“So help me God, if you fuck this shit up, you’re out. I will put your ass on a plane back to Houston so fast!”
“Calm down. Nothing’s going to happen,” Blake said, reaching for a bottle of vodka.
My mouth watered and not in a pleasant way. Me and vodka were no longer friends.
CHAPTER NINE
How does one prepare himself to walk into a courtroom and face people who tried to rip his world from him?
The answer is: You can’t.
I ran every scenario in my head. I tried telling myself that the judicial system would make the right choice. And just like Spencer, my façade was up, too.
I kept telling Spencer that everything would be fine, that Christy, Michael, and Colin would get what was coming to them, but… what if I was wrong?
We had a solid case, but what if?
Our friends met us at the courthouse, and a few minutes before the clock ticked nine, we walked in. Spencer’s hand tightened in mine, and I knew that I had to be strong for her. If dealing with this shit was hard on me, I knew it was a million times harder on Spencer.
She didn’t ask to have to fight someone off with a knife. She didn’t ask to be kidnapped and be held at gun point. What she did ask for was to find love, and I loved her with everything in me.
“I’m right here, Babe, you can do this,” I whispered in her ear, leading us to a seat in the front row on the right side of the courtroom.
If things didn’t turn out the way we wanted and needed them to, I wouldn’t hesitate before taking Spencer somewhere where no one knew us. I knew our family and friends would understand. Spencer couldn’t live her life in fear anymore, and if that meant changing our names and moving to Mexico, that’s what we’d do.
It was extreme, but Spencer was my forever, and I wasn’t going to let anyone take her from me.
The moment I saw Christy, Michael, and Colin walk into the courtroom in handcuffs, my body tensed, my jaw clenching so hard that it hurt.
I still didn’t understand how someone could hold a grudge for so long and jeopardize their lives by getting caught. Michael could have easily moved on with his life. Yes, his business was failing, but you move on to something else—not extortion.
Colin… I didn’t know the fucker from Adam, but how could someone go along with wanting to physically harm people? Oh, right: Money. Money and love make people do stupid shit.
Christy let her heart make decisions and not her head. Deep down, I knew she wasn’t a bad person. We did have good times together in the beginning and not just in bed… definitely not in bed; that shit was boring even though it got me off. We weren’t meant to be. She was just there to fill a void until I met Spencer.
After falling in love with Spencer, I knew there was a soul mate for everyone. Christy could have moved on and found her soul mate. But instead, she’ll probably never have that chance because by the time she gets out of prison, that person might think that someone else is their soul mate, or she might be so fucked from being in prison that she might never love again.
I couldn’t focus on them. I wanted to march over to all of them, fists flying, but that wasn’t what Spencer needed. So instead, I held my anger inside and took care of my girl.
“All rise,” the bailiff said.
*~*~*
Watching Spencer tell the courtroom what had happened each time her life was in danger was slowly ripping my heart from my chest. Neither of us wanted to relive it, and no matter what happened, this would be the last time Spencer was going to. I was going to make sure of it.
When she told them how everyone was connected to me, I wanted to scream. How could I live with myself, knowing that I was the cause of the danger in Spencer’s life not once, but twice?
“Everything’s going to be okay,” Becca whispered in my ear from behind.
I didn’t turn my head to look at her. I couldn’t. I was only focused on Spencer and my regret.
“I know you’re still beating yourself up, B, but it’s not your fault.”
It was like Becca had mind reading powers. Everyone kept telling me it wasn’t my fault, and I tried to believe them; I really did. But it was my past. Why couldn’t they have tried to kill or kidnap me?
“Stop thinking about the past. You need to focus on the future, because your past doesn’t define your future. People make bad choices; it’s how they overcome them that defines them.”
Becca was right. I wasn’t the same person I was before I met Spencer. Before Spencer, I was broken. Yes, I wanted to find love—what Becca and Jason have—but I made bad decisions when it came to Christy. I never should have dated her for so long. The moment I knew she was just someone for me to use, I should have left.
If I had left, Michael and Colin wouldn’t have known about Christy. They wouldn’t have been able to make her try to kill Spencer… but they probably would have still kidnapped Spencer.
There was no way around what Michael and Colin did. I don’t know how Michael held a grudge for so long. I was a kid when I’d apparently ruined his life. I fought every day to be able to walk again, and I wasn’t going to let him control my life anymore.
I nodded my head, telling Becca I’d heard her, and reached up, running my hand over my tattoo: Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
I wasn’t going to let my past control my future anymore. I wasn’t going to suffer any longer.
*~*~*
“Let me make some sandwiches while we wait. Who knows, maybe the jury will be ready after lunch. We don’t want to be hungry,” Becca said, rubbing her expanding belly. “Plus Jason Jr. is hungry.”
Jason Jr. was hungry? I looked at my best friends; they hadn’t told me they were having a boy.
“You’re having a boy?” Ryan asked.
“No, we don’t know, yet. We just hope it’s a boy,” Becca said, kissing Jason.
Becca returned with plates of sandwiches, and I watched as Spencer left them untouched and began pacing around the living room, looking out the window, lost in thought.
“Babe, come here,” I said, motioning for her to come sit beside me and eat.
“I can’t,” she said, still pacing.
“Please?” I asked.
She stopped pacing and sat next to me on the couch, not picking up a sandwich to eat. I barely had an appetite, so I understood what she was going through. I didn’t push the issue. Instead, I held her close to me, running my fingers up and down her arm. She instantly relaxed, and just as her body became limp from sleep, my phone rang.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hello, Brandon. Verdict’s in,” Kimberly, the Assistant District Attorney, said.
“Really? Okay, we’ll be right there.”
“Well?” Jason asked.
“Verdict’s in.”
CHAPTER TEN
Hearing the foreman read all the guilty verdicts was music to my ears. We celebrated that night—a little too much. Blake put his bartending skills to use once more. Luckily, I didn’t wake up on the bathroom floor, worshiping the porcelain king and his throne.
Christy was committed to a mental hospital until doctors deemed her sane, Colin was sentenced to five years in prison, and Michael received fifteen.
I wasn’t sure if any of those sentences were worth it, but it gave me at least five years to prepare for more. I wasn’t worried about Christy anymore. If a doctor deemed her sane, then I would take my chances and hope that she stayed the fuck away. Maybe there was still hope for her to find someone to make her happy.
I had other things to think about, like why Spencer was waking me up in the middle of the night.
“Wake up.”
“What—what’s wrong?” I asked, whispering, barely asleep.
“Nothing. I want to give you your birthday present,” Spencer said, kissing my bare chest.
My eyes flew open. I wanted more birthdays if that meant Spencer woke me up for sex.
“Oh,” I said, turning over to lay flat on my back, read
y for Spencer to please me.
“I have to turn on the light.”
“Why? I don’t need a light to see where to stick it,” I said, laughing and running my hand under her shirt.
“That’s not your birthday present,” she said, swatting my hand.
What the fuck?
“What? Why not?” I asked, sounding like a kid who just had his dreams crushed… wait, they were crushed.
“Well, I mean, yeah, we’re going to do it. It’s your birthday and all, but that isn’t your present.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the clock that read twelve oh two. I was fully awake, and it was officially my birthday. We were going to do it.
Spencer reached over and turned on the lamp that was on her nightstand. The bright light hurt for a moment, and then her beautiful face came into focus. Spencer reached for the hem of her shirt… this is what I’m talkin’ about!
“Um, I’m pretty sure this is how sex starts,” I said, watching as she threw her shirt on the floor.
“Yes, but I have to take my shirt off to show you your present, Birthday Boy.”
“Okay?”
I had no idea what my present could be. If it wasn’t sex and Spencer was stripping… what the fuck could it be?
She scooted closer to me and held out her left wrist. “I got this today,” she said, pointing at her wrist.
A smile spread across my face. “You got a tattoo?” I asked, sitting up and grabbing her wrist to look closer.
The tattoo was of the infinity symbol with our initials: B and S intertwined at the bottom. Instead of the ampersand symbol, a red heart separated the B and S.
“I know it might be kinda silly of me to get a tattoo on my body for your birthday.”
“I love it,” I said, cutting her off and kissing it. “It’s the infinity symbol, right?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s perfect, like you,” I said, kissing my way up her arm.
Now for my other present.
*~*~*
My friends and I took a trip to Napa for my birthday. I had no idea. I thought we were just doing dinner after my boys and I went biking for the day, but instead a limo picked us up and drove all seven of us to Napa.
Again, Blake put his bartending skills to use and got me drunk off my ass. I wanted to explain to Spencer that it was more than just because it was my birthday. Club 24, LLC had officially bought Better Keep Jogging Baby, but I’d promised Skye that I wouldn’t tell Spencer until it got closer to Skye’s last day.
Spencer didn’t know, but I was her boss. Skye and I agreed that she would stay on until Spencer returned from our honeymoon. I planned to tell Spencer on our honeymoon that she was officially the CEO of BKJB.
*~*~*
Spencer had all the wedding plans underway. I just picked out our tuxes for me and my guys, sampled the cake, helped Spencer decide on a menu, and agreed with Spencer’s choice for flowers for the tables—like I would be looking at the centerpieces. I would be looking at nothing but Spencer.
A week before Spencer’s bridal shower, I got a text from Ryan.
Ryan: I’m going to email you questions that I need you to answer for Spencer’s shower.
I had no idea what Ryan was talking about. Spencer was having her bridal shower in the upstairs event room at Club 24 in a few days, but why did I need to answer questions?
Me: Okay, what’s it for?
Ryan: A game, duh! Don’t tell Spencer.
Women and their games. We men just wanted to drink and shoot the shit. Women needed to have an entire afternoon packed with games and prizes, like people wouldn’t show up if there weren’t games.
Shaking my head, I texted Ryan back with my email address. Instantly I saw an email back from her, so I replied, answering her questions.
Ryan,
Don’t worry, I won’t tell Spencer. I would really love to be a fly on the wall and see her answer these questions, though. Make sure you video tape it for me!
-Brandon
Question one—What’s your middle name?
Lucas
Question two—What’s your favorite color?”
Green
Question three—What’s your favorite season?
Autumn/Fall… because Spencer told me that she had always wanted to get married in the fall, and I can’t wait for October 12th.
Question four—What animal would you compare Spencer to?
I stared at the question for some time. I had no idea what animal I would compare Spencer to. A cat? A tiger? A bird? Then an image of me fucking Spencer popped into my head—like it did almost every second of the day.
Rabbit, because we fuck like rabbits.
Question five—What was the first restaurant you two ate at together?
I smiled, remembering our first date. We’d come a long way since that day. What’s crazy is looking back, I’m sure I loved her then.
Scoma’s in Sausalito.
Question six—What’s your favorite food?
Barbeque ribs.
Question seven—What’s your favorite drink?
Beer. Specifically Blue Moon.
Question eight—Where was your first kiss?
I smiled again, remembering running in the rain and Spencer making the first move. I was going to be a total gentleman that night: take her to dinner and walk her to her door. I didn’t realize that I would get her off again, this time with my fingers as the rain poured down on my car.
Spencer and I had our first kiss in my car after running in the pouring rain on our first date. She kissed me first, and we haven’t been able to keep our hands off of each other since.
Question nine—Boxers or briefs?
Boxers.
Question ten—One thing you couldn’t go a day without?
Spencer.
The question triggered my memory of Christy, Michael, and Colin. Since the trial, I hadn’t thought about them, but thinking about being without Spencer caused my chest to ache. Shaking off the memory, I went to the next questions.
Question eleven—What feature do you like most about Spencer?
I thought for a moment. Physically, I loved everything about Spencer, especially her legs. Her legs in a dress sent my dick on high alert, but there was more to Spencer than just her beauty.
Her loyalty to me, her family and her friends.
Question twelve—What’s your pet name for Spencer?
Babe or Baby.
Question thirteen—When did you know that you wanted to marry Spencer?
I knew I wanted to marry Spencer the moment I saw her running on the treadmill at the gym. You can even ask Jason. I saw Spencer, and as I walked away from Jason, I told him that I was going to marry her.
After I quit smiling like an idiot, I answered the last two questions. The questions that made me want to call Spencer and ask her to bring me lunch.
Question fourteen—What’s Spencer’s favorite position in bed?
Doggie.
Question fifteen—What’s your favorite position in bed?
Reverse Cowgirl.
*~*~*
“Did you have fun at your shower?” I asked Spencer, crawling into bed.
“Yeah, you’ll like some of the stuff I got, too,” she said, smiling.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, but I can’t show you until our wedding night and honeymoon.”
“Well, can you show me what we would do with these presents?”
“I could…” she smiled then crawled on top of me. “Oh, that reminds me. I saw Jay and Teresa today.”
“When you were at the gym?” I asked, running my hands along her back under her shirt.
“Yeah, Teresa was coming out of the employee locker room then a minute or so later, Jay came out.”
I told Jay not to fuck any of the clients at the gym for several reasons. One of them was so his other chicks wouldn’t see him. Another reason was I didn’t want other employees doing the same thing. I didn’t need any dra
ma. I ran a business, not a frat house.
“Let’s not think about them. I’ll deal with it on Monday,” I said, stripping Spencer of her shirt.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Having Jay disrespect me put me in a difficult position. Jay was more than an employee; he was my friend. I couldn’t fire him, and putting him on probation would interfere with his clients and their workouts. But being a boss, you had to lead by example, so I put him on probation for a week with no pay, and instead of telling his clients that he fucked up, he told them that he had a family emergency to tend to.
I honestly didn’t care what he did with his free time, and since he gave into Teresa, she was off my back and gave up on the hope that I would also sleep with her.
“Hey, got a second?” Blake asked, coming into my office with Jason in tow.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Blake called a meeting,” Jason said.
I chuckled. Blake called a meeting? He was just a temporary employee. “Alright.” I gestured for them to both sit.
“So you know how I want to open my own bar?” Blake began.
“I’m not giving you any money,” I said.
“Me either,” Jason agreed.
“No,” he said shaking his head, “that’s not what I want.”
“Okay, I’ll bite. What do you want?” I asked.
I waited for Blake to answer, thinking about how only half a year ago, he was living at home with our parents and didn’t care about his future. In the short time that he’d lived with me, he’d decided he wanted to make something of himself.
“Every time I walk out of the employee locker room, I see the empty space that we rent out for events. Since I’ve been here, I’ve only seen that happen a few times. I think it’s a wasted space.”
Blake was right. The space was wasted and it wasn’t something that we needed to make ends meet. It was just nice to allow options for our clients, because we truly wanted them to see Club 24 as a Day Spa or a place they wanted to come each day to better their lives.
Forever Spencer (B&S Series #3.5) Page 5
