Losing Kyler (The Kennedy Boys Book 2)

by Siobhan Davis

  The diner remains closed, and I figure I’ll have to start looking for a new job soon. In the meantime, Ky happily fills all my spare time, and I can’t say I’m complaining. His presence is everywhere and I love it. He seems intent on proving himself to me, not that he needs to, but I’m not stopping him. His little thoughtful gestures are slowly mending the broken pieces of my heart. Whether it’s the aromatic cup of coffee waiting on my bedside locker every morning when I wake or the bowl of chopped fruit and yogurt waiting in the kitchen, the umbrella left by the front door the day the heavens open up or the towel left on the bench when I go for an early morning swim and forget to bring one—my man is going all out, and I only love him more for it. My throat clogs with emotion at his sweet gestures, and I couldn’t love him any more if I tried.

  I keep my window unlocked, and he spends every night in my bed. Waking up beside him is my new all-time fave pastime. It’s been months since I’ve been this happy, and I gobble it all up like it’s my favorite Belgian chocolate ice cream.

  Things are still fraught between James and Alex, but they are making an effort to minimize the public arguments, and any screaming matches tend to take place behind closed doors. There’s been no more talk of Courtney or divorce, and Alex even retracted her request in relation to planting the listening device, saying it was “all sorted” whatever that’s supposed to mean. Oldies are seriously weird.

  “Morning, beautiful.” Ky rolls onto his side, tucking me into his body until my back is flush with his chest. Brushing my hair aside, he plants a lingering kiss on my neck, and instant desire spikes to life inside me. Before I can turn around and take advantage, Ky holds me in place at my waist. “Be a good girl now, babe. No tempting me first thing in the morning. You know the drill.”

  I sigh, and he chuckles. “I want you. Shoot me if there’s something wrong with that,” I droll.

  “I want you too,” he whispers. “And I have it all organized.” I attempt to wriggle in his arms, but he’s having none of it. “Baby, please stop shifting like that. It’s not helping.”

  “Ky.” My tone is pleading, and he chuckles again.

  “Damn, you’re sexy. I can’t wait to bury myself deep inside you.”

  “Ky.” My tone is harsher this time, and he takes pity, positioning my head so his mouth fits mine. He kisses me long and hard, keeping me firmly pinned in front of him.

  “I could kiss you all day long,” he murmurs, breaking away. “I plan to, next weekend, along with other stuff.” A devilish glint shimmers in his eye as he sits upright in the bed, pulling me with him.

  “I’m about two seconds away from punching you in the nuts, mister.”

  “Patience is a virtue,” he teases. I move my hand around to cup his junk, and he laughs quietly. “Okay, I’ll tell you, now cease with the violent threats.” I sigh. “So, you know we’re helping out next weekend with the re-launch.” I nod. May and Rick were hoping to reopen the newly renovated motocross training facility a few weeks ago, but an unforeseen issue with the heating system delayed things. I know Alex wrote them a personal check to help cover the additional cost which they were so grateful for. They are finally reopening next Saturday, and we are all roped into helping. Not that I mind. The track is important to Ky, and that means it’s important to me. “Your genius boyfriend talked Mom and Dad into letting us stay overnight at a local hotel,” he explains with a smug grin.

  He relaxes his hold, and I turn around to face him. “Seriously?”

  He winks. “Yes, babe. It’s happening.” He kisses my cheek before moving his lips to my ear. “Buy something sexy. Actually,” he says, moving his mouth along my jaw, “buy lots of sexy stuff. Not that you’ll be wearing it for long.”

  “’Kay.” My heart is going ninety to the dozen.

  He gets out of bed, smiling. “You nervous?”

  I tug my bottom lip between my teeth. “A little, but I’m more excited than anything.”

  He leans down, taking my lips in his. “We don’t have to do it. It’s okay if you’ve changed your mind. I can wait for as long as you need me to.”

  I lace my hands through his hair. “I haven’t changed my mind.” This time I kiss him. “I want this with you, and I don’t know how the hell I’m expected to get through the next week.”

  He pulls my hand to his mouth, kissing my palm. “I still have some tricks up my sleeve. I’ll keep your mind and your body occupied.” His seductive tone causes the most intense shiver to whip all over my body. “That is the sexiest thing ever.” He growls, throwing himself on top of me outside the covers. Gripping my head, he devours my mouth. When he pulls back, we are both panting. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” I’ll never tire of saying it, and I love how confident he is in expressing himself. When I think back to the person he was when I first came here, I realize how much he’s opened up to me, and it fills my heart with joy.

  He jumps up. “I’m going to make you breakfast in bed. Stay there. I’ll be back in half an hour.”

  “You’re so sweet.” I grin up at him. “I love this new you.”

  He sits on the edge of the bed. “You can’t tell anyone. I’ve a rep to maintain.”

  He caresses my face, and I love how he can’t seem to stop touching me. It’s the same for me, and it’s so hard having to hide it all the time. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

  He perks up. “About that. I think we should tell the fam today.”

  My brows lift up. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. I know we can’t go public yet, not until the dust has properly settled. We don’t want to give the media any more ammunition, and I know Mom needs things to die down, it’s been bad for business. But I hate having to hide in our own home. Mom and Dad know, and they don’t have an issue with it, and the only ones who aren’t aware are Kent and Keanu. It doesn’t seem fair. We need to tell them.”

  “I agree.”

  He stands up, in only his boxers, and I ogle him like a starving woman eyes up a plate of food. He is one heck of a perfect specimen of man. All toned, ripped muscles and oodles of glistening tanned skin. I could eat him all up.

  “Right,” he says, clawing his hands through his hair as he scans the room for his clothes. “I’m getting out of here before I jump back in that bed and make a liar of myself.”

  We spend the day at the track, but I insist on leaving early because I have to bake a cake for the triplets. It’s their birthday tomorrow, and I told Alex not to buy a cake. Mum always made me a cake on my birthday, even as I got older and stopped having parties, and it always made my birthdays so special. Anyone can buy a top-of-the-range cake, but there’s no substitute for a homemade one created with love. I want to do that for my cousins.

  After I’ve finished baking, James orders takeout, and we spend a rare Saturday night with the whole family at home. Even Kaden and Keven are staying this weekend, and it’s so good to have everyone here. My heart skips with potent emotion. As the boys banter, and James and Alex smile at their children, having reached some kind of compromise, I look around the table at my new family, feeling accepted and loved and a part of something I never thought I’d experience again. Ky squeezes my knee under the table as he whispers. “Are you okay?” Concern radiates in his eyes.

  “I’m more than okay,” I tell him. “I’m happy. I love … our family.”

  His fingers thread through mine, and I can tell by the look in his eyes that he wants to kiss the face off me, but we haven’t relayed our news yet.

  Ky asks everyone to come to the living room after dinner so he can make the announcement. It’s a tad anticlimactic considering most everyone in the room already knows what he’s going to say, but I’m still worried over what Keanu and Kent will think. When everyone is seated, Ky takes my hand and faces his family. “Faye and I have something to tell you.” He looks at me, beaming from ear to ear. “
We’re together. We’re in love and we don’t want to hide that anymore.” He smiles at his parents. “Not here. We understand the need to keep this out of the public domain for now, but we want to be ourselves around the house, if that’s okay with you?”

  James and Alex nod. Keanu shrugs nonchalantly, and my brows nudge up. “I move in modeling circles,” he explains, spotting the questioning look in my eyes. “That’s not the most shocking thing I’ve heard.”

  Alex opens her mouth to, no doubt, probe him on that leading statement, but Kent hogs the limelight, doubling up laughing as he clutches his stomach like he’s in physical pain. “This is priceless!” he snorts, wiping moisture from under his eyes. “You’d the nerve to interfere in my life when you two were doing the deed all along!” He hops up, slapping Ky on the back. “She’s a hot piece of ass. You the man, dude!”

  Ky grinds his teeth as he snaps at his brother. “Don’t you dare talk about Faye so disrespectfully. I’m not opposed to giving you a few slaps. When the hell are you ever going to grow up?”

  Kent sneers. “Oh, please. Don’t act all high and mighty. I’ve heard the sounds coming from her room.” He tosses me a sleazy look. “I thought she had Brad locked up in there.” He folds his arms, eyeballing a petulant Brad. “Unless you are into threesomes after all?” He winks, and Ky jumps up ready to go all Rambo on his brother’s ass.

  James intervenes before it can turn violent. “Calm down, boys.” He pulls Kent to one side and gently bumps Ky back into his seat. My arm winds around his waist, and I lean into him. As if on auto-pilot, his arm goes around my shoulder and he kisses my temple. “Kent. You will apologize to your brother and Faye, and I don’t want to hear any more of that kind of talk in this house. We have spoken about this before, and your mother and I will not tolerate it any longer. Effective Monday, you are going to see someone who can help you deal with your issues.” Kent opens his mouth to protest, but James holds up one hand. “It’s non-negotiable. You will go for a few sessions, and if you don’t like it or you feel it isn’t helping, then we won’t force you to attend after that.”

  “This is bullshit! He’s fucking his cousin and you couldn’t give two shits about that, but I use bad language and you want to cart me off to some shrink? I think you need your head examined, Dad. Your priorities are all messed up.”

  James levels a calm look at his son. “It’s about way more than your penchant for cursing, and you know that.”

  Kent angrily shoves James away. “Aw, whatever. Leave me the fuck alone.” With that parting endearment, he storms out of the room.

  “Sorry,” I look nervously between Alex and James.

  “Sweetheart, this is nothing to do with you and Ky. You know Kent has his demons.”

  “Yes,” Kaden says from his position on the corner of the couch. “He does, and I’m glad you are facing up to it and getting him the help he needs.”

  Alex rises. “I’d like to say something. I know things have been very stressful around here lately and that I haven’t been coping all that well, but that’s going to change. I’m going to take more of a backseat with work so I can be here for you all.”

  James clicks his tongue. “I know the situation between your mother and I has been upsetting you all. We are trying to work through our issues, and, for the time being, the divorce is on hold.”

  Keaton rushes his dad, hugging him fiercely. “That’s the best news ever.”

  “Honey, we can’t guarantee that it won’t go ahead.” Alex sends James a sharp look. “We have a lot of things to figure out, but for now, we’re putting our relationship issues aside to focus on this family. A lot of stuff is out of our hands so time will tell.”

  “I have some other news,” James says with a pained expression. “I heard from Dan this afternoon that neither Lana nor Addison are going to be charged.”

  “What the fuck?” Ky yells. “I’m glad Lana isn’t being charged, but Addison shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this.”

  “I agree, son, but she comes from money and, apparently, a large donation was made to the policemen’s retirement fund in exchange for them making this go away. I’m not sure what strings were pulled, but she isn’t going to be punished. Dan is going to lodge a restraining order on Monday so she can’t come anywhere near any of you in future, and that’s the best we can do.”

  “I’ve found something on her,” Keven pipes up, and every head swivels in his direction.

  “Don’t keep us in suspense,” Kal says. “Out with it.”

  “Did you know she was adopted?” Keven speaks directly to Ky. He shakes his head. “Well, she was, and she only discovered it about a year ago.”

  “Around the time she started acting out,” Ky confirms. “Who is her birth mother?”

  “That I don’t know,” Keven admits. “Yet. I’ll keep digging.”

  “About that other matter I asked you to look into,” James says. “Do you have a minute to discuss it? In my study?”

  “Sure.” Keven gets up.

  James turns to me. “I need to talk to you in private too. Something has come up. Can you give me a half hour?”

  My brow furrows. “Okay.”

  Everyone goes their separate ways after that. Alex approaches me as I make a move to leave with Ky. “Could I speak to you alone, Faye?”

  “I’ll be there in a few,” I tell Ky, kissing him quickly on the lips. “You two pick a movie and set it up.” I gesture between him and Brad and they walk off together.

  Alex brings me up to her room and closes the door. “Have a seat.” She sits gracefully on her chaise longue, patting the space beside her. “Don’t look so worried. I only want to have a little chat. Woman to woman.” Oh crap. I think I know where she’s going with this. “I know I didn’t react well to the news of your relationship with Kyler at first, but I wanted to reassure you that I have no issue with it now. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about public perception, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” She smiles in reassurance, and I am relieved that we have her approval. “You’re good for my son, Faye. I’ve noticed how he is around you. How much his mood has altered. It’s been years since I’ve seen my son happy. Truly happy. You make him happy, and I’d be a terrible mother to deny him that.”

  “He makes me happy too.” I can’t help grinning at the truth. “So unbelievably happy.”

  She hugs me. “I’m delighted for you. You’ve been through a lot. He’s been through a lot.” Her smile shrinks. “I’m glad you are there for one another.” She takes my hands in hers. “I also have a fairly good idea why he wants to take you to a hotel next weekend.” My cheeks erupt in a burst of vibrant color. “Perhaps we should’ve refused, but then we figure you’ll find some other way to be together. You are both nearly eighteen and old enough to make your own decisions. We don’t want you sleeping together in this house—sex or no sex—because it sets the wrong example for the others.” I want to tell her that ship has sailed, but it won’t help our cause, so I bite my tongue.

  She sweeps my hair back off my face. “I was having sex at sixteen, so I’m hardly one to throw stones.” My eyes expand, and she laughs. “That surprises you?”

  “A bit.” Alex has always seemed so prim and proper to me, and I wouldn’t have pegged her as someone to have sex so young, but they do say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I’ve already worked out that there’s a lot more to my aunt than the surface would lead you to believe.

  “I remember my first love like it was yesterday.” A dreamy look fills her eyes. “He was older, and quite famous in his own right. He had a bad boy rep that was fully deserved.” The dreamy look transforms, and that little spark in her eyes dies. “I thought I could change him, but what did I know? I was young and innocent, and I refused to see things that were right in front of my eyes. When I found out I was pregnant, I clung to the hope that he’d chan
ge. But he never did. That’s when he showed his true colors.”

  She takes my hands in hers. “Kaden and Keven’s father wasn’t a good man, but I can’t regret those years because he gave me my babies. Kyler is nothing like that—he’s a good person. He may be slightly lost, but with you, I believe he has found his way. Which is why I won’t stop this. You need each other, and I’m okay with that.”

  She walks into her bathroom, returning a minute later with a small cosmetics bag. “I don’t know if you’re on birth control but you should be. I got my doctor to fill a script for you. There’s a six-month supply in there.”

  “I’m on the pill but I’m down to my last month’s supply. I was going to come to you about it.” I cross my feet at the ankles. “Mum put me on it when I was fourteen. I never asked, she just did it.”

  Alex pales. “I’m still struggling to come to terms with that. Your mom and James.”

  “I know.”

  There’s an awkward silence, and I’m not sure whether I should stay or go.

  “I put some condoms in there too,” she blurts out. “I’m not sure Kyler would have appreciated his mother or his father handing him those.”

  I cringe-laugh. “Yeah. It’s probably best I don’t say where these came from.”

  “Agreed.” She stands up and I rise. “I’m glad we had this talk, and you can come to me anytime you need to. I know he’s my son, but we can discuss sex without the need to give me any of the specifics.”

  Eh, yeah, don’t think so. I scratch the back of my head, desperately wanting this convo over and done with. “Thanks,” I squeak. “I’ll, ah, just get back to him.”

  She smiles as I practically sprint out of her room.

  James’s study is slightly ajar as I walk past. His angry tone halts me on the top step. Keven is sitting at his desk with headphones on, his gaze focused on the laptop in front of him. James is on the phone, wearing a line in the carpet as he paces from one end of the room to the next. “I don’t give a damn! I told you this last week. It’s too soon. She’s too fragile. I can’t tell her yet.” He rolls his eyes to the ceiling. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t ever tell her. Just not now. You know what she’s been through, and I don’t want to do anything to upset her any more than she has been.” He rubs his hand behind his head. “Fine, fine. You do that. I’ll see you in court!”