All the Broken Pieces: (Broken Series Book 3) (30 page)

Lauren

I don’t do parents. Ever.

Hell, I never did the same guy twice before Brant.

No strings.

No handholding.

No catching feelings.

No chance of getting hurt.

It was a system that had worked flawlessly for my entire adult life.

Now I was in love with my best friend.

As if that weren’t enough, I’d actually
told
him I was in love with him.

And I’d agreed to spend Thanksgiving with his parents.

Holy. Shitballs.

My eye started to twitch involuntarily.

How was it possible to be so proud of how far I’d come and also kinda feel like running the fuck away?

The urge to run wasn’t a new thing for me. When I was a kid, I ran away from at least half a dozen foster homes. Things would get bad or the foster parents would do something to trigger my panic attacks and off I went. Unfortunately, I usually got caught and dragged back. After a while, instead of running I would call my case worker, Rhonda, and tell her it was time to get me the fuck out or I was out of there on my own. It saved time and she always came through with a new place, though not necessarily a better one. She tried, I had to give her that. Especially given that I was a ‘runner’.

From the way my palms were sweating and my heart kept racing, I was guessing I still was. I roughly rubbed the corner of my eye, trying to make the twitching stop.

Running was easier.

Staying and fighting was hard.

Until now, I’d never had much to fight for.

This time was different.

This time I had Brant.

And I had friends, much to my disbelief.

And I had the diner.

I couldn’t walk away from any of that, much less run.

I narrowed my eyes at the clothes I was carelessly throwing into my suitcase, digging in my heels and yanking them all out for a careful refolding.

I couldn’t show up to meet Brant’s parents for the first time with a suitcase full of wrinkled, wadded clothes.

There would be no running this time.

I was in this to stay.

•••

Brant and I were giving the house one last once-over, making sure everything was in its proper place and that the entire place was spotless. The cleaning crew came in every week to take care of the things—usually while we hid out in the game room—but that was beside the point. Kade had been kind enough to take us in and I refused to leave his house in disarray.

My phone began vibrating in my pocket as Brant and I were locking up and I pulled it out with a smile.

Video call from Kade Edenfield.

I motioned Brant over and accepted the call, waving happily as the faces of Kade, Kane, and Lennox filled the small screen.

“I was just thinking of texting you. You must be clairvoyant.” I laughed as the guys fought for position in front of the camera.

Kade elbowed Lennox in the ribs and he disappeared from view, cursing loudly. “You were? What for?”

“To thank you again for letting us stay here. I really hate to leave, to be honest. This place is almost as amazing as you are.”

He grinned. “Careful. Brant’s nostrils are flaring. I don’t think you should compliment me in front of him anymore.” He winked saucily. “But feel free to text me your endless expressions of adoration.”

“Keep playing, fucker. I’ll burn your porn collection,” Brant growled.

“Boys, boys. Quit fighting over the lady,” Kane interjected, moving in front of his brother and filling the screen with a flirty smile. “We all know she likes me best. Tell them, sweetheart.”

I could feel Brant stiffen beside me, and not in the fun way. I looked at the three gorgeous rock stars on the screen—Lennox had recovered and was partially in the shot again—and shrugged. “Sorry, fellas. My heart belongs to Brant.”

Kane wiggled his brows. “What about the rest of you?”

I laughed, taking Brant’s hand in my free one and giving it a squeeze. “All his.” All three of them feigned disappointment but I could tell they were hiding smiles. “But you guys sure know how to make a girl feel special, so thank you for the ego boost.”

I knew they didn’t mean it and were just messing with Brant, and I was pretty sure Brant knew it too. But any guy would bristle at having three members of the hottest rock band in the world hitting on his girl.

His girl.

That was me.

“So,” I prompted. “Were you just calling to check in or…?”

Kade nodded. “Yeah. Brant told me you were leaving today and I wanted to remind you about us all partying together this summer. I mean it. You two bring your asses back when we’re in town so we can hang out. Bring Clay and Spencer. And their families. I want to meet the women brave enough to take those two on.”

Brant laughed beside me, nodding. “Oh, they have their hands full, but Ali and Talia don’t take any shit off those guys either. It’s hilarious to witness. You’ll see.”

“Damn right, I will. Looking forward to it.” Kade returned his attention to me and pushed away from Kane and Lennox, not caring that they were bitching about being left out. “Guess I’ll be seeing you next summer, if not before. You take care of yourself, pretty lady. Both of you know you can call if you need me. For anything. At any time.”

“Thanks, Kade. For everything.” I was tearing up. Dammit. So embarrassing.

Brant pulled me to his side and kissed the top of my head as he thanked his friend.

Kade watched us with a thoughtful smile. “You guys look good together.”

“She’d look even better with me!” Lennox shouted from somewhere behind Kade.

He turned and flashed that famous intimidating stare, his voice dropping an octave or two in irritation. “Would you shut the fuck up, Lennox? You and my dumbass brother are getting on my nerves.” He turned back to the camera. “Brant, dude, please hurry up and get that other bus done before I strap all these motherfuckers to the hood of this one like a bunch of dead deer.”

“I will,” Brant laughed as Kade dodged a piece of flying projectile launched by one of the other guys. “Just be patient.”

He leveled a stoic look into the camera. “Bro, I seriously feel a felony coming on.”

“Not to change the subject, but that would make a great song title,” I chuckled.

Those steely gray eyes flashed to me and he blinked. “Holy shit. You’re right.” He considered a moment. “I can practically hear the chord progressions in my head.” His eyes took on a far off look for a minute before he smiled. “Yep. You got my mind rolling now. I’ve gotta go but don’t hesitate to call if you need me, and I’ll see you both soon.”

We’d barely muttered our goodbyes before he was gone.

I guess when the muse starts knocking, you answer the door. Fast.

Brant turned to me and kissed me quickly on the lips, pulling back to watch me with a smile. “I bet that one goes platinum someday and they’ll have you to thank.” He kissed me again, deeper this time, before returning his eyes to mine. “I saw what you left on his bed, by the way.”

I had to smile. “I thought he needed a personal touch in there.”

He chuckled. “A big, intimidating rock star with a stuffed bear on his bed? I hate that I won’t be here to see the expression on his face.”

I thumped his arm playfully. “This place needed something personal. Besides, he’s going to love it. It’s a guard bear, remember? He’ll keep the crazy stalker fans off Kade’s silk sheets while he’s out of town.”

“The locks already do a good job of that, gorgeous, but I’m sure he’ll love the extra security detail. It’s always good to have a man on the inside.” He pressed his erection into my belly, his eyes hooded with desire. “Speaking of inside…” Just like that, his mouth was on mine, hot and demanding. His hands held my waist, pulling me tight against his body. By the time he finished, I was mewling like a cat.

Damn it, I really wanted to ruin the nice clean sheets we’d put on the bed this morning but we had to leave soon if we were going to make it to his parent’s place on time.

“So, did you mean what you told them a minute ago? You’re all mine?” He smirked, thumbs caressing the skin just above my waist.

“Looks that way. You okay with that?”

He dropped his forehead to mine, kissing the tip of my nose. “I’m so much more than okay.” He pulled back and searched my eyes. “I’m so in love with you, I can barely see straight.”

I reached up and cupped his face with my hands, thrilling at the dark stubble along his jaw. I loved the way it looked and it felt even better on my thighs, my belly, my breasts. Shit, I was getting entirely too turned on. “You better figure out how to see straight, Weirdo. You’re about to drive us three hours to your parent’s house.”

“Maybe we can stop off if we find a nice remote spot with a good view?” His expression was an even mix of hope and desire.

“Absolutely. I’ve been dying to see how that cobra imprint would look on
your
back.”

He dropped his head to his chest and breathed in deeply. “Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love you any more…”

•••

We didn’t even make it out of the driveway before he declared the view to be gorgeous and made his move.

The cobra looked spectacular on his back.

And even better on my chest after he bent me over the console and took me from behind.

God, I loved his truck.

•••

“So, do your parents still live in the same house where you grew up?” I was getting nervous, shifting in my seat and checking the mirror every five minutes to make sure my crazy wasn’t showing through.

“Yep. They refuse to move. I’ve offered to build them whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted, but they just brushed it off.” He smiled. “They’ve been in that house for thirty five years and I don’t think you could blast them out of there with dynamite. They’re dug in like two stubborn-ass ticks.”

“Don’t pretend to be annoyed. I see you grinning. You like that house just as much as they do, don’t you?”

“Maybe,” he smirked.

We pulled onto a narrow residential street lined with brick ranch-style houses. Most had Christmas decorations out already, inflatables lying flat on the ground just waiting for sundown to be turned on. Strings of unlit lights encompassed fences, trees, rooftops, and flowerbeds. I found myself searching for them as we slowly rolled down the street, anything to distract me from the butterflies in my stomach.

Brant slowed to a crawl and turned onto a wide concrete driveway. There were two vehicles parked there, a small truck and an SUV. The yard was immaculate and the flower beds were well-kept. It wasn’t the same caliber as Teach’s garden but it was beautiful. There were icicle lights hanging from the roof and it appeared that the entire house was outlined with thin white string lights. Bright red bows hung in each window and there was a gorgeous red and silver wreath on the front door.

The door swung open as soon as Brant had the truck in park. Brant’s mom burst through it and tore down the steps like a racehorse coming out of the gate.

Ready or not… here we go.

His feet were barely on the ground before she practically leapt into his arms, talking a mile a minute into his neck as he squeezed her thin frame. His voice was strained like she was squishing the air out of him.

It made me smile.

I refused to acknowledge the little twinge of jealousy that gnawed at my gut watching them.

Seriously, she was not letting go.

Just then, she looked over his shoulder and spotted me, her chatter ceasing and her mouth curling into a wide smile. “Hi, sweetie! Come on out of that truck. You’re next.” She announced happily, letting go long enough to motion me toward my door.

I couldn’t help my smile as I exited the truck and made my way around the front toward them.

Brant’s mom was tiny, with long medium brown hair that fell in loose waves down her back and the same royal blue eyes as her son. They twinkled when she was happy too, just like his did. And boy, were they glittering now.

She reluctantly let go of her son when he reached a hand out and pulled me to his side. “Mom, this is Lauren Caldwell. Lauren, this is my mom, Jennie.”

I held out a hand. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

She brushed right past my extended hand and pulled me into a tight, bear hug. “I’m so glad you’re here, honey. It’s such a pleasure to meet you.” She smelled like vanilla and warm toasted coconut. I was fighting tears when I realized why. She’d been baking my cake. Shit, the blinking wasn’t working. Tears welled in my eyes and I held onto her a little tighter, partially to buy myself time to stop crying and partially because her hugs were just that good.

I had to stop crying like this.

What would all my haters back in Denson think?

Hard to uphold your reputation as a raging bitch when every little thing made you cry.

Brant smiled at me over her shoulder, holding our bags in his hands. “She’s a hugger, in case you hadn’t noticed. Probably should have warned you.”

Jennie let go, leaning back to smooth my hair before scowling at Brant. “You shush. Everybody appreciates a good hug now and then.” She took my hand and tugged me toward the house, leaving her son to bring in the luggage as she dropped her voice, speaking only to me. “He loves my hugs. Used to hang on me like a little monkey when he was a boy. Don’t let him fool you.”

“Whatever she’s whispering about up there, don’t believe her. I was holding that stuff for a friend,” Brant called as we reached the porch.

“I was just offering to show her those adorable potty-training pictures I keep in the scrapbook.” She called to him, winking at me as she held the door. I stepped inside and turned to wait for Brant, who was grousing as he trudged up the steps.

“Maybe we should stay at a hotel,” he pondered, cutting his eyes at her.

She held the door for him, mock-glaring. “Brant Matthews, shut up and get in the house before I cram my good slipper in your ass.”