Breathless Awakening (The Breathless Series) (6 page)

“Oh man, that really has to be hard. Having to go through watching the wedding, helping them move… It’s almost like rubbing all of it right in his face. I can understand being upset, but he is still drinking quite a bit.”

“I plan on having a talk with him later. Last night I hoped that he was trying to enjoy himself a little, but when he started this morning, well, I was a little shocked myself. I don’t want to make a big scene of it in front of the other guys though so I’m trying to wait for the right time.”

“Son, let me give you a word of advice. I understand and commend you for not making a scene of it. With his size, I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of a scene with him. Just remember, if you are waiting for a time where it is going to be comfortable to talk about, there is never going to be a right time. There are going to be times in life that you have to do those difficult things, hoping for the best, but being ready for the worst.”

“Thanks. Things like that little bit of advice make me realize how much I miss about not having a father in my life. Luke did his best to take care of me, but he wasn’t old enough to have that wisdom to share. We were trying to figure things out on our own as we went along. He sure is lucky to have you there for him.”

“We are all family now, son.”

As I hopped out of the truck, I saw Ryan coming out of the house to help. “Hey man, you sure look happy. I guess you had a good night?”

“Well the night was a little aggravating, but this morning was absolutely amazing. That’s all I can tell you though. I don’t want to jeopardize anything. I think I might be falling for her.”

I shook my head as I smacked him upside his. “Dude, snap out of it. You only met her a freaking day ago.” Terry backed into the driveway as I guided him up the drive. I went to the truck and rolled the door open carefully, watching to make sure nothing fell.

Ryan almost pouted as he looked at me, saying, “If you’re gonna treat me like that, then I’m going to go back in and help the women.”

Tuck walked up beside the truck and started to help me pull out the ramp. “Good, you pansy, go back inside with the other women. Leave the man’s work to us men.”

Celeste walked out the door just in time to hear Tuck, and Ryan stomped past her. Making sure she said it loud enough for everyone to hear, she said, “Don’t you listen to them, after this morning I know you are more of a man than any of them.”

Shaking my head at the scene, I decided to get the guys refocused on the task at hand. “Terry, where is all this stuff going?”

“For now let’s just get it all in the garage. I’m sure the ladies don’t want it in their way while they are cleaning. Just make sure to get it all as far back as you can. I’ve got a delivery coming tomorrow and we need to make sure there is plenty of room for it.”

“You heard the man, let’s get it off the truck and to the back of the garage. Tuck, be careful with that. If you break it, I’m letting my brother deal with you.”

“Paranoid much? It’s a box with his towels and stuff in it.”

“No, I’m not paranoid much, and no, it isn’t just towels. Inside of those towels, to keep them safe and in one piece, are the few things of my mother’s that Luke still has. So, be fucking careful with that or Luke will deal with you after I am done.”

Breck walked up and took the box from him. “I’m going to take this inside and ask Mrs. Donnelly where I can put this so that nothing happens to it.”

“I’m going that way too. I want to see how my beautiful wife is handling her supervisory position and not doing much actual work. Think I can hide behind you in case she’s still mad at me?” In all reality, I wanted to follow Breck and make sure he wasn’t trying to sneak off to drink more, but I knew Terry would take care of that.

“Terry, you can’t really think she would be mad at you, do you? You two seem like the kind of couple that never has cross words.”

“Breck, one day you will learn that you don’t have to cross words with a woman for her to be mad at you. All it takes is you not seeing things her way. After that, you learn quickly who the boss is in the household. Now, let’s go see how they are doing inside.”

“Trust me, Terry, I learned that lesson not too long ago.” Breck walked into the house with the box, but I could tell he definitely wanted a drink.

Chapter Seven

Cailyn

I couldn’t help but laugh as Luke walked back to our seats. “What was all that about, honey?”

“Ha ha, very funny. How did you get out of there without getting caught?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I just went to the restroom and came back to my seat. Maybe it’s because I didn’t look like a guilty pervert trying to sneak out of the lavatory.” I heard the lady in front of us giggle quietly at my comment.

“How about we don’t talk about it? Let’s talk about the honeymoon. What all are we going to do?”

“You mean other than rape each other all day and night? Is there going to be time for us to do anything else?” I smirked at him. “Although, I really want to go horseback riding on the beach.”

“You can’t rape the willing, but I’ve got something you can ride. Save a horse, ride a cowboy, right?”

I reached over to smack his leg and give him a look just as the plane hit some turbulence. The pilot came over the intercom telling everyone to return to their seats and stay seated as he tried to avoid a storm in our path.

Instantly I started to hyperventilate. In reality, it wasn’t even that bad at first, but still to think that we were flying through the air at hundreds of miles per hour, and it felt like something just reached out and shook the plane. I really didn’t like that feeling.

Luke saw the worry in my eyes and took my hand. “It’s going to be okay, babe, take a deep breath. Why don’t we find something to talk about and take your mind off everything? How about the wedding yesterday? Was it everything you dreamed of?”

I couldn’t speak as the plane shook again. Nodding my head, I breathed slow and deep, I probably looked like I was going to have a baby or something the way I was breathing. I saw the mom in front of us trying to calm her children. How could she be so calm through all of this? I was going to be a horrible mother. I would probably just freak them out even more.

Luke’s hand reached up under my chin and turned me towards him. “Cailyn, look at me. Everything will be fine. Do you know how beautiful you were yesterday when I finally saw you walking down that aisle? You had everything planned so perfectly. Your Aunt Megan’s work was beautiful and she got everything the way you wanted it, didn’t she?”

Closing my eyes for a minute, I took a deep breath in and could start to see the garden at the church. The flowers smelled amazing on the cool breeze. Seeing Luke standing there staring at me, he looked so calm, but so nervous at the same time. I saw him relax as the weight lifted off my shoulders once we made eye contact, and I lost myself in his dreamy gaze, putting one foot in front of the other, letting daddy guide me down the aisle.

I could see that most of the guys were trying to be on their best behavior, but Breck seemed a little out of breath. I didn’t know at the time about him having to escort Luke’s dad to his car. Breck was an old soul. With time frozen in this memory, I could see so much more than I thought I had noticed in the heat of the moment. He stood there in a manner that made him look regal, but not enough to show Luke up. He was the strong devoted protector of their group. They each had a role. Breck’s eyes hid a chasm of pain as he caught a glimpse of me in the corner of his eye. He never did make contact with me during the ceremony, and come to think of it, he did a good job of avoiding me at the reception as well.

Ryan was fidgeting as he stood there, but it probably didn’t help that Tucker was nudging him to look across the way. As I looked over at my bridesmaids, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed how beautiful they all looked. Celeste had been giving Ryan an evil “be good or else” look from across the way. That would be something she would do. If anyone was going to ruin this day for one of her best friends, they were going to have to face her wrath. There almost seemed to be a hint of amusement in that look though, as if she wanted him to misbehave.

The plane shook harder as we hit a stronger pocket of turbulence. I snapped out of my memory and looked up at Luke. His hand wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me over to him, and he patted my head while whispering that it would be okay. I started to calm down until I looked up and could see through the crack in the seats that he was copying the mother in front of us. I looked up at him and rolled my eyes. “So now I’m just a little baby?”

His face apologized for him as he gave me a pathetic look of sorrow as he shrugged his shoulders. I gave him a smile and put my head back down on his shoulder. “Luke, did you notice that Breck was avoiding me yesterday? Did I do something to upset him?”

“It wasn’t you, Cailyn, trust me. At first I thought it was me, but Zane finally told me that Breck proposed a couple weeks ago to Rachel and she told him no. She was moving out this weekend while he was gone. I can only imagine how rough it was for him to be at our wedding and thinking about all of that.”

“Ouch! I guess that explains why he was drinking so much. I was worried that we were going to have to try and carry him out of there as much as he was consuming.”

“Yeah, I was a bit worried about him too, but it seemed he was holding his own pretty well. I’m hoping that it was just because of the wedding and that he doesn’t drink like that all the time. He does a good job most of the time staying in control, but when he loses his temper after a few drinks, it is not a good thing to be anywhere near him.”

“Then it was probably a good thing he didn’t see Ryan and Tucker up there standing behind him. They couldn’t stand still at all.”

“Tell me about it. I heard them back there whispering. I tried to get Tucker to leave Ryan alone, but he just kept teasing him about Celeste. Ryan seems to have fallen pretty hard and quick for her though.”

“What? I don’t remember anything between the two of them? Geez. That would explain why Celeste had that hunger in her eyes, but I just found out that her and Amber were a thing yesterday morning.”

Luke smiled at the mental image that I could see him processing. I smacked his leg lightly to snap him out of it. “Huh, sorry. Yea, I think there is enough of Ryan to go around. He is the kind of guy that will do anything to please his woman. So if Celeste wants to share him, he will do it. He isn’t going to ask any questions. If she wants it, she’ll get it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that, and I was amazed at how good it felt to laugh. I realized how much that was taking my mind off the rough flight, and it didn’t even bother me when we hit a few bumps along the way. “That’s going to be a dangerous combination. She is going to take him for everything he will give. Once she finds that out, he will stop at nothing to make her happy… Well, I can see her just going to town to see what limits he has.”

We sat and talked some more about the wedding and reception. Luke was good at keeping my mind off the flight, but I quickly found out that whereas I remembered everything about the wedding, the reception was a different story. I remembered the big things, like cutting the cake, throwing the bouquet, and our first dance. However, there were several minor details that I seemed to have forgotten. “What do you mean you all were giving me water and telling me that it was a Mojito?”

Luke was almost in tears as he laughed at me. “It was hilarious, babe. You kept telling us it was too strong for you, but you drank it anyway that’s how wasted you were. Don’t give me that look; I had nothing to do with it. Your girls were the ones that did it, and you should be thankful they did. Imagine how much worse you would have felt this morning if they didn’t cut you off.”

Just then, we hit a pocket of air that shook the entire plane. I grabbed Luke’s arm and squeezed it tightly, digging my nails in, as the plane seemed to drop a few feet in altitude. The “Fasten Seatbelt” sign lit up and the plane banked sharply. Luke peeled my hand off his arm and held it gently. “Cailyn, it’s going to be okay. Just breathe and look at me. Everything is going to be fine and before you know it we will be landing in Costa Rica.”

“I hope so. I’m scared, Luke. Don’t you feel that? The plane is shaking, I don’t want to die!”

“Cailyn, calm down, you are scaring the kids in front of us. Everything is going to be fine. I promise.” Luke pulled my head onto his shoulder, his fingers gently running through my hair. I heard the woman trying to comfort her kids, and I knew that my hysterics weren’t helping things. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Tears started to run down my cheeks and through my sobs I said, “How are you going to control this, Luke? You can’t control the storm, the plane, or anything else. If we crash there is nothing you can do to save me.”

“Don’t you dare doubt my love for you, Cailyn. I would move Heaven and Earth to keep you safe. See, look out the window, the storm is behind us now. I bet we have smooth skies the rest of the way.”

I knew he had nothing to do with getting us past the storm, but I curled up against him a little tighter. “I love you Luke, more than you will ever know.” I closed my eyes and this time, I fell asleep on him.

Luke

Nothing in the world felt better than having Cailyn asleep on me. Knowing how scared and stressed she was a few moments ago, it proved that she felt utterly safe in my arms. I had to admit, though, I had been worried myself.

Thankfully, the rest of the flight was rather uneventful. The pilot kept us updated in regards to the rogue storm and we actually were able to make up the time that we had to use skirting the edge of it. We were only going to be a few minutes late getting into the airport.

This next week was going to be absolutely amazing! A week of just Cailyn and I, the beach, the forest, waterfalls, and lots of getting to know more of that sexy body she kept from me for so long. I couldn’t wait to rip those clothes off her, devour every curve of that delectable figure with my eyes, before laying her flat on the beach and having my way with her.