Mr. September: A Single Parent Romance (Calendar Boys Book 9)

by Nicole S. Goodin

  I don’t get time to reply before the line goes dead.

  ***

  “So, what are you going to do about this?” Brody demands of the officer who was sent out to handle the situation. “No one can call this a coincidence now, can they?”

  I shift my weight from foot to foot.

  The past two hours have passed in a blur. This poor officer, whose name I can’t even remember, turned up about twenty minutes after I got off the phone with Brody.

  He dusted for prints, instructed Jerome to take the sign down and then checked the house for any sign of intrusion.

  He found none, so I was given the go ahead to host my open home, all the while, my heart was beating so fast, the people viewing probably thought I was on speed.

  Brody turned up ten minutes ago, full of rage and pent-up energy.

  The officer – who was told to sit in his car out on the street until I was finished – has been doing his best to placate him, but it’s not really working. Brody wants answers, and he wants them now.

  He also loves me, so there’s that.

  I reach out and take his hand in mine. His fingers grip tight, but he doesn’t look at me.

  “I assure you, sir, we’re taking this very seriously.”

  “As you should be, my girlfriend is being stalked.”

  I feel bad for this poor officer; he’s had to deal with me – borderline hysterical – and now he’s having to mollify my overly protective boyfriend.

  “Have you talked to the neighbours?” Brody demands.

  He tugs on my arm, dragging me closer and nestling me against him – apparently deciding that I wasn’t quite close enough.

  “I’ve spoken to everyone that was home, and there is one report of interest, a car parked outside the house sometime in the early hours of the morning, a man exited the car for a period of time, before getting back in and driving away – the resident mentioned the excessive speed.”

  “Well that’s got to be him. Let me guess, a white car?”

  The officer nods. “It was dark out so the witness couldn’t be sure, but the car was light in colour, so white, silver or grey probably and the man was described as being tall and broad, wearing dark clothing and something on his head – she thought maybe a cap.”

  “I assume she didn’t get a plate?” I ask.

  The officer shakes his head. “Unfortunately, it was too dark and happened too quickly.”

  I sigh. I just feel drained.

  I just want this whole thing to be over.

  “Do you think I should get a restraining order?”

  “I think that would be wise at this point,” the officer tells me at the same time Brody replies, “Fuck yes you should. Why haven’t we done that already?”

  “Because words on a piece of paper don’t stop crazy people? Because nothing has actually happened to me? Because a couple of prank calls and white cars being on the road isn’t actually the same as being threatened?” I insist.

  Brody scowls at me. “Some dude just tagged a sign with your face on it; I think we’ve entered new territory.”

  “I agree, and I doubt a restraining order will help, but I’ll get it anyway.”

  Brody looks at the officer pointedly. “Well you heard her, she said she’ll get it anyway.”

  I nudge him in the side. “It’s not his fault,” I hiss.

  He smirks, actually smirks down at me with that sexy smile of his. “Never said it was, baby, and as long as he does his job, we won’t have any problems.”

  I shoot the officer an apologetic glance.

  “I’ve got all of your details, Ms. Bradley, I’ll be in touch when we have something for you to sign.”

  “Thank you,” I reply.

  Brody just scowls as he watches him leave.

  “I should call Ethan,” I mutter.

  “He’s fine. He was at the gym when I left, running drills with Adam.”

  “He’s at the gym?” I question, my brain feeling fuzzy, I’m sure that he didn’t have training today. “What’s he doing at the gym?”

  “I asked him to come down after school, so I knew where he was.”

  Tingles race up and down my spine.

  He didn’t just think of me, he thought of my son too.

  “You were worried about him?”

  He frowns at me. “Of course, I was, there’s a crazy dude on the loose and⸺”

  I interrupt him by crashing my mouth to his, kissing him with everything I have – relief, gratitude, fear, trust…

  “What was that for?” He chuckles as we break apart and he swipes a stray blonde curl from my face.

  I shrug. “It was just because I love you too.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Brody

  “Relax, baby, he’s fine… Chad’s an asshole, but he’s probably taken him to the most expensive restaurant in town to show off what a ‘good guy’ he is. He’s fine, trust me.”

  She huffs out a laugh and puts her phone down. “He’ll be in for a shock when the bill comes if that’s the case – that kid eats like a horse.”

  I chuckle. I hope he does. Paying a ridiculously expensive bill is the least Chad could do after all these years of not being a father.

  “Come outside with me.” I get to my feet and hold my hand out for her to take.

  “I should help Liv clean up,” she argues, her eyes drifting to where Liv and Adam are in the kitchen cleaning up and arguing.

  “Nah, Adam lost a bet, clean-up is all his.”

  Morgan grins at the idea of that, she might not know him well, but she knows enough to know that he’s the competitive type who doesn’t lose well. “What’d he lose?”

  “Liv bet him he couldn’t make two shots in a row from the midcourt line. He thought he could. He was wrong.” I laugh.

  She takes my hand and lets me lead her towards the door off the back of the living area. “So, why’s she in there helping if he lost?”

  “Because,” I tap the end of her nose, “my sister is a control freak.”

  “I heard that,” Liv yells from the kitchen.

  “And she has supersonic hearing too apparently,” I grumble as Morgan giggles.

  I slide the door open and usher her out, snagging a blanket off the chair by the door as we go out.

  “You kids be safe out there,” Adam yells after us as he throws his arm around Liv’s shoulders. “They grow up so fast,” he says to her.

  She rolls her eyes and shrugs off his arm.

  I chuckle. Adam never tires of winding up my sister.

  “C’mon.” I tug Morgan’s hand and she follows me onto the deck, down the stairs until we’re on the lawn. I lie the blanket down and gesture for her to sit.

  She smiles sweetly at me, her beautiful green eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

  “It’s pretty out here,” she breathes as I lie down on the blanket next to her.

  I tug her arm and she lies down too, snuggling into my side.

  I point up in the sky at the stars and she whispers, “Wow.”

  “You can see them better from here than at my place.”

  “Must be all those big fancy houses in your way,” she teases.

  She points to the sky and traces shapes with her fingers. “It’s like doing one of those join the dot pictures you used to do as a kid.”

  I chuckle and kiss her forehead.

  She keeps moving her finger through the air, me watching, trying to guess what she’s drawing for a while longer before her hand drops back down onto my chest.

  “Thank you for today,” she says softly.

  My breath catches for a moment before evening out again. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “You did. You took me to the station to sort out the restraining order, you made sure that Ethan was somewhere safe… you called the cops in the first place.”

  “All within the realms of being a decent boyfriend.”

  “You held my hand… made sure I knew everything was okay,” she whispers.
>
  “You’re always safe with me, you don’t need to thank me for it.”

  “Can’t you just stop arguing and say you’re welcome?”

  I chuckle. “Alright. You’re welcome.”

  She smiles, seemingly satisfied. “Finally, now are you going to let me thank you properly, or what?”

  I don’t know if she’s suggesting anything that should get my dirty mind racing or not, but that doesn’t stop it from going there anyway.

  “What did you have in mind?” I choke out through images of her in wicked positions.

  She leans up and whispers in my ear, and fuck, if I thought my mind was dirty, then hers is filthy.

  My jaw drops open and she giggles.

  “What do you think?” She batts her long lashes at me innocently.

  “I think that I don’t know what the fuck we’re still doing at my sister’s house.”

  She bites into her bottom lip and trails her hand ever so slowly down my chest. She runs her fingers over my stomach and lower to the fly of my jeans.

  “Who said we have to leave to have fun?”

  I swallow deeply.

  My hips lift on their own accord as she undoes the button and slides the zipper down.

  I’m in my sister’s back yard – I should definitely not be thinking about all the different ways I could fuck my girlfriend right now, but I am. I guess even grown men are horny teenage boys on the inside.

  “Morgs,” I groan as she slips her small, warm hand into first my jeans, and then inside my boxer briefs.

  I glance up at the deck we’ve just come down from, but there’s no sign of Adam or Liv. If I’d known we were going to get hot and heavy down here I would have grabbed a second blanket.

  She grips tighter and a deep hum comes from deep in my throat, my head falls back against the blanket as she strokes my growing erection from base to tip.

  “I think we should go back to your place,” I groan as I feel myself growing.

  She giggles, her lips pressing to my neck over and over again.

  My hips thrust again, in time with each slow, languid stroke.

  My hand finds her hip and drags downwards towards the bottom of her dress, my fingers skimming back up her thigh until I reach the fabric of her underwear.

  She gasps in surprise but spreads her legs a little wider to allow me to tug her underwear to the side and rub my thumb over her most sensitive spots.

  “I’m meant to be the one thanking you,” she murmurs.

  “Trust me, baby, this is you thanking me,” I growl as I slip two fingers inside her.

  Her back arches off the blanket and her eyes flutter closed as I work her slowly, my thumb circling her clit.

  She moans, and I don’t give a fuck where I am anymore. I roll off her, her hand falling from my dick, and tug my jeans down enough so I can slip it out of my pants.

  I hover over her, still torturing her with my fingers, and she looks up at me with wide eyes.

  I slowly pull out of her. “Roll over,” I say.

  She does as I say, scrambling to her knees and turning so her ass is facing me.

  I grab her ankles and drag her backwards, so her feet are on either side of my knees, her ass high in the air.

  “Did you think I wouldn’t screw you on my sister’s lawn?” I growl.

  She twists back to look at me over her shoulder, a devious smile on her face. “Actually, I was really hoping you would.”

  I chuckle. “What’s going to happen if someone walks out?”

  I hook my finger into her underwear and shift them to the side. I line up and slam into her hard.

  She moans. Loudly. Really fucking loudly.

  I pull out nearly to the tip before pushing back in again. “Huh, Morgs?” I say through clenched teeth. “You like the idea of getting caught?”

  “I don’t dislike it,” she says through shaky breaths.

  Fuck, I don’t dislike it either, I’m ready to blow.

  I keep up my relentless pace, until she says my name like a plea, and that’s when I know she’s there.

  I slam into her once more and we both fall off the edge together.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Morgan

  “How did it go with your dad last night?” I ask as I sip my morning coffee.

  I didn’t get to see Ethan when we got home last night.

  We spent half the night at Olivia’s, and then took a moonlit walk along the beach before going home.

  I feel my cheeks blush as I think about letting Brody fuck me in his sister’s back yard.

  I blush even harder when I think about how I got on my knees and really thanked him at the beach later on.

  I clear my throat and turn to busy myself in the sink so that Ethan won’t see the redness on my cheeks.

  “It was alright,” he replies between mouthfuls of cereal.

  “Where did he take you?”

  “That new place downtown, you know the one with the huge sign out front that you said would cost a bomb?”

  I grin to myself. Brody was right.

  “Was the food good?” I ask.

  It’s hard not to ask, ‘did your dad act like a prick?’, because that’s what I imagine the evening was like.

  “Yeah,” he replies.

  I turn back to face him, leaning my hip against the bench.

  “Is everything alright?”

  He glances up at me before looking back at his food. “Yeah, it’s just Dad… you know? I don’t think he really listens to anything I say. He asks questions, but somehow we always end up talking about football.”

  My heart breaks a little bit hearing that.

  I know exactly what Ethan means, and he’s right. Chad’s number one priority has always been football.

  “I don’t even like football.” He sighs.

  “You know what, bud? Neither do I.” I step forward and ruffle his hair, and he pulls away, a grin on his face.

  “Mum! You’re wrecking my hair.”

  Just about anything would be an improvement on that comb-over style he’s still sporting, but I don’t pester him with it today.

  I hear a yawn behind me and spin around to see what is quite possibly the sexiest sight I’ve ever seen.

  Brody is wearing grey sweatpants, slung low on his hips, and no shirt.

  “Dude! We had a deal,” Ethan groans.

  Brody chuckles and runs a hand through his hair. “Sorry, bro.”

  He reaches behind himself, tugs a t-shirt out from the back of his waistband and shrugs it on.

  I pout.

  He chuckles as he passes me, snagging the cup of coffee out of my hand as he goes.

  I scowl at him, but my irritation is short-lived.

  “Wanna go shoot some hoops?” Brody asks. “Work on your three-point shots?”

  Ethan’s head snaps up and he grins. “Really?”

  “Yeah?” Brody frowns at him as though he doesn’t see what the big deal is, but I see it.

  Ethan has just spent an entire evening with the man who fathered him, and I doubt he showed him even one second of genuine attention.

  “Cool.” Ethan grins.

  Brody shakes his head in amusement.

  “Meet you out front,” Ethan announces as he races away from his bowl, and down the hallway to find his shoes.

  I can’t hide the huge smile on my face, so I turn away and make myself a replacement coffee.

  I feel, rather than hear him come up behind me, before his long, lean arms wrap around me from behind, his chin coming to rest on my shoulder.

  “Good coffee, baby,” he says, his voice husky.

  I smack at his hand as he reaches for the sugar.

  He chuckles. “It alright with you if we go shoot some hoops?”

  “It’s more than alright,” I say, my voice cracking.

  “Morgs?” he questions.

  I shake my head. “I’m good.” I take a deep breath and try to reign in the crazy mumma bear shit. “I’m just really thankf
ul that you’re here, Coach Owens,” I say with a grin.

  “That makes two of us,” he says before he kisses my cheek and lets me go.

  I pour myself a coffee and head out to watch my two favourite boys play some ball.

  ***

  Ethan is practically bouncing in the backseat.

  It’s their first real game of the season tonight, and the kid is pumped.

  Brody had to tell him to stop practising; he spent the better part of the day out front bouncing that damn ball against the concrete.

  At least it gave Brody and me some time alone inside.

  He hasn’t let me out of his sight for longer than five minutes since he arrived at the open home to see the graffiti for himself.

  There’s protective, and then there’s Brody, but honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

  I love having him around.

  I spent a long time carefully constructing walls around my heart, and Brody broke them all down within a matter of days.

  I think he could move in with me and I wouldn’t even bat an eyelid about it.

  Ethan might grumble about our PDAs, but I think he likes having a decent man around as much as I do.

  We pull up to the gym; the car park has a few stray cars here and there, but given that we’re here this early, I didn’t expect to find it full.

  It’s not until I shut off the engine that I realise I didn’t check for cars following me, not once – not with Brody in the car next to me.

  “I’m going to see if Hunter is here yet,” Ethan calls out.

  I don’t even know if the car was stopped before he opened his door and climbed out, but he’s gone, his basketball under his arm as he jogs towards the entrance.

  If I didn’t know better, I’d think that thing was glued to him.

  “So, he’s excited.” Brody chuckles.

  “What makes you think that?” I grin as I climb out of the car.

  He grabs a huge bag that he pulled from the boot of his car before we left home, swings it over his shoulder, his other arm coming around me and tugging me against his side.