by S. E. Rose
“You guys hungry?” Kent asks. The gang looks at each other.
“I should head back. Get my head in the game,” Ward announces.
“And, I promised Lyla a date night,” says Amery.
After a few minutes of goodbyes, the four of them leave.
“It’s so quiet now,” I say to Kent as I sit at a kitchen stool and watch him cook us pasta. I offered to help a few times, but he declined.
“I’m sorry they ambushed us.”
“No, it was fun. I can’t remember the last time that I just let loose like that.”
Kent chuckles as he stirs the homemade pasta sauce he’s been working on for the past hour.
“That smells amazing.”
“I hope it tastes amazing, too.”
“I didn’t know you cooked.”
“I like cooking. It’s cathartic.” He turns back to his task, and I can’t help watching him. He has a great ass and the apron he’s wearing is sexy as fuck.
“At least let me set the table,” I offer.
“Fine, dishes are over there.” He points to a cabinet and I set to work.
Chapter Eighteen
Kent
Tabitha…there’s something about her. She’s different but in a good way. I would never have thought about approaching her at a bar, she’s not my normal type. Yet, she’s unleashed something in me, something I haven’t felt in years. It hits me suddenly that this woman…is like my muse. Hell, maybe she’s more than that. She’s thrown me completely off-balance. Shit, maybe I just needed my world flipped upside down. I need her at my games. I feel foolish, more foolish than I did in middle school when I asked my first girlfriend out.
“Tabby?”
“Yeah?” she calls out from my dining room.
“Will you come to my games this week?”
Her head pops around the corner. “Uh, yeah, sure.”
“Thanks.”
We work in silence as I finish the meal. It’s comfortable silence, the type I seldom get even with family. Who am I kidding? My family is never silent. I smile at that thought.
“Whatcha thinking about over there?” Tabby asks as she pulls a serving dish out of my cabinet and sets it on the counter. She looks so…carefree, which I know she’s not. Damn, I haven’t even been thinking about everything she needs to be doing with her studio.
I shake my head. “Just thinking about my family. Hey, do you need help with anything?”
Tabby raises an eyebrow, and I chuckle. “I mean, you lost a lot of stuff in the fire. Have you replaced it? Did you get a check yet form your insurance company? What can I do to help?”
She places her hand on my arm, and I freeze.
“Whoa there, big fella. It’s all under control. I’m used to taking care of myself, so don’t worry your pretty little head.”
“Big fella?”
She shrugs and looks up at me. “I mean, look at you.” She motions up and down my body.
“Pretty little head?”
She grins and pats my cheek. “You’re pretty and you know it.” She spins around and walks back into my dining room, and I watch her luscious ass sway as she goes.
I put the spoon down and follow her. What am I doing?
Before I can answer my internal monologue, she swivels around and nearly runs into me.
“Oh!” she squeaks before I take her face in my hands and lean down to kiss her. She doesn’t move at first. Her body tenses and I don’t know if it’s from surprise or because I just overstepped my boundary.
I pull back and look down at her.
“I…I’m sorry, shit, no I’m not. I’ve been wanting to do that for a few days now.”
She bites her lip and sucks in a breath. “No…it’s OK. I…was just surprised, that’s all.” She looks up at me. “Do it again.”
“As you wish,” I say with a grin as my lips meet hers. This time she doesn’t freeze, her soft lips mold to mine as her arms come up around my neck. I lift her because I need her closer. She presses against me and her legs come up around my hips. I move my hands down to grip her ass and she groans. I take advantage of her parted lips and explore her mouth with my tongue, hers caresses mine in return.
I’m not sure how long we kiss, but suddenly my doorbell rings, and we both pause.
“Who could that be?” she asks me.
I lean forward and utter a curse. “My sisters.”
Tabby begins to shake with laughter. “You just got cock-blocked by your sisters?”
“Cock-blocked, huh?”
She bites her lip once more and I lean in and tug it away from her teeth with mine. She kisses me again, and it’s fast and hard and, shit, this woman does things to me.
“You gonna answer that?” she asks with a wink as she slides down my body. I swallow hard and close my eyes for a moment before the doorbell rings again and there’s a knock at the door.
“Open up, KJ! We know you’re in there! Come on, we’re hungry!”
“I can smell the pasta sauce from out here!”
I flex my jaw as I turn and walk to the front door, opening it and giving Kylie, Di, and Lanie a glare.
Lanie gives me a “sorry” look. “They insisted. We were at the orchard and…well, your house is on the way home…sort of…” She trails off.
“Set the table for three more,” I call out to Tabby.
Tabby peeks her head around the corner. “Hey!”
“Tabby!” Kylie squeals as she walks in and hugs her.
The momentary look of shock on Tabby’s face is priceless. I don’t think anyone notices except me. I feel like there’s more to Tabby than she’s told me, and I note to talk with her about her past…soon.
“Thanks for texting before you stopped by.” I glare at Mother Hen.
Lanie holds up her phone and shows me that she indeed did text me about five minutes ago…when my tongue was down Tabitha’s throat and my dick was grinding against her center through my pants.
“Oh…I…didn’t see it,” I say sheepishly.
Lanie gives me a pointed look and rolls her eyes before marching into the dining room like she owns the place.
I sigh and run my hand through my hair. My sisters sort of own me. They also drive me insane, it’s like having three moms and one annoying sidekick. Too bad C-Dog is at school, at least then we could have partial penis-librium.
I head to the kitchen and plate up the pasta and sauce. A moment later, Di is by my side tossing salad and setting garlic bread on a plate.
“Sorry, we should have…I mean…sorry,” she says in a low voice.
I look down at her. “It’s cool, DC. Don’t worry about it.”
She rubs my back. “I worry about you, KJ. You put so much pressure on yourself. You need to…enjoy life.”
“I do, Di.”
She shakes her head. “No, you don’t,” she says sadly. I turn to her.
“What’s this about? I’m fine.”
She looks up at me. “I worry about you. You’ve worked hard and you have a great career, but you haven’t had a real girlfriend in years. You don’t go on vacation other than the beach in the off-season. You don’t go out much. You’re young, don’t forget to enjoy that. I know you kinda went crazy on the fun at first, but I feel like your pendulum has swung in the complete opposite direction. You need to find a happy medium.”
I raise my eyebrow. “I could say the same thing about you, Di. Well, except you’ve had quite a few boyfriends.”
“I’m shopping for the perfect one, but hey, at least I’m living.” She turns toward the dining room where Kylie, Lanie, and Tabby are laughing about something. “I like her, KJ, a lot. She’s good for you.”
I turn back to the pasta as I grate Parmesan on it and sprinkle some fresh cut basil. “I know.”
“You gonna do something about that, then?”
I look back at my sister. “Yes, I am.”
She nods. “Good. Good talk.”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t fight the sm
ile that forces its way on my face. I hug Di. “I love you, sis.”
“Love you too, you big dummy.”
“Are you guys coming? I’m starving!” Kylie whines.
“Coming!” Di yells as she takes the salad. She turns back to me as she walks past the island. “Don’t fuck this up.”
Chapter Nineteen
Tabitha
“I’m exhausted. I think I’ll head up to bed,” I say to the Moore clan as we all sit around the dining room table. I can barely keep my eyes open. It’s been a fun, but very long day.
“We should probably head out,” Di says looking down at her watch. It’s only nine, but I feel like I’ve been going for two days straight.
I hug everyone good night and head up to my room.
I don’t even remember my head hitting the pillow.
The next thing I know, I feel the bed dipping.
“Tabby?” a voice says. You know that moment when you are just waking up and you aren’t sure if you are dreaming or if something is real? Yeah, that’s this moment.
“Brix, I’m sleeping,” I mutter.
The voice laughs, and I feel something cool against my forehead. My eyes flutter open. I’m greeted with a very concerned-looking Kent.
“What’s wrong?” I ask. I start to assess my body and realize that I feel pretty crappy like I got hit by a truck.
“I think you’re sick, kitten.”
I swallow and it hurts. “I think you might be right. I blame that ridiculous polar plunge thing.”
I sit up in bed and my head suddenly feels like it’s been filled with rocks.
“Whoa…” Kent says as his hand grabs my arm to steady me.
“How could I be sick so fast?” I groan, placing a hand on my forehead and pulling the covers up farther because I’m freezing.
“I think you have a fever. Hold on,” Kent announces as he runs into the bathroom. He comes out a moment later with a thermometer.
“Open,” he commands. I allow him to slide the thermometer between my lips.
We wait until it beeps. He pulls it out to check.
“One-oh-one. You’re gonna have to stay here today. I’ll call in the reinforcements and come back to check on you later,” he says.
“Kent…don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Plus, you have a game tomorrow night. You need to rest after practice.”
He places a hand on my leg and squeezes. “I need to make sure you are OK.” He pauses like he wants to say one thing but then he changes his mind. “Plus, you promised to come to my games, so you need to get better.”
I give him a small smile. I’m about to speak but he picks up his phone and calls someone as he walks back to the bathroom. A moment later he emerges with a cup of water and medicine.
“Take this. My mom is coming over. I wish I could stay, but I need to get to practice.”
“No, you go. I’ll be fine. I just need to rest.” I glance at the clock for the first time. Holy shit. I was supposed to be up two hours ago.
“Kent, it’s late. You should go.”
“I wanted to make sure you were OK. When you weren’t downstairs an hour ago, I got worried, so I came up to check on you. You were burning up.”
It’s then that I notice that there’s an ice pack sitting on the pillow next to me. Damn, I must be sick because I feel completely disoriented.
“Just lie down and rest.”
I lean back on the pillow. “I will.”
“Good.” He squeezes my leg once more and gets up and turns to me once more when he reaches the door.
“If you need anything, text me, OK?”
Even in my feverish delirium, I know I’m not going to text him in the middle of practice. I lie back down and place the ice pack back on my head. The next thing I know I hear humming.
My eyes pop open once more.
“Oh, good. You’re awake,” Mrs. Moore chirps as she sets a glass of something on the bedside table.
I look around and notice that the sun is much lower in the sky than earlier. I glance at the clock. Holy shit! I slept all day.
“You slept all day, but your fever broke,” Mrs. Moore says, as though reading my mind.
I prop myself up on my elbows. “I can’t believe I slept so long.”
“I figured you needed it. I changed that ice pack three times. I even woke you up once to take some more medicine, but I doubt you remember that.”
I wrack my brain, but I don’t remember that at all.
She pats my arm. “It’s OK. The fever does strange things to the human mind. How’s your throat feel?”
I swallow. “Sore.”
She hands me the mug she placed next to me. “Drink this. It’ll help.”
I take a sip. “It’s good. What is it?”
“A special concoction of mine. The kids call it ‘sick tea.’ I always used to make it for them when they had a sore throat.”
“Well, it tastes divine.”
She smiles. “I’m glad. Now, you should shower. I’m going to make you some soup.”
“Oh, that’s OK, Mrs. Mo—”
“Kathy, please.”
“Thank you, Miss Kathy.”
She laughs at my compromise. “OK, I’ll take it. That’s a start at least. And you are getting soup, so hurry it up.”
I get up at her command and head toward the bathroom as she goes downstairs, presumably to make me soup.
By the time I finish showering, the smell of something amazing permeates the air. I put on leggings and a t-shirt. I walk out of the bathroom to find fresh sheets on my bed. Damn, she’s good.
“OK, back in bed,” she says as she enters with a tray of the most delicious-smelling soup.
I take another sip of tea. “That soup smells amazing.”
“It’s my mom’s recipe. An old family secret for feeling better.” She sets the tray down and sits on the edge of the bed.
I take a small spoonful of soup. I sigh with contentment. It tastes as good as it smells if not better.
“This is really good.”
She smiles warmly. “It’s chicken soup, but there’s ginger in there. You’ll feel better soon. Stay in bed. Kylie can drive you to the game tomorrow night, that is if you feel better.”
“OK.”
“Good. Now, I’m going to leave you to it. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”
“Thanks. This is above and beyond the call of duty.”
“I live for taking care of people,” she admits. “I don’t get to do it much anymore, but maybe someday my kids will bestow upon me a few grandkids, and I can dote on them.” She gives me a wink and giggles as she walks out of the room.
This family…they are…wonderful.
I spend the evening chatting with Miss Kathy and drinking more of her tea. She refuses to leave until Kent gets home, which is late. My eyes are barely open when I see his shadow in the doorframe.
“Hey,” I croak.
“Hey. How are you feeling?”
I scoot up in the bed. “Better,” I answer with a yawn.
“Good. I was worried but I figured my mom would take good care of you.”
“I have a confession to make.”
He raises an eyebrow as he walks toward me and sits down on the edge of the bed. He smells clean like he just took a shower, which surprises me since he’s been practicing and working out all day.
“I may be in love with your family.”
His chest shakes as he laughs. “Is that so?”
I nod. “Seriously, I can’t believe families like yours actually exist outside of sappy sitcoms from the eighties and nineties.”
He grins. “They are pretty great, but don’t let them fool you. They can be real pains in the ass, too.”
I grin. “All families can be pains in the ass.”
“Well, mine is no different.”
“Are you sure? They seem pretty perfect to me.”
He shakes his head. “Trust me on this one.”
I shrug. “OK, but
I still think they are abnormally great.”
“Well, I can’t argue with you on that. They are great, just annoying at times.”
I yawn again.
“You better get some rest.”
“What time do you leave tomorrow?”
“I need to be downtown at noon.”
He stands up to leave but stops before he reaches the door. “I’m not glad your studio had a fire, Tabby, but I am glad to have gotten to know you better.”
I smile. “I’m glad I’ve gotten to know you better, too. Good luck tomorrow, in case I forget to say it later.”
“Thanks, kitten. I hope you feel better. I really want you at the game.”
“Me, too.”
I turn over and snuggle down as he flips the lights off. I fall asleep to thoughts about Kent and his family.
Chapter Twenty
My phone buzzing wakes me the next morning. I look down and see the phone number of my insurance adjuster.
“Hello?”
“Miss Crane?”
“Yes?”
“It’s Phil from Capital Alliance Insurance. I was calling because we just received the fire inspector’s report and…well…I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
I sit up in bed, forgetting about the fact that I’m sick. “What is it?”
He sighs. “It looks like arson. I won’t be able to pay out any further funds until we can conduct a full investigation.”
Now it’s my turn to sigh. “Can you send me a copy of the report? I haven’t received it yet.”
“Sure. There, I just emailed it to you. We work with contractors to investigate these types of claims, so I’ll be back in touch with you soon on the next steps.”
“I’m guessing this means a longer and more drawn-out process?”
“Unfortunately so.”
“Great.”
“Sorry, Miss Crane. I know you want to get things back to normal as soon as possible.”
“I do.”
“Well, I’ll be in touch.”
“Thanks,” I sigh again and hang up, flopping back on the pillows. Great, now what?
Kent
I’ve already done my morning stretches. It’s time for my green tea and toast, a game-day ritual. It also settles the nerves.
