Kings of Denver

by Sheridan Anne

  Sophie finishes up her declaration by taking another shot while Dani gets to her feet beside her. “Fuck yeah,” she exclaims as she fist pumps the sky.

  Miller and the rest of the guys sit in stunned silence as they stare at our girls.

  “You done, babe?” I ask.

  Her fuming eyes turn on me and the anger instantly dissipates. “Yes, I think I am,” she tells me with a grin before turning to Dani with a gleam in her eye that could only be one of mischief. She grabs Dani by the hand and disappears from the room, taking the bottle of tequila with them.

  “Oh geez,” Miller murmurs. “It’s going to be a messy night.”

  “Got that right,” I say. “But as much as it goes against everything I know to sit back and watch Sophie annihilate herself, I know she needs it.”

  “True,” he says. “But if they somehow get themselves arrested again, I’m going to bail them out. There’s no way in hell I’m missing that again.”

  “Deal,” I smirk.

  I sit amongst the boys and as expected the conversation quickly turns to hockey.

  An hour later, after not hearing a word from the girls, I decide to go and find them just to make sure they haven’t passed out in a pile of their own vomit.

  I follow the sound of giggling and snorts coming from the study and round the corner to find both Sophie and Dani sitting on the floor, looking at Sophie’s laptop while they listen to what sounds like the conversation the boys and I were having in the lounge room.

  I lean against the door frame and look down on them with a smirk. I watch as they continue on with whatever the fuck it is they are doing, having no clue that I stand in the doorway.

  After they each take another swig from the bottle of tequila, I make my presence known by clearing my throat. Both the girls instantly look up as their faces drain of all colour. I raise a questioning eyebrow at my wife. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” she grins as she fumbles around, trying to close her laptop.

  Dani bursts into laughter and is suddenly rolling around on the floor, unable to control herself before she slaps a hand between her legs. “Fuck, I’m going to piss myself soon,” she laughs, which sets off Sophie.

  Once the girls have themselves under control, I look down at my wife. “Did you bug our lounge room with your new spyware?” I ask.

  She squishes her lips together as hard as humanly possible as she tries not to smile. “Nope,” she lies. I give her a stare as I wait for her to come clean. “Fine,” she whines as she crawls to the desk and grabs a little device off her desk before dropping it and losing it in the carpet. “I had to make sure these little guys actually worked,” she explains.

  “Fair enough,” I laugh. “What about your laptop?”

  She gives me yet another guilty smirk. “I’ve kinda been learning how to hack into other people’s computers,” she tells me.

  “What?” I practically shriek.

  A massive grin takes over her face. “I’m in Crazy Jill’s computer right now,” she tells me as she opens her laptop and turns it to show me.

  “Shit, seriously?” I ask, pretty damn impressed with my wife’s newest skills. I walk on into the room and sit at Sophie desk while I take the laptop out of her hands and start looking.

  “Yeah, she really is crazy, obsessed with you,” Sophie says. “I looked up her browse history and she has been searching for the Tank Meyer’s sex Tape for weeks,” she laughs.

  I can’t help but grin at that. I mean, it’s not like Sophie and I haven’t got a sex tape, we have quite a few, to be honest, but there is no way in hell we are letting that shit go public. Seeing my wife like that is just for me.

  I click into her gallery and find nearly every photo is of me. It’s not just photos of me that the media have taken, though, they are there too. The photos are ones that she has personally taken of me and not at games either. There are some of me training in the gym, some where I am grocery shopping with Soph, there are ones from my few hours of sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to get to Denver but more importantly, there is one of me sitting by Sophie’s bedside in the hospital with my head in my hands as I waited for her to wake from surgery.

  Seeing the photo infuriates me. That was a private moment not intended for a single soul to have witnessed and now this crazy as fuck bitch has it documented for the world to see. “Can you delete this shit?” I ask Sophie.

  “Yeah but she will know someone has been in her computer and knowing how damn crazy she is, she probably has it all saved somewhere else as well.”

  I let out a sigh. She is probably right but at least this is a start. “I don’t care. Get rid of it,” I tell Soph.

  “No,” Dani cries out.

  We both look at her as though she has gone nuts. “Why the fuck not?” I question.

  “Because it could be evidence if shit ever gets worse. This is the perfect way to document just how fucking crazy she is, this tells everyone just how often she is stalking you. I mean, sure, you should delete it from her computer but not before you make a copy of your own.”

  “Wow, who would have known that your brain could still function after having so much tequila,” I murmur.

  “Who cares about her brain,” Sophie grunts as she takes her laptop and sits down in my lap. “It was a damn good idea,” she informs us as she gets to work.

  Ten minutes later, Sophie has shut down her laptop and I’m leading the girls back into the lounge room where Sophie cuts off all conversation of Ice Hockey and turns the music on. She starts dancing around the house with her bottle of tequila and her best friend.

  Some of the guys join in but they simply just aren’t drunk enough to keep up with the girls.

  Sophie is soon laying on the cold tiles with her arms and legs spread out, demonstrating to the guys how she would have made snow angles with our son then goes on to explain how to make a snow angel.

  Dani runs to the pantry and grabs the bag of flour before instructing Sophie to close her eyes and making it snow in my lounge room. The girls crack up into laughter once again and soon enough, the bag of flour is empty and Dani is laying on the ground beside Sophie making her own flour angel.

  Miller rolls his eyes as he watches his wife on the floor beside mine but I see the fun in his eyes and he could never pass up an opportunity to see his wife having the time of her life. “I take it I’m not getting laid tonight,” he grunts when Dani suddenly jumps up and runs to the bathroom covering her mouth.

  “That would be a no,” I laugh as Sophie hops up and runs after her. “I’d dare say you’re spending the night here.”

  Chapter 20

  Sophie

  My head is killing me.

  It’s first thing on Monday morning and having yesterday to recover from my tequila-filled night was clearly not enough. I stumble around the house, desperately trying to keep my head attached to my shoulders when I give in and call work.

  Knowing it’s too early for anyone to be in the office, I give Jen, our receptionist a call on her mobile. It rings a few times before she picks up in a way too cheery voice.

  “Sophie, hey. How are you?”

  “Ugh. Do you need to be so loud?” I whine.

  “Geez,” she laughs. “I heard you had a big night on Saturday but I didn’t realise just how big.”

  “Yeah,” I sigh. “It was huge.”

  “So I’m guessing you’re working from home today?” she questions.

  “Well, I’m going to try to,” I tell her honestly.

  She lets out another laugh. “Ok, well let me know if you need anything.”

  “Thanks, Jen,” I say before hanging up the call and collapsing into the lounge.

  The knowledge alone of knowing I don’t have to get my shit together today makes me feel a million times better but I should at least try to get a little work done. Though, it can wait until I’ve had a few more hours sleep.

  I head back to bed and climb straight in. My head hits the pillo
w and within moments I’m falling straight back into a well-needed deep sleep.

  I’m woken a few hours later by my phone ringing on the bedside table and I grab it to find Dani’s name on the screen. With a groan, I try my best to sit up and answer the call.

  “What do you want?” I mumble into the phone. “I’m trying to sleep.”

  “I can’t handle it today,” she whines. “Mia has a temp and I haven’t quite recovered from Saturday night yet.”

  “Me either.”

  “I’m assuming that since you’re sleeping, you’re home. Can we come around? I’ll bring lunch and we can take care of this baby together.”

  I let out a groan. “Fine, but lunch better be good.”

  “Thank, fuck,” she sighs in relief. “You good with hamburgers?” she questions. “I can’t be stuffed making anything.”

  “Yep,” I say before hanging up the phone and crashing back down on my pillow.

  Half-an-hour later, I hear her unlocking the door and the sound of Mia’s cries instantly fill my home.

  I pull myself out of bed and slide on my bunny slippers before making my way down the hallway. I find Dani and Mia in the kitchen and I walk in after them to the beautiful smell of my lunch. Fuck. that’s good.

  I take the screaming baby from Dani and curl her in my arms. “What’s wrong my little princess?” I soothe.

  She looks up at me with tears in those big blue eyes and the sight absolutely breaks my heart.

  “She’s been like this since the middle of the night,” Dani tells me as she searches my cupboards for some plates.

  My heart breaks even further. Mia is so tiny, it’s not fair for her to be suffering from this sort of pain. If there was a way I could take it from her and make the pain my own, I’d do it in a heartbeat. “Have you taken her to the doctor?” I ask as I slowly rock her in my arms.

  “Yeah, the home doctor came out during the night. There’s not much we can do for her besides letting her rest,” she tells me. “She wasn’t calming down at home so I thought I’d try you, she always seems to relax with you.”

  I smile down at the precious gem in my arms. “That’s because I’m your favourite person in the whole wide world,” I tell her in my baby voice before walking her to the lounge and taking a seat with her snuggling in close to my chest.

  “No way. She loves her mummy the most. You come in a close second though,” Dani says as she brings our lunch over to the lounge and sits down beside us.

  “I don’t know what your mummy’s talking about,” I tell Mia. “She must have taken a trip to crazy town.”

  Dani ignores me as she gets stuck into her lunch and I do the same but struggle with only one hand. An hour later and a lot of rocking and soothing, we manage to get Mia settled into a deep sleep.

  I walk down the hallway and put Mia down on my bed and come back to find Dani spread out on the lounge just moments from falling into her own well-needed sleep.

  I go about the house, cleaning up from lunch and the million toys and dummy’s that are currently spread out over the lounge room before finally deciding I should at least do a little work today. I make my way into the study and get stuck into my investigations as I allow Dani some time to catch up on her rest.

  I’m an hour in when a call comes through on my phone. I look down with a frown as I don’t recognise the number.

  “Hello,” I say with a questioning tone.

  “Hi, uh… is this Sophie? It’s Luke from Frisky Framing,” the voice says.

  Understanding dawns instantly. “Oh, hi. Yes, it’s me. What can I do for you?”

  “I was just calling to let you know your frame is ready,” Luke says.

  “Already?” I ask in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting that for another week or so,” I tell him.

  “Yeah, I know,” he says sheepishly. “I sort of put a rush order on it.”

  “Oh,” I say, slightly taken back. “You didn’t need to do that.”

  “Well, yeah actually. I did. Consider it an apology after I awkwardly hit on you last week when you made it obvious you have a husband and kid.”

  I don’t bother to go into the details of correcting him so I just let it slide. “Thanks,” I say. “I have a free afternoon. Can I get it today?”

  “Yeah, sure. It’s pretty big though,” he warns.

  “Excellent,” I smile before hanging up.

  God, I can’t wait to see how it turned out. Tank is going to be so surprised.

  Excitement fills me as I try to get stuck back into my work but I just can’t concentrate so I dash down to my bedroom to get dressed making sure to be as quiet as a mouse so I don’t wake little Mia. Though, her soft snores let me know she is well and truly out of it.

  I come out to the lounge room and gently rock Dani’s shoulder. “Mmm?” she questions with her eyes still firmly closed.

  “I’m ducking for a half-hour. You good here?”

  “Yeah,” she mumbles as she adjusts herself on the lounge.

  “Mia is still asleep in my bed. Why don’t you go climb in with her? I’m sure you’ll be much more comfortable,” I tell her.

  Dani lets out a deep breath as she pushes herself up off the couch. “Good idea,” she murmurs before sleepily making her way down the hallway.

  I smile after my best friend as she bumps into the wall when she tries to turn the corner into my room too soon but she eventually works it out.

  I go about the kitchen and search out my handbag. Before I know it, I’m in my car and pulling up out the front of Frisky Framing and practically running on inside.

  I push through the door of the store and instantly come to a screeching halt. My frame leans up against the front counter and my god, it is big. My eyes instantly roam over the piece and take in the picture of Tank and I that has been blown up and printed in black and white.

  The picture perfectly captures the love we have for each other and also the love we have for our missing child as Tank cradles my stomach, forever protecting him.

  A tear slides down my cheek as I make my way closer towards the counter. “Hey, Sophie,” Luke, the framing guy says. “Do you like it?”

  I look up at him with a beaming smile. “It’s absolutely perfect,” I tell him in complete honesty.

  “Excellent,” he smiles.

  I look at the pure size of it and realise there is no way I’ll be getting this home by myself so I look up at Luke with my man-eating smile. “Do you mind helping me get it to the car?” I ask.

  I have to stop myself from laughing at the way he stares before he is able to pull himself together. “Oh, um, yeah. Of course,” he says as he comes around the front of the counter and helps me to lift this bad boy.

  We make it outside and Luke balances the frame against the glass window of the shop as I quickly go through my car and put the back seats down.

  After a lot of manoeuvring and struggling, we finally get it stashed in the back of my car. I close the boot and turn around to thank Luke when I hear a voice calling out from across the street.

  “Hey,” the angry voice says, demanding my utmost attention.

  I turn around and practically drop my jaw in shock at the person I see storming towards me. Tanks crazy stalker, Jill rushes across the road and doesn’t come to a stop until she is right up in my face.

  “Um… Can I help you?” I question as I take a step back to give myself a little personal space but all that does is back me into my car.

  “Yeah, you can, in fact,” Jill says, raising her finger and jabbing me hard in the chest. “You can back the fuck off,” she demands.

  I grab her finger and give it a twist away from my chest and use every bit of my willpower not to rub the spot she just jabbed. Regretting my choice of stepping back into my car, I push myself forward, forcing her back off me. “Back off?” I question. “Look who’s talking,” I practically laugh at her.

  “Tank is mine,” she tells me like the crazy bitch she is. “He is wasting his time on you and n
ow that your kid is dead, you can stop trapping him and he can finally see that he belongs to me.”

  No. She. Didn’t.

  “Excuse me?” I question as I get in her face and start backing her into the wall of Frisky Framing. “How dare you mention our child.”

  “Please,” she scoffs. “It probably wasn’t his anyway. His child wouldn’t be weak like yours was. I couldn’t have been happier that day. I followed him to the hospital and it was like all my dreams came true but I swear, I could have killed you for making him feel that way. I would never do that to him. You don’t deserve him.”

  I see nothing but red as she continues spurting on crap but a voice to my side pulls me out of my rage-fuelled anger. “Ahhh… I’ll leave you to it, Sophie,” Luke says, with both hands raised, letting me know he wants nothing of this.

  “Yeah, thanks,” I grunt as I turn my attention back to Jill.

  “Just great. You’re fucking cheating on my man,” Jill continues as she looks at Luke’s retreating form. “How much do you plan on hurting him? I can’t believe he is so blind to this shit,” she says with a shake of her head.

  “You are seriously, fucking nuts,” I laugh. “Tank. Is. My. Husband. He married me. He made me vows. He comes home every day to me. He is mine and never, ever will be yours. So get the fuck over this crazy obsession you have with my husband and find one of your own because he is not going anywhere. He is not interested in a bat-shit crazy stalker like you,” I tell her. “Didn’t you get the hint with the restraining order?”

  I watch as her face goes bright red and she clenches her jaw together. Her hands turn into fists at her side but I just don’t care. This woman spoke ill of my son so she is going to get every single bit of my opinion thrown her way.

  “He’s going to leave you. He’s in love with me,” she yells.