“Christ, you’re killing me,” I groan, wrapping my fist in her hair and taking her mouth in a kiss that shows her how much I love her, only pulling away when the doorbell rings, reminding me of the shit I needed to talk to her about. “Fuck,” I clip, reluctantly ripping my mouth from hers.
“I wonder who that is,” she whispers, dazedly looking toward the door.
“My bet is on your mom and dad,” I grumble, looking at her mouth that is swollen and her face that is soft, wishing this moment wasn’t going to be ruined by the past.
“Did they know you were going to ask me to marry you?” She frowns, hopping off the counter when I take a step back.
“No, and I need to make our talk we were supposed to have earlier a quick one before I go let them in.”
“What talk?”
“Lane is out of jail. All charges were dropped and he was released this morning.”
“What?” She looks toward the hall when the bell rings again, and Ninja finally jumps off the couch, barking as he heads for the door.
“He’s out, and I don’t want you having any kind of contact with him.”
“I wouldn’t. I mean, why would I?” She shakes her head while her brows dart together.
“It’s not you getting into contact with him that I’m worried about,” I explain, brushing her hair away from her face.
“You think he’ll come looking for me?”
“You’re hard to forget, beautiful, so yes. I have no doubt he will eventually show up here,” I mutter, dropping a brief kiss to her lips before heading for the door which is now being pounded on. Looking out the peephole, I sigh when I see who’s on the other side. Not that I didn’t know they’d show up, but after what just happened with June, and the fact that she agreed to marry me again, I can think of a million and fifty other things I’d prefer to be doing with my fiancée this morning. None of them have one goddamn thing to do with spending time with her parents.
“Are you going to open it or just stand there?” she asks, coming up and placing her hand against my side, while using the other to push Ninja back a step.
“I’m trying to decide,” I grouch, listening as she giggles and pushes me to the side so she can pull open the door.
“Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad,” she says in greeting with a kiss and hug to each of her parents. “I know why you’re here, but I have bigger news.” She hops up and down then shoves her hand out toward her parents. “Evan asked me to marry him!” she yells happily, making them showing up worth the annoyance of not having my morning free, just to show her how much I love her wearing my ring.
“Oh, honey, I’m so happy for you,” her mom squeals, giving her a hug as she steps into the house.
“Thanks, Mom,” June whispers, then looks at her dad when her mom releases her. “Dad?” She takes a step toward him, and his eyes soften while his hand stretches out to take hers, looking at the ring there.
“I’m really happy for you, June Bug.”
“Thanks, Dad.” She smiles, closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around his waist.
“I told you she’d love the ring,” November says, leaning into my side while smiling at her husband and daughter.
A few days after I asked Asher for his daughter’s hand, wanting to do everything right this time, I called up her mom and asked her to help me pick out the ring. She cried the whole time we were shopping, but I could tell me asking her to be involved meant everything to her. What she didn’t know is it also meant a lot to me to have her approval.
“You did,” I agree, placing my arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze, while her arm wraps around the back of my waist, doing the same.
“Now, I don’t care what either of you say. We are going to have a wedding, a real wedding. The kind of wedding that takes planning. You are not going to run off to the courthouse or off to Vegas and get married, and you are definitely not going to give me just a few days to throw together a wedding like your sister did,” November says, looking between June and me as she moves to her husband’s side.
“We’ll see, Mom.” June grins, leaning into me.
“Oh no, we won’t see. I want at least one of my girls to give me what I want, and since July is already married, she’s out. We all know April is never getting married, unless there is a guy crazy enough to try and tame her. May is…” She pauses, looking at her husband and scrunching up her face. “I don’t know what May is, but I doubt she will be getting married anytime soon. And December, way too picky to settle down. So that leaves you.”
“Babe,” Asher cuts in, shaking his head.
“Don’t babe me. I want to plan a wedding. A real wedding.”
“Maybe you and Dad should renew your vows. You could plan that,” June suggests, leading us down the hall toward the kitchen.
“I don’t want to marry your dad again,” she mutters under her breath, but we still hear it, followed by a smack before she cries, “I already married you, Asher Mayson!”
“You’d think with time, you’d stop being a pain in my ass. Nothing has changed,” he says, and I hear the love he has for his wife in his words, even if they are slightly annoyed.
“Whatever,” she replies, dropping her purse to the counter next to the box June was looking through earlier as she reaches behind her to rub the cheek her husband obviously smacked.
“Have you had breakfast?” June asks, looking between her parents while picking up her cup of coffee and taking a sip.
“We ate earlier, honey,” November tells her, taking a seat on one of the barstools. “We weren’t planning on staying long. We tried to call, but as usual, you didn’t pick up your phone, so we decide to just swing by.”
“Oh, I don’t know where my phone is.” She looks around like the damn thing is going to appear out of thin air.
“You need to start keeping better track of it. I want you to keep it on you at all times,” Asher says, sounding all-dad now.
“Dad.” She sighs.
“No, June Bug, this is serious. I’m guessing Evan told you that Lane is out of jail.”
“He did, but I really don’t think I have anything to worry about. Lane nev—”
“Don’t say it,” I cut her off, before she can defend him. “He could have gotten you in a lot of fucking trouble, and I have no doubt he knew that shit when he was seeing you.”
“I know, Ev.” She sets her coffee cup on the counter, wrapping her arms around her waist. It takes everything in me not to go to her and comfort her right now, but she needs to understand the kind of man Lane really is.
“No, you don’t know, baby. If you did, you wouldn’t even think about defending him. You’re lucky your uncle was there when they were interrogating you and stopped them from sending you back to him. That shit could have ended badly. Lane’s family is crooked, and I mean that in the worst ways possible. They have no problem killing anyone, and they wouldn’t have thought twice about making you disappear if they thought you knew something you shouldn’t have, or that you were working with the feds.”
“You need to keep an eye out for him. If he approaches you, get away and call one of us, or head for the police station,” Asher instructs, and I watch her eyes widen.
“Do you guys think that’s necessary? I’m sure if I told him to leave me alone, he would.”
“What part of ‘you’re not to have contact with him’ are you not understanding?” I growl, clenching my fists at my sides, and her eyes drop to them.
“Evan—”
“No, baby, this isn’t a joke. You see him on the sidewalk, you turn the other way and call me. You get a phone call from him, you hang up and call me. You do not talk to him.”
“Okay,” she whispers, looking between her parents and me. “I won’t talk to him.”
“Good,” I agree, closing the distance between us and taking her into my arms. “We all just want you safe. I know Lane never gave you a reason to believe he was dangerous, but he is.” I kiss the top of her head
, while my eyes lock with Asher’s. His eyes move between his daughter and me, and his chin lifts, while his arm slides around his wife’s shoulders, and seeing that, the strength of their relationship, and the love they have for their daughter, shows me what I will have with June for the rest of my life.
Chapter 13
Evan
“Three, two, one, zero.” I end my countdown and pull myself up from the couch, where I was sitting with my face covered, and then look around, pretending I don’t hear the giggles coming from under the kitchen table, where Hope is hiding.
After Asher and November left, June and I ate breakfast out on the back porch. She was quiet for a while, and I could tell she was upset and reflecting on her relationship with Lane, which was like opening an old wound. If I hadn’t fucked up, Lane wouldn’t even exist for her—for us—but I couldn’t think about that or could I continue to dredge up the past. I gave her time to think but wouldn’t bring him up again. I just knew that if he did show up, I would make it clear to him that he needed to stay away for good. It wasn’t until I told her that we would be babysitting Hope for a few hours that her whole mood changed. She and the rest of the family had fallen in love with the little girl, and I had to admit, I had too.
“Found ya.” I smile, ripping open the shower curtain in the second bathroom, making June yell, “Dammit!”
“Babe, the house isn’t that big. You couldn’t have thought it would take me a year to find you.” I laugh at her pouting face.
“I thought it would at least take a few minutes,” she gripes, stepping out of the tub.
“Sorry, but you lose.” I kiss her upturned face then take her hand and lead her toward the living room. “I got June. Hope, I hope you’re hiding better than she did,” I say, hearing her giggle louder as I pass her on the way to the kitchen, where I open cupboards, pretending to look for her. “I wonder where she could be.” I sigh loudly, planting my hands on my hips while looking around.
“I will never tell,” June says, taking a seat on one of the chairs at the table, and Hope laughs again, making me smile. Walking back toward the living room, I stop at the table, and Hope goes quiet, so I move back toward the bedrooms, coming back out a minute later.
“I don’t know where she is,” I grumble to June, who grins at me. “I guess we’ll just leave her here while we go get ice cream.”
“Ice cream!” Hope yells, crawling out of her hiding space. “I was inbisible.” She jumps up and down.
“How do you become invisible?” June asks her, and Hope holds her finger up between her eyes.
“Like this!” She laughs, and June looks around then looks at me with wide eyes.
“Where did she go? She was just right here.” She moves her arms around like she’s searching for Hope, who starts to giggle.
“I’m right here!” she cries, dropping her finger from between her eyes.
“Oh my, you scared me when you just disappeared,” June fawns, picking her up, swinging her around, kissing her cheeks, and making her laugh.
Standing back, I watch the two of them together and feel an ache in my chest. I always knew June would be a good mom, but seeing her with Hope, I can see up close and personal the kind of mom she’d be.
There were times when my mom was affectionate, but they were few and far between when I was younger, and when I started to become a man, those times ended all together. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I hugged a member of my family, but with June and the Maysons, I see that easy affection every time they’re around each other.
“Can we have ice cream now?” Hope asks, looking up at me once June places her on her feet.
“Get your shoes.” I smile at her, and she throws her hands up in the air, yelling, “Yay! Ice Cream!” then takes off toward the couch, where her bag is sitting.
“Are you okay?”
Looking into June’s beautiful eyes, I smile and wrap my hand around the side of her neck, tugging her closer. “Absolutely.”
“You had a strange look in your eyes a minute ago,” she says quietly, while scanning my face.
“You’re going to be an amazing mom one day,” I tell her, watching her face soften and lips part as she leans in closer, placing her hands against my chest.
“And you’re going to be an amazing dad. Hope adores you.” I couldn’t say I would be an amazing dad. I had a shit example for one, but I knew I never wanted any kids if they had to grow up like I did. “You will be,” she says softly, leaning up and kissing the underside of my jaw before turning toward the living room, stopping a few feet away and looking at me over her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go get ice cream.”
Just like always, she has no idea how much her words effect me, how much she makes me want to be a better man.
“Are you sure you want Fruity Pebbles?” I ask, looking at Hope.
“Yep.” She smiles brightly up at me, and I look from her cute, excited smile to the frozen yogurt cup in her hand which is overflowing with strawberry, banana, chocolate, and kiwi yogurt, topped with chocolate sprinkles, gummy worms, vanilla wafers, blueberries, and Oreo cookies.
“Okay, kiddo, but I think this is the last thing that will fit in that cup,” I tell her, and she looks at me, her smile widening farther.
“That’s okay.” She lifts the cup higher, and I scoop out some of the fruity cereal and sprinkle it on top, and then lead her to the counter to pay, while June follows behind us with her own strange concoction of blueberries and peanut butter cups over birthday cake yogurt. After I pay the almost twenty dollars for the two cups of yogurt, we head out front to one of the tables and take a seat.
“Want a bite?” June asks, holding out a spoonful of her mixture toward me.
“No, thanks.” I shake my head, opening my bottle of water.
“Your loss, more for me,” she says, shoving the spoonful in her mouth and making me laugh.
“Can I be your flower girl?” Hope asks around a spoonful of yogurt, and June turns in her chair to face her. As soon as Ellie and Jax showed up to drop off Hope, June shoved her ring in their faces. Jax had clapped me on the back, while June, Ellie, and Hope all did the whole girly scream and jump around bit. I was happy June got to share this part of getting married with her family. They didn’t get to before, and I could tell it meant a lot to her to be able to share her happiness with the people she loves.
“I would love that.” June smiles then looks at me, and asks softly, “I know Mom wants me to have a big wedding, but do you want that?”
“As long as you are my wife at the end of the ceremony, I don’t really care what we do,” I tell her honestly, sitting back in the chair, and her head tilts to the side, studying me.
“Would you wear a tux?”
“If I have to.” I shrug. I hate wearing suits, but for her, I would do just about anything.
“So, you don’t really want to wear a tux?”
“What I want is for you to be my wife and to have my last name. All the other sh—” I pause looking at Hope. “All the other stuff doesn’t really matter to me, but I will say, I’m not waiting a year. If your mom and you want to plan a wedding, then you have four months to do that, before I take you to Vegas and marry you in front of Elvis.”
She rolls her eyes. “Elvis is not marrying us,” she says matter-of-factly, as Hope asks, “Who’s Elvis?”
“Elvis isn’t alive anymore, honey, but he was a famous singer who dressed kind of crazy, and there are people who dress up like him and put on shows or sometimes marry people.”
“Like Halloween?” she asks, looking confused.
“Exactly like Halloween,” I confirm.
“I want to be a pirate for Halloween.” She shrugs, swinging her legs back and forth while biting off the head of one of her gummy worms.
“You don’t want to be a princess?” June asks, and Hope scrunches up her face and shakes her head.
“No, I want to be a pirate. They live on ships and look for treasure. Pirates are cool! I wa
nt to be a pirate when I grow up.”
“Pirates are definitely cool,” June agrees, not letting Hope know that pirates, or at least the kind she wants to be, don’t exist anymore. By the time we leave the yogurt place, Hope is on a sugar high talking a million miles an hour—about what, I have no fucking clue—but it’s cute listening to her babble from the backseat as we head home.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have let her get a large cup,” June mutters with a laugh, as we watch Hope dance around the living room, singing one of the songs from Frozen, which she insisted we watch as soon as we walked into the house.
“She’s gonna crash soon,” I bet, sliding my arm around her shoulders and pulling her deeper into me.
“Are you sure you still want kids now?” she asks quietly, and I turn my eyes from the TV and look at Hope, who has moved across the room to where Ninja is laying, and has her little hands holding his face while she sings to him.
Dipping my face back down toward June, I rumble, “Yes.”
“Me too.” She smiles softly then lays her head against my chest while draping her arm over my abs. And that’s how we spend the rest of the night. June and I cuddled up, watching a movie with Hope, who eventually climbed up on the couch next to us and fell asleep, and as simple as the night was, it was one of the best I’ve ever had.
*
“It’s so quiet,” June mutters, coming to stand next to me at the sink in the kitchen, where I’m washing out our breakfast dishes. It’s the weekend after we watched Hope. The week flew by between work, dealing with the Jordan situation, and November coming over every evening to talk about the wedding. The wedding I somehow got roped into planning with them. If I have to spend one more minute sitting at the table with them looking at wedding shit, talking venues, dresses, flowers, and cakes, I will lose my fucking mind.
“Yep,” I agree, even though after this last week, I’m enjoying it just being us in the house, since I have no idea when someone will show up.