Chloe"I need you to listen to me, Chloe girl, and don't interrupt."I fluff my mom's pillow behind her head. At least the beds at the Hospice house are nicer than they were at the hospital. She's more comfortable here, despite what the underlying meaning behind it is. "Mom, you need your rest. Whatever you have to say, you can tell me later.""You and I both know there might not be a later," Mom says, taking a deep breath through the pain. Cancer is a bitch and it's stealing away the only family I've ever known.I never knew my father, they met while he was in Mexico on spring break, had a brief fling, and went back home to Ireland. She went through a bit of a wild phase and getting pregnant with me was her wake up call. At least, that's what she's always told me. My grandparents, though, thought a little differently of her awakening. They all but disowned her after I was born. Apparently, it wasn't okay for me to have an Irish father."Mom," I sniffle, not even trying to
Rex"This one's on me, sweetheart," I tell the brunette standing in front of me. I throw in a wink for good measure. Her eyes give me a once over, stalling on the tattoos that peek out from under my rolled-up shirt sleeves. Both of my upper arms are covered in tattoos I've designed myself but I've purposely kept my forearms bare. There's no rhyme or reason to it, simply a personal preference."Thanks, Rex," Brooklyn coos. For the last few months, she's been coming in to The Flying Goat, the bar I work at nights and weekends when I'm not glued to my computer, working codes and creating apps. I work for myself which allows me to take on whatever contracts I'm interested in. "Whatcha doing later?" she asks. This isn't the first time and likely won't be the last. Every time, I've turned down her advances but she's persistent."I have an early day tomorrow," I tell her, purposely avoiding her question. If I tell her I don't have plans, she'll jump on the chance to come home with me
RexShit.I take a step forward.A friend of hers places a hand on her back, rubs up and down. Leans over and speaks into her ear. Another woman scoots closer, resting a hand on her arm and another reaches across the table, doing the same. Her friends are comforting her, offering her support for whatever is going on in her life to make her break down in tears in a public place.What am I doing? I don't know her. Yet I want to go console her. Cheer her up. Figure out what's making her sad and fix it.She's here at The Flying Goat, with what looks like a group of friends out for drinks which means it's supposed to be a happy time for her. So, what is happening that's causing her to stand here and cry? Better question is, why do I care so much? It's not that I lack compassion, but typically if I see someone upset, but they clearly have a support system surrounding them, I wouldn't think of it again.But this beautifully broken girl, I can't tear my eyes away from her. I sti
Chloe"I've had a really shitty day." That's putting it mildly."Yeah? Want to talk about it?""Why am I in here? Was I bothering the other guests? I'm sorry if I was, I really didn't mean to.""You weren't bothering anyone," he says, leaning a smidge closer."Then why?""I can't tell you that."I scrunch my eyebrows together and rub my bottom lip with the tip of my finger. His eyes follow the movement and I drop my hand."Why not?""Because I don't know," he admits. "I just know that I saw you out there crying and couldn't just stand there.""I'm sorry.""Don't," he snaps. He shakes his head and softens his tone when he continues. "Don't apologize for allowing yourself to feel the effects of whatever is going on in your life. If you need to cry, let it out.""Okay?" The entire conversation is confusing me and I don't know what I'm supposed to say to him. "If I wasn't making a scene, then why did you haul me back here? Am I in trouble for something? I paid fo
ChloeI can tell he's waiting for my response. Which any other time would make me want to mess with him a little bit. But right now, the thought of even pretending to still like this guy turns my stomach. So, I don't let Rex wait for my response longer than the few seconds it takes me to gag and burst out laughing. "Want him? Screw that! No. Noooo. No." I shudder in disgust. "Blech. I was the one who broke up with him and we weren't that serious to begin with. It was a Tinder swipe that never should have happened and we were only together for a little over a month.""Good. He doesn't sound worth it.""He wasn't. I think the only I absolutely shouldn't have slept with him, either. Nasty fucker." Rex chuckles at my grumbling and I point at him. "What is it with guys? Why? WHY? WHY? WHY are you this way?"He raises his hands in the air and scowls. "Hey now, don't lump me in with men like that."I narrow my eyes on him but don't respond. He could be married with 2.5 kids at ho
Chloe"You taking back your offer of dessert? That's not a nice thing to do to a woman who's had such bad day, you know."Gone is the half smile, replaced with a full one. And damn if it isn't sexy."Now what kind of man would I be if I took away dessert? I'll meet you there, sound good?"I nod once, still unsure what I'm planning to tell my overbearing friends. Okay, so overbearing isn't really the right word since they're just friends. My people who care about me.I feel his eyes on me as I leave the office and I can't help the goofy smile spread across my face by the time I've reached the table where my friends are sitting."Sorry, ladies, I've gotta go see about a guy."They all groan but Ari's the one who speaks up. "You've gotta be shitting me right now. You just gave us a line from Good Will Hunting!""And?""And the cheesy one, too! Besides, Chloe! What the hell?"I shrug. "He invited you guys."Choruses of "Ewww!" and "What a perv!" are shouted as they
RexWhat the fuck am I doing? Seriously, what the fuck am I doing? I'm having dessert with a beautiful woman who has had a super shitty day, that's what I'm doing. That's all I'm doing.Maybe if I keep telling myself that, I'll actually believe it.Because I already know that I'm lying to myself.It's not as if I never have more than only sex with women. It's just rare. Dinner usually leads to expectations of more, and I don't do more.I wouldn't be surprised if Chloe stood me up. Especially after she goes to her friends and tells them where she's going. And if she does show up, the chances of her being alone are pretty slim.That thought leads to me wondering why I care so much and really want her showing up alone.I'm already seated at a table, the late hour of the evening allows for a quieter restaurant, even for a Saturday night. My server refills my water and gives me a sympathetic look. No doubt she thinks I'm getting stood up given the fact that I've been here f
Rex"No, you terd." She throws a brownie at me and I catch it and pop it into my mouth."Hey, you were the one who said full service."Another sparkle of happiness pops through the dark. Her face tips down, a long lock of deep red hair falls over her shoulder, which starts to shake before she's laughing so hard a snort slips out. Her head jerks up, eyes wide when she stares at me, hopeful I didn't hear it. Of course I did, though, because I'm paying attention to everything she does."So no happy ending, then. I got it." I don't mention the snort but it's out there and I won't be able to not tease her about it at some point in the future."Well, it's not as if we send our clients out unhappy, though. It's just not that kind of happy ending.""Bummer.""Oh, you frequent those?""If you were my masseuse? Hell yeah, I would. In fact, I'd probably be your most loyal customer."Those deep, dark eyes roll and she takes another bite of The Cookie. I'm glad she's not a woma
Rex"Miss Garcia?""That's me."Chloe stands from our place in the waiting area off of the resort's spa. I arranged for a day of pampering complete with making sure her hair and makeup is done for the wedding later this afternoon. By the time she walks down the aisle, she'll be relaxed and hopefully the tension and stress of the last few months will have washed away.Right after I proposed, we had a bit of a scare with the baby.She started spotting and since this was our first, we both panicked. The doctor assured us it was totally normal, but then her blood pressure started dipping. She'd be at work doing a client's hair and suddenly feel light headed with no warning. After the second time it happened, I made her see the doctor who put her on a limited work schedule, to put it simply. It wasn't bed rest, but for Chloe who loved her job, it might as well have been.She was cranky and irritable but soon started seeing the benefit of being home part-time and putting in
Rex"It's time, babe. It's time!" Chloe's voice is full of excitement as she nudges me awake. Her hair is still wet and she smells incredible. Fresh and clean and I really want to snag her around the waist, and pull her under me."What?""It's. Time!""Shit." I spring up out of bed, trip over the damn cat that never leaves my side, catch myself on the curtains in our bedroom and right myself."Are you okay?" Chloe asks, laughing before groaning."I'm good. Yeah. Are you?""Of course. I'm excited.""Me too, babe. But I'd be more excited if you would have let me sleep a bit longer.""I can't help it! This isn't on me and you know it."I grin. It's not her fault. It's actually mine. I was the one who suggest we elope and promised to take care of everything, including getting our flights scheduled for so early in the morning."You know, it'd be nice if you told me where we were going." She grins over her already packed suitcase. The one I packed for her so she'd be
Chloe"How are you feeling?"Liv glares at me and grits out, "Dandy! Just freaking dandy."I look at Rex and stretch my lips out in an eek face and he smothers a laugh."Okay then. Well, I'll leave you two to it.""No!" Ethan tries grabbing Rex by the arm but he's too quick."Unless you plan on being in the room with us when Chloe's giving birth, I suggest you let us go. This is your time. You got this.""No we do not!" Liv shouts. "There's nothing about this that we've got."The nurse comes in and says, "Let's check you, shall we? See how you're coming along?"Liv nods, shifting uncomfortably in her bed. She looks like hell. Beautiful as usual. Well, that's actually not true. Her face is splotchy, hair matted down from sweat, there's black under her eyes where her mascara has run.She reaches a hand out to me and I shoot wide eyes to Ethan who's already by her side. "You gonna tell her no?" he challenges and I shake my head.Rex moves quickly so he's standing
RexI'm nervous. Fuck me, but I think I'm going to throw up.But it's not every day that I get to ask this question, and I don't want to mess it up.I knock on the door to hopefully my future. "Come in.""Hi.""What's going on? Why'd you ask to see me like this?""I need to ask you something. And I really need you to hear me out before speaking because it's important.""Okay? You're acting really fucking weird, man. What's going on with you?"I place a small, black velvet box on his desk and I pop open the lid, presenting the small piece of jewelry to him.Ethan takes a close look, lifts it out of the soft cushion it's cradled in, inspects it before slipping it back in the box. "Ah, for me? You shouldn't have. But it's a little flashy for my taste. I prefer something a little more subtle. Not so many diamonds." I realize he's just trying to lighten the mood and he knows exactly what this box means, but I still have to say it. Need to. For Chloe. It's the right t
ChloeTroy chuckles. This time when he looks at me, his eyes linger and my skin crawls. He might be attractive enough, but he's one of the creepiest men I've ever laid eyes on. I divert my attention quickly and Olivia reaches for my hand. "Oh don't worry. It's not you I give a shit about anymore, brother."He lifts his tumbler off the bar and raises it in Rex's direction then slides off his stool. I know where he's heading and if he follows through, there's no way it will turn out in his favor."Hey there. Welcome to The Flying Goat," Ethan says, stepping in front of Troy. His voice is devoid of any hospitality.Troy, though, is too stupid to get the not so subtle hint. "Uh, thanks?"He tries to step around him but is stopped by one of the Zeus twins.He's a tiny man surrounded by three large, angry men.I don't know how much of Rex's story any of them know, if anything at all, but they see the anger coming off Rex's body and know Troy is the cause of it.Troy turns
Chloe"Do you know him?" Olivia asks, staring at the guy's back."No. You?""No. But, gah, I swear he looks familiar.""Probably been in here before?""Maybe.""So how much longer?" I ask Olivia."Too long. Actually, no. I take that back. I've enjoyed being pregnant and it kind of scares me to think about what it will be like when the little nugget's out in the world.""Makes sense.""Anyway, I have about a month left. I'm hoping that I've hit my size limit."I nod, not trusting myself not to say something stupid.Rex comes out of the office and sees me sitting down with Olivia and makes his way toward us.He kisses me on the forehead then leans down to give Olivia a hug."How are the mamas doing?" The level of excitement that he has over this baby has surprised me. I'm only a few months along, though, and I know we need to be careful. Things can happen this early on."Good," I grin up at him and his eyes soften."Rex, do you know that guy?" Olivia asks
Chloe"Hey! What are you doing here?" Ethan crushes me in a hug when I walk through the back door with Rex.I nod at Rex and grin. "He couldn't live without me.""He's so needy," Ethan teases with a wink."I know. It's a burden.""I bet. Kind of annoying, huh? Does he follow you around like a puppy? Always getting in your way.""All the time! I really want some space but what can I do?""I'm right here you know.""We know." Ethan and I say the words at the same time and Rex groans, leaving us to it as we laugh at his grumbling. Ever since I announced I was pregnant, Ethan and I turned a corner.The common thread of expecting our first child has brought us together, creating a bond. The fact that he's my brother is something I think we're both still getting used to. But every time I look at him, I see hints of my mother. Being pregnant makes me miss her even more than I did before. I know she'd be by my side through every step, in the delivery room if I wanted her t
Chloe"Happy New Year, gorgeous.""Aren't you supposed to say that at midnight?""What's the point of only celebrating for a minute?""Hmm," I suppose that's true, I purr, leaning into his touch."I'm sorry I have to work today.""Don't apologize. It's not like you're working all night. Just for a few hours, right?""Yeah. The Zeus twins will take over tonight and Ethan hired two others that were experienced enough they can dive right in."I trail my finger around through the coarse hair on his chest. "Will you miss it?" He told Ethan he was pulling back, as in no more nights and weekends. Which only leaves him filling in when they're short on help. It was Rex's decision"Bartending? No.""I thought you loved it, though.""I love working with Ethan, even Penny. And once upon a time, until a sexy as hell redhead came into my life, I liked the attention it brought.""But not anymore?" I ask, grinning."Not anymore."We're lying in my bed, Malcom on Rex's fe
Rex"Ethan?"Chloe's lips are pressed together so tightly, the skin is turning white."What? Do you want me to say grace?"Olivia looks at her husband like he's an idiot. "Did you hear Chloe?""Yeah?"Paul grumbles. "Boy. Think about what Chloe said.""Merry Christmas?""No. The other thing."We all watch as he finally gets a clue. He stands up quickly, his chair falling back and landing against the tile with a loud thwack."Uncle?!"Chloe nods, my emotional girl's eyes flooding with tears again."You asshole! You got my sister pregnant?!"I almost laugh. Almost. But I'm smart enough not to. Rather, I just raise my hands. "Hey, it's not like I did that alone.""Wrong answer, man."Olivia's laughing so hard, she's clutching her stomach and bending over. "You. You are such an idiot!""I'm an idiot? How am I the idiot in this scenario?""Because you are!""Oh good come back, babe."Paul stands up, pushes Ethan out of the way while he makes his way