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Not that the day wouldevercome, but I was pretty sure she’d have to fight off the rest of our friends for that coveted first spot in line. They were all anxiously waiting. It wouldn’t have surprised me if they had a bet going on what day Gage and I finally caved and ripped each other’s clothes off. I’d gotten so tired of trying to convince them it was never going to happen, that most of the time I acted like I didn’t hear a word they were saying. It was easier that way.
We said our goodbyes and I headed out, shooting a text to Gage to let him know I was on the way when my stomach let out a growl. I laughed as I pushed the button to unlock my car and slid in behind the wheel. Looked like Gage wasn’t the only one who was starving after all.
ChapterTwo
GAGE
A low chucklerumbled through my chest as I read the text from Wynn that had popped up on my phone just after I threw my truck into park in front of my house and killed the engine. I’d been out of town on a job for the past few days, and I’d missed my tiny dynamo. She had a serious knack for making shit better. She’d been my very first text the moment I hit the town limits.
Bits:Leaving now you big baby. Be there in about twenty.
Perfect. That gave me enough time to hop in the shower and wash the long-ass drive off me before she got to my place with what I hoped to Christ was the largest pizza in existence. I wasn’t lying about being hungry, and Wynn’s teasing hadn’t been too far off the mark. I was a straight-up asshole when I went too long between meals.
Every bone in my body groaned as I climbed out of the truck. I told myself it was from being stuck in that seat for hours on the drive home, but that was only so I could fool myself into believing I was still as young as I used to be. My body was letting me know on a daily basis that it didn’t have the same get-up-and-go that it used to have. Hell, most mornings it seemed like I had a new creak or groan every time I tried to haul my ass out of bed.
As soon as my boots hit the gravel driveway, I twisted and arched my aching back, trying to loosen the stiffness in my spine. I’d been out of town on a job for the past three days, and now that I was finally home all I wanted to do was take a hot shower, stuff my stomach full of pizza, and catch up with Wynn as we chilled in front of the television until I eventually passed out from exhaustion.
That sounded like the perfect night to me. Though, I wasn’t exactly sure when I’d turned intothat guy.
I used to be the guy who preferred to hit the bars a few nights a week to throw back a couple beers, shoot some pool while I hung with my buddies, and occasionally find a woman to take home if I had an itch that needed to be scratched. But lately I preferred to relax at home instead. Those random hookups had started to lose a bit of their luster as well.
For the first time in my life my DVR was at capacity with shows that Gage In His Twenties never had any interest in. Shit like DIY and cooking shows. I didn’t even cook, for fuck’s sake, but I would rather stay in with a cold beer, watching someone getChoppedor speculating with Wynn on who the nextTop Chefwould be instead of trolling the bars, looking to get laid.
I wasn’t the settling-down type, that was for damn sure, but those one-night stands and casual hookups I’d been having for years didn’t hold the same excitement as they had in the past. They used to be enough, now they were beginning to feel hollow. I blamed my friends for the shift in my behavior and way of thinking, especially my buddy Laeth.
Back in the Army I’d served with Laeth Harker and Jensen Rose, and as the years passed, the three of us had gotten really close. I wouldn’t have hesitated to take a bullet for either of them and, needless to say, the feeling was mutual, a given. Jensen and Laeth were more than mere Army buddies, they were like brothers to me. Closer than blood.
A few years back, when it came time to decide whether to re-up or move on, Jensen had informed us he was done. He was going home. When he’d enlisted years earlier, he hadn’t just left the woman who held his heart behind, but they’d had a kid together that he’d never met, and the time had come for him to return to Redemption, Tennessee so he could work his ass off in an effort to win his family back.
Laeth and I hadn’t blinked at the idea of going with him. The three of us decided to go into business together, starting our own security firm, and I had no problem with basing it in Redemption, mainly because there was nothing left for me back in South Dakota, where I’d grown up and lived my whole life before the Army. There had been a time when I thought there was someone waiting for me, someone I would one day build a life with, but it turned out I was wrong.
So Tennessee it was.
Together, the three of us built a thriving business, and Jensen eventually won his girl, Shane, back... not that I ever had any doubt. Things had finally started to settle into place for me in Redemption, and I was more than content with the new life I’d created for myself. I had a job I loved where I got to be my own boss and utilize the skills I’d picked up during my time in the service. I had friends who were more like family. And it was no problem to find a bit of companionship when the need arose. All in all, life was good.
While Jensen had been the very definition of the marrying kind, there had been a sort of comfort in the knowledge that, like me, Laeth had sworn off relationships. Though his reasons for claiming eternal bachelorhood were different than mine, he tended to take his label a bit too far, spending the first couple years in our new town whoring his way through half the female population. But that all changed when he met Deva Kent about a year ago.
Now he was all about the monogamous life. He had a kid, a woman he was damn near obsessed with, and had gone from being a broody fucker to smiling like an idiot every time she walked into the room. All he was missing was the white picket fence and a membership to the local country club.
I didn’t fault him or Jensen for being all about their families. In fact, I was thrilled they were both so goddamn happy, especially after some of the shit we’d seen during our years overseas. But it seemed like everyone I knew was taking the plunge and settling down, and I was starting to feel stuck on hold. If there was a soundtrack for my life, it would have been that godawful shit they played during slow-ass elevator rides or while you sat on the line with the credit card company, waiting to talk to a living person.
The house was dead quiet as I pushed the door open, the air smelling slightly stale from sitting empty for the last few days. I tossed my keys on the table in the entryway and moved into the living room, opening the blinds and cracking a window to breathe life back into the place.
The fresh air started pouring in and the sounds from the dense woods surrounding my home filtered through the screen, making it not so starkly quiet. The breeze rustling the leaves on the large, old trees and occasional birdsong provided the perfect ambient white noise to help put me at ease.
That was one of the many reasons I’d put in an offer above asking price on this place the moment I saw it come on the market. The house sat on a few secluded acres on the outskirts of town, providing plenty of peace and quiet while only being a short drive from everything I needed. It was the best of both worlds.
The cabin had been updated a few years before I bought the place, turning it from a closed off, boxy space to open concept with amazing views from nearly every room while still maintaining its original rustic charm. The original hardwood floors, butcherblock counters, and warm wood paneling would have looked dated in any other house.
My boots clomped against the aged wood of the stairs, letting out low, random creaks as I made my way to my room on the second floor. I stripped naked, leaving my clothes in a trail on the floor as I headed into the attached bathroom. The whole master suite had been gutted and fully renovated, the previous owners putting in an entire wall of windows directly across from the doorway so the moment you stepped in, the first thing you saw was the lush forest outside. A fireplace on the wall separated the bedroom from the bathroom with plenty of extra space for me to add a small reading area in the corner nearby. The small table beside the chair was stacked with paperbacks, murder mysteries and thrillers I liked to read in my downtime to unwind.
The bathroom had a huge standing shower with two heads and an oversized clawfoot tub. It was probably the most modernized room in the house, and I didn’t mind one bit. The heated marble floors were a lifesaver in the frigid winters.
I cranked the water on, turning it as hot as I could stand, creating a cloud of steam that fogged up the entire shower stall as I stood beneath the spray. I let it beat against my back and neck to loosen some of the lingering tension in my muscles.
I could have stayed there for an hour, but there would have been serious hell to pay if I made Wynn wait, especially after the shit I gave her about being hungry.
After making quick work of showering, I hurried to dry myself off before throwing on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt and heading downstairs.
