I choose the latter.
When the screen goes black, I look at the time and quietly manage to get the blanket over her until she’s tucked in. She lets out a content sigh, shifts, buries her face into my favorite pillow where she’s already left a drool mark, and slips into a deeper sleep.
I suppose I get it. My bed is comfortable as hell, probably one of the more expensive pieces of furniture I invested in. And even though it’s a king size with plenty of room, I know crawling into the other side and turning off the lights is out of the question.
Rylee is turned on by me, there’s no doubt about it. She’ll act like she isn’t, but I see the signs. The way her legs shake, her teeth bite into her bottom lip, and her face flushes. There’s a glaze in her eyes when she steals glances at me that matches my own, but we leave things untouched and unspoken because it’s easier.
I don’t want to be her friend.
I want to be more.
I married her for Christ’s sake.
But I don’t dwell on it as I walk out, adjust my hard cock, and close the door behind me to head downstairs for a drink. Chase is sitting in the dark, working on his laptop again with the TV on as background noise.
I say, “We watched The Wizard of Oz.”
His attention turns to me. “I take it she told you then?”
I wink. “Like I said. I expect the money in my hand tomorrow morning. It’ll be travel money for Ry.”
“Ry, huh?” he muses.
“Shut it,” I mutter. He snickers, I smack his arm, and drop down beside him. “You’ve been working a lot lately. I take it business is good despite the partners dropping?”
He moves over to put more space between us like I’m somehow crowding him, tugging at the collar of his t-shirt. “It’s been steady.”
That’s all I get. Steady.
“And the house?”
“Officially mine.”
“Congrats, mate.”
He murmurs, “Thanks.”
The mood dampens, and I study the profile of his stoic face as he clicks the keys on his laptop and stares at the screen.
We watch the TV in silence for a while. Whatever he’s doing on his laptop has ceased, his attention glued to the show playing that I don’t recognize.
It’s a moment or two before I say, “She’s a good girl, Chase. Go easy on her for me.”
His head turns a fraction. “You like her, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Mom said she may be good for you.”
I smile. “She will be.”
“So you’re going with her to New York?”
“Yes, I am.”
He hums.
We go silent again.
The show plays.
A cleaning commercial runs.
I sip my water.
Then his own murmured admission renders me speechless. “I got a girl pregnant.”
20
Garrick
I’m going to murder them.
It’s the first thought that crosses my mind when I open the door and see three mischievous, painted faces grinning like the assholes they are in their decked-out costumes.
“I told you no,” I all but growl as Jax shoulders pass me with Calder and Manning following suit.
The only one who doesn’t look excited to be here in an expensive getup is Zayne. He gives me the look we usually share when Jax and Calder make stupid choices before I gesture for him to come in and close the door behind him.
Jax turns around. “Technically, you said no to the annual Halloween bash at the Lazy Croc. Which, by the way, is total bullshit. That’s our tradition. Now that you’re married, it’s like you’re pussy wh—”
“Enough,” I cut him off.
He raises his hands up. “I’m just saying. It’s nothing the rest of us haven’t thought. Except Zayne maybe, but we know why he hasn’t weighed in on the whole marriage thing.”
“Jesus Christ,” Zayne grumbles under his breath, walking over to the fridge in an outfit that doesn’t look too far off from his usual. “You got any beer here?”
He knows I don’t. “You’ll have to settle for whatever is in there.”
“Actually,” the asshole to my left clearly heading this whole thing butts in. “We’ll have that covered momentarily. There are refreshments waiting outside, along with a few surprises.”
I scrub a hand down my face. “You did not do what I think you did.”
It’s Manning who said, “He did.”
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath in and hold it for a few seconds before exhaling. When I open them again, Zayne is standing in front of me with a handful of wild cherry Lifesavers in his hand. I grab one and pop it into my mouth, uncertain of what will happen if I speak right now.
“I tried telling them it was a bad idea,” Zayne tells me under his breath.
Cal hears him anyway. “Bad ideas usually end up being the best nights though. We haven’t gotten together since Garrick moved his new bride in. Don’t you think it’s time for us to meet her? What better way than a Halloween party?”
“What are we high schoolers?” I counter, glaring at Calder and shaking my head. “Like you pointed out, this isn’t only my house anymore. I need to run things by Rylee and Chase first, and I know for a fact Rylee won’t want to have a hundred people here.”
For that matter, neither do I. Didn’t they see the handful of people still waiting outside the gate? I all but lost it when some douchebag in tighter skinny jeans than what Jax wears asked me which window Rylee’s bedroom was when I returned home from running errands. If the security guard wasn’t out there ready to handle it, I would have thrown punches.
Jax smacks Cal’s chest with the back of his hand and mumbles, “Pussy whipped.”
I’m about to lose it when Zayne grabs my shoulder and says, “I’ll handle this.” I don’t know what handling it looks like, but I don’t wait to find out because I don’t want to look at my bandmates right now.
Walking upstairs, a small head with loose blonde hair peers around the corner. I
