Assumption (Underground Kings #1)

CHAPTER 5
Done, I’ll Give Her Crazy
(Oops, did I do that?)
“We have a Life Flight coming in,” Tara says, coming into the room where I’ve been taking care of a patient. I automatically stop what I’m doing and follow her. “Derik has already started getting things ready. The victim is a young male suffering head trauma,” she says as we hurry into the emergency room.
As soon as the helicopter lands on the roof, Tara and Derik are out of the room, meeting it, while I stay behind and make sure we have enough supplies and everything is in order. When they arrive at the room, my world feels like it closes in around me. A little boy no older than ten is strapped to the gurney. His neck is in a brace, his face is cut and swollen, and his head is bandaged, blood seeping through the white gauze they’ve used to protect the wound. All I can see is my son. He would be about as old as the boy is. My brain tries to tell my body to move, but I can’t. I’m glued to the floor.
“Autumn, I need you to come over here and help me transfer him,” I hear Derik say, but all I can do is stare.
“Autumn!” Tara shouts, and my eyes go to her as she shakes her head and then nods towards the young boy, asking me a silent question. I shake my head in response.
“Autumn, I need you to pull it together. We need to help this little guy get better,” Derik says gently.
My eyes go to him and I swallow the bile in the back of my throat, turning my emotions off before I start to work on autopilot. For the next twenty minutes, we do everything we can to help save the boy before he is taken into emergency surgery.
“What happened in there?” Tara asks, sitting down next to me on the bench outside of the emergency room.
I shake my head before looking over at her. “I have a son.” I close my eyes before opening them again. “I had a son,” I whisper, correcting myself bitterly. “I put him up for adoption when he was just hours old.” I look down at the floor, seeing small drops of blood on the tops of my shoes. “He would be about the age of that little boy. I’m so sorry I freaked. I…” I take a breath, closing my eyes. “I’ve never even thought about something like this happening.” I feel an arm go around my back and Tara’s head lean against my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers.
I nod as tears fill my eyes. I never once thought I would have to help a child. I’m so stupid. “All I could think about when I saw that boy was my son lying there.”
“Honey,” she moans painfully, making me bite the inside of me cheek. Taking comfort from people is something new to me. Hell, having someone care enough about me to comfort me is something new to me.
“I think I need to leave for the night,” I tell her when I feel tears begin to fall from my eyes. “I’ll see if I can get someone to come in. I just don’t think I’m going to be a lot of help right now.” I breathe through my tears.
“Rach needs hours. She’ll come in. I’ll give her a call now,” Tara says softly.
“Thank you,” I whisper, wiping my face. I never cry in front of people. I was never allowed to show emotion like that. One of my mother’s favorite sayings was, “If you want to cry, I will give you something to cry about,” and she often kept her word.
“Go home and sleep, girl, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Tara assures me, rubbing my back.
I stand, giving her a quick hug before I make my way to the front desk. I grab my bag and head out to the parking lot. Once I have my car door unlocked, I toss my bag into the passenger’s seat, get behind the wheel, and shut the door. I lean my head back and close my eyes.
All I keep seeing over and over is the little boy, his face bruised and battered from the car accident he was in. I can’t even imagine what his parents are feeling right now. I turn the car on, more tears filling my eyes.
I don’t even know how I make it back to Kenton’s. Once I let myself into the house, I quickly set the alarm before heading upstairs. When I reach the top landing, Kenton’s standing in his bedroom door. His shirt is off and the pajama pants he’s wearing are barely hanging on his hips. I look at the hand he has resting against his thigh, seeing that he’s holding a gun.
I look up at his face again. This time when our eyes meet, his are concerned. Something inside me snaps and I run to him, seeing surprise on his face right before I shove mine into his chest and my arms wrap around his waist as I sob loudly.
“Baby?” he whispers, pulling me harder against him. I’m grateful that he doesn’t say anything else for a long time; he just stands there holding me in his arms, offering me comfort. “Come on. Let’s lay down.” He pulls me with him to the bed, sets me on the edge, and then lays his gun on the nightstand before going to the dresser. I watch as he pulls out a shirt before coming back to me.
I take the shirt from him as he turns around, giving me a little privacy to change. I pull off my scrub top quickly, tug his shirt on, and then kick off my shoes along with my pants. I scoot up the bed as he turns back around. He climbs into bed and his big body wraps around me, holding me against his chest.
“Talk to me,” he says as his hand slides through my hair.
I take a breath, my heart beating out of my chest because of what I’m going to tell him. “When I was sixteen, I got pregnant,” I whisper, feeling his muscles tighten. “When my mom found out, she sent me away to a home for girls who were expecting.” Tears begin to fill my eyes again, so I squeeze them tightly, trying to fight them off. “The day I had my son, I got to spend two hours with him before they took him away from me.” I feel a knot form in my throat, making it hard to breathe. “I never wanted to give him up.”
“F*ck,” Kenton rumbles, pulling me closer to him. Feeling the strength in his arms gives me the courage to continue.
“A little boy was Life-Flighted in tonight.” I close my eyes, seeing the child in my head. “When I saw him, all I could think about was my son, who would be close in age to him.” I open my eyes and tilt my head back to look up at Kenton. I can barely make out his image with the moonlight shining through the window. “Sometimes when I’m out and I see a little boy, I wonder if it could be him. Logically, I know it’s not, but my heart still hasn’t accepted that he’s lost to me after all these years and I will never see him again.”
“I can’t imagine that’s something easy to accept,” he says softly, running a hand down my back. “Why didn’t your boyfriend help you find a way to keep your son?”
“He didn’t want me or a child. When I told him I was pregnant, he told me he didn’t want to have a kid and he was breaking up with me.” I cry a little harder, reliving the devastation I felt back then. “He was happy when my mom contacted him, telling him that she was forcing me to put the baby up for adoption and he needed to sign the papers.”
“That’s f*cked up, baby.”
“I know,” I whisper.
There is nothing else to say. Kenton now knows some of my past—really, the worst of it—and I wonder what he’s thinking about as he holds me until I cry myself to sleep.
I wake up feeling cocooned in warmth. It takes a few seconds for last night to come back to me and to remember that I willingly climbed into bed with Kenton. I can only imagine what he thinks of me now. I try to lift my head, hoping I can sneak away from him, but his giant hand is wrapped around my hair, holding me in place. Between that and his leg over mine, I can’t move at all.
“You’re not sneaking out on me.” His voice is gravelly with sleep, and I close my eyes, trying to think of what I need to say.
“I’m sorry about laying all that stuff on you last night.” I hide my face in his chest.
“I’m glad you came to me. I’m sorry about your son. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through.” He takes a breath, pulling me closer to him. “If you want, I can find him for you.”
“What?” I ask, caught off guard.
“It’s what I do, baby,” he says completely seriously, and my heart does a double thump at the sweet offer.
“It was a closed adoption,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes again.
“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugs.
“What do you mean?”
“I have ways of finding people. You say the word and I’ll find your boy for you.”
The building tears begin to fall as I think about finding my son. Then I wonder what I would even do with the information. Would it hurt more knowing where he is? Could I even handle it?
“I don’t know,” I mumble. “I would like to know if he’s happy, but I don’t know if I could handle seeing him or knowing where he is.”
“I get that.” He gives me a gentle squeeze. “You don’t need to decide right now. The offer has no time limit on it.”
“Thank you.” I unconsciously rub my face against his chest, breathing in his unique smell. His warmth and smell have me wanting to get even closer to him.
His hand in my hair pulls my head back as the leg he has over mine moves to between my legs. His eyes search my face for a long moment before his face lowers and his mouth gently touches mine.
“I can’t get enough of your mouth,” he says against my lips, kissing me again. The hand I’m resting between us starts to inch towards his torso, but I stop myself. “Touch me,” he says, grabbing my hand and pulling it to his chest.
His skin is so warm, and the light scattering of hair he has on his chest prickles against my fingers. His hand on top of mine moves to my hip then down the curve of my ass, pulling my hips closer to his. I can feel his erection hard and long between us. I start to breathe heavily; I feel like I can’t get enough oxygen into my lungs. My hand on his chest travels up to his hair at the back of his head, running it through my fingers as his mouth travels from mine, down my cheek, and then across my neck, the scruff on his jaw scraping against my sensitive skin.
“Jesus, you smell good,” he rumbles against my throat as his tongue touches me there. I tilt my head farther back, pressing my thighs together, trying to alleviate the ache that is building between my legs. “Shit,” he groans.
My eyes open and I look at his face, wondering why he’s stopping, and then I hear his phone ringing.
“Don’t lose that look,” he orders as he quickly twists his upper body away from mine before turning back over, holding his phone in his hand. His eyebrows go together and he shakes his head, sliding his finger across the screen. “This better be f*cking good,” he growls, looking at me. His eyes narrow on me when I hear Justin’s voice say something about pulling the stick out of his ass, making me smile. “Do not f*cking encourage him,” he says, shaking his head when I laugh harder after hearing Justin yell through the speaker that Kenton stole me away from him and he’s going to find a way to win me back.
“Did you call for a f*cking reason, or are you just callin’ to piss me off?”
I can’t hear Justin’s response, but I can tell that Kenton doesn’t like it by the look that comes over his face as he listens.
“F*ck,” he clips, dropping his head. “Yeah, I’ll be there soon.” He pulls the phone away from his ear before dropping it to the bed next to my head. “I gotta head out.”
“Okay.” I bite my lip, wondering what I’m supposed to do. This whole thing feels surreal to me. I don’t know if I want to kiss him again or run away and pretend like nothing happened.
“You gonna be okay?”
His question hits my chest and I feel my face go soft at his concern for me. “I’ll be okay,” I assure him quietly.
“You workin’ tonight?”
“Yeah. I feel bad about what happened last night and leaving early. I don’t want them to think I’m flighty. I really like working there,” I say, absently rubbing the sheet between my fingers.
“Did you talk to Tara last night?” I nod yes and his fingers run over my cheek. “You’re good then. That bitch is crazy. She would never let them think less of you.”
“Don’t call her a bitch,” I say defensively.
“I mean ‘bitch’ in the nicest way possible.” He smiles, dropping his face towards mine.
As soon as our lips touch, his hand goes to the back of my head, holding me to him while controlling the kiss. When he pulls his mouth from mine, I can’t help the whimper that escapes.
“When’s your next day off?” he asks through heavily panted breaths.
“The day after tomorrow,” I reply just as breathlessly.
“I’m taking you out.”
“Like a date?”
“Exactly like a date.”
“Um…” I say, not knowing how to respond.
“It’s not up for debate. We’re going out.”
“Excuse me?” I narrow my eyes. “You need to ask me if I would like to go out with you.” No way am I going to let him boss me around.
He rolls until I’m on my back and one of his legs is between mine. His hands capture mine, bringing them above my head. Then he bends his head and whispers into my ear, “Autumn, will you have dinner with me?”
“Maybe.” I smile when he growls against the skin of my neck.
“Please?” he asks, his tongue snaking out to touch my sensitive flesh.
My body arches back. Having him cover me is doing crazy things to my body. I don’t know if I want to pull him closer or push him away only to climb on top of him. My hands run down his back, feeling his smooth skin under my fingers.
“So, what do you say?” he asks, his hand running down my bare thigh.
“What?”
I feel the vibration of his laughter before he pulls away so I can see his face. “What’s your answer? Am I taking you willingly, or do I need to force you?”
My eyes drop to his mouth and he smiles. “I guess I could suffer through a date with you. Who am I to pass up free food?” I ask with a straight face.
His hands go to my sides and he starts to tickle me. I have never been tickled before and it catches me off guard, making me scream in horror.
When he realizes that I’m not shrieking playfully, his body stills and he looks down at me in question. Tears fill my eyes again and I don’t even know what to say.
“It’s okay,” he says gently, removing his hands from my sides and sliding them into my hair. “We can talk about what just happened another time.”
No way am I going to tell him about my childhood. Instead of saying that, I just nod. His eyes search my face, and I know he doesn’t like what he sees when his jaw starts ticking.
“I gotta go or I would make you talk to me.”
“Go. It’s not a big deal.” I push his chest and he shakes his head.
“F*ck me.” He drops his head before lifting it again, his eyes looking me over. “Just like that, you replace those f*cking barriers.”
“You need to go,” I say, really wanting to be away from him and how exposed I feel.
“Swear to Christ, if I didn’t know that the reward would be worth it, I wouldn’t waste my f*cking time with this bullshit.”
His words are like a slap in the face and I flinch, closing my eyes for a second before opening them back up. “Get off me,” I say softly, and he presses me harder into the bed.
“Shit, I di—”
I cut him off, shoving at his chest and yelling at the top of my lungs, “Get the f*ck off me right now!” I wiggle around, trying to break free. Not being strong enough to get him off me has tears of frustration forming in my eyes. “Please get off me,” I whisper, closing my eyes. My body loses its fight, knowing that it’s pointless; he has all the power.
“This isn’t over,” he says quietly, kissing my forehead.
I don’t say anything; I just wait until I feel him get up. As soon as his weight is off me, I jump out of bed and look around for my stuff from the night before. I quickly grab it and open his bedroom door. Then I shut it behind me and run down the hall to my room, slamming and locking my door behind me.
I drop the clothes in my hands to the floor before I go to the closet, pull out a bag, and start to pack. I need to get out of here. My heart is wide open with him. Somehow, he has maneuvered through my defenses and now has the power to hurt me, and he isn’t someone I trust with that power.
He has proven on more than one occasion that he can be an ass. How can I possibly put myself out there to be hurt by him again? I hear him coming down the hall and brace myself. When his fist pounds on the door, I close my eyes before yelling, “Go away!”
“You even think about leaving me, Autumn, and I will hunt your ass down and spank the shit out of you.” He pauses and his voice gentles. “I don’t have time to talk to you right now, but we will be talking about what happened.”
What is happening to me? The sound of his voice has me dropping my bag onto my closet floor.
“I’ll text you later, baby,” he says softly.
I walk to the bed and lie down, pulling some of my hair to my face to smell it. Just like the last time I slept with him, his scent is clinging to my hair. I need to get it together; I need to stop running from him. I have a feeling that, if I do get away from him, it would be the biggest mistake of my life, and I have made enough mistakes to last a lifetime.
I stand and go to the window to make sure he’s gone before I go downstairs. I need my phone out of my bag, and I left my purse in my car last night when I came home. I pull on a pair of shorts and leave my room. I turn off the alarm before opening the front door. The second I hit the front porch, a silver convertible pulls up. I squint my eyes, trying to see who it is, and when I recognize the driver, I run to my car, open my door, quickly grab my bag, and run back to the front porch.
“Do you ever wear clothes?” Kenton’s ex, Cassie, yells.
I want to tell her no, but instead, I run into the house, dropping my bag next to the door. I almost have the door closed when it’s pushed open and Cassie grabs a handful of my hair.
I have never been in a fight in my life. I have been beaten many times, but I’ve never fought back, knowing that the consequences would be a lot worse if I did. My body freezes, and then my adrenaline surges. I turn around and smack her across her face. Her hand goes to her cheek, and her eyes widened then narrow.
“You bitch,” she says, smacking me back a lot harder than I hit her.
“I’m a bitch?” I shake my head in disbelief. “Get out of this house right now,” I say with a scary calmness, holding my stinging cheek. I’m too old for this crap.
“How does it feel knowing you’re sleeping in a bed I picked out…that I f*cked him in?”
Okay, so that didn’t feel good, but I keep my face neutral, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of knowing that her words affected me. “Get the f*ck out,” I tell her, leaning forward and pointing at the door.
“You’re sleeping in my bed with my man and you want me to get out?” She lets out a laugh then looks me over.
“He’s not yours,” I hiss.
“He will always want me!” she shrieks. “Why do you think he hasn’t changed the bed or redecorated?”
Wow, this chick is crazy, but her telling me about her and Kenton in that bed over and over again is grating my nerves. I turn and run up the stairs as fast as I can. I hear her following me, but I’m on a mission.
I run to Kenton’s room, locking the door behind me. My eyes land on the bed, which is still messy from this morning. I look around and see that he has a large sliding glass door in his room that leads out onto the upper balcony. Cassie starts pounding on the door, and I quickly look at it before running to the bed to toss the covers, sheets, and pillows onto the floor.
The bed is queen-sized, so even with the weight of the mattress, I’m still able to pull it off the bed, pushing it to the side. I see that the side rails hook into the headboard and the slats are what keeps the mattress up, so I toss the slats aside then pull up on the side pieces. The bed falls apart, the footboard falling to the floor and the headboard hitting the wall.
I go to the foot of the bed and pick up the wooden piece, carrying it over to the balcony. I open the sliding glass door and haul the footboard over to the railing. Seeing Cassie’s car parked right under me, I say, “F*ck it,” and toss it over. It lands in her back seat, making me smile. I do the same with the two side rails; these miss and land near her car on the ground.
Cassie has no idea what’s going on; she is still pounding on the bedroom door. I go to the headboard, and with this piece being much heavier, I scoot it across the hardwood floors and out onto the balcony. I lift it over the railing, where it teeters before falling over the other side; the loud crunching sound of glass and metal soothes my temper.
I hear Cassie yell something as she leaves the door. I quickly get the mattress, pushing it out onto the balcony before tossing it over the edge too. With my adrenaline pumping like never before, I look down and watch as it floats like a feather in slow motion, landing with a little bounce on the hood of her car.
Cassie starts screaming at the top of her lungs then pulls her phone out of her pocket.
“Shit,” I whisper. I know she’s calling the cops. I start wondering where I should hide when the house phone starts ringing. I see the phone on the nightstand light up, and I debate if I should answer it or not when it stops ringing only to start up again. My gut clenches, and I know without a doubt that it’s Kenton calling.
“What in God’s name is going on?” I hear from outside, and I close my eyes.
Are you kidding me? Why me? Why does this stuff always happen to me? I walk to the balcony door and look out over the railing, seeing Nancy and Viv. Both are standing near Cassie, who is still on the phone. Viv looks up and I start to duck, but I’m too late; our eyes meet and she smiles.
I run to the phone when it starts ringing again. I don’t really want to talk to Kenton, but right now, he’s the lesser of two evils. “Hello,” I answer, trying to make myself sound like I didn’t just toss his bed outside and that his mom and aunt aren’t downstairs probably wondering how to get me out of his house before I go crazy on him as well.
“Babe,” he answers back, the one word said in a tone sounding slightly humorous and slightly pissed.
“How’s it going?” I ask, looking around his room, taking it in for the first time. If Cassie did help decorate, she did a crap job. There are two nightstands, one on each side of where the bed used to be. Both are older; the matte black paint is chipping away. The dresser in the corner of the room is in pretty much the same shape.
There is nothing else in the room—no rugs, no curtains; the room is bare except for the furniture. It’s a great room. The beige paint on the walls looks new, with beautiful, dark wood floors throughout, large windows that look out over the forest, and the sliding glass door that leads to a large balcony I can imagine having my coffee out on in the mornings. The urge to make over his room hits me when I hear his voice growl down the line.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Um…”
“I asked if you really just tossed my bed over the balcony and onto Cassie’s car,” he says in the same amused-slash-angry tone.
“Oh, I…” I try to come up with some other reason why I would have done what I just did without making it seem like I may be insane.
“Do not f*cking lie,” he says, cutting me off before I can even think of something to say.
“I wasn’t going to lie,” I snap, knowing that I was perhaps going to fib a little about what happened, but I wasn’t going to lie.
“Autumn,” he rumbles out.
“Okay, yes,” I huff out, annoyed. “I tossed your bed onto her car. Well, really, I tossed her bed into her car, so I was just helping her move it out.” I press my lips together knowing how stupid that sounds.
“You were helping her move it out,” he repeats, and I can’t figure out if he’s growling or laughing. “What the hell happened?”
“I went to my car ’cause I left my bag in the passenger’s seat last night and I needed my phone. When I was outside, she pulled up. I tried to get into the house and lock the door, but she grabbed my hair. I may have smacked her, and then she may have smacked me back. She started telling me about you and her in your bed, and I may or may not have gotten pissed, ran up to your room, and threw your bed over the balcony onto her car. Oh, and your mom and aunt might be outside right now.” I whisper the last part, out of breath.
“You were jealous,” he says, sounding slightly surprised.
“No, I was pissed,” I correct.
“If you weren’t jealous, why would you care what she said to you?”
Okay, I’m not going to answer that question. “I’ll buy you a new bed,” I tell him, hoping to end this conversation.
“This isn’t about the bed, Autumn. This isn’t even about Cassie. This is about you realizing what you’re feeling and accepting it.”
I feel myself heat up. I know what I’m feeling. I just don’t know if I can trust him with these feelings.
“Autumn, are you in there?” I hear from outside the bedroom door, and my head drops to look at my feet.
“Your mom’s outside the door,” I whisper into the phone, looking around the room for somewhere to hide.
“So answer the door,” he tells me with an implied, Duh.
“I can’t answer the door. She was outside with Cassie,” I hiss, going over to one of the other doors in the room. As soon as I swing it open, I see that it’s a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and walk-in shower.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for somewhere to hide,” I tell him without thinking, walking to the only other door in the room, and as soon as it opens, I see that it’s a large, very organized closet.
“You’re looking for somewhere to hide?” he repeats, laughing.
“Autumn, I know you’re in there. Open the door.”
I close my eyes and lean my head back. I have no idea what I’m going to do, but it’s time to face the music. I take a breath and walk to the door. I click open the lock, pull the door in a crack, and peek out.
“Hey. Is everything okay?” I ask, seeing not only Nancy, but also Viv standing outside the bedroom.
Nancy smiles and Viv’s mouth twitches. “Looks like there was a little bit of an accident,” Nancy says, and Kenton starts laughing.
“I’m hanging up,” I tell him, annoyed that he is finding this situation so hilarious.
“I’m on my way home,” he warns me, and I hear the line go dead.
“Oh, great,” I sigh, pulling the phone from my ear. I start to toss it on the bed when I remember that the bed is no longer there, so I squeeze it in my hand.
“Did Cassie hit you?” Nancy asks, her eyes zeroing in on my cheek.
My hand naturally lifts to my cheek and I swallow. “Um…the thing is…she pulled my hair, so then I smacked her, and she smacked me back.” Yes, the chick is crazy, but I’m at fault as well.
“Are you okay?” Viv pulls me into a hug, and I feel Nancy put her arms around us both.
We stand there for a few moments. I didn’t think they would be offering me comfort after what I just did.
“Oh, isn’t this just f*cking sweet? Seriously, she hit me and trashed my car and you’re f*cking coddling her?” Cassie yells.
I pull back from Nancy and Viv before facing her. Her face is red with rage, but there is no mark on her cheek from where I smacked her.
“The cops are on the way. I hope you know you’re going to jail for what you did.”
Shit, she’s right; I’m probably going to jail for what I did. Then I’m probably going to lose my job when I have to tell them why I can’t show up to work tonight.
“Why are you here, Cassie?” Nancy asks her.
“I needed to talk to Kenton.” She shrugs, glaring at me again.
“You know he’s at work, so why are you really here?” Viv asks, stepping in front of me.
“Well, if you really must know, I wanted to tell him about the woman he has living with him. Did you know she’s a stripper and was letting random men do body shots off her at a club downtown?”
My stomach drops at her evil tone. I have no idea how she could possible know about that.
“It’s all over YouTube.” She smirks, reading my face. “Yep, your whore face is all over the Internet.”
I feel bile crawling up my throat as I look over at Nancy and Viv. I honestly don’t care that people are going to see me acting stupid and drunk, but I do care that the guy in Vegas could somehow see it and know where I’m now staying. I hate the idea of bringing danger to not only Kenton, but everyone else around me—people I really care for and consider friends for the first time in my life.
“Did you do it? Did you post that video?” I ask, ready to push her ass down the stairs.
“Cassie, why the f*ck do you keep showing up at my house?” Kenton asks, walking up the stairs. Butterflies erupt in my stomach when our eyes meet, and then his eyes go from soft to hard when they lock on my cheek. “She f*cking hit you?” he growls. He must have forgotten that I already told him about our little exchange. His head swings to Cassie, the look on his face forcing her to take a step back. “You hit her?” he asks.
“Don’t you f*cking dare, Kenton Mayson. She is not the f*cking victim in this situation. She hit me then trashed my car.”
“You came to my house and hit my woman, and now you want to point f*cking fingers? I told you to never show your face here again. I told you we have not one f*cking thing to talk about.”
I suddenly feel faint. His ‘woman’? I didn’t think I was his, but he just said that I am, and he said it in front of his mom and aunt. I’m not going to explore why that made me feel all squishy and warm inside.
“Now, for the last f*cking time, get the f*ck out of my house.”
“Wait! She can’t leave!” I shout, grabbing Kenton’s arm.
“I’m out of here,” Cassie hisses and hurries down the stairs. I start to run after her, but an arm wraps around my waist and my back hits the solid wall of Kenton’s chest.
“Let her go, baby.” His lips brush my ear as he speaks.
I shake my head and he squeezes me tighter. “No, she can’t leave! She said there was a YouTube video of me from the bar the other night. I don’t know who put it up, but maybe she does.”
His body goes tight behind me and he lifts me, swinging me behind his back before running down the stairs. I look at Viv and Nancy before following behind him.
The second I reach the front door and swing it open, I see Kenton pacing back and forth, talking on the phone to someone. Cassie is next to her car trying to lift the mattress off of it. Just as I take a step out onto the front porch, two police cars pull up the driveway. Kenton’s head swings my way, and he lifts his hand and motions for me to come over.
I look at the cop cars then at Cassie, who is glaring at me while trying to lift the headboard. If things were not so messed up, I’d be laughing at her. I walk to Kenton. His voice is a low rumble when he tells the person on the phone to track the video and have it removed. When he hangs up, his hand goes to the bottom of my shirt and he pulls me until I’m forced to step closer to him.
“Justin’s on it. He should have the video down in a couple of hours.” When his arms wrap around me, mine automatically do the same, and I lay my head against his chest. “Don’t worry, baby. Everything will be okay,” he says right before I feel his lips at the top of my head.
I close my eyes, soaking in the feeling only he gives me, but the moment is broken when I hear someone clear their throat. I open my eyes and turn my head. A cop is standing there, his mouth curved into a slight smile. I don’t know what he could possibly be smiling about, but his eyes go from me, to Kenton, then over to Cassie, and he shakes his head.
“Looks like you got a little bit of a situation on your hands here, Mayson,” he says, tilting his head towards Cassie and her car, where there is another cop talking to her. “Wanna tell me what happened?”
“Cut the shit, Ford. You know that woman is crazy as hell,” Kenton says, and I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering if it’s wise to talk to a cop like that.
“You were warned about her. Everyone told you to be careful when you got with her, but you are so f*cking stubborn you had to find out that shit for yourself. Seems to me you have been taught a valuable lesson,” Officer Ford says as I try to pull away from Kenton, who only holds me tighter. “So what happened?” he asks again.
“Cassie showed up here not long after I left to head to the office. She pushed her way inside.”
“So how did the bed end up in her car?” he asks, looking at me.
“I may have lost my temper,” I whisper.
Officer Ford smiles then shakes his head before looking at Kenton.
“I want her arrested!” Cassie screeches, and I look in her direction, seeing her pointing at me. “I want to press charges.”
“Shit, this is going to be a lot of paperwork,” Officer Ford grumbles, shaking his head.
“She pushed her way into my house and attacked my woman. If she presses charges, I will do the same,” Kenton says only loud enough for me and Ford to hear. “I will pay for the damage to her car, but I want her gone and to understand that, if she comes back, I will no longer be nice about keeping her away.”
I don’t know what he means by that, but it doesn’t sound good. Officer Ford nods and walks over to where Cassie and the other officer are talking. I watch as he says something to Cassie. Her eyes narrow before getting big, and she turns her head to glare at us.
“Go wait inside with my aunt and mom, baby, while I take care of this,” Kenton says, and I wonder if he saw the look Cassie just shot at both of us.
“I’m sorry about this,” I tell him. “Maybe I should find somewhere els—”
“You even think about running out on me now and I swear to Christ I will blister your ass,” he says, cutting me off.
“Your family,” I say softly, reminding him that we’re not the only ones he needs to worry about.
“My family is safe and so are you.”
I don’t know if that’s true, but I do feel safer with him than I would anywhere else. Plus, I have a feeling that, if I did leave, he would do exactly as he threatened. What I don’t understand is why that thought alone has a dull ache beginning to throb between my legs.
“She’s agreed to not press charges if you agree to pay for the damage to her car,” Officer Ford says, walking back up to us.
I look over at Cassie and then at the car. I have some money saved up and can afford to have it fixed. I don’t want Kenton paying for the damage when this was all my fault to begin with.
“I’ll pay for it,” I tell Ford.
“You’re not paying,” Kenton says, shaking his head. I narrow my eyes and try to step away from him so I can fully have it out with him. “She’s my ex. If she hadn’t shown up, this wouldn’t have happened.” Well, he has a point, but if I hadn’t thrown the bed over the balcony into her car, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. “Go wait inside with my mom and aunt while I get this sorted,” he says again, his arms releasing me.
His tone and bossy attitude have me wanting to punch him in the stomach. My hands ball into fists at my sides, and his eyes drop to them before meeting mine again as a smirk appears on his face.
“You gonna hit me?”
I shrug then look at Officer Ford. “Would you arrest me?”
He smiles and shakes his head. I look back over at Kenton and grin.
“Jesus, you’re cute when you’re pissed,” he says, catching me off guard. Something about that statement only serves to make me madder. “Now, stop f*cking around and go wait inside.”
Without thinking, I kick him in the shin, turn around, and run as fast as I can up the stairs and onto the porch—right into his mom.
Crap.
“Child, I’m starting to wonder if you need anger management,” Nancy says, grabbing my hand, pulling me inside the house, and closing the door behind us.
“I’m not normally like this,” I mumble, lowering my head when I see Viv smile.
“I don’t know what is going on with you and my son, but you’re good for him. He needs someone to put him in his place and keep him on his toes. His life is so serious and revolves around people listening to him and doing exactly what he says when he says it. I don’t know about you, but that would get old.” She shakes her head, smiling.
I don’t want to get their hopes up about Kenton and me, so I decide to change the subject and avoid the topic, even though I have a feeling that I’m not going to be able to avoid it much longer.
“So, what brings you guys to the neighborhood?” I ask casually, leaning back on my heels. I bite my lip when Viv starts to laugh, looking over at Nancy.
“Well, Kenton called and said you needed company.”
A light bulb goes off in my head and I know exactly what happened. He thought I was going to run off, so he sent for backup. The door opens and Kenton walks in. I’m surprised by the smile that lights up his face when our eyes meet.
“Tow truck’s on the way,” he says, walking towards me. I look around, trying to find an escape route. He looks at his mom and gives her a grin. “Can you start some coffee while I talk to Autumn?” he asks her.
She looks at me and her eyes sparkle when I start shaking my head at her. “Sure, honey,” she tells him, turning towards the kitchen. “Viv, let’s go make coffee,” Nancy says with a smile.
Viv’s eyes come to me and she smiles, shaking her head.
“No!” I semi shout. “You should really spend some time with your son. I can totally make the coffee,” I tell them, starting to head towards the kitchen. I feel myself being tugged back by the hem of my shirt. When I look over my shoulder at Kenton, I glare.
“We need to talk,” he informs me.
“We’ll be in the kitchen,” Nancy says, Viv following close behind her.
I close my eyes, letting my head drop forward.
“Thanks, Mom,” Kenton says as I turn around to face him and my shirt twists around my stomach. His eyes drop to my mouth and he takes a step towards me. I try to take a step back, but his hand, which is still wrapped around my shirt, prevents me from going far. “You kicked me,” he says quietly, his mouth brushing mine, leaving me paralyzed.
“Sorry,” I say, getting lost in his eyes.
“Are you really sorry?”
“No,” I whisper, watching his eyes grow dark.
“I didn’t think so.” His tongue touches my bottom lip, making me gasp as his teeth give my bottom lip a punishing nip and tug. My hands lift to his hair, pulling it at the roots, as his hands slide down my sides and over my ass, where he gives me a squeeze.
The feeling of his hands on me has me jumping up without thinking and wrapping my legs around his waist. He groans, pulling my hips tighter against him. My back hits the wall and I whimper. His mouth leaves mine and travels to my ear, nipping it before his lips make their way down my neck, licking and biting along the way. When his mouth comes back to mine, my hips grind against him, trying to get some friction.
“Coffee’s ready—oh! Crap. Sorry,” I hear Viv say.
My eyes open, my teeth release his bottom lip, and I look over his shoulder, seeing Viv heading back into the kitchen.
His hand cups my cheek, pulling my attention back to him. “I hate that she hit you.” His words and the look in his eyes as he studies my cheek make my heart start to pound harder.
“I’m okay. I’m sorry about your bed,” I tell him. Now that I’m not in the moment anymore, I feel bad for having lost my temper.
“I needed a new one anyways.” He smiles, and my fingers go to his cheek, pressing into his dimple. “We good now?” he asks, and I know he’s talking about this morning.
I fight myself on what to say. I need to be honest with him. He scares me, but not exploring this thing with him scares me more. I look over his shoulder before my eyes search his face.
“I know you didn’t mean it like you said it. You’re the first person in a very long time I find myself opening up to.” I cover his mouth with my hand when it looks like he’s going to speak. “You’re also the first guy since my first that I have been interested in. I feel vulnerable when I’m with you, and I hate that your words have the power to crush me, but they do,” I confess softly.
His hand comes to mine, pulling it from his mouth, and he kisses my palm before placing it against his chest. “I say shit I don’t mean sometimes. It’s no excuse and I’ll work on it, but you need to work on opening up to me.” His eyes search my face before his lips brush mine again. “You’re so f*cking fearless that I forget how fragile you are.” The words gently spoken against my lips cause my eyes to slide closed.
“I’m not fearless,” I tell him, resting my forehead against his. “I’m afraid all the damn time.”
“Nah.” He shakes his head. “You’re a f*cking warrior.”