Page 30 of No Turning Back
Tucker
Dinner tonight?
Me
I’m having dinner at Mom’s. I can’t.
Tucker
I’ll come over afterward.
Me
Tonight isn’t good for me.
I silence my phone and drop it in my bag. I don’t want him to try to talk me into anything. I need the night to myself. I need to think about everything and figure out what my next step is going to be. What my options are going to be with the zoo now.
Poseidon
* * *
Spitfire
Tonight isn’t good for me.
Her words stop me. Last night she wanted me to take her and move us to that next stage, and today she wants to run from me. Well, that ain’t going to fucking happen. I dial her number, but it goes straight to voicemail.
“Fuck,” I growl, and Jayden looks over at me as I try not to throw a tool through the drywall I just hung.
“Everything okay over there?” he asks, and I nod and get back to work. I hit the nail and pound it through the drywall instead of making it just go in. “I’d say everything isn’t okay.” He chuckles. “That’s going to take a bit to cover up.”
“Sorry.” I put the hammer down and move away from him. My hands go into my hair and pull.
“Your girl?” he asks, and I turn back to him.
“How did you know?” I raise an eyebrow and tip my head to the side.
He scoffs. “Only a woman you haven’t locked down can do that to you.”
“I thought I had her locked down. Shit, I thought we were ready to move on to the next stage, and now she’s pulling the ‘tonight’s not a good night.’”
“Is she yours?” he asks.
I’ve heard the stories from all the guys. Aries told me how it was when he first saw Wrenn. Just like several of the other couples. It was just one look. That’s all it took. One look, and they knew that was their woman. My own best friend had threatened to kill me when he saw Wrenn hugging me one time. It meant nothing, but not to him. I get that feeling. Just the thought of another man around my woman makes me want to draw blood. I still need to make an appearance at the zoo to let that fucker who asked her out know who she belongs to.
“First time I saw her, everything shifted in my world. I haven’t had any side projects. I don’t drive around aimlessly. It’s all her. I want every moment with her and Mari.”
“Then you need to get your woman under control, son.” He moves away from me, and I look after him. He turns back for a moment and looks at me. “I locked Autumn down as soon as I could. She wasn’t getting away from me. Even put my baby in her. I’m not saying you need to do that to Sydney, but you need to make sure she knows she’s yours and lock her down.” He looks down at his watch. “Why don’t you take off and go get your girl.” He chuckles.
I clean up my tools before I head out. I love my job, working with Jayden and his crew. His family took my brothers and me in when they found out my father lived so far away. Now with him getting settled in with Zeus to help with Hot Head, it might tone down the kid. It’s nice to have him here, but Jayden and Autumn invite him over as if he’s a part of their extended family too.
I park down the road from her house and wait for her to come home. I didn’t want to make a scene at her mom’s place, and I’m not going to disturb Aries and Wrenn. I’ve been here for an hour, and I’m getting frustrated when her car finally pulls into the driveway and parks in the garage. She gets out, still dressed in her work uniform. The khaki pants pull across her ass when she bends into the car to get Mari out. I watch her as she talks to her little girl. I can’t imagine my life without either of them. They are everything to me. I move and park in her driveway. She turns and then sags in relief. She holds Mari tighter, and I move toward them.
“We are going to get little one into bed and then we are talking.” I don’t give her room to argue with me.
After Mari is in her crib asleep, I watch as Sydney moves around her living room, picking up things and trying to avoid me. She finally stops and looks at where I’m standing with my back against the kitchen island, watching her.
“I’m sorry I had a really crappy day and took it out on you. It wasn’t fair. I don’t regret us. I want to be in a relationship with you. I don’t want you to leave me. I want you to hold me and wait while I work through all this shit from my past. I want you to get to know me. You already know me more than Marinda’s father ever knew of me. I didn’t really know him either. That’s what I’m scared of. I’ve always tied my feelings around sex as a way to keep men at a distance. But you don’t want just sex with me.”
