I’ve never kept a secret from Easton. He was my best friend and the more the minutes ticked by, the more I wanted to tell him, but there was no way I was going to tell him while he was trapped in an airplane. His nervous energy would get us a date with security when we landed at JFK. We didn’t have time for that.
“Did you get her number?” Easton asked. I was standing in line to board the plane as he and Cheyenne came back from the bathroom.
“No,” I lied.
“Do it!” Easton said, handing his boarding pass to the attendant.
“I’ll do it when we land. Nicole wants me to call her when we get to JFK.” I actually wasn’t supposed to call her until I got home, but if Easton had to wait more than the time it took us to fly to New York, I knew he would lose his shit.
“Fine, but you better call her as soon as we land.”
“I will, calm down.”
“Do it!”
“Jesus, let my phone boot up,” I groaned.
I texted Nicole just to tell her we landed and I continued my lie to Easton.
“Well?” he questioned when we arrived at the bagged claim.
“She…um, hasn’t texted me back.”
“Call her!”
“She’s at work. I’m sure that she will text me back when she goes on a break or something.” By the time we landed, I knew Nicole wasn’t at work any longer, but I just needed to wait until we got to his house and then I could tell him. Hopefully the drive home with his dad would distract him from Brooke.
Jimmy picked the three of us up and Cheyenne told him all about her trip to California. By the time we’d arrived at Easton’s house, he’d calmed down—a little.
“I’ll see you at the gym at nine, and text me Brooke’s number when Nicole calls you back,” he said, tossing me my keys that were sitting on his breakfast bar.
“She did already.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Look, you need to sit down.”
“Why? If she hasn’t dumped Jared yet, I’ll be a man and deal with it,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the kitchen counter.
“That’s not it.”
“Okay?”
“You know how Brooke’s shoulder has been bothering her?” I sighed.
“Yeah?”
“Well…” I paused, took a deep breath, and started again. “Nicole made her go to the doctor today and they took an X-ray. They…uh…found a mass, dude.”
He stared at me for a beat. “A mass like a tumor?”
“Yeah.”
“Get her number for me now!” he yelled.
“Nicole said it’s not a good time.”
“I know it’s not a good time. She fucking has a tumor, Avery!”
“Dude, don’t shoot the messenger. We’ll go this weekend. You need to spend time with C.C. You haven’t seen her in a week, and today is her first softball practice. I’m going to go see if the bar is still standing, and tomorrow we need to go through the books and make sure everything went smoothly.”
“Fine. Give Nicole my number and tell her to give it to Brooke. Tell her that I want to talk to Brooke—no, tell her I need to talk to Brooke!”
“I will.” I had her number, but I knew that he would call Brooke right away. He needed to focus on Cheyenne.
I left in my truck, driving to Halo to make sure it didn’t burn down. How could everything change so quickly? Yesterday, I thought nothing could go wrong. Now, all four of us were going to deal with Brooke’s tumor. I would do anything for her because that’s what Nicole would want. That’s what Easton would want and they’re all a big part of my life now.
While Brooke took shots of vodka to calm her nerves after our dinner at Yogurtland, Jared came strolling in the door like nothing was going on. It wasn’t my place to tell him that Brooke was sick, but it was my place to give him a piece of my mind for leaving us at the airport.
“You have some nerve,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Look, asshole, I’m going to be straight with you. I don’t like you. In fact, I fucking hate your guts. You, motherfucker, left us at the airport yesterday. How could you forget that we were coming back?”
“I…” He looked to Brooke for help. She took another shot.
“No, don’t fucking answer that. I don’t care. You can’t tell me anything that will make it better. I told my boyfriend and he’s pissed. I’d sleep with one eye open if I were you.”
Brooke left and went to her bedroom. I wanted to tell her to come stay at my place, but when I went to open her bedroom door, it was locked.
“You leave her alone tonight.” I pointed at him. “She’s had a very bad day.”
“Don’t tell me what to do with my own girlfriend,” he said, pointing back.
“I’m serious, asshole. Leave her alone.”
“Nicole, get out of my apartment!” he yelled, pointing to the door.
“One eye open. Remember that,” I said, slamming the front door behind me.
I called Avery on the way home.
“Hey,” he answered. “Brooke doing okay?”
I smiled. I was pissed off, but knowing that he was concerned for Brooke made everything better. “As okay as she can be. I just left her apartment. Jared’s there, but I yelled at him and she locked herself in her room.”
“Is she going to be okay? I mean with Jared there.”
“Yeah, he’s a skinny fucker. He can’t break down a door to save his life.” I chuckled.
“Okay, how are you holding up?”
“Not gonna lie. I’d feel better if you were here.”
“I know. I wish I was there, too. If I didn’t need to work tomorrow, I’d be on my way to see you.”
“Aren’t you the boss?” I teased.
“Yeah, but being away for over a week leaves a lot of work to do. Plus, Easton needs to take care of Cheyenne and now Brooke. I can’t leave him to take care of the bar alone.”
“I understand.” I sighed. “I wish we weren’t four and half hours away from each other.”
“I know, but you need to be there for Brooke. How about I come there on Friday? That’s only three days away.”
“Okay, but that’s four if you count tonight and Friday during the day.”
“Let’s not count that. Three days sounds better than four.”
“True. Oh, did you give Easton Brooke’s number?”
“Not yet. I’m going to give it to him tomorrow. He’s going to be pissed, but he needs to focus on Cheyenne. If I didn’t think that you could take care of Brooke, I would have already given it to him.”
“Brooke’s probably asleep anyway.”
“Good. Now tell me, what are you wearing?”
The next morning when I arrived at work, Dr. Sam pulled me in her office. I was still tired from everything going on and just wanted to stay in bed.
“The radiologist confirmed that there’s a tumor near Brooke’s right lung. We can’t determine the size and I’ve talked to a surgeon. We think it’s best if she gets a CT. That should help us pinpoint the location and the size.”
“Okay.” I sighed.
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m okay.” I gave a tight smile. “I just want this all to be over with.”
“Like I said yesterday, I’m going to pull all the strings I can.”
“Thank you.”
I left Dr. Sam’s office and walked to the front to look at the schedule. Since our office was like a big hospital, all the calendars were linked together. There was an opening for a CT tomorrow, so I called and scheduled Brooke.
“I’m sorry about Brooke,” Jenna said.
“Thank you. Mind if I use the phone up here? I need to call her to tell her that she has a CT tomorrow.”
“No, not at all. Go ahead.” She smiled.
“Thanks.” I dialed Brooke’s work number. “Hey,
it’s me. How are you holding up?” I asked when she answered.
“Better. Easton just texted me.”
“I see how it is. Hot men always win over yogurt. Sorry I didn’t cheer you up more last night.”
“Stop being a bitch.” She laughed. It was good to hear her laugh and not cry.
“Yay! That made you laugh.” I grinned.
“Get to the point. I’m at work, and you know Ian doesn’t like us to take personal calls.”
I sighed. “Dr. Sam talked to the radiologist and a surgeon. They want you to have a CT.”
“Okay, when?”
“Since it’s in-house and I work magic, I can get you in tomorrow.”
“Maybe I should just take the rest of the week off.”
“I’m sorry, B. Dr. Sam and I are pulling all the strings since you’re my best friend.”
“I know.” She sighed.
“Nicole.” I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Dr. Sam wanting to speak with me.
“Hey, hold on for a second,” I said to Brooke.
“Okay.”
“Sorry, I’m just using the phone to tell Brooke that I scheduled her CT for tomorrow,” I said to Dr. Sam.
“That’s okay. I thought more about it and let’s go ahead and get a biopsy scheduled for her as well. Let’s find out what we’re dealing with so we can get a better head on things.”
“Okay.” Dr. Sam walked away and I picked up the phone again. “Sorry, B. Dr. Sam just came in, and she wants you to have a biopsy done, too.”
“Okay, just schedule me for whatever.” She sighed again.
I hated all this. I tried my best to be strong for Brooke but deep down I wanted to scream and throw things. “Okay, give me a minute while I call over to the correct department.”
I placed Brooke on hold then called the hospital where the biopsy would take place. Somehow they had a cancelation for Saturday. I didn’t know how it was possible. Usually they book up weeks in advance, but I didn’t wait for it to be filled. I scheduled Brooke and then returned to the line where she was waiting on hold.
“I scheduled your biopsy for Saturday,” I said.
“Saturday?”
“Yeah, it’s at the hospital, not here. That way, I can go with you.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Someone up in heaven is looking down on you to make all this happen so fast.”
“Heaven, huh?”
“Or I really do know magic.” I laughed.
The rest of the week seemed to drag on. Nicole and I spent a few hours at night on the phone except for Thursday when I had to close the bar. We wanted to talk longer, but it seemed that the news of Brooke and everything else was making her tired. I didn’t blame her. I’d be exhausted too if it were Easton going through this shit; I’d be worried sick and not sleeping. The weird part was that Nicole was in bed by nine and getting plenty of sleep.
Brooke finally dumped Jared. Turns out that bastard was cheating on her while she was on the cruise. If Brooke wasn’t going through her tumor ordeal, Easton and I would have made a special trip to Boston to kick Jared’s ass. He sure as fuck needed an ass kicking, but we had more to think about than some loser. Brooke already had her CT and tomorrow she’d have her biopsy. I couldn’t wait to get to Boston and see the girls. I wanted to wrap both of them in a hug. They were both strong, going through everything on their own…well, together.
“You are to never give me shit again,” I said, taking a dozen roses from Easton. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that Easton was a changed man. Over the last week, he and Brooke had been talking. She didn’t know, but he was going to surprise her and hold her hand when she went in for her biopsy.
Nicole didn’t know Easton was coming either. The only thing I was going to tell her was that the roses were from Easton for Brooke. I didn’t know that Easton had gotten Brooke red roses until he was shoving them in my face to bring with me. I’d already bought Nicole roses, so I hoped she didn’t think I only did it because he had done it for Brooke.
“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,” I said, shaking my shaggy blond hair. I needed a haircut.
“It would if I were in love with you.”
“You know you love me,” I said, puckering up to give him a fake kiss.
I laughed as he pushed me away. “I’ll punch you in the face so fucking hard if you ever do that again!”
Still laughing, I got in my truck and drove onward to my girl.
If I didn’t slow down, I’d get pulled over for speeding, but I couldn’t wait to reach the city limits of Boston. Four and a half hours on the road were tough. I thought the drive would go by quickly as I listened to the radio and sang at the top of my lungs, thumbing the beat on the steering wheel. But every song made me think of Nicole and the miles weren’t behind me fast enough.
I’d drive every time I had two days off just so I could see her—hell, I’d do it if I only had a night off, but the longer I drove, the more I just wanted Nicole to tell me that she’d given her two-week notice at work and she was moving in with me. I didn’t care if I barely knew her. Sometimes dating is a waste of time, especially when you know they’re the one. Nicole was my one and all the days that I didn’t see her were wasted time.
I’d been searching for the one for a long time. No one had ever affected me the way Nicole does. This past week was the longest, most painful week of my life, but I knew I couldn’t tell Nicole that I wanted her to move in with me. Not only was her life in Boston, but so was Brooke, and Brooke needed her more now than I did.
I needed to man up and bide my time; wait until Brooke was healthy. Maybe by then, Easton would wise up and get that girl to move in with him too. Crazy as it sounds, they were perfect for each other, and I regretted that I doubted my best friend when Brooke really needed him.
Finally, I reached the city limits and punched in Nicole’s address in my GPS. To get Brooke’s mind off her biopsy, I was taking the girls to dinner. Part of me just wanted to stay at Nicole’s condo and not leave, but this wasn’t about me.
When I reached Nicole’s place, I was nervous. I wasn’t sure why. I spent seven nights with her and saw her for eight days straight, but I was nervous. My palms were sweaty and I was anxious—and excited. My emotions were everywhere as I stepped out of my truck and made my way to her front door, roses in hand.
Lifting my hand to knock, it swung open before my knuckles connected with the door. Nicole launched herself in my arms, still dressed in her purple scrubs.
“Perfect timing,” she said against my lips.
“Did you just get home?”
“Yep, about ten minutes ago.”
“I hope you greet me like this every time.” I smiled.
“I will.” She smiled back, her legs still wrapped around my waist as I held her in my arms.
“Promise?”
“Promise.” I leaned forward, taking her lips again. “I’ve missed this,” I murmured.
“Me, too. I need to take a shower before dinner. Do you want to join me?” she asked, biting her lip.
Fuck I’ve missed the lip bite.
“You know I can’t say no when you bite your lip,” I groaned.
“And if I didn’t?” She smirked.
“Well, I wouldn’t pass up the chance to shower with you regardless.” I laughed, then walked more into her condo and closed the door behind me, Nicole still wrapped around my waist.
“Are those for me?” she asked, finally realizing I had flowers in my hand.
“Yeah, and the other ones are for B.B.”
“From you?”
“No,” I shook my head. “From Easton.”
“Aw, I love it!”
“Which way?” I asked with her still wrapped around me.
She pointed to
the door straight ahead and I set the flowers on her breakfast bar as I passed by. I continued walking, not setting her down until I could sit her on her bathroom counter. My dick was already hard, remembering the way her naked body looked as water poured over it, and I moved quickly, lifting her scrub top over her head and onto the floor.
She moaned in my mouth, causing me to groan in response. Her hands fisted in my hair and a shiver ran down my spine. I couldn’t wait to have her naked—to feel her smooth skin in my hands, on my chest, on every inch of my body.
Unclasping her bra, I pulled it away from her body, down her arms and onto the floor. Palming her breast in my hand, I caressed it, squeezing it lightly and brushing my thumb over her nipple. Her nipple puckered and I bent down, tasting it against my wet tongue.
“Ah, careful,” she hissed.
I lifted my head. “I’m hurting you?”
“No,” she shook her head. “My boobies hurt like a bitch.”
“Why?” I asked, my eyebrows bunched together in confusion.
She shrugged. “I’m going to start my period soon.”
It had been years since I’ve had to hear that word—period. During my lousy dates over the years, the women booked them around their schedule I’d assumed. None of them were ever on their period and none of them had ever talked about their monthly visitor. But now that I was in a real relationship—yeah.
“I don’t need to know that,” I groaned.
“Babe.” She laughed. “It’s natural.”
“Just tell me when it starts,” I said, returning my tongue to lightly lick her nipple.
Being away from Nicole for six days made me go through withdrawals. I missed her body. I missed her smile. I missed her lip biting. I missed—her.
My dick was straining, wanting to break free and seek out her warm heat. Her hands dropped from my neck to the front of my pants, and she slipped the button of my jeans through the slit. Lifting my mouth from her breast, I brought my mouth to her lips and our tongues lapped at each other. My hands glided down her arms, feeling her silky skin as I hooked my fingers in the elastic band of her scrubs.
The Halo Series Boxed Set Page 36
