A Redo (The Sterling Shore Series #6) (24 page)

Rain is grinning, apparently having been in on the joke. I wish I hadn’t been collateral damage.

This is the last time I bring Bella with me to Tag’s house. At least until Ash isn’t pregnant anymore.

“I owed Rye big time,” Brin announces. “The rest of the guys were just a bonus.”

“You knew that? How?” Bella asks Wren as he swallows down another bite. I’ll never eat French toast again, but I am interested in his answer.

“I stayed with them some when Trip was still a baby. There was… stuff going on, and they needed help. I made several bottles for Trip, and none of them were made from breastmilk.”

Wren smiles at me, but I can’t seem to get my stomach to settle down. He leans over and kisses the corner of my mouth, before pulling me out of my chair and tugging me into his lap. Everyone grows silent when they return, all eyes on us as I get comfortable.

Angel is too far away to see us, so I’m not worried.

“You lied?” Rye demands questioningly. “For
her?”

He points to Brin, and Ash laughs harder as Brin beams up at him with the fakest innocent smile I’ve ever seen.

“That’s for turning my feet black,” she says so casually.

Immediately, I bend over, looking under the table, and Wren grunts when my ass digs into his very hard erection. I really wish I hadn’t noticed that.

Brin’s wearing tennis shoes though, so my curiosity isn’t sated when I lean back up. The guys all gulp down orange juice to rid their mouths of the foul aftertaste they must be suffering.

“The doctor said it would fade within a week,” Rye says with a shrug when Brin scowls at him.

How do you turn someone’s feet black for a week?

“Damn it, Ash,” Kode groans, returning to Tria’s side. “Now I need to brush my teeth.”

“You’re just mad that you can’t devour Tria in front of all of us with your puke breath,” Maverick says with a wicked tilt of his lips.

“Cut me some slack. I’m in a good mood. That dick Pete went crazy and attacked a guard. After his psych evaluation is over, they’re moving him to a maximum security prison in no more than three weeks, possibly as soon as one week. He’ll be there with some of the most violent criminals. I doubt he’ll ever make it out again to fuck with my girl.”

Ah, Tria’s crazy ex.

Tria rolls her eyes while moving back to her abandoned food. I can’t eat.

“Sorry,” Ash says sincerely to me, and I note with some amusement that she doesn’t extend the same apology to Bella. “I didn’t mean to ruin your appetite. I was planning to wait until everyone was done, but Bella sort of gave me the perfect opportunity.”

Bella groans. “I’m never asking another question.”

Ash quickly says, “For the record, the real secret is French vanilla coffee creamer instead of milk.”

Bella mutters something about not needing the recipe anymore. I couldn’t agree more.

***

ALLIE

“Run, you beautiful bastard! RUN!” Maverick yells, bouncing up and down as the dude in red runs down the field. I don’t have a clue what’s going on.

Wren shouts, getting just as excited, and I watch him. I can’t help but be fascinated, considering he’s sexy when he’s intense. Melanie and Ray left with Carrie in tow. They were dropping her off at her grandmother’s house—Rain’s stepmother.

Bella took Angel home over an hour ago because football bores her. It usually bores me, too, but Wren is very fun to watch. We’ve been here all day, and the guys have been doing pre-game stuff they like to call tailgating. It’s the ritziest version of tailgating that I’ve ever seen.

Tag tosses his hat down like he’s pissed, since he’s apparently cheering for the other team. And Wren tugs me to be on his lap before trailing a set of kisses from my ear to the bottom curve of my neck, moving the collar of my shirt away from my throat to give him more access.

The game has been on for what seems like forever, but every time Wren pulls me closer, I decide I might just start enjoying football. I relax against him as his arms come around my waist, and one of his hands slides down to my thigh.

“Damn, Wren. You’re getting as bad as the rest of them,” Maverick says just as Dane Sterling laughs.

Wren doesn’t bother looking up. His lips continue to devour my neck, kissing and nipping. I don’t like how everyone is suddenly looking at us, and I shift uncomfortably on his lap before tugging my shirt back into place.

“Ignore them,” Wren says, moving my collar back to the side.

“Yeah,” Tag says, smiling salaciously with his pregnant wife in his lap, “ignore us. We’re all just surprised to see Wren finally
break
.”

I don’t know what that means.

“Fuck off,” Wren says to Tag, and everyone starts laughing.

“I need a drink. You?” I ask Wren, standing up to escape the scrutiny of everyone’s looks.

“I’ll get one in a minute,” he says, glaring at Tag for reasons unbeknownst to me.

I head out, and run all over Dale Sterling when I reach the kitchen. I step on his foot, and the shoe sinks, allowing my foot to dig into his.

“Sorry,” I say quickly as he staggers backwards. He laughs while righting himself.

“No problem.”

“Your foot. I had to have hurt it.”

His smile vanishes. “Not possible. Don’t worry.”

“It has to be possible. I felt the shoe push down hard. Let me look at it. I could have broken your toe or something.”

He studies me for a minute, hesitance clearly in his eyes.

“You’re a nurse, so this probably won’t freak you out like most chicks,” he says with a shrug. He pulls up his jean leg, and my breath catches in my throat when I realize his left leg is prosthetic.

“Sorry. Did I freak you out?” he asks, wincing while dropping his pant leg back down.

“No,” I say quickly, too quickly. “It just surprised me. You don’t have a limp.”

He pockets one hand. “I have a lot of money. It affords me the best. Prosthetics have come a long way from when I was a kid.”

So it happened when he was younger?

“I didn’t know.”

He grins while laughing. “I don’t tell many people, and no one in our group thinks about it anymore. It’s just part of me. Women have an issue with it usually.”

He shifts, looking self-conscious all of the sudden, and I feel like shit.

“I have no problem with it. Usually when I see someone who has one, they’re still learning, and there’s a noticeable limp. Or else they have one that doesn’t fit properly.”

He smiles, and then he tugs his black shirt over his head. STERLING is tattooed vertically down his chest to his hip on his side, and I snap my eyes away from his muscled up physique. Why the hell is he pulling his shirt off? Did I send the wrong signal?

“I spilled my beer. I wasn’t trying to spook you,” he says, laughing. I realize I’ve taken several steps back without even noticing it.

Oh. I ran over him and made him spill his beer. I was only focused on the foot I thought I had just thoroughly smashed.

I relax, as he moves to the fridge to grab a fresh beer and dries his chest off with a towel.

“Am I interrupting?” Wren asks, his body pushing against mine from behind.

Yeah. He’s jealous. And I’m smiling.

“Spilled my beer,” Dale says without turning around as he twists the cap off the new beer. He grins as he finally faces Wren—who has possessively wrapped his arms around my middle, pulling me tighter against him.

“No worries, Wren. Corbin told me what you did to Billy. I don’t want to get on your bad side,” Dale says, laughing. He winks at me as he walks out, and Wren mutters something like
damn Sterlings
.

I turn in Wren’s arms, cocking an eyebrow as a small smile plays on my lips.

“Did you just get jealous?” I ask teasingly.

His lips twitch, but he restrains his smile before lifting me up and putting me on the counter. He pushes my legs apart so that he can step in between them, and he tugs me until my center hits his. A small gasp leaves my lips, and he lets his thumbs graze the undersides of my breasts, stroking me through the bra.

“Yes, I did,” he says honestly, brushing his lips against mine as his hands slide down my waist. When those daring hands go under my shirt, my breath ceases.

He keeps inching his hands up until he reaches my bra, and his thumbs slip under the material, stroking the bare flesh the way he was doing over my shirt seconds ago. A moan slips out unbidden, and Wren’s lips slide down my neck.

“I’m not used to being jealous, Allie,” he says against my neck. “I’ve never been jealous before.”

My stomach tightens, and for a brief, twisted second, I can’t help but feel a little special upon hearing that admission. His voice is quiet and a little deeper than usual as he continues speaking in between kissing and sucking my neck, and my fingernails dig into his shoulders as my legs clasp around his waist.

“What was Tag talking about? I mean about you breaking?” I whisper, trying to distract him from doing things with that damn tongue and those tormenting lips I love so much.

“He knew you’d break me. But you didn’t just break me. You brought me to my knees.” He pulls back, letting me see the intensity of his full gaze before continuing. “I don’t fight. I don’t get jealous. I got pissed at Billy for betraying me when he slept with Erica—the first time—but I didn’t get jealous. So make me understand why I get jealous with you,” he says, but his lips return to my neck, and his hands inch higher, moving under my bra so that his thumbs can tease my nipples.

My head falls back and my grip on him tightens—with my hands and legs. He leans forward, keeping a firm hold on me as he continues to devour my neck slowly.

“Why do I get jealous with you, Allie?” he asks again, as if I happen to have the answer. “How do you drive me so crazy that all I want to do is bury myself inside you for hours at a time, and hide you from the rest of the world so they can’t see how fucking incredible you are?”

He really needs to stop talking. Shit. I’m making sounds. It’s like my body responds to him without my permission, and it’s enough to drive me crazy in a good and bad way. I’m falling more and more for him every day.

“You guys are getting as bad as Kode and Tria,” Rain says, laughing much too close, and Wren immediately pushes my shirt down before tugging me flush against his chest.

My face is probably every shade of red there is, so I bury it in Wren’s neck while wrapping my arms around him. I just want to get him home.

“Want to go to my place?” he whispers against my ear as Rain walks through to head to the fridge.

Grinning, I lean back and nod.

“Good. Those tight pants have been messing with my head all day. Let’s go.”

He pulls me off the counter while Rain snickers, and he starts calling out
goodbyes
to the group.

“You’re leaving?” Maverick asks in shock. “It’s not even halftime yet!”

“I’ve got it recording. I’ll watch it later.”

I duck my head when catcalls emerge, and Wren flips them off even as he smiles. His arm comes around my shoulders, and I lean against him. I doubt I’ll ever get enough of him. But I really hope he doesn’t get bored with me. He might not have gotten jealous over Erica, but he did spend years with her for a reason.

There’s only one reason I can think of.

Chapter 29

ALLIE

“Where’s Wren?” Bella asks as I nervously meet her in the kitchen.

I’ve been trying to ask her a question for two days, but I can’t seem to bring myself to do it. Ever since the Super Bowl, I’ve been working hard to summon up the courage.

“He and Dane took Carrie and Angel to the batting cages after school today. They won’t be back for another hour.”

Her eyes find mine as she puts down her smoothie, and she studies me.

“Uh-oh,” she says, eyeing me curiously. “What’s wrong?”

Now or never.

“Wren spent years with Erica, right? I mean, this thing between us is still really new. What if he gets bored?”

Maybe that’s enough for her to take the hint. She waves me off as though I’m overanalyzing things, though, clearly not picking up on my subtlety.

“Wren’s crazy about you. Stop worrying and enjoy it. Or send him to me. I swear that guy gets hotter every time he comes over. I almost hate him every time he takes off his shirt. I mean, seriously, can’t you make him keep his shirt on?”

That’s to taunt me into telling Angel about us. He keeps trying to tempt me into losing control and touching him. He wants us to be able to cuddle on the sofa with her in our laps, as opposed to me working hard—very hard—to stay far away.

“Bella,” I groan, feeling my face turn red, “I mean…
bored.
You know?”

She studies me, and finally recognition sparks. “Ohh.
Oh
. I get it. So you want to spice things up already? Bondage or something?”