Secrets in Battle: Secrets of Savannah Series Book 3 (12 page)

Chapter
21

I pat Beau on the head. “You be a good boy for Princess. Keep her safe.
” He nuzzles against my hand. “It’s okay, boy. I’ll be fine.” He whines. “I’ll be back, I promise.”

Princess walks out Ryder’s back door. “Hey
, sweet boy.”

I smile. “Hey, sweet girl.”

She shakes her head. “I was talking to Beau.”  She runs her hand around his head, rubbing his ears. “’Cause he’s the only sweet boy I know.”

I throw my hand over my heart as if I’m offended. “Well
, thanks.”

She gives me her wicked smile. That smile I dream about. “Just call them like I see them.”

Beau nuzzles his head into her hand. “So what does Nana
really
have up her sleeve for you girls tomorrow night?”

She shakes her head grinning. “Nope. Not telling. She made me swear to secrecy.”

I laugh. “Something tells me y’all are in for an exciting night.”

She giggles. “If you only knew.”

“Okay, well his food is in the bottom of the pantry.”

“Any rules for him?”

I’m confused. “What kind of rules? Bedtime is eight o’clock or something?”

“No. Like is he allowed on the furniture? Where does he sleep? Those kind of things.”

I lean back against the porch railing. “Oh. Yeah, he’s allowed on the futon and sometimes he does sleep with me. If you get nervous while you’re staying there, he’ll probably crawl up in bed with you.”

She looks at me sweetly. “So he’s really been good for you
, huh?”

I nod thoughtfully. “Yeah. He really has. He has this sense about him. You know?”

She kneels down in front of Beau and hugs him. “I’ve always heard animals have much keener senses than humans. I’m so glad you’re taking such good care of him, Beau. How about let’s go get a treat?” Beau lets out a bark. She smiles. “Oh you like that word, huh? Treat.”

She stands and Beau stands up wagging his tail. I shake my head smiling. “Looks like you’ve got this under control.” I kiss her cheek and pat Beau
’s head. “See you guys Saturday?”

She nods. “Well, my brother Chris is picking me up around 11
, we have a family lunch. I’ll see you after that, though.”

This surprises me. “
You sure you’re okay with going over there?”

She looks down
, shaking her head. “No, but I need to.”

I lift her chin with my finger, making her look me in the eyes. “You listen to me. If your dad so much as lays a finger on you
, I’ll-.”

She stops me
by putting her hand up. “I’m not going to let him hurt me, Judd. It’s just lunch. Plus, all of my brothers will be there.”

“Yeah. That did so much to help you last time. I’m telling you right now
, Princess. If your dad hurts you, I’ll hurt him.”

“Judd
, just leave it, okay? I’ll be fine.”

I hold her shoulders. “I can’t. I won’t let someone hurt you.”

She touches the side of my face. “Thank you. Really, this is something I need to do.”

“I’m going to let it go for now. Just please be careful Saturday and I’ll see you when you get back. You can leave Beau outside while you’re gone.”

She smiles. “I think Beau and I will be just fine.”

I shake my head. “Alright. Well, I’m gonna go get my bags loaded in the
truck for us to leave.” I really wanna kiss her, but I think I still need some more time. If I kiss her right now, I’ll take her back to my apartment and we won’t leave until we are forced to.

A few hours later
, Ryder, dad and I are getting close to Atlanta. I look over at dad as I drive. “So Dad, is Mom going out with the girls tomorrow night?”

He laughs. “Oh yeah, Nana didn’t let her get away with not going.”

Ryder shakes his head in defeat. “I can only imagine what my grandmother has set up for them.”

Dad and I laugh. I look back at Ryder. “We probably don’t want to know. I tried to get something out of Princess earlier, but she said Nana swore her to secrecy.”

Ryder laughs. “That sounds about right. Scarlet knows nothing. They are keeping it all a surprise from her.”

My dad laughs. “Probably a good thing.
She might chicken out on them.”

We all laugh but as we get closer to down town Atlanta
, the traffic gets thick. I try breathing.

I don’t like getting boxed in. Getting boxed in can result in being ambushed or stopped
. I can’t do it.

I feel my body start to shake from the loss of control over the situation
. Breathe, Judd. Damn it, just breathe. This is not a hostile area, you can drive like a normal person. Calm down, deep breath, count like Luca said. You’ve been coming to this city for as long as you can remember. Stop freaking out.

Ryder speaks up. “Judd
, you okay?”

I shake my head
and get off on the closest exit. “I need you to drive, Ryder. The traffic is too much for me.”

He nods. “Okay
, man. No big deal.”

We get back in the truck with me in the back seat. Ryder looks back at me. “Just take your breaths
, man.”

Dad looks back at me. “Let’s talk about something to keep us occupied for a few minutes.”

I nod. “Yes. Please.” I say as I’m working on my breathing.

Dad looks at Ryder. “So
, do you think you and Scarlet will start a family soon?”

Ryder shrugs. “Not on purpose. I mean if it happens
, it happens. She’s on birth control, so we aren’t planning anything for right now. She’d like to get finished with school.”

Dad nods. “Sounds smart.” He glances back at me. “So how are things going for you and Annabelle?”

I nod, still working on my breathing and trying not to notice all the traffic. “We slowed things down a little. I’m working on my issues with Luca, and Beau is helping me a lot.”

“He seems like a good dog. I had a blood hound when I was a kid. He lived until I’d just married your momma. She loved that dog
, I think she likes having Beau around.”

Finally catching my breath a little and being more successful at blocking out the traffic
, I motion to dad. “So how’s all the stuff going with your new diet?”

He flops his head back on the seat. “No sweet tea is for the damn birds and I tell you
, none of that artificial sweetener shit is worth a damn.”

“Don’t use that shit
, Nelson, they say it gives you cancer and
most importantly
leads to impotency or something like that.” Ryder practically screams.

Dad and I both die laughing at Ryder’s worries. I pat his shoulder. “Ryder
, I think it’s safe from giving you limp dick. I’m pretty sure the men on this planet would have rioted by now if it did. It’s not salt peter, for God’s sakes.”

My dad and I continue to laugh while Ryder grumbles.

My big fear is I just hope I do okay at the game tomorrow. I know there’ll be a big crowd. A crowd I can’t control. I need to do this for myself as much as Ryder.

Chapter 22

“Oh my God! That was awesome, Nana. Thank you.” Scarlet screams as she practically falls into the stretch Hummer Nana rented for us.

I shake my head and laugh. “I know
, I can’t believe Lady Chablis got us up on stage to do a shot of pussy juice with her.” Pussy juice is her very own brand of shot.

Nana waves us off. “Honey, I remember when that show first got started here. It hasn’t changed a bit
and still funny as hell for a drag show. She’s a hell of a comedian.”

I look around the
Hummer. We are a mixture of old ladies and people our age. We are a motley crew, that’s for sure.

Scarlet jumps up and down in her seat like a kid. “Where are we going now?”

I laugh because this is the girl who was so depressed when Ryder left yesterday that she wanted to call tonight off.

Nana looks at her seriously. “We’re going home.”

Scarlet frowns a little. “Okay.”

She doesn’t know about the party at home. We made sure to tell everyone to park out by the barn so she won’t see the cars.

Once we are back at the farm and walk in, Scarlet screams. “Oh my God!”

There is red chiffon h
anging down the walls. A variety of the toys from the red room in the books is around the room. I can’t believe Nana found a planner to put this on.

Wendy is set up over in the corner with her products. When the waiters walk out
, I think Scar is going to flip. They are shirtless and shoeless with faded ripped jeans on.

She grabs my arm. “Holy balls. They are hot.
Not as hot as my man, but they are hot.”

Nana walks over
and hands her a card. “Here, this is from your momma. She wanted to be here but she couldn’t get here two weekends in a row.”

Scarlet opens it and it’s a gift certificate for two hundred dollars to the Pleasure Palace.

“Nana, did you and Annabelle set all of this up?” Scarlet asks.

We both nod. She smiles. “Y’all are crazy. Thank you so much
for this whole night. It’s been just crazy wonderful.”

Nana hugs her. “I’m happy you’re happy
, baby. Now, go take that gift certificate and buy some goodies to surprise that boy with.”

Scarlet turns red. “Nana
, God. You could act a little bit shy about it.”

N
ana looks over rolling her eyes. “Child, when have you ever known me to shy?”

We all laugh.
I grab us a couple of glasses of wine. “Scarlet, let’s go shopping.”

She laughs. “Hell
, I’m kinda afraid Ryder will want to start using this stuff. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but he’s been locking himself up in the bathroom reading. I found a copy of the Grey books in there the other day.”

I grin. “Damn
, lucky girl. Maybe he’s studying.”

With that we make our way over to Wendy’s table.

The rest of the night has gone by in a blur with old ladies looking at vibrators, hand cuffs and other items that would make their church choirs blush with shame.

Finally
, I make my way over to Judd’s apartment with Beau following me inside. “Come on, boy. Let’s go to bed.”

He whines and hops up on the bed with me. He snuggles into my side
and I rub his ears. “Beau, you better not tell Judd I let you sleep with me every night.”

He huffs and my eyes get too heavy to hold open.

~*~*~

Waking up with a slight hang over isn’t too bad, considering the amount of alcohol I consumed last night.
I stand in Judd’s shower thinking about his hands on me. I run my hands over my body, imagining they are his.

I stop myself, shaking my head. I can’t get lost in thought
, I have to go help clean up in the main house before the guys get home, as well as get myself ready to deal with my family.

As I walk out of the bathroom with
nothing but a towel wrapped around my hair, the door swings open. I scream and Beau barks. Judd steps in. “Sorry to startle y’all. We got back early.”

My heart is still racing in my chest. “Fuck
. You scared the shit out of me, Judd.”

He laughs. “It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.”

“I know that. I had the door locked, I wasn’t expecting someone to come barging in here.”

He shakes his head. “Sorry.”

I grab my clothes, sliding them on. “Shit, I gotta go help clean up in the main house.”

“Why?” He looks at me confused.

I sigh. “From the party last night.” I snatch the towel off my head and run my fingers through my hair.

He laughs. “Oh
, I’m coming over to see this.”

He follows me out the door and across the yard.

As soon as we go in the back door I can hear Ryder freaking out. I stop Judd so we can listen from the kitchen. We both laugh, listening.

“What in the hell happened here last night? Why is every food shaped like a dick? Hand cuffs. A dildo. Nana
, what the hell?”

I peek around the corner.
She looks at him. “We were coming to clean this mess up, you just got home early. Now you leave Scarlet out of this, she had nothing to do with it. She’s up there sleeping the night off right now. Plus, she got some neat gifts for you and her to try out.”

“Holy shit
, Nana! Don’t say things like that to me.”

Judd and I make our way into the living room. Judd is laughing so hard he can’t talk when he sees the left over mess from the party.

I smile at Ryder and he looks back at me. “I can’t believe my grandmother threw a sex toy party in my house.”