325 First Fights Page 7

  Cypress had been so livid I didn’t expect him to give me another try. But now we walked home together, moving side by side as the sun set over the water. Cypress wore his sweater, and I had my hands stuffed into my pockets.

  We didn’t speak.

  There wasn’t anything else to say now that the intense conversation was over, but I didn’t know what was waiting for us when we got home. Did we have dinner together? Or should we spend some time apart?

  We reached our two houses then stopped at the stone steps.

  I thought I should initiate something since I was the one who’d brought us to a boiling point. “You wanna have dinner at my place?”

  It was the first time he’d smiled in a few days. “I’d love that.”

  “Cool.” I walked up to the front of the house. “I’ll whip something up.”

  “I smell like food, so I’m gonna shower and change. I’ll be over in fifteen minutes with Dino.” He walked inside his house and shut the door.

  Once I was alone in my house, I finally had a moment to think about what had just happened. I was committed to making this work now. Just the other day, I couldn’t picture myself ever giving him a real chance, but something in my gut told me that would be a mistake. I missed his transformation, but I witnessed his changed personality. He wasn’t anything like he used to be.

  He was definitely different.

  I threw together the few items I had in my fridge, making beef stroganoff and asparagus, and he walked inside just before I was finished.

  “Something smells good.” He joined me at the counter and looked at the stovetop, seeing the meat sizzle in the pan.

  “I’m not the best cook, but at least I can guarantee we won’t get food poisoning.”

  “That works for me.”

  I served the food on the plates then put them on the table. Cypress and I took a seat across from each other, back to saying nothing and pretending our earlier conversation didn’t happen—even though we were both thinking about it.

  His hair was slightly damp and messy because he’d dried it with a towel. He was dressed down in jeans and a black t-shirt, the muscles of his shoulders and arms looking exquisite. Every time he shifted slightly, the rest of his body rippled like waves in a pond. “It’s good. Thanks for making it.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Dino made himself comfortable on my couch, using a blanket I’d used to snuggle with the night before. Sometimes a sigh would escape his lips when he took a deep breath and settled in.

  I wanted to ask Cypress how his day went, but I already knew that answer. He was pissed off all day long, from the moment he woke up until the moment he finished up his shift. I had been miserable, not eating a single thing because my stomach hurt so much. It was full of stress and acid.

  So there was nothing to talk about.

  “Anything interesting happen at the café?” he finally asked to break the silence.

  “An extra worker showed up today because he thought he had a shift when he didn’t. I told him he could stay, but it ended up being slow so I didn’t do much other than hang out at the office.”

  Cypress chuckled. “Money well spent.”

  “So, do we ever take vacation days? Or do we work all the time?”

  “No, we take time off. Amelia takes the most time off because of the girls. We kinda just work around her schedule.”

  “That’s sweet…”

  “And when we have kids, I’m sure the gang will pick up the slack for us.”

  I stilled at the mention of us having children, but I didn’t make a comment or overtly react. If I was in this for the long haul, I’d have to accept that possibility. “So, we’re off on Saturdays?”

  “And Sundays, if you want. But when we aren’t there, there’s usually more work during the week. So we rotate. One of us will work the weekend and check in on all the restaurants. It’s good to be present so the employees always stay honest, you know?”

  “People actually steal from us?”

  “Not really,” he said. “I mean, they do their jobs well. If we aren’t around, they might slack off.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  He continued eating, shoving large servings of food into his mouth. His jaw shifted as he chewed, his cheeks hollowing out and bringing out his distinct handsomeness. Without looking at me, he spoke. “What are you thinking?”

  I didn’t respond right away because I hadn’t expected him to ask that question. “That you look handsome when you eat. Something to do with your jaw…” Since we were going to make this work, I might as well be as honest as possible.

  He grinned as he chewed at the same time. “What a coincidence. I think you look cute all the time.”

  “Not all the time…” I had bad hair days all the time.

  “Nope. All the time.”

  “Even first thing in the morning?” I asked incredulously.

  “Especially.” He scraped up every piece of food on his plate until it was nearly as clean as it was when I took it out of the cabinet. “That was pretty damn good.”

  “I’m glad you liked it. It’s one of the few things I can make.”

  “Shut up, you’re a great cook.”

  “I don’t remember that.”

  “Yeah, you used to cook when we got home every night. I would help you, of course. But you were the one who picked out everything at the store and prepared the meals for the week. I just did what I was told.”

  “Wow, I’m surprised by that. When did I learn to cook?”

  “You picked up things here and there, and you started watching the cooking channel.” He rolled his eyes. “You used to be obsessed. We’d watch it every single night.”

  “Seriously?”

  He nodded. “Seriously.”

  That didn’t sound like me at all. “What else did I like to do?”

  “You used to read a lot. You got into a Stephen King phase.”

  “I didn’t think I’d like horror.”

  “He writes fantasy too. I think you preferred that. You also ran your first marathon when we’d been married for four months.”

  Now I definitely didn’t believe that. “Bullshit.”

  He smiled. “I’m being serious.”

  “Me? Run a marathon?”

  “Yeah, and you did pretty damn good too.”

  “What made me do that?”

  “Blade called you a slug one day, and somehow the two of you made this bet. He said you would never finish, and you had to prove him wrong. And trust me, you proved him wrong.”

  Once upon a time, I was a great cook and athletic. The version of myself I remembered was lazy and unambitious. “I sound like a different person.”

  “Because you were. We turned each other into different people…in a good way.”

  A warmth entered my body, a sensation of goodness I couldn’t explain. It was a small dose of happiness that I hadn’t felt in a long time. As if we hadn’t just screamed at each other for the past twenty-four hours, the atmosphere felt nice. “Are you still a pig?”

  “Excuse me?” he asked, both eyebrows raised.

  “Do you still leave your dirty clothes all over the floor? Socks on the couch?”

  When he understood what I meant, his smile returned. “No. Living with you was like being stuck in boot camp. If a single sock landed on the floor, you were out for blood. I’ve continued those practices on my own.”

  “Looks like marriage served you well.”

  He chuckled. “It was the best six months of my life. Even now…it’s still been the best time of my life.” He met my gaze with a soft look, his sincerity obvious.

  I softened underneath his gaze, feeling his love pour out and seep into my skin. When we were together the first time, I knew how much I loved him. And I knew how much he loved me—despite what he did.

  He reached across the table and rested his hand on mine. His fingertips were warm and heavy, and I remembered exactly how they felt against my nipples when they bru
shed across my sensitive skin. “This has been hard for both of us…but I’m glad we aren’t giving up.”

  My fingers curled around his. “Yeah…me too.”

  7

  Amelia

  Ace never set his alarm, so we woke up to the sound of my girls fighting in the bathroom.

  My eyes cracked open, and panic erupted in my chest. “Shit. Ace.” I squeezed his arm.

  He sighed then cuddled closer into my side, his thick body getting tangled with mine. “Hmm?”

  “We didn’t set your alarm, and the girls are awake.” I kept whispering so they wouldn’t hear me. They were too busy fighting over the Frozen toothpaste to notice anything.

  Ace finally opened his eyes then ran his fingers through his hair. “Fuck. Sorry. I forgot.”

  “It’s okay. But what do we do?”

  “Take them to school. I’ll stay in here until you leave.”

  “But you won’t have time to shower and get ready. Everyone will know something is up.”

  He wiped the sleep from his eye. “I’ll say I stayed at Lady’s.”

  That went down my throat like a stick of dynamite. I didn’t care if they knew he slept over. Cypress could get mad all he wanted, but I didn’t give a damn. I was the one Ace pleased last night, not that woman. “Okay.” I didn’t say what was on my mind and left the bedroom to get the kids ready for school.

  I dropped them off at their school down the road then returned and headed to work. When I walked into the office upstairs, Ace wasn’t there yet. He probably went to his place to brush his teeth and fix his hair as much as he could.

  I felt like Blade somehow knew what I was doing last night, even though he had no way of knowing. He shook his knee as he stared at me, obviously anxious.

  “What’s up with you?”

  “I just have some news. Was gonna wait until Ace got here.”

  “I hope it’s good.”

  “It involves a beautiful woman—it’s definitely good.”

  I took a seat at my desk, and after ten minutes passed, Ace walked inside.

  “Man, you look terrible,” Blade said bluntly. “Did you sleep last night?”

  “A little.” Ace didn’t look at me before he dropped into his chair. He was in slacks and a collared shirt, but his eyes gave away his exhaustion. “What about you?”

  “I slept great. But I had an even better morning.”

  “What happened?” Ace asked.

  “There’s this French babe at that coffee shop on Ocean and Lincoln. I’d seen her a few times but never had the balls to say anything to her. So I finally asked her out this morning,” Blade said. “You know what she said?”

  “Get away from me?” Ace teased.

  Blade ignored him. “She said yes. I’m taking her to dinner at Little Napoli tonight. I’m excited.”

  “Good for you, Blade,” I said. “I hope it goes well.”

  “I hope so too,” Blade said. “She’s super cute.”

  “How do you know she’s French?” Ace asked.

  “She has a French accent,” Blade explained. “I’ll ask her more about it when we have dinner tonight.” Blade got out of his chair and pulled his hoodie back on. “I’m hitting the café today. Unless you want me to manage Olives?”

  “No, I got it,” Ace said. “See you later. Tell me how the date goes.”

  “I will.” Blade walked out.

  Now Ace and I were alone together. I wasn’t sure what we were going to say to each other. I assumed we were keeping our affair to ourselves. It didn’t seem like Ace had any interest in telling the others what we were doing. But now that it had happened so many times, I assumed we had to talk about it.

  Ace turned in his chair and looked at me, tired and sexy like he was when I first woke up. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  As vague as the statement was, I knew what he meant.

  “I know it’s wrong.” He rubbed his chin. “I know we should stop. But whenever we’re alone together…”

  “I know.”

  He propped his elbow on the desk then ran his fingers through his hair.

  “But why do we have to stop?”

  He looked up at me, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

  “We don’t have to tell anyone. We can keep it between us.”

  “I don’t want to make things complicated and ruin our friendship. That’s what I’m most concerned about.”

  “Well, we don’t need to worry about that. I can be mature about this. We both can. We’ve already established it’s never going to be anything serious.”

  “And you’re okay with that?” he whispered.

  I nodded. “You make me feel like a woman, you know?”

  He tilted his head to the side.

  “I don’t feel like a mom with you. I don’t feel like an ex-wife. I just feel like a desirable woman with a hot guy who wants me.”

  A smile stretched across his lips.

  “It’s been so long since I’ve been with anyone, and I like being touched, being kissed, being held…it feels so nice. Even if it doesn’t mean anything, just having someone is great. I like sleeping with you. I like being with you.” Ace probably wouldn’t understand any of that because he was with different women all the time, but I pretty much lived in solitude. “It’s my escape. It’s the time I can be something else…someone else.”

  “Amelia, you’re a gorgeous woman who could go pick up any guy you wanted at a bar. You could have something meaningful, go on dates and find the right guy. You don’t have to settle for me.”

  “Settle?” I asked incredulously. “Ace, it’s not settling. You’re the sexiest guy in the world. I love your body. I love the way you kiss me…” A blush moved into my cheeks when I began to share too much. “And you’re so sweet. There is no one better than you.”

  He straightened in his chair and looked at me harder. “I want to say no, that we should just be friends, but I feel like it’s gonna happen again anyway.”

  “And I want it to happen.”

  His eyes narrowed as if he wanted to cross the room and kiss me then and there, fucking me on the desk and not giving a damn if someone walked in.

  Like I’d say no to that.

  The door opened and cut through the tension between us. Cypress and Bree walked inside, and judging from the brightness in their eyes, they weren’t at war with each other anymore. “What’s up?” Cypress asked. “Did we interrupt something?”

  “No,” I said quickly, feeling paranoid. “Looks like you two worked things out?”

  Bree nodded. “Yeah, we did.”

  Cypress stood close to her, his arm touching hers. “We’re gonna give this another try—and do a better job.”

  That made me happier than I could let on. I wanted my sister to get back together with Cypress. I wanted things to be back to what they were, when they were both so happy that everyone around them wanted to throw up. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “Me too,” Ace said. “It’s hard to picture you guys ever being with other people.”

  Cypress grabbed Bree’s hand and interlocked their fingers. “No other people. It’s just the two of us.”

  When I saw the way Cypress was with my sister, it gave me hope that true love existed. Evan left me for a superficial reason, but when Bree lost her memory, Cypress never turned his back on her. He was there for her—no matter what. My eyes drifted to Ace, and I knew he would be the exact same way when he found the woman he loved. It would never be me, but I was okay with that. I could enjoy him for now until it was time for him to move on.

  And I was still grateful for that.

  I hadn’t heard from Evan in a while, so I grabbed my phone and texted him while the girls watched TV in the living room. Hey. Maybe the four of us could get dinner tomorrow night. Evan and I hadn’t spent any time together, but I wanted us to be a family. I didn’t see why the four of us couldn’t go out. He could bring his girlfriend if he really wanted to. I wouldn’t object as long as he
was spending time with our kids.

  No response.

  It was only seven in the evening, so I didn’t think it was too late. But maybe it was.

  I put my phone down and spent time with the girls before I put them to bed. They always tried to stay up late, even when their eyelids were heavy and they were falling asleep in front of the TV. I put them to bed before I went in my own bedroom, grateful for the silence I didn’t enjoy too often. I thought about texting Ace. Now that we’d accepted our physical relationship, I didn’t think it was out of line for me to text him if I wanted to.

  But I didn’t want to seem too forward. And if he were with Lady, I would just feel uncomfortable.

  My phone lit up with a text message from Evan, but it definitely wasn’t him.

  Don’t text my man. He left you for me, and you need to get over it.

  My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I read the message. I had to read it a few more times before I finally accepted what I was really looking at. I was asking the father of my children to spend time with his kids—you get over it. Two can play that game.

  I mean it, bitch.

  Whoa, she was psycho. She took the conversation to a whole new place, and I wasn’t going to stoop to her level. When she went low, I would go high. Have a good night. Tell Evan I said hi.

  She didn’t say anything back.

  I helped out at Olives that afternoon, which was nice because Ace was usually there. I waited on tables while he kept an eye on the restaurant, running food and taking care of tabs when the waitresses were too busy.

  I caught him looking at me a few times.

  The hours went by, and by late afternoon, we finally finished the lunch shift. I hung up my apron and stuck my tips in my back pocket.

  “What are you doing now?” Ace came up behind me, his arm moving past my waist.

  My heart hammered. “Picking up the girls then making them a snack. What are you doing?”

  “I’m meeting Blade for drinks. He wants to tell me how his date went.”

  “Oh, I wish I could go. I’d love to hear about it too.”

  “Why don’t you?” he asked.

  “Uh, I have two little girls. That’s why.” I didn’t have the social life the others did. Sometimes I didn’t think they understood that.