Sometimes Brooke (The ALWAYS SOMETIMES NEVER Rock Star Romance Series Book 2) (15 page)

Sixteen

Leo

Four Weeks Later

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask as I hand her a helmet.

“I’m fine, Leo,” she repeats for what is probably the fiftieth time.

She’s worked so hard at recovering from the accident I don’t want to see her hurt again. “You’ll let me know right away if something is wrong.”

When she gives me her duck lips and frowns I know enough to change the subject. “This isn’t the nicest neighborhood,” I remind her.

“I want to see where you grew up. I want to know as much about you and your past as you’re willing to share.”

I give her a quick kiss on the nose. “Same goes for you.”

“Hold on tight,” I tell her as we both hop on my bike. I’m glad when she follows instruction and grabs a hold of my waist.

It takes about thirty minutes to get to the area of Mesa where I grew up. But the weather is nice and it feels good to ride my motorcycle again.

When we finally stop we’re in front of a dilapidated house that I’m surprised to see is still occupied. The neighborhood wasn’t great when we lived here, but it’s gone even further downhill. If I was a gambler I’d definitely put money on several of the houses in the neighborhood being drop houses for illegals or meth houses.

Even though we both get off the bike to stretch our legs I notice Brooke doesn’t make a move away from me or the motorcycle. Not that I blame her. The neighborhood is scary as hell. If it wasn’t the middle of the day and I didn’t know how to protect myself I’d be scared too.

“So this is it?” her voice is soft and unsure.

“This is it,” I confirm.

There’s pity in her eyes, and that’s the last thing I wanted. So I tell her that I wouldn’t be who I am today if I didn’t grow up here. I know it sounds like one of my stupid cliché’s but at least it’s not mangled and it’s the truth.

“Tell me what it was like?” she probes.

“It’s weird because if you don’t know any better you think your fucked up life is normal. For a long time I didn’t realize that most kids didn’t live like we did. Then I started noticing things at school. Like other kids would have lunches that they said their mothers’ packed. Or they’d at least bring lunch money so they could buy a school lunch. If we didn’t steal candy bars from the little corner store on our way to school we wouldn’t have anything to eat.”

“If it’s any consolation your story is making me feel good about my parents for the first time.”

“I’m glad I could be of service.”

“What were they like?”

I take in a deep breath. “You know I’ve never talked about this stuff with anyone.”

When she smiles I realize that I would tell her anything, all of my deepest, darkest secrets, just to see that smile.

So I continue. “My mom was mentally ill. Bipolar. She had a hard time taking care of herself most of the time. She definitely wasn’t able to take care of her kids. She didn’t believe in counseling or doctors. She never really got any kind of treatment except when she was forced to. She self-medicated with booze or drugs. She eventually killed herself. My dad was in a rock band and travelled a lot. He overdosed. Rayne lived with us because his family was fucked up too. The three of us raised ourselves. We’re lucky we had music. Otherwise we probably would have been drug dealers and fit right into this ugly ass neighborhood.”

After Brooke gives me a quick kiss on the cheek she says, “Thanks for sharing that. I know it’s not easy.”

I shrug. “It is what it is. It’s in the past. The only thing I’m concerned about now is our future together.”

She gulps. And I can see the hesitation in her eyes. I’m hoping what I show her next will convince her that I’m serious about being with her.

“I have a surprise,” I tell her.

Raising an eyebrow she asks, “Does it involve ice cream?”

I laugh. “You’re obsessed with the stuff.”

“Especially when it also includes whipped cream and a cherry.”

“I hope what I’m going to show you is even better.”

She frowns. “I didn’t think there was anything better than ice cream.”

“Please say that fucking me is better than ice cream.”

She laughs. “Okay, you got me there.”

As I get on my bike I say, “Hop on. We’re heading back to Scottsdale.”

***

“What are we doing here?” she asks.

I parked in front of a model home in a brand new development that was just completed. I decided to buy it on the spot when the real estate agent showed it to me because it came fully decorated and furnished. A few weeks after I put the deposit down I signed a bunch of papers, gave them a cashier’s check for five hundred and fifty five thousand and was handed the keys to the place in return. I didn’t realize buying a house was so easy.

“This place is gorgeous,” Brooke’s eyes are wide as she scans the front gardens.

I remove the keys from my front pocket and dangle them in front of her. “Want to go inside?”

She frowns. “Who lives here?”

I smile. “We do. As soon as we bring our stuff over.”

Her jaw nearly drops to the ground. “How can we live here?”

I shrug. “I bought it.”

Her face looks skeptical. “You bought this house? How did you do that?”

“I signed a bunch of papers and gave them a check.”

“Didn’t you have to get a mortgage? That takes time.”

I shake my head. “I have no idea what that is. I just paid for it. They told me how much it cost and I gave them the money.”

She starts blinking really fast and it’s kind of making me nervous. “You just gave them the money for the house. All of it. You just paid for it. No mortgage.”

“Yup.”

“My parents have been paying a mortgage on their house for twenty years. And it’s nowhere near as nice as this house. How in the world did you just pay for it?”

“We sold a lot of music.”

She’s still blinking really fast. Like her eyes are about to explode.

“This isn’t really the reaction I was expecting,” I tell her.

“I guess I’m just in shock. It’s not every day someone just buys me a house to live in.”

I grin. “I hope not. I don’t want anyone but me buying you houses.” I pull her close and kiss her. A long, hot kiss that makes my dick twitch. I don’t even know how long it’s been since I’ve been inside of her. I lost count after the first thirty days.

“Forty two days,” she announces.

I narrow my eyes at her. “What does that mean?”

“How long it’s been since you fucked me…” When she looks at me seductively I hope to God she’s thinking the same thing I am.

“Let’s go inside.” I grab her hand. “I’ll show you around.”

She squeals and squeezes my hand when we walk inside. “It’s fully furnished. This is amazing!”

“Look around,” I tell her.

She pulls me toward the back of the house. The real estate agent told me it’s an open floorplan, which I assumed was a good thing when I saw that the kitchen, living room and dining area all had fantastic mountain views from the huge sliding glass doors.

“It’s like a postcard,” she exclaims as she stares out the glass door. “The landscaping is like a botanical garden. And that pool is so beautiful. I’ve never seen a pool with fountains like that.”

“Even Rayne doesn’t have a pool like that,” I tell her. “The fountains are on a timer.”

When she turns to face me she’s blinking back tears. “I can’t believe we’re going to live here. It’s like a fairytale.”

“Not quite. It’s not even half the size of Rayne and Harper’s place. But I’m not a movie star like Rayne, so I don’t have that kind of money.”

She places her hand on my chest and I take in a sharp breath. When our eyes meet those familiar sparks start to fly between us. “I wouldn’t want a place as big as Rayne and Harper’s place. This is beyond anything I ever imagined.”

“I was hoping you’d like it.”

“Like it?” She laughs. “I absolutely love it!”

She grabs my hand and pulls me into the kitchen. “I’m not much of a cook, but this amazing kitchen inspires me to want to learn.”

I watch as she runs her small hands over the brand new, state-of-the-art stainless steel appliances. The real estate agent insisted that the gourmet kitchen was a selling feature of the house and I guess she was right. Brooke seems very impressed with it.

“I’m lucky if I can boil water,” I joke. “If you can do better than that you’re way ahead of me.”

She smiles. She’s been doing it a lot lately and I can’t get enough of it. Her smiles are like a drug to me.

“I can handle boiling water,” she assures me. Then she closes the small distance between us and places a soft kiss on my lips.

I love her sweet taste. Another thing I can’t seem to get enough of. When I grab her ass and pull her close she lets out a little squeal. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“I’m fine. I’m not a porcelain doll. You’re not going to break me.”

I narrow my gaze at her. “After the accident, when I saw you broken, it scared the shit out of me. I never want to see you like that again.”

“I’m fine now,” she insists. “All put back together again. You don’t need to worry about me.”

I run my thumb down her soft, smooth cheek. “I always worry about you, Wild Child. Every minute of every day. That’s what happens when you care about someone. It comes with the territory.”

When she glances up at me I see a hint of mischief in her eyes. “Want to show me the master bedroom?”

“I would love to...” I grab her hand and pull her through the kitchen and down the short hallway to the master suite.

“What do you think?”

Her eyes are wide. I hope that’s a good sign.

“This is beautiful, Leo. I mean, I know you didn’t decorate it, but you bought it. You have great taste.”

“This whole house reminded me of you, but especially this bedroom. It’s bold and colorful, but still classy. That’s how you are.”

Another one of her great smiles covers her face. “Do you really think so?”

“You know I don’t say things that I don’t mean.”

“I think we should test out the bed.” Her eyes are twinkling.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” I pull her close and give her a kiss. I know I probably sound like a chick, but her lips always make mine tingle.

It only takes a few minutes of making out for my dick to get rock hard. I want to be inside of her so bad it hurts. 

“Do you have condoms with you?” she whispers into my ear.

I shake my head. “You know I haven’t been with anyone else. I haven’t left your side since the accident. And I definitely know you haven’t.”

She gulps. “I’m not on birth control anymore.”

“Good,” I tell her. “We have our own house now. We’re not freeloading at Rayne and Harper’s place. We’ve got plenty of kids’ bedrooms if I knock you up.”

“We’re not even married,” she protests although it sounds half-hearted at best.

“That’s a problem that’s easy to solve,” I tell her. “The courthouse isn’t far from here.” I laugh. “And neither is Las Vegas.”

She purses her lips. “Seriously? Las Vegas? And don’t you think Nic will be furious if we get married before he gets Harper down the aisle?”

I nod. “Good point.”

For a split second I have a vision of the two of us at an Elvis Wedding Chapel in Vegas and my Wild Child with a huge pregnant belly practically waddling down the aisle in her skin tight white wedding dress. It’s got to be the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever imagined.

“Why are you grinning like that?” Her question knocks me out of my daydream.

“No reason.” I hope my face doesn’t look as guilty as I feel.

Her eyes narrow. She’s clearly not buying it.

“Fine,” I tell her. “I was imagining you pregnant.”

“And that made you grin like a five-year-old getting his first bike?”

“My parents never bought me a bike, but that’s definitely something I want to do for our kids.”

“Kids? Plural?”

I laugh. “Oh, hell yeah. If you’re as sexy pregnant as you were in my imagination I’ll be knocking you up a few times.”

When she bites her bottom lip I think she might protest. But instead she says, “If you want me pregnant so badly what are you waiting for?”

Epilogue

Brooke

Six Months Later

“I feel like a whale,” I moan as I look at my very pregnant belly in the mirror.

Leo insisted on picking out my wedding dress. He says it’s identical to the one that he always imagined me wearing, short and very tight. If I wasn’t six months along it might actually be sexy, but right now I feel like a stuffed sausage in it.

“You look great,” Harper assures me.

I frown. “It’s easy for you to say. You’re wearing a classic gown, not one from the Fredricks of Hollywood collection.”

“You look beautiful,” she assures me. “You’re glowing.”

“I’m scared,” I admit. When I turn to face Harper I’m blinking back tears.

“I just don’t know if I’ll be a good wife. And I’m definitely not sure if I’ll be a good mother. It’s not like I had the greatest role models for parenting.”

She puts her hands on my shoulders. “It’ll be a learning experience just like everything else in life. You probably won’t be perfect, but nothing in life is. I know Leo worships you and I know the two of you will do the best you can loving each other and loving the baby. That’s all anyone can expect.”

“You’re right,” I tell her. “But you’re always right. About everything.”

She rolls her eyes. “Let’s not get carried away.”

“You look beautiful, by the way. Like a princess in a fairytale.”

“Enough with the mutual admiration society,” Raven says as she strolls into the guest house. Harper and I are using it as a temporary dressing area so the guys don’t see us before we exchange vows.

“You two are almost making me sick,” she adds with her typical Raven cynicism. “And who picked out this bridesmaid’s dress?” She stands in front of the mirror with us. “It’s hideous. Way too frilly. Not to mention it’s puke green.”

Raven kind of looks like a cake topper that someone vomited on. Never in a million years would either Harper or I admit that we both made a point to pick out the ugliest bridesmaid’s dress we could possibly find for her to wear. Just because we thought it would be funny.

Needless to say we’re not disappointed.

“I want you both to know that the only reason I agreed to be your bridesmaid is because I love Rayne and Leo like my brothers.”

“We know,” Harper replies, trying her best to keep a straight face.

“And because Xander is the best man.”

“Of course,” I tell her.

“I don’t want either of you to think it’s because I actually like either one of you. We’re not going to suddenly be besties or anything. I’m not going to want to go on your stupid shopping trips or attend your ridiculous ladies lunches.”

“We know,” Harper agrees before she eyes me.

I give Harper an almost imperceptible nod in return. Then I say off-handedly, “I don’t know if you heard, Raven. Harper and I were invited to a tea party at the art museum next weekend. I know it’s not really your kind of thing, but we have an extra ticket, if you’ve got nothing else to do…”

She makes a point of rolling her eyes at me. “A tea party at a museum is like the last place on Earth I’d ever want to go.” Then she sneers, before she asks, “What time is it at?”

“Three o’clock next Saturday,” Harper says. “The guys are playing in a celebrity golf tournament that day.”

I laugh. “Rayne and Xander will actually be playing. Leo will probably just be swinging the clubs and hoping he can hit the ball enough times that he doesn’t embarrass himself.”

“I’ll see if there’s anything else on my calendar that day,” Raven says. “Like watching paint dry.”

“We’ll leave the extra ticket for you just in case,” Harper says and winks at me.

“I really need to get the two of you outside for the ceremony. Before Rayne and Leo come to their senses and decide not to marry you.”

“This is it.” I turn to face my best friend. “Can you believe we’re both getting married?”

“And we’re both having babies,” she says.

My eyes go wide. “I’m sorry. What was that?”

She laughs. “I said we’re both having babies.”

“You’re pregnant?” I stammer still in shock.

She nods. “We just found out.”

“Aren’t you just full of surprises?”

When she looks like the cat that ate the canary I know something else is up. “Spill.”

“There’s another surprise…”

“What is it?”

“A good one. I promise. You’ll just have to wait until we get outside to find out.”

I glare at her. “I was just calmed down until you started springing all this news on me. Now I’m scared shitless again.”

Raven grabs us both by the elbows. “I’ve got to get you two breeders outside. Now.”

“Like you and Xander aren’t going to have kids,” I fire back.

She laughs. “Not anytime soon. I can assure you of that.”

Harper and I give each other a meaningful glance. Knowing how competitive the members of Always Rayne are it won’t take long for a little Raven or Xander to join the ranks.

As the three of us head out to the garden where the guests have all been seated for the ceremony I think about how much has changed and how much we’ve all grown since that Always Rayne concert in San Diego when Harper and I first met the guys.

It seems like a lifetime ago.

Harper insisted on more traditional music so Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" is playing as we make our way down the aisle. Since we made the decision to have a very intimate wedding with only close friends and immediate family it doesn’t add up to a huge crowd.

It only takes a few moments for me to realize that my mom and dad are seated in the front row. When I glance at Harper she just grins at me.

I didn’t send them an invitation because I didn’t want to go through the pain of having them decline, so Harper must have invited them herself.

Xander, Nic and Leo are lined up in their black tuxedos looking sexy as hell, but also scared shitless. Nic is as white as a sheet and Leo looks like he could pass out at any moment.

But when the three of us take our places in the other side of the podium directly across from them they all light up like the Las Vegas strip.

And speaking of Las Vegas…since Nic thought it would attraction too much media attention for the four of us to elope he decided to bring a little bit of Sin City to the Arizona desert. He hired an Elvis impersonator to officiate the ceremony. The guy could easily pass for Elvis, if Elvis wasn’t dead.

Leo and I exchange vows first. He insisted on writing his own and I’m touched when he says he will “love and cherish me forever.” And that even when he’s dead his “ghost will still love me and cherish me for eternity.” It’s such a typical Leoism.

I wasn’t sure what to write so I tell him that he makes me a better person, because it’s true. And that every day I make a choice to be with him because I’m still taking things one day at a time.

When Elvis tells Leo to kiss his bride he doesn’t hesitate for a moment. He plants a big wet one on me and everyone in our small audience applauds.

Harper and Nic have much more serious and much better written vows because they’re Harper and Nic. They’re much smarter and much less lazy than their best friends.

And once the four of us are officially husbands and wives by the powers vested in the Elvis impersonator we all march back down the aisle, this time with our husbands in tow and form a line next to one of the fountains to greet our guests.

Leo’s got the tightest grip on my hands ever and when I turn to face him his skin looks green.

“What’s wrong,” I whisper.

“Your parents are here,” he whispers back.

“It looks that way.”

“What if they hate me?” he actually sounds pained.

I can’t help but laugh. “Join the club.”

I can’t even remember the last time I saw my dad in a suit. He’s almost always wearing a Polo shirt with his smoothie shop logo emblazoned on the chest and khaki pants.

“Congratulations,” my dad stammers and then awkwardly kisses my cheek.

I hate myself for already blinking back tears. “Dad, this is my husband, Leo.”

It sounds so strange to say the word
husband
it almost gets caught in my throat.

My dad shakes Leo’s hand. “I know you’ll take good care of our daughter.”

Our daughter
. My parents haven’t called me their daughter in years. I do my best not to start sobbing.

“I’ll do my best, sir,” Leo replies. “Or I’ll die trying.”

“We love you,” my mom says as she grabs me and hugs me. I may have been seven or eight years old the last time that happened.

“Mom, this is Leo.”

To my surprise she hugs him too.

“We’d like to be a part of our grandchild’s life,” my mom says. “If you’ll let us.”

I’m not sure what to say, or if I can even speak. I’m a bundle of raw emotions. So I just nod.

As four sets of eyes naturally gravitate toward my belly we see the baby kick. The baby’s foot seems to be even more noticeable in the ultra-tight dress I’m wearing.

“Did you see that?” Leo’s eyes are wide.

“I felt it too,” I tell him.

“Do it again,” he urges.

I laugh. “There’s another human being inside of me. He’s the one who’s doing it. Not me.”

“It’s a boy?” my mom asks.

“It is.”

“Have you picked out a name?”

I nod. “His name is going to be Bradford Donovan.”

When I glance at my dad I see him swat at a tear that has escaped down his cheek. After he sniffles a few times I just can’t help myself. “Everything okay, Dad?”

“Fine. I think the desert plants are affecting my allergies.”

My dad would never admit that he’s crying because we’re naming the baby after him, but I can see he’s smiling. And for my dad, whose face rarely cracks a smile, this is literally worth a thousand words.