Coming Home to You (The Rockport Beach Series Book 1) (22 page)

I warm everything up, thinking how great it
was to be able to cook in the kitchen at the inn today. I then pour drinks for
everyone and we all sit down around the table. It feels weird to have Beck here
and I can tell that he’s uncomfortable. As I take a seat next to him, he leans
over and whispers, “You could have told me I wasn’t welcome.” His tone is severe,
but behind it I hear his hurt.

“It’s not that,” I say, just as Pop asks
about the hole I had repaired in the hull of the charter boat.

“I fixed it.” Beck answers for me, but it
comes out harshly.

“Yes, he did,” I respond, sliding my hand
up his thigh, trying to calm him. “It’s been great having Beck back. He’s
helped me out so much at the inn. Fixing things and cleaning.”

Both Pop and Finn nod and an uncomfortable
silence takes over. I swallow hard and take a bite of the stew, as I think of
what to say next. But nothing comes and luckily I’m saved by Finn.

“Kels, did you hear that Carrie and Joe had
their baby?” A girl, named her Audrey.”

“No, I didn’t. That’s awesome. Have you
seen the baby?” I ask and I can feel Beck’s eyes on me.

“I did. Went by there a couple of days ago
after I stopped by to check on Mr. Cunningham. That crazy old man still thinks
he works on the police force, so I indulge him every once in a while.” Finn
smiles at me.

“You’re a good boy, Finn,” I respond,
teasing him and I hear Beck inhale sharply next to me. “So, anything ever come
of that girl you met a few weeks ago at the pub?”

“Nah, she was nice enough, but nothing serious.”

I look over at Beck and his eyes are filled
with hurt and anger. I can tell he’s still under the impression that Finn and I
had something going on while he was gone. I wish he’d get over it. I don’t want
to fuck Finn and he certainly has never wanted me.

“We need to get you laid, Finn. All this
work and no play, it can’t be fun,” I say, giggling and Finn smirks at me.

“Oh, Kels, I wouldn’t worry about me too
much. I’m doing just fine.” He winks at me and I know he’s just doing this get
a rise out of Beck and surprise, surprise, it’s working.

“I’m sure you are,” Beck growls and I
squeeze his thigh.

“Stop it,” I mumble, my eyes glaring at
him, as I turn my attention to Pop. “So, did you get any more estimates to
remodel the pub?”

“You’re remodeling the pub?” Beck asks, but
his voice is filled with shock.

“I was planning on it,” Pop says. “Got a
few estimates, decided to go with a company outside of Boston. They’re gonna
start in September.”

“That’s great. Have you been meeting with the
architect I found?”

“Yeah, she’s great. Talking about
expanding, making the kitchen bigger, a bigger dining area. You know, just
trying to keep the tourists happy.”

Beck sits beside me, his food untouched,
his face emotionless, but I see his jaw tense and he swallows hard when Finn
starts to speak again.

“Kels, did you get everything booked for
the Fourth of July picnic at the inn? I know you were struggling to find
someone who could deliver a tent that morning.”

“I didn’t,” I say, wrinkling my nose and
shaking my head. “I just ended up booking the place I always use. Do you think
you could still run up there and pick up the tent for me that morning like you
always do?”

Just as Finn starts to answer, Beck’s loud
voice cuts through. “Fuck this,” he says loudly and shoves the chair away from
the table and storms out the back door.

I sit shocked into silence for a moment
with Finn and Pop staring at me. This is not how I wanted this evening to go
down, but I feel responsible.

“Sorry,” I mutter to Pop and Finn as I
follow Beck out the door. I need to fix this.

I’m standing on the back deck fuming and
wishing to fuck I’d grabbed another beer on the way out. How the fuck has all
this happened? I mean, I get that Kelsey is friends with my family, she always
was, they loved her. Pop practically treated her like a daughter from the
second we got together and Finn always saw her as nothing more than a sister.

Growing up, never once did I think my
brother had a thing for my girl. And never in my life would I have imagined
that Kelsey might start something up with my brother. Sure she might be
sleeping in my bed now, but the thought of her being in my brother’s, even just
once. Fuck, it makes me want to punch something, preferably Finn.

I hear the back door open and then shut,
but I don’t turn around, I know who it’s going to be. Kelsey slides her arms
around my waist from behind and rests her chin on my shoulder. I don’t move, keeping
my arms by my side as I continue to stare out at the ocean.

“I’m sorry,” she says, her voice quiet. “I
probably should have mentioned that this dinner is a regular thing with the
three of us.”

“I think what you should have mentioned,” I
say, my voice even and calm, despite the anger boiling inside me. “Is that you
and Finn were once an item.”

“What the fuck?” Kelsey shouts, her arms
disappearing as she walks around and stands in front of me now. “You’ve got
some fucking nerve, Beck,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’ve got some nerve?” I say, my voice
dripping with sarcasm. “How about you, Kels? I mean how does it work, you can’t
have one brother so you just move on to the other one? What happened when I
walked back into town, huh? Finn just got cast aside? I mean I know I’m the
better lay, but jesus fucking christ, Kels.” My voice is getting louder and
louder and I’ve no doubt that in addition to sounding like a complete and utter
dick, Pop and Finn are hearing every single word of this conversation.

“You,” Kelsey says, her voice low as she
steps towards me and sticks a finger in my chest. “Are an asshole, Beck.”

“What?” I bite back, my hands on my hips
now.

“You honestly think I’d just move on to
your brother after you left?” she says, her voice laced with anger now. “That
you meant that little to me, that I’d be over you and under your brother as
soon as you were gone? Fucking hell, Beck, Finn is like a brother to me. Your
family…your family became
my family
,”
she says, her voice catching on the words. “They became my family when I lost
mine. When I lost you.”

Kelsey’s eyes are glistening with tears now
and I’ve gone from feeling like the biggest dickhead on the planet to the
biggest asshole of all time in the space of about five seconds.

I should have known Kelsey and my brother
wouldn’t get involved with each other. Not only do they see each other as
brother and sister, both of them have far too much class for that.

“Shit, Kels,” I say, grabbing her shoulders
and pulling her into my arms. “I’m sorry, I’m being a dick.”

“Yeah, you are,” she says, her face buried
against my chest. “I love you, Beck,” she says, looking up at me now. “I love
everything about you, including your family. The three of us just grew even
closer after you left because all of us missed you. Just like all of us love
you,” she adds, her voice quiet.

“She’s right you know,” Finn says.

I turn and see Pop and my brother standing
by the back door. They’re watching us with concerned looks on their faces
making me feel like an even bigger dick.

I exhale hard, turning to face them, Kelsey
still wrapped in my arms. “I owe you all an apology,” I say, meeting each of
their stares. “Not just for the way I acted tonight, but…” I stop and run a
hand through my hair as I try and work out how I’m supposed to apologize for a
decade of being a dick. “But also for walking out on you all those years ago. I
was a dickhead,” I say. “Apparently I still am.”

“We all know why you did it, Son,” Pop
says. “None of us blames you for wanting more than what life in this small town
would offer. We just didn’t expect you’d forget about us, that’s all.”

I meet Pop’s eyes and see all of the hurt
the old man’s carried for the past ten years. It makes me realize just how much
I’ve fucked up here, not just with Kelsey, but with my family too.

“I know,” I say, not looking away. “It was
a shitty thing to do and I have no excuses for the way I’ve acted.” I stop and
take another deep breath. “You have no idea how much I wish I could go back and
re-do the last ten years, Pop. With all of you.”

Finn steps closer now and puts a hand on my
shoulder. “You can’t change the past, Beck,” he says. “But you can sure as fuck
fix the future.”

“I know,” I tell him, pressing a kiss to
the top of Kelsey’s head. “Trust me when I say I intend to, Finn. I don’t want
to miss out on any of this anymore,” I say, waving an arm around the four of us.
“I told Kelsey that I’m not leaving her again and I meant it. I mean it with
you guys too.”

Pop, Finn and I all stare at each other for
a few minutes, neither of us saying anything. Kelsey stands silently in my arms,
her arms finally wrapping around my waist in forgiveness.

“Come on,” Pop eventually says, stepping
towards us. “We’ve all said our piece, let’s just move forward from here.”

Finn and I both nod at each other and then
we all turn and walk back into the house. As the other two take a seat at the
table, I hang back, pulling Kelsey closer as I wrap my arms around her.

“I’m really sorry, baby,” I say, kissing
her forehead. “I was being a dick. Forgive me?”

Kelsey smiles up at me. “Yeah, you really were,”
she says, fisting her hand in my t-shirt. “But it’s okay, you can make it up to
me later,” she says, kissing me on the lips before slipping out of my arms and
walking back to the table.

The rest of the evening passes by without
any more arguments or misunderstandings. It’s nice being back at home with Pop
and my brother and even better having Kelsey with us too. It feels so much like
old times and now that I’ve pulled my head out of my ass, I finally see how
much I’ve missed this.

Pop fills me in on his plans for renovating
the pub, even though he’s probably getting close to retirement. I’m not sure
who he plans on having run it when he does, Finn’s too young to give up the chief
job and there’s not really anyone else. It gives me a tiny idea, but I keep it
to myself for now, not wanting to get anyone’s hopes up before I’ve thought
this through.

“So what’s happening with the case in
Boston then?” Pop finally asks, as we’re finishing off dessert.

“Fucking idiot decided to change his
story,” I tell him. “Says Ryan and I coerced him into admitting guilt, so now I’ve
got to go testify on account of the moron pleading not guilty.”

“You video the interview?” he asks.

“Of course,” I say, dropping my spoon into
my bowl and leaning back in my chair, slinging an arm around Kelsey’s
shoulders.

“So it should be open and shut then,
right?”

I nod. “Yeah it will be. Just a pain in the
ass that I have to do it in the first place, that’s all,” I say, glancing at
Kels.

She smiles back at me before leaning in to
kiss my cheek. “I’ll be fine, babe. I’ve got these two boys to look after me,
remember?”

I smile, glancing back at my brother and
Pop. “Yeah, I know you do.”

The next morning I wake early, the alarm
blaring out and reminding me that today is the day I have to leave.

“Fuck,” I breathe out, reaching over to
silence it.

“That a promise or a request?” Kelsey
murmurs.

I smile as I glance down at her naked body draped
over mine. We stayed here at Pop’s last night on account of a few too many
drinks being had as we spent the night finally catching up again. It was a lot
of fun and I’m glad they’ve so easily forgiven me for basically ignoring them
for the last ten years. I’m still not sure how it is I got so lucky, but then
this is my family we’re talking about; I shouldn’t have expected anything
different.

Last night also reaffirmed to me that this
is where I belong, not just with Kels, but with Pop and Finn too. As much as I
might love Boston and my job, this is home to me, especially now.

So it was late by the time we finally all dragged
ourselves to bed. Both Kelsey and I were drunk, only managing to fumble through
a quickie before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

“Mmmm, both,” I say, pulling her body up
mine so I can kiss her lips. “Kinda like old times, isn’t it?”

Kelsey smiles as she tries to open her
eyes. “Yeah, except this time there’s no having to sneak me up here after Pop’s
gone to sleep.”

I laugh, rolling us over so Kelsey lies
beneath me. “We did a lot of sneaking around in those days,” I say, kissing her
jaw.

I smile as Kels’ breath catches. “I know,”
she whispers. “God knows why we bothered when half the town knew we were
fucking.”

“Half?” I scoff, lifting my head from her shoulder
to look at her. “Try all of them.”

Kelsey pins me with a serious look. “You
sure you’re gonna be able to handle all of that again, Beck?” she asks. “I mean,
you didn’t seem too impressed when we ran into Mrs. Holmes yesterday.”

I smile as I lean in and run my tongue
across her bottom lip. Kelsey moans as she pushes her hips up, rubbing them
against my already hard dick. “I can handle it, babe,” I tell her, my hand
cupping her breast now as I start to tease her nipple with my fingers.

“You sure?” she whispers, her hands sliding
down my back until they reach my ass, her nails digging in as she pulls me even
closer.

“Baby, for you,” I say, pinching her nipple
and making her gasp. “I can put up with anything.”

“Good,” she says, squeezing my ass. “Now
give me a goodbye fuck. I’ve missed doing it with you in this room.”

I laugh, but lift my hips and slide my now
aching dick inside her and start to move.