Fighting Ever After (Ever After #3) (22 page)

“Hey you
better have saved some of those for me dickhead.” Ace came in from the living
room as I was finishing putting everything on the plate.

“Hey, get
the fuck away from my muffins. You already had four cookies,” Spade barked,
taking the muffin Ace had grabbed.

“I’ll just
grab another one dumbass.” When he tried to, Spade shoved him and it turned
into a scuffle over a damned muffin. They were both dumbasses. Pretty soon Bas
and Chris were in the middle of it and then they were all brawling in the
kitchen.

 “Hey
guys,” Jax interrupted the wrestling match, “I can just bake more for you to
take home.”

They
stopped.
“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s
not a big deal.”

“Actually,
Princess, it is. We’ve got plans today,” I informed her. “Sorry guys, she’s not
going to have any time to bake for you.” I ignored their groans and let them
resume the bickering. I focused on Jax, who was looking at me confused.

“Plans?
You and me?”
Her eyes darted to
Bas, but he just shrugged at her and I stepped around to the other side of the
counter.

“Not just
you and
me,
so sit down,” I directed her to the seat,
pulling out the stool for her, and placing the huge plate of fruit down in
front of her. She eyed it and then looked back up at me, surprised.

 
“Peanut butter?”

 “Yeah,
I thought it sounded weird as hell, but Bas said I needed to put it on there.”

She picked
up a slice of mango and dipped it into the peanut butter, clearly enjoying it.
Mango in peanut butter.
I shook my head. “You eat strange
shit.” I walked over to the fridge and poured her a glass.

“Thank you,”
she mumbled when I set it down in front of her and then leaned against the
counter, watching her.

 “Aren’t
you going to eat something?” She asked.

I plucked a
strawberry off her plate and dipped it in the peanut butter and then the
granola as I’d watched her do, but instead of eating it, I touched the
strawberry to her lips and held it there until she closed them around it and
took a bite.  I popped the remaining half of the berry into my mouth.
“Tasty, Princess.”

She coughed,
trying to swallow what was in her mouth, but her eyes were on my lips. I wasn’t
the only one affected by the weirdly, almost erotic moment.  She quickly
looked away, and that’s when I realized everyone in the kitchen was watching
us, eyes lit with amusement. It got worse when Ace held out a bit of muffin to
Spade and fed it to him, while Spade fluttered his eyelashes all girly like.

Assholes.

I took a
step away from her. “When you’re done, grab a jacket and your book. We’re going
out on the water.” She looked like she was going to argue at first, but then
she just nodded and went back to her plate of fruit. When Bas got up and walked
out of the kitchen, she quickly followed after him.

“So I take
it you two kissed and made up?” Ace asked.

“Except for
the kissing part, yeah, I guess so, or I hope so at least.”

“Good, then
don’t screw it up this time.”

“Not
planning on it.”

Taking her
out on the water had been a brilliant idea. I seriously owed Bas for suggesting
it. She’d been almost giddy when Jake had steered us out of the cove, a huge
smile playing across her face and her hair whipping behind her when he pushed
the speed. I listened to
her,
Bas and Vi talk about
other times they came out here in their high school days. It seemed a big chunk
of their summers were always spent out here, and Jax loved being on the water.
It was easy to see on her face and the way she relaxed and basked in the sun
shining down on her as we skimmed over the waves.

When we were
out a ways,
Vi
took over steering and the three of us
guys popped open the cooler we’d packed, grabbing out ice cold sodas. I passed
one to Jax, and she was content to take it and curl up on one of the seats with
a book. While we bullshitted, she read, completely absorbed in her story. A
little later
Vi
killed the engine and we just let the
boat drift while we had lunch and watched a group of teenagers or young college
kids wakeboarding. When Jax appeared this carefree and full of life, it was
hard to imagine that inside she constantly carried so many demons with her.
This is how I wanted to see her, because despite the bad shit tearing at her,
she did have so much life inside of her.

By mid
afternoon, most of the breeze had died down, and it was turning out to be a
real scorcher. Everyone was craving a cool off when we pulled back into the
cove. It felt so good when my feet hit the cool water after jumping out of the
boat. I knew as soon as we had her out of the water, the first thing I was
going to do was go dive off the dock.

I helped the
girls out of the boat and then stuck around to help Bas and Jake get her loaded
onto the trailer and hauled back into the boat garage. Chris and Ace wandered
over to give us a hand. I didn’t pay attention to where the girls disappeared,
but when the boat was tucked away and we all made our way over to the dock, Vi
was sitting there  with her feet dangling off the edge in the water and
Jaxyn was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s
Jax?” I asked her.

“Inside
changing,” she answered.

I heard her
before I saw her. Soft footsteps fell on the dock and I turned to see her
strolling toward me in the ugliest swimsuit I’d ever seen. Okay, so it wasn’t
that ugly, but it was definitely the least flattering swimsuit. It was a plain
one piece like Olympic swimmers wear, and she had on a pair of shorts, which
also frustrated me. Since I’d officially declared her off limits, looking was
all I had, and I couldn’t do much of it in that thing. Knowing it was
intentional, that she was hiding beneath it, only frustrated me more. She
shouldn’t be hiding. I got that she was modest, I actually even appreciated it,
which was surprising because modesty had never been my friend before, but this
wasn’t about modesty. This was about shame and fear. Well fuck them both.

 “No,
Princess.” She looked dazed momentarily before she managed a response.

“No, what?”
She asked uncertainly.

“No more
hiding.” I eyed her up and down to make sure she understood what I was
referring to, and she did, because she immediately looked away and crossed her
arms over her chest. I wasn’t having it though. “Look at me.”

When she
refused to comply, I stepped forward and lifted her chin with my thumb and
forefinger. I wanted her looking at me when I said this next part so that there
would be no doubt in her mind that I meant it. “You’re fucking perfect. A
couple of scars don’t change that.”

 “But
they’re hideous,” she choked out.

“Nothing
about you could ever be hideous.” I let go of her chin at the sight of the
tears welling in her eyes. It tore me up that she truly couldn’t see herself
and somehow felt her body was ruined. I wanted to take away that insecurity –
take it and fucking
destroy
it. I couldn’t erase the
scars on the outside, but I was sure as hell going to try to do something about
the ones on the inside, the ones that told her she was somehow less because of
what had happened to her. “You don’t have to show the world, but here, with us,
no hiding.”

“I can’t,”
she protested.

“Yes you
can.”

 “I
mean I didn’t bring . . . this is all I have.”

Well if that
was the only thing stopping her . . . “Come on.” I grabbed her hand and led her
back inside the house.

 “I’m
not going out there in my underwear,” she said adamantly.  

I could
dream. “I’m not asking you to.” The small bag I’d purchased was sitting on the
table just inside the entryway. “
Here.
” I handed it
to her.

She took it
from me and carefully opened it, almost like she was afraid something was going
to jump out and bite her. When she realized what it was, her face registered
surprise and I thought I even detected the barest hint of a smile. “When did
you get this?”

 
“That first morning.
After I saw the scars and took off, I
ended up in town. I was pissed and I’ll admit a little crazy. I saw it inside
one of the shops and I knew you had lied about why you wouldn’t wear a
swimsuit. It was either buy it for you or put my fist through something. If you
really don’t like it, you don’t have to wear it, but
you shouldn’t
not wear it because you’re ashamed of the scars
.”

She bit her
bottom lip nervously, staring at the bag a moment before pulling the pieces out
and holding them up. Again it was like she was holding a dangerous object in
those delicate hands, and not just a simple bikini, but I knew for her there
was nothing simple about this. It was about her facing years worth of fear and
self doubt, which is why I wanted to jump up and down and do a victory dance
right there in the foyer when she clutched it to her chest and made for the
stairs.

This was her
thing to do, in her own time. Having me waiting at the bottom of the steps when
she came out would only make her feel more uncomfortable, so I went back
outside to give her some space and wait for her to come out when she was ready.
I didn’t have to wait long. Her steps were nervous and cautious, and even
though her face gave away her desire to bolt or hide, she didn’t.

I tried to
mask my own emotion, but it wasn’t easy. Catching a brief glimpse of the marks
and knowing they were there wasn’t the same as seeing them completely on
display. As much as I wished I could just look past them and pretend they
weren’t there, I think we all needed a moment to fully take in her
scars ,
so harsh and angry against such beauty, before any
of us could get past them. When I did though, they were nothing compared to
what else I saw – such vulnerability and raw openness. It was humbling and I
was so proud of her, not to mention that she looked killer. Slender legs and
nice rounded hips that tapered into a small waist covered by an impressive
amount of ink, and that bikini top might have covered her entirely, but it
didn’t hide what was under it. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the view either.

 Spade
was happy to show his appreciation as well.
“Stunning,
Rainbow.”
She smiled softly at him. “Love the tat, glad I finally got
the chance to see it.” I doubted her
tat
was the only
thing he was admiring, even though it was beautiful. From what I could see, it
was the helm of a ship and an anchor with some flowers and script around it. I
was curious about what it said, but if I got close enough to read it, I would
be tempted to trace my tongue over it.

“I vote that
you walk around like that all the time from now on.” Spade winked at her.

“I’ll second
that,” Ace agreed, just before shoving Spade off the dock. He came up
sputtering and threatening Ace, who just laughed and then jumped in himself. I
suspected he was trying to make Princess feel more comfortable, take some of
the attention off of her, and it seemed to work, because she grinned and then
launched herself in the water after them.

Everyone
else followed and her scars were forgotten after that, or maybe not forgotten.
I doubted any of us could just forget, but they weren’t on our minds as we
spent our last day diving off the dock and floating on inner tubes until it was
time for most of us to head back to the city. It was a much lonelier ride on my
bike without Jax on the back, but her Bas,
Vi
and Jake
stayed behind for one more night.

Unfortunately
my reason for having to return was dinner with my parents. I’m not sure why I
still agreed to these dinners knowing what I was getting myself into. I guess
as much as I couldn’t stand my parents, they were still my parents, and once
again, that evening I found myself pulling up outside the McCabe estate. It
said something about our relationship that the new guys on security didn’t know
who I was and wanted to frisk me down before letting me pass through the drive.

“Chill out
Vin Diesel,” one of the dudes was big, bald and looked like he ate small
children for breakfast. “I’m the Senator’s son. Pretty sure my parents are
expecting me. I’ll let you explain to my mother why I’m late for dinner.” The
threat of my mother seemed to do it.

“I’m sorry
Mr. McCabe. Of course, go right on ahead and have a nice dinner.”

That was
unlikely, but I gave a wave of my hand and pulled my bike up to the house. My
helmet wasn’t even off before my mother had the giant oak door open and was
marching down the steps of her castle with a pinched expression.

“Why do you
insist on riding around on that death trap? You know how I don’t like it.”
Which is exactly why I did it.
I could have just as easily
driven my car, but it wouldn’t be a McCabe family dinner if I didn’t provide
her with a reason to bitch at me.

“Good to see
you too Mom,” I said, hanging the helmet from the handlebars and brushing past
her to go inside.”

“Oh and now
you can’t even spare a hug for your mother?”

I didn’t
even bother stopping. “Don’t worry, I doubt any of the neighbors are watching,
no need to keep up appearances.”

She let out
a little huff, but followed on my heels. “Listen, there’s someone here tonight
your father and I want you to meet, so I expect you to be a gentleman at dinner.”
This time I did stop and turn on her.

“You’ve got
to be kidding me.” I was tempted to walk right back out that door.

“What? Is it
so wrong for your father and
I
to want to see you
settle down with a nice girl, and put this childish rebellion behind you?”

Childish rebellion.
I wanted to laugh, because she still didn’t get
it, probably never would. She still thought this was some phase I was going
through. It didn’t matter that it’d been over four years since I dropped out of
Harvard and blew my parents’ dreams and expectations all to hell.

“Is it too
much for me to ask you guys just to let me live my own damn life?” I retorted.

“Don’t take
that tone with me. I’m still your mother and you could show me a little
respect.” She’d lost my respect a long time ago, but before I could tell her
that, my father joined us in the entryway.

“Kyden.
Good, you’re here. Our guest is waiting and dinner is ready
to be served.” That was it; just a few words before he turned and walked toward
the dining hall, fully expecting me to just fall in line. I had no doubt he’d
heard at least some of our argument and, as always, didn’t care as long as it
didn’t make him look bad to the public eye. Everything else could just be
ignored or swept under the rug. The only thing that kept me from walking out
was the off chance that whatever girl they’d invited here to parade in front of
me, wasn’t a stuck up bitch and didn’t deserve the embarrassment of me standing
her up and leaving her to deal with my parents alone.

Dinner was
awkward to say the least. Conversation was forced and fifteen minutes in, I was
wishing I’d just listened to my gut and ran as soon as my mother said there was
someone she wanted me to meet. This wasn’t the first time they’d ambushed me
with some high society, spoiled brat. That’s exactly what this girl was.
Annemarie Martins, daughter of someone rich and powerful with something to
offer my father, no doubt. She was a twenty four year old, recent graduate of
Harvard Business School, running her own Event Planning Company, and right
there is where she stopped being interesting. All she wanted to talk about were
the parties she got to attend and the celebrities she got to meet.

It was
difficult to even pretend to find her appealing, but I must have been doing a
better job than I thought, because after dinner when my parents left us alone
for a drink in the sitting room, Annemarie was under the impression that a
little privacy meant we were going to do it right there on my mother’s
expensive, Italian sofa.

She sidled up
next to me, resting her hand on my thigh. “I’m having a really good time with
you tonight, but I could think of a few ways we could have an even better
time.” She was cute, and I could have let her keep going with that hand, but I
wasn’t about to start anything in my parents’ house, and there was just no
appeal in it for me.