Bet Me Something (Something Series Book 3) (35 page)

“Holy shit.
Seriously?”

“Yep.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, for the
most part. Got a little drunk last night—”

“With who?”

No matter how
much I was tempted to say
it’s none of your business
, I couldn’t be that
way. Not with him. “My dad. We drank scotch, which is disgusting by the way.”

He chuckled.
“Agreed. It is disgusting.”

My chest was
back to hurting. “I should go. I’m glad we, uh, talked, and we’re okay for
Sunday. Guess I’ll see you then.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah,
I’ll definitely see you Sunday.”

After hanging
up, I wondered if I should’ve kept the conversation going to show him what he
was missing. But then I realized it was actually therapeutic to set the limit I
needed in order to cope with not being with him.

***

The sound of a
siren getting louder by the second woke me up from my nap. Peeking out the
window, I could only see out the rear of the house and not the road, but it
sounded really close. Mrs. Singer came in a couple minutes later. “Honey,
there’s an ambulance at your house. Come on.”

I jumped out of
bed, slipped on my shoes and flew down the stairs. Not waiting for her to pull
the car out, I took off in a dead run, cutting through our back yards to my
house. The blood drained from my face when I saw my mother standing outside on
the porch while the ambulance drove away.

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure.
Your dad was in the kitchen and clutched his chest. He kept insisting that he
would be fine, but I called 911 anyways. He was angry enough that he wouldn’t
let me ride with him.”

When Mrs.
Singer’s vehicle pulled in, she offered to drive. I took my mom’s hand. “Come
on, let’s get to the hospital.”

***

 After finding
out that my father had sustained a mild heart attack and was in need of a
procedure where they inserted a stent into a blockage they’d found, we waited
for hours at the hospital. During that time, thankfully, both Brian and Sasha
had flown in and were welcome company as we all tried to keep positive thoughts.

We stood as soon
as the doctor came out.

“We’ve finished
with the procedure, and he’s in recovery. Once they get him settled in his
room, the nurse will take you up there.”

After thirty
minutes we were able to see him. He looked weak, but managed a smile. Tears ran
down my face while I embraced him, but the most surprising thing was seeing
them in my mother’s eyes.

She took his
hand and sat beside him. “I’d like to stay the night if that’s okay.”

My father wore a
stunned expression but nodded. “All right. I might not be very good company,
but that would be nice.”

“Can I bring
either of you anything from the house?” I offered.

My mom nodded,
coming over to embrace me and give me a list of things they’d both need from
home.

***

By the time I’d
brought my parent’s stuff to the hospital, visited with my father a bit longer,
then had Brian and Sasha drop me off, it was nine o’clock. Although I could’ve
gone home, there was something about it being empty that led me back at the
Singer house. After Mrs. Singer insisted I eat dinner, I went upstairs, took a
shower, and crashed hard from such an emotionally taxing day.

The sound of the
bedroom door opening woke me in the middle of the night. I stirred, hearing
Colby’s voice.

“It’s just me,
Kenz.”

My sleep-fogged
brain thought maybe I was dreaming until I felt him slide in behind me. “I’m in
your bed.”

His arms went
around me from the back. “Yes you are.”

“I didn’t know
you’d be home tonight. I can move rooms.”

“I’m here for
you. My mom called and told me about your father. How is he?”

“Better after
the procedure. You didn’t have to come for me.”

“It’s what
friends do, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose
they do. Although your
friendly
erection is kind of sending mixed
signals at the moment.” I could feel him hard behind me.

He chuckled
softly before sighing. “I know. I told myself I wouldn’t touch you, but then I
saw you in my bed and couldn’t help myself.” His lips settled below my ear,
kissing softly.

“Maybe our
bodies need closure.” I pushed my ass back into him, relishing the hiss of
breath near my ear. Suddenly I didn’t want to think about coping with
limitations or what had happened in Vegas. I didn’t dare contemplate what this
might mean beyond tonight. Overanalyzing could come in the morning, but for
right now I needed to shut off my brain and pretend this might work out—if only
for the time it would take until one of us left this bed.

“Are you sure?”
he asked.

“Yes.”

That one word
had him quickly shedding his shorts and shirt behind me before reaching around
to peel down my thong.

His fingers ran
the length of my slit before plunging deep inside of me. “I missed you so
fucking much.”

I couldn’t
reciprocate verbally without being taken out of the moment and think about why
it was that we were missing each other in the first place, so I let my body
take over. “I want you inside of me.”

He moved my top
leg over him, giving him a better angle to thrust deep.

 “Ahh, yes, like
that.” I moaned loudly, trying to concentrate on how he was making my body feel
instead of his words.

“Shh, or we’ll
wake up my mom.” His hands came around, pinching my nipples and then rolling
them to peaks, clearly testing the boundaries of how quiet I could actually be.

My hips rocked
against him, savoring the exquisite pace that was slowly driving me towards my
climax. Once he reached down to settle his skilled fingers on my clit, I was
done for. I turned my face into the pillow, muffling the sound of my orgasm.

I’d halfway
expected he’d follow and then we’d fall asleep, but he wasn’t nearly finished.
He pulled out and pinned me to my back, settling between my thighs before
driving back into me and going in for the kiss.

Holy hell. Had
there ever been a time where he wasn’t good at kissing? Sure didn’t seem that
way now.

“Wrap your
gorgeous legs around me.”

I did so,
pulling him closer and feeling him groan at the way he was so deep inside of
me. My muscles clenched with the start of my climax while I felt the hot
evidence of his hitting my core. Both of us reached the pinnacle at the same
time.

He kissed my
neck before traveling further down my body until his face was buried in my
pussy. He acted like he was a starved man, and I was his last meal. Gripping
the pillow, I had to shove it over my face to keep from screaming out with
another release minutes later.

Crawling up my
length, he kissed me, allowing me to taste the sensual combination of us on his
lips. With all the emotion of a possible last kiss goodbye, I ran my hands
through his hair, over his shoulders, down his back, trying to memorize every
detail before our time was up, and reality inevitably crashed down uninvited in
the morning.

I woke as the
sun was coming up, looking over to see that Colby was still sound asleep beside
me. I took a moment to appreciate his gorgeous face, wanting to touch him again
but knowing I’d promised myself that time was up. I had no regrets, but the
last thing I needed was to have ‘the talk’ about where this left us now or,
worse, have him say he was sorry for the umpteenth time.

The fact I was
leaving tomorrow night for three weeks gave me resolve. I wasn’t going to
expect that anything between us had changed, and thankfully, my sated body was
trumping any potential of an emotional fallout. At least for the moment.

Quietly, I
dressed, packed my things, and crept out of the room. When I was at the bottom
of the stairs, Mrs. Singer startled me.

“Good morning,
honey. You want some breakfast?”

“No, thank you.
I should get back to the hospital.”

She reached out,
squeezing my hand. “I understand. You call me if there’s anything we can do and
keep me updated. I’ll come by the house later, depending on when your father
gets home.” Her gaze left mine, focusing on the stairs behind me. “Colby, I
wasn’t aware you’d come home.”

She glanced from
me to him, and I could feel my face heating. Hearing his husky voice and seeing
him standing there didn’t help matters.

“Hi, Mom. I got
in late last night, so I didn’t want to wake you.”

Her eyes got
bigger but, to her credit, she didn’t ask the obvious question, such as:
what
did you do when you found Kenzie in your bed?

“I need to go,
but thanks again, Mrs. Singer, for letting me stay. Uh, I’ll see you both
later.”

I practically
bolted the short distance to my house to drop my things and take a shower. A
text from Colby waited for me with the words I dreaded.

“Can we talk
please?”

Although it was
an excuse to avoid him, it was a damn good one.
“I’m on my way to see my
dad. Maybe later.”

Once I arrived
at the hospital, I went up to my father’s room hoping I wouldn’t wake him if he
were still asleep. But after one step inside the room and a glance towards the
bed, it became obvious that both my parents were wide awake and—oh my god—making
out?

My mother pulled
back immediately, blushing, but not moving from the bed she was currently
sharing with him.

“Good morning,”
my father greeted, not bothering to wipe the smile from his face.

“Uh, yeah, good morning.”
I was rooted to the spot, not knowing if I should turn and leave them alone or
stay here attempting awkward conversation. One thing was for certain, I was in
shock. Put aside the fact they’d told me less than forty-eight hours ago they
were divorcing, I couldn’t ever recall one time I’d seen them share more than a
peck.

“Come in and
take a seat,” my mother invited, snapping me out of it.

“Right. Okay.
How are you feeling, Dad?” I sat in the visitor chair, watching them together
with their hands joined.

He chuckled and
then exchanged a look with my mom. “Better. Much better. Doctors say I should
be released this afternoon. I need to watch my diet, incorporate some exercise,
but other than that, this heart should stay in good shape for years to come.”

“That’s great
news.”

My mother got up
and came over, taking the chair beside me. “I owe you an apology, McKenzie.”

Freaking pigs
had to be flying over a blue moon in a frozen hell somewhere. That is the only
thing that could explain those words coming from my mother’s mouth.

She sighed
heavily. “Your expression looks like your father’s last night when I told him
the same thing.”

She went on
express regret over her panic due to the divorce and her pressure on me to move
home. By the time she’d finished, I think my jaw was on the floor. Clearly, the
last twenty-four hours had done something to her. In a good way.

“Whatever you
decide to do with your life, we’re both supportive,” my father summarized and
then winced when he received a hard look from my mom. “Not fully from a
financial aspect, to quote your mother, but we can work that out.”

Ah, there was
the glimpse of the mother I knew. “Thank you,” I murmured in a state of
astonishment. I had a million things swirling around in my mind, but the one
question I couldn’t contain was, “Are you two staying together?”

They shared a
smile. “We’re certainly going to try.”

Wow. Okay, then.
I grinned, not realizing until now how much I’d wanted them to work it out.

***

Brian, Sasha,
and I met for breakfast downstairs in the hospital cafeteria an hour later.
Meanwhile, my mother was content to have her coffee and stay with my dad
upstairs.

“It’s weird to
see her like that,” Brian confided. Earlier, he’d also been on the receiving
end of an apology from our mother.

Sasha nodded,
having been hugged by my mom while she expressed regret over how she’d reacted
to their engagement. “I’ll say.”

We all started
laughing and could only hope that whatever epiphany my mother had experienced
with my dad’s health scare stayed with her when things returned to normal. We
laid bets that we had a week, tops, but at least I’d be out of the country by
that time.

Heading back up
to the waiting room, we all inwardly groaned when we saw my brother Ben and his
wife, Rebecca. I thought it ironic to be related to people who were so easy to
forget about.

“How nice that
none of you could’ve picked up the phone to call us?” Rebecca started out,
flicking her eyes between Brian and me.

Before anyone
else could answer, a retort flew out of my mouth. “Considering he’s my father,
not yours and not even Ben’s, and the only people I’d call would be those who
genuinely care, I don’t know why you’d be surprised you weren’t on the list.”

I looked towards
my half-brother Ben, feeling as if he was a total stranger to me, probably
because he was. It didn’t help that any respect I may’ve ever had for him had
faded over the years he’d stay married to the bitch-from-hell.

Rebecca’s face
reflected some shock that I’d be the one to speak up, but then her eyes narrowed
for battle. “Unlike the rest of you, we’re an active part of your parents’
lives and are here for every holiday, every birthday—”

“Good for you,”
I said dryly, intending to turn away and avoid any more drama in the waiting
room. But it wasn’t to be, as her next words stopped me in my tracks.

“Considering
you’re the cause of the heart attack, one would think you’d be a little more
contrite over this whole ordeal.”

I stepped close
to her, lowering my voice. “What did you say to me?”

She smirked.
“All the stress you put them under by refusing to move home or show any
appreciation for everything they’ve done for you caused them to split up and
led to your father’s heart attack.”

If she’d thought
she was springing a bombshell on me with the divorce news, she was about to
realize I had the upper hand. “They’re not getting divorced and are more than
supportive of my decisions. Maybe all that time you’ve been spending with them
didn’t afford you the most updated version of the story. Or perhaps you’re not
the type of person that people like to share good news with.”

She was
momentarily caught off guard but recovered with a dismissal. “Whatever. Let’s
go see them, Ben. I’ll have the unfortunate pleasure of seeing you all tomorrow
at the baptism.”

I’d had enough
of Rebecca’s toxicity at my family events. She didn’t deserve to be invited to
our friends’ celebrations simply because they thought it was the polite thing
to do. Clearly, Haylee had never told Josh how mean Rebecca had been to her
whenever we did have gatherings, else Rebecca already would’ve been banned.

“You know what?
It might be better if you didn’t come.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said it might
be better for you not to attend the baptism or the brunch tomorrow. No one
needs your negativity there.”

“Someone is awfully
full of herself today, but considering the invitation came from Mrs. Singer,
not you, we’ll do as we please.”

“You’re right,
she did invite you. But then again, that’s because she doesn’t know all of the
horrible things you’ve had to say about Haylee over this last year, including
the comment at their wedding that she’d trapped Josh into marriage. In fact,
neither does Josh. If they did know about it, you’d be blackballed for life.
So, fair warning: if you choose to show up, I won’t hesitate to cause a scene and
have you thrown out if you so much as roll your eyes.”

“I’d help her,”
Brian piped in for support.

Rebecca’s face
paled. “Your mother would never allow that to happen.”

I shrugged. “In
choosing between her decades old friendship with the Singers or you, I’m going
to bet she’s not picking you.” My gaze flicked towards Ben, who was an
older-looking version of Brian, but without the personality. He hadn’t said a
word. “Guess it’s up to you, Ben, as to whether or not you’d want to come
without her. Might be nice to get to know you.”

“How dare you.”

When Rebecca’s
open hand flew towards my face, I saw it coming, grabbing her by the wrist
before she made contact. I wasn’t gentle, squeezing it harshly in my grasp.

“You’re lucky I
didn’t allow you to hit me because that’s assault, which would mean if I struck
you in return, it would be self-defense. And as immensely satisfying as it
would be to knock you the fuck out right now, it’s more satisfying to tell you
you’re not worth it.”

I let her hand
go, finding pleasure in the fact that she was holding her wrist in pain. “Ben,
I’d suggest you take her out of here before I change my mind. Think real hard
about tomorrow or any other family event in the future, Rebecca. If you can’t
say anything nice, then consider yourself warned that the gloves are off. The
days of you being a bully around my family and friends are over.”

Our older
brother was stunned, but I didn’t see any hope for him as he followed a
pissed-off Rebecca out of the room.

An immense
satisfaction settled over me as I watched them leave, knowing that I’d not only
gotten the last word, but I’d also finally stood up for myself without
hesitation. Evil had officially been defeated.

“That was
impressive, although I was kind of hoping you’d punch her face.” Brian
chuckled, giving me a hug.

Sasha smiled,
“It’s terrible to say, but I kind of did, too.”

***

“Anyone else you
want to take on, Kenzie?” Brian grinned as I sat with him, Sasha, and Mark at a
bar later that evening.

“No one comes to
mind at the moment, but I kind of feel like I’m on a roll this week in
overcoming challenges.”

“I could put you
on some investor calls with Josh. You can be his muscle.” This was from Mark,
who’d flown in this afternoon. He was normally overly reserved, in his lawyerly
way, so the quip was even funnier coming from him.

Feeling my phone
buzz, I excused myself from the table for a minute only to return with good
news. “Guess what? I got the backup singer job if I want it. They have a big
summer tour across the US beginning in May of next year.”

There were hugs
all around, but before anyone could ask questions, we saw three familiar faces
walk in. I tried to control my heartbeat when I realized one of them was Colby.

Smiling at each
of them, I hugged Haylee and then Josh, before awkwardly doing a
hug-like-I-hadn’t-been-naked-with-him-last-night thing with Colby while very
aware that everyone was watching us. I hadn’t seen him since leaving this
morning, nor had I followed up to his text, but the sight of him triggered a
longing of epic proportions. I needed another drink. Pronto.

Colby’s gaze
stayed locked on mine while he took a seat directly across from me. We ordered
another round, and I tried unsuccessfully not to think about last night. The
intensity in his eyes, however, made it obvious that it wasn’t far from his
thoughts, either.

“I heard we
missed quite the morning at the hospital,” Josh opened up, having obviously
spoken with my brother about it.

Everyone chuckled
with the exception of Colby, who appeared to be the only one in the dark. “What
happened?”

It was my
brother who, in animated fashion, retold the story, omitting the part regarding
Rebecca's previous comments about Haylee else Josh would go ballistic. He had
everyone laughing.

 Josh toasted
me. “To Kenzie for ensuring it won’t be me making the scene tomorrow if Rebecca
steps out of line. Might be kind of fun to make you the official baptism
bouncer.”

We all smiled at
the image while Colby’s face gave away nothing.

“So you didn’t
say: who’s the backup singing gig for?” Sasha prodded.

Colby
interrupted. “You got the job?”