She let out a breathy sigh, and I leaned in to bury my face in the back of her neck, enjoying every single second of this moment...until a throat cleared at the end of my bed.
Jumping out of my skin, I sat up, instantly pulling the blankets up to cover my woman. We were already fully covered to the tops of our chests. But I knew she only had on those cute little boy shorts and a camisole top. I didn’t want someone else seeing even her creamy bare shoulders.
When I spotted Noel sitting by my feet, I lurched upright. “Jesus. What the fuck, man?”
His back was to us and his hands were laced loosely in his lap, as if he was ready to just hang out and wait for us to wake up.
“I need to talk to my sister,” he said, his voice rough with regret and apology.
I sighed out a groan and flopped my head back onto my pillow. “Right this second?” Turning my head, I saw that it was barely seven in the morning.
Damn, Gamble really had lost his mind.
“You know, it’s still really weird to think of you two...” He motioned between us over his shoulder. “But actually seeing it with my own eyes is even stranger. I don’t...” He shook his head and looked away again. “I still don’t approve of this, and I’m absolutely certain you’re going to end up breaking her heart.”
I just snorted and shook my head. “Yeah, well...after last night, I stopped giving a fuck what you think about it.”
Noel closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. “Last night...” he started, only to turn back and open his lashes to send me a sincere stare. “Last night, I was wrong. I know that.”
I wasn’t going to forgive him since he couldn’t even bother to say sorry, though he’d gone as far as to admit he’d fucked up. No one messed with my woman the way he had and reached any kind of forgiveness without a shitload of groveling and apologies...and maybe a million bucks.
But then he said, “I’m sorry, Caroline. And I’m not just saying this because I had the worst fight of my marriage with my wife last night, who was eager to tell me everything I’ve done wrong lately. I really am ashamed of what I did. It was impulsive and very...Ten-like.”
I glanced at her to find her eyes open and filling with tears.
Gam sent her the most pitiful look ever. “I don’t want you to move out just because I messed up. That is your home and will remain your home. I never...shit.” He glanced down at his hands and sniffed quietly. “I never told you how proud I was of you for how much you did for the boys while I was gone. And I never told you that I didn’t blame you once for how bad things got. I don’t know if anyone—me included—could’ve held things together as long as you did. And I never lost any kind of faith in you. You are a strong, courageous young woman who I am proud to have as a sister. I will still love you, no matter what.”
Caroline glanced at me, and I sent her a bolstering smile before taking her hand and squeezing.
“And Ten,” Gamble went on. Caroline squeezed my fingers next, as if she expected him to give me the same kind of speech. Hell, I think even I expected it.
But what he said was, “You’re a backstabbing motherfucker. I’ll continue to work with you, because I have to, but other than that, just stay away from me. I don’t want to be your friend anymore. I don’t want anything to do with you. And I will laugh and celebrate the day she finally decides to dump your worthless ass.”
“Noel!” Caroline cried, appalled.
He glanced at her, his eyes hard. “I’m sorry, I know I can’t forbid you to see him, but I’m not going to pretend to like this. Are you coming home or not?”
Caroline wrapped her arms around my arm. “I am home,” she said simply.
The look Gamble shot me told me this had to be the worst betrayal yet, as if I’d just stolen his sister from him.
Then he nodded once, cleared his throat, and stood up. After he left without another word, I looked at a quiet, pale Caroline. I didn’t feel so steady myself. It wasn’t every day I lost my friend.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She blurted out a short, shaky laugh. “Are you?”
I nodded. “I don’t regret a single thing. I have you, and that’s more than I deserve. It’s everything I want.” Taking her fingers, I kissed the knuckles. “Now what do you want to do about the rest of our life?”
Caroline and I started looking for a new place together. Blondie got a little morning sickness, but she hadn’t yet had one scare. I kept telling her all the doctors were just blowing smoke up her ass. She was going to have a perfectly normal pregnancy, but I was glad she and Ham continued to take every precaution, just to be sure.
In other news, I put Caroline on my health insurance—swearing Pick to secrecy so he wouldn’t go blabbing about our marriage just yet—and Caroline went to the Social Security and the DMV to legally become a Tenning.
Caroline Tenning.
The day her new driver’s license with her new name came in the mail, she was so fucking excited. She jumped me on the couch and fucked me right there. It was a good thing Zwinn was at a doctor’s appointment. We were pretty loud...and naked.
I loved living with her, I loved waking up to her each morning, falling asleep next to her every night, and even showering with her on occasion. There were adjustments—her clothes were always strung everywhere, longs strands of blonde hair tried to smother me in my sleep each night, and feminine products littered my dresser top—but we survived them and usually had fun in the process.
I continued to show up at the coffee shop every Saturday morning, but Gamble never did. Caroline learned about my Saturday routine and how I kept waiting for him to forgive me and just...show up one of these days, so she came one morning and sat with me instead.
I would never in a million years admit it to her, but I did miss the stubborn son of a bitch Gamble. He’d helped me get over my sister, he’d been with me when I’d started this phase of my life. Fuck, he’d been the one to dub me Ten. He was responsible for a lot of who I was, and I missed just hanging out with him and flipping shit back and forth.
But I wasn’t about to give up anything with Caroline to admit that.
When she got a call from him one Saturday evening, I tried not to act interested, but she turned to me after hanging up with him as if she knew I craved every detail.
“They’re all going to Rainly Park tomorrow,” she said. “They asked me to come.”
She looked sad about that, so I frowned. “Well, that’s cool. Why aren’t you smiling?”
With a sigh, she patted my arm and turned away. “Because I’m not going.”
When she tried to move away, I caught her around the waist and tugged her right back around. “What do you mean you’re not going? Go!”
She shook her head. “No. Not unless they invite you too.”
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Baby, you know that’s not going to happen. Just go and have fun. You haven’t seen those blackmailing little shit brothers of yours in too long. Don’t worry about me, just go.”
That stubborn Gamble blood of hers wouldn’t give in, though. It was going to bug her all weekend, and in turn, it’d bug me, so finally, on Sunday morning, I dragged her out of bed and into the shower, saying, “Let’s get ready. We’re both going.”
She brightened after that, and I knew I’d done something right. But the fucking drama started as soon as we showed up.
Noel scowled at me, then his narrowed eyes moved to where I was holding Caroline’s hand as we strolled up the front walk to meet them in front of their house.
“This is a family outing,” he said, making it clear I wasn’t invited.
“And I’m family,” Caroline argued, lifting her chin.
He seared her with a scowl. “I didn’t say you couldn’t come.”
She glanced at me, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. She was considering whether or not to drop the “we’re married” bomb on him, see if he’d deny I was family then.
I shrugged, letting her decide if she w
anted to reveal anything or not.
“What?” Noel demanded, noticing our byplay. “What the fuck was that look about? Oh God. Please don’t tell me you’re pregnant.”
A moment of awkward silence followed his question before I exploded. “What the hell, douche bag? You know she can’t get pregnant.”
Gam immediately closed his eyes and winced. “Shit. I forgot. Sorry.” When he opened his lashes, Caroline took a step away from him.
She gave a small shake of the head. Then she glanced at Aspen and her younger brothers. “You guys have fun. I think I’m going to stay behind this trip.”
She turned away from them, and me too, but her asshole big brother rushed after her, catching her arm.
“Caroline.” His voice was desperate and regretful. He pulled her back against him so he could squeeze his eyes shut and press his lips to her hair. “I’m an idiot. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ve been so concerned with getting you away from him so he can’t hurt you, I end up hurting you, myself. I don’t know how to do this, how to back off. I’m used to being your big brother—and a surrogate parent—it’s second nature for me to want to jump in and pull you away from anything I think is dangerous. It’s scary as shit to watch you walk into something I can’t protect you from. And I don’t know how to...I just keep fucking it up. But what I know for sure is that I can’t lose you. You’re a part of this family. I don’t want you to leave us just because I’m having trouble behaving myself. If...” He sent me a scathing glance. “If you want to bring someone else along with you, fine. But it can’t be a real family day without you.”
Caroline drew in a deep breath. Then she glanced over at me. “Okay, but Oren’s coming, too.”
Gam lifted his hands in surrender. “Fine.”
“Can I ride with Ten and Caroline?” Brandt asked.
“Ooh, me too. I want to go with them.” Colton skipped toward his sister to wrap his arms around her waist.
Gamble shot me a look full of hatred, silently accusing me of stealing his entire family from him. I lifted my eyebrows, daring him to say something. He opened his mouth, but no words came.
Shakespeare hooked her arm through his. “Looks like you and I have an entire ride all to ourselves.”
When he glanced at her and she smiled up at him, a warmth entered his gaze. I guess the two of them had made up from the biggest fight of their marriage. That was awesome, because I was forever grateful for that woman’s presence in his life. No one calmed his moody temper as much as Shakespeare did.
“I guess it’s settled then,” I announced, clapping my hands together. “Everyone, load up!”
I definitely rode in the “fun” truck on the way to Rainly Park. We barely got a mile down the road when Oren smacked me lightly on the side of the arm with the back of his hand.
“Padiddle.”
I glanced at him, completely confused. “Huh?”
He briefly glanced back. “What? Didn’t you ever play car games when you were little?”
Both Brandt and Colton leaned forward curiously from the backseat as I said, “My family never went on long car rides.”
Sympathy crossed his features before he shrugged and grasped my hand, lacing our fingers together over the center console. Then he sent me a quick smile. “Well, my sister and I played endless hours of car games when we were growing up.”
I turned to the side in my seat to face him. “So, how does padiddle go?”
He shrugged. “It’s easy. You see a car with only one headlight and slap someone else in the car while you call out, padiddle.”
I blinked, waiting for the point of the game. Finally, Colton scratched his head. “And that’s it?”
With a chuckle, Oren shrugged again. “I didn’t say it was an enlightening, complicated, or educational game. But it’s a fun reason to slap your sister without getting into trouble.”
“Except it’s daytime,” I said dryly. “And our chances of finding someone with only one daytime headlight is fairly low.”
Oren scratched his scruff a second before saying, “My friend’s family used to play the same game, but they would thump the roof of the car whenever they saw a yellow car.”
“I like slapping arms better,” Brandt said just as Colton suggested, “Let’s do red cars.”
A second later, three different hands attacked my poor short-sleeve-covered arm.
“Padiddle,” they said in unison. “Red car.”
“What the fuck!” I lifted my hands in self-defense, shying away from them. “Why did you all go after me?”
Oren wiggled his eyebrows. “Weakest link.”
“Oh, what the hell ever.” Spotting a red truck, I swung out with both hands, catching Oren and Colton. Brandt was saved that time only because he was the farthest away. “Padiddle.”
And so the war began.
It had to be the stupidest, silliest game I’d ever played, but I was giggling by the time we reached the park. My brothers were talking a million miles a minute as we alighted from Oren’s truck.
Aspen and Noel paused midway between unloading blankets and baskets full of lunch. Noel scowled at us—probably for being so happy—and his glower fixated itself on Oren.
Ignoring my crabby brother, Oren skipped toward Aspen. “Here, Shakespeare. Let me carry that for you.” As he swept the laden basket from her arms, Noel’s glower only darkened.
After filling his own arms with two sleeping bags, Noel hurried after Oren, dogging his heels. “Hey, asshole. Don’t you dare try going through her to get to me.”
Oren didn’t bother to glance back. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said coolly. Then he stopped abruptly, picking our picnic spot for us as he set the basket down.
Noel huffed but dropped the sleeping bags. He faced off with Oren. “I don’t know what you’re playing at with this nice-guy act, but it’s not fooling me.”
Oren gazed at him blankly for a moment. “Hmm,” he finally said. “Good to know.” Then he dropped to his knees and unrolled each sleeping bag for the entire family to sit.
My overly suspicious brother set his hands on his hips and watched without assisting. I knelt down to silently help him. Meanwhile, Brandt and Colton began to chase each other across the grass, playing their own game of tag-padiddle, with squirrels now. When Aspen came bustling up with one last Tupperware container, Noel was still moodily standing watch while Oren and I finished smoothing out the blankets.
“Hey, thanks guys.” Aspen knelt with us and began to unload the basket.
Finally, Noel joined in to help her, but the contention he’d started remained in the air. As desperate and determined as I’d been to get Noel to include Oren in the family, I’d also been completely naïve. They were both miserable. Noel wouldn’t talk except to pierce glares Oren’s way, and even as respectful as Oren was being back to him, I could tell by his own uncommon quietness and politeness that he wanted to be anywhere else but here.
Forcing them together had been a mistake. What had I been thinking, pushing them at each other in the hopes they’d make up?
Brandt and Colton chattered as we ate, and Aspen joined in. I was too busy casting worried glances between the two ex-best friends.
When Oren met my gaze, his brow knit. He leaned in close. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.” But when I glanced away, he caught my arm and made me lift my face again.
“Hey,” he said, his eyes full of sincerity. “I’m fine. All right? There’s nothing to worry about, baby. It’s all good.”
I looked him over. The seriousness on his face as he lifted his brows to assure me he wasn’t suffering only made me love him more…and yet it reassured me my worry was completely founded. He was definitely in a bad way.
But then he went and pointed past me, saying, “Shit, look at that.”
I glanced over, but couldn’t figure out what he was trying to show me. “Wha…?” When I turned back, he had half a deviled egg in his mouth. Knowing he’d eaten hi
s own already, I zipped my gaze to my empty plate and gasped. “Is that my egg?”
Still holding the last half of it up to his mouth, he grinned and commenced to chew. “You weren’t eating it.”
Shock made my mouth fall open. “I was saving it for last. Nothing tastes better than Aspen’s deviled eggs.”
“Then you should’ve eaten it first…like I did. I mean, what if something happened before you reached the end of your meal? You could’ve choked and died on your sandwich? A tornado could’ve come along and blown it away? Or someone could’ve...stolen it?” Like he had.
I gritted out, “I want my damn egg.”
“Here.” He smiled way too congenially and held out the half he hadn’t finished yet. “I’ll share with you.”
I snagged it from his hand and popped the entire thing into my mouth. As I chewed, he grinned. But I jabbed him in the gut. With a groan and then a laugh, he clutched his belly and fell backward onto the blanket we shared with Colton. At the last second, he caught me and dragged me down with him.
“Oren,” I yelped. But he already had me neatly stretched out on top of him.
“If you wanted more, honey, all you had to do was say so.”
He kissed me, thrusting his tongue immediately. I’d always been drawn in by his mouth, so I kissed him back. I forgot where we were and who else was around until Noel rudely cleared his throat.
“Excuse me.”
I jerked away from Oren’s mouth and rolled off him to sit up, red-faced and embarrassed. As I discretely ducked my face and wiped my lips, Oren lifted his head to send Noel a frown.
“Why? Did you fart?”
Noel wasn’t amused. “Do you really have to kiss her in front of me?”
I held my breath as Oren went still. He stared back at Noel before shrugging and lying back down on the blanket as if to gaze up at the clouds. “Guess not,” he answered.