After ending the call, I went back out to the break room where Sabrina was taking a bite of her sandwich. Setting her phone next to her on the table, I grinned. “Thanks, Sabrina.”
“No problem. Everything okay?” She studied my face.
“Huh? Oh! Yeah, my battery was low, and I forgot my charger.” Shrugging, I gave her a grin.
“Oh. Got it. You and Grace getting back together?” she asked with a wrinkle of her nose.
“Hell, no. I’ve moved on from her finally. Made me realize what an idiot I’d been before, though. I’m happier now. That’s all.”
“I’m glad.” She resumed her lunch, and I made my way back to the nurses’ station.
We were busy as hell considering it was Christmas Eve, but it made the day go by quickly.
“Hey, Wright? You wanna stop and get a drink with us?” Hunter asked as we walked out. He, Sabrina, Terri, and a couple of the techs waited for my answer. At one time, I would’ve.
“Thanks, man, but not tonight. Merry Christmas, y’all!” I nearly ran to my truck. Eager to get my meeting with Smoke over so I could get home, my ass was off like a shot.
“100 Years”—Five for Fighting
Seeing the massive tree decorated in the living room had taken my breath away. I’d never have taken him for a sappy holiday guy. Granted, it was a little sparse in the ornament department, but he was a guy. What made me sad was that there were no gifts under it.
Due to the circumstances, I hadn’t thought to grab our gifts when we left the apartment the night before. Telling myself it was no big deal, I shuffled to the kitchen to make breakfast.
“You’re up early,” a voice said from the breakfast bar, and I gave a startled gasp. My dad chuckled over his coffee cup.
“Jesus, Dad, you scared the crap out of me!” My hand held my racing heart as I tried to breathe deep. Little did he know, I’d been up since Maddox kissed me goodbye. Something I could get too used to.
“Well, maybe you should be more observant of your surroundings,” he said as he tried to suppress his smile. My answer was to roll my eyes and huff as I grabbed stuff from the cupboards.
I was flipping my dad’s omelet by the time he said anything else.
“You seem to know your way around his kitchen.” It was said off-the-cuff, and again he tried to mask a sly smile with his mug.
Eyes rolling in my head, I plated the food and set it in front of him. “Eat.”
“He must be a pretty good friend if you spent enough time here to know where everything is.”
I should’ve known he wouldn’t drop it. “Yeah, Dad. I did.” My teeth tugged on my lip as I tried not to smile, but it proved impossible, and I laughed. My dad joined me.
“So do I need to have the talk with you or him?”
Again, I rolled my eyes as my face flamed. “No, Dad. Sheesh!”
“I mean, I’d love some grandbabies to spoil, but not if you’re not ready.” He shrugged.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe I’m having this discussion with my father,” I muttered to myself. Trying to ignore his grinning face, I made myself an egg white omelet, then sat down next to him to eat.
“Mom and Darla up yet?” I asked between bites.
He snorted. “Yeah, right. It’s too early for either of them.”
Setting down my fork, I studied my dad as he sipped the rest of his coffee. “Dad? Do you still love Mom?”
With a sigh, he set down his cup. Then he turned to me. It was a couple of minutes before he spoke. “Crazy enough, yes I do. But more than that, I made an oath to her that I take seriously. I vowed to be there ’til death do us part and all that. I meant that. Yes, I know she’s a difficult woman sometimes.” I snorted at his understatement. He raised an eyebrow and gave me a deadpan look.
Chagrined, I pulled my shoulders closer to my ears and resumed eating.
“There are times when we’re alone that she’s the same woman I fell in love with. As long as that woman is still in there, I’ll always be there for her.” He gave a sad smile, and we sat in silence except for the scrape of my silverware.
When I finished, I looked at him. “Dad, would you go with me to the apartment to get our gifts?”
“No.”
An exasperated huff escaped me. “What? What do you mean, ‘no?’ It’s not that far away.”
“Maddox recommended we stick close to the house today. I don’t disagree.”
“Dad. What’s the point of being here for Christmas if we can’t open our gifts?”
“That’s not really why we’re here, you know. I’ll talk to Maddox when he gets home, though.” His tone told me he was done with the discussion.
“Ugh! You’re so stubborn!” I said as I hopped off the barstool and placed my dishes in the dishwasher. Stomping back over, I grabbed his too.
He only laughed.
Glaring at him, I crossed my arms. “Fine. I’m going to soak in the tub.”
In a huff, I stormed back to the bedroom and closed the door. I contemplated sneaking out and getting them myself. Except my dad would probably stop me.
Deciding to do what I said and soak in Styx’s massive tub, I flipped on the hot water and dug around for some bubble bath. Of course the big, macho, muscly dude didn’t have anything. There were, however, some Epsom salts in the back of the cupboard.
Better than nothing. Shrugging, I dumped some under the running water.
My clothes dropped to the ground, and I piled my hair on my head. Slipping into the water, I closed my eyes. Slowly, the tension began to ease from my shoulders as I let the heat soak in.
Finally able to relax and think, I wondered what we were going to do about the threat. Though I hated the idea of someone forcing our hand, I had to wonder if we were doing the right thing. Maybe we were rushing things. Was it really possible for someone to know they loved someone as quickly as it had been for us? It had only been about two weeks.
Almost.
Shoving the crappy thoughts out of my head, I focused on the feel of him snuggled up to me last night. Closing my eyes, I could smell his cologne from when he’d gotten ready that morning.
Savoring his scent had my mind wandering to the look on his face when he slid into me. The more I thought about the dirty things he did to me, the more I pulsed between my legs. It made me feel dirty but needy.
Assuring myself that I’d locked the door, I slipped my hand between my legs. With his scent surrounding me, it wasn’t difficult to imagine it was his hands that teased me. I tipped my head back as I buried two fingers deep and lost myself in the sensation.
Before I knew it, I was coming.
Hard.
Embarrassingly so.
As I rubbed and squeezed to ride out every pulse, I sighed. By the time my fingers slipped free I was languid as I sank deeper in the water.
I must’ve dozed off, because I woke underwater and shot to the surface choking and coughing on the cooled water.
“Holy shit!” Evidently, I wasn’t safe to bathe alone. My eyes rolled in disgust with myself for falling asleep in the tub.
The water was draining as I dried off with one of his thick, plush towels. A little chuckle slipped out at my raisiny fingers and toes.
For the rest of the morning, I puttered around in his room, being nosey and generally weird. I smelled his clothes that hung in the closet. I peeked in his drawers, amazed at how meticulously organized they were.
Marie Kondo would be impressed.
I was. Also a little intimidated.
The man was a neat freak. I was a bit of a slob.
Not ready to leave the solitude of his room, I tossed myself back on the bed. The ceiling was an intricate tray ceiling with a fancy ceiling fan in the center. Rolling over, I opened the bedside drawer. A brand-new box of condoms, plus a partial one. Good God, did the man plan on having marathon sex?
Blushing, I realized we kind of did, but we weren’t using condoms anymore. Part of me knew it was stupid. Birth control wasn�
��t infallible. Try telling my va-jay-jay that when she was loving the feel of him bare up in there. I giggled at the thought.
Digging a little more, I found old concert tickets, a dog-eared western, and a bag of cough drops that looked like they’d been forgotten about and should be thrown out. The neat freak obviously neglected the nightstands.
Just when I was getting bored and was about to shut the drawer, I saw a leather box wedged at the back. I wiggled the other things out of the way and pulled it out.
It was a ring box.
Flipping open the lid, I gasped.
Nestled in the white velvet was a big, flashy, round diamond. Like as big around as a pencil eraser. My heart sank a little. The box was not new, and I could only surmise it had been his ex’s.
Curiosity had my mind spinning with questions. I wondered if he’d given it to her before they broke up. Then I realized if he’d bought her a ring, things had gotten pretty serious. He’d had some significant feelings for her.
Remembering how she’d acted that day at the restaurant, I gathered she still had feelings for him too. Despite his reaction to her that day, it had me wondering if he still harbored something for her.
Suddenly, I wasn’t in the mood to look around anymore. Placing everything back the way he had it, I carefully closed the drawer. Burying my face in his pillow, I fought the ache teasing at the center of my chest.
“You’re being stupid,” I said aloud. He’d never said he loved me, only that he was crazy about me. Being crazy about me and putting his life on the line to be with me were two different things.
After I had lunch with my family, I told them I was going to take a nap. I’d no sooner closer the door again than my phone startled me when it rang. The number wasn’t familiar, and I hesitated.
Taking a chance, I answered.
My heart was still racing from being startled, but hearing his voice had it jumping around in my rib cage. “Hey, babe. Everything okay? I can’t talk long, but I wanted to check on you.”
Relief didn’t even begin to describe how I felt that it was him. We chatted briefly about the beautiful tree and idle chitchat. Neither of us wanted to end the call, but we did. Admittedly, it made me feel good that he’d missed me enough to call.
Maybe he had moved on and I was simply being paranoid. My track record with men wasn’t that great, though. So it wasn’t completely irrational of me to have concerns. Besides, how well did we really know each other?
Changing my mind about the nap, I decided to see if everyone was up to a Christmas movie marathon.
Anything would be better than letting my mind wander like it was.
“Say My Name”—Godsmack
“Thanks for letting me stop by,” I said to Smoke as I followed him into his house.
“Hm,” he grunted.
When we passed the living room, I waved at Mattie where she was sitting on the couch watching a movie.
“Hey, Uncle Styx,” she said with a smile.
Once we were in his home office, he shut the door and motioned for me to sit.
“What’s so important that you needed to come and interrupt me and my family on Christmas Eve? Oh, I know, you wanted to watch Christmas movies with me and Mattie,” he said with a grin.
My eyes opened wide, and I gave him an are you crazy? look.
“Well, the offer’s open. I shouldn’t be the only one who gets to be part of all that magic.” He laughed as he waved his hand toward the living room.
“Gee, I wouldn’t want to intrude on your family time,” I said.
“Yeah, right. Okay, what’s up?” He cut to the chase.
Pulling the note out of my jacket, I handed it over.
“What’s this?” he asked as he glanced at the note. His brow lowered further with each word he read.
As briefly as I could, I told him what was going on.
“Why didn’t you tell me when it first started?” He set the paper down and looked at me with a frown.
“She didn’t tell me when she got the first one. We told ourselves that the other things that have happened may or may not have been connected. Now I believe they are.”
“So you want to bring this to the table?” Smoke stroked his beard as he read the note again.
“Yeah. I need to know who’s sending these. I think there may be security cameras at Gwen’s school that might have picked up the person leaving her the note that first time. That would be Check’s forte. Maybe Radar too.” Check was a computer genius, but Radar had been a Navy SEAL. He’d also done some high-tech security when he’d been overseas as a contractor.
“Can you wait until church?”
“Sure.” Did I really want to wait until after Christmas? No. But it was only a few days.
“Everything else okay?”
Running a hand through my hair, I nodded.
“You sure bringing that girl into your life was the right thing to do? Especially with all the shit going on with the Vagabonds, your ex, and now this?” His fingers tapped the desktop.
“What if it’s not them? It doesn’t seem like shit they’d do. As far as Grace, she’s just a pain in the ass. I can’t imagine she’d do this either.” I stood, preparing to go. His question made me feel defensive. Just because he didn’t believe in having an ol’ lady didn’t mean others couldn’t.
Shit, that had me wondering if I was ready for an ol’ lady. I mean, sure, I really liked Gwen, and I was man enough to admit I had feelings for her. But was I ready for a serious commitment? Part of me screamed yes; the other shied back into the shadows.
“I only want you to think about what it means to have an ol’ lady in our kind of life. This is the same shit I asked you when you told me you wanted to marry Grace. It’s the same shit I’d say to all the guys. Lock’s situation was a little different or I’d have asked him too.” He stood and walked me to the door.
“Goodnight, Uncle Styx! Merry Christmas!” Mattie called out as we walked past the living room on our way to the front door.
“Merry Christmas, pipsqueak!” I answered. Then as I hugged him goodbye, I raised a brow and smirked. “That doesn’t apply to kids?”
“Touché,” he said with a smile as he stepped back.
“See you at church.” I gave a mocking two-finger salute and stepped out into the December air.
The drive to my house was contemplative. Yeah, Smoke had a point, but honestly things were rarely dangerous since our club as a whole made the move toward legitimacy. Mostly.
It also gave me time to think about what I wanted from Gwen. It was still really soon in our relationship to say I wanted to marry her and have 2.2 kids, but I also couldn’t say the thought bothered me.
Time would tell. First, I needed to square this threat shit away.
After pulling into my garage, I shut off the truck. For a moment I sat there. It had been a long day, and I was glad to be home.
Opening the back door, I grabbed the bag of presents. Before I stepped in the house, I debated whether to bring them in or have it be a surprise in the morning. Chewing on my lip, I made the decision and set the bag outside the door.
Then I dug out the gift from Grace out of my duffle and tossed it in the trash. I wasn’t going to bother opening it. Maybe I should’ve donated it, but I didn’t give a shit.
The warmth of my kitchen hit me when I walked inside. Setting the alarm again, I didn’t make it another step before five foot nothing of woman collided with me.
Instinctively, my arms wrapped around her.
“Hey, baby. Miss me much?” I chuckled.
“So much,” she said into my chest. “How was work today?”
“Long. And it didn’t help that Officer Dickhead Warren had to fuck with me again before I even went to work.” Rolling my eyes, I tightened my grip on her. “But none of that matters now.”
She pushed at my chest until I let her go. A frown marred her forehead as she gazed at me wide-eyed.
“What did you say?” she whispered
.
“It doesn’t matter. He’s a dickwad that keeps fucking with me. But right now he doesn’t matter,” I sighed as I tried to pull her back into my embrace.
“Wait.” She held her hands flat to my chest. “He’s pulled you over before?”
“Yeah, a few times now. Why?” It was now my turn to frown.
“Officer Mitch Warren?” she questioned.
“I think so. Why all the questions about Dickhead Warren? He fuck with you too?”
She bit her lip before saying, “You could say that.”
That raised my ire. Motherfucker messing with me was one thing. Messing with her was another. No one messed with her. “What the fuck? What did he do?”
I was not prepared to hear what came out of her mouth.
“He used to date me.”
“Come again?” I questioned.
“Didn’t I mention I dated a cop when we met in Galveston? I was pretty messed up that night, but I thought I’d said that.” She bit her lip again as she stepped back and began pacing.
“Has he fucked with you since then?”
She shrugged, and I narrowed my gaze at her. “Gwen,” I growled in warning.
Her arms were crossed in defensive posture. “I didn’t think anything of it. I ran into him at the grocery store one day. He wanted to talk to me about working things out. Then when I got back here, as the garage door was closing, I could’ve sworn it was his car that drove by.”
“And you didn’t think to mention any of this?” Incredulous, I gaped at her.
“You didn’t say anything about him pulling you over repeatedly!” she burst out.
“I didn’t know you’d dated him!” I returned. That changed so much. Now there was another person to consider when it came to the notes and Gwen’s car being trashed. I made a mental note to have Check look into him ASAP.
“Do you think he’s messing with you because of me?” she asked in a small voice.
“I’d say the odds are pretty good, considering he started pulling me over after we ran into each other again. I’d never seen him before that. He’s a cop here in Cedar Park?”
She nodded.
With a heaving sigh, I ran a hand through my hair. “Your family here?”
Styx and Stones: A Demented Sons MC Texas Novel Page 16
