This Is Why (A Brookside Romance Book 3) Read online

  Gabe gives us a funny look and then busies himself setting the table while Tyler brings out so many casserole dishes and pieces of Tupperware that I can’t imagine how we’re going to get through it all.

  “I have to be honest,” Ty says as he finishes emptying the basket and then closes the lid. “I have never cooked like this before.” He pulls his lips down into an oversized frown. “But, I enlisted the help of Annabelle Carmichael and did as much research as I possibly could so I feel comfortable-ish that we won’t all die of food poisoning or something.”

  “Not dying of food poisoning sounds like a good thing.” I inhale through my nose. “It smells delicious, but I don’t know how you think we’re going to eat all this food tonight.”

  “We won’t.” Ty grins. “This is dinner for tonight.” He pulls the lid off a large casserole dish, revealing a lasagna that looks so good my mouth starts watering as soon as I see it. He then proceeds to open a container of what looks like homemade garlic bread and another that holds salad. “The bread is made from scratch and the veggies were picked from David’s garden this morning,” Ty says, as proud as a new father.

  “What’s all this, then?” I gesture to the remaining containers, peering into the opaque plastic as if I could see inside.

  “These are meals that will get you through the rest of the week. That way you don’t have to worry about cooking when you come home or having to eat from that nasty cafeteria. You can even freeze them if you want. They’ll last for a while and you can thaw them when you’re ready.”

  I pride myself on being strong, but this simple gesture is almost enough to undo me. I know how important good nutrition is, but there are nights when the thought of cooking a complete meal after work is just too much. Ty didn’t just bring me a gift, he brought me peace of mind, the gift of time, the possibility of an easy evening with Gabe while we enjoy a home-cooked meal that I didn’t have to find time to cook myself.

  “Thank you,” I say, fully aware that I should say more.

  “It’s the least I can do.” Ty reaches across the counter to take my hand. “I want to know that you two are taken care of. Providing a few meals is the very least I can do.”

  Dinner passes quickly and is beyond delicious. Gabe demolishes his plate and asks for seconds and even goes so far as to eat his salad without too much complaint. Conversation flows easily and we laugh so hard we cry on more than one occasion. Tyler and Gabe get along well. I thought watching them interact would hurt, but it doesn’t. My heart swells with love and joy and completion. What Gabe and I have been doing works. We get by and we’re all going to be okay, but this, the three of us together, this is the way it should be.

  When we finish eating, Ty stands to help me clear the table as Gabe throws his napkin onto his plate and then heads for his room. “Hey, mister man,” Ty says, catching his attention.

  “Yeah?”

  Ty gestures towards Gabe’s place. “Why don’t you grab your dirty dishes and bring them over to the sink. You’re strong enough to do that now, aren’t you?”

  Gabe nods decisively. “Definitely.” He gathers his plate in two hands and brings it to the kitchen, taking two more trips to get his glass and his silverware in turn.

  Ty makes a move like he thinks he’s going to do the dishes and I step right up next to him, using my body to push him out of the way. The instant my arm brushes his, my entire body reacts. My nipples go taut, pushing against the confines of my bra, my pussy aches with desire, and my stomach lurches crazily. If that’s what happens when we simply brush past each other, how will I ever survive if he kisses me again?

  “I’ve got this,” I say, looking up at him.

  Ty looks unsure. “I don’t want to leave you with all these dishes.”

  “You cooked, I’ll clean. It’s easy. You go keep Gabe company.” I know how much he’s been wanting to spend some time with his son. This will give them a nice chunk of one on one time before Gabe has to go to bed.

  “Thank you.” Tyler’s voice is thick and my own throat tightens.

  I nod once and turn on the faucet as Ty follows Gabe out of the kitchen. I thought I’d be terrified to let Gabe get to know his father but I’m not. The way they interact is so natural, so easy. Maybe Ty was right and all of this is part of some plan that’s too big for me to make sense of.

  TY

  Gabe grabs my hand. “Come on,” he says. “Let me show you my room.” He leads me down a short hallway, chattering away the whole time. “Mom painted my wall red. It’s my favorite color.” He pulls me inside a small room with a twin bed tucked into a corner, the Transformers sheets and blankets a rumpled mess. His toys are organized in bins and stuffed into cubbies. Posters line the walls and there’s a row of rocks placed in a neat line on the windowsill.

  “What are these?” I ask.

  “Those are my treasures.” Gabe stands next to me, admiring the rocks. “I find them when we’re out. See? They look like ordinary rocks, but when you look close, you can see they all have some crystals inside.” He hands one to me and I study it before giving it back. I stand in the middle of the room and take it all in, memorizing every last detail. Every poster, every toy, the tidy bins and unmade bed, they all tell a story as to who my son is.

  “Can you play that?” I ask, pointing to a full-sized electric keyboard on a stand near the wall.

  Gabe beams. “Yep. Mom’s friend Liam teaches me. He gave this to me for my birthday. Claire got one, too.” He turns the thing on and plays a wobbly version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. He sticks his tongue out and bites down on it as he concentrates on his hands and then flips the thing off when he’s done.

  “Not bad at all.” I say. “How long have you been playing?”

  “I don’t know. Forever, I think. Mom wants me to keep practicing, but Claire’s much better than me. I’m getting better though.”

  “Do you like it? Playing the piano?”

  Gabe shrugs. “It’s not bad. I mostly do it because it makes Mom smile.”

  “That’s not a bad reason.” My gaze falls on a table strewn with Legos. In an otherwise tidy room, the haphazard mess seems out of place. “What’s this?” I pull out a Gabe-sized chair at the Gabe-sized table and sit.

  “Oh that?” Gabe makes a face. “That’s supposed to be a house, but I can’t ever get it right.”

  “Maybe I can help. Take a seat, my friend, and show me what you’re trying to do.”

  Gabe sits, obviously frustrated, and explains how he wants the house to look and why it keeps ending up wrong. “I kept trying to get it right but it’s always wrong when I’m done. I’m really bad at Legos.”

  “Maybe you’re bad at it and maybe you’re not. Maybe you just need a little more knowledge to make your idea work. But there’s one thing I know for sure, if you give up because it’s hard, you’re never going to get anywhere.” I grab a handful of Legos and fit them together.

  “I didn’t give up. I kept trying. It just kept not working.” Gabe picks a building block out of the pile and hands it to me.

  “I like to hear that. It’s a big deal, being able to stick through something even when it’s hard.” I hand him some blocks and give him some information on how to build a solid base. “You know what one of the most important things in the world is? One of man’s most powerful tools?”

  “What?”

  “Knowledge. Knowledge is power, my little friend. When you don’t know how to do something, ask someone who does. And if you can’t find someone who does, then search out what you need because surely, somewhere along the way, someone has written it down.”

  Gabe nods and fits a few more blocks together. “Do you know how to build a house like I want?”

  “I think so. Why don’t we work on it for a while and you tell me if it’s turning out the way you imagined it.”

  We talk as we work and I ask as many questions as he’ll answer, just so I can get to know him better. He loves sports, football especially, but soccer and b
asketball are pretty high up there, too.

  “Do you ever go out and play in the backyard?” I ask.

  “I do sometimes, but it gets really boring by myself. Mom comes out to play with me, but she’s really bad at sports.” He shrugs. “There’s a kid at daycare who plays with me, though. His dad teaches him all the rules, so he teaches me.”

  Before I leave at the end of the week, I will take Gabe outside and throw a football with him. We’ll stay out there all day, until his arm is so tired from throwing he can’t lift it. I will teach him everything I know and damn it, after playing four years in high school and then again as in my freshman year of college, that’s a whole hell of a lot.

  There’s a rustle in the doorway and Gabe glances up. “Look, Mom! Ty showed me how to build my house.” He bounds out of his chair and grabs Lexi’s hand before pulling her over to crouch in front of the table.

  “It looks great guys.” Her eyes soften when they meet mine.

  “Ty told me what a man’s most powerful tool is.” Gabe grins, his face full of solemn pride.

  “I’m almost afraid to ask what that might be.” Lexi makes a face at Gabe and then arches an eyebrow at me.

  “It’s knowledge.” Gabe crouches down to get a better view of our handiwork. “Knowledge is power, right Ty?”

  “That’s right, my friend.”

  Except he’s not just my friend. He’s my son.

  The words hit me like a ton of bricks in the chest. I’ve been a captain in the Marine Corps for years now. I’ve lead people through damn near impossible situations and when there wasn’t a way through, I made a way. I’ve made decisions when no one around me could. I’ve entered enemy territory and come right back out again. I’ve won awards and received praise and none of it, none of it, lives up to staring this kid in the face and watching him absorb a life lesson I had the honor of teaching him. I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I will not leave Brookside as the same man I was when I arrived.

  “You guys close to wrapping this up?” Lexi checks the time on her phone and Gabe groans.

  “I don’t want to go to bed, Mom. Not with Ty here.”

  I stand and put a hand on his head. “Come on then. If your mom says it’s bedtime, then it’s bedtime.”

  “Besides, Ty will be back and the two of you can hang out then.” Lexi looks at me. “Right?”

  “That’s right. And you know what? I’m kind of, maybe, sort of, a little good at football. I’d be happy to show you a few things so the next time you see what’s his name at daycare you can be the one with all the cool tricks to show off.”

  Gabe smiles and expresses his excitement. It takes a bit, but Lexi herds him through the bedtime process. Gabe keeps stopping what he’s doing to ask questions about Lego house building and football until finally Lexi manages to get him settled down enough to slide into bed. She kisses him goodnight and I wave at him from the doorway and damn if this evening didn’t do a number on my heart. Seeing them like this, my Lexi and my boy, just living their normal lives, it’s a special kind of wonderful I wasn’t prepared for.

  The moment we’re outside his room and she closes the door behind her, I pull her into me and kiss those sweet, red lips. She wraps her arms around my shoulders, pulling me even closer, and angles her head, deepening the kiss. I take her bottom lip between my teeth and pull gently before caressing her tongue with mine.

  Her breasts push against my chest and her fingers dig into my back and I run my hands down her waist and cup her ass. I squeeze those perky cheeks and press my hips into hers, grinding my erection into her stomach.

  I want her.

  I want to carry her into the bedroom, lay her across the bed, and fuck her until she begs for mercy. And then I want to pick her up and flip her over, enter her from behind and fuck her until she screams my name. I want to let her ride me, twisting and thrusting these lush hips, her tits bouncing and her hands in her hair until she comes so hard she can’t move and then I’ll roll us over and fuck her until I come, shooting my seed into her while she quivers and clenches around me.

  I want it so bad I almost throw caution to the wind and sweep her into my arms, but damn it. Now is not the time. When I finally take Lexi to bed—and I will take Lexi to bed—she’ll want me so bad she won’t be able to wait. Her hands will tremble with need and desire and my name will be the only thing on her lips.

  I pull back and rest my forehead against hers. “So now what?” I ask and then kiss her again because how can I not? When those lips are right there and they taste just as sweet as I remember from all those years ago in Key West?

  “Will you stay?” she asks, her lips brushing mine.

  “As long as you’ll have me.”

  LEXI

  “Do you want a drink?” I whisper, uncomfortably aware that we are right outside Gabe’s door.

  “I’d love one.”

  There’s no ignoring the bulge in his pants in the same way that I can’t ignore the ache between my legs or the dampness in my panties. I want this man and, unless I’m really misreading the signs, he wants me, too. But, since he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to make a move and I’m determined to do this right this time, maybe it’s best if I put a little distance between us right now.

  I step back and then lead him away from Gabe’s door. “I’ve got margaritas,” I say once we’re in the kitchen. “The ones from Don Juan’s.” I open the pantry and pull a bottle off the high shelf.

  Ty takes it from me. “They sell that stuff?”

  “Yep. They’ve got their own brand and everything. See?” I point to the name on the label.

  “Don Juan Margaritas,” Tyler reads and then makes a face. “Would you look at that.”

  “We’ll have to drink them over ice. The blender would wake up Gabe. Does that work for you?”

  “Of course.” He sidles into the kitchen and grabs me by the hips. “But first, I need to kiss you again.”

  I manage to put down the bottle of Don Juans without having to look at the counter. Ty kisses me, his mouth more insistent this time, and I return the kiss just as voraciously. He lifts me off the ground and perches me on the counter. I wrap my legs around his waist while he cups my face in his hands, turns my head, and kisses down my throat. Long before I’m ready to be done, he pulls back, smiling.

  “Glasses?” he asks, his eyes glinting mischievously.

  “In there.” I point to a cabinet and stare in appreciation at the muscles in his back and shoulders working as he pulls out two glasses and fills them with ice. I hand him the bottle and he kisses me again, his tongue darting out to meet mine before he pulls away to twist open the lid.

  “I can do that all night,” I say as he pours.

  “Do what?”

  “Kiss you.”

  Ty hands me a margarita. “Be careful what you wish for. You might just get what you want.” He steps up to me, fitting ever so nicely between my legs.

  I take a drink. “Since when is getting what I want a bad thing?”

  “I never said it was.” Tyler drinks, his eyes never leaving mine.

  “You really are everything I remember,” I say. “No. Scratch that. You’re more than I remember.”

  Ty draws his eyebrows together. “I hope that’s a good thing.”

  “It’s very much a good thing. I remember you being charming and funny. I remember enjoying your company so much I didn’t want to leave your side after you walked up to me that day on the beach. I remember you being sexy. My God, so fucking sexy. And you’re still all those things. But, I’m discovering you’re also genuine and real and determined to do the right thing. You’re good with Gabe, better than I could have hoped.” I shrug. “You’re all that and a bag of chips.”

  “That’s a rather high bar you have set for me. I hope I can live up to all that.”

  “Done. Completed. Tada. You win. You don’t have to reach for that bar, you are the bar.”

  Ty takes a long drink and then puts the glass dow
n on the counter. “I used to write letters to you, you know.” He laughs lightly and looks away. “And by used to, I mean I still do. When I’m overseas, or when I’m lonely, or when I just need someone to talk to, I write you a letter.”

  His words touch me and I put my hand on his. “Why me?”

  “Because you stuck with me. I thought about you every single day in the weeks after I left you in the Keys. I obsessed over our time together. I couldn’t stop wondering if you were thinking of me, too. I jacked off at night thinking about the way you felt, your body, your skin...” He trails off and looks apologetic.

  “Would it bother you to know I was the same way? I couldn’t get you out of my mind. Couldn’t figure out why you would disappear on me when things felt so real between us.” I lower my eyes. “And I masturbated to you, too.”

  Ty leans in close. “First of all, I am so sorry you had to wonder why I left. I swear I left a note. I hate the thought of you wondering why you weren’t good enough for me to stick around.”

  I hold his gaze. “It’s not a big deal. Not now.”

  “Still. I hope you know now that I didn’t want to leave you.” His grin goes wicked. “And second of all, you masturbated thinking about me?”

  I nod. “I did. A lot.”

  “Damn, Lex. That’s something else about you that will drive me crazy.”

  “I like the idea of driving you crazy.” I take a drink. “So, anyway, about these letters. How many are there?”

  He looks surprised. “You know, I never counted.”

  “When do I get to read them?”

  For the first time, Ty looks genuinely put out. “Read them?” He shakes his head. “Never.” He laughs, self-conscious. “I wrote them to you but never intended you to read them. There’s a lot of me in there, you know? The parts I don’t like to have out in the open for people to see or know or judge. The private parts that make up the darkest parts of me.”