Just a Kiss: The Bradfords, Book 5 (32 page)

“So, to be clear, this is the preacher’s daughter he’s bringing over, right?” Cody, the oldest and tallest of the boys, asked.

Kevin knew Cody saw him standing behind Mac. This would be interesting. He leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb and pulled Eve against his side, signaling her to stay quiet and giving her a wink.

“Right,” Sam said. “A
nice
girl who prefers to think that the youth of tomorrow are polite and respectful.”

Oh, this was great. Kevin couldn’t help but grin at Sam Bradford—one of the biggest playboys of all—giving lectures about anything polite or respectful.

“So, we’re not supposed to say hell or damn, right?” Eli, a stocky kid who was never without a baseball cap on, asked.

“Right,” Mac confirmed. “Or any others.”

The kids were supposed to watch their mouths all the time really—house rules—but Sam and the other guys generally let a lot slide. If that was the worst any of these kids did, they were happy. In a neighborhood where fighting, drugs and school drop outs were more common than not, swearing seemed a minor offense. As long as it wasn’t
at
anyone. Treating everyone at the Center with respect was also house rules.

“Others like what?” Juan, the most easy-going of the three, asked with a big grin.

“You know the words,” Mac said. “No swearing, period.”

“Hell, damn, shit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, God, God damn it,” Eli recited. “Right. Got it.”

Mac gave a little growl. “Yes, all of those. And fuck. Seriously, kid, you say that one way too much even when there’s not a nice lady around.”

“Fuck,” Eli said, nodding solemnly. “I won’t say fuck. You won’t hear fuck from me, Mac.”

“Great,” Mac muttered.

“Anything else?” Cody asked.

“Only sports video games, no shooting,” Sam said.

“Jessica took the shooting games away anyway,” Juan said. He clearly thought that was an extreme action.

“She took them away in part because you failed your last geography test,” Sam reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“What else? That it?” Cody wanted to know, his eyes skipping to Kevin.

“Don’t chew with your mouth open, say ‘excuse me’, don’t belch,” Sam said. “All the basics, guys.”

“And no kissing Kayla,” Mac added.

“Oh, come on, man,” Cody moaned. “It’s just kissing.”

Uh, huh. Kevin knew all about “just kissing”.

“You and Kayla do not
just
kiss,” Sam said. “Dani told me she found you two in the supply closet last week. Not cool.”

“I found Dooley and Morgan doing more than kissing in the kitchen two days ago,” Cody said.

Mac rubbed a hand over his face. “Can you…be good, okay? No making out, swearing, violent video games or trying to shock Eve with your stories about fights or drugs at school.”

“You bet,” Eli said. “We’ll drink lemonade and watch cartoons and hold hands the whole time she’s here.”

The boys all laughed, elbowing each other and heading toward a pool table.

“And no gambling,” Sam yelled after them.

“Or dirty jokes,” Mac called.

“Or mentioning that she’s hot,” Sam said.

The boys turned as one. “She’s hot?” Juan asked.

“Well, um…” Sam sighed. “Yeah, she is. But it’s inappropriate for you to say that.”

Kevin heard Eve make a little squeak and he squeezed her waist to keep her quiet. He wanted to hear the rest of this.

“Is it inappropriate for
you
to say it?” Eli asked.

“Yes, it is,” Mac said resolutely. “Her hotness has nothing to do with her being here, so shut up about it.”

“Nothing to do with her being here?” Cody asked with a grin. “Not even for Kevin?”

Again Eve made a muffled choking sound and Kevin squeezed her again, trying to keep from laughing out loud himself.

“It might have something to do with… That’s not why he…or why she’s here…” Sam sighed. “Be good. ’Kay? For Kevin?”

All three boys grinned. “Sure. For Kevin.”

The boys moved off and Sam glanced at Mac. “We missed some rules.”

“Probably.” Mac relaxed his stance. “This place is kind of high risk for misbehaving—good and bad misbehaving.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, and then there’s the kids,” Sam joked. Then he counted on his fingers. “Swearing, video games, kissing, dirty jokes…” He shook his head. “I could have sworn there was more on the list Dani and Jess put together.”

Kevin almost laughed out loud at that too. Of course the girls were behind the rules.

“Sara told me to be sure the kitchen and bathrooms were clean,” Mac said.

“Are they?”

“Hell if I know.”

“Maybe next time we should go get the food and let the girls cover the rules,” Sam said.

“Yeah, the kids are definitely more scared of the girls,” Mac agreed.

“Fuck.”

Kevin couldn’t hold back any longer. “The bathrooms aren’t even clean?”

Mac and Sam jerked up straight and spun. They took in Kevin’s casual pose against the doorjamb and Eve’s against Kevin. It was clear they’d been there for awhile.

“Damn.”

“Hell.”

Eve burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, Kevin’s been working on teaching me all kinds of dirty words.”

“So we heard,” Sam said, with the grin he simply couldn’t turn off when there was a woman within range.

Eve’s eyebrows went up and Kevin stepped between her and Sam before his friend could spill any more info. “What’s to eat?”

“Fried chicken,” Mac answered.

But that didn’t keep Eve from leaning around Kevin and asking Sam, “Did he tell you my favorite word?”

Sam winked at Eve. “Cock is one of Danika’s favorite words too.”

Danika and Sara had come up behind their husbands as they’d been talking, but Kevin didn’t say a word. These guys were very likely going to do something at some point to make him regret bringing Eve here, so he’d get what revenge he could even before the fact.

Dani grinned at Kevin and Eve before she frowned and said, “Sam Bradford, did you seriously say cock to the new girl?”

Sam closed his eyes and muttered, “Damn,” again before he turned to face his wife.

“I was trying to be good, honest,” he said.

Danika rolled her eyes and slid her hand into his. “Maybe next time you guys should go for the food and leave us in charge of welcoming the guests.”

Sara grinned at Eve, tucking herself against Mac, who immediately wrapped his arm around her, his big hand on her butt.

“Hi, I’m Sara.”

“Hi, Sara.” Eve extended her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Sara looked at Eve’s hand, then laughed and lunged to catch Eve in a hug. “God, it’s so nice to meet you.” She jerked back right away though, cheeks pink. “I’m sorry. I mean
gosh
it’s nice to meet you.”

Mac tugged her back to his side. “Relax, princess. She’s cool.”

“Yeah, and Cody ran through the whole list of swear words,” Sam said.

Dani sighed, but smiled at Eve. “Sorry about that. I’m Dani. I’m really happy to meet you too.”

“No problem at all and me too,” Eve said with a warm smile.

Kevin relaxed completely. These were his friends. They truly were happy to meet Eve, simply because it was clear she made
him
happy.

And Eve loved him. He knew that and he knew that she understood how important these people were to him. She’d love them because they were a part of him.

“So, who’s got the most embarrassing Kevin stories?” Eve asked.

Everyone laughed, but Sam was clearly thinking.

“You are hereby forbidden to talk to Sam, Mac or Dooley without supervision,” Kevin said, gently pushing her past them and further into the rec room.

Eve grinned up at him. “You mean without editing?”

Kevin nodded. “Sara, Dani and the other girls like to pretend I’ve always been upstanding and decent. They like to believe some guys are naturally sweet and well-behaved.”

Eve tripped and Kevin caught her with a hand on her elbow. She glanced up at him. “Oh, you bet, you’ve been sweet and well-behaved since you were born.”

“Sounds like
you
might have some stories for us,” Sam said as they all settled into the couches and love seats clustered around a coffee table in one corner of the big room.

“Nope,” Eve said, “no stories about streaking down main street Grover or setting fireworks off at the river—in February—or leaving a shoe behind because he had to sneak out the window only half-dressed when the Chief of Police came home earlier than his daughter expected.”

Everyone was staring at her, including Kevin. “You knew about all of that?” he asked, too amazed to blush.

“Of course.” She gave him a mischievous smile. “I was equally intrigued and scared of you when you started talking to me.”

“But I fooled around with the chief’s daughter a year before we even met.” No wonder she’d been so shy with him at first. Not only had she never had a boyfriend but she also wasn’t used to hanging out with people who had such wild reputations.

“Oh, I knew who you were, Kevin Campbell. Even the preacher’s daughter notices the hot bad boys.”

And yet she’d still given him a chance. He grinned at her. “Intrigued, huh?”

“Stop!” Sara put her hands over her ears. “This is our sweet, responsible Kevin.”

“Yeah, Kevin is what we hope Sam and Mac can be when they grow up,” Dani added.

Sam put a possessive hand on her pregnant belly and said, “If you didn’t like my naughty side so much, I’d grow up right now.”

“Uh-huh,” they all said at once.

Eve chuckled.

“Thank goodness Dani and Sara have magical powers over Sam and Mac to help keep them in line,” Kevin said.

Sara laughed. “I’ll tell you a secret. Those magical powers are called breasts.”

“Okay, new topic,” Sam said loudly.

“Prude.” Dani laughed and put her hand on his thigh.

Sam leaned over and said something for only her to hear, but her giggle assured it was very un-prudish.

Sara fit perfectly next to Mac too, and Kevin found himself pulling Eve closer, his chest a little tight.

This—this thing that was so hard to describe or explain but was obvious when he watched his friends with their wives—this was what he wanted. With Eve.

“Kevin!”

He looked over his shoulder to find a couple of the teenagers he spent the most time with, David and Anthony, coming toward them with a newer kid, Ryan, between them.

“Hey, guys,” he greeted warmly as he got to his feet. Both David and Anthony had been struggling with choices like drugs and dropping out of school about a year ago. He’d taken them under his wing and turned them on to helping others. It had worked to keep them out of trouble.

“Ryan almost fought today,” Anthony reported, “but he said no.”

Kevin looked at the kid in the middle. “Yeah?”

Ryan lifted a shoulder. “Yeah. They were pissing me off, but I walked away.”

Kevin felt warmth spread through his chest and he stepped around the couch and put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “That’s hard to do. Good job.”

“I really wanted to hit him though,” Ryan said. “I can’t get rid of that feeling.”

“It’s not about never feeling stuff,” Kevin said. “It’s about being stronger than those feelings. Knowing that it’s harder to
not
do that stuff should make you feel powerful.”

Ryan sighed. “Maybe. But the other guys don’t see it as powerful.”

“Deep down they do,” Kevin assured him. “Anybody can hit someone. Not everyone can overcome the urge. That’s strength.”

Ryan nodded. “Okay. I’m working on it.”

“I know.” Kevin squeezed his shoulder, then let go. He was working on it too. He wanted to be a good guy, make all the right choices all the time. He didn’t get it right every minute, but he kept trying.

“Are there any Bible quotes about fighting?” David asked Eve with a grin.

Apparently the boys had heard about her “good girl” reputation as well.

“There are lots of verses about peace and getting along,” she said. “Like, ‘blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God’.”

“Hmm.” David looked impressed that she’d pulled out a verse that easily. “Any verses about being strong?”

“Oh, lots,” Eve told him. “Like, ‘be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go’.”

David and the other boys looked impressed.

So did Mac, Sara, Dani and Sam.

“Are there verses about…shoes?” Anthony asked.

It was clear he’d pulled out a random word. “It’s not a party trick,” Kevin said, nudging him. “If you want to learn verses, go look something up.”

Eve was smiling when the boys moved off, laughing. “There are verses about shoes,” she said. “I’m sure of it.”