ONLY FOR LOVE, page 27
part #1 of Only For #2 Series
“Do you think I can take her to my house?” she asks and I snort. “Probably not, right?” she backpedals. “Okay, I’ll come over every night and sit with her so she doesn’t get lonely.”
“That works,” I agree. “I like the fact you’ll be in my house.”
“Oh yeah,” she says, loading the dishwasher and cleaning up, “why is that?”
“I don’t know, I just like knowing you’ll be here,” I tell her. “Go get your hair done and then we can go.”
“But you are leaving for five days and you want me to take you away from Jefferson for another day?” She shakes her head. “No can do.”
“You know she doesn’t even care, right?” I look around. “We’ve been up for two hours and she hasn’t even bothered to come and see if we’re okay.”
“But she knows we’re here,” she defends and then I can hear the sound of her bell coming closer to us. “See?” Lexi says, walking to her and picking her up and cradling her. She looks up at Lexi and then looks at me with a glare. “Don’t worry, pretty girl, we are going to stay here with you.”
The plane touches down just after noon on Friday and I look out the window at the sun. We usually head home right after we land, but we have a game tomorrow, so we have a late afternoon practice. The bus is waiting for us when we walk off, and I toss my bag under it before heading on and sitting down. Jaxon sits next to me and the two of us don’t say a word to each other. I pull my phone out and text Lexi.
Me:
Just landed. On our way to practice. Let me know if you are coming over tonight after dinner or not. I missed you.
I put the phone away, looking out the window. Her family started arriving today, and I know she has her big dinner with them. She’s nervous about fitting in, which is ridiculous since it’s her family and they will do anything for her. Her sister and the kids are staying with her, so I’m not sure if I’m going to see her, which I hate, but it is what it is. She’s been at my house all week with Jefferson, even sleeping there one night.
We get to the arena, everyone grabbing their bags and putting it in their respective cars before heading back and changing for practice. I step in and spot some of the other team walking into the visitors’ locker room from the ice. “I’ll be back,” I tell Jaxon who looks at me. “I’m going to go talk to Matty.”
“Are you insane?” he asks me. “Why are you doing that?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” I tell him, slapping his chest. “I’ll be fine,” I assure him and he groans. I walk to the locker room, sticking my head in and not seeing him there. I get a couple of chin-up hellos from some of the players, and I’m about to head to the ice when I see him walking down the corridor.
“Hey,” I say to him and he stops walking, and with his skates on, he has an advantage on me.
“Hey,” he replies, unsure.
“I’m Kirby Materson and I thought I should introduce myself,” I say, and his face tells me he has no idea what the fuck I’m talking about.
“And why is that?” he asks, taking off his gloves, and I can see the little glimpses of similarity between Lexi and him. She’s the one with the clearest eyes out of all three. The one with the darkest hair for sure.
“I’m in love with your sister.” Smooth, I think to myself, very fucking smooth.
“Excuse me?” He turns his head to the side as if he didn’t hear me.
“I’m in love with Lexi.” Fuck, this is a bad idea. Why didn’t I listen to Jaxon?
“She just left her husband!” he hisses out.
“Yeah, and that was a long time coming. Don’t you think?” I say and for the second time he’s shocked.
“You knew him?” His temper starts to go up.
“I met him over summer break,” I tell him. “It was when I got to know Lexi.”
“So you fell in love with a married woman?” He snorts out his disgust. “What does that say about you?” He turns and starts to walk away from me.
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it led to her leaving him,” I announce and he stops moving and turns back around. “That night”—I shake my head—“it got ugly and he said things that hurt her.” I don’t give him more than that. “I’m sorry she had to hear them.”
“What things?” he asks me, his glare deadly.
“You should ask her.”
“I’m asking you.” He points to me. “You were the one who came to seek me out. So I’m asking you exactly what the fuck happened.”
I look to the side, seeing Jaxon leaning against the door to the locker room, far enough away to give us privacy, but close enough if he has to spring into action he can. “Before I tell you, I want to say she never, ever did anything that would have him talk about her the way he did.” His eyes are on mine. “In no way, shape, or form did she ever let on or do anything that was inappropriate.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” he informs me. “I know my sister would never do that. No matter how much…” He trails off.
“I walked outside to get some air and he was there in the corner of the balcony, head bent with a blonde.” Matty’s head falls back and he looks up to the ceiling. “He saw me and we exchanged words. I asked him how he could disrespect her like that. I just didn’t get it. Man, he had the best woman he could ever have and he was fucking around. I didn’t know she was there; I would never want her to hear what he said.”
“What did he say?” he asks, his jaw clenched and tight. His hands are fisted by his sides.
“That she was a fucking nobody without him,” I relay softly and then look around. “She was a nobody when he met her because”—I take a deep breath—“her father is a fucking drug addict.” The same gasp I heard that night I now hear again, but this time there is a hiss after it. “She should be thankful that he took pity on her.”
“That motherfucking piece of shit,” he growls. “If I ever get my hands on him.”
“You’ll have to get in line,” I tell him and he looks at me, “because I’m first in line. Well, maybe second behind Lexi. She may be your sister, but I hear the stories that she tells me. Stories that would make your blood boil. Stories that have impacted her far more than she lets on and that one day I hope she can heal from as we grow together.”
“Is that so?” He about smirks at me.
“Yeah.” I nod. “So that’s why I wanted to introduce myself to you.” I hold out my hand. “So again, I’m Kirby.” He looks at me and looks at my hand and I don’t know what to expect, to be honest. He could turn around and walk away and ignore everything I just said. Or he could accept I love her and semi-accept that I’m in her life. “I know you mean the world to her, so I wanted to do this for her.” His eyes go to my hand and back to my eyes, and then I see his hand extended.
“Good to meet you, Kirby,” he says, “and it goes without saying that if you hurt her—”
“Yeah.” I don’t even let him finish. “I know.”
“I don’t think you do,” he starts to explain. “You see, for the past ten years I’ve seen my sister become a shell of the person I know. I’ve seen her retreat more and more as the time went by and I felt helpless. Fuck, we all felt helpless. No one knew what to do.” His words hit me in the middle of my chest.
“I can’t imagine,” I tell him. “I had it in my face for weeks and it felt like an eternity, but I can give you this. I’ll treat her with respect because she deserves it. I’ll treat her with kindness and care, and I’ll take whatever she has to give me. I told her I loved her and I don’t know how she feels, but I’ll wait for her for eternity.” He nods. “It’s that kind of love.”
“Well, good to meet you. Will you be around this weekend?”
“Probably not this time,” I say. “It’s time for her to bond with you all. It’s not the place for me right now.”
“Respect,” he states, “you have my respect.”
We look at each other and nod, not saying anything to each other as we turn and head to our respective locker rooms.
“Well, good news is you can still play tomorrow,” Jaxon teases. “Bad news is he’s going to put you through the wringer.”
thirty-three
Lexi
I pull up to the house and jump out of the car and I can hardly contain myself, I’m so excited. I run up the steps to the big brown door and ring the doorbell. I literally feel like I’m bouncing on the tips of my toes as I hear footsteps coming. It swings open and my cousin Gabriella is there wearing a pair of yoga pants and a matching yoga bra. “Oh my God. You’re here!” she says to me with the biggest smile on her face. When I step in and hug her, I can’t help but feel the stinging in my eyes.
I close them as we rock side to side and I hear more voices coming from the back. “Is it her?” my cousin Zoey yells from somewhere in this mansion, and it is a mansion. Gabriella married one of the up-and-comers from Hollywood when he was just starting out. I mean, his parents are Hollywood royalty, but Romeo wanted to be behind the camera instead of in front of it. The night he won an Oscar, he surprised them with their wedding. It was the last wedding I went to.
“It’s her!” Gabriella shouts over her shoulder and then I hear footsteps running toward me, and I see my sister. I don’t know why but the tears just run down my face.
I hug her as if I’ve never hugged her, as if I’ve been locked away in a tower for the last ten years and I haven’t seen her. It’s a hug I didn’t know I’d been missing. Like someone in the desert wanting to drink that sip of water and then finally getting it. I can’t help the sob that escapes me as I shake in her arms.
“Hey,” she says softly.
“I’m…” I start to say, but I have to stop, the lump in my throat gets bigger. “I’m so happy you’re here.” I let her go and smile through the tears, and when I look around, I see all of them crying. Sofia is holding Jagger while Zoey is side-hugging Ariella. “Well, this is awkward,” I try to make a joke and we laugh, but my hands come up to hold her face. “I missed you.” I roll my lips together and sniffle. “So, so much.” She takes me in another hug as I look at everyone. “I’ve missed everyone so much.”
“But she missed me the most,” Zara gloats when she turns in my arms and my arm is draped around her shoulders.
“Come on, let’s go sit and talk,” Gabriella suggests, coming on the other side of me and slipping her hand in mine. It’s a little extra strength I didn’t know I needed as we walk into the house. The kitchen is filled with people cooking. “Romeo is still trying to make a good impression on you guys, so he’s hired all these people to cook for us. Plus, he called that one over there.” She points to Sofia, who is one of the best event planners in the South, holding Jagger. “And it’s like an event is happening. Wait until you guys see what he did to the backyard. I drew the line at him getting a DJ for the night.” I laugh as we step into the family room, away from the noise of the kitchen.
Jagger’s toys are in the middle of the room, and when I get close enough to him, he lunges for me. “How is my little man?” I take him from Sofia and giving her a side hug. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course.” She rubs my back before walking over to the couch, where she must have been sitting before I got here, glasses of wine are in the middle of the coffee table.
“Where are all the kids?” I look around and listen if I can hear the yelling and screaming they do once they are together.
“Ah,” Zara says, “the grandparents took all the kids to some activity so we can have a mini girls’ day. I stopped listening, to be honest. I don’t know where they are but if no one called me yet, I’m sure everyone is fine.”
“That one had to stay with me since I’m his feeding source,” Ariella jokes. “But so far we’ve been handing him off to each other, so he’s content.”
Gabriella walks over to the couch and then grabs another wineglass. “Okay, I’m going to say it,” she starts as she holds up the glass for me. “You look fantastic.”
“Doesn’t she?” Zoey agrees. “I was going to say something when she walked in but I was like, I hate it when people see me and are like ‘you look fantastic’ and in my head I’m thinking, ‘Wow, did I look like shit before?’”
“The answer obviously is yes,” Zara teases, “but in your case”—she slips her arm in mine—“you did look like shit.”
I can’t help but laugh and it startles Jagger, who pouts and reaches for his mother. “It’s okay,” I soothe, walking with Zara to the couch. “I felt like shit, so I probably looked like it too.”
“I mean, you looked always put together,” Zoey restates, sitting, grabbing her wineglass and tucking her feet under her. “But you looked like you needed a cheeseburger or two.”
I sit with Zara next to me and I don’t want to let her go. She must sense it too because she sits back and pulls me with her. “Well, I’m eating carbs and—”
“Dick,” Zara interjects, laughing. “That will do it.”
I can’t help but laugh and shake my head. “I want to hear all about everything,” Gabriella says, “but I want you to start at the beginning.”
I inhale and look over at Zara, who grabs her glass of wine and then hands it to me. “Liquid courage,” she urges me and I finish it in two gulps. “Welcome back, Lexi.” She winks at me as Gabriella hands me another glass, and I tell them just about everything. From Trent cheating on me, to the embarrassing moment he gave me an STI. Which took Zoey and Gabriella to the edge of their seats as then their legs went up and down with nerves. I wasn’t sure if they were going to get up and fly to Phoenix or smash something in Gabriella’s house.
“He’s a motherfucker.” Sofia is the one to say what everyone is thinking. “A small-dicked motherfucker.”
Zara grabs my head and puts it on her shoulder as she kisses the top of it. “Anyway, now I have my lawyer blowing up my phone, telling me to take the twenty million dollars for the NDA. It started at twelve and for the past two weeks they’ve increased it.” Zoey stands up and I watch her. “What are you doing?”
“I’m calling fucking Ryleigh,” she hisses out, mentioning Romeo’s sister, “I know you don’t want to get her involved and you want to handle it yourself, but you need the best, and well, she’s a pit bull,” she declares and then puts the phone on speaker, and I can hear it ringing.
“If you are calling me to gloat about your impromptu girls’ day drinking,” she hisses, “I’m going to stop sending you pictures of the kids.”
Zoey laughs. “No, it’s not that. We’re here but we’re calling because Lexi needs your help.”
“Uh-oh,” she says. “Should I start the Bat chain?” She mentions the phone chain our family has. It’s sort of the emergency phone network that people use. “Does she need bail?”
“NO!” I gasp. “I’m here.” I then look at the women around me, who are here to catch me if I fall. “But I might need your help.”
“Tell me,” she says, and by the end of it, she is pissed.
“I am going to make this guy wish he’d never met you,” she grinds out. “He’s going to literally sit down on his little stool and think he should’ve walked away from you when he saw you all those years ago.” Zoey snickers. “One, you aren’t taking that NDA settlement because chances are he’s going to try and hide shit from you. Two, you aren’t taking that settlement because he’s a piece of shit and I said no, and three, you aren’t taking it because you are not going to be fucking silenced. You know if you took that and you even mentioned his name, he could sue you for all of it back.” I can hear the hatred in her voice. “Fire your lawyer and send me a dollar.”
“What?” I ask her, looking around and Gabriella is already on her phone.
“Sent.” I look at her. “We have to pay her a dollar so whatever we say to her goes under client-lawyer privilege. Even though she’s my sister-in-law and it’s a conflict of interest.”
“Send me his lawyer’s name,” she says and then laughs. “The last time I had this much fun was when I took Charlie’s sister-in-law”—she mentions Sofia’s cousin—“Harmony’s ex to the cleaners.” She snickers. “That was a fun, fun day.”
“Send her the name,” Zara urges from beside me. “You got this.” I pull up my phone and send her all the information.
“Just got it,” she confirms. “Okay, I’m off to make a couple of phone calls. Oh, and it’s Friday and it’s almost five. I love ruining people’s weekends. I have to go now. Lexi, I’ll call on Monday unless something comes up before.”
“Okay,” I tell her. “Thank you again. I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Hey, you’re family.” I nod, not able to say anything.
“Okay, now that that is over,” Zoey prods, “tell us about the hot hockey player you are sleeping with.” She claps her hands. “We might have stalked him on social media before you got here.” She looks at the girls in the room. “But it was for research purposes only.”
I can’t help but smile when I talk about Kirby. I tell them everything, including how he saw right through me, how he helped me without even knowing, and how his note was the one that gave me the strength to make the phone call.
“I love him,” Zara states. “He got you to smile like that”—she points to me—“and to wear jeans. He’s got my vote.” I laugh at her and I don’t say another thing because the front door opens and chaos erupts. The kids come running into the room, and I’m surrounded by my family. I hug the twins, who take me off my feet, and I look up to see my parents watching with tears in their eyes.
I’m shuffled from person to person, getting all the hugs and kisses, talking to each and every one of them. I look around and the only thing that is truly missing from all of this, who I want by my side, is Kirby. My phone is in my hand with the last text he sent me and I never got a chance to answer him. Except, he’s not pressing me to answer him. I know if I don’t answer him, he’s not going to belittle me about it. Not make me feel guilty for not taking the time to answer him. It’s going to be the opposite. He’s going to want to hear all about how my day with my family was and he’s going to do it holding my hand. He won’t have to say a word, all he’ll have to do is hold my hand, and I know it’ll be okay.
