Love and Chaos: A Growing Pains Novel (11 page)

Peter nodded slowly, the light dulling in his eyes. “Yeah. She’s pretty great. I hear you ended it with Marlene.”

Jace blew out his breath and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Yup. Thought she’d quit the cheating. Found her in bed with Jimmy. Our bed.”

Jimmy was Jace’s best friend—had been for years. They’d gone to school together, graduated college together—they were as close as two guys could be. That day had been truly black. The woman he had planned to marry, in bed with his best mate. He’d lost his faith in loyalty that day. Lost it in a big way.

“You sold your house, huh?” Peter asked, facing away so he could give Jace some privacy to get his emotions in check.

“Yeah. Didn’t want to live in that town anymore.”

“
How long ago was this?”

Jace walked away from the house and toward
the bench that overlooked the valley, until he remembered Cassie was there. Then he almost kept going, Peter on his heels. She had a
way
about her—she’d handled his hang-up yesterday really well. Jace stopped, though. He didn’t know how Peter would handle the news that Jace needed his woman to make this temporary lapse in strength go away.

What a mess.

“Six months ago. I didn’t tell anyone, though, until I had to explain why she didn’t come along on this trip. Didn’t much feel like talking about it.”

They walked a ways into the trees. Jace leaned against an old
oak, kicking the dirt with his shoe. Peter stood in repose, his hands in his pockets. He looked like a fashion model, just then. No wonder he’d snagged Cassie.

“Does
Dad know you don’t have a house anymore?” Peter asked quietly.

Jace shook his head
. “Didn’t feel like hearing about that, either.”

“We never did follow the right path.”

Jace glanced at him sideways. “You are. You’re finally on track. Are you going to go all the way with her? Ask her to marry you?”

Peter turned to him, sadness in his eyes. “I don’t kno
w that I’m the right guy for Cassie.”

Jace picked at the bark for a moment.
Who was the right guy for a girl like that? Someone high powered, probably. With lots of money and prospects. A man with all his shit together and something to offer. Peter was close, though. He’d get there. Jace said so.

Peter silently
looked away.

“She have any sisters?” Jace let a sardonic smile bloom.

“Just a really super cool brother. And lots of really fabulous friends. You’d really like all of them. You’d get along perfectly with everyone. Maybe you should move down there. To L.A.”

Jace glanced up
at the change in tone. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something had shifted. Like Peter’s way of speaking had altered a little, but Jace couldn’t exactly pinpoint why.

“Anyway.” Peter waved his hand through the air. “That’s another conversation, maybe.”

“Jason?”

Peter and Jace turned to the sound of
their mother. She stood in the backyard, holding onto the baby. Rachel and Jenn were both organizing chairs in the grass. Nick and Demetri stood staring at the patio table. Cassie stood off to the side in jean-short cutoffs and an airy pink tank with her hair in a ponytail.

“Looks like your woman dressed down,” Jace said as they left the trees.

“She usually gets her way. She’s that stubborn.”

Jace couldn’t help the smile. That sounded exactly like the woman he’d only known for twenty-four hours. She might act like
she’d play the good girl and do as told, but that was only until she decided she wanted something else. After that, he wholeheartedly believed she just ambled away and did whatever she wanted.

“Hard to control?” Jace asked.

“She doesn’t get controlled. She gets corralled. And the only person I’ve ever seen do it with any sort of effectiveness is her brother. Sometimes Krista or K-Jaz can. They can usually reel her in to some degree. Cassie has a lot of ex-boyfriends because she’s both demanding and needy. She needs someone that can guide, but also get out of the way. She needs someone to protect her, but then she’ll beat on him. She punches her brother all the time. And you never know which way the winds are going to blow. One minute, angel. The next, villain, laughing all the while. But she’s really fun if you just roll with it. She is absolutely the salt-of-the-earth. One hundred percent gold.”

Smile gone, Jace couldn’t help his eyebrows crinkling. “Doesn’t sound like you want to try to live up to the task…”

Peter smiled that sad smile again, a man in reach of an angel, only able to watch it spread its wings and fly away. At least that’s what Jace would be thinking in Peter’s place.

They finished the walk in silence, each in their own thoughts, until they arrived at the table holding
two golden toilets, each on its own red velvet stand. The plaque attached to the stand said, “Royal Winner.”

“Mom, you’ve outdone yourself this time.” Nick gave her a cheesy thumbs up. “Best to date.”

Cassie glided up next to Peter and slipped her hand through his arm. “This is the prize?”

Peter nodded and glanced at the shade where
Jenn and Rachel were setting up shop. “I have a surprise for you.”

She looked up at him.

“I’m sitting out, and you are going to win a toilet on a stand.”

A beautiful smile lit
up her features, illuminating her eyes from within. That blue grew even more vivid in her delight. Feeling a pang deep in his chest, Jace looked away as a wash of melancholy overcame him. A fallen angel indeed. Let Peter handle that—with the burn of betrayal still hot in his memory, Jace certainly wasn’t going to do anything that could possibly put his brother through the same thing.

He noticed his brothers positioning themselves in front of the trophy before quickly dodging in with a goofy smile.
“Photo bomb!”

“Get a picture with the champions,” Demetri said with a wide smile. He held up his camera again. This time Cassie jumped in at the last minute, hands on the guys’ shoulders, head pushed between them. “Photo bomb!”

“Ah ha ha! She’s one of the family!” Rachel yelled, clapping her hands.

“Nice work, Cassie!”
Jenn hooted.

“She’s just perfect, see?”
Jace’s mom beamed, swaying with the drowsy baby.

Peter
smiled and walked toward Rachel and Jenn. “Who wants a drink?”

“Daiquiri,” Rachel called.

“Becky, are you sure you are okay with Emma?” Jenn asked.

“I’m fine. Enjoy your afternoon.” Becky kissed the baby’s head.

“Me too, Peter.” Jenn nodded at Peter before he slipped into the house.

Jace turned to find Cassie slightly behind him, analyzing the net. “You need a drink?”

She spared him a glance. “No, I’m good. I need to wring out my liver a little bit.”

“Sissy la-la.” Demetri waggled his finger at her. “You’re with the big boys now. What’s a vat of whisky among friends?”

“Don’t try to get my partner drunk!” Jace pushed Demetri to the other side of the net. “Let’s get cracking.”

“My, m
y, you’re all animated. You must be in your element.” Cassie picked up a racquet, seemingly at random.

“Too bad we’
re on the same team. You have to spank my brothers, and I have a feeling you won’t take nearly as much pleasure in that.”

She swung her racket. “You’ll want the racket on t
he very bottom, by the way. It’s the straightest, besides this one. And Jason…” Her direct gaze shot him a warning. “Show up, hmm? I want to win that weird toilet.”

He couldn’t help but laugh as he picked up the racket
she’d indicated. “Yes, ma’am. I take it you know the rules?”

“Yes. I did this in high
school. On a team and everything. No idea why, but…there you go.”

He sauntered closer as Roger got situated in his chair near the net, the self-appointed judge for the day. “You’ve played a lot of sports, then?”

She nodded, glancing at Peter as he came out of the house with two frozen drinks in hand. She gave him a pleased smile before directing her gaze back to Jace. “Yes. You name it, I’ve played it, one way or another. Not always on teams, but if not, I’ve played with my brother, random teams, neighborhood kids…”

“You just like being active?”

She shrugged. “I’m good at it. Don’t you like doing things you’re good at?”

He nodded slowly, watching as his brothers did a huge mock stretching routine. “I do, yes. Sometimes you lose sight of what you
’re good at, though.”

Her sigh drifted on the breeze. “Yup. You
eventually find it again. You just have to recognize it when it shows up. That’s the trick. I hope.”

“I almost
feel like writing some of this down. Such profound scrapes of wisdom should be savored…”

She laughed and gave him a light shove. “Stick around, kid. I’ll delight you with my philosophy. None of which is true or correct.”

The game started like any other
--with loud, jarring yells from the “cheerleaders” who didn’t much care who won or lost as long as they were kidless and had drinks in their hands, and with a shrill, rusty whistle Roger didn’t really get the hang of.

Nick served, face shut down in concentration.
These guys joked and had a ton of fun, but when it came to those god-awful trophies, they got in the zone.

Cassie felt the elation bubbling in her chest. She loved this—the beginning of a
competitive tournament. When the player first soused out her opponent and each strove to get a toehold in the game. The rush of adrenaline as the body prepared for battle.

Nick hit the birdie over the net, n
ice and easy. Testing the waters. Making sure the first serve hit its mark to set up the rest of the game. It flew toward Jace in a lovely arc, cresting the net in a soft, white blur. Jace stepped forward almost lazily, and then
smashed
the thing back down over the net, bee-lining it toward the ground at Demetri’s feet.

Demetri stared at the little ball
with plastic webbing for a moment, before he looked up at Jace with a huge smile. “It’s on, Donkey-Kong!”

“Trial run, Demetri,” Nick yelled with a smile. “That’s all, trial run.”

“Yeah, well, it’s
go
time, dude. We gotta crush this loser. No offense, Cassie, but you landed on a team with garbage.”

Cassie couldn’t sto
p the delighted smile as Demetri threw the shuttle toward Jace. Jace caught it with one hand and turned to her, holding it out. “You want to serve first?”

She shook her head no.
Let the opponents think she was scared to commit.

His beautiful brown-gold eyes sparkled, reading her easily. A grin lit up his face, that dimple showing, making her heart
pound and her breath speed up. She shook her head for a different reason this time, turning back to the waiting brothers on the other side of the drooping net.

The shuttlecock whizzed by her, dropping just over the net. Demetri lunged for it, but instead of batting it up and over, he smacked it right at her.
A stinging plastic shuttle zapped her thigh.

“Crap!” Demetri swore.

“Crap daddy!” Michael echoed from the trees beyond the grass.

“Demetri!” Rachel yelled. “Daddy is a bad boy, baby. Don’t say that word.”

“Crap!” Michael repeated, louder. Three kids giggled from the trees.

“Bad boy, daddy!” Nick admonished, looking at Cassie.

Jace stepped up to her, peering into her eyes. “You okay?”

She stared back seriously, dropping her eyebrows into pout. “No. That really hurt.”

Jace’s gaze traveled her face before dipping down to her leg. She felt a warm hand around the back of her thigh and a thumb trace over her skin with a feather touch. Ignoring the delicious tingling in her body, and the goosebumps taking over her skin, she aimed her pout at a worried Demetri, who had ducked under the net to give his apologies.

“We’re going to have to amputate.” She traced a pointer finge
r down her cheek as she said, “Single tear.”

“Ooohhhh!” Demetri pointed at her and turned to Nick. “She took a dive on that one, bro.”

“Joke’s on her—there are no penalties in this game for foul play!” Nick
laughed jubilantly.

“Don’t do that, Cassie, you scared the life out of us!” Rachel yelled.

“I knew you were okay!” Jenn started laughing.

“That’s because you have Peter giving you play-by-plays,” Rachel said conversationally to
Jenn, her voice traveling across the grass.

“Oh, you know the lingo,” P
eter responded. “I always sound stupid when I talk about sports.”