Theirs to Keep

C H A P T E R S I X

“YOU MAY AS WELL SAY what’s on your mind,” Cade said, without looking up from the stove.

Merrick had walked into the kitchen five minutes ago, slid into one of the chairs by the bar but hadn’t said a word.

Merrick wasn’t much of a talker, at least on a deeper level. He could bullshit with the best. He also managed to get his point across with no problems. But Cade always knew when something was eating at him, because he always went all quiet and brooding.

He and Merrick went way back. They’d been friends since grade school. Dallas too. The three had been inseparable even when life had taken them in different directions after high school.

Cade had known he wanted to go into business for himself. Dallas had gone to medical school and after residency had opened his clinic. Though he was loyal to Merrick, Dallas had a calling to provide health care for disadvantaged families. But then they’d all grown up poor and knew what it was like to have little or nothing.

Merrick had gotten his MBA in order to help Cade with the business, but his heart had been with a career in mixed martial arts. After getting his degree, he’d devoted his efforts to training and working his way up the food chain.

He’d started in local gyms and on local fight tickets. He worked hard and would fight anyone willing to enter the ring. As a result, he’d been offered a contract with an international fighting association, and now he was one fight away from the possibility of a title bout with the current heavyweight champion.

Cade handled the bulk of the business, but Merrick helped when he wasn’t training. When Merrick traveled for a fight, Cade and Dallas always accompanied him. In a lot of ways, Merrick was the glue that held the friendship together because Merrick was the common denominator. Without him, Cade would be busy with his business, and Dallas would be immersed in his clinic.

Cade’s dad was involved in the business as well as Merrick’s training. He was an invaluable source of support whether it was building Merrick up or helping Cade when Merrick wasn’t available.

They owed a lot to his old man, and Cade knew that Merrick considered him a father every bit as much as Cade did. And to Charlie Walker, Cade, Merrick and Dallas were his boys. It didn’t matter how old they got to be. He still threatened to tan their asses when they got out of line.

Cade would need to fill him in on Elle in short order. He was surprised the old man hadn’t already popped in this morning to find out why the hell they weren’t in the office.

He flipped another pancake then added it to the hot stack that had accumulated on the platter to the side, and then he turned to Merrick, who hadn’t responded to Cade’s statement.

Shaking his head, he turned the burner off and carried the platter over to the table, where he’d set three places. He wanted to let Elle sleep as long as she wanted, but he also didn’t want her to be awake and afraid to come out. He’d put her in his room. He’d been quite adamant about it. He’d slept on the couch, but he’d wanted her in his space, and he couldn’t exactly explain why he’d been so set on it.

He could always warm her pancakes back up. Right now he wanted to air out whatever was on Merrick’s mind.

“You going to talk, or do I have to sit on you and pry it out of your tight ass?” Cade asked mildly.

Merrick scowled and forked three pancakes onto his plate. After drenching them in syrup, he cut into the stack, and for a moment, Cade thought he was going to ignore him. Then Merrick sighed and set his fork down.

“I don’t even know how to say what all I’m thinking,” Merrick said. “I feel like a complete dickhead for half of what I think, and for the other half, I think I’ve lost my goddamn mind.”

Cade’s lips twitched. “Okay, we’ll start with why you’re a dickhead.”

Merrick made a rude noise. “It’s all the same. I mean, what I think makes me a dickhead who’s lost his mind.”

“Do tell.”

Merrick’s shoulders heaved. “It’s about Elle.”

Cade rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I figured. What about her?”

“I want her,” Merrick said bluntly. Then he grimaced. “Oh my God, that sounds so fucked up. Especially after what she’s been through. Shit. It’s not like I’m wanting to jump her bones. I’m not having stupid inappropriate thoughts. It’s just that there is something there. A connection I don’t even understand, but I know two things. I’m not going to let anything else hurt her, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Okay,” Cade said slowly.

Merrick eyed his friend with a piercing stare. “Don’t think I don’t know that you feel the same damn way, which is why I didn’t want to have this conversation. We have a woman in there who’s been brutalized. She likely doesn’t trust any man at all, and who could blame her? And she doesn’t even know who she is or anything about her past. Hell, she could have a husband and kids somewhere for all we know.”

Cade shook his head. “You tell me something. If she belonged to you, wouldn’t you have turned this city upside down looking for her? She obviously doesn’t belong to anyone because only a damn fool would just let her disappear.”

“Maybe,” Merrick said grudgingly. “That doesn’t solve the issue between us, though. I’m not letting a woman come between us. We’ve never let it happen. We may as well be brothers. We’re family. And I’m not ruining that. But…”

The corner of Cade’s mouth lifted. “But you aren’t backing down either, right?”

“Yeah,” Merrick muttered. “I’m not backing down.”

Cade remained silent a moment. He wasn’t certain what to say. He understood Merrick’s reaction. It was much the same as his own reaction to Elle. And no, he sure as hell didn’t understand it either. His instincts screamed that she was his, and apparently so did Merrick’s, which really muddied up the damn waters.

They were both jumping the gun in a serious way. Elle was fragile. They knew nothing of her past or present. They were taking a damn lot for granted.

But yeah, he was going to protect her just like he knew Merrick was, and neither of them was going to walk away from her, and they sure as hell weren’t going to let her go without a fight.

Which was damn sure going to put them at odds in a way they’d never been pitted before.

“You going to sit there like you aren’t having the same damn thoughts?” Merrick interjected. “You don’t come to me demanding I start talking and then clam up when I tell you what I’m thinking.”

Cade sighed. “What do you want me to say, Merrick? That I want her too? That I look at her and something just clicks and I know that I’m going to be front and center in her life from now on if I have any say? That I’m going to make damn sure nothing ever hurts her again? That I want her no matter how long I have to wait for her? And yeah, you’re right. It makes us both out of our goddamn minds. We only just met the woman. This kind of shit just doesn’t happen.”

“Tell me about it,” Merrick muttered.

“I’m going to go get Elle so she can eat,” Cade said. “We understand each other. For now… For now, she’s going to need us both to get her through her recovery and whatever else comes up. For now, we’re going to have to put aside whatever crazy-ass thoughts we’re having and focus on what’s best for her.”

Merrick nodded. “Yeah, in that we’re agreed.” But then his gaze met Cade’s. “Don’t let this fuck us up, man.”

“Yeah,” Cade said quietly. “I hear you.”