Wild Man

Chapter Twelve The Coolest Move Ever

An hour and a half later, I found that, upon calculating the need for dessert, I had not taken into account children who had bottomless stomachs, men who had high metabolisms so they didn’t really need to worry about how much they shoved down their gullets and women who were experiencing one of six days of the year they could let it all hang out (the others being Christmas, New Year’s, Easter, 4th of July and their birthday).

Let’s just say, even though Fern provided a plentiful and delicious Thanksgiving spread, there weren’t a lot of dessert leftovers.

For dinner, at the big table I was sandwiched between Fritz and Austin who made it clear, after Levi’s earlier show that they cast themselves in the roles of my protectors. It was all for one and one for all when it came to being hooked to a member of the Lucas family.

It was also seriously cool and obviously very appreciated.

Brock sat at the head of our table, Fern sat at the foot and Cob, Jill, Kalie, Laura and Elvira rounded out our company. Cob being at the big table meant Levi, who Brock somehow talked into rejoining the family festivities, commandeered Lenore and he sat amongst the card tables set up across the way in the living room with Kellie and her younger cousins.

Although a fair amount of wine and beer were being consumed, the tense atmosphere had not lightened and the only person who seemed oblivious to it was Elvira.

Therefore, I engaged Elvira in conversation knowing from experience anytime Elvira spoke interesting if somewhat surprising and possibly inappropriate things would come out and I did this in the hopes it would lighten the atmosphere.

It did.

Austin and Fritz clearly thought she was a hoot, Cob not far behind, Jill, Laura and Kalie shortly joined in and finally Fern melted. For his part, Brock mostly studied Elvira like she was an unknown creature he didn’t know what to make of but I could sense he was relaxed and pleased his family was enjoying dinner and I could sense this because that was the mood he filled the room with.

Further making things seem almost festive was the fact that Uncle Levi, although having a short fuse, was clearly the funny uncle and much beloved by his siblings’ progeny because laughter rang from the card tables across the way with a lot of giggled, “Uncle Levi! ”

shrieked from Ellie.

Since we made it through dessert without another scene, I relaxed and unfortunately let my guard down.

Therefore, I wasn’t prepared to feel the snap and crackle of Brock’s mood to hit the room.

My head swiveled to him to see his back straight, his face like thunder and his eyes pointed out the window.

Then I heard from the card tables, “You are fuckin’ shitting me.”

This was Levi.

Then suddenly there was motion and that motion was Brock and Levi folding out of their chairs and the rest of us craning our necks to look out the window.

When we saw what we saw, I froze and stared.

Fern, Jill and Laura didn’t freeze.

Fern hissed, “Oh no, I do not think so.”

Jill snapped, “I do not believe that woman.”

And Laura bit off, “On Thanksgiving. ”

Then they jumped up and followed Brock and Levi, Cob going with them and both Fritz and Austin scooted closer to me with Fritz saying, “Kalie, honey, you and your sister get your cousins downstairs, yeah?”

Kalie turned her own angry face from her contemplation of the window (Kalie and Kellie, I had noted much like their younger counterparts, had a close relationship with their Uncle Slim and had also, it would appear, been old enough to have some dealings with Olivia and, it would also appear, had not liked those dealings) and she headed to the living room to do what she was told.

I hadn’t moved.

That was because Olivia was outside.

What on earth?

“Uh… who’s that?” Elvira asked the window, still looking out and now Olivia was standing on the front walk confronting the full force of the Lucas Brigade.

“Brock’s ex-wife,” I whispered.

“Oo lawdy,” Elvira whispered back.

She could say that again.

Half a second later, we heard Laura shriek, “Bitch! ” and we saw her lunge at Olivia.

Elvira repeated a whispered now emphasized, “Oo lawdy, ” and Austin muttered, “Fuck,”

at my side, pushed his chair back and took off as I watched Brock plant a hand in his sister’s chest, Cob wrap his arm around his daughter’s waist and pull back and Olivia lift both her extraordinary hands to her face and melt into beautiful woman tears which every woman on the face of the earth knew held magical powers over any man who was breathing as long as that man wasn’t blind.

Oh man.

“I’m just going to, uh… start to clear the dishes.” I heard Lenore whisper.

Fritz muttered, “Good idea, Lenore. Elvira? Tess, honey, why don’t you two help? I’m gonna go on outside.”

And outside words were being exchanged while Brock was leading a still sobbing Olivia down the walkway with a hand at the small of her back and I decided Lenore’s idea was an excellent one.

So I nodded, got up and started to help her as Fritz headed out.

“I got your back, sister, I’ll keep an eye out,” Elvira told me but I didn’t answer. I started loading my hands with plates.

After trip two when I was in the kitchen, I heard the reentry of the Lucas Brigade and this included Jill’s, “I do not, do not, do not believe that bitch. ”

“Jill, sweetheart, shush,” Cob shushed her.

“She’s a piece of work!” This was Laura and it wasn’t shushed, it was loud.

“Laurie, quiet… Tess.” This was, surprisingly, Levi.

I waited several seconds and then walked into the hall. They were all standing at the front door and all their eyes came to me.

“It’s okay,” I told them when I got nearer. “I’ve met her. It’s okay.”

Then I went back to the table and started clearing but, try as I might, I couldn’t keep my eyes from straying to the window and when I looked out I saw down the way that Brock and Olivia were standing by a silver Mercedes, Olivia still sobbing but now she was doing it with her face planted in Brock’s chest and his arms were around her.

Damn.

Damn.

Elvira got close and I tore my eyes away from the window.

“Why don’t you take Ellie and watch the movie?”

“I’m okay,” I whispered.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Fern was now also close. “Just go on up, I’ll send Ellie up with the DVD.”

“Really, I’m fine,” I lied.

Fern looked at Elvira. I gathered plates and went to the kitchen.

The men disappeared, the women all hit clearing mode and when the tables were nearly empty and I was going back to gather napkins and bits and bobs, Brock came in.

His eyes came to me and I saw at once they were not angry, not impatient but conflicted.

I’d seen him look conflicted before and it wasn’t a good memory.

“Hey,” I whispered as I moved to him.

“Hey,” he replied, distracted.

Oh man.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“We’ll talk later,” he muttered. “Where’re the boys?”

“Downstairs.”

He nodded, his eyes going down the hall, he lifted his hand to my neck and after a short, preoccupied squeeze he walked down the hall and disappeared through the door to the basement.

I watched.

And while I watched it was not lost on me in any way that not once, not even in the beginning when he was Jake and he was undercover and all sorts of shit was going down, had he ever been distracted and preoccupied with me. I always had his full attention. Always.

Then I helped the girls do the dishes. Then Elvira said good-byes to everyone, gave her thanks and I walked her to her car.

“Your bad boy is hot,” she stated bizarrely, standing with me at her driver’s side door.

“What?” I asked, having walked with her while in my head and finally focusing on her.

“Your bad boy is hot,” she repeated. “She instigated a play.”

“Sorry?” I asked, feeling my brows draw together.

“Tess, hon, her ex-bad boy, ex- hot boy just hooked his star to a brand new, bright and shiny moon. He’s into his new moon. He traded up. He likes it. He’s gonna stay awhile. She knows this probably from her boys. She don’t like it. She instigated a play. Looks of her, she’s got a big playbook. She may not want him but doesn’t want anyone else to have him or she thinks she’s all that and never thought he’d move on and doesn’t like it that he has, it shook her awake and she’s finally lookin’ around and sees what she’s missin’. I’ll give it to her, it was a good play, drama, tears, family as an audience. But if he got shot of her ass, he’ll see through it. You just need to keep your chin up.”

I stared at her wondering if it was actually true that people did that kind of thing.

So I asked, “Do people actually do that kind of thing?”

“Uh… yeah,” she answered.

“They have children,” I told her.

“Right, Tess, and head’s up, right now, to her, whatever her game is, those two boys just stopped bein’ boys and they became pawns.”

Oh my God.

“She wouldn’t,” I whispered.

“Mark my words, girlfriend, that bitch has got bitch written all over her. You got your hands full, hon. Lucky for you, you got your posse and his family at your back. After she made that play, they were all whispering, worried about you. Not him, they know your boy sees it for what it is, they were worried about you ‘cause they know her for what she is and they know this is play one and right now she’s got her nose in her playbook, decidin’ what to do for play two. Chin up. He’ll see her play for what it is and he’ll be on the lookout for her next one. You just gotta ride that wave.”

Kentucky for the first time in awhile was looking good again.

This time, though, I was packing up Brock, Joel and Rex to take with me.

I said good-bye to Elvira, walked back to the house and was struck by Ellie Lightning the minute I made it through the door.

“Tangled! ” she screeched, I pushed aside my thoughts and smiled down at her.

“Tangled, ” I agreed.

And thus I found myself up in Fern’s bedroom lying across the foot of the bed with Ellie in her princess dress tucked in front of me.

Kalie and Kellie wandered up too and camped out on the floor. Jill and Fern came as well and lay behind us in the bed. Lenore and Laura were with the boys watching football.

Tangled turned to Beauty and the Beast which was one of my favorite movies ever, animated or not.

Still, I’d just had Thanksgiving dinner and it was Thanksgiving Law to pass out shortly after consumption of said dinner therefore I zonked out in the middle of it.

Therefore when I heard Ellie whisper loudly, “Uncle Slim, she’s sleeping, ” I woke up.

I blinked my eyes, surprised that I drifted off, to see Mulan playing behind Brock who was crouched by the bed and my eyes opened right before his hand curled warm around my neck.

“Time to go, sleepyhead,” he said softly to me. “Gotta get the boys home.”

Home. To Olivia’s.

I nodded, pushed up from the bed after giving Ellie a brief snuggle, tried to pull myself together through hugs and farewells and then found myself in the passenger seat of my own car, Brock driving, the boys in the back, the same arrangement as we arrived.

They chatted about football.

I stared out the window.

We drove into the elegant drive of a big house in Cherry Hills Village which meant that when Brock said Olivia’s new husband was loaded, he actually meant loaded.

“Later, Tess,” Joel said to me.

“Later, honey,” I said to Joel, turning to the backseat.

“Later, Tess, thanks for the pecan pie and the pumpkin pie and the cheesecake I ate during football,” Rex shared his gratitude.

I smiled at him.

“I was in the mood for cake, so thanks for the three pieces I ate,” Joel put in so I smiled at him.

“Anytime, baby,” I said softly. “See you guys later.”

They waved and got out.

“I’ll be back, babe,” Brock muttered, waited for me to look at him and nod and he got out and followed his boys.

I watched.

Olivia met him on the front step.

I kept watching.

Joel and Rex gave their Dad hugs and disappeared inside. Olivia didn’t look once at the car as she engaged Brock in conversation. Brock started to look my way but didn’t get his head fully turned when her hand came up and curled around his bicep and she stepped in closer so his head turned back to her.

I stopped watching.

I was staring out the side window when I heard him get in, put the idling car in gear and reverse out of the drive and I kept staring out the side window as he pointed us home.

About ten seconds later, his fingers curled around mine, pulled them to his thigh and he asked quietly, “You okay?”

“Just tired,” I lied. “Too much food.”

“Right,” he muttered, giving my hand a squeeze and saying no more but not letting my hand go.

He took us to my house, we both got out, walked up, I let us in and I shrugged off my coat and took it to the hall closet. Brock shrugged off his and threw it on the sofa.

He went to the fridge for beer.

I went to the island and looked at him.

“If you’ve got football to watch,” I said, he turned from the fridge and his eyes came to me, “go ahead. I’m going to read up here for awhile.”

He stood in the opened fridge door and held my eyes.

And I knew why he did this.

Unless he was with his boys, we spent every night together and we woke up next to each other every morning.

And when we were together, we were together, watching TV, a movie, if he was watching a game. We were up together and when we went to bed, we went to bed together.

He did not go downstairs and watch a game while I stayed upstairs to read.

Perhaps, in future, this might change but now, I liked it like this. I liked being with him.

He was attentive, touchy, we cuddled or were close and it felt good.

And the fact Brock was attentive, touchy and we cuddled meant he liked it too.

And, clearly, from what would happen next, Brock was not ready for us to move on to a different kind of relationship.

I knew this when he closed the fridge and walked around the island. Then he came to me, grabbed my hand, pulled me into the living room, sat on the couch and pulled me to sitting astride his lap.

Once he had me in position and his hands settled on my hips, he said, “All right, babe, what’s up?”

“Nothing, I –” I started to lie, his fingers dug into my hips and he interrupted me.

“I got a new job, a new house, new fuckin’ furniture and a new woman in my life. That woman comes with a motherfucker of an ex who’s poising to strike, I know it in my gut and I gotta be prepared. My Dad’s sick, he may be dyin’ and my family’s fucked up about it.

Somethin’ is goin’ on with my boys and I gotta look into that. And today, my bitch of an ex-wife shows up on Thanksgiving to inform me her husband is steppin’ out on her, she doesn’t care and she knew it was a mistake before she signed the marriage certificate. She went on to say she fucked up with him and with me, she sees this clear now, feels that time is of the essence considering our boys are growing up without a stable family unit, so, upon a great deal of reflection, her fuckin’ words, regardless of the holiday, she felt it prudent she didn’t delay in informing me she wants me and our family back. With all that, you gotta see I do not have it in me to play guessing games. All I got left in me for today is to have a beer with my woman, watch a game, take her to bed, let her fuck me sweet like she always fucks me then go to sleep.”

I stared down at him thinking there was a lot there, a lot, a lot, but I honed in on one thing.

So I asked, “She told you she wants you back?”

“Yeah, if you can believe that shit.”

I kept staring down at him.

Then I stated, not a question this time but still a question, “She told you she wants you back.”

His fingers dug in again and he said, “Yeah.”

“She walked up to your mother’s house on Thanksgiving and told you she wanted you back,” I, yet again but with some added detail, stated.

Brock didn’t reply. He just watched me closely.

“I don’t know what to say,” I told him and I didn’t. I buried my head in the sand, sure, but I knew people did crazy shit, case in point my own husband raping me but that, that was insane.

“Nothin’ to say,” he told me.

“Do you want her back?” I asked and he did a slow blink.

Then he asked, “Come again?”

“Do you want her back?” I repeated.

“Do I want her back?”

“Yeah, do you want her back?”

His brows drew together and his fingers dug into my hips again before he asked, “Have you lost your mind?”

“No,” I replied. “She’s beautiful. She’s the mother of your children. And you loved her once enough to marry her. I saw you outside holding her in your arms and I saw you when you got back into the house after that scene and you looked conflicted. Not annoyed, not angry, not frustrated, conflicted. So no, Brock, I haven’t lost my mind.”

His mouth got tight then he said low, “Babe, I was holding her in my arms ‘cause when the mother of your sons cries crocodile tears, your best play is to give her that play then, soon as you can, walk away. That’s what I did. And when confronted, again, with the knowledge that my boys got a Mom like the Mom they got, in other words, she’s the kind of woman who would walk into my house, see another woman in my kitchen and lose her mind when she sees someone playin’ with what she considers her toy and scheme in preparation for makin’ a play in my mother’s motherfuckin’ front yard on motherfuckin’ Thanksgiving, that is gonna make me conflicted. And I’m conflicted because this means, with all that other shit I just laid out for you, I gotta look into attorneys and whatever else I gotta do to make certain my boys don’t spend the vast majority of their time suckin’ up whatever acid she leaks not to mention whatever-the-fuck her man is like, steppin’ out on their Mom, if that’s even true, or anything else, and at least try to give them somethin’ good for more than four fuckin’ days a month.

Now, with this, I’ll ask you, what’s the priority? You and your motherfucker ex? My Dad dyin’ and my family at each other’s throats? Or my boys in that viper’s den?”

Hmm. This was a good question.

And I had the uncomfortable feeling I’d been a bad girlfriend to my hot guy.

Time to sort myself out.

“Your boys in that viper’s den,” I told him, he did a slow blink again and I explained.

“Damian does something, we’ll deal. Your family are all adults, they need to deal. Your sons are powerless and they need you to deal.”

He stared up at me and I kept talking.

“I’m sorry, my reaction was selfish, I should have thought of you and I’ll work on it but I’m a woman and women have this thing when their men have had women in their lives that are better looking than them.” This got another slow blink coupled with a finger squeeze at my hips but I was on a roll so I ignored these and stayed on that roll. “You’re hot. I should have known she would be beautiful but just how beautiful she is took me by surprise. Like I said, I’ll work on that and try to get over it. But, in my defense, it’s my experience not a lot of men say no to a woman like her and, even if it didn’t work out in the end, at one time you were one of them.”

“Tess –” he started but I talked over him.

“And, just to say, you were able to talk your brother back into the house and I know you have a full plate but, once some of this other stuff is sorted, you need to carve time out to have more words with him. Not about your Dad or about me, he needs to sort himself out about your Dad and I’ll win him over eventually so, if you’re worried about that too, then you need to stop doing it, but about Lenore. She’s in love with him, she’s a good person, she’s sweet and if he isn’t into her he needs to cut her loose and he also needs to get his head out of his ass because if he’s breaking hearts like that all through Denver, that isn’t cool.”

When I stopped talking, Brock remained silent and stared up at me.

When the silence stretched for awhile, he asked, “Are you done?”

“Well,” I started, “yeah.”

Then he asked, “You think Olivia is better looking than you?”

My brows drew together and I repeated, “Well… yeah.”

He was silent again while staring at me.

“Brock –” I started but he cut me off.

“Jesus, you haven’t, have you?”

“I haven’t what?”

“Ever played games.”

I thought about it. Then I answered, “No.”

He shook his head while his lips tipped up then his hands slid up my sides pulling me to him at the same time. I put my hands to his chest as I got closer then Brock wrapped his arms around me.

Then he spoke and when he did he did it softly and I noticed the sweet hum in the room just as it hit me his eyes were amused.

“Okay, sweetness, it shits me to do it but I’m gonna have to educate you.”

Uh-oh.

I tipped my head to the side as I felt my body tense and I asked cautiously, “About what?”

“About the games a woman like Olivia plays, specifically why she instigates a play.”

Oh, well. That didn’t sound too bad. It actually sounded interesting.

I relaxed against him and said, “Okay.”

His lips tipped up more and he began, “Now, a woman like Olivia walks into my place and sees a woman in my kitchen who isn’t better lookin’ than her, she does not throw a shit fit.

She does not make bitchy comments. She has no reaction at all. She’s content in the knowledge I’ve settled for somethin’ less and falls asleep smilin’, thinking I’m thinking I settled for second best.”

I nodded when he quit speaking so he continued.

“If she sees a woman who’s better lookin’ than her, her hackles rise and she gets pissed.

Right at that moment it’s game on. Then she throws a shit fit and makes bitchy comments and she drives home thinkin’ about nothin’ but how to stake her claim. And she instigates a play to remind me of the Olivia she played me with, and, by the way, that was who was on my Mom’s lawn today and it was the first time I saw her since the last time Olivia wanted somethin’ from me. And she did this not because she wants me back. She did it in order to best you so she can go back to fallin’ asleep smilin’, content in the knowledge that she’s top of the heap, she’s taken you down and she’s still got what it takes to manipulate me.”

I stared into his eyes.

Then I began, “I don’t –”

His arms gave me a squeeze and he talked over me. “Tess, no lie, Olivia is beautiful but she is not better looking than you. No fuckin’ way. You think, she was, Levi would take one look at you and put you to the test?”

Hmm. Interesting point.

“But –” I started and got another arm squeeze.

“Babe, seriously. I’m committed to my job and there were a lot of things about Darla that were foul most especially the shit she snorted, injected and inhaled into her body but she wasn’t tough to look at. There were a lot of ways to make my play with you as a possible asset or suspect. The minute I saw you, it took me a split second to decide what play I was gonna make and,” another arm squeeze, “when I say the minute I saw you, I’m talkin’ your pictures in a file. The minute I saw you in person, babe, cast your mind back. How long was I in your shop before you said yes to me askin’ you out for a beer?”

I cast my mind back but I didn’t have to. Meeting Brock slash Jake was burned in my brain. I was filling the display with fresh cupcakes, the bell over the door went, I looked up and his eyes were on me. Then he smiled as he walked straight to me, ignoring the two counter girls, asked for half a dozen snickerdoodles and if I’d meet him for a beer.

He was probably in my shop thirty seconds before he asked me out.

I thought it was the coolest move ever, no bullshit, cocky, confident and self-assured.

Not to mention he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.

So it wasn’t but five seconds later when I said yes (to my counter girls’ disbelief and delight).

I stared at him.

Then it hit me and I blurted, “You think I’m more beautiful than Olivia?”

“Babe,” he muttered, grinned, gave me an arm squeeze but that was it.

Whoa. He thought I was more beautiful than Olivia.

“I think I need to spend some time perusing myself in the mirror,” I told him and his body started shaking with laughter as his arms separated, one went low, one went high so his hand could sift into my hair then pull my face closer to his.

“How ‘bout you peruse yourself in the mirror later,” he muttered, his eyes dropping to my lips.

“Later?” I whispered, knowing what his eyes dropping to my lips meant because that had happened before but also the hum in the room changed to warm and close and I knew what was on his mind.

“Yeah,” his eyes came to mine then his hand pushed my head closer to his but veered it to the side so at my ear, he whispered, “I had maple buttermilk pie at dinner and chocolate cake during football but I still have a taste for somethin’ sweet and the sweet I wanna eat right now is my Tess.”

I felt tingles at my scalp, along my skin and about three other places besides.

“Okay,” I whispered, sliding my hands out from between us to wrap my arms around him and press my torso close to his.

His lips slid down my neck then back up making me roll my hips in his lap involuntarily and, back at my ear, he growled, “Fuckin’ love goin’ down on you, baby.”

I shivered and I did this because I loved it too but almost (not quite) better was him growling it in my ear.

“Brock,” I whispered.

His arm slid up my back, wrapped around tight and his fingers stroked light as a feather against the side of my breast as he went on, “Never had a sweeter cunt than yours, Tess, not in my whole fuckin’ life.”

I made a noise in my throat and pressed my lips against his neck right where his hair curled as my hips rolled against his lap again.

“You wet for me?” he murmured against my neck.

Oh yeah. Definitely.

“Yes,” I whispered.

“Good, then you’re ready.”

Then he moved his head and mine, crushed my lips down on his, invaded my mouth with his tongue and surged up off the couch, taking me with him.

I wrapped my legs around his hips, my arm around his shoulders and slid the fingers of my other hand in his hair as he kissed me while he carried me to my bedroom.

Then I gave Brock something sweet.

Then he gave me something sweeter.

Then we both gave each other something even sweeter.

Then he tugged his tee and jeans back on, I pulled on a nightie, warm socks and dug in his exploded bag that now had a permanent place in the corner of my bedroom and pulled on one of his flannels. He got a beer and poured me some red wine while I took out my contacts and slipped on my glasses. Then we curled on my couch in the basement and watched football.

I zonked out with my head against his thigh and his fingers sifting through my hair.

I reawakened when he set me in bed and only stayed that way until he pulled me deep into his body and tangled his legs with mine.

My last thought before drifting back to sleep was that Thanksgiving, as with anything with Brock’s family, was interesting, to say the least.

But Thanksgiving night with just Brock and me was fabulous.

The best Thanksgiving night I ever had.

Ever.