The Halo Series Boxed Set

by Kimberly Knight

  “Want me to kill him for you?” Easton asked.

  I smiled at his offer. “No, I don’t think I could survive on only conjugal visits with you.”

  “Oh, so there will be sex in our future?” I could hear the smile in his voice.

  I felt like a hypocrite for already moving on from Jared, but it also felt good that I hadn’t given in to temptation on the cruise. I wanted my relationship with Easton to start off with a clean slate. “There is definitely sex in our future. How does this weekend sound?” I smiled back, just thinking about him naked.

  “Damn, you don’t take things slow,” he teased.

  “Not when I’ve wanted to do it for ten days now.”

  “You’ll need to come here. I can’t leave Cheyenne again. Being away a week—”

  I cut him off. “Right, Cheyenne. Sorry, I was caught up in the moment. I can’t come there.”

  “Oh …”

  “I’m having a biopsy done on Saturday.” I sank into the couch, but quickly sprang up, remembering Tramp Tarah and Jared were just doing God knows what on it. “And I have to burn my couch.”

  “I’ll figure something out. I really want to see you.”

  “I really want to see you, too,” I sighed, looking around at the disaster I’d created.

  I waited ten days. What was a few more?

  “So … I met someone,” I said to my mother as she started to take a bite of her salad.

  She started to choke a little on her food and then took a sip of her tea before speaking. “Are you trying to kill me? You could have waited until I didn’t have a mouth full of food!”

  I grinned. “Sorry, I just couldn’t wait any longer.” I took a bite of my pastrami sandwich. Every week I met my mom for lunch and then we’d walk to Ferrara Bakery & Café in Little Italy because she couldn’t resist their cannoli.

  Since the first day I’d met Brooke, most of my thoughts were of her. I was still trying to wrap my head around all the emotions I was feeling. I wanted to talk to her every second I had; I wanted to drive to Boston and wrap her in my arms—fuck, I just wanted her.

  If her tumor was cancerous, I didn’t want to waste any time being without her. I’d wasted a lot of time when I could have been a better person to Dana. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes.

  Dana was my first love, but the more I thought about it, I thought that Brooke was my soul mate. I’d never believed in soul mates before, but I was starting to change my mind. Brooke was in every song I heard, in every TV show and movie I watched, and in every thought. She was my heart.

  “Did you meet her on the cruise?” my mother asked, grinning wide.

  “Yes.”

  “When do I get to meet her?”

  “That’s the thing. What if it doesn’t work out? What if I introduce her to Cheyenne and she gets attached, and then I fuck it up and we don’t work out?”

  “Just take it slow and when the time is right, you’ll know that it’s okay to introduce her to Chey.”

  “I can’t take it slow. She might have cancer.”

  “Oh my,” she gasped.

  “She needs me. Brooke doesn’t have anyone except her best friend, who is now in love with Avery.”

  “I’m so confused. Her best friend knows Av?”

  “Yeah, we all met on the cruise.”

  “Brooke’s a lovely name.”

  “I know.” I paused to take a sip of my beer. “I fell in love with her on the cruise—before any of us knew she had a tumor, and I can’t get her out of my head. I just want to be with her, but if she dies …” I shook my head at the thought and started to tear up.

  “Oh, honey.” She reached over and grabbed my hand.

  “If she dies and Cheyenne is attached—I just can’t do that to her again.”

  “East, baby, Dana’s death was not your fault.”

  “If I hadn’t cheated on her—if I were a better husband, we wouldn’t have been at the courthouse, and she wouldn’t have been driving on that street.”

  “Oh, honey, God works in mysterious ways. It was her time. There was nothing you could have done to prevent her death. Her death was not your fault, and you need to stop beating yourself up. You need to move on and let love in again.”

  “But what if Brooke dies and my heart is ripped from my chest again? From Cheyenne’s chest?”

  “People fight cancer all the time.”

  “That’s true … and she is strong. She raised her sister from the age of thirteen.”

  “Where were her parents?”

  I told my mom everything that Brooke had told me about her family. I also told her that she was having a biopsy done on Saturday. She told me not to worry about anything until Brooke got the results of the biopsy. But that was easier said than done.

  I was freaking out, and I couldn’t imagine how Brooke was feeling. When I’d called her, we hadn’t really talked about it. I hadn’t wanted to bring it up. But if Brooke had cancer, I would be there to help her fight it—no matter what.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you this way. You know it makes me happy, right?” Her eyes were glossy as she spoke.

  “What? That I’m in love?”

  “Yes, this means I might get more grandchildren.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’ve only known her for two weeks, and I don’t even know if she wants kids.”

  “All right, all right,” she said, holding her hands up. “I just haven’t seen you in love since Dana.”

  “I know.” I smiled as I remembered Brooke’s smile.

  My mother wiped the corner of her eye with her white linen napkin.

  “I just … I just want to see her. I want to be there when she has her biopsy in case she’s scared. But I don’t want to leave Chey.” I sighed. “I was just without her for a week.”

  “We’ll come up with something. I’ll take her to the mall and have her spend more time with Courtney.” She reached out and patted my hand. “Don’t worry. If you really feel this strongly about this girl—and clearly you do, then go be with her.”

  I convinced Avery not to tell Nicole or Brooke that I was coming. If Avery were to tell Nicole, she would probably spill the beans, and I wanted to see Brooke’s face and surprise her before going in for the biopsy. I also just wanted to see her. I missed her laugh, her smile and her sense of humor. Everything was just better in person. Avery found out that the procedure wasn’t until noon, and that was cutting it close to the time of her biopsy, but I was going to make it, even if I had to get a speeding ticket doing it. I was going to be there for her.

  Both Wednesday and Thursday night after Cheyenne’s softball practice, I talked to Brooke on the phone. It felt like we were on the cruise again, in the tiny room as we laid on the twin beds. Our conversation never faltered, and I tried giving her advice about Jared, but I didn’t want her to go back to him. He’d returned on Wednesday for his things, and Brooke and Nicole had watched him like a hawk while he boxed up his shit.

  Brooke told me how he begged for forgiveness—that the girl was just a friend, but Brooke didn’t believe him. Hell, I didn’t believe him. I was once a cheater myself, and I knew how to work the system. Jared didn’t expect Brooke to come home early from work, and when she did, the cat was out of the bag and the shit hit the fan.

  I couldn’t believe she smashed his X-Box and snapped his game in half. It terrified me, but I would never do such a thing to her now. I’d been there and done that, and I’d grown.

  Brooke knew something was off when she came home from the cruise to an apartment not lived in. I told her that he’d probably stayed at the girl’s place because he hadn’t wanted to fuck a girl on her bed. She was relieved but still bought new sheets—new sheets I couldn’t wait to christen.

  We talked about my superstar on the softball field. I didn’t know that Brooke had played, but it made me that much more excited about the possibility that she could teach Cheyenne, too.

  Everything I found ou
t about Brooke made her that much more perfect for me and it scared me, but at the same time, it excited me. I wanted this—I wanted her.

  Every day, I couldn’t wait to talk to her. I was trying to play it cool and not act like a total girl, but I craved her. I wanted to show her that I was there for her, and I was going to figure out how to be with her. Long distance relationships didn’t always work out, but I was determined to make this one last.

  When I wanted something or someone, I made it work.

  Just like my dad once told me, Brooke made my dick hard when she walked into a room, and she put a smile on my face at the same time. That’s when you know you’re in love. Just hearing her voice on the phone each day and night did the same thing. I jerked off every night after we hung up the phone, and then went to sleep dreaming about her. Usually, I would jerk off to porn, but just remembering her smile and laugh was all I needed to get off. I was a total mess, but I liked it—loved it.

  I wished Brooke luck when I spoke with her Friday before I had to start my shift at the bar. She thought that I wouldn’t get to talk to her again before her procedure, and I knew she was scared, but I assured her that she was in good hands with Avery and Nicole. I’d even given flowers to Avery to bring to her to let her know that I was thinking of her.

  “You can never give me shit again,” Avery said as I handed him the red roses.

  “Fuck off. Yeah, okay, all your talk about finding the one and love at first sight—I was wrong. Now get the fuck out of my sight, and don’t ruin the flowers.”

  “Damn, I thought love was supposed to make you happy,” he said, shaking his shaggy blond hair.

  “It would if I were in love with you.”

  “You know you love me.” He puckered his lips to give me a kiss.

  I pushed him away. “I’ll punch you in the face so fucking hard if you ever do that again.”

  He laughed and got into his truck, and I went into the bar to get ready for the five o’clock rush that wouldn’t let up until we closed.

  “What time do you get off?”

  And there it was. The same question asked nightly by multiple women who had me serve them one too many drinks throughout the night.

  In the past, this was the moment where I’d take a chick in the back and have her blow me, but not now. I only wanted one chick to blow me, and she was a four and half hour drive away.

  “Sorry, babe, I’ve got plans after work. What can I get you to drink?”

  “I bet I can make it worth your while if you change your plans.”

  “Not going to happen,” I said, shaking my head at the tipsy blonde.

  Two weeks ago, I would have been all over this chick. She was blonde with pretty blue eyes and a nice rack. Of course, I couldn’t help but look as she’d leaned over the bar, trying to get my attention. I was a guy after all.

  “Here, if you change your mind.” She slid a business card to me. I took it, glancing at the front. Mistress Renee. “For now, I’ll take a vodka cranberry.”

  I made the vodka cranberry and tossed the business card on the shelf near the cash register. I had no intention of using it; I just didn’t want to throw it away in front of the girl.

  As I watched the girls dance together on the dance floor and the guys watch from the sidelines as if they were prey, I realized this wasn’t my scene anymore. I didn’t have that urge to have a random chick suck my dick; I had the urge to please Brooke any way she wanted.

  I tried to concentrate on making drinks since we were swamped, but all I thought about was Brooke. Damn my father for being right. This woman consumed my every thought, but honestly, I didn’t care.

  I called Bethy and had her come in to relieve me. I needed to get to Boston.

  Me: What’s Nicole’s address?

  Avery: Why?

  Me: I need the roses.

  Avery: I gave them to B already. We’re having dinner.

  Me: What’s B’s address then?

  As I neared the exit to take to get me to her apartment, Rascal Flatts came on the radio, singing about not wasting time with the one you love and to give it all as if it was your last day. I couldn’t waste any more time. I needed her to know how I felt. I needed her to feel what I felt, and I wasn’t leaving Boston until she knew.

  My palms became sweaty as I parked on the street near her building. When I was an hour away, Avery texted me that he was lagging on getting Brooke home so I could get to her before she fell asleep, but Nicole was getting antsy and he couldn’t stall anymore. I knew he was truly my best friend because I figured he wanted to be buried deep in Nicole instead of “babysitting” Brooke for me.

  Me: Still awake?

  Brooke: Just got out of the shower and trying to stay awake for your call. How’s work going?

  I got out of my car and started to walk toward her building.

  Me: Busy. Just made myself take a break. I miss you.

  Brooke: I miss you more.

  I found her apartment and started to walk up the stairs while I dialed her number and smiled at her words. There was no way she missed me more.

  “Hey,” she answered. I could hear the smile through the phone.

  “Hey, I just wanted to hear your voice.”

  “You’re always telling me pick-up lines.”

  “How is that a pick-up line?” I asked, still smiling as I stood outside her door. The lights from inside her apartment glowed through the blinds.

  My palms were still sweaty. Why was I so nervous? This was my Brooke. The one I’d spent seven nights with on a cruise. The one I talked to every night before bed.

  “You always say things that make me melt.” Knock, knock, knock. “Weird, someone is at the door,” she said, losing her train of thought.

  “Who could that be this late at night?” I asked, still smiling like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

  “Probably Nicole. Ever since we found out about my tumor, she’s been babying me. Tonight, she and Avery acted like they couldn’t leave me home alone. After dinner, they took me to get ice cream and coffee,” she said, dragging out the word “and”. “Hold on, let me see what she wants.”

  I heard the wind through the phone as she made her way through her apartment. My heart was racing more than the day I held Cheyenne in my arms. The day my peanut was born had changed my life. I hoped tonight was life changing, too.

  I could see her shadow as she looked through the peephole and I waited nervously.

  She gasped. “Easton … What …”

  The deadbolt turned, and she opened the door. She stood with the phone held to her ear, dressed in my boxers and Halo T-shirt that she hadn’t returned.

  My phone was still to my ear, too. “Hi,” I said, smiling—still. My smile hadn’t faltered since she answered the phone.

  She bit her bottom lip, and my cock jerked in my jeans. “Hi,” she said, taking the phone from her ear.

  I lowered mine, pressing the End button and stepped forward as she did the same. Our bodies were inches apart, hers smelling like apple orchards and mine smelling like a stuffy bar.

  “What—”

  I grabbed her face with both hands, my phone still in my right hand and kissed her like the night we kissed on the cruise. Her phone fell to the floor as she reached up, running her fingers through my hair and pressing her body against mine. My dick grew hard with the contact, but this time she didn’t pull away like she had the first time she’d felt my cock stiffen when we kissed.

  I kicked the door closed behind me, and she led me to her bedroom with our fingers laced. No words were spoken; they weren’t needed. So much sexual frustration had been built up between us, and now that we were both single, we knew what was coming.

  I’d been waiting for this moment for what seemed like an eternity. Every noise from the busy street that ran in front of her apartment building disappeared as our tongues lapped at each other again. Her moans made my cock stiffen more, and I had to fight every urge to throw her on the bed and make h
er scream my name before we’d even had time to say more than hello.

  This was going to be my first time with her, and I wanted it to be perfect. It would be my last first time with anyone. If someone had told me three weeks ago that I would fall in love with the first woman I saw on the cruise around my age, I would have told them they were crazy.

  Avery was looking for the one, but I’d found my own.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, never breaking the contact of our lips.

  I didn’t break them either as I responded against her mouth, “I had to be here for my Superwoman.”

  “I would say the roses were enough, but this is better,” she said, crawling backward onto the bed.

  “They were a decoy. I planned to come after work, but I needed to see you sooner.”

  I stepped closer as she kneeled on the edge of the bed, her arms wrapped around my neck, sending shivers down my spine as she ran her fingers through my hair. Every time Brooke touched me, it was like I had never been touched before. Every touch felt new.

  “Now we can christen the sheets like you promised,” she said, leaning back to look into my eyes.

  “Oh yeah?” I smirked at her.

  “Definitely.”

  I could feel the hardness of her nipples as they poked through her shirt— my shirt. I reached down to the hem of her T-shirt. “I like your shirt.”

  “I wear it every night.” She blushed.

  “Mmmm, it smells clean, like you,” I said, bending down to sniff the side of her neck.

  “Well, I wash it, but I just put it back on the same night I do laundry.”

  “I’m going to give you more so you don’t wear it out too fast. I like you sleeping in my clothes.”

  “That’s fine with me.” She smiled.

  I kissed the side of her neck where I had been memorizing her scent, and my tongue slipped out to taste her skin, making her moan again. She tilted her head to the side, granting me better access, my tongue tasting the saltiness of her skin. I ran my tongue from the top of her shoulder to her earlobe, feeling little goose bumps on her skin as she moaned again. She tasted like heaven, and I wasn’t even to the good stuff, yet. I couldn’t imagine what her pussy would taste like. If it tasted as good as her skin, I was going to be eating her for breakfast, lunch and dinner until the day I died.