“Can Mom make cookies when we get home?” My heart aches, and I take a deep breath to try to control my own emotions. Ever since the wedding, he has called Lilly, Mom. I love that he is able to get the kind of motherly love he needs from Lilly, but I fucking hate that he is suffering so badly because of his real mother.
“I’m not sure, but you can ask her when we get there.” He nods again, resting his forehead against the window. I turn on some music, filling the silence. Once we get back to the house, he is ready to go as soon as I open his door, and before his door is even shut, he is running towards the house yelling, “Mom!” at the top of his lungs. Lilly comes to the front door. She is wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, her hair is pulled back from her face with a small clip, and her face is completely makeup-free, showing off her naturally creamy complexion and rosy cheeks. She looks beautiful.
“What is it, honey?” she asks as Jax plows into her, his arms going around her thighs. Her hand goes to the top of his head, the other to the back of his neck. He holds on to her for a second and she looks at me; I shake my head, and she nods before looking back down at Jax.
“Can we make cookies?” he asks, leaning his head back.
“Well, your sister and I were trying to make cinnamon rolls. Do you want to come help us?” He nods, unwrapping his arms. “Well, go in and wash your hands. I will be there in just a second.” She runs her hand over his hair as he walks into the house.
“Are you okay?”
“No, but coming home knowing you’re here goes a long way to making it okay.” I pull her towards me by the waist, kissing her lips, then resting my mouth against her forehead.
“Please, don’t let her stress you out,” she says, her fingers running along my jaw, her touch calming me down.
“I’m fine, baby. Let’s go inside; I need to make a phone call, and you need to make me cinnamon rolls.”
“I’m sorry,” she shakes her head, “I didn’t know I was making you cinnamon rolls; the memo must have gotten lost along the way.”
“You would deny your husband?”
“I guess I would.” She smiles, getting the look she always gets when she looks at me, lighting up her face.
“You know what happens when you deny me, right?” I ask, crowding her.
“What?” she asks. I hear her breath hitch and I smile.
“Never mind, please, don’t make me cinnamon rolls. It’s been awhile since my palm has felt your ass, and you know how I love your ass, baby.” I lean in, kissing her nose, and then I turn her around, giving her a gentle push inside before tapping her on the ass.
“Cash.” She looks at me over her shoulder.
“Got stuff to do, babe.” I walk away smiling, knowing that the minute I can get her alone later tonight is the minute she will go wild for me. The anticipation is going to be making her squirm all day. I walk into my office and set about getting things ordered for the jobsite that we’re starting on next week. Once that’s done, I pay some bills. I need to call Nico, but I know that he has been busy lately. I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but Lil thinks he’s hooked up with someone, and that would make sense. My brother was always around; even with him working for Kenton, he still finds time to come and see us regularly. Nowadays though, we’re lucky if we see him once a week. I pick up my phone and dial his number; he answers on the second ring.
“What’s up, bro?” he answers, sounding like he was sleeping.
“Yo, you asleep? It’s two in the afternoon,” I say, looking at the clock.
“Yeah, I was up late,” he says, and then I hear a female in the background calling his name. “Just a second, baby, my brother’s on the phone,” he replies to her, sounding so gentle that I pull the phone away from my ear, making sure I have my brother on the line and not some other Nico. “I’m going to get some water, if that’s okay?” I hear her say. I can tell he has pulled the phone away from his ear to talk to her. “I’ll get you some. Go lay back down, baby. I’ll be right there,” he tells her. I hear the sound of a kiss, and then he’s back.
“You still there?”
“Who are you, and what the fuck have you done with my brother?” I ask him. I have never heard him use that tone with anyone—not the kids, not our parents, and definitely not a female.
“I found her,” he whispers.
“What?”
“I found my boom. I had no fucking clue that returning a lost phone would lead me to her, but I fucking found her.”
“Holy shit. Wait, returning a lost phone?”
“Looong story, bro, but I found her, and she is beautiful, and sweet, and so fucking perfect that I worry about touching her and dirtying her up. But I can’t walk away; it’s impossible.
“Jesus, Lil was right.”
“What?”
“Lil said that you haven’t been coming around because you got hooked up with someone.” I hear his laugh, and I can imagine him rubbing his head.
“It’s a lot more than a hook up, but yeah.”
“I get that.” I sit back in my chair and look up at the ceiling. I never thought that our lives would be like this. I knew at one point we would all grow up and find women to share our lives with, but seeing each of my brothers happy, and now having my own family has strengthened my belief that nothing happens before its time. “So when do we get to meet her?” I ask him.
“Soon. She’s just starting to accept that she’s mine.” He laughs when I hear her say something to him. “You are. Do you need me to prove it again?” he asks her, and that’s my cue to get off the phone.
“Well, I’m gonna let you go,” I tell him.
“Sure, man. I’ll call you soon.”
“Talk to you then.” I hang up, smiling down at the phone. I’m happy that my brother is happy.
“Why are you smiling?” I looked up; Lilly’s standing in the doorway holding a small plate with a cinnamon roll on it.
“Is that for me?”
“It depends on who put that smile on your face,” she says, coming towards me.
“Actually, I don’t know what her name is,” I tell her, pulling the plate from her hand, setting it on the desk before dragging her around it so I can pull her into my lap.
“You don’t know her name?” Her hand comes up to rest on my jaw, her beautiful eyes soft.
“No, Nico didn’t tell me her name.”
“I was right?” Her face lights up and I shake my head. So fucking cute.
“You were, and he seems like he is already lost to her.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” she ask quietly, searching my face.
“If she is the one for him, then yes, a very good thing.” I palm the back of her head and pull her closer to me. “So you brought me a cinnamon roll?” I change the subject.
“No, I brought it in here to eat it while you watch.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” She smiles, looking sexy.
“I have a better idea.”
“What’s that?” Her tongue comes out, licking across her lower lip.
“Save it for later when then kids are in bed and I get you alone.”
“Why?” she asks breathlessly.
“You said you brought it in here to eat in front of me, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re going to eat it in front of me later wearing nothing, and anything you drop I’m going to eat using no hands.
“Oh,” she moans as I lick into her mouth, tasting cinnamon and sugar. And much later that night, I taste cinnamon and sugar from other parts of her body.