Caden (Loving the Sykes Book 1)

by Elizabeth Stevens

  “You spent five years with one guy, and the whole time you were in love with this shit-stain?” Carter asked.

  I heard Lucy sigh. “Yes, Cart. And that is a terrible thing I’m going to have to live with. Tommy deserved better. But it can’t be changed. I’m in love with your best friend.”

  Carter’s eyes narrowed. “Do you want to marry him?”

  I saw her flush pink. “Yes, Cart.”

  He blinked as though he was completely blind-sided and needed a few days to process that information.

  “And when he goes back to work?” Luther asked.

  I looked at him in question and he shrugged.

  “If she wants you, Cade, you’ve got my blessing. But I’m thinking logistics here. What’s going to happen when you don’t make it home? Where will you live? Have you guys put your adorable, big hearts aside and thought about it?”

  “No, but that point is moot if Cart doesn’t say yes,” I said. I hated that I hadn’t asked them all first, but I knew I couldn’t go through with it if even one of them wasn’t on board.

  Oscar elbowed Carter. “Just get over it.”

  “Would it help if you hit me again, mate?” I asked my oldest friend.

  Our eyes met across the room and I let him see it all. Slowly, the anger in his eyes softened and I knew he could really see the whole thing for what it was. Yeah, I’d fucked up, but I was in this for the long haul.

  Finally, he nodded. “Fine. But only if I get to dance with Brit,” he grumbled.

  Lucy squealed in excitement and launched herself at him. His arms went around her easily and he swung her around with a grudging laugh. Oscar and Luther came to shake my hand and offer me words of congratulations. I tried to listen, but I couldn’t take my eyes off my fiancée, my girl.

  She caught my eye and I couldn’t remember when she’d looked so happy. I vowed I would never let her look unhappy again so long as I lived.

  28

  Lucy

  Needless to say, Brit had been pissed when a couple of days passed while I was entirely wrapped up with Caden before she got the news. She got over it pretty quickly when I asked her to be my maid of honour, though.

  A few weeks later, Caden was back at work and I was distracting myself as best I could. We talked every day, which got him teased not only by my brothers but his whole team. Brit was doing a pretty good job of helping me forget my fiancé was away and I was still missing him terribly.

  Carter was also trying to help. He’d convinced me to finally come back to regular training. He’d been smacked by five separate people for suggesting that it would benefit my beauty for a certain celebration coming up. But overall, he hadn’t been wrong just unnecessary. Brit had taken to coming with me when she wasn’t working, but that was legitimately just an excuse to wear yoga pants in public and ogle my brother. Not that she did anything but sit on a bench and drink coffee while Carter and I trained.

  So it was, we were at Carter’s gym when I remembered to tell her the most recent news. Mainly because it involved her and a certain one of my brothers.

  “Cade’s asked the boys to be groomsmen. Carter is, of course, best man. So, you’re going to have to dance with him. All night.”

  “I suppose I can take one for the team,” she sighed heavily, her eyes rolling.

  “Oh, I’m so pleased,” I laughed as I re-tied my shoelace.

  “Who else are you asking?”

  I shrugged. “Not sure. I was thinking my cousin. You remember Fee?”

  “Was she the one with the bright pink braces?”

  “Her sister.”

  “I think I remember. What about Laura?”

  I stood up and stretched my arms as I waited for Carter to finish up with his previous client.

  “I haven’t talked to Laura in a while…” I mused.

  “Like she’ll care if you’re asking her to be a bridesmaid,” Brit laughed.

  It was true. Laura, Brit and I had been firm friends at school. But over the years since, Brit and I had lost touch with Laura. We’d seen her a couple of years earlier, though, and it had been like nothing had changed – it was the three of us back in high school like we’d never been apart.

  I nodded. “Good point. That’d be three for three. Job done.”

  “But I get Carter, yes?”

  I rolled my eyes, but was distracted from answering.

  “You are such a conceited arsehole!” someone yelled loud enough to be heard around the whole gym.

  I looked towards the noise and saw Carter looking his most cheekily arrogant. I watched his mouth move and I saw he was talking to a woman who can’t have been much older than Brit and me. Unlike Brit and me, she looked much more serious about the whole gym business, right down to her very fit body.

  She pointed at him angrily and he shrugged with a lazy half-smirk that would have probably earned him a slap from me. Whatever he was saying was obviously not digging himself out of a hole with her either.

  “Go to hell!” she yelled, then stormed out.

  “Yeah,” Carter shouted – rather lamely in my opinion – at her retreating back. “I’ll meet you there!”

  “Oh, who’s that?” Brit asked.

  “Dunno. I’ve only seen her around.”

  “I like her.”

  I grinned. “Because she yells at Carter?”

  “I just feel like we’d get along really well with her. Maybe you could ask her to be your third bridesmaid?” she suggested and I laughed.

  Carter was in a terrible mood as he wandered over to us. He tried hiding it behind busying himself with his clipboard, but I knew him better than that.

  “Girl trouble, Cart?” I asked, saccharine sweet.

  He scoffed, his face like thunder. “No way in hell.”

  “You mean there’s actually a woman in the world you wouldn’t sleep with?” Brit asked, full of sarcastic surprise.

  He looked up at her. “Emma Sullivan is not the kind of woman you sleep with,” he said, leaving no question about the kind of woman he thought this Emma Sullivan was.

  “She turn you down, did she?” I asked, wrinkling my nose in mock sympathy.

  “Pfft,” Carter scoffed. “She could be naked and begging and I still wouldn’t touch her.”

  “I note that’s not an answer,” I said to Brit.

  She shook her head. “Further proof she did.”

  “She didn’t,” he snapped. “Thank you. She hates me and the feeling is mutual. Just the idea of…” He visibly shuddered. “Fuck that. No.”

  “There’s a fine line between love and hate, Cart.”

  He rounded on me, none too pleased. “Are we going to train you to take care of yourself when your super-spy fiancé’s out of town, or for an episode of Dr Phil?”

  “It’s called multi-tasking, Carter,” Brit told him, matter-of-fact, as she opened a bag of chips.

  He looked down at the packet in her hand, then back at her with a raised eyebrow. His expression told her exactly what he thought about her bringing snack food into his gym. Defiant to her last, Brit brazenly popped a chip into her mouth and grinned cheekily as she chewed it, daring him to do something about it. Carter wasn’t impressed, but he obviously realised there was nothing he could do about Brittany Witterly.

  “It’s called doing two things sub-optimally, Brittany,” he replied.

  “You’re just afraid of your emotions,” Brit said as she chewed another chip.

  “Have you met you?” he asked, humour tugging at his lips.

  She shrugged. “I have. Have you?” Her eyebrow rose and she licked her finger very slowly.

  “Training!” I said loudly. “I thought we were training.”

  Carter and Brit shared a smirk. The kind of smirk where they weren’t just undressing each other with their eyes, but waiting to see which one of them would cave first. It was heated, it was full of meanings I did not want to be a party to, and it made me think
heavily of Caden.

  “Brit, down girl. Carter, stop making eyes at my friend.”

  Carter winked at Brit. She chuckled and sat back against the wall, obviously very proud of herself.

  “I didn’t realise Cade had a thing for prudes,” Carter teased as he put down the clipboard and turned to me.

  “I didn’t realise my best friend had a thing for cavemen,” I replied.

  We shared a smile and I was extremely thankful that we were getting to the point where me and Caden being together was normal for him. Or at least, not objectionable. I don’t think it would ever be normal for him that his best friend and his little sister were getting married. Caden and I could probably have ten kids and he’d still refuse to believe I knew what sex was. But that was always going to be Carter. And I loved him for it.

  Even if he was an emotionally stunted Neanderthal most of the time.

  Caden

  Thank you so much for reading this story! Word of mouth is super valuable to authors. So, if you have a few moments to rate/review Lucy and Caden’s story – or, even just pass it on to a friend – I would be really appreciative.

  Have you looked for my books in store, or at your local or school library and can’t find them? Just let your friendly staff member or librarian know that they can order copies directly from LightningSource/Ingram.

  If you want to keep up to date with my new releases, rambles and writing progress, sign up to my newsletter at https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/y1n6q2.

  Follow me:

  Thanks

  (Excuse the repetition ere, but…)

  This was my simultaneous first public foray into the whole adult romance business and, just like the first one, it was as terrifying as it was exciting. I did PLENTY of research (not at all for pleasure, no