Bryant

 

We meet Jax in our parents’ kitchen when Faith and I emerge after our talk and subsequent clean-up of Faith’s makeup.

“You good?” he asks, switching his gaze between the two of us. I give him a nod and a silent promise in my stare that I’ll explain later. Then he steps forward, steals Faith from me, and gives her a big hug, murmuring something in her ear that I cannot hear well enough to decipher. Whatever it is, it makes her giggle, and when he finally lets her go, she melts into my side, a wry grin playing on her lips.

I glare at him. “What did you say to my wife?”

His wide smirk makes it hard not to chuckle. Damn twin sense.

“I simply offered my commiserations for marrying you and your underwhelming dick.”

“Hey, at least mine is operational. The reason Ronnie calls you Ken is ’cause your junk is made of plast—”

“Boys…” Faith says, her voice low and husky.

Jax flips me the bird before laughing his way through the door.

Faith and I step back outside, we’re ready for ‘surprise party version two.’

“Surprise!”

“Congratulations”

“Woohoo!” Ez cries, followed by a long whistle.

I lead Faith to the bottom of the stairs, her fingers near on strangling mine. She’s nervous, but there’s a different air about her now. And fuck, if I don’t like that our little chat has obviously helped allay some of her fears.

“Bakes,” Patricia Baker says, rushing towards us and pulling her youngest daughter in for a huge hug. Interestingly, when I try to pull away from her, Faith tightens her grip. If she needs me to be her anchor, then I will be unmovable.

“And Bryant,” she says, hugging me as long and as hard as she did with Faith. Pulling back, she looks me over from head to toe. Mrs. Baker is not a woman to mess with.

Mrs. Baker locks eyes with mine, staring at me for a long time, almost to the point where I feel uncomfortable.

“I always knew you’d be my son, Bryant Cook.” She glances sideways to Faith who has let go of my hand in order to greet her dad. “Thank you,” she whispers. When my brows furrow, she continues. “For being here when she finally came back to us. For giving her a reason to stay.”

My chest seizes. Of all the things she could’ve said, she had to say that.

I decide to lock her comment in a box—for now—and steer the conversation away from anything too deep by turning toward my wife and her father. He holds out his hand to me, shaking it vigorously when I take up his offer.

“Mr. Baker, nice to see you.”

His eyes dance with amusement. “No need to call me that now, Bryant. Bob will be fine.”

I nod, a smile tugging at my lips. “Okay, Bob.

“Welcome to the family.” He winks at Faith as she moves away toward Delilah. “Son.

God, can this get any more surreal? I chuckle, shaking my head. “I think I’ve been part of the furniture for a while now.”

“That is true. I’ll let you go. But Patricia and I would love to have you both over for dinner sometime.”

Dinner with the in-laws? Piece of cake. “That would be great. I’ll get Faith to organize it.”

Bob reaches up and cups my shoulder. “Smart man. I’ll give you my best marriage tip—the wife is always right, even when she’s wrong. Remember that.”

I chuckle when Patricia turns to her husband and glares at him. The Bakers remind me of my parents which is scary in itself.

“We’ll let you go,” Patricia says, looking over at her two daughters who are laughing and talking not far from us. “It’s nice to see her happy. I’ve missed her smile.” She locks eyes with me. “I look forward to seeing it more often.”

Her stare is intense, and I feel the meaning to the bottom of my gut. I swallow hard and nod. “You will. I’m going to make sure of that.”

“Good,” she says, placing her hand on my forearm and giving me a gentle squeeze. “I’m glad she came home to you, Bryant. Now you can finally start your life again.”

The Bakers move away as Faith returns to my side, tangling her fingers with mine. Then it’s like a chorus line of family members and friends moving forward to congratulate us.

A radiant April and a very relaxed Jamie saunter over.

“Hey, you’re back? Couldn’t have called or sent a text and let your brother know?” I ask. I look them both up and down. “The honeymooner look works for you.”

“I highly recommend it,” April says with a giggle, glancing up at Jamie.

Faith squeezes my hand. I look down, a corner of my mouth curving up. “One day. Definitely one day,” I murmur.

“Faith, as your sister-in-law, it’s my duty to save you from the house-flipping talk that’s about to ensue.” April hooks arms with her. “Let’s go sit with the rest of the girls and get you a drink.”

Just like that, I lose my wife in the crowd.

“How’s the house?” Jamie asks,

“Still standing,” I say.

“Smartass. Any problems? That house has potential, but it is pretty old,” Jamie says. Jax, Cohen, and my brother-in-law, Cade, join us. Ezra comes up from the rear, two beers in hand. He reaches out to give one to me.

“Is he talking shop again?” Ez asks with a grin. “Back in town for a few hours and he’s already slipping into work mode.”

Jamie laughs, and shoulder bumps Ez. “Haha, asshole. I was just asking.”

All the guys look at each other, Jax grinning, Cohen rolling his eyes, and Cade laughing.

“Maybe he needs me to kick his ass in golf again to burst his over-sexed, over-relaxed bubble,” Cohen says.

Jamie narrows his eyes at our baby brother. “Name the time and the place, and I’ll gladly kick your ass.”

“Oooh, sounds like the challenge has been laid down. I’ll definitely make sure I’m around for that fight,” Cade says.

Jamie looks over my shoulder where the women are all sitting around a large outdoor table, before coming back to me. “Everything else going okay? She seemed pretty upset?”

“Yeah. There are a lot of things we still have to work out, but opening the door to a surprise wedding reception and being slapped in the face with what could’ve been was a bit of a shock. I’ve got it in hand.”

Jamie’s gaze turns to one of approval. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s that you’ve got this.”

Ez claps my shoulder, grabbing my attention. “Anything you need, Bry, anything at all, we’re all here. We’ve got both of you in this.”

I lift my beer to my mouth and look backward, catching Faith with a champagne glass in her hand, her head thrown back laughing along with Delilah, April, Ronnie, Mom, Mrs. Baker, and a very pregnant Abi.

When I turn back to the guys, they all have varied expressions of amusement and knowing looks on their face.

“Oh yeah, you’re totally fucked,” Jax says with a grin.

“Head over fucking heels,” Cade adds.

“He’s done for,” Ez says.

“I think I’m going to check on Faith. You guys joining me?”

“Yeah, it’s been at least five minutes since I grabbed Ronnie’s ass. She’ll be wondering what’s wrong,” Jax says, walking ahead and moving around to his wife. He bends over the back of her chair and kisses her like he has every right to do so. I’m jealous, in a way. Faith and I aren’t at that point yet. Will we get there? You bet we will. But her panic attack and that soft spot she showed me in my old bedroom have reiterated one thing I might have forgotten amongst the car shopping, the natural, carefree banter, and the married life I forced upon her like a hurricane she couldn’t hide from. I need to ease her into this—into us—again. We’re the same people we were ten years ago, just older and wiser and maybe a little warier.

I gently place my hand on her shoulder. She leans her soft cheek against my skin then lifts her arm to cover my fingers with her own. Holding me there. Telling me she likes it. She’s comfortable with it.

“So when’s the next night for the driving range, boys?” Ronnie says, looking up at Jax. “Because the girls and I have decided we’re coming along too.”

“Barbie, you know you can’t beat us,” Jax says with a smirk.

“I dunno, Ken. Faith was telling us all about how she used to tag along and try and distract you—and how she succeeded many times,” Ronnie replies.

Jax smirks at me. “I think that move was more effective on Bry than me. Remember when we caught you going at it in the supply shed? Balls were flying everywhere, and not just Bry’s.”

The entire table erupts in laughter at my brother’s trip down Memory Lane.

“Cohen can’t concentrate for shit anyway,” Jamie says.

April laughs and grins at her husband before pointing up at Jax. “Swear jar!”

We all laugh. April’s son, Axel, has a swear jar that started as a joke when Jamie was living next door to them. Now, the kid’s swear jar college fund is growing larger every day.

I look down at Faith just as she tilts her head up at me. “I can’t believe you guys still go to the same driving range. Is Gabe still there?”

I grin. “Yep. Still as grumpy and as snarky as he always was.”

“Gabe is a teddy bear.”

“You only say that ’cause he let you whack balls after hours for free so you could try and beat us.”

Her eyes are bright. She looks happy now. That flash of fear I saw earlier is nowhere to be seen. I drop my gaze to her lips as her pink tongue darts out to wet them. Fuck! If she only knew exactly what that does to me. I still remember just how hot it was to have her in my old bedroom, my body covering hers, my tongue in her mouth, my…

My train of thought—as inappropriate as it might be, given our current location—is interrupted by the sweet sound of tinkling glass and my father standing on a makeshift dance floor in the middle of the backyard. My hand on Faith’s shoulder tenses. She drops her head back and looks up at me. “Ready for embarrassing stories?” she asks, her lips twitching.

I chuckle, smoothing my hand down her arm and back up again, enjoying the ease between us now. “Well, since we’ve already lived through them, at least we won’t be surprised.”

‘Never say never,” she muses. “But whatever happens, I’ve got your back.”

“And I’ll always have yours, babycakes.”

Her features soften and her lips part. “I know that now,” she says quietly before she laces our fingers together and turns back to listen.

Dad goes first. “So let me tell you about the time Faith and Bryant borrowed Jamie’s car to go to a rock concert.” Faith and I just look at each other and burst out laughing. Dad can tell whatever stories he wants in this moment, as long as my wife is smiling.

Because as she said, we’ve already lived through these stories. The dads could never know that these are probably the exact memories we need to hear.