“Kid needs to learn not to stare at a man’s woman with a look that says he’d fuck her if he had the chance.” Tyson set his menu down and clasped his hands on top of it. He was dead serious, which made me choke down a laugh.
“He’s in college,” I reminded Tyson. “He is a kid.”
“Yeah, and probably popular as shit, but once he gets out, he could get his ass kicked for doing what he just did to the wrong guy’s woman.”
I sipped my margarita instead of trying to scold Tyson over the fact that while we might be together—happily—I wasn’t anyone’s to own. We’d had this talk enough for me to know it’d fall on deaf ears anyway.
Needless to say, in the last month, our relationship had moved full speed ahead.
He was loving his job, a job that I actually truly admired when I wasn’t involved. I quickly stopped doubting how much Tyson cared for me, and once I was able to separate his job and the past from our current relationship, there was no looking back.
My father’s case was progressing although we still had several months before the actual trial. Tyson kept me informed as much as possible, but I quickly learned that there would always be things I couldn’t know about his job. But I did know that my father’s organization had essentially collapsed from the top down. I was sure another mafia member would step in and take over someday, because when one bad man fell, another was always there to pick up the pieces. But it was no longer my problem. It also wasn’t a part of my life.
My life had been filled with a career I loved, a man I loved even more, and a handful of friends I couldn’t imagine living without.
“How was your day?” Tyson asked and leaned forward, changing the subject.
For the next several minutes, I regaled him with tales of several different headaches I’d had to deal with at work while Tyson listened intently to every complaint and every story. I loved that, regardless of what I was going through, I always had his full focus.
I paused during my story of an exceptionally bitchy client when our waitress stopped by to take our orders, but before I could restart, a familiar feminine voice called my name.
“Hey, you,” I said back and waved to Chelsea as she sauntered up to our table. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey, Tyson,” she said to him before facing me. He nodded hello and sipped his drink. “Just picking up some food before I go back home and enjoy a Netflix marathon.”
My eyes flickered to Tyson in a silent question, and he nodded.
“That sounds dreadful.” I pulled out the chair next to me and pointed. “Join us.”
“I couldn’t.”
“You can,” Tyson interrupted with a smile. “And you will.”
“Well,” she huffed playfully but listened. “Who am I to say no then?” Then she leaned toward me and mock whispered, “Is he always this bossy?”
“No—,” he started, as soon as I said, “Yes.”
I glared at him. “Always.”
He rolled his eyes and we gave Chelsea time to place her drink and dinner order before I asked her about her week. She’d been busy lately getting ready for school to start back up next week. “Ugh. It’s exhausting and I know Paige is even more tired after spending the week setting up her room for the year. For me, I have all the books and computers set up. I just need to finish my lesson plans and then I’ll spend time helping the other middle school teachers.”
“You sound excited to get back to work,” Tyson said.
Chelsea’s smile brightened. “Yes. I love being around the kids, absolutely.”
She was a librarian in the middle school. I couldn’t imagine being around that many kids for that many hours every single day, but she and Paige both loved their jobs.
Our chatter turned to general conversation about our days and our lives, and then we continued with another round of drinks while we waited for our food.
After Declan personally delivered our dinners, he was getting ready to head back to the kitchen when the front door opened and a man named Aidan and his son, Derrick, walked in. Aidan was friends with both Tyson and Declan, and his son was fourteen years old, going into eighth grade in the fall. I didn’t know the full story of why the mom wasn’t in the picture, but I knew Aidan had become a parent when he was still a teenager and that all three men had been friends since college.
I’d only met Aidan in passing, once or twice, in the last few months. Tyson’s job didn’t allow much time for socializing and he generally tended to be a relax-at-home kind of guy, something I enjoyed immensely. I might not have known Aidan well, but Chelsea clearly did, because I caught the faint blush that painted her cheeks as both guys sauntered toward us.
It was easy to see that Derrick was Aidan’s son: they had the same dark hair, strong jaw, and tall and lean build. He was still a teenager, but I figured it wouldn’t be long until he matched his dad in size and stature.
“Hey, man,” Declan said, standing and grabbing Aidan’s elbow in some sort of manly grip. He pulled him close and slapped him on the back twice. He immediately did the same thing to Derrick but gentler.
Aidan turned toward the table and said hello to all of us. When he stopped at Chelsea, her cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink.
I resisted the urge to kick her under the table when she stuttered, “Hello, Mr. Devereaux…Derrick.”
One side of Aidan’s lips quirked into a smirk. “Call me Aidan when we’re not in school, Chelsea.”
She dipped her chin and pressed her lips together. “You got it, Aidan.”
His smirk turned into a grin.
I caught Derrick rolling his eyes and hid my laugh behind my napkin.
“What are you guys up to tonight?” Aidan asked, focusing on Tyson and me.
“Dinner and home,” Tyson said, wiping his mouth with his napkin. “Been slammed at work this week and I need to get some damn sleep.”
“Bummer,” Chelsea chirped, “because I was just thinking, I know Paige and Suzanne aren’t doing anything tonight. Or Camden. We could all hang out at my place, have a bonfire.” Her eyes flickered to Aidan’s before she focused on me and with a quieter, shyer voice I’d never heard her use, finished with, “Probably won’t have too many nice nights once school starts.”
I pressed my lips together and gave Tyson big eyes.
He shrugged. “Whatever you want, honey.”
Chelsea’s backyard was the bomb, as I had learned the first time she’d had a girls’ night at her place. It was gorgeous and filled with trees, bushes, and flowering plants and had this firepit in the back corner that made you feel like you were in a wilderness oasis, without the risk of snakes and bears. The first time I was there, it reminded me of Colorado because it was so peaceful and the girls and I had hung out there a few times in the last couple of weeks, drinking wine around the fire, roasting marshmallows—or even better, when we skipped the marshmallows and just ate chocolate bars.
I freaking loved it.
I smiled at Chelsea. “We’re in.” Then I looked at Aidan. “What about you guys?”
Aidan’s eyes softened in a way I suspected meant he wanted to come but wouldn’t and he was trying to find a way to let Chelsea down easy.
Maybe it was the fact that I was finally in love and I wanted that for a friend of mine, who had been through so much that it made my heart clench, because I began to speak up. Then Derrick jumped in and almost shouted, “Yeah, that’d be awesome,” at the same time that Aidan muttered, “Sorry, Chelsea, but we can’t. Got something going on this weekend.”
Derrick’s eyes went to his dad. “We do?”
Aidan’s lips tightened but he said nothing.
I saw Chelsea frown and I lifted my shoulders. “We’re still in.”
“Awesome,” she said, only half meaning it. Then she slid out her credit card, but Tyson stopped her.
“We got dinner. You’re providing the fire later.”
“I couldn’t,” she started to stay.
“Trust me, Chelsea,” I said. “Let him pay. If you argue, you’ll lose and just have wasted your breath. Save it for something important.”
Next to me, Tyson chuckled.
Aidan and Declan grinned. That was when I knew they were the same kind of men Tyson was.
Good men.
Bossy men.
I loved that kind of man.
Chelsea gave in with a defeated sigh and reached for her purse. “Fine then, but I’m leaving a tip. I’ll go call the girls. I’ll see you in a bit?”
“Yup,” I returned as she slid off her stool. Then I watched her say goodbye to Declan and Derrick, before her eyes shifted and she barely managed to murmur a word to Aidan.
I gave her a smile when she walked away.
But I noticed when I turned back to the table I wasn’t the only one watching her leave, because Aidan’s eyes were trained on her back.
I smiled into my glass when I heard Tyson ask, “You doing anything Declan? Any chance you can get some time off and hang with us?”
One side of his lips rose into a sneer. “Nah. I’ve had some problems in the alley lately.”
Tyson’s interest piqued and his back straightened. “What kind of problems?”
Declan waved him off. “Probably just some little high school shits messing around by the dumpsters, but I want to stick around until close to see if I can stop them.”