Page 62 of Nixon’s Promise

Now not only was Zack working his way through breaking sophomore girls’ hearts, he’d moved on to the upper classmen.

“Perfect. Now I’ll have dads of both tenth grade and eleventh grade girls over here banging down my door with shotguns. Awesome. Just great.”

“Babe, I’ll talk to him.”

“That’d be good.” Then I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Maybe you could talk to him about you know….”

“Think you missed that talk by at least a year.”

“You telling me, you think my brother’s—”

“Um. Yeah,” he confirmed.

At least a year? I was gonna be sick. My baby brother was having sex. Already. My gaze swung to Mandy before I could do something stupid like ask her if she was having sex, too, which would’ve embarrassed the hell out of her. Nixon stopped me.

“Quiet, McKenna.”

“Right,” I mumbled. “Okay. Out. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes.”

Nixon gave me one of his panty-melting smiles and I really wished we were alone so I could kiss him the way I wanted. He let me go, grabbed two beers, and guided Holden out onto the patio.

“Wow,” Mandy exhaled when the two men were out of the room.

“Way too old for you,” I murmured and braced for her attitude.

“I know,” she snapped.

At least I got a good ten minutes out of her before she turned back into teenage drama queen.

“Think he has a younger brother? Caleb is hot, but that was a whole new level,” she rallied.

“I don’t know. Ask him.”

“Are you crazy? I’m not asking.” She laughed.

I smiled at my sister and went back to finishing up dinner. Maybe, just maybe, we’d make it through.

24

“He’s like a house cat,” Holden told Chasin, Weston, and Jameson.

Nixon was leaning against the wall with one ankle crossed over the other and his head was bowed listening to his friend razz him to their friends about McKenna.

Dinner had been great. Zack had played it cool, and even though the boy looked like he wanted to pepper Holden with questions, he didn’t. He’d mostly talked about his dirt bike and rebuilding the carb with Nix.

Mandy had been friendly and the most open Nix seen her. She’d shocked the hell out of him when she asked if he had another dirt bike so she could learn how to ride, too. Nixon didn’t have one, but he’d get one if it meant Mandy would put down her phone and get out of the house.

And then there was McKenna. So damn sweet and welcoming. She cooked great, looked good, was engaging, she’d laughed at the stories Holden had told her. She’d told her own and had them roaring with laughter. By the end of the evening she had Holden eating out of the palm of her hand. Nix wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but throughout the night she stuck to his side, smiling up at him, and a calm had settled over him.

McKenna was who she was; smart, funny, cheerful, gorgeous, and all of that was his. He knew it the same way he knew every part of his HK MP7. He could strip his rifle down and put it back together blindfolded. Nix suspected, he didn’t need his sight to navigate his way around McKenna’s sweet body, either. It was instinctual, like she was made just for him.

The connection should’ve been startling, especially after his failed marriage and messy divorce. But Nix knew why he and Alison hadn’t work out, why they never would’ve, even if either of them had put in the work. He wasn’t meant for Alison. He’d known that before he married her but had felt obligated. It sucked, but that was the truth. He should’ve waited for McKenna.

“Seriously?” Weston laughed.

“Domesticated,” Holden confirmed.

Jameson and Chasin both joined in and Nixon ignored their comments. He didn’t give the first fuck he was the butt of their good-natured jokes. Not when he knew all the sweetness that was McKenna.