Matt laughed, “You have nothing to worry about Iz. I was the big test. Our parents are going to love you. Not to mention when we tell Dad about your pool hustling.” His eyes lit up and he said, “Fuck yeah! We need to get Izzy to hustle Mr. McGowin. That might shut that bragging asshole up!”
I laughed and hugged Izzy. “Seriously, Matt’s right. Our parents love everyone. They’re really easy going. You have nothing to worry about,” I told her right before I kissed her. I couldn’t wait for Mom to meet her. She was really going to love Izzy. Mom had said she already feels like she knows her as much I go on about Izzy every time we talk.
She shrugged as if not convinced, turned to pour more coffee into her mug and then poured the cream in. She set it down as Clark asked, “Hey Iz, can you pass me the creamer? Please…ohhh, please,” he moaned the last part, of course. Her eyes shot up and she flushed red. All the guys burst out laughing. She turned quickly to go to the cabinet. I couldn’t stop laughing and grabbed her from behind and hugged her. I kissed her neck in between my laughter.
“Guess your room echoes down the stairs,” I whispered in her ear.
She closed her eyes and shook her head taking a deep breath. She turned around and set her mug back on the counter, obviously trying to change the subject she asked, “So, we’re stopping by Allure and loading up the liquor right now, right?” She gulped her coffee looking anywhere but the guys.
I shook my head knowing the guys sensed blood. They were going to be relentless with Izzy now that they saw her embarrassment over them hearing us have sex. Matt was smirking big time, “Aww, Izzy, do you mind if I come with you too?” We all busted out laughing. Izzy threw her hands to her face, laughing and shaking her head.
She looked at me cringing, “They heard everything?”
Flynn answered with a sly grin, “Yep, we may have forgotten to mention that when you moved in. Your room is like an amplifier.”
Clark started laughing. “At least you guys sound better than Lucy and Max. Holy shit, one night I thought they were hurting each other!” Flynn nodded his head while laughing.
I figured I better get Izzy out of there before she died of embarrassment. “You ready to go? We’ll head out and load up the truck.” She nodded, grateful to get away.
We headed out and the guys continued to harass her, “Oh come on Izzy, we were just about to come with you!”, “Please ooh please, let me come with you!”, “Fuck that was hot!” I heard one of them say as we hit the door. I just shook my head.
We started walking over to Allure and Izzy shook her head, laughing, “I’m so embarrassed!”
I slung my arm over her shoulder. “Aww, don’t be; it’s not like they’ve never done it. Not to mention I know they’re just jealous.” She didn’t respond.
We arrived at Allure, loaded up the liquor and kegs of beer I had already set aside and headed over to my house so I could grab a shower before driving over to my parent’s house.
On the way over, Izzy fidgeted and her leg seemed to be shaking a mile a minute. I put my hand on her thigh and gently squeezed. “Baby, seriously, my parents are so easy going. They’re going to love you. I promise.”
She gave me a half smile and huffed out, “Promises, promises,” as she rolled her eyes.
I laughed. “Well, this one is an easy one to keep.” I looked her in the eye. “I promise they’ll love you.” She just rolled her eyes and glanced nervously out the window.
We finally arrived at my parent’s neighborhood. The block party is larger than what most neighborhoods do. It was a great place to grow up, where you felt you could go to any of the houses and feel safe. They were already setting up when we pulled up. I backed up my truck to the bar area they set up.
“Z,” I heard Mr. Dowling call me. We exchanged pleasantries and I introduced Izzy. The whole neighborhood was preparing for the party, so we had lots of people coming up saying hi and meeting Izzy.
We finished unloading and we got back into my truck so I could park at my parent’s house. We pulled up into the driveway and I noticed Matt’s car was already there. Mom came running out giving me a huge bear hug. Izzy came around the truck, smiling nervously. “Mom, this is Izzy.”
Mom smiled and threw her arms around Izzy, giving her a huge hug, “I’ve heard so much about you! I’m so thrilled to finally meet you.”
Izzy hugged her back and smiled shyly. “Thank you. It’s great to finally meet you, too.”
“What do you need help with, Mom?” I asked knowing she had a ton of food she had to move out to the tables. “Come in and I’ll show you.” She linked her arm with Izzy like they were best friends. Izzy glanced over her shoulder and smiled brightly back at me. I winked at her. I told you, you had nothing to worry about. Promise kept. Shit, Mom’s probably already making wedding plans. Not that I would mind that with Izzy. Just not yet. But soon…definitely soon.
We walked into the house and I noticed Mom rearranged the furniture again. I swear it’s like an obsession with her to rearrange it every year. Dad walked up holding two beers. I took one knowing it was for me. “Hey, Pops.” I clapped his back.
“Zander, good to see you, boy. How’s the bar doing?” Dad asked, smiling. He was just a hair taller than me, and I caught that gleam of pride in his blue eyes.
“Great, it’s actually doing really well. How’s retirement going?” He retired just last year and I knew from Mom he was itching to do another project and was getting bored around the house.
“Ehh…I thought it would be great, but it’s getting old quickly. Only thing good is not having to wear a suit every day. Other than that, your Mom has a long of list of stuff for me to do around the house.”
I chuckled because Mom had told me about the huge to-do list she had for him. “Why don’t you guys take a trip or something? Take Mom on a cruise. I’m sure she’d like to get away too.”
He smirked. “Well, don’t tell your Mom, but I already booked a trip to the Caribbean in two months.”
“Great Dad, that’s great! She’ll love it.” Of course Mom already knew because she handles the bills and already noted the amount, but she didn’t want to spoil his surprise of telling her. “Did you meet Izzy yet?” I asked excitedly.
Dad smiled. “No, not yet, but between Matt and your Mom, I feel like I already have.” He patted my back and followed me into the kitchen.
Mom and Izzy were discussing recipes. Izzy looked just beautiful as she smiled at my Mom, who was explaining how to prepare some sort of dish. I slipped my arm around her waist as she finished her conversation with Mom. “Dad, this is Izzy, Izzy this is my Dad, Ed.”
Izzy’s face lit up smiling as she reached her hand out to meet my Dad. He scoffed at her hand and pulled her into a hug just like Mom had done. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Izzy. We’ve all heard tons about you already,” Dad said to her as he looked down at her stunned face.
“It’s great to meet you too,” She said brightly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, glancing over at me.
“I heard you play pool really well,” Dad said as he laughed. “Matt said we need to have you play McGowin, that bitter old ass. I need to try to shut him up. We’ll have to set something up.”
Izzy started laughing. “Anytime, that’d be fun. Just let me know when.”
Mom turned to the trays laid out on the kitchen island. “Alright everyone, grab a tray! We need to get this food out there before I have Helen pounding on my door.” She glanced at Izzy and mumbled, “Crazy woman has some sort of timetable for this block party every year.” Izzy giggled that gorgeous giggle of hers. I wanted to grab her for a kiss but knew she’d feel awkward in front of my parents.
We all took a tray and carried them out to the designated tables. I sensed that Izzy felt comfortable enough with my parents, so I went back over to the bar area to help set up cups and everything else. Mr. Dowling had the ice buckets filled and looked up while he dumped the last one out. We chatted a little bit and soon enough the party go
t underway.
I ran into tons of friends and reminisced about old times. I noticed Mel and Izzy holding their own talking to the other women. Izzy came over to me after a while and I put my arm around her. I introduced her to some friends I grew up with that I haven’t seen since last year’s party.
Matt and I started walking over to the Miller’s house. They had a huge front yard; we could all play football near the party. “So how’s it really going with Izzy? You told me she had a weird childhood. Anything else going on?” Matt asked.
“She’s been through a ton of shit. It’s like every day I’m finding out more stuff she’s been through.” I started remembering her telling me about the pool hall and her mom. I began to get nervous that there might be other stuff I might find out that maybe I wouldn’t want to hear about.
Matt shook his head. “What is it with you and finding these gorgeous fucked up girls? It’s like you attract them.”
“Nah man, Izzy’s different. I feel like she’s the one, even with all her crazy baggage.” She was nothing like Fucking Whore, Marie or any of my other exes.
Matt stopped me. “Wait, didn’t you tell me she’s also got some controlling crazy ex after her too? I mean, how many neon flashing signs do you need to hit you over the head that she could be crazy or something.”
I huffed. “No, it’s not like that with her. She just has problems and shit, but she’s still cool. I mean, you talked to her and everything. She just had bad shit happen to her.” I felt like I need to convince him. I didn’t want him thinking anything bad of Izzy. She was perfect, even with her fucked up childhood.
Matt shook his head. “I don’t know, brother. I get what you see in her. She cool, she’s hot, fun and a great sense of humor, but sometimes when they have that much crap following them, it might be best to leave that shit alone.”
“Not this one, Matt. Izzy’s different. It all just feels different. I know she’s the one,” I insisted.
Matt shook his head “Alright, brother. If you think that, then I’m here for you. Whatever you need.” I smiled. My brother always had my back. “Thanks.”
We went off to play our game.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Izzy
MEL and I sat in lawn chairs drinking our beers and watching the guys play football. I told her that she needs to stop bringing up the bad stories of when I hustled pool like she did last night. She had no memory of blurting out the story about that horrible night. We were followed home by the guy I hustled and luckily Brad and Mack were headed to our apartment for some drinks. Brad arrived just in time as the guy had me backed up against the wall and Melanie was trying to punch him to get him away from me. That was a scary night and I really had no desire to attempt to explain the whole ordeal to Z.
“That settles it. We have to call Brad and Mack now and have a reunion,” Mel exclaimed. She took out her phone and started texting him. She looked up and Flynn was watching her, looking a bit pissed. She huffed. “See that? That’s what he does. Like he’s positive I’m always trying to hook up with a guy. I haven’t even bothered telling him that Bill was transferred to our Chicago gallery.”
I was shocked as I glared at her. “What? Why wouldn’t you tell him that? That would settle a ton of questions he has in his mind. I would think you’d have jumped to tell him that.” I just didn’t understand their relationship at all.
“No, I’m not telling him. He’s never going to trust me regardless. What does it matter if Bill is here or not.” She looked like she was trying to pick a fight with me.
“Because, I thought the main reason you guys fight is because he thinks you’re still messing around with Bill,” I said, still in shock that she had some weird game going on in her head.
“That’s not the main reason we fight. He keeps trying to make me jealous too,” She said as she picked at her nail polish.
“Wait. I’m sorry. Have you guys ever even gotten together? Or was there one day when you guys just started fighting?” I was so confused.
“We kissed a lot and fooled around, but we’ve never gotten farther than that,” Mel said frowning.
“Why is that?” I asked, shocked.
“Because when we first started kissing, he had a girlfriend. Then he broke up with her so we could start something up, but then he found out about Bill and me and ever since then we’ve been going back and forth like this,” she said as she shook her head.
I laughed. “You need to just take control and say screw it because this is just getting ridiculous,” I said.
She laughed. “You’re probably right. I’m just afraid to take the first step.”
“Well, when you finally do, make sure you turn your phone off. Any text or call that comes in, he’ll think is a guy,” I joked.
She giggled at that. “Yeah, good thinking.”
We turned back to watch the guys. Z looked over at me; he pulled his shirt up to wipe his brow and winked at me. He mouthed hot and sweaty to me. I giggled and bit my lip. Matt hit him over the head so he’d pay attention. I giggled again.
“So, you two seem to be going pretty well, huh?” Melanie and I hadn’t really had a chance to talk since I’ve been at Z’s every night and working.
I beamed. “Yeah, we seem to be doing really well.” I bit my lip smiling just thinking about the past week.
Melanie nudged me. “Good. I’m glad for you, really. You deserve it. And you can’t find a nicer guy than Z.” She chuckled. “Well, besides Flynn.” Then she turned serious. “Have you thought about what might happen if he ever comes back into the picture?”
“What do you mean? I don’t think he’s even looking for me.” I hoped. He felt like some ugly green monster that kept rearing its head that I kept trying not to think about.
“But you’re done with him, right?” She asked with her eyebrows raised, almost coaxing me to say yes.
“Yeah. Of course, I am. I mean after what he did, not to mention keeping you from me. I can’t ever go back to that.” I had no intention of going back with him. What I have with Z was something I never had with anyone. Even if he had loved me, it was never anything close to what I have with Z. I know I was falling in love with Z.
“Okay. Good, I was just checking. I mean it was two years you were with him. That’s a long time. So, what really happened that last night that actually made you leave?”
“I...I can’t tell you here.” We’re in the middle of a neighborhood block party.
“Alright…but soon, you’ll tell me soon, right?” She pleaded. I just nodded, hoping to get her to stop asking. I wasn’t sure if it was more out of curiosity than anything else. After what I had told her so far, she would never look at me the same. She would only have pity in her eyes and I don’t want anyone’s pity after a life of having nothing but that. Z started giving me that look the night we hustled pool at his dive bar. I hoped he wasn’t going to give me that look again.
The guys scored a touchdown and Flynn and Z’s moms came and sat on each side of us. Both mothers were young looking for their age and seemed to stay in great shape. Both Z’s parents were good looking and I could tell where Matt and Z got their great looks. Z’s mom, Mrs. Williams or Sarah, as she insisted I call her, nudged me playfully. “Having fun, Izzy?”
I smiled, nodding my head. “Yes, actually a lot. This is a great neighborhood.”
“Yes, it really is,” She agreed as we watched the boys play.
I heard Flynn’s mom, Tania, start talking to Melanie asking her what’s going on with her and her son. I practically snorted. Melanie answered, “I have no idea what your son is thinking.”
Sarah leaned over to me and said, “Stubborn boys, aren’t they? Just like their fathers.”
Tania leaned over and snickered. “Flynn more so.” Then turning back to Melanie and said, “Let me guess, he’s jealous all the time, isn’t he?”
I giggled at that. To say the least. Sarah looked at me lowering her voice, “That bad, huh?” I nodded, rolling my eyes.
Melanie whined, “I just don’t know what to do anymore.”
I laughed. “You know exactly what to do.” She turned and glared at me. I still giggled.
Sarah huffed. “I’m sure I agree with you right now, Izzy.”
Tania started laughing. “These boys sometimes need a good kick in the ass.” Tania and Melanie turned to each other and started discussing the issue.
Sarah turned to me and lowered her voice. “How are you really doing? Z told me a little bit about your childhood. Seems like you had your share of rough times so early, huh?”
I shrugged and pulled my chin up, not looking at her for fear she had that look of pity. “Yeah, I guess I have. But it’s okay, really. Things turn out for the better.” I had to believe that or all the shit I’ve been through would come crashing down and I’d really have nothing to hold on to. I refused to believe the last lesson he gave me.
“I like your attitude, Izzy. Sometimes life hands you a shit deal, but you’re the only one who can turn it around.” She sighed deeply. I smiled at Z looking over and winking at me.
“He likes you a lot, you know. He doesn’t stop talking about you during our phone calls. Even when he was with that ex of his, he mentioned you.” Wow, it was nice to know that he did have the same feelings I did even when we first met. “He’s had his share of troubles as a teen too. Those were some tough times.”
I looked at her curiously. “Why? What happened?” None of the gang had ever mentioned anything to me.
“Oh, he had more than his share of heartaches in high school. Then he started getting in trouble with the cops. He started in with the wrong crowd for a bit–stealing cars. He hooked up with some pretty scary boys. Took his Dad and Matt to really straighten his ass out.” I was shocked. I knew Z wasn’t an angel but didn’t think he did stuff like that. “Matt was already in college but came home all the time to kick his butt. The third time he was arrested, Matt decided to come home for a semester. He followed him around and when any of those idiots came near Z, Matt told them that Z wasn’t going to do stuff for them anymore.” She smiled and sighed again. “They’ve always been very close.” We watched the boys play for a little bit longer then she smiled. “I hope things work out between you two. You seem like a very sweet girl who could make him happy.”
Alluring Promises Box Set (Books 1-3) Page 22
