I sit up in bed when I hear the front door open followed by a commotion of noises. Throwing my headset down and pausing my video game, I go to open my door and head for the stairwell. From upstairs I can already see our foyer crammed with people but my eyes immediately seek out one person—the only person I really give a fuck about. She hasn't noticed me yet, too busy greeting my parents, so I lean against the wall and watch her for a moment.
I used to hate when Olivia came over because I had to lock myself in my room and do everything I could to pretend she wasn't close by somewhere and burning me from the inside out. Most of the time I'd leave the house altogether and avoid catching a glimpse of her or letting her catch a glimpse of me. I succeeded too. Occasionally I'd purposely bring a girl home much to my parents' dismay and disapproval. They knew I was trying to hurt Olivia and Olivia knew it too, staying out of my sight and playing my game. I was a fucking dick and then some. It's weird that I'm actually excited about having in her my space now. I know it's only because I don't have to pretend I don't want her anymore. I motherfucking have her. My lips tug up and I'm unable to take my eyes off her.
"You realize you're staring, right?" Landon comes up behind me and peeks around my shoulder. I scoff and shove him back, to which he grins. "What? You don't care that Liv will notice? You must be coming down with something."
"Must be," I deadpan. I still haven't looked away. I watch as Olivia throws her head back in laughter at something Mom says before wrapping her arms around her happily. Fuck if I don't feel myself soften. Something about the two women in my life I actually care about...seeing that...my chest pulses.
"Dude," Landon sounds so stricken I have no choice but to look at him. He's slack-jawed and his eyes—their green-blue colour completely identical to mine—are wide with incredulity. "Why are you looking at her like that? You're scaring me."
"Boo," I retort drily.
"I'm just saying, bro. You keep up those moon-eyes and everyone will think you guys are together or some shit."
"And?"
A choked noise comes out of him and his eyes widen more, if possible. When he speaks his voice is high-pitched and he sounds goddamn prepubescent. "Holy fuck. You guys are together?"
"Did I ruin your dreams, asshole?"
"Well, now that you mention it..."
"Too fucking bad," My arms go around him in a headlock that he can't get out of. He slaps at my hands and I smirk before releasing him. I look at Olivia again just as she follows Mom into the living room and disappears out of sight.
Before I can start for downstairs, Landon grabs my shoulder. His eyes are full of all kinds of excitement. "Do Mom and Dad know? Does Uncle Cam know? He's going to beat your ass!"
Fucker actually jumps on his toes and I pull my arm away with a scowl. "No one knows yet. Keep your mouth shut."
"Why? Is she a secret fuck?"
My brow twitches in irritation and I grab him by the collar, my voice deadly. "Watch the way you talk about her. Brother or not, I'll beat your ass."
He sniggers. Fucking sniggers. "You're so pussy-whipped. This is the best day of my life."
I roll my eyes, letting him go and bounding down the stairs before he says anything else I don't want to hear. I was dangerously close to punching his face in and I'm not about to cause a mess on today of all days.
Mom was officially declared in partial remission last weekend. More than fifty perfect of the cancer is gone so she's allowed to take a break from treatment. She hasn't gone back to chemo in a week and already she seems happier and calmer. Less in pain.
When I got home this morning, she jumped on me to hug me and wouldn't let go for a solid minute. I might have fucking teared up a little. The reports and those fuck ton of numbers were one thing but actually seeing the improvement in Mom, seeing her full of energy I haven't seen in months and months, was something else altogether. It made her progress that much more real. I was still scared to have hope because partial remission only means the cancer is under control, not gone, but it's the best news we've had since she was officially diagnosed nearly a year ago.
I'm not an idiot. I know she isn't even close to cured. The cancer has been in her body for three years before the symptoms actually presented themselves, and this year makes it four years since the cancer first started. Stage 4 diagnoses have a twenty percent survival rate within the first five years. Mom is walking a really fucking thin line but she's also making the kind of progress that's beating the odds. It shows too, how much better she is now. She has been this whole month but it feels more real now that the doctors have declared partial remission. It feels like the dark clouds have finally moved away and are letting some goddamn sun in. I haven't seen her this happy in fucking forever.
It's why the Wests are here. Mom feels strong enough for some company. At least that's what she told me when she mentioned they were coming over. I tried to ask why the rest of my aunts and uncles weren't coming but she waved me off, said she didn't want the commotion of kids running around. It's such bull. She's an elementary teacher—she loves being surrounded by kids. But I didn't bother questioning it because I wanted to see Olivia. I haven't seen her in two days and already I've been feeling restless. Fuck me, Landon is right. I'm fucking whipped.
"There you are," Mom's eyes light up when I enter the living room. "I was just about to come get you."
I raise a brow. She couldn't be more suspicious if she tried. Without meaning to my gaze clashes with Dad's who looks equally unamused by Mom's antics. His lips quirk at the same time as mine and I quickly look away. That was weird. For a second it felt like old times and I wasn't comfortable with that. Don't even fucking know why. We've been at odds for a goddamn year and it feels illegal or some shit for us to get along. It's a shitty feeling and one that sours my mood even though I try not to let it. I sit on the lone seater and purposely ignore his stare that I feel trained on me.
"Hi, niño," Tia's eyes sparkle. "You sure look handsome today."
"Oh, brother," Uncle Cameron mutters. He glares at me when I fail to stop my smirk. I'm definitely not earning any brownie points with him, am I?
I finally drag my gaze to Olivia who's staring at our carpet like it's the most interesting thing in the world. It amuses me that she feels shy, especially given all the things we've done behind closed doors and knowing she's anything but. I look away too before my face gives us away. If Landon figured it out, so could these guys. Assuming they haven't already. And by they I mean Mom and Tia because Jesus, they won't stop staring between the two of us.
"How's school?" Mom finally asks. "Lucas, weren't you doing a project with Olivia for the semester?"
Yeah, and I've been doing Olivia too.
I scratch my cheek to cover my brief smile, clearing my throat. "Yup. Went great."
And it did. The semester ended on Friday which is why we're all home for winter break. Olivia and I presented our project earlier this week and scored an A. Mostly she did the talking while I sat in Professor Warren's chair and switched slides but still. He's a decent dude and after Olivia made me apologize to him for the way I acted all semester he was cool with me.
"Did you do all the work, sweet pea?" Uncle Cameron pointedly asks while staring at me.
"Actually, I did half the project and then Lucas took over without me having to ask," She says it almost defensively and my chest warms. Olivia is loyal as fuck to me even though I probably don't deserve it. "He did a great job with the sky map."
"You made the sky map?" Uncle Cam's brows go up.
"Sure did," My lips twitch. "It was easy after years of watching Olivia...and you, make them."
Uncle Cameron's eyes narrow at my words and Olivia's face drops into her palm. Dad is having a hard time getting his cough under control. Hmm.
"It's good to see you two getting along," Tia adds before Uncle Cam can say anything else.
"And getting it on," Landon whispers in my ear, appearing out of nowhere. I shove him away from me, moving to stand up while my glare pins him. He runs to sits beside Mom and throws an arm around her so I don't touch him. He's double Mom's size and using her as human shield, the fucking dick. Mom rolls her eyes but hugs him back, immediately coddling him.
"And what?" Uncle Cameron demands. Landon's eyes go wide and he shakes his head, refusing to repeat himself. I'm going to kill him.
"I'm going to get some water," Olivia springs up from her seat. I've never seen her look so embarrassed and it pisses me off that this situation is making her feel that way. That everyone here is making her feel that way. I don't have anything to hide so why the fuck would I hide her? This is bull.
I stand up before she can pass by me and she stops, warning in her eyes as she glares up at me. Fucking whatever. Let them know. Let them watch. I grab the back of her neck and lower myself, pressing my lips to hers.
Olivia jumps at my touch and tries to jerk away. My hand tightens to hold her in place because fuck this. After a second she can't help but give in to me and kisses me back so I wrap an around her waist and pull her against me. It's hard to keep myself in check because I haven't touched her like this in two days. Fucking needed it. I tilt my head and make our kiss deeper, not really giving a fuck about our audience. Right now there's only her.
She's the sensible one, pushing her palms on my chest in warning and forcing me to pull away. I nip her lip before I let go and straighten up again, staring down at her. She looks at me incredulously but there's also happiness dancing in her eyes. She's happy I just claimed her the way I did and that's all that fucking matters. I smile back.
I look up and find all eyes on us. There's a mix of emotions but one is blatantly missing — surprise. No one is shocked. They all saw this coming whether they were on board or not. Mom and Tia are wearing matching, knowing grins. Dad is amused and impressed all at once. Landon eyes Olivia's ass like the shit he is and gives me a thumbs up. Uncle Cameron looks ready to break me in half.
"We happened," I get to the point and pull Olivia into my side. "We're happening. Nothing else to say."
I don't really expect anyone to listen but it's worth a shot. Uncle Cameron stands up, face serious and unimpressed. He points toward the front door. "Outside. Right now."
Can't say I didn't see this coming. I let go of Olivia but she grabs my hand before I can really pull away. Concern is etched all over her face so I rub my thumb between her brows to get rid of the crease.
"It's good," I assure her. She doesn't seem convinced but this isn't her responsibility to worry about. It's mine. I lean down and kiss her hard and quick, winking. "Relax."
I follow Uncle Cameron as he leads us outside of the house. He bounds down the steps and leans against the railing, waiting for me to catch up. I stop in front of him. I'm a few inches taller than him but that doesn't do shit. The look on his face is lethal enough to tell me that he'll kick my ass if I make one wrong move. I wisely stay silent.
"My daughter deserves better than you," He says bluntly. It stings but I take it because it was a long time coming. "I've watched you hurt her over the years, watched you become her enemy. Hell, watched you become your own enemy."
My jaw pulses. Whatever. It's not like he's not telling the truth right now.
"It's been a confusing time for me," He continues. "I have a lot of love for you, kid. You're the son of my best friend. I've always thought of you as my own. As much as it hurt my sweet pea when you became something you weren't, it hurt me too. Your dad and uncles...we all went through our own shit and we never wanted our kids to suffer. It hurt that we couldn't protect you from the world as much as we tried to."
I blink. This is definitely going in a direction I didn't expect. I can't help but hesitate when he asks me to sit but I follow, sitting on the lowest stair step. Uncle Cameron stands in front of me, arms crossed.
"You know my story," His voice is solemn, strained. "You know I was blackmailed into working as a gigolo. I had a fucked up idea of love because of it. So when your Tia came into my life, spitfire that she was, do you really think I believed she loved me? I walked out on her. Pushed her away. Hurt her. I get it, Lucas. We hurt the people we love because we're only human. We hurt the way we've been hurt."
Loaded, much? I watch him grimly as he blows out a breath.
"You went through things and saw things you shouldn't have seen. A little kid died in your arms and you were only seventeen-years-old yourself, and for what? Because you had a famous father and were given a life you didn't ask for. It was the first time your uncles and I realized our kids were going to fight a different battle than us. Because of us. It was fucking jarring and we've been scared shitless since. We're only sorry we didn't realize it until your life was ruined. You had to be the guinea pig and we all feel responsible."
"That's not—"
He holds a finger up, silencing me. "As your uncle, I sympathize for you. But as Olivia's father, I won't make excuses for you. My daughter comes first no matter how much I love you. I expect you to understand that."
"Yeah," I nod seriously. I won't bother with the smart-ass remarks. There's a time and place. "Yeah, I do."
"And you might have earned her trust back but you have yet to earn mine."
"I get that, too."
"This is me giving you another chance, kid. Your last one. If I didn't believe that you were meant for my little girl, I wouldn't even be giving you this one. But I know you've loved her since the very beginning and you've protected her too. Lately you haven't been so good at that but neither have I, huh? You watch after her from now on. You treat her like the one in a million she is."
"Yes, sir." I stand up and look him straight in the eye. This is fucking hard but he deserves it. "And I'm...I'm sorry for the last four years."
"I know," He says simply. "And I'm sorry about this."
My jaw is snapped to the side when his knuckles knock into me faster than I can blink. I groan, grabbing the railing for support before I lose my footing and fall over. Jesus fuck, what a punch. I'm lucky my jaw didn't goddamn break in half. I wiggle it around to test it, just to make sure, and rub at the throbbing skin before looking back at him. It's beyond me how Uncle Cameron can look apologetic yet satisfied at once.
"I take it that knocked some sense into you?" It's a question that only accounts for one answer based on the hard look he gives me.
"Yes," I grit out. I have to fight the urge to punch him back and he knows it, grinning boastfully.
"Now that that's out of the way, I'm glad you took your head out of your ass." He opens his arms, gesturing to me when I stare blankly. Hell, no. But I have no choice, not unless I want to get punched again. I reluctantly go in for the hug and lock my jaw to contain my scoff when he tightens his hold on me. I don't do affection. I'm thinking I should have just taken another punch when he—thankfully—pulls away and claps me on the back once. "Good talk."
"Sure," I mutter. For him.
"One more thing," He says before I can head up the stairs. I glance at him warily. "It's time to cut the shit and talk to your father."
I bristle. What in the fuck? Did everyone have an opinion on this? My mouth pinches at the corners. "Look, I'm dating your daughter so I owed it to you to hear you out. But what's between me and my dad is our business."
"That's true," He concedes. "But it's also my business because your father is my best friend and he's miserable that he lost his relationship with his son."
I swallow hard. Yeah, that hits me in the chest. I'm not fucking heartless. But fuck, it's not that simple.
"You know the night Eli died?" He asks. I grab the hand railing tighter. Why the fuck are we talking about him? Uncle Cameron either doesn't notice my increasing anger or ignores it because he goes on. "You waited all night to hear from your dad and you didn't. Why?"
Why? What does he mean why? Because Dad was figuring out how to get the asshole arrested. We all know that so why is he asking? I stay quiet, though.
"He was in jail," Uncle Cameron says it so non-chalantly I don't even react. All I can do is stare at him and wonder what the hell he's talking about.
"What?" I blink at him when his expression doesn't waver. He's serious?
"I've been best friends with you father for twenty-three years. I've seen and known everything about him. But that night...fuck if I didn't shit my pants a little. I'd never seen him so ballistic. As soon as we cornered that drug dealer that killed Eli your dad lost it. He beat the living shit out of him to the point where he was unrecognizable. He just kept screaming, "what did you do to my son?" and wouldn't even let the fucker answer. It goes without saying but that day proved that nobody messes with Jaxon Cage's son. Nobody."
My ass hits the stair step when my knees give out on me. I don't know what to think. Nobody told me this.
"He went to jail?" I choke out.
"You had to be there. I thought he was going to kill the guy. There was so much commotion that someone called the police and when they showed up, they arrested Jaxon on the spot."
My head falls into my hands. Fuck. Fuck.
"He never wanted you to know. He felt like an asshole because you needed him and he went and got arrested. Told me to spin some bullshit about how he was figuring things out. Your uncles and I went to bail him out but Jaxon insisted we leave him in jail until the next morning."
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he didn't want you to see him when he was weak. He wanted to be strong for you. I sat outside his jail cell when he cried the whole night for what happened to his son. He needed to fall apart before he could be there for you."
"Stop," I whisper. My chest is twisted so goddamn tight I can't breathe. I kick the railing in frustration, my throat lodging painfully. "Motherfucker."
"I know things are bad right now, Lucas." Uncle Cameron crouches down so he's level with me. "I know you and your old man aren't the same. But he'll never stop being your father and you'll never stop being his son. That won't ever change, no matter how bad things get. Something to consider?"
I nod wordlessly. I couldn't speak even if I wanted to. Uncle Cameron claps me on the shoulder once before standing up and heading inside, probably sensing I need to be alone right now. As much as I want to fix shit between Dad and I, I can't help but wonder if I've caused too much damage to go back. Only one way to find out, I guess.
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A/N
How many times will this book make me cry? Idk. I'm done.
How I've missed my Cam-Cam. It's so weird to see this idiot as a responsible person? And my Jaxon, ugh. I'm ready for him and Lucas to be good again. These two are breaking my heart!
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Happy Reading :)