Breaking Even (13 page)

“I’m glad you’re here. Can you help me get a TV out of my car? It’s a present for my dad, but it’s a big son of a bitch.”

Rye almost leaps out of his seat. “Fucking love to,” he says gratefully, and Maggie works hard to suppress a grin when he almost sprints outside.

She walks over to the fridge to pull out a drink, and then she goes pale. I turn back toward the women at the table as they vent and slam men. I don’t miss this hell. But when I was married, I only had Maggie to vent to.

“Um... Brin?” Maggie says, her eyes wide as she waves me over.

“I’ll be right back,” I say to the girls who don’t even pause.

When I reach Maggie, she points to the fridge and whispers, “Why are there two things of blood and worms in there?”

“Oh,” I say with a shrug. “The less you know, the better.”

She rolls her eyes, trying to look exasperated, but then she accidentally smiles. “You two need to fuck and get it over with.”

I just laugh. If she had seen the girl he was with at Ash’s house, she wouldn’t be saying that.

The sound of Rye coming back in interrupts the conversation, and Maggie goes to instruct him on where to put the TV. Once he’s put the oversized box away, he walks out of her room, acting like he’s going to escape.

“I’ll see you ladies later.”

I practically fly over to him, and block his path, refusing to let him leave me here alone with this, but he picks me up and moves me behind him. “Rye, stay,” Ash says, a whimper in her voice. “We need a man’s opinion.”

He groans long and loud as he stares longingly at the door. “My
opinion
keeps getting me barked at,” he mutters under his breath, turning his glower on me once more.

But he relents, and sluggishly walks back to the table, casting a look of pure hatred over his shoulder at me once more before sitting down. I smile at his misery and take my seat.

A small rapping on wood doesn’t even disturb the rant going on in my dining room, and Maggie runs out in her short, sexy dress on her way to answer the door. When she opens it, Carmen walks in. Striking blonde hair, long, tan legs, and a perfect body that is encased in a tight red dress are what makes up the exterior of Maggie’s bombshell girlfriend.

Rye’s grin slowly crawls up as he takes her in, and the girls all turn to face the new woman in the room.

“Everyone, this is my girlfriend, Carmen,” Maggie says, practically glowing as Carmen leans in and kisses her.

Rye’s jaw falls unhinged, and I roll my eyes at what a damn guy he is.

“I really should have started coming over sooner,” he says, and I slap him in the chest, earning a grunt and chuckle from him.

Considering he’s a frigging brick wall, I inwardly whimper while rubbing my hand under the table. Damn, that hurt.

Still snickering, he goes to the fridge but pauses when he opens the door. After a beat, he grabs two beers and returns, offering me one. I’m going to have to restock the alcohol after tonight.

“We should get going,” Maggie says, still grinning.

Carmen waves at us, her smile matching Maggie’s, and they walk out hand-in-hand. The girls all stare at the door for a moment until Ash finally says, “I think she has the right idea.”

Rain starts to grin, but covers it quickly with a serious face. “Yeah. Men suck.”

Rye drops his head to his hands while groaning and mumbling something about burying me alive.

***

BRIN

“It’s not like I’m opposed to having another child. Tag is an incredible father, and I love the hell out of him. I just wanted us to plan out our next baby,” Ash says, drinking her
virgin
margarita. “We’ll be fine. Tag should have told me, but he didn’t want me worrying. Trip is still in diapers, and he’s a handful, so Tag didn’t want me to freak out unless I had to.”

I’m positive that she’s the only sober person at this table.

Rye rolls his eyes and rests his head on my shoulder as he tries his best to keep quiet. He’s been saying that for most of the night. But every time he opens his mouth, he’s berated by the drunken women. He’s like the only metal rod in the middle of a lightning storm.

Ash was stressed about the fact she’s been taking her birth control this whole time, worried about the effect it might have on the baby, but Rye assured her that Tag swapped the pills for water pills the second the condom broke. He has a friend in the pharmacy who managed to package them up just like her birth control. Tag really did go all out. And that’s why he’s still wearing condoms—just in case she wasn’t pregnant. I suppose that is rather pointless now.

You’d think the revelation would have been comforting, but she blew up at Rye after he told her—like it was his fault Tag confided in him and didn’t tell her. I found the entire tirade rather entertaining, especially since Rye kept tugging on me like he expected me to defend him.

I didn’t. At all.

In fact, I might have possibly encouraged her to be madder at him.

I’m also fairly certain that Rye has learned more about everyone’s sex life than he ever wanted to know. Well, not my sex life—or lack thereof. I’ve not once mentioned anything about my past drama.

The girls finally seem to be calming down.

“Maybe Kade will eventually open up to me. He’s grieving, and everyone deals with grief differently, right?” Raya asks, earning a growl from Rye.

He said the same thing forty minutes ago, and she unleashed hell on him before she broke into tears. I think he’ll have PTSD after this night.

Tria sighs after finishing the last of her latest glass of margarita. “The guy shouldn’t have touched me. I mean, I sure as hell didn’t want him to, but I was trying to handle it more subtly. Kode can’t lose his temper on every guy with a wandering hand, but he only did it because he loves me. Would I really want him to just stand by while some guy grabbed my ass right in front of him?”

Rye glares at her while keeping his head on my shoulder, but he wisely says nothing. Again, he pointed out this same logic less than an hour ago and she told him he was just like any other man.

Someone bangs on the door, and Rye says, “Finally,” under his breath.

“It’s ope—”

Before I can fully get the words out of my mouth, Tag’s body is filling the doorway, his eyes going soft the second they find his wife. Ash gives him a tight smile as more tears fill her eyes, and she stands as he quickly closes the distance between them.

“Ash,” he says softly, pulling her to him and looking at her in a way I’ve never known, “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to worry you and it be a false alarm. But I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than have another child with you.”

She smiles up at him as he wipes away her tears, and she pulls him down until their lips touch. “No,” she says in a reverent breath. “I’m sorry. I just... freaked out a little. I needed... a minute.”

He nods, his smile growing. “I completely understand. I’ve been on an anxiety rollercoaster, but I love you, and I actually want another baby. I get to be a part of it from start to finish this time. It’s... exciting. Really exciting.”

A soft sigh graces my lips, and Rye raises his head and puts his finger in his mouth, mocking a silent gag. I elbow him, and he snickers quietly as Ash comes over. “I’m going home with my husband. We have a lot to do and discuss.”

I feel like an idiot when I start grinning uncontrollably, but it’s so frigging sweet to see them together. Then the door opens again without a knock as Kode comes in, his eyes going directly to Tria.

Tag and Ash grin, and they escape as Kode goes and drops down in front of Tria’s chair.

“Baby, I wish I could say I’m sorry, but I’m never going to let another man lay a hand on you. You know that. You know me. I love the fuck out of you, and I’ve changed a hell of a lot, but I can’t change that.”

The very same thing that pissed her off is suddenly filling her with pride as her tears glisten. I apparently don’t understand love. If John ever did anything to piss me off, he didn’t apologize. We would eventually just go on like nothing ever happened. There was never a grandstanding apology that melted hearts or resolution of any sort.

“I know. I... I love you. All of you. And I’d probably slap a bitch if she touched you.”

He starts laughing as he stands, and he pulls her with him, wrapping her up in his arms. “Can we go home?” he asks sweetly, kissing the tip of her nose.

This is like watching numerous romance movies all at once. I hope Rye has a blood and gore flick ready again. I’m going to need it to bring me down from my high once this is all over.

Raya watches them leave, and she stares at the door as a tear slips down her cheek. Rain pats her arm comfortingly and leans over to take her hand. “Kade is hard to get through to sometimes, but he loves you.”

“Yes I do,” a male voice says from the door I never heard open.

Kade Colton is staring at his fiancée with a sad, apologetic smile. She starts to say something, but she clears her throat and sits back first. When she feels confident enough, she finally speaks.

“You keep pushing me away. Every time you face any sort of emotional challenge, you push me away. I’m tired of it. When you do this, I’m worried to death I’m going to say or do the wrong thing and lose you. I don’t like walking on eggshells, and I refuse to do it anymore,” she says without any emotion in her voice, even though I can tell she’d love nothing more than to cry.

How does she do that?

He nods slowly while walking until he reaches her. He bends and puts both hands on either side of her chair, boxing her in, and he makes sure her eyes meet his.

“You’re right. And God knows I’m sorry. This... all of this... you’re the only person I’ve ever had this with besides Granddad. And obviously what we have is very different. But you shouldn’t ever be scared of losing me. I’m yours, Raya. All yours. That means you can say or do whatever you want, and I won’t go anywhere, regardless of what’s going on around us. I love you.”

Another tear falls down her cheek and she stands, which forces him to move back and allow her.

“Okay,” she says simply, walking toward the door.

“Okay?” he asks, amused as he follows.

“That’s what I wanted to hear, and you said it. Let’s go home.”

His smile breaks across his face, and he pulls her to him before delivering a kiss that I have to turn away from. Rye’s brown eyes are staring into mine, and he winks as he avoids the scene just like me.

But those eyes are so close, just like his full lips, and my breath gets a little harsh.

“I think you two should get away for a while,” Rain says, reminding me that she’s still here.

I break away from the eye contact that has left me almost dizzy, and look back at the couple that is separating.

“She’s right,” Kade says, grinning as he presses another sweet kiss to Raya’s lips. “Let’s go to Vegas.”

Raya laughs as she laces her fingers with his. “When?”

“Right now. We won’t even pack. We’ll buy clothes when we get there.”

Her eyes grow wide, and I turn green with envy. All of these beautiful women found the best men the world has to offer. I’ve never been treated even half as well. And it’s actually a little depressing.

“Okay,” she says for a new reason, her grin growing.

Kade’s smile is almost heart-stopping, and he pulls her from the house before she can even say goodbye.

“Wow,” Rain says, acting exhausted as the door shuts. “What a night.”

Rye looks at her curiously, as do I. This is the longest she’s gone without saying men suck. I start to ask her what’s going on, when the door opens once again.

“Knock Knock,” Dane Sterling says as he comes in, holding the hand of their smiling daughter—Carrie Sterling. It’s official now; Carrie has been adopted, and she has a home that most children only dream about.

Rain smiles up at him and stands to grab her purse quickly.

“You ready?” Dane asks as he comes to wrap his arm around her shoulders, kissing her softly as a greeting.

“Yeah. Just let me tell Brin bye.”

He eyes Rye for a moment, and then the little girl tugs on his arm and all of his attention goes to her as his smile warms. He bends down to tie the shoe that has come undone, while Rain comes to whisper to us.

“Sorry. All the girls were bitching, so I thought it would be terrible to say that Dane never does anything wrong. Thanks for having us over.”

Mine and Rye’s words refuse to form as she waves and walks away, going to Dane’s side as she takes over holding the little girl’s hand.

As soon as the door shuts, Rye leans back in his seat and takes a long drink of his beer.

“Was it just me, or was this the weirdest night ever?” I groan.

Rye pulls the beer away from his lips just barely in order to answer. “You have containers of blood and worms in your fridge, I tried putting a live snake in your panty drawer, and I’d say we’re the most normal people that were in here tonight. What does that tell you?”

I laugh lightly as he stands, and he pulls at my hand, forcing me to stand as well.

“How did they even know the girls were here?”

He smiles proudly as he stretches. “I sent them all a text. I sent one to Kade first, knowing it would take him the longest to get here. Then I waited until the girls started making sense to text the others. And voila. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Thank you,” I say quickly.

“Let’s watch TV and order a pizza. I wanted to go to Silk tonight, but fuck that. I’m exhausted.”

He wanted to go to Silk with me?

My dorky grin would probably give me away, so I mask it with a respectable one instead, discreetly clearing my throat. His arm drops around my shoulders as we head to the couch to watch whatever movie he brought over with the snake.

That snake better not still be in my room.

Chapter 7

RYE

A soft, warm body is on top of me, and I wake up as my hands slide down Brin’s back. She’s sleeping peacefully with her head tucked into the crook of my neck, and the light pours through the window as she stirs just barely.

How long have we been asleep? Is it really morning? And why the hell do I just want to stay under her and go back to sleep?