Trevor agreed to be the designated driver, and by the time I was a few beers in, I knew that had been a bad idea.
The girls were happy, singing 1980s pop songs every time their names were called. Between their turns, which happened about every half hour, they danced and laughed throughout the bar.
My eyes followed Kate around the room as she had fun, but the longer we stayed and the more alcohol we consumed, the more the mood at the table shifted.
Miles sat next to me, watching Anita as she shook her ass, completely oblivious to the man sitting next to him watching Miles.
“So, you and Katie,” Henry said jovially over the noise of the crowd. “Did not see that coming.”
“Yep,” I murmured back as Bram’s eyes moved from Miles to me.
“How the hell did that happen?”
I glanced at Kate, laughing at something Anita said, and ignored the question. I wasn’t going to get into the story surrounded by a hundred strangers in a bar. It wasn’t any of Henry’s business anyway.
“He fucked her,” Bram said nastily after an awkward silence. “Got drunk and knocked her up.”
“Shut the fuck up, Abraham,” I growled, refusing to look his way.
“It’s the truth,” he chuckled drunkenly. “On the anniversary of Rachel’s death, no less. Good timing, that.”
Kate glanced at me, and her eyes widened as I stood abruptly from the table.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I said to the asshole across the table.
“Come on, Bram, knock it off,” Trevor said quietly as Bram jumped to his feet.
“Wonder how long you’d been waiting,” Bram mused, looking me up and down. “Must have been a while since you’d gotten your dick wet. Some good luck that Kate was right there in your house—ready and willing to scratch your itch.”
I launched myself over the table, slamming Bram into the floor with the entire weight of my body. “You know nothing,” I said, punching him in the mouth. “Keep your fucking mouth shut!”
He jerked his body, throwing me off, and soon we were rolling all over the floor, taking down chairs and tables as we fought.
It couldn’t have lasted more than a few minutes, but by the time Miles pulled me off a bloody Abraham, Kate was sobbing.
“Out,” a bouncer yelled as he reached us.
“Yeah, man, we’re going,” Trevor assured him, nodding to Henry, who was holding Bram from behind in a bear hug.
Miles pushed at me as I tried to move toward Kate. “Not the place, man. Wait until we get outside,” he warned quietly, ushering me out of the bar.
I wiped the blood from beneath my nose with the back of my hand and followed as Anita escorted Kate out ahead of us. They were speaking quietly while Kate brushed the tears off her face.
“Miles, you got Shane?” Trevor asked as we got outside.
“Oh, hell no,” I mumbled, moving toward Kate’s SUV.
“You are sure as shit not getting into the car with Bram right now,” Trevor told me, shaking his head.
“The fuck, Trev? Did you hear the shit he was saying?” I asked, turning my head to meet his eyes.
“I heard him. Dumb fuck has been itching for a fight since we got here.” Trevor rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not putting the two of you in a confined space with Anita and Kate, man. Not happening.”
“Fine.” I glanced toward the SUV and met Kate’s sad eyes, sighing. What a great fucking birthday. “Let’s go, Miles.”
We climbed into Miles’s truck and followed the rest of the group back to my house.
“He’s staying at your place?” Miles asked, shaking his head.
“Yeah. They all are.”
“What’s his deal with you?”
“He fucking hates me. The shit that went down with Kate wasn’t good. I fucked up big time—”
“I don’t need to know details,” Miles cut in.
“Yeah, well, neither did Bram, but apparently he knows more than I realized.”
We pulled up to the curb outside my house, and I swung my door open. “Thanks for the ride.”
“You need me to stay?” Miles asked as Bram stumbled out of the SUV ahead of us.
“Nah, his brothers will keep him in line, and their parents are in the house with the kids.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, even Bram wouldn’t start shit with the kids there.”
I waved as I walked toward the front of the house, coming to a stop outside the passenger-side door of Kate’s SUV. She was passed out, her head tilted back against the seat.
“You want to carry her in?” Trevor asked quietly as Anita and Henry walked a stumbling Bram inside.
“Yeah, I’ll get her.”
I opened the door and unbuckled Katie, sliding my arms under her so I could lift her up.
“Bram’s going to feel like shit in the morning,” Trevor told me, shutting the car door after I’d pulled Kate out.
“He ruined her fucking birthday,” I snarled, situating Kate more solidly against my chest as she wrapped her arms around my neck. “He needs to get a handle on his shit. Kate and I are fine—why the fuck does he have to keep bringing that shit up?”
I walked toward the house and slid in sideways while Dan held the door open.
“Looks like she had a good time,” he said quietly.
“Yeah, until your son lost his fucking mind.”
“What happened?”
I shook my head and walked Kate up the stairs to bed. She didn’t stir again as I pulled her hands from around my neck, and I didn’t bother doing anything but unsnapping her bra and pulling her jeans and shoes off. She was out for the night.
I grabbed a wet washcloth and cleaned my face off as I checked on each of the kids. I always made the rounds at night, making sure each of them was safe and sleeping before I crawled into bed. Half the time one of the boys was on the floor when I checked on them, and I had to re-tuck them into their beds.
I could hear the murmur of voices as I shut Sage’s door, so I walked back downstairs.
Bram was passed out on the floor of the living room, a pillow stuffed under his head. I wanted to kick him, but didn’t.
“Coffee?” Ellie asked as I moved into the kitchen.
“Yeah, thanks.”
Everyone was gathered around the kitchen table, with Trevor and Henry seated at the bar stools next to the counter.
“You okay?” Dan asked, glancing from my face to the bloody washcloth in my hand.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I huffed, finding an empty seat and sinking into it with a grunt. Bram had knocked me into the legs of a table, and I could already feel bruises forming on my lower back.
“What the hell happened?” Liz asked, her eyebrows drawing together. “You two just started throwing punches?”
I shook my head, thanking Ellie for the cup of coffee she placed on the table in front of me.
“Bram was running his mouth,” Henry spit out furiously, turning to look at me. “I’m sorry I brought it up, dude. I had no idea it was going to cause such a shit storm.”
“Not your fault, Hen.”
“I thought Kate was going to jump in between you two,” Anita said quietly, her eyes tired and rimmed with smudged makeup. “God, Bram is such a dick sometimes.”
“I shouldn’t have hit him,” I said, my stomach clenching as I thought of the conversation I’d have with Kate when she woke up.
“If you didn’t, I would have,” Trevor said. “And I’m not even drunk.”
The conversation was steered to the girls’ musical talents and the songs they’d sung, and before long Ellie, Dan, and Liz were leaving as the rest of the group got their beds ready.
“Why’re you staying?” I asked Mike, after he’d kissed Ellie good-bye and come back into the kitchen.
“Gonna keep an eye on Bram,” he said, patting my back as he passed me. “Dan has trouble sleeping when he’s not in his own bed, so it was better for him to go with Liz.”
“I couldn’t believe that shit tonight,” I groaned, slouching down in my chair. “He picked a fight and I stepped right into it.”
“Now that your mother’s gone, why don’t you tell me what he said?”
“It wasn’t as much what he said, as how he said it,” I told my dad, clenching my hand into a fist. My knuckles were torn. “He made some comment about getting my dick wet and how Kate was just waiting to take care of it.”
“Jesus Christ,” Mike snapped in disgust.
“The rest of the shit I would have ignored. He was drunk and being an asshole, but he made Kate sound pathetic.” I met my dad’s eyes. “She’s not fucking pathetic.”
“Don’t need to convince me of that.”
“I fucked up bad with Kate—I know that. But just because she puts up with my shit doesn’t mean that she’s some fucking doormat.”
“She loves you,” Mike said quietly. “Love can overlook a lot of things.”
“We’ve been doing good.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. I think she’s starting to trust me again. I’ve been trying really hard to make up for the shit before.”
“Seems to be working. I got an earful about the sleeping arrangements earlier.”
My face reddened, and Mike chuckled. “No reason to be embarrassed.”
“I’m not talking about this with you.”
“Trust takes time, son,” Mike informed me with a small smile. “You just keep doing what you’re doing and things will all work out.”
“Did you and Mom ever—”
“Hell, I was far worse than you,” he said seriously. “But that’s not a subject I’m ever discussing with my sons.”
I grimaced when I thought of ever discussing my past with Kate with any of my kids. “Fair enough.”
“You better go up and get some sleep. I’m just gonna work on my crossword puzzle for a while.”
* * *
I woke up with Kate tucked in tight against me the next morning, just as someone pushed open our bedroom door.
“I’m just going to grab Iris,” Liz whispered softly, tiptoeing to the edge of the bed. “So you and Katie can get some more sleep.”
“Thanks, Liz,” I murmured as she lifted the smiling baby out of her crib.
She closed the door behind her when she left, and the noise woke Kate just enough that her hips twitched against my morning erection. Shit.
The mornings were always the hardest for me, no pun intended. Kate had no idea how she moved against me before she’d completely wake up. I knew without a doubt that I could have her so hot before she’d finally gotten her wits about her that she’d let me do whatever I wanted…but I didn’t want to start out that way.
She wanted to wait—for whatever reason—and I wanted her to come to me when she was ready. Fucking her before she trusted me fully again would feel fantastic in the moment, but the lasting effects would not be pretty. She wasn’t sure yet, and sex wasn’t going to make up her mind.
Sex made things infinitely better, but it didn’t fix anything. We’d still be right where we started even if I was fucking her into the mattress every day.
Christ, I needed to stop thinking about sliding into her while she tilted her hips against me.
“God, my head hurts,” Kate rasped, finally waking up fully. “Too much booze.”
I kissed the side of her neck as she raised her hand to cover her eyes.
“You had quite a bit,” I agreed softly. “How’s your stomach?”
“Oddly enough, I have an iron stomach when your spawn isn’t growing inside me.”
I knew the exact moment that she remembered the events of the night before because her entire body went rigid against me.
“What was the fight about?” she whispered, reaching down to grab my arm as I tried to move away.
“Just stupid shit,” I said, relaxing back into her body. “Abraham’s a mean drunk.”
“Not usually,” she argued, her voice calm. “You know I’m going to hear about it when we go downstairs. Wouldn’t you rather I heard it from you?”
“I’d rather you didn’t hear it at all,” I grumbled, pressing my face into her hair.
“It was about me, huh?”
“Not specifically,” I hedged, not willing to hurt her feelings. “It was about past shit with me and you that he can’t seem to let go.”
“I figured.” She sighed. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Don’t,” I ordered, scooting back so she’d lie flat and I could see her face. “Me and you are good, right? You don’t have to defend me to him.”
She opened her mouth to argue, and I covered it with my palm. She looked so cute as her makeup raccoon eyes widened in surprise.
“You don’t have to talk about our relationship to anyone but me,” I told her, taking my hand away so I could kiss her lips. “It’s no one’s business but ours.”
“Do you think he’ll apologize?” she asked hoarsely, clearing her throat.
“Doesn’t matter one way or the other—only thing that matters is us, right? He’ll come around eventually or he’ll learn to keep his mouth shut.”
She wrapped her arms around my torso and pulled me down on top of her, digging her fingers into the skin of my back.
“I’m sorry your birthday was ruined, baby,” I mumbled into her mouth as I kissed her.
“Are you kidding? I had a great time for the first two hours. I’d call that a success,” she retorted with a huge smile.
“Parents are taking care of the kids this morning,” I whispered suggestively, wiggling my eyebrows at her.
“Oh yeah?”
I rocked my hips down once and ground them into hers before pulling back and dropping one hip to the bed at her side. “You wanna curl back up with me and actually sleep in for once?”
Her mouth dropped open in surprise at my words, and she giggled, shaking the entire bed. “Oh yeah,” she whispered, giving me a sultry smile.
We slept until ten a.m., and it was fucking fantastic.
* * *
I watched Kate and Bram as they talked quietly across the driveway. Everyone was heading out in a few hours to go home, and even though Kate had treated Bram like normal for the rest of the weekend, I’d known that she was going to corner him at some point.
Even though I’d asked her not to.
I wasn’t pissed about it, though. That was her brother—they had a relationship completely separate from mine and Kate’s. If she needed to clear the air between them, I was all for it. I didn’t want her worrying about that shit, and I knew she had been.
Bram reached up and smoothed Kate’s hair down while they talked, and every once in a while one of them would nod as if agreeing with the other. Their little powwow didn’t last long: About fifteen minutes later, Kate was grinning at Bram as he rubbed at the back of his neck uncomfortably. He turned to walk away and said something over his shoulder, making Kate laugh loudly.
Before Bram knew what was happening, Kate was hopping onto his back—almost knocking him to the ground—and giving him what looked like a really painful noogie while laughing hysterically.
Whatever reservations I’d had completely vanished.
I loved her.
Chapter 19
Kate
Hey, Katie?” Aunt Ellie called from the back door. “The school just called. They said you need to come get Keller.”
My head snapped up from where I’d been spraying off the patio furniture. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah, sounds like he got into trouble.”
“Fuck,” I hissed and stomped to the side of the house to turn off the hose.
“You want me to go with you?” my mom called as I jogged up the stairs. I was in cutoff shorts and a pair of Crocs—no way was I leaving the house that way.
“No!” I called back down to her as I reached my room. “I’ll just go pick him up.”
It didn’t take long for me to get to Keller and Sage’s school, and by the time I’
d pulled into the parking lot, I was both furious…and embarrassed. I wasn’t sure what Keller had done yet, but if they’d moved from sending notes home to sending the kid home, I figured it must be pretty bad.
When I reached the office, I found Keller sitting all alone in one of the chairs against the wall, his face covered in dirt and smeared with tears.
“Auntie Kate!” he gasped, jumping up and running toward me. He wrapped his arms around my hips and buried his face against my waist just as a tall woman came out of the principal’s office.
“Hi, I’m Susan McCauley,” she introduced herself, reaching out to shake my hand. “I work as a counselor here at the school.”
“Kate Evans,” I replied, letting go of her hand so I could drape it over Keller’s shoulders. “What happened?”
“Is Keller’s dad going to be here soon?” she asked, rudely ignoring my question as she looked past my shoulder. “I’d really feel more comfortable talking to Keller’s parent.”
I felt like I’d been slapped in the face; I was so shocked by her tone. What the hell?
“Keller’s dad is at work,” I answered flatly.
“Well, it’s very important that he comes in to speak with me. Can you please call him and ask him to come in? It seems we don’t have his phone number in our records.”
“He can probably come in after work,” I hedged, grinding my teeth.
“Office hours end at four, so that’s not really going to work out unless he can get here before then.”
“Are you new?” I asked bluntly, in awe of her audacity.
“I’ve been here for a few months. Why?”
“Word to the wise, most of these kids have parents in the military. Most of the time they can’t just leave in the middle of the workday.”
She grew flustered as I stared at her, then straightened her shoulders. She had to have been younger than I was, but she held herself like someone much older.
“Well, what time would work for him?” she ground out, giving me an insincere smile.
“Probably around five,” I answered, lifting Keller into my arms. “Are we done?”
I signed Keller out quickly, trying to juggle his heavy body and my oversized purse, and within a few minutes we were in the car and headed back toward the house.