I haven’t broached the topic with Mila yet, but I want to tell everyone about us. My brothers and Cora obviously know, but I don’t know if Mila has told her parents or Mara about us yet. I get that we’re new, but I want Mila to claim me. I don’t want to hide our relationship. She wants to wait until after the wedding, but I don’t know if that’s going to work. I can’t keep my distance from her or pretend like I don’t know what it feels like to be inside her.
Fuck, now I’m hard. Shaking my head, I grab my keys and head toward the front.
“Are you leaving for the day?” Cora questions as I near them.
“Who cares?” Atlas quips, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer.
“Care Bear cares, unlike you. Honestly, Cora, how do you handle his grumpiness? You could have had any of us,” I goad him, giving her a big grin. I only have eyes for one person, but it’s still fun to push his buttons.
“I don't know, Kash,” Atlas drawls slowly, his dark gaze locking on me. “If she had someone else, I guess that would leaveMilaopen to someone else too.”
Even though I walked into that one, red still clouds my vision. The idea of Mila being with someone else, even hypothetically, makes me want to destroy the shop we just put back together.
Elbowing him in the side, Cora gives him a sharp look. “Leave him be.”
“He started it. He called you Care Bear and made smiley eyes at you,” Atlas complains, then shifts his gaze back to me. “Brother or not, I should knock you out.”
“You could try.” I smirk, then salute the two love birds. Now that I’ve ruffled his feathers, my job is done. “Later, Nichols family.”
Heading out to my SUV, since I finally got it back, everything feels right. Atlas is getting married this weekend and will finally have a lifetime of happiness he deserves—both him and Cora. I’ll officially have Noah as my cool-as shit-nephew, and with any luck, I can get Mila to introduce me to her parents as her boyfriend, not just knowing me as Atlas’ brother.
Switching my car on, I’m suddenly nervous. What if they take one look at me and my tattoos and decide I’m not good enough for Mila? I’ve never met a girlfriend’s parents, and I don’t know how to make the best impression if I’m just being myself. I want them to like me for her. It’s one thing to be around because of Cora and Atlas, but I’m not even sure they know she’s living with me. Rhett’s words ring in my ears. This could get dicey. If I had a daughter, I don’t know if I’d want her shacked up with a guy like me.Damn it.
Thumbing through my contacts, I wait as it rings a few times. When the call finally connects, I sigh in relief. “Hey, are you free Friday? I need your help.”
The voice pauses, and I hear a few clicks in the background. “Can it wait until next week?”
“No. It has to be before Saturday afternoon.”
“Hold on. Let me see if I can move something around. What time can you be here?”
“Whatever time you want me. I owe you one.”
“Damn right you do. See you Saturday at nine, Kash.”
Looking at the screen as the call disconnects, I laugh and toss my phone onto the passenger seat. Now that’s taken care of, I head towardTwin Roasts. It’s time to visit my girl and make sure her parents see me as a good fitfor her.
It’s the night before the wedding, and it’s absolute chaos. I love it. Love is in the air, and Emma supervises while the guys and I help assemble the arch of dahlias that Cora wanted. There’s a shit ton of flowers, and I don’t even want to think about how much these cost alone. Atlas doesn’t care. Whatever Cora wants, Cora gets. Although, to be fair, it’s the only thing she requested.
Mila’s dad is going to walk her down the aisle tomorrow, and Noah is going to be Atlas' best man. I’m so fucking happy for them both. They deserve it. After everything they’ve had to overcome, if anyone deserves a happily ever after, it's them.
Going in search of my girl, who I know is somewhere around here, I fantasize about what our wedding is going to be like. I’ve had a ring for a while now, just waiting for a good time to ask. I don’t care about any of the details, just so long as Mila says yes to meeting me at the altar and taking my last name. It might be too soon for some people, but for me, it’s not soon enough.
Mila’s presence in my life has given me a purpose. I never realized that what I was doing before wasn’t living; it was surviving, existing. I closed myself off to letting people in after everything happened. I just couldn’t understand how she claimed to love our family, and then months later chose to start over like she didn’t have a whole life already. For the longest time, I thought I wasn’t enough for her, that something in me was lacking, that if I was enough, she would have stayed, but as I grew up, I realized she was the one missing something.
It’s different with the guys and Emma. My dad would have loved them. They’re my brothers, and we’re bonded by our own shitty circumstances. None of us had a choice in the hands we were dealt orthe families we were born into, but when Emma chose to keep each of us, she started a new one, and little by little, we’re adding to our group.
Emma was there for every fight, achievement, dance, or big moment of our lives. By the time we were almost through high school, we finally figured out that Emma was the real deal. Her husband was a stupid fuck for leaving her. I’m so lucky I landed with her and the guys.
“What are you doing, trouble?” Emma slides up next to me as I break down a few boxes.
“Knitting a sweater, of course.”
Emma stares at me for a moment, then pinches my side. “Smartass.”
“Hey, you asked, and I answered.” I grin down at her. “Did you need help with something else?”
“No. Just wanted to check on you. I know how you feel about the whole wedding and marriage thing.”
