Worth the Wait (Picking up the Pieces #4) (22 page)

Oh, no.

The
real
problem was those two combined with Trevor.
That
was a combination created by the devil himself.

“MOMMY! I wanna ride that Ferris wheel again!” Cameron yelled at the top of his lungs—because a kid on a sugar high can’t possibly speak at a regular decibel.

“YEAH! The Ferris wheel!” Trevor shouted. “Let’s ride it again!”

“We’re doing the pumpkin patch,” I answered. “You can ride the Ferris wheel again later.”

“Ahhhh,” all three—yes,
three
—of them whined.

Throwing my hands up in defeat, I turned and looked at Brett who was trying his hardest not to laugh his ass off.

“This is all your fault,” I hissed out.

“What’d I do?”

“You fed the kids a pound of sugar each and let Trevor off his leash!”

“Hey! In my defense, Lizzy’s the one in control of Trevor’s leash. If you’re gonna blame anyone for him, blame her!” he shouted, pointing his finger in Lizzy’s face.

She just looked at me with an
eh, what are you gonna do
expression and shrugged. “I gave up trying to rein all that crazy in. It’s best to just let him run the energy out of his system until he exhausts himself. Kinda like a puppy.”

Letting out an exasperated breath, I turned around to find Emmy, Luke, Savannah and Jeremy laughing so hard they were hunched over with tears in their eyes. At my murderous glare, Stacia and Gavin slowly backed away, stating, “Uh, we’re gonna go look around. We’ll meet y’all over at the pumpkin patch.” Then they took off, smart enough not to stick around.

“Hey, guys, check it out!” Ben called as he and Mickey came walking up to our group. “They have deep fried Oreo’s.” He took a huge bite and let out a groan. “Best. Thing. Ever.”

“I WANNA DEEP FWIED OREO! I WANNA DEEP FWIED OREO!” Callie shrieked, jumping up and down.

“No more sugar,” I said a little too loudly, drawing the attention of the families all around us.

“All right, rugrats,” Brett spoke up in order to diffuse the situation. “Time to hit up the pumpkin patch. Let’s go find the biggest pumpkin they have.” He scooped up a squealing Cameron and plopped him on his shoulders then took Callie’s hand and led the way.

“Come on, Momma,” Emmy said, throwing her arm over my shoulders. “Let’s go get our pumpkin picking on.” We all trailed after Brett and the kids, laughing and joking around as we walked through the pumpkin patch. Eventually, Gavin and Stacia made their way back to us once the threat of my head exploding had passed.

I’d lost track of how long we’d been wandering around in search of the perfect damn pumpkin. All I knew was that I wanted to cry out in thanks when I heard Cameron shout, “Brett! Look at dis one. It’s HUGE!” We all looked over in time to see him try to pick up a pumpkin almost as big as he was.

“Whoa, little man,” Brett called over as he rushed to where Cameron was huffing and puffing away. Was it possible for a five-year-old to get a hernia? “That thing’s huge, bud. You sure that’s the one you want?”

Cameron’s head bobbed up and down animatedly. With a laugh, Brett stood and went to collect one of the red wagons the pumpkin patch had for the pumpkins that weighed too much to carry. Then the girls and I stood back, watching and laughing as Brett and the rest of the guys struggled to get the ginormous pumpkin into the wagon.

“Luke! Don’t you dare throw your back out!” Emmy yelled. “This baby’s coming soon. I’m not gonna be taking care of it all on my own ‘cause your old butt was trying to show off and slipped a disc!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, baby girl,” he hollered back, his face so red I was a little scared he was close to rupturing a nut.

I felt a tug on the hem of my jacket and looked down to see Callie standing there, holding a tiny pumpkin the size of her fist. “Mommy, can I have this one?”

“Sure thing, honey pot,” I told her, squatting down to her level. “But are you sure you don’t want to get one a little bigger?”

“Nah, bubby can get the big one. I just want dis baby punkin.”

I placed a kiss on my little girl’s head and smiled brightly. “Well, if that’s the one you want, that’s the one you’re getting.”

She whooped with enthusiasm before asking, “Can I have another funnel cake?”

I opened my mouth to shoot her down just as Trevor made his way over to our little group. “Ready.”

We all turned our eyes his way to see him standing there with a pumpkin twice the size of his head.

“What the hell do you need that for?” Lizzy asked, exasperated.

“Uh…to carve,” Trevor answered, his
well, duh
face causing laughter to bubble up in my throat.

“Trevor, you’re a grown man with no kids. Why do you need to carve a pumpkin? Especially one that size.”

“It’s not just to carve,
cher
. You’re also gonna make me a pumpkin pie. Now, chop chop. Callie said something about funnel cake and I want one.”

The ladies and I had a bet going on whether or not Lizzy was going to let Trevor live to see Christmas. I had my money on dead by Thanksgiving. And after what I’d witnessed, I felt pretty confident I was about to be two-hundred bucks richer.

The kids were at daycare and Brett was at work, so I had the house to myself all day long. I was looking forward to complete silence. I had tons of books on my Kindle just begging to be read. I also had a backed-up DVR with hours of shows to watch. If I wanted a bubble bath, I could sit in there for hours. I could possibly put on a facial mask and give myself a mani-pedi. The options were endless.

I’d just finished applying my mud mask and sat on the couch.
Criminal Minds
was cued up to play and I held a bottle of OPI My Paprika is Hotter than Yours, ready to paint my nails. The orangey color was perfect for Halloween just days away.

I was one coat down on my toes when the front door burst open, startling a screech from me. Lizzy, Emmy, Savannah, Mickey, and Stacia came sauntering in and planted their butts on the living room furniture like they lived there.

“Uh…hi?”

“What up, babe?” Emmy asked as she plopped her pregnant self down on the couch next to me. “Ooh, mani-pedi time. Fun.”

“Honey,” Lizzy said, taking the bottle of polish from my hand and propping my foot on her lap so she could take over painting. “You could have come by the salon. I’d have done you for free.”

Savannah let out a chuckle. “Kinky. I like it. But if you don’t record that for Trevor, he might die of disappointment.”

Laughing off Savannah’s comment, I turned back to Liz. “No offense, sweetie. But the salon’s the last place I want to be on my day off.”

“Understandable.” She moved my foot off her lap, grabbed hold of the other and got to work on it.

“Sooooo,” I dragged out, looking around at the women filling the living room. “To what do I owe the surprise visit? In the middle of the day. On a Wednesday.” Didn’t these people work?

“Ah, yes,” Lizzy said with a laugh. “You’ve never experienced this particular benefit of being part of our gang.”

“And what benefit is that?”

“The benefit of having a key to everyone’s house,” Stacia said with a laugh.

Oh, yes, I recalled Savannah and Emmy telling me it was something I’d get used to the night we staged Trevor and Lizzy’s intervention.

“So you decided to stage a B&E to, what, raid his fridge?”

“Actually,” Mickey leaned in close, her face a mask of seriousness. “We have something we really need to talk to you about.” I had no idea what they needed to talk about, but by their somber expressions, I was a little concerned. What if they didn’t think I was good enough for Brett? What if they came here to tell me to leave their friend alone? Could I walk away from him if that’s what they all wanted me to do? I knew the answer to that. No way in hell. I’d just have to prove to them I was deserving of his love.

“What do you need to talk about?” I asked them quietly.

Savannah leaned close, resting her elbows on her knees. “We need to know, how big is he?”

Huh
?

“What?”

“Brett,” she said simply. “How big is he?”

My eyes bounced from one woman to another. “Sorry, guys, I’m not following.”

Stacia spoke up. “Look, each one of us has been with one of the guys in our group. So we’re able to report back to each other what each dude is packing. For instance, Gavin’s a good eight inches and curves a little to the left.”

“Ben’s turns kinda purple when he’s close,” Mickey said. “I’m talkin’, it actually looks kind of angry when he needs to come.”

“And Jeremy’s has a tendency to hook up in this perfect way that hits just the right spot to—”

“Enough!” I shouted to stop Savannah before I heard something that I would never be able to un-hear.

“Luke’s seriously blessed in the girth department,” Emmy told me.

“And when I first saw Trevor, I freaked the hell out. I’m talking Hulk dick here. I was like, there’s no way in hell that’s gonna fit!” Lizzy shared.

“Okay, first of all…Son of a
bitch
! I never needed to know any of this about any of the guys. Seriously, I’m gonna giggle and blush like a damn schoolgirl every time I see any of them. I’m going to have to work to keep my gaze off their crotches. So thanks a lot for that,” I deadpanned.

Stacia continued like I hadn’t said anything, “The only one none of us has seen naked is Brett. That’s where you come in, Kenzie.”

“So let me get this straight. You all left work early and let yourself into Brett’s house because you’re dying to know about his dick size?”

Each woman nodded, eyes wide as they waited for my answer.

“I can get down with that.”

“Score!” Mickey fist-bumped Emmy before turning back to me, each of them giving me their full attention.

“Okay, so, I only really have one other person to compare him to, but when I saw Brett the first thing I thought was that he made Lance look like an amateur.”

“I knew it!” Savannah cried out, smacking Stacia in the shoulder. “I told you! Didn’t I tell you? I
knew
he was working with something good.”

“But it’s not his size that’s the most impressive,” I continued, stunning them all silent. “It’s how he uses it.”

Emmy’s elbows rested on her stomach, her chin propped in her hands as she looked at me in wide-eyed wonder. “How do you mean?”

“Well, he’s able to hold off from coming for like, ever.” I got a collective gasp from the room. “And he uses it against me.”

“Shit. That’s hot,” Lizzy whispered in awe.

“Yeah. Just the other night, he did this thing where he went super slow, like
agonizingly
slow. He kept me right on the edge the whole time, but wouldn’t let me go over until I told him I loved him.”

“No way!” Savannah squealed.

Emmy clapped like a little girl, saying, “I knew that man was a freak. So hot!”

“And the man has a gift for dirty talk,” I told them excitedly. “I mean, I could get off from just his words alone!”

All of a sudden, Mickey stood from her seat and started for the door.

“Where are you going?”

She turned back to me as she shrugged her jacket on. “I suddenly need a little afternoon delight. I’m gonna surprise Ben at work.”

“Ew!” Savannah shouted. “Not in his office! I go in there. I don’t need to walk into work every day and try to figure out what all surfaces your naked ass has been on!”

“Then I’ll just have to bend over it instead then.” Mickey shot Savannah a saucy wink, causing her to gag. “See you bitches later.”

After about another hour of sharing naughty stories, the rest of the girls took off to either go back to work or go find their man and work out some suddenly very pent up frustration.

I spent the rest of the day doing exactly what I’d wanted to do. With Lizzy having finished my toes, I worked on my nails, washed my mask off, watched a few episodes of
Criminal Minds
and read smut while soaking in a bubble bath.

I’d put a pork roast in the slow cooker earlier that morning, so by the time I got back from picking the twins up from daycare, it was ready to be served. I’d just finished setting the table when Brett came walking through the door.

Nothing bad had happened in our relationship since saying those three little words to each other. If anything, it had become even better. Every evening he walked through the door from work, I melted at the sight of him. No matter what he was wearing, no matter if he was sweaty from work or not, I always wanted him. He showered my kids and me with so much love that it was impossible not to fall for him over and over again.

The first thing he did every evening was scoop Callie and Cameron up in big bear hugs, squeezing them until they squealed with delight. Then he’d make his way to wherever I was and plant a kiss on my lips so tender and heartfelt that my brain would fry on the spot. He made sure to ask all of us how our days were as we sat down to eat. And it had officially become Brett’s job to handle burrito duty at bedtime. I’d read the twins
Goodnight Moon
and give them their kisses, then Brett would wrap them up tightly before turning off the light and pulling the door to. Hardly a night passed where we weren’t all over each other like two horny teenagers sneaking around behind our parents’ backs. Unfortunately, some nights were harder than others with two kids under the same roof. But on the nights where there were no interruptions, Brett made certain to show me as well as tell me just how much I meant to him.