Hayden smirked, watching what I could now see was a ball game, basketball. My family was really into the game. Especially, since Griffin went pro and all that. He was in Miami getting at his game while the youngest of us, Colton, was training to do the same at Texas State.
Hayden turned my way. “Last I checked, Griffin has to be where he is. If he had it his way, he’d be here.”
He didn’t have to voice it because we both knew that. Griffin had a place for home, family, like the rest of us and his wife, Roxie, seemed to really love being here too when the pair of them came back home to visit. Shit, they’d even had their wedding here on Gram’s property in the end. But the thing about Hayden’s statement was I saw it for what it really was. He wasn’t getting on me for not being home, not really. He was doing it because of the reason he felt I wasn’t, that being my denial of the family business.
I wished it were that simple.
I ran my fingers through my mop of hair, resting my arm on the top when I realized I was doing it. “I didn’t come here for all this,” I told him.
He nodded. “But Pop’s here and you’re going to have to—deal that is.”
I sighed, knowing he wouldn’t lay off with this. He hadn’t in the last few months of the development, since my decline. I had still been working at Carter’s Construction then, the company me, him, and my pop used to work for before the business came along. That, in itself had confused them all, working for someone else instead of helping with development of the family business, and even more when I left Carter’s abruptly, deciding to branch out on my own.
“He’s out back if you’re wondering,” Hayden said. “Cooking on the barbecue.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “I know. I saw him, but he was on the phone.”
Hayden acknowledged that, lifting his chin. He laid a hand on Crissy’s head, placing it on blonde hair so thick already. Hers was curly though, much like Colton’s in that way. Hayden turned to me. “Do what you want. You know I don’t care and Pop… he’ll be okay. But just don’t distance yourself from the family. Gram won’t say, but I know it scares her, you being gone. I think it reminds her of mom. You remember how dismissive she was in the end, right? Just before?”
God, how could I forget? She made up any excuse, anything she could to be away from my brothers and me; my dad. And when she was around, she wouldn’t even hug us or show any kind of affection toward us. I remember that being weird, even then, despite being so young. Then she was gone. Just like that. Not even a goodbye. I only remembered the thought of her now. She’d been gone so long.
I didn’t want my gram feeling that way or any way close because I chose a different path. I would have to talk to her about it, set her mind at ease. Me not being around had nothing to do with not wanting to be here. It was just something I needed to do for me.
Something I had a feeling they wouldn’t understand.
“Soups on, fellas!” came Aunt Robin’s voice from the kitchen and I smiled. She always said that.
Bracing himself, Hayden rose with my niece, his hand on her back.
“I’ll handle it,” I said to him and he turned around, nodding in understanding. I’d make sure Gram knew what was up, all of them eventually, but for now, I would have dinner.
I had my hands on my knees, getting up myself, when the doorbell rang. Hayden went to turn that way with Crissy, but I told him I would get it, heading toward the door. A woman stood behind it, pretty with dark skin and a large hat blocking the sun. She also had a white casserole dish in her hands. The clear lid on it let me know it was some kind of dumplings.
I widened the door. “Can I help you with something, ma’am?”
She slid off her hat, revealing large curls that swayed wildly in the wind, and gave me the largest of smiles. “Yes. Are you Brody? Or maybe Hayden?”
My brow rose. “Uh, Brody. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I know—”
“Ann?”
Pop came from behind me, out of nowhere really, and approached the woman. He drew forward with his hat off, lowered in his hands, and when he arrived, he touched her shoulder, guiding her in for one of those friendly hugs, which said something in itself. My old man? He wasn’t a hugger really. He never had been.
“Blake.” This woman grinned, pulling away. My pop still had his hand on her shoulder from when he brought her in, but he didn’t take it back. He simply redirected to her forearm, holding underneath it and cupping it.
“I’m glad you could come,” he told her and then I froze in place when he turned to me.
Forgetting myself for a moment, I removed the slouch from my back. I made sure I carried myself well when he was around. Still, I didn’t think that would omit my recent history with him though. He wasn’t really talking to me as of late, since my decision.
I braced myself for that. “Hey, Pop.”
I prepared for the worst, even in front of this stranger at the door. What I didn’t prepare for? Was a damn pat on the back.
He passed me, squeezing once, while he brought this woman inside, his hand still on her arm. “Hey, son. How’ve been? All right?”
I blinked. “Yeah?” I couldn’t help the question really. Who was this fella I thought was my old man?
He nodded, then faced the woman. Ann, I believed her name was as he said it before. “This is Ann, Brody,” he said, not looking at me. Only at her. “Ann, this is one of my boys. Second in the line of age. Brody, Ann was one of my nurses when I was in the hospital.”
And then her face appeared in my mind, the one who checked in the most, who’d been there when Pop had gone through the rough with his heart attack last year. Reaching over, I shook her hand, wishing I could do more. “I remember. Thank you for everything you did.”
This seemed to please her, her hand slipping from mine but only to slide on top of Pop’s still on her arm. “This one had all the fight. I only helped him find his way.”
He smiled at her. “Let me take you to meet the rest of the family. Brody, can you take Ann’s hat?”
I ended up getting that, her wrap, and my pop’s hat when he gave to me. Hurrying, I placed them in the closet, trying to get to the kitchen. Pop brought a woman, a real woman to my gram’s house. Hell, this was crazy. But when I got in, I seemed to be the only one surprised. This Ann was greeted with hugs and even a cheek kiss from Gram. They took her in, took her dish, and the Chandler ladies brought her under their wings. The whole scene reminded me of the day Griffin’s wife, Roxie, had been introduced and Karen before that. The difference was, we all felt like we knew them before they even came. Griffin and Hayden wouldn’t stop going on about the women they were dating prior to them being introduced. We were all close that way. But I didn’t know this Ann.
I felt like the only one.
Even Hayden gave her a hug, sliding Crissy into her arms when she asked to meet her, and Pop stood close to her side, his hand settled on her lower back while she cooed. Hayden stepped back and I grabbed him, walking out of the fray a bit. I just tipped my chin toward the scene, wondering what was up, and he shrugged, not understanding.
I decided to break it down. “You know her? You know Pop and… her?”
To this, he crossed his arms, looking up at me slightly, me taller despite being younger. He frowned. “Maybe you should start existing more,” he simply said, before rejoining the group.
And I stood there, taking in the scene, the scene I wasn’t a part of. I agreed with him all the way about that, what he’d said. I should exist more, be here more.
But maybe, at least right now anyway, I couldn’t be.
Chapter Twelve
Alexa
“Please. I’m only twenty minutes late,” I said, shrugging my bag up my shoulder. My chest rising and falling, I tried to catch my breath from the sprint over several blocks, but the woman in front of me kept me from reaching that goal. It was her eyes. Her eyes told me all I needed to know about my answer.
Please. I have nowhere else to go.
The woman at the shelter’s door sighed, leaning against it. She had just seen me coming when she went to close up and lock down for the night per the shelter’s protocol. I stayed at many who’d had the same policy. She shifted her weight on her hip. “I’m sorry, sweetie. But you’re going to have to find another place to stay tonight.”
Swallowing, I looked away.
“We have rules here,” she continued. “You’re here by eight or you don’t get in.”
“But it’s 8:20,” I said, showing her my watch. “Can’t you just make an exception? It’s my job. I had to stay late or I wouldn’t get paid.” A decision I decided to make for a little extra cushion, but now seemed like the most foolish thing. I picked up three jobs today, odd ones in cleaning that I’d found posted at the library. Brody’s money allowed me to get a decent outfit and some tennis shoes. Each job paid between fifty to seventy-five dollars a pop. I figured I would need that. It would get me a one-way ticket back home with a little left over to help with my family. But now, it was costing me a warm place to sleep tonight. I knew that as the woman in the shelter went to close the door.
“No exceptions,” she said, inching it closer. “Now, you’re gonna have to go—”
“But I have nowhere else,” I pleaded. “I just need one more night. One more and that’s it.” Because after that, I would be gone. I could finally leave Texas, El Paso, and head home.
She laid her arm on the door, tilting her head. “You and everyone else, dear,” she said, nodding. “You and everyone else.”
I sat at a diner that night, watching the cars cruise by the windows until they got so dark behind them. Then those cars became few and far between, later and later into the night. By that time, my coffee had gone cold, the only thing I could make myself sacrifice a little money for. I had to stay awake. I couldn’t sleep just anywhere. Anywhere made me vulnerable. Eventually, the owner of the diner realized I wouldn’t be ordering anymore or leaving. He came over to my table, remorseful, polite, but in the end, he still made me leave.
I went by foot after that, just walking and trying to stay out of sight. I held my arms, wondering how I let it get this bad. Homeless, alone. At least in New York, I had managed to get myself to a place where I wasn’t on the streets, however little I had. I should have come home sooner.
I should have never left.
I made the mistake of thinking I could make it and that I could make change happen for Aiden. I could take him and my sister away. I could take care of them. I smirked behind a tear-streaked face.
I couldn’t even take care of myself.
A car pulled up to my side, cruising along slowly. Shielding my face, I kept on moving forward, ignoring it, but it wouldn’t stop or drive away. I braced my feet to run, not knowing what else to do when the window went down.
“Hey!” A male voice shouted. “Hey, I’m interested, honey.”
My back up, I dared to glance his way. He looked like some business guy. Caucasian, in a dark suit. He also drove one of those nice rides, a Mercedes Benz with the windows rolled down. One more thing I noticed was his left hand on his steering wheel. He had a gold band wrapped there.
I stopped. Looking at him, I didn’t say a word.
Was he…
“Twenty for the front,” he continued. “Forty for the back, right? Those still Wayne’s prices?”
Wayne?
This guy grinned. “I want the deluxe package. I’ll even give you an extra hundred if you let me eat that pussy.”
He was looking for exactly what I thought and the very notion of it returned a similar feeling I wanted to never experience again. My throat closing up made it hard to get air either in or out, the acidic bile burning in a rapid rise up from my stomach. They’d been things I felt in an act of desperation to a familiar situation. In fact, the same situation I found myself in currently. Things got so bad. I’d gotten so scared that I…
But things were different this time. I didn’t have a Brody to save me if I changed my mind. No, I had lost him. I lost the only good thing.
I stepped toward the car, giving up, and choosing anything but the fear. But then a voice across the street came, and a girl, she raised her hand. Dressed in fishnets and a tight, busty top, she strode over to the car. This got the guy’s attention. She was definitely dressed sexier than my shorts and tennis shoes. She leaned down, grinning at the man through his open window.
“This girl don’t work for Wayne,” she said, tipping her head my way.
He frowned. “Damn, I wanted the good girl thing today,” he responded. Turning, he gave me the once over, clearly liking what he saw, but the girl got him back, pointing over her shoulder.
“Well, we got a new girl. Piper. She’ll hook you up real nice across the way.”
The girl redirected his attention just that way and another busty girl, I assumed Piper, raised her hand. A high ponytail on her head, she gave a show of swaying her hips in a short skirt. She didn’t read much like a “good girl,” but the man didn’t seem too choosey tonight. He nodded and the girl who intercepted us waved to Piper. Piper came over and once she got inside the man’s car, the pair drove away.
I saw this as nothing but a sign.
Lowering my head, I went to walk away.
“Hey!”
I kept going, but the girl touched my arm. I wiggled back, but she raised her hands, indicating no threat. That didn’t mean she wasn’t one.
She lowered her arms across her chest. “What did you think you were doing, hon? You can’t work privately here. You’re in territory. Wayne has this block.”
I didn’t have to explain myself. Removing myself from the situation, I made a couple strides before she stepped in front of me. I put space between us. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Clearly,” she said, and in the light, I could see blue contacts behind her hot pink wig. They really stuck out since her skin had such a dark hue. She crossed her arms. “You want in? The guy was right, you do got that school girl thing going for you.”
I pushed my bag up my arm. “No, thanks. It was a mistake. Again, I’m sorry.”
Standing there, she watched me, nodding. After a moment, she made a few steps toward me in her strappy heels. She got close, real close, and tilted her head at me, her gaze sizing me up from head to toe.
What is she doing?
She lifted her head, apparently getting her fill, and when her eyes met mine, her pink hair swayed when she shook her head. “It really was a mistake, wasn’t it? I guess I didn’t see it at first, but you’re really not working.”
It was a mistake. One of too many. I stopped counting these days. When I didn’t answer she appraised me. Gazing down my body, she stopped at my arms, then my legs exposed from my shorts. She smiled. “You dance though, right?” she asked.
My eyes widened, my mouth parted. “I did. How did you know?”
“Honey, no one has legs like that unless they’re using them. And these arms,” she said, gesturing toward them. My sleeves were short enough for them to be seen. “Perfect to handle yourself on a pole. You ever done exotic?” she asked, eyes lifting.
I swallowed. “Yes.”
She raised her chin like she knew that’s what I was going to say. She placed a hand on her curvy hip. “I’m guessing you just need some quick money, which is why you even considered that guy just now and if that’s the case, I know where you can go. I dance at a place downtown. I can get you in. You do a good job and you could be walking away with a few Benjamin's. I can work it out with the owner. One night only.”
One night only…
She made it sound so simple and it wasn’t like I hadn’t done this before. That’s how I got by so long in New York, how I paid my rent when things got bad.
She went to walk away, not waiting for my response. But gazing back, she eyed me. She waited for me.
I shrugged my bag up my arm, following behind her. I could do this for just one night.
I could do this ju
st one more time.
Chapter Thirteen
Brody
She straddled my hips, all hands, breasts. It came to this like it always had. Chloe rolled her thick hips, her soft pillowy thighs pressing against my jeans. She lowered placing a warm mouth on my neck, kissing, and I let her, filling my hands with her ass to beckon her to do it harder and faster. Again, it always came to this… in the end. She moved, the flowery smell from her violet hair going with her as she made her way down my body. Her hands found their way under my shirt, my stomach, and then her lips touched down and replaced that of her hands.
I set my head back on the couch in her apartment, allowing her to go and fill a void. It was one she could probably never fill, but she knew that. She understood that, but she went anyway. She always did, her tongue pushing into my belly button. Her hands went higher, my shirt higher, and her mouth kissed up a straight line.
I grabbed her shoulders, bracing, and she laughed, not stopping as her fingers played to get my shirt higher. I braced her again and the hum from her laughter hit my abs.
“I want to see it,” she said, fighting my hands to do just that.
Putting just enough force, I pulled her back, staring into her brown eyes. “It’s not like I’m some weird oddity or something.”
Her lips lifted, that red gloss she wore long gone. I had a feeling I could find it all over my neck and mouth. She pushed a hand into my hair, rubbing. “You’re not. It just means you’ve been through stuff.”
I had to laugh this time. “I don’t even remember when it happened. It was a long time ago.” And it had been. I’d gotten my scar when I was born.
Closing the space, she kissed me, her mouth so warm, so needed. “You’re strong, Brody,” she said, smiling. “You’re a fighter. Even from the beginning.”
Brody Page 9
