Kept (Castile Family 2)

It sparks hope that this could be about more than sex for him. I was a sure thing. He didn’t have to do all these things to try and get lucky. That means he wants to do them. I smile, feeling even more relaxed at that thought as I let my eyes drift closed for a moment. Sinking into the warm water, I finally allow myself to think of a life with Cullen. How sweet life could be with a man like him as my husband.

Cullen wakes me with a soft kiss to my lips. I try to deepen the kiss but he pulls back with a smile on his face. He stands next to the tub with an outstretched oversized towel. I pull myself up and allow him to wrap me in it. He lifts me from the tub, cradling me in his arms. My hands wrap around his neck as he carries me toward the kitchen.

“You know I can walk, right?”

He scowls at me as he sets me on a kitchen stool. I laugh at his expression as I reach up and smooth those frown lines from his forehead. Jesus, he’s so damn handsome. I still think that should be against the law or something.

“Keep it up with that sassy mouth of yours,” he says, laughing. His laugh is infectious and causes me to laugh right along with him. Cullen leaves me for a minute while he plates up what must be the cake he’s baked. I fight a smile when I see the box the cake came from over on the counter. It warms me that he’s trying. That’s all that really matters to me.

“You made this?” I ask as he sets the plate in front of me. I let out a small laugh when I see it’s strawberry shortcake. Of course that’s what he made me. He sits in the chair next to mine. He grabs my chair from the bottom, pulling it closer to him and spreading his legs to make room for me.

“I did my best.” He leans over, kissing my bare shoulder before lifting the fork and cutting off a piece. “Open up, love.” My heart gives a jerk at the word love. My mouth opens all on its own as I lock eyes with him while he feeds me the bite.

I can’t taste the cake. I’m overwhelmed by everything else happening around me. The word love bounces around in my head. He keeps using it. It’s going to be my undoing.

Chapter 18

Cullen

Weddings are tiring. I can see why Mom and Dad went straight to the courthouse because the hour-long ceremony followed by what felt like an endless reception wore me the fuck out. MJ was exhausted, too. She slept like the dead that night and then rolled out of bed right before she had to leave for dinner service at her restaurant.

She gave me a quick peck on the lips and then scooted out the door. Left alone in the house, I watched some game highlights, picked up shit, and, then, bored out of my skull, I went to the precinct to work.

For a Sunday, it’s pretty busy. You’d think that most people would stay home with their families instead of coming in to the bullpen to look at cases that can’t be solved or drink burnt coffee out of the decades-old machine in the break room. Up until I met MJ, I was here every weekend. It’s not like I had better shit to do.

I tap the end of my pencil against the metal desk. Right now, Maddox is making plans to whisk his new bride away to Paris for the start of some ridiculously fancy honeymoon. Sav is probably lying in her private pool with her army of manservants filling her champagne flute every ten minutes. My parents? My mind skitters away from them. At the reception, they were loudly declaring they were going to go home and engage in some baby-making activities. While they left to huge cheers, Sav and I tried to crawl under the table in embarrassment. The only way they get away with that shit is because they’re rich as fuck and no one would ever dream of offending them.

I stare at my computer monitor for a good five minutes before opening the solitaire app. Clearly, I’m functioning at a high level today. My phone dings and I lunge for it.

Sav: I’m moving to Greenland.

Me: Okay.

Me: Why?

Sav: *sends video*

I open the grainy thing and it’s of my parents mauling each other under the awning outside of the Mark Hotel where the wedding was held.

Me: I’ll pack my bags.

Sav: How can they do this to us? All my friends’ parents are having affairs and sending each other hate messages while our parents are trying to make a sex tape in front of the valet of the Mark Hotel.