “Come here, beautiful,” I called out as I pulled off my helmet and held my arms open for Lana as she ran onto the field toward me. She was wearing her blue tank top with the Florida gator emblem. I knew the back of it read VINCENT #10. I’d had it made for her before my first game that season. She squealed and jumped up into my arms.

  “You did it! You did it!” She rained kisses all over my face, and I enjoyed every minute of it as I held her up with my hands cupped on her tight little ass.

  “Well, I did have some help,” I teased.

  Laughing, she ran her hands through my sweaty hair and kissed my forehead.

  “I’m all nasty, baby.”

  She leaned back and looked down at me. A smirk appeared on her perfect, plump lips. “Yeah, you are.”

  What about that amused her, I had no idea, but it did. She looked to be on the verge of laughing about something. Then she grabbed my face and pressed those lips against mine, and I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted this. When I had Lana in my arms everything was right with the world.

  “Congrats, bro,” Beau called out, and I opened my eyes as Lana let my mouth go. I slid her back down my body to stand beside me as I turned to see my brother walking toward me in crimson and white. Ashton was beside him in a jersey almost identical to Beau’s.

  “Thanks, man. You played good. That catch you made in the third was unreal. I had to keep myself from hooting on the sidelines.”

  Beau chuckled and shook his head. “I warned them that, although we whipped you guys the last three years, the best quarterback the SEC had ever seen would be starting this year.”

  Ashton let go of Beau to come over and hug Lana. It was our fourth year at the University of Florida. Ash and Lana talked several times a week. Beau and I managed to work out together on breaks when we were both back home. Beau even came to Christmas dinner the last two years. When he called our father “Dad” before leaving to head back to school after that first winter break, I thought our dad was going t
o break down and weep.

  It hadn’t happened overnight, but slowly Beau and Dad were finding ways to mend what was broken. My mother was opening her heart to Beau as well. Knowing that my dad had stayed out of his son’s life to protect her had made her feel guilty once she was able to finally forgive Dad. I doubted Mom and Aunt Honey ever became shopping buddies, but I knew that it was important to Beau that my mom accept him. She was slowly seeing that and she was taking small steps. Just last semester I’d talked to him on the phone and he was eating cookies that my mother had sent him. She’d been sending them to him over the past year just like she did me. I’d wanted to kiss her sweet face when I’d found out. I loved Beau. He was my brother. From the time we were kids and he was left broken from the death of our uncle that he’d thought was his father, I’d felt the need to protect him. As much as he loved Aunt Honey, she didn’t do things like send cookies to him or make his favorite meal when he came home to visit. But then Ashton’s mom was doing quite a bit of that too. Beau wasn’t so alone in the world anymore. The town of Grove, Alabama, had finally realized that their bad boy wasn’t so bad after all.

  Beau was planning to propose to Ashton during the SEC championship game that year. The Florida Gators and the Crimson Tide would face off one more time this season. Other than us, no one else had been able to touch Bama that year. The plan was to have our parents there, even Aunt Honey, when Bama faced the Gators in the SEC game. “Will you marry me, Ashton Sutley Gray?” would be flashed on the big screen in the last quarter when only one minute was left in the game.

  I’d had to listen to hours of Beau’s planning and scheming. He wanted it to be just right.

  I reached over and picked up Lana’s left hand to kiss the marquis cut diamond that now rested on her ring finger. Our engagement, last month, hadn’t been quite as big of a production, although it had made the ten o’clock news. After winning my first game as the starting quarterback for the Florida Gators, I’d bypassed all the media vying for my attention and gone straight to Lana as she made her way to me. The offensive line assistant coach had kept the ring tucked safely in his pocket during the game, but he’d placed it in my hand once the game was over. She ran into my arms like she always did after a game, but this time, instead of picking her up, I dropped to one knee. I’ll never forget the look on her face or the way she sounded when she’d said, “Yes.”

  No longer was it me, Beau, and Ash against the world.

  I had Lana, and she was the number-one player on my team.

  Five years later . . .

  Sawyer and Lana – The Wedding

  SAWYER

  “Sawyer!” Lana squealed as I crawled into the window of my mother’s sitting room. “You are not supposed to see me before the wedding. It’s bad luck.” The frown in her eyes didn’t mask the excited tone in her voice.

  I closed the window behind me, then turned around to take in the sight of my incredibly gorgeous bride. Her long red hair had been curled, causing ringlets to cascade loosely down her back. The white dress she wore was simple and elegant. It also hugged her every curve, and my mind instantly went to later tonight when I would be the lucky man taking it off.

  Closing the distance between us, I placed a hand possessively on her hip and pulled her up against me, careful not to wrinkle her dress or my shirt. Not that I cared but I knew she would. “It’s my wedding day. I’m making new rules. Besides, the not seeing the bride thing sucks. I couldn’t go another minute without seeing those pretty eyes.”

  Her stern expression instantly melted and she smiled up at me. “A girl can’t exactly argue with that logic,” she purred, and stood on her tiptoes to press her lips gently against mine. One small, sweet peck before she moved back. “We can’t mess up my makeup. Ash spent over an hour on it. She’ll be upset if we smudge anything.”

  Ash was the last concern on my mind. Right now I just wanted my wife. Pausing, I stared down at her and let that one word sink in . . . wife. Lana would be my wife in an hour’s time. How had I managed this? God knows I don’t deserve her.

  Reaching out, I tucked a lone curl behind her ear and gently ran my thumb over the diamond teardrop earrings I’d bought her for her birthday last year. She was the most precious thing in my life, and once I’d almost let her slip right through my fingers.

  “Sawyer, you have to go,” she urged, placing her hands on my chest and pushing me gently.

  “I’m going. But first—” I paused and reached into my pocket and pulled out a letter that I’d kept close for five years—“I want to read you something.”

  Lana’s eyes found the familiar letter in my hand and she frowned. I knew she recognized it. She’d written it, after all. But she didn’t know I still had it tucked safely away all these years.

  “What are you doing with that letter?” she asked nervously. I knew it didn’t hold fond memories for her. She’d been hurting and broken when she’d written the words I’d memorized.

  “The day I read this letter, I changed. Completely. Not because I’d finally realized that I was in love with you. Not because I had caused you pain. I changed because I knew in that moment that you had become my number one. Nothing else mattered if I didn’t have you.”

  I started to say more, but Lana grabbed the lapels of my tuxedo and pulled me down to her. All thoughts of her makeup were gone as her soft lips pressed hungrily against mine. One tiny swipe of her tongue against my bottom lip and I decided I wasn’t real concerned about wrinkling our clothes.

  LANA

  “What’re y’all doing?” Ashton’s horrified voice broke me out of my needy haze. I quickly stepped back from Sawyer’s arms and spun around to face my maid of honor.

  “We, uh, well, we were, uh . . . ” I stammered nervously.

  “They were sucking face,” Catherine announced as she flounced into the room smiling like a Cheshire cat.

  Sawyer chuckled at his little sister’s remark and I had to fight to keep from grinning. Ashton didn’t look at all amused by the situation.

  “You’ve messed up your lipstick. Sawyer, get out of here before I go get your mama!” Ashton scolded, and stalked toward me looking like a fairy princess in her pale pink dress and head full of bouncing blond curls.

  “Relax, Ash. I’m leaving. I just needed to see my girl. You know, make sure she was still going to come walking down that aisle to make me the luckiest man on the damn planet.”

  “I think I may puke,” Catherine chimed in from her perch on the settee.

  Catherine and Cade hadn’t been around the summer Sawyer and I got together. They’d gone to spend six weeks with their grandmother. It had been an adjustment getting to know Sawyer’s large family. It had always just been me and my parents, and then my dad had left and it had just been me and mom.

  “She will make it down the aisle. I promise. Now go!” Ashton demanded, and Sawyer winked at me before turning and leaving the room via the door this time.

  “I swear you two are so difficult. The rules are—”

  “I’m marrying Sawyer, Ashton. Let’s not worry about the rules.” I interrupted her. The frustrated frown disappeared and a small smile took its place.

  “I’m so happy for you two,” she replied as her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  “Don’t make me cry. You’ve already gotta fix my lipstick. You don’t want to have to fix my eyes too, do you?”

  Shaking her head, Ashton grabbed my hand and led me over to the chair where I’d sat for over an hour while she fixed my face the first time. “I’m going to fix you up this time and you keep those lips off Sawyer until you say ‘I do.’ ”

  White lights covered every tree branch in the Vincent’s backyard. A hundred white chairs were lined up with simple white bows tied on the back of each one. Pink roses petals covered the path in front of me leading to Sawyer. The song “Forever” by Ben Harper began playing over the speakers. That was my cue. I smiled up at my uncle as he held his arm out for me to take.

  “I can’
t believe I’m giving both you girls away to a Vincent boy in one year’s time.” He chuckled softly. I turned my gaze back to the arbor covered in white lights where Sawyer stood waiting on me. His dark hair curled around the white collar of his shirt. His beautiful green eyes twinkled with pleasure as they centered on me. He was waiting for me. It was time for us to start our forever.

  Beau and Ashton – The Wedding

  BEAU

  Who was that guy? And how the hell had he managed to get here? Reaching up, I tugged at my stiff white linen collar and took a deep breath. The more I thought about what all could go wrong, the harder it became to breathe.

  “You’re gonna have to get it together, man. She isn’t going to bolt. The girl loves you, crazy insane loves you. What about that don’t you get?” Sawyer’s amused tone matched the smirk on his face.

  Our eyes met in the mirror as he stood behind me. I wanted to believe he was right. But damn if that wasn’t hard. Since the moment Ashton had stood up in the stands and screamed, “Yes!” at the top of her lungs at the SEC championship game last year, I’d been waiting for the reality of her decision to sink in.

  She was marrying me, Beau Vincent. I knew she could do so much better, but dammit, I didn’t want her to realize it. Every passing day since the moment I slid that diamond ring on her finger, I’d been waiting for this fairytale to end. Life had always jerked the rug out from under me when things had been good. Now that things were about as damn perfect as they could get, would it happen again?

  “I’m not good enough for her.” Saying the words aloud made me feel sick.

  Sawyer’s smirk melted into a scowl. “Says who? Cause I can damn well assure you that ain’t the truth. No one will ever love her as much as you do and Ashton Gray has loved you since we were kids. You know bro, cold feet is supposed to be the groom worrying that he is making a bad decision. Not the groom thinking she is making the wrong decision.”