Jaded Hearts
Chapter 61

Tyson

I stood in my newly finished kitchen, having a drink while I waited for Matt to come over and talk. I figured we’d have to have this talk at some point. No time like the present, I guess. When he walked in, I passed him a glass.

“Bourbon, Vodka, or Tequila?”

“Bourbon. Please.”

I poured him two fingers then took a seat. Matt looked around the room before he sat beside me. “It looks good in here. I didn’t expect it to be done already.”

“The credit goes to sunshine. She designed the whole house, for the most part. All I cared about were the four walls and roof. Well, that and somewhere nice to keep my drinks.”

“I can see that. She’s got more talent than she realizes.”

We sat and drank in silence for a few minutes. I didn’t think either of us knew where to start.

“My fiancé loves you. She may not be in love with you, but she still loves you.”

“We grew up together. We were close. Obviously, we would care for one another.”

“But you don’t just care for her, do you?”

“No. I don’t. But you know that already, so just say what you need to say. Do I need to move on and start over somewhere else?”

“Is that what you want to do?”

“Stop f*****g with me, man. And stop with all the questions. This is your show, yours and Taylor’s. Whether I leave or go is completely up to you two. So what is it? What do you want?”

“I want her to never stop smiling. I want to always hear that incredible laugh of hers, and I want her to never be sad or hurt again.”

He was preaching to the choir at this point. I wanted the exact same things.

“Okay? So what do you want from me? Tell me now before the furniture gets delivered, ‘cause I don’t want to have to move all that s**t. That girl ordered a lot.”

He laughed and rolled his shoulders. “She didn’t get to decorate anything at the house, and when she moved in, my room was already done, so I guess she’s using your place to satisfy her interior design urges.”

Matt downed the rest of his drink and stood up. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tonight at dinner, or tomorrow at training. Whatever.”

Clearly, he had something on his mind, and I was tired of being left hanging in some f****d up gray area.

“Matt, sit down and talk to me. Do you realize how hard this is? I love that woman, your woman. I’m painfully in love with a woman who I have to say belongs to someone else. And I can’t love anyone else ever again—only her.

I promised you that I wouldn’t ever act on my feelings, and I haven’t. I wouldn’t ever put her in that type of situation. All I’ve had since I’ve been here have been one-night stands that just leave me feeling f*****g empty. Because they aren’t Taylor.

I got the chance to spend time with her and start my life over, and now it might be taken away. So please, just tell me straight. Am I losing her all over again?”

He poured another glass and tossed it back.

“No, you’re not losing her. Stay and move your furniture in. Enjoy this new life of yours. You make her smile, and you make her laugh. I’d never take that away from her. If you want to stay, stay.”

He didn’t want to address the elephant in the room, so I did. “What are we going to do about her attraction to me? What happens there?”

“I don’t f*****g know. We’ll let her decide after everything’s settled with her parents. We can’t put something so heavy on her right now. It wouldn’t be fair to her.”

“Agreed. I’ll keep my distance outside of training until she figures out what she wants. If she decides that she doesn’t want anything physical between us, I’ll still be her bodyguard. I’ll never stop protecting her.”

I know that it sounded like a line, but it wasn’t. It was a vow. I’d die before I knowingly let anything bad happen to her.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for her. You won’t take my money, so I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

“You’re welcome, but time with sunshine is payment enough.”

* * *

Taylor

“Heyyy, Tay.”

Morgan gave me one of her signature “up to no good” looks as I walked into the playroom Alaia had put together for the kids.

“What did you do?”

“I haven’t done s**t. What did you do?”

She raised an eyebrow and smiled, and I knew exactly what she was getting at. News traveled like the plague in this house.

“I was just looking, damn!”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. I look all the time. Tyson’s sexy as hell,” Alaia said from her spot on the floor.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “What!? How do you have time to check out other men with the two you have?”

“I have plenty of time, but I’m not some blind old biddy. I’m devoted to my husbands, and I always will be. But that bear? If I wasn’t married with three kids, I’d climb him like the panty-dropping tree he is.”

“And you call me and Kade dirty? Seriously?”

“Y’all are just nasty,” she said, making all of us laugh.

“Seriously, girls, I wasn’t doing anything. They were both standing there with that perfect after-workout glow, and they were sweaty and smelled so damn good. Any woman would have reacted.”

“Well, I can’t agree since he’s my cousin, but if it would have been Kade with one of the other three, I could definitely see the appeal,” Morgan said.

“What is wrong with us? Sitting here lusting after each other’s men?”

They both looked up at me and smiled. “So, he’s ‘your man’ now?” Alaia asked.

“And does that mean you’ve been eying Kade too? It’s the neck tattoos, huh? I just want to lick them every time I see him.”

“No! Tyson is not mine, and no, I haven’t been eying Kade. Stop trying to confuse me.”

“We’re just asking questions, Tay. You’re confusing yourself.”

Maybe I was, but one thing was for sure.

“His neck tattoos are pretty damn sexy,” I said.

“See?! I told you!!”

These two made me laugh until I cried, then laugh some more. I was so grateful that I had them, especially now when life was throwing me curveball after curveball.

I looked around the room at the babies, and it warmed my heart. Genesis was on her back, blowing spit bubbles and flailing her arms. Angelica was on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth like she was thinking about crawling, but wasn’t quite sure.

And the twins. They were new to walking and were all over the place playing with their toys, but they still stayed close to Genesis. If one got too close for the others liking, though, one of the adults would have to quickly step in to keep them from throwing a tantrum over her.

Even at their young age, the desire to protect their mate was already there. It was crazy. But it was also incredibly sweet. We all stayed in the room, talking, laughing, and playing for well over an hour. It was amazing.

In that time, I didn’t allow the sadness and grief surrounding my parents to creep into my mind. I wanted some simple, stress-free time with my friends who had become family. And I deserved it. Before we left to go down to dinner, I asked the girls a question.

“Okay, I’ve been wondering …”

They both looked at me excitedly, waiting for whatever I would say next.

I just shook my head before I continued.

“What about a date? I would never replace Matt or even want to. He’s the best thing in my life, next to our daughter, but I don’t know what I want with Tyson. I’m happy having him as my friend, but I could be even happier having more. I just don’t know. So, what if we went out on a date, just to see how it felt? To see if we have that deeper connection? What do you guys think of that?”

They looked at me, then trailed their eyes to a spot just over my shoulder. When I turned around, Matt was standing in the door with an unreadable expression on his face.

“A date, huh? That could be arranged.”

He walked in and scooped up Genesis, then headed back for the door.

“Dinner’s ready; we’re just waiting on you, ladies.”

Then he was gone.

s**t. s**t. s**t.

* * *

Matt

She had made the decision for me, and honestly, I was relieved. A date was a damn good idea too. But it would be a date at home or at Tyson’s house. She definitely wasn’t going into town with everything still going on.

Yeah, we could do that.

When the ladies came into the dining room, she looked nervous, but I didn’t understand why. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She sat next to me and looked around the table before reaching over and grabbing my hand.

I lifted hers and kissed her knuckles. “I love you, tesoro. Always.”

When she let out a deep breath and smiled, I felt so much better. Once the food was served, we all began to eat and talk about our days. Morgan looked over with a mischievous glint in her eye and smiled at Taylor, then looked at Kade.

Taylor tensed up beside me, making me wonder what the hell was going on.

“Hey Kade, did you know that Taylor thinks you’re sexy? Especially the tattoos.”

Taylor spit water across the table and stared wide-eyed at her traitorous friend.

“Do you really?” he asked, smiling at her over his glass.

“I … I um … Alaia wants to climb Tyson like a f**k tree,” Taylor blurted out.

Now it was Alaia’s turn to be shocked. “Really? This is what we’re doing now? Fine, Morgan wants to f**k all four of you. Not you, Tyson, that’s just me and Taylor.”

Alaia shrugged her shoulder and took a sip of her wine. She wasn’t fazed at all.

“Is this the s**t you ladies talk about when you’re watching the kids? Seriously?” Xander asked.

“Pretty much, yeah. Its girl talk,” Alaia responded.

“No one’s f*****g anyone unless it’s their goddamned mate! What is up with you three? Are you all in heat or something?” Xander boomed.

“Don’t act like you’ve never thought about it, Daddy. You wouldn’t want to dominate two of us? At the same time?” Alaia seductively asked.

Xander’s eyes flashed black, and I was floored how quickly this simple family dinner had taken a turn down the darkest alley imaginable. When the three of them burst out laughing, the five of us guys just looked around confused.

“Men are way too easy. We weren’t planning a big swingers party, so you boys can relax. We were just admiring the eye candy around the house, that’s all. No one is sleeping with anyone besides their mates,” Morgan said with a wink to Taylor.

Taylor slightly lowered herself in her chair, clearly picking up Morgan’s not-so-subtle meaning.

Tyson laughed, “Is this how wolves get down? If I had known, I would have moved in with a pack years ago.”

“Seriously, though, the f**k tree thing? Absolutely. You’re hot as hell,” Alaia said, lifting her glass to Tyson.

“Cheers to that,” he replied with a clink.

“Alright! That’s enough. Keep it in your pants, everyone. It’s like I live with a bunch of horny f*****g kids,” Xander mumbled.

I turned my head to Taylor, who raised her hands, feigning innocence. “I didn’t do anything. It was all these two,” she said, pointing to Alaia and Morgan.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Kade, though? Really?”

She shrugged before she answered.

“Every girl likes a bad boy every now and again.”

Kade roared with laughter and stood up to celebrate his small victory.

“I told you guys. The ladies love me!”

I g*****d and gulped down my wine.

“I hope you ladies are happy now. We’re going to have to hear his mouth for the rest of the night now.”

And we did. All. f*****g. Night.