Warning Track (9 page)

He stepped forward and startled her when she noticed movement in the room. Looking flush from embarrassment, she took her ear buds out and shyly smiled up at Brady.
 

“I, uh, was just testing out the chair.”

“And…”

“And, it will do,” she said with a smile.

“Good.” Brady was at her knees in no time, looking up at her with complete adoration. He could not get enough of this woman. He kissed her knee lightly and said, “I might have gone on a little shopping spree.”

“Brady…” Jane scowled questioningly. The last time he went on a shopping spree, he’d traded Jane’s car in for a white Porsche convertible.
 

“It’s not a car.”

“It better not be. I like my car, even though I didn’t need a new one.”

Brady kissed her hands and said, “Give me one second.” Brady went out to the hall, grabbed the bags full of clothes and brought them into the baby’s room. Jane’s eyes widened at the amount of clothing he was holding and then a tear slipped down her face.
 

Shit.

“Jane, are you alright?”

She waved a hand in front of her face and nodded her head, trying to fight off the tears. “Yes, it’s just…you went shopping for our baby girl.”

Confused, Brady asked, “Is that okay?”

She nodded as more tears ran down her cheeks. Pregnancy hormones.

“It’s so sweet! I never thought the starting first baseman for the Atlanta Braves was going to be such a softy.”

Brady dropped the bags and pulled Jane into his arms. He rubbed her belly and said, “When it comes to my two girls, I’m at their mercy. You two can bring me to my knees with the flash of a smile.”

“You haven’t even seen our baby’s smile.”

“If she’s anything like her mom, which I know she is, then she’ll be able to gut me with one look. I’m in for a world of trouble.” At that moment, the baby kicked right where Brady’s hand was, making them both laugh. “Damn,” he shook his head, “she already knows she’s in control.”

“Yes, she does. She’s a smart girl. Now, let me see what you got. We’re going to have a keep pile and a return pile.”

Brady felt his forehead crinkle as he looked at his wife in question. “What do you mean a return pile?”

“Brady, I can already see an outfit in one of the bags that’s meant for a boy. What did you do? Buy the whole store?”

“What? I didn’t buy a boy’s…”

Jane held up a light blue and green onesie that said, “Daddy’s little man” on it.
 

“How the hell did that get in there? Someone set me up.”

Jane gave him a look and then sat on the floor where she picked through the bags and oooed and ahhhed over all the miniature dresses, shirts and skirts Brady had picked out. It was a sight to see, his wife, the woman he was head over heels in love with, sorting through clothes for their little girl who he already loved unconditionally. The day their baby girl was born would rival the day Jane gave herself over to Brady in sickness and in health, and he was going to enjoy every second of it.
 

**Luke**

“I’m so fucked up right now,” Nash said, as he leaned against the sofa they were both sitting on while watching the Thursday night football game. “I don’t know if that weed was right man, do you feel like the room is spinning?”

“That’s what that shit does to you and no. I didn’t have any.”

“Well, your little stripper did and maybe a little too much because she’s passed out over there with one of her giant tits hanging out of her shirt.”

Luke peeked past Nash to see Rhonda, yes that was her name, passed out over a chair and, yes, in fact, one of her jugs was hanging out. Even in her passed out state, Luke couldn’t help but feel a little aroused. He was a tit man.
 

“She’s not going to feel good in the morning,” Luke said, as he leaned back in his chair and took a swig of his beer.
 

As he looked around the room, he felt sorry for himself. What a pathetic thing to feel. He was never one to pity himself, but fuck, look at where he was. He was crashing at his friend’s house, wasting his life away on beer and stuffing a stripper he found at the only decent strip club in Atlanta. He was not this guy; he wasn’t one to waste his life away, but he’d also changed. He changed the moment his unit’s plane went down on a mission, the moment he saw his buddies, his teammates, burn to death while screaming to him for help. He changed the minute he was captured and fucked up every which way by the enemy.
 

Flashes of being raped in the ass, drowned almost to death and used as everyone’s personal punching bag ran through his mind, causing his breathing to hitch and sweat to pool at his hairline. Blackness started to take over as he was transported to that time in his life, a time when he wasn’t a man, when he would let the men who held him captive do anything to him, any-fucking-thing, just so he could live one extra day…living on the hope that it would be the day he would go back home and return into Molly’s embrace.
 

That day did come, but instead of being welcomed with open arms, he was sucker-punched in the gut by not only seeing another man at Molly’s apartment, but by finding out he had a child? A fucking child! Winnie was her name. She did look just like him, it was unmistakable, but also unbearable. He couldn’t think about the fact that he had a little girl, he couldn’t think about Molly being pregnant, missing out on seeing her carry their child. The root of his anger, of his lashing out, stemmed from the fact that, when he was captured, life didn’t stand still and wait for him, no it moved the fuck along, making him miss out on everything and driving a wedge between him and the one thing that mattered the most to him, Molly.

“Dude, don’t make me fucking ask you again. Hand me the damn pipe. I’m losing my high.”

Nash shook Luke out of his thoughts, thankfully before they completely took ahold of him. He looked down and saw the pipe Nash was referring to and handed it to the smug bastard who kept eyeing Rhonda.
 

“Are you going to tap that tonight?” Nash asked, nodding toward the now-stirring woman.
 

“Nah, I’m over it.”

“Damn, mind if I drill her?”

“By all means. Just make sure she’s awake. I don’t want to be involved in any creepy-ass rape shit.”

Nash sat up and looked at Luke with all honesty. “Dude, I may be a sorry-ass mother fucker, but I’m not one to stuff an unwilling pussy.”

Luke nodded and then turned his attention back to the TV. Nash was honorably discharged from the army a year ago, while Luke was still missing in action. Nash was in Afghanistan, helping build a school when a street car bomb went off, sending loads of shrapnel into his leg and head. Luckily, there wasn’t much damage to his head, only some memory loss, but it was his leg that was pretty fucked up. The man was reluctant at first, but finally gave in when they amputated his leg, giving him a prosthetic. Nash hated it, you would have thought he’d lost his dick…he was that angry at life. He walked perfectly fine and rehabbed better than expected, but he was ashamed. He never wore shorts, which was difficult since they lived in Atlanta, and very rarely did he fully remove his pants when fucking a girl. The only reason Luke knew that was because Nash told him, no reason to lose all his clothing when he was just going to zip back up and send the girl on her way.
 

A distant ringing echoed through the room as Luke took another sip from his beer. When the sound went off again, Luke turned to Nash, who was blowing out a puff of smoke and asked, “What the hell is that noise?”

Nash lifted his head and then yelled, “It’s unlocked.” It must have been the front door.
 

“Expecting someone?” Luke asked.
 

“No,” Nash turned around and then looked back at Luke. “But I think you are.”

Luke turned around to find his brother, Connor, standing in the entryway of the living room, chest heaving and a very angry look on his face.
 

Fuck.
 

**Parker**

Regret flooded Parker’s mind as he pulled into Lexi and Jake’s driveway. The rest of his evening with Margo had turned into a tension-filled night that was not only awkward, but very uncomfortable, and he only had himself to blame. Why did he have to bring up Margo’s love life? The moment he said he only cared because she was his friend, he felt her tense up and shut down. Talk about acting like a complete idiot. It’d been a while since he’d actually been with a girl, on a date that is, so he was a little rusty, but putting a girl in the friend zone when that was the last thing he wanted was a rookie move.
 

He definitely wanted more with Margo. In the back of his mind, he was pretty sure he always wanted something with Margo, but now that they were out of college, free of all their college restraints and prying eyes, he wanted, no needed, to pursue her.
 

Getting out of the car, Parker slowly went to Margo’s side as she popped out of the passenger seat. She looked deflated, but still as beautiful as ever. When he opened the door when she first arrived, he could have swallowed his tongue, she looked so good. His libido shot straight through the roof and he just prayed she didn’t notice his instant arousal as he perused her outfit. Whatever she was wearing, a combo of shorts and strapless top, was doing wonders for her curvy body. Even as she stood before him now, her outfit a little wrinkled from the night, he still couldn’t tear his eyes off of her.

She held out her hand and looked up at him, “I’ll take my keys now, thanks for driving.”

Instead of giving her the keys, he grabbed her hand in his and led her to the back of the house. She was reluctant at first, but gave in when he practically dragged her.
 

“Parker, what are you doing? I have work in the morning.”

“Live a little, Mo.”

Parker plugged the security code into the side fence and walked her out to where the lounge chairs looked over the ocean. He grabbed a blanket from one of the chests and sat down on one of the chairs. Margo just stood next to him, looking down at what he was doing.
 

“Take a seat.”

She rolled her eyes and headed toward the chair next to his, but before she could sit down, Parker grabbed her hand and made her sit down on his chair. Parker straddled the chair and pulled Margo into his chest.
 

“Parker, what are you…”

“Relax, Mo.” Margo’s body was completely tense as she stiffened against his chest. He rubbed her arms with his hands and slowly got her to lean back against him and put her feet out on the chair. He leaned back and grabbed the blanket to put over both of them. “There, was that so hard?”

“No,” Margo mumbled as she leaned against him. “But I can’t stay long.”

“I don’t care if you’re only here for five minutes, I needed this.” Parker rested his chin on Margo’s shoulder as he looked out on the moonlit ocean.
 

“Parker…” Margo asked tentatively.
 

“Yeah?”

“What are we doing?”

“Enjoying each other’s company.” Parker copped out. Why couldn’t he just say what he was really feeling? Maybe because he didn’t know what he was feeling, all he knew was that he needed to stay with Margo just a little while longer. He wanted her to stay.
 

She started to pull away, which made him panic. “And I want you to stay.”

That seemed to calm her, so he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in even closer. She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, completely giving herself over to him. It was exactly what he wanted, for her to be close to him, to put down her walls and give in to the crazy feelings that were rolling between them.
 

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Parker said right next to her ear. He felt goose bumps rise on her skin and he relished the small effect he had on her.
 

“What are you sorry about? I thought we had a nice time.”

“I’m sorry about saying you’re my friend.”

“What?” Margo said as she turned around to look at Parker with confusion. “You don’t want to be my friend?”

“No, I mean, yes, I mean…ugh I want you to be my friend, but I…” Parker ran his hand over his face as he tried to figure out what to say. “Fuck, I mean, I want you to be my friend, but if there was ever the chance for more, I want you to know that I uh, want that, if you do.”

Wow, apparently he’d left his finesse back in Atlanta because he looked like a total pencil dick right now.
 

“Oh,” was all she said as she turned back around and leaned against his chest.
 

Oh? That was all she was going to say? Just oh? Well fuck, what did he do now?
 

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Margo took the blanket off her lap and got off the chair.
 

“I have to get going. Thank you for such a great night, Parker.”

Wait, what? What was happening? She was leaving? Parker stood up quickly, since she was headed toward the side gate and he wanted to at least see her out. They walked in silence to her car and stopped right before she opened her door. She turned and grabbed him in a warm embrace. Parker returned the hug as he buried his face into her hair, taking in the vanilla scent emanating from her silken strands.