Protect Me (32 page)

I swallow a big gulp of stagnant air. Suddenly it’s hard to breathe again as the realization starts to set in. This will never be over. At least not for a very long time. I’m going to have to relive my entire life, spilling everything that has happened to me over the past four years, before God and everyone. The thought terrifies me all over again.
 

“Don’t you worry, Lia. I’m going to be there every step of the way. You’re not going at this alone, baby. I’m right there with you. I will be by your side through this whole thing, and when it’s over, we’ll walk away together and never look back. This has molded us into who we are, but it doesn’t define us. Remember?”
 

“I remember,” I whisper.
 

“And we’ll be there, too. All of us,” Maddox adds, reassuringly.
 

“Yeah, you’re kinda stuck with us now. We’re like the clap. You’ve got us for life,” Jake says with a deep laugh.
 

“Gross, dude. You just compared yourself to an STD,” Nate says, shaking his head from side to side.
 

He pulls me tightly against him and suddenly it’s easier to breathe again. I know this road is going to be rough. I know that it’s going to be hard. I know that I’m probably going to want to back out and run away. But I can’t. I won’t. Garrett must pay for his crimes and it’s
my responsibility to help bring those crimes to light. Even if it means airing my dirty laundry and openly talking about our relationship. I can do it. For me.
 

For my future.
 

As long as I have Nate by my side, offering comfort and support, I know that I’m going to be just fine. With a little time and maybe some therapy, I know that I will finally be able to live the life I thought was only a dream. Right now, it’s right there within my reach. It’s time to reach out and grab it. So, I do. I grab Nate and hug him tightly against me once more. He’s it. My dream.
 

“Lia, you’re riding in this squad car and Nate’s going to ride in that one,” Maddox says, pointing at the car adjacent to us.
 

“Why can’t we ride together?” I ask, gripping his hands in mine. The thought of Nate not being beside me as this whole ordeal comes to a close is slightly terrifying.
 

“Not until the statements are done,” Jake adds. “As soon as you’re both done, you can both go home and sleep. Or hump like rabbits since you have a whole eighteen hours worth of break-up make-up sex to get to.”
 

I smile up at Nate as he leans down and kisses me. I can’t get enough of his kisses. Or his shoulders. Or his back. Or his amazing ass. And those tattoos. But those abs, seriously…
 

Nate helps me down into the back of the car. He places another perfect kiss on my lips and whispers those three words I love to hear, “I love you.”
 

“I love you, too,” I reply and give him another peck on the lips before he stands. Maddox closes the car door as one of the officers from earlier gets in the front seat. There’s a firm slap on the roof of the squad car signaling that everything is ready to go.
 

“Ready?” the officer asks as he starts up the car.
 

“I’m ready now,” I reply as I keep my eyes locked on Nate’s.
 

I’m ready to see what this life has in store for me. I’m finally ready to start to live. I truly feel free for the first time in my life, and I know I have Nate to thank for it.  
 

He loves me.
 

And no matter what happens next and what the outcome of the trial is, I know I will always have his love with me. He is the happily ever after I never thought I’d have. He is my life and my one true love.
 

We are a team and we’ll always have each other’s back because that’s what a team does. They protect each other. They love each other.
 

As I drive away in the back of that car and watch Nate disappear from my sight, I know without a shadow of a doubt that one thing is for certain: when we get home tonight, whenever and wherever that may be, we have eighteen hours worth of break-up make-up sex to
get to.
 

And I can’t wait.
 

It’s the first Saturday of November and the leaves are all but gone from the trees. The sky is bright and clear, but don’t let the sunshine fool you. Today’s high is only supposed to be forty-five. Lia is sitting beside me in the Mustang as we head over to Travis’ house for Grant’s first birthday party.
 

Last night after we got home from St. Charles, Lia helped me wrap that big ass box containing Grant’s battery operated hot wheel. It took two rolls of wrapping paper - partially because I cut the first strip too short - and half a roll of tape to wrap this bad boy. I can’t wait for Grant to tear into it!
 

Lia and I had a date last night that involved two of my favorite things: sex and tattoos. After the ordeal two months ago, Lia had been talking about getting some ink, and I had been contemplating another. So, after dinner, we stopped by my tattoo parlor of choice, New Ink, and looked around. Turns out, Jared, my regular guy had a cancellation later in the evening.
 

After spending about thirty minutes looking around, Lia finally decided on her tattoo. Actually, Jared designed it for her based off of a few ideas she had. This
intricate tattoo is perfect for my girl. It’s a dandelion blowing in the wind and as the pieces blow free, they turn to birds. It symbolizes her freedom. Her past leading to a better future. And it’s fucking sexy as hell on the back of her right shoulder.
 

I decided that since I was there, I might as well get another, too. I chose to bring the tribal design I have on my shoulder forward to cover my left pec. I, also, decided to permanently mark my body with the one thing I swore I never would do. A woman’s name. Placed within the curves and lines of the tattoo is the name Lia. Her name is permanently etched on my body, close to my heart. The place she will always be.
 

We pull into Travis and Josselyn’s driveway leading to their beautiful log cabin style home. Travis did everything he could to build this house by himself, including push Joss away when his work became more important than their time together. But, fortunately, he got his head out of his ass around the time Grant was born. They will be celebrating their first anniversary in just a few weeks.
 

I park the Mustang next to Jake’s old truck and make my way to the trunk. Lia is there a moment later and helps me lift the box out of the deep hole.
 

“I can’t believe you got him this thing,” she says with a smile. “He can’t even drive it yet.”
 

“Maybe not yet, but I will teach him. He’ll be driving this thing better than his dad drives, by May. You
watch,” I say with a smile. I situate the large box in my arms, mindful not to rub it against my tender chest, as we make our way towards the front porch.
 

“Nathan Stevens, what the hell is that?” Josselyn asks from her position at the front door with her arms crossed firmly over her chest and an exasperated look on her pretty face. It’s a total Mom look.
 

“This, my favorite sister-in-law, is the best gift ever for my nephew,” I say as I walk up the stairs with no problem.
 

“I heard that,” Erin hollers from her chair just beyond the doorway.
 

“Is it going back home with you after the party?” she asks with her eyebrow raised in question.
 

“Nope,” I say as I jimmy myself through the front door. “But I promise to come out here all the time and help him with it,” I add.
 

Josselyn huffs, but doesn’t say any more, as she places a kiss on my cheek. “Hi, Lia,” she says as she hugs my girl.
 

Lia has become fast friends with all of the Stevens women. She still works at the bakery full time, but doesn’t live in the apartment above anymore. Now, her beautiful head rests on the pillow next to mine, every night. There’s no better way to fall asleep. Well, there is one better way…
 

“Hey, everyone,” I call into the living room as I set the big box down next to the mountain of presents.
 

“Nay Nay!” Grant exclaims as he takes off at a wobbly run towards me, yelling the nickname that I’ve been given since the little guy can’t quite say Nate. It makes me smile to hear that cheesy name from his lips. The guys love to tease me, but I don’t give a shit. I think it’s cool. I barely have time to get the box situated and turn around before the little man is in my arms. He officially started walking last week, the day before his first birthday.
 

“Happy birthday, little man,” I reply with enthusiasm that mimics my nephew’s. Technically, Grant’s birthday was last week, but this was the first Saturday that my brothers and I were off from work. So, it’s an entire afternoon of celebrating.
 

“Me?” he asks, eyes wide as he stares at the box that is bigger than he is.
 

“It is, little man,” I say as I place a kiss on the top of his dark hair. “Who’s your favorite uncle?” I ask.
 

“Nay Nay!” he exclaims and throws those little - and sort of sticky - arms around my neck. “Don’t get too excited, Nate. He told me the same thing earlier when I gave him a handful of Cheetos,” Maddox says before heading out the back door to man the grill with Jake.
 

I put Grant down and send him off to play with his cousins. Mom and Dad are sitting on the sectional couch with Erin who is already huge for four months. Jake and Travis are outside grilling hamburgers and hotdogs while Maddox and Will play with the kids on
the floor. Lia, Avery, and Joss all work on setting the food out on the counter, as we get ready to feed the masses.
 

I take in my family around me when I feel my mom’s arms wrap firmly around my waist. “Did you do it?” she whispers.
 

“Not yet. I’m taking her to the creek as soon as we leave here. I put the sign up and I have the paperwork in my pocket,” I reply, trying hard to mask my excitement.
 

“I can’t wait for her to see it,” she adds with a knowing smile.
 

I lean down and kiss my mom’s head, pulling her close in a tight hug. I can’t imagine what would have happened two months ago if my mom hadn’t come to my house and kicked my ass into seeing the big picture. The thought of Lia being out at the creek by herself, while I practically drank myself stupid back at my house, still burns my gut. But, Mom knew Lia wouldn’t have just left me. And while, deep down, I knew it too, I was too hung up on her words in the note and what happened in my past to see it. Thank God for Mom.
 

“I hope she’s as excited as I am to tell her,” I say softly to Mom.
 

“She’ll be ecstatic,” she adds with a smile.
 

If Mom only knew the extent of my excitement…
 

The afternoon progresses without a hitch. I’ve
always loved spending time with my family, but with Lia in my life, it seems that much more fulfilled. I don’t mind my brothers sneaking kisses on the lips of their wives. I don’t mind my brother-in-law and my sister…No, wait. I still mind that.
 

I glance around the room as Grant and his cousins play with all of his new toys. I had to promise Travis and Josselyn that I’d come over, not this spring, but the next spring and teach Grant to drive his new battery operated Mustang. He’s definitely going to be too little for it even next year. Little does Travis know that I’ll be over the first Saturday that we have temperatures over fifty degrees, rigging up some way to take him for a ride in it, even though his legs won’t reach the pedals. Little man better have a snowsuit.
 

“So, I know that today’s about Grant, but I was hoping I could talk to everyone for a few minutes,” Jake says from his perch on the floor in front of Erin who is still sitting on the couch, eating her second slice of birthday cake. Or is it her third?
 

“What’s up, Jake?” Dad asks from Travis’s easy chair in front of the big screen television.
 

“Well, Erin and I went to the doctor yesterday and we got to see an ultrasound thingy,” Jake says with a big smile.
 

“Did you find out the sex of the baby?” Avery asks, practically bouncing up and down on the floor next to Maddox.
 

“We did,” Jake says as he looks over his shoulder at Erin. Both wear matching grins.
 

“So, what are you having?” Josselyn asks as we all wait with baited breath for the announcement.
 

“We’re having a girl,” Erin says with a big smile that lights up her beautiful green eyes.
 

The room erupts into cheers and laughter as congratulations messages are thrown around at the expecting couple.
 

“And another girl,” Jake finally hollers over the crowd.
 

Everyone stops talking and looks at the couple, both sitting down, relaxing as if they haven’t a care in the world.
 

 “What did you say?” Avery asks, dumbfounded.
 

“We’re having a girl…and another girl,” Erin giggles.
 

“Twins?” Mom asks from the other end of the sectional.
 

“Yep,” Jake says with a big, shit-eating, cocky grin.
 

Everyone jumps up at once. I can barely hear myself think as everyone talks over the person next to them. I throw my hand inside my brother’s hand and pull him in for a hug.  “Congratulations, man. That’s awesome news,” I tell my brother with excitement.
 

“Thank you,” he says with a warm smile.