Authors: Kori Roberts
Nick heard the same hurt and anger in Noah’s voice that he felt. His response was a grunt; the memories of the evening were still too new and painful for him to talk about it.
“You know she meant what she said about us not being welcome there anymore.” Noah continued.
“Yeah, I do.” His leveled gaze met Noah’s. “And I don’t care. I love Mom, but I love Rylee more. She’s the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’m not giving her up for anybody, including Mom.”
*
Rylee awoke cocooned within the warmth of Nick’s strong embrace. His fingers played with strands of her hair. She turned around so she could look into his face. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
“Yeah, I am.” Nick closed his eyes and sighed. He finally opened them and looked at Rylee again. The muted light in the room couldn’t hide the pain and regret she saw reflected in their depths.
“I’m sorry, angel.” Nick spoke quietly. “Sorry for —” “Shh” She interrupted, and placed a finger against his lips. “No more being sorry, no more being hurt tonight.”
Rylee replaced her finger with her mouth and kissed him. Her tongue caressed his lips before it delved deep inside. She poured all of the love she felt for him into the kiss, and she didn’t ease up until Nick began to moan.
“God, baby,” he breathed against her lips. “I want…”
“You got me,” Rylee assured him. “Anything you want. Anything.”
“I want forever.” His hazel eyes were dead serious, his voice sure.
Rylee smiled and blinked back tears that suddenly burned her eyes. “I guess that’s long enough.”
“Love you.” Nick kissed her again and eased her onto her back. His large body pressed her smaller one into the mattress.
Rylee automatically spread her legs and lifted her hips off the bed to grind against him.
When Nick reached for a condom on the dresser, she stopped him.
“You don’t need those.” She pulled his hand away. “Not anymore.”
“Are you sure?” He questioned, his expression hopeful.
Rylee smiled. “I’m positive.” She leaned up and kissed him softly. “Besides, I want to love you tonight.”
His shudder was her answer, and Rylee slowly slid underneath him. Her lips kissed a path down his body as she went, until his thick erection was directly above her face. Her tongue licked up the veined shaft, and her lips wrapped around the crown as she sucked him into her mouth.
“Oh, fuck baby…yeah.” Nick leaned forward and grabbed the headboard, his moans echoing through the room, and his hips thrust back and forth as he pushed into Rylee’s mouth. Rylee moaned around his length; her hands gripped his ass to pull him closer and encourage him to go deeper.
Nick roared her name when he came, and she could feel him jerk in her mouth as heat splashed against the back of her throat. Rylee continued to suck him through the spasms that wracked his body. When she released his semi-hard erection from her mouth, Nick rolled to the side and gathered her into his arms.
Rylee listened to the sounds of Nick’s steady breaths, long after he’d fallen into a deep sleep. Her thoughts were filled with flashbacks as Mrs. Robin’s words replayed over and over in her head and made her own rest impossible.
Each memory inflamed Rylee’s anger even more. If Mrs. Robin wanted to hate her, that was fine. Rylee didn’t give a shit about the other woman’s opinions of her. But she needed her ass kicked for the way she’d treated her sons tonight.
Rylee looked down at Nick’s sleeping form, his handsome face still marred by a slight frown that creased his forehead, and she knew just how deeply their mother’s words had hurt him and Noah. It made her want to march back down to the woman’s house and let her know exactly what she thought about a woman who would choose to alienate her children just because they weren’t living a life that she thought they should lead.
Rylee thought back to all of the things she’d done in her life that she was certain her parents didn’t agree with. Yet, in spite of that, she never doubted that no matter what happened, they always had and always would have her back.
That’s why it was unfathomable to her how a woman with two wonderful, loving, and hardworking sons, who absolutely adored her, could willingly push them away simply because she had a problem with who they were fucking.
Rylee sighed and smoothed the hair away from Nick’s forehead. No, his mother
definitely wasn’t a candidate for the Mother of the Year award. Rylee just hoped that the
woman hadn’t let her own narrow-minded beliefs and petty biases cause irreparable damage to her relationship with Nick and Noah.
The hazy light from the morning sunrise had begun to filter into the room by the time sleep finally caught up with her. Rylee’s last thoughts before she drifted into a restless slumber was that if Mrs. Robin was waiting for her to give up and walk away, she was going to be sorely disappointed, because Rylee wasn’t going anywhere. And, no matter what it took, Rylee was determined to prove to Mrs. Robin that she was wrong about her and the love she had for her sons.
As Nick’s car rolled to a stop outside of Mya and Tom’s lake house, Rylee could feel herself immediately relaxing. Her friends had purchased this piece of land in the private community of Lake Carroll a few years ago and built the house that was used as a weekend getaway. It was large enough to offer privacy, yet it still managed to remain cozy. And, it offered an amazing view of the lake.
It had become a tradition for Rylee and her friends to spend the Fourth of July here, and this year was no different. She loved coming to this place, spending time in the beauty and solitude of nature. Although she’d lived in large cities, Rylee was convinced that she was a country girl at heart.
“This is nice,” Noah commented from the back seat.
Rylee unfastened her seatbelt and smiled at him over the seat. “Wait until you see the inside. It’s beautiful, and the lake is pretty spectacular, too.”
The front door of the house opened, and Rylee saw Mya and Tom walk out. She climbed out of the car and went to hug her friends. “You’re just in time. The food is hot, and the beer is cold,” Tom gave her a quick peck on the cheek when she walked by as he headed to the car to help Nick and Noah with their bags.
“Come on,” Mya pulled her by the hand toward the house. “Drew and Jacob are
supposed to be watching the food, and if we wait too long, there won’t be anything left to eat.”
Rylee laughed and followed Mya through the house. “Am I sleeping in my usual
room?” she asked as they walked onto the deck.
“Not this time,” Mya smiled. “We figured you’d need the additional space this year, so Drew and Jacob agreed to switch rooms with you.”
“There she is!” Rylee looked up to see Jacob walking toward her. “You finally made it.
We were just about ready to send a search team out to look for you.” He stopped long enough to give her a hug.
Rylee winced. “It’s my fault. I ended up working later than I’d planned.”
“You seem to be doing that even more than usual lately.” The sound of Drew’s voice had her searching the yard, finally finding him by the grill.
“Hey, no talking about work, remember?” Rylee kept her voice light as she ignored just how accurate Drew’s comment was.
“You’re right,” Drew joined them at the table. “Besides, I’m just happy that you made it at all.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I’ve missed you, kiddo. You work too hard, and I’m glad to see you taking some time to relax and enjoy yourself.”
Rylee’s attention was drawn to Nick and Noah, who walked onto the deck followed by Tom.
“I must admit that I have a lot more incentive to take time off for more pleasurable pursuits,” she murmured. Drew’s gaze followed hers. “If that’s what it takes to get you to take some time out for yourself, I’m all for it.”
*
Rylee sat with Mya on the deck, enjoying the warm July evening and watching the
men on the boat as it slowly moved across the lake.
“So, I take it their mother wasn’t too pleased to find out about the three of you.”
Rylee snorted at Mya’s comment. “That is definitely an understatement. If the woman thought she could have killed me at that moment, I’m positive she would have. I swear, you’d think I was the devil incarnate out to corrupt her precious little babies.” She chuckled bitterly, lost for a brief moment in the memory. It took her a second to realize that Mya remained uncharacteristically quiet.
Rylee turned and studied her friend. The look on Mya’s face made Rylee laugh again, and the sound was filled with hurt. “That’s just great. You actually agree with her.” She started to rise from her chair.
“Wait a minute, Rylee.” Mya grabbed her arm and stopped her before she could leave.
“I don’t agree with her, and I certainly don’t agree with what she said to any of you. But, I can see how she might feel that way.”
Mya held up her hand to stop Rylee from speaking. “Just calm down and listen. When we found out about the three of you, we were shocked and concerned at first because we were worried about you, and didn’t want you to get hurt again. But, ultimately, we accepted that you were an adult, it was your decision to make, and we were prepared to support you in whatever choice you made.” Mya paused, and Rylee watched her absently rub her protruding belly.
“But, it’s different for a mother, Rylee. It wouldn’t matter if Nick and Noah were twenty-one or sixty-one with grandkids of their own. They’re still going to be her babies. And she’s always going to think that there’s no woman who is good enough for her sons —
especially not the same woman who wants both of them.”
Rylee nodded slowly. Although she hated to admit it, Mya’s words made perfect sense.
“Mothers and their sons,” she murmured softly.
“You got it.” Mya chuckled. “And there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it, but hope that one day we’ll have sons of our own to torture and completely drive insane.”
Rylee burst into laughter. “You are pure evil. I’m going to pray really hard that you have a girl.”
They laughed quietly for a moment before Mya grew quiet. “Speaking of kids, do you think there will be any in your future?”
Mya’s question caught Rylee off guard, and she couldn’t think of any of her usual comments to blow off the subject.
“Yeah,” she said softly, opting for the truth instead. “I’d love to have a child. I think about it a lot, actually.”
“So, you’re not worried that it would be hard for a child to understand having two fathers?”
Rylee shook her head. “Do you have any idea how many kids grow up every day
without even one father around? I think that any child we have would be fortunate to have two of them.” She looked toward the water. “Especially those two.” She turned her attention to Mya again. “No, I’m not worried about that at all. I know Nick and Noah are going to be amazing fathers.”
“So, what’s stopping it from happening?”
Rylee sighed. “I’m not ready.”
Mya laughed. “Uh, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but in spite of how young you look, your body is still getting older, and your window of opportunity is getting smaller by the day.” “It’s not about being ready to have kids.”
“Then what is it?” Rylee heard the confusion in Mya’s voice.
“Would you believe me if I told you that I’m not where I want to be in my life?” She looked around the lake, the sounds and flashes of fireworks echoing in the night air.
“You know, I’ve spent most of my adult career working at the hotel, and I’m proud of my accomplishments. But, it just doesn’t hold the same appeal for me anymore.” She glanced at Mya. “Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do for a living, but the environment is sucking me dry and stealing my youth.”
Her eyes wandered back to the lake again. “All I know is that I have to make a change soon, otherwise neither of them will still be around for me to see the wonderful fathers I know they’re going to be.”
*
Nick felt the bed move, and his eyes opened in time to see Noah leave the room and quietly close the door behind him. Nick glanced at Rylee and saw that she was still asleep.
When Noah didn’t come back after several minutes, Nick eased from the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and shoes before he went looking for him.
He found Noah outside on the deck, leaning against the railing, seemingly lost in thought as he stared at the lake.
“You okay?” Nick watched Noah silently as he waited for him to respond. Finally, Noah sighed and turned around to face him.
“It’s nice here.” Noah spoke quietly. Nick just nodded, knowing that his brother had a lot more than just the scenery on his mind as he waited for him to continue.
“You know, I look around this place, I see Mya and Tom, even Drew and Jacob, and I can’t help but think about Rylee. She deserves to be happy, just like her friends.”
“Wait…what do you mean?” Nick frowned. “You don’t think Rylee’s happy?” Noah shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what are you saying, Noah?”
“I’m saying that she deserves more. She deserves to have a family and a life like this.”
Noah gestured around the lake, and sighed heavily before he spoke again.
“I’m saying that you should ask Rylee to marry you.” Nick could only stare at Noah, feeling certain that he’d heard his brother incorrectly.
“If you don’t, I will.” Noah warned.
“Hold up.” Nick walked over to where Noah stood. “Trust me; I have no problem with asking Rylee to marry me.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Hell, I’ve wanted to ask her for a while, but I didn’t want her to feel like I was rushing things.” He met Noah’s gaze. “And I didn’t know how you’d feel about it if I did.”
“How I’d feel?” Noah shook his head, and chuckled softly, the sound less than happy.
“Part of me hates the idea of her marrying anybody other than me, including you.” Noah was quiet for a while before he suddenly smiled, and the look was much more genuine.
“Luckily, that’s a pretty small part. Mostly, I think I’d feel happy if the two people I care about most in the world were married.” Noah looked at him with serious eyes. “I know how much you love Rylee, and she loves you.”