Chapter Thirty-One

Rio

Bryn hadn’t thought my staying the night again was a good idea for Cullen. I hadn’t wanted to leave her, but I had. She didn’t trust me. Not yet. I could see it in her eyes that she was worried I would be gone and Cullen would be hurt. That she would be hurt.

There was a lot of damage there, and I would have to prove myself to her. I’d managed to create most of the issues she had with me. If I hadn’t been so fucking scared of being near her again, I might have listened to my gut when deep down, I knew she wouldn’t have bashed my Jeep. Or anyone’s Jeep. Everyone around me had told me they didn’t think she did it, and I’d ignored it. Now, I’d have to make up for that.

Pops was getting around on his own now, and I wasn’t needed over there to move him any longer. This was my second night back at the house with Saul and Drake. I knew they would both be asleep when I made my way to the kitchen; however, I should have expected Henley to be there.

She was already dressed for work and pulling a batch of doughnuts from the oven.

“You’re up early,” she said and then reached into the oven to pull out a second tray of doughnuts.

“Yeah,” I replied. “What time are you going into the shop?”

“Why? You want the kitchen to yourself?” she asked, looking at me oddly.

“No, I need to make an order.”

She scrunched up her nose. “From me?”

“It’s for Bryn and Cullen,” I said.

Her eyes went wide, and a smile lit up her face. “Oh! Really?”

“Yeah, really. It seems you make the best strawberry cupcakes in the world. Bryn loves them. And Cullen said he likes your chocolate ones. I was hoping I could order half a dozen of each, but maybe you could make the chocolate ones a Spider-Man theme? Then, I was also going to pick up breakfast and take it with me this morning.”

Henley looked at the doughnuts on the tray. “These are fresh and have dairy and gluten in them. I made them for all of you but mostly Saul. He mentioned them yesterday. There’s more than Saul will eat with Drake’s help. Take this second tray.”

“You sure?” I asked.

“Absolutely. Just don’t screw this up. I like her and Cullen.”

“I don’t intend to,” I replied.

She put the doughnuts in a bakery box, then handed them to me. “I’ll have your cupcakes ready by noon.”

“Thanks.”

I finished making my coffee and was about to leave the kitchen.

“Vanessa came by yesterday, looking for you,” Henley said. “You might want to give that some closure.”

I nodded but said nothing else. Vanessa and I had hooked up a few times. It had been a while since we had been out. There wasn’t any closure required.

Saul was walking into the kitchen, yawning, as I was leaving. He was still in his boxers, and his hair hadn’t been brushed. He looked at the box in my hand. “You’d better not be taking off with my shit.”

“Yours are in there,” I told him.

He yawned again and walked past me. I didn’t stick around. Saul was my best friend, and Henley was my sister. Seeing them make out in the kitchen wasn’t something I wanted to see. I’d walked in on it enough.

I managed to make it until seven thirty before going over to Bryn’s. I’d showered, shaved, taken my time in getting dressed, tried to watch the news, which was boring as hell. Finally, I decided it was a safe bet that Cullen was awake.

Bryn answered the door in an oversize T-shirt, her hair down and messy, a sleepy smile on her face. “Good morning,” she said. “I hope that’s breakfast because I am not in the mood to cook.”

Just seeing her made me feel better.

“Henley made doughnuts,” I told her.

She made a soft moan that had me tensing. I didn’t need to always get a damn boner around her.

“I love her doughnuts.”

I walked inside, and Cullen turned his head to look at me from his spot on the sofa.

His eyes lit up when he saw the box I was holding. “Is it cupcakes?” he asked.

“Not this early. I wanted Bryn to let me inside, not kick me out,” I told him.

“Oh,” Cullen said and climbed off the sofa to come around to me. “What is it then?”

“Doughnuts,” I told him.

He punched the sky with his fist. “Yes!”

“I’ll even let you eat on the sofa while watching television this morning,” Bryn told him, and Cullen beamed before running back to the sofa to watch Spider-Man on the television.

“You want some coffee?” she asked me, then started walking into the kitchen.

I followed her in and went over to the cabinet to get down two cups.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked her as I stood behind her while she worked on our coffee.

She nodded. “Yes.”

I glanced over at Cullen to see he was enthralled in his favorite superhero, then slid my hand under the back side of the T-shirt she was wearing. My hand met bare thigh and a panty-covered ass. No shorts. Damn. I was going to have a hard time thinking about anything else.

Her head whipped around to check to see if Cullen was watching me.

“I already checked that,” I whispered, then slid my hand up to her waist.

She stood very still, her breathing growing heavy as my hand went higher until I was gently cupping her right breast.

“I just needed to feel you,” I said in her ear before sliding my hand down her body and letting the T-shirt fall back down.

When my hand was gone, she turned her face back to look up at me.

“I wish I weren’t so weak where you were concerned,” she said, then smiled.

I didn’t. Her desire for me made me want to pound my chest like a caveman and alert the world that she belonged to me. I bent down and kissed her neck, inhaling the scent that was uniquely hers. Bryn tilted her head the other way to give me better access. So fucking sweet.

“We need to stop. Cullen,” she breathed and closed her eyes a moment, then moved away. She took a deep breath, then handed me a cup of coffee. “Here, taste this. Not me,” she offered.

I grinned and took the coffee. “You taste better.”

She blushed and ran her hand over her unbrushed hair. “Th-th-thank you, but”—her eyes went to Cullen again—“just because I can’t seem to tell you no, it’s dangerous to do things in front of him. He could look, and I …” She sighed. “It’s just that he’s never seen me with a man. Ever. He has seen his mother with many, but not me. I’m his constant. Change might cause him to think I’ll leave like she did.” Bryn stopped and took a drink of her coffee.

Another one of the things about her that was going to own me. Her dedication to that little boy. What would my childhood have been like with a mom like her? Or hell, an aunt? Anyone to care that my mother was unstable and not fit to raise a kid.

“Do you work tonight?” I asked her, and the thought of her at work made my chest tighten painfully. The idea of her topless in a bar was going to be the hardest thing for me to accept.

“No. I go back Sunday,” she said, and I could see her tense.

She knew I hated it, and right now, this was new for us. I had to win her trust. Asking her to get a new job wasn’t going to help me do that. Although I was going to talk to Pops today about the assistant he’d said he needed to hire. In his condition, he couldn’t help Hazel anymore. The position would pay well. I just wasn’t sure how to bring it up to Bryn.

“Then, we have tonight,” I replied.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Can I have a doughnut?” Cullen asked, turning around and looking at us.

“Yes,” Bryn replied and went to put one on a plate for him, then poured him a glass of milk.

I picked up a doughnut and took a bite while watching her take Cullen his food. I wanted to spend all day with them, but I was supposed to be at work in an hour. I had called Hazel to let her know it would be nine when I got there today. She’d grumbled, but when I’d told her I was going to see Bryn, she’d immediately changed her tune.

“What are your plans today?” I asked her.

She took a doughnut for herself, then broke it into two, only keeping half of it. “I think we might go to the beach. Are you working?” she asked.

Sighing, I nodded. “Yeah. I have to be there in an hour.”

“We will be over by the south entrance to the public beach,” she told me.

The south entrance was directly beside the farmers market. “If you get hungry or thirsty or need to use the restroom,” I said, grinning.

She gave me a saucy smile. “Sorry. Last time I was there, I was told not to come back and to buy my produce elsewhere.”

I knew she was teasing, but the memory of that and how I had talked to her wasn’t something I wanted to remember. It fucking hurt. I reached for her T-shirt and grabbed a handful, then pulled her against me. “Not only are you welcome there, but whatever you want from there is also free. Including the ice cream and soda. When y’all get hot and need to cool off, come see me.”

Her body was pressed against me, and her head was tilted back as she looked up at me. Those eyes of hers were saying things I wanted to hear aloud. I lowered my mouth to hers and kissed it gently and quickly. My hand loosened its hold on her shirt, and I took another moment to run it over the side of her body.

“Do you think we can get him to take a quick nap this early?” I asked.

She laughed at me and moved away. “No.”

“Damn,” I replied, although I’d already known that was the answer.