400 First Kisses

by E. L. Todd

  Inside were test results.

  Cypress’s STD results.

  He was clean.

  Cypress walked out of his house, obviously spotting me through his front windows. He was in jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt with a cleanly shaven jaw. His blue eyes matched the beautiful sky that was free of all clouds. “You got my letter.”

  I glanced at the letter one more time before I tossed it inside on the entry table and shut the door behind me. “Yes.” I didn’t lock the door behind me because that was something I never did. Crime was nonexistent in a small town like this.

  Cypress stood at the end of my stone steps, looking handsome with that charming smile he possessed. “Hope it was an interesting read.”

  I stopped myself from rolling my eyes as I walked down the steps. “A little.”

  “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we shouldn’t have to wear anything next time.” He started walking, his powerful arms swinging by his sides.

  “Why would that change anything?” I walked beside him and placed my hands in the pockets of my jacket.

  He looked down at me. “It says I’m clean. As in, I don’t have anything to give you.”

  “At the time you took that test, yes.”

  “Which was forty-eight hours ago. It’s not like I slipped you an old test.”

  “But I don’t know what you’re doing when I’m not around.” I didn’t mean to put him down or make him feel worse than he already did, but I was being honest.

  “Oh, come on.” He rubbed his temple and sighed. “I can understand your insecurity for the past eighteen months, but you really think I’m gonna fuck someone when I’m trying to make us work?”

  “You fucked someone else when we were happy. So why not?” Bitterness flooded my mouth because I wasn’t over what happened. I forgave him, but it was nearly impossible for me to trust him again. Sometimes my anger was under control, but other times, it slipped out.

  He clenched his jaw at the jab, his entire body tense. “You work with me and live next door to me. You know where I am at all hours of the day.”

  “All you have to do is text one of your bimbos when I’m asleep. I’d never know.”

  “I would never do that, Bree. And in your heart, you know that’s true.”

  “Why would I know that?” I demanded. “When we were together, I was so head over heels for you that I actually thought we would get married. I even told Amelia you were my future husband—”

  “And you were right.”

  “I was dead wrong.”

  “No, you weren’t. I made a mistake, and I’m not that guy anymore. Not once did I make an excuse for my behavior. I’ve owned up to it honestly. I’ll never hide anything from you.”

  “Good to know. So next time you cheat, you’ll let me know.”

  He sighed again, his anger growing. “I’ll never hurt you again. I give you my word.”

  His word was worthless. I turned onto 7th and walked uphill. We were ruining the beautiful day with this stupid fight. “You already gave me your word once before, Cypress.”

  He finally lost his temper. “Then what the hell do I have to do so you stop assuming I’ll fuck anything that walks by?”

  “I don’t know. What did you do last time?”

  He moved his hands into his pockets as he walked beside me.

  “What did you do?” I repeated.

  “I just didn’t give up…”

  “Well, good luck with that.” Didn’t seem like we were gonna make too many changes. Even if his test results were negative, I wasn’t eager to reward him with any kind of trust. He might be hot and sweet, but I wasn’t willing to catch something just because I let my guard down sooner than I should.

  “What happened to forgiving me?”

  “I did forgive you.”

  “Doesn’t seem like it.”

  “I just don’t trust you, Cypress. If I hadn’t forgiven you, I wouldn’t have slept with you.”

  We walked the rest of the way in silence, Cypress finally giving up on the argument. We stepped into the office above Amelia’s Place a few minutes later. It was just the two of us, and I was acutely aware of the fact that there were no witnesses. Apparently, we used to fuck on his desk all the time.

  I sat down and found something to do before my café opened. Cypress sat at his own desk and looked out the window, watching the breeze move gently through the leaves.

  A few minutes later, Ace walked inside. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned loudly, looking half asleep as he staggered into the room. His clothes weren’t as crisp as they usually were, and it didn’t seem like he’d bothered to do his hair.

  I jumped to conclusions. “Got some action last night?”

  He plopped down in his chair. “No. I just didn’t get any sleep.”

  “Why not?” Cypress asked.

  He rested both elbows on the desk before he looked at us. “Amelia called me in tears last night. She called Evan, and he wouldn’t give her the time of day. Doesn’t want to see the kids. She thinks his new woman is purposely keeping him away.”

  My palm twitched because I immediately pictured myself bitch-slapping both of them. Evan was a pussy for listening to that psycho bitch, and his whore was just evil. Rose and Lily should the number one priority in his life, not some slut. “Fucking piece of shit.”

  Cypress clenched his jaw tightly. “I’m seriously gonna break every bone in his body. He obviously doesn’t need them judging from the way he spends his free time.”

  While I was still pissed, I forced myself to focus on what was important. “Is she okay?”

  “She was pretty worked up about it,” Ace said. “Cried for a while. I talked her down. Reminded her that she has all of us. The girls have Cypress, Blake, and me as father figures. It’s not like they’re alone.”

  “True…” I knew Ace said he didn’t want anything serious with Amelia, but he definitely bent over backward to be there for her. Not too many people would do that. It made me hope that he would get his head on straight and quit the single life. He would be the man Amelia deserved all along.

  “Totally,” Cypress said.

  “But I’m still gonna confront him,” Ace said. “Amelia said she wanted to speak to him on her own. Well, she did that, and it didn’t work. So I’m getting involved now.”

  “Then I am too,” Cypress said. “No one treats my nieces like that.”

  “And my sister,” I added. “I’m coming.”

  Blade walked inside, whistling like he was having a good morning. He stopped when he saw the dead look in Ace’s eyes. “Shit, did you sleep on the sidewalk or what?”

  Ace shook his head then told him about Evan.

  “I say we kill him,” Blade said. “Think about it. All of his assets would go to the girls. That’s all he has to offer anyway.”

  “I say we just twist his head on right,” Cypress said. “I hate that fucker for what he did to Amelia, but I know the girls need him. Amelia tried talking to him, so I guess we’re next.”

  “Let’s not mention this to Amelia,” Ace said. “She wouldn’t be happy about it.”

  “No, she wouldn’t,” I said in agreement. “But Evan might tell her.”

  “I doubt it,” Ace said. “It sounds like they hardly speak to each other. We’ll give him the chance to make it work on his own. Maybe that’ll help smooth over the tense relationship.”

  “Maybe,” I said in agreement. “So, we’ll go after work?”

  “Yeah,” Ace answered.

  Cypress nodded. “I have a feeling I’m going to jail tonight.”

  “Me too,” Blade said.

  I watched Amelia walk past the windows as she headed to the door. “Hopefully, the cops put us all in the same cell.”

  Evan worked in finance in Monterey. Most of his clients lived in Big Sur, Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Pacific Grove. He turned people’s fortunes into even bigger fortunes, and as a result, he did pretty well for himself.

  Th
at’s probably why his mistress had stuck around.

  We knew approaching him at the house wasn’t a smart move since his whore would be there, so we went to his office just before he left for the day. His black Mercedes was out front, and we walked inside the sleek office with walls that were pregnant with success. His secretary sat in the front in a black skirt and top. She was pretty, and now I wondered if he’d hooked up with her too.

  She looked up when she saw all of us. “Mr. Martin is leaving for the day. I can make you an appointment for this week.”

  Ace led the charge, standing in front and looking the scariest. “We’re gonna see him now.”

  She stared at us, a little frightened.

  “Tell him,” he repeated with a quiet voice. “It’s Ace.” He pointed to Cypress. “Cypress.” Then he pointed to me. “Bree.” He nodded to Blade. “And Blade. He’ll know who we are and what we want to talk about.”

  Instead of calling his office, she walked down the hallway and disappeared. A few minutes later, she came out. “He’ll see you.”

  “That’s what I thought…” Ace said under his breath.

  We walked down the hallway and entered Evan’s large office. He had two sofas and a big window that overlooked the ocean and the harbor. Seagulls sat on telephone poles and the rooftops of other buildings.

  He sat behind his desk, looking calm despite the hostility. He hit the button on his intercom. “Cynthia, you can leave for the day.”

  No witnesses. Perfect.

  “Are you sure?” she said back.

  “Yes.” He sat back in his chair and looked at us, no longer the handsome man that I remembered. Now he was just a liar. He was evil. He left my sister when someone better came along. I knew exactly how that felt, and I’d never wanted my sister to know that pain. “Wanna take a seat?”

  “Not really,” Cypress said. “I prefer to break faces while standing.”

  I shouldn’t have been surprised that the situation turned to talk of violence so quickly.

  Evan continued to keep his cool. “Amelia sent you here?”

  “No,” I answered. “She doesn’t know anything about this. But she told us about your little phone call.”

  He felt enough shame to look away.

  “I spend a lot of time with your little girls.” Ace approached the desk and rested both hands on the surface, infecting Evan’s space and making him lean away. “Rose is smart, funny, and adventurous. We were at the beach the other day, and she found a jellyfish on the shore. She grabbed a shovel and dug a trench so the jellyfish could return to the water.” He pointed to his temple. “She’s got brains. She’s gonna be a doctor or a veterinarian or something like that. Lily is sweet. When I cut my finger pulling weeds for Amelia, she cleaned me up and put a bandage on my finger. They love their mother, obey her, and they’ve got hearts bigger than all of us put together.”

  Evan held Ace’s look, but he didn’t seem so tough anymore. He swallowed the lump in his throat and shifted his position.

  “Do you realize how lucky you are?” Ace whispered. “Not only did you have a beautiful woman who loved you, but you have two healthy, awesome kids. You keep going down this road, you’re gonna lose them. Someone is gonna replace you, and when you’re ready to be a father again, they aren’t gonna care. So step up and be a man.”

  “We’re always gonna hate you for what you did to Amelia,” Cypress added. “You’ll never be welcome among us. Not now, not ever. But if you could get your shit together and just be a good father, we can at least be civil to you. Do the right thing, man. Don’t do this to your girls.”

  “Please,” I whispered. “Amelia is a strong person, but she can’t replace you. She can’t be a mother and a father. Every time the girls ask for you, she doesn’t know what to say. You’re really gonna let your mistress keep you away from your responsibility?”

  “They aren’t dogs that you can send to the pound,” Blade said. “They’re fucking kids.”

  Ace crossed his arms over his chest. “This is the time for you to decide what kind of man you want to be. Are you the kind of guy who runs off with a whore and abandons his kids? Or are you the guy who’s still a father even if he’s not a husband?”

  Evan sat in silence, not making eye contact with any of us.

  Ace leaned forward. “I’m talking to you.”

  Evan leaned back. “And I heard you.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked. “Are you gonna pull your head out of your ass and get your shit together?” We agreed we wouldn’t raise our voices or drop curse words because it would just escalate the conversation, but I was losing my temper.

  “I said I heard you,” Evan said. “Of course, I love my girls.”

  “Then show it, asshole,” Ace snapped. “Fucking be there.”

  Evan nodded.

  “Does that mean you’re gonna be there?” Cypress asked. “Spend the day with them once a week?”

  “I’ll try,” Evan answered.

  “You’ll try?” I asked incredulously. “What the fuck does that mean?”

  “I will,” Evan said. “Now get out of my office.”

  “You will?” I repeated. “You’ll start being a father?”

  Evan rose to his feet, dismissing the conversation. “I heard your message, alright? I’m not retarded.”

  Ace clenched his jaw. “You left Amelia for a woman who doesn’t hold a candle to her. If you ask me, you’re the biggest dipshit on the planet.”

  Blade was the only one with a car that could fit five people, so we rode back with him to Carmel. He parked in his garage, and we said our goodbyes before we started walking home. Since Cypress and I were neighbors, we always traveled as a pair.

  But I wanted some alone time with Ace.

  “Cypress, I want to walk with Ace alone for a little bit.”

  Cypress eyed the both of us, not with jealousy but suspicion. “Okay.”

  “I’ll catch up with you.”

  He eyed both of us again before he turned away and took a different road that led to Casanova.

  Ace walked toward his house without stopping, his hands in the pockets of his jacket. Night was settling on the city, and pretty soon it would be dark. “What’s up?”

  “For a guy who doesn’t have feelings for my sister, you’re certainly invested in her life.”

  He stared straight ahead, his large physique shifting as he moved. “She’s my friend. Of course, I’m invested.”

  “You’re a lot more invested than Cypress, and he’s her brother-in-law.” Now I was beginning to say things like that out loud, that Cypress really was my husband and we were family, even if I didn’t remember how we got there.

  “Whether we’re related by blood, marriage, or nothing at all, she’s family. I’d do the same for you.”

  “We both know I wouldn’t call you in the middle of the night crying. Come on, be real with me.”

  He stared straight ahead.

  “I think you have feelings for her.”

  Still, nothing.

  “I just don’t know why you don’t want to be with her. Doesn’t add up.”

  “I like playing the field. I like being single. I like fucking who I want to fuck without explanation.”

  I believed that—but not entirely. “Then why are you spending so much time with Rose and Lily? Why do you always walk Amelia home? Why are you the first person she calls when she needs something? I used to be that person.”

  “Maybe because I’m a gentleman.”

  “You just said you want to fuck anyone and everyone. By that logic, you aren’t a gentleman. Something about Amelia makes you different.”

  He shook his head with a slight smile on his lips. “You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”

  “Yep. You aren’t the first person to tell me that.”

  He stopped walking and turned to me. The sun was officially gone, and all the refracted beams of light lit the small town. I’d have to use the flashlight on my phone to make
it the rest of the way back. His pretty eyes weren’t so friendly anymore. Now he looked irritated. “Bree, what do you want?”

  “I want to know why you don’t want to be with Amelia. And I want the real reason. No bullshit about wanting to sleep around. No lies about not wanting to be a stepdad. I see the way you look at Amelia and the girls. You can’t fool me.”

  He shifted his weight then looked down the street, like Cypress or Blade would appear out of nowhere. “You want the truth, huh?”

  My heart pounded in my chest. “I’m not leaving you alone until I get it.”

  “I’m not gonna tell you unless you promise to keep it to yourself.”

  “Why can’t I tell Amelia?”

  “Because you can’t,” he said. “And if you break your word, I’ll never trust you again. Do you understand?”

  I needed Ace’s trust, as friends and business partners.

  “Are you sure you want to know? It’d be easier just to move on and not stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

  “She’s my sister. I’ll always stick my nose in her business. Now tell me.”

  “Then you’re giving me your word?”

  After Cypress broke my trust, I never wanted to break anyone else’s. I knew what it was like to be deceived. It hurt—a lot. “I give you my word.”

  “Alright. Yeah, I have feelings for her. Ever since she told me how she felt, I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Instead of fucking Lady or whoever, I spend my time wishing I were with Amelia. But I know…eventually…Evan is gonna come back. And when he does, she’ll choose him over me. I would never recover from that.”

  I tilted my head to the side, surprised this was the obstacle keeping them apart. “Ace, you have no idea what she would do.”

  “She would pick him,” he repeated. “And since he’s the father of her kids, she should. If they have any chance to be a family again, they have to try.”

  “Not after what he did to her.”

  He shrugged. “When he wakes up, he’s gonna realize he made the biggest mistake of his life. I know he will. Amelia isn’t just some woman. She’s unbelievable. When the novelty wears off with this other woman, he’ll realize he had something amazing with Amelia. He won’t stop until he gets her back.”