Until You

by Denise Grover Swank

  He sat on the bed and slipped on his shoes, then stood, pulling Lanie to her feet. He gave her a slow, lazy kiss, then lifted his head and grinned. “Thank you for an interesting night.”

  She reached up and touched the edge of his bandage. “Does it hurt very much?”

  “Some,” he admitted. “Which is partially why I got up. I need to take more ibuprofen.”

  Guilt washed through her. “I’m sorry.”

  A smile stretched his lips. “Strangely, I’m not.” He grabbed his jacket off the chair, then walked toward her front door.

  As he started to open the door, Lanie stopped him. “I guess I should have mentioned this earlier, but if it’s okay with you, I’d like to keep this secret.”

  Surprise filled his eyes, then he grinned. “You want me to be your dirty little secret?”

  She laughed. “Yes. That’s exactly it.” Standing on her tiptoes, she cupped his cheek and gave him a kiss. “No, it’s because of Britt. If she found out we slept together, she’d be merciless with her matchmaking.”

  He nodded but sobered. “Yeah, you have a point.” He slid an arm around the small of her back and pulled her flush against him, then kissed her senseless.

  When he lifted his head, she realized she’d melted into him. She quickly dropped her hold on him before he thought she was one of those clingy-after-sex women.

  He opened the door and walked into the hallway, then stopped and grinned. He picked up her lilac shoes in the corner and handed them to her, toes first. “Wear these wisely. With great power comes great responsibility.”

  She laughed as she took them. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  He walked backward down the hall, still watching her as he moved to the elevator and pushed the down button. The elevator dinged and opened, and he gave her a wave.

  She leaned her temple into the door frame. “See you tomorrow night.”

  A smile covered his face. “I’m counting on it.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tyler had picked his younger brother up around noon, and Eric hadn’t said a word about Tyler’s bandage. In fact, Eric hadn’t said more than two words since he’d gotten into the car. But when they met their brother, Alex, outside the stadium, he commented on it right away.

  “I’m not sure if anyone’s told you this,” Alex said, “but you’re not supposed to shave your forehead.”

  Tyler grimaced. “Very funny.”

  After they went through the security checkpoint, Eric got ahead of them, and Tyler used it to his advantage to talk to Alex. “We’re here to have fun. No lectures.”

  Alex gave him a look of disbelief. “Then what the hell’s the point?”

  Alex hadn’t been happy that Principal Carter had called Tyler instead of him. Not surprisingly, they disagreed on the best way to handle the situation. Tyler thought Eric just needed to be reminded that he had brothers who cared about him. Alex thought he needed tough love. Apparently their father thought he didn’t need to do anything. He couldn’t even be bothered to join them for a baseball game.

  “The point is, he’s our brother and we’ve ignored him. You know Dad doesn’t give him the time of day. So today we’re just three brothers enjoying a ball game together and that’s it. If you can’t get on board, then go the hell home.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” Eric asked as they caught up to him.

  “Nothing,” Alex said, sounding grumpy. “Just Tyler bragging about some big case he won.”

  As they walked around the stadium toward their section, Tyler couldn’t help thinking about Lanie. He’d actually been tempted to stay with her the night before, but he’d never been one to sleep at a woman’s place. It got too personal that way. He couldn’t help wondering if her reason for keeping their hookup a secret was genuine, but he had to admit it seemed reasonable. He could see Britt making a bigger deal of this than it actually was.

  Alex continued his whining as they climbed the stairs to their nosebleed seats, high up in the upper deck behind third base. “Do they provide oxygen with these seats?”

  “Yeah,” Tyler said. “But only to people who can’t afford to lose brain cells. They’ll bring your mask first.”

  Eric shot him a grin behind Alex’s back, and Tyler was filled with relief. So it had taken a jab at their brother to get that grin, but he’d take it.

  The sun beat down on their section, and Tyler was thankful there had been a break in the heat. The temperature may have been cooler than the past week, but the tension between the three brothers was heating up.

  They’d made it to the first half of the second inning before Alex got in his first quip. “Looks like Melton’s pitching with as much effort as you put into your schoolwork, Eric.”

  “Alex,” Tyler said in warning.

  “What would you know about effort?” Eric demanded, leaning around Tyler to face down his brother. “You were born perfect, Alex. No effort required.”

  Tyler got to his feet. “I’m going to get some food. Eric, why don’t you come with me?”

  “Might as well,” he muttered under his breath as he slid past Alex. “No sense watching Melton pitch. Since he’s just like me, we know it’s pointless to expect anything of him.”

  Tyler was pissed. When they got to the aisle, Eric headed down the stairs, and Tyler turned around and pointed his finger toward Alex in warning, mouthing, Cut the shit!

  Eric was slow descending the steps, and his shoulders hunched in a defeated pose. Tyler wanted to knock Alex upside the head.

  When they stood in the back of the line at the concession stand, Tyler said, “Alex has always been an ass. Don’t let his Mr. Perfect persona fool you.”

  Eric’s head jerked up in surprise.

  Tyler smirked. “Don’t look so shocked. Alex sees the world as black-and-white, and everyone has their role to play. According to Alex, I’m Peter Pan.”

  Eric shook his head, keeping his gaze down, but a grin tugged at his lips. “I’m not sure you could pull off the tights, dude.”

  Tyler burst out laughing, and Eric stood just a little bit straighter and looked just a little bit happier.

  Tyler leaned his head closer to his brother’s. “Once when the two of us were little, Alex decided he wanted to make a cake.”

  “Alex made a cake?”

  “Oh, it gets better. Mom had made Mississippi Mud Cake, and Alex wanted to replicate it. Mom and Dad were still at work, and Alex went out back and turned on the hose, drenching Mom’s flower garden. Next thing I knew, the house smelled like burning dirt. He’d scooped the mud into cake pans and put them in the oven at four hundred fifty degrees. The house stunk for weeks.”

  “Did he get in trouble?”

  “Nah,” Tyler said. “But I got in trouble because I wasn’t watching him.”

  “Alex didn’t get in trouble at all?”

  “Nope.”

  “What happened to you?”

  “I lost Sega privileges for a month.”

  “What? That’s not right!”

  Tyler shrugged. “I was supposed to be watching him. The house could have burned down.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Eight.”

  “Jesus. You were babysitting at eight? Isn’t that, like, illegal?”

  He’d told this story before—always for the laugh—but the significance had never hit him until now. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said absently.

  Now that he thought about it, his parents had always forced him into a pseudo-parenting role long before he’d been ready or even capable. He’d never been allowed to be a kid, and there’d been days when he’d felt like he was suffocating. When he’d hit high school, he’d rebelled hardcore. And then, in college, he’d gotten a taste of what real freedom felt like—no responsibilities, no one depending on him to do or be something he wasn’t, and he’d never looked back.

  That gave him pause. Maybe there was something to Alex’s Peter Pan theory after all. Tyler wasn’t sure which to be more sho
cked over: that he’d actually given serious psychobabble consideration to his childhood or that Alex might actually be right about something.

  Eric gave him a curious stare. “Dude, are you all right?”

  “Yeah,” Tyler said, trying to recover and not look like an idiot in front of his younger brother. Wasn’t he supposed to be an example of having his shit together? So he hastily asked, “How’s school going?

  The smile on Eric’s face fell, and defiance stiffened his jaw. “So that’s what this is about. I knew it. This is just some trick to interrogate me.”

  Shit. Tyler ran his hand through his hair. “No. It’s not. I swear.” Dammit. “But you have to realize it’s one of those conversational topics. How’s your job? Nice weather we’re having. How’s school?”

  “How about school sucks ass? Is that the answer you’re looking for? Gee, it sure is a hot one today. Won any big lawsuits lately?”

  “You don’t want to talk about school?” he said. “That’s fine. Give me a list of topics that we can and cannot discuss. I take it school is on the don’t ask, don’t tell list.”

  “How about we just stick to the list of things I’ve fucked up?” Eric asked in disgust. “That seems to be Alex’s favorite.”

  “Language,” Tyler barked, glancing at a little boy who was watching them from several feet behind them in line.

  “See?” Eric said, his eyes glassy. “I can’t even get my shucks darn list right.”

  Tyler let out a long breath. This wasn’t going at all as he’d planned.

  When they reached the counter, Tyler ordered a beer and a hot dog while Eric ordered some hot wings and a Coke. After they got their food, Tyler headed over to the condiment table to doctor up his hot dog.

  “Eric,” Tyler said, giving his full attention to the ketchup dispenser, “believe it or not, I want to be your friend.”

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed. You want to hang out with me all the time.”

  Fuck. The kid was right. “I’ve been a dick. I’ve got no excuse.”

  Eric grinned, but he continued to look down and started rubbing the tip of his sneaker on the concrete floor, bending back a loose piece of rubber.

  Why was he wearing piece-of-shit shoes?

  Upon further inspection, Tyler realized Eric’s jeans were worn, and the T-shirt he was wearing had multiple tiny holes.

  Sure, Eric was seventeen, but he still needed parenting, which included basic necessities like clothes and shoes.

  “You ready?” Tyler asked, picking up his hot dog and beer, then heading the opposite direction from where they’d been seated.

  “You’re going the wrong way,” Eric said.

  Tyler turned around and took a few steps backward. “Am I?” Then he kept going, heading down the escalator.

  “Tyler!” Eric called after him, walking down the escalator steps to catch up. “Where are you going?”

  Tyler stopped outside the entrance to the lower section directly behind home plate. “Hold this,” he said, pulling two tickets out of his pocket. “Let’s go get our seats.”

  “But we already have seats,” Eric said, following behind.

  Tyler took his food from his brother, then headed down the stairs. He stopped in front of an usher and handed him the two tickets. While he waited for the usher to look over the tickets, he glanced up at the section where they’d left Alex. His brother could enjoy the nosebleed seats alone.

  “Just down these stairs,” the usher said.

  Tyler turned back to face him, but as he did, he stopped, sure he’d seen Lanie walking with a guy. He did a double take and scanned the area, certain that he was losing his mind.

  The usher handed him the tickets, and he and Eric walked down to the fifth row behind home plate. They maneuvered past several people before Tyler sat in one of four empty seats.

  But Tyler kept thinking about Lanie. He was dying to see her tonight and hopefully convince her to let him come over again. He’d forgotten to get his jacket from her. He could always use that as an excuse.

  Eric sat next to him, glancing up at the section they’d originally sat in. “What’s going on?”

  For a brief moment, Tyler thought he was talking about Lanie, then he realized Eric was talking about the seating change.

  “These are our seats,” Tyler said, taking a bite of his hot dog as he looked out at home plate. “The tickets belong to an attorney in my law firm. His uncle is one of the bosses, and sometimes they take clients to these games. They wouldn’t let clients sit in the crap seats we were sitting in.”

  “So where did the other seats come from?”

  “Oh, I got those for Alex,” Tyler said with an evil grin.

  “What?”

  “That was to see if he could play nice. Since he couldn’t, now he gets to sit in time-out. Once he learns to behave, he can come sit with the screw-ups.”

  Eric laughed. “He’s going to kill you.”

  Tyler shrugged.

  “Isn’t he going to wonder where we went?”

  He shrugged again, then started shouting at the Royals’ outfielder, who missed a fly ball.

  “Should we text him?”

  Tyler looked his brother square in the eye. “That’s up to you, Eric.”

  “Me?”

  Tyler turned serious. “I invited you to this ball game. Alex is just along for the ride. I thought it might be fun to have all the brothers together, but this is about you and what you want. So you tell me, do we leave him sitting in the baking sun or do we let him come over to these choice seats?”

  Eric seem to consider it for several seconds. “I feel kind of bad leaving him there. He’s been kind of a dick lately, but he used to…” His voice trailed off, and he sounded embarrassed.

  “Be there when I wasn’t?” Tyler finished. “That’s okay. It’s true.” He turned in his seat. “Let’s you and me make a deal, okay? We only tell each other the truth. The world often doesn’t want to hear the truth because it’s hard, hard as hell, and they can’t handle it. But we Norris guys can, and I respect you too much to lie to you. Deal?”

  Eric studied him as though looking for signs that he was being tricked. Finally, he said, “Deal.”

  Tyler lifted the hand holding his beer. “I’d shake but my hand’s a little full.”

  Eric shot a glance up at the section where they’d left Alex, still sitting all by himself.

  Tyler set his beer in the cup holder and handed Eric his hot dog. “Don’t look so guilty. I’ll text him.” He pulled out his phone, then sent Alex a text.

  Look behind home plate.

  “He’s definitely going to kill you,” Eric said as they waited for Alex to respond.

  “He shouldn’t have made fun of my shaving skills.”

  “What’s under that bandage, anyway?” Eric asked.

  “Three stitches.”

  Alex was watching the game, but then shoved his hand into his front pocket and pulled out his phone. His gaze turned toward them.

  “Wave,” Tyler said and started waving his arm in big sweeps.

  Eric laughed and waved Tyler’s hot dog over his head.

  Alex held his arms wide as though saying What the hell?

  Tyler pointed to Alex and then at the empty seat next to him.

  Alex tapped on his phone, then held it to his ear, and Tyler wasn’t surprised to feel his phone vibrate. “I’ll be right back,” he told Eric as he squeezed past the people in the seats toward the aisle. “I’ve got his ticket.”

  He was walking up the stairs when Alex answered.

  “What the hell?” Alex demanded.

  “Just shut up and listen. Eric and I are in our real seats. While I hoped we could have a good time, I had a feeling you’d act like a dick. So you’re sitting up there until you can behave.”

  “Who the hell do you think you are, Tyler?”

  “I’m an idiot who hasn’t spent enough time with his brothers, especially his youngest. And while I probably deserve every dick
move you want to throw at me, this is bigger than both of us. Eric needs us to be friends.”

  “You realize that’s like asking for a unicorn to shit rainbows,” Alex muttered.

  “Then pretend. Eric’s clothes look like they should have been thrown away last year, and his shoes are falling to pieces. Does Dad do anything?”

  “He’s tired,” Alex said. “He’s ready to be done raising kids.”

  “Well, tough fucking shit. He’s still raising one. He can’t just check out because he’s tired.” His father had always been an ass, but this was inexcusable.

  A loud cheer went through the stadium, and Tyler plugged his ear. “Eric needs us,” he said when the crowd quieted. “Not to lecture. He needs someone to talk to. He needs to know we give a shit. Can you do that for him?”

  There was no hesitation. “Yes. Of course I can do it. I want to do it.”

  “Then get your ass down here. I’ll text you the section and meet you with the ticket.”

  He stood at the top of the section, waiting for Alex to come down, but a large group showed up, asking the usher for help. Tyler walked down several steps to make room for them on the landing, then turned around to watch for Eric. From his peripheral vision he saw a man in the row one up from him lean over to kiss a woman in a straw hat, and when the guy sat back in his seat, Tyler’s mouth dropped open. Lanie.

  Lanie was at the game on a date.

  What the hell?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lanie had hoped Aiden would change his mind about the baseball game, but he’d shown up at her apartment at noon dressed for the part.

  “Why are you wearing a Royals shirt?” she asked after she’d given him a warm welcoming hug. “You’re from Atlanta.”

  “Never hurts to wear the enemy colors when in enemy territory,” he said with a grin. Then he handed her a shirt too. “Now, put this on.”