Snared (Jaded Regret #1) (37 page)

Tanner shook his head. “Nah. One woman isn’t for me, bro. I can’t do that shit. Best of luck to all you guys.”

“Anyway.” Johnny interrupted him, giving Tanner the eye. He hated when Tanner acted like women were just a piece of meat because it reminded him of what he used to think about relationships. “It’s all set up. You tell us when to be there.”

I checked my watch, calculating what a good time would be. April had Robbie at the new center, and I told her I’d meet her there once I was done rehearsing with the band. She didn’t know what I was rehearsing for, of course.

“Be there by six.”

Natalie popped her head in. She didn’t know what was going on because I wanted it to be a surprise, so we all stopped talking. “Hey, guys. You done for the day?”

“Yep,” Bex said. “We all have shit to do, and we were working through some new material.” She winked at me.

“Cool,” Natalie said. “I’ve got office stuff to do so you don’t have to lock up.”

“You coming to the center tonight?” Bex asked. Good, it was better coming from her.

Natalie looked at her like she had three heads. “Duh. Of course I would. It’s the grand opening of one of your dreams, Bex. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Bex beamed. “Awesome. Let’s get out of here. I need a nap before tonight.”

Johnny snorted and smacked her ass. “I know what that’s code for.”

Bex narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s code for a nap.” I didn’t miss the smirk on her lips, though.

Tanner groaned, and we all laughed as we left the studio together. My hands shook as I pulled out my keys, but I forced it away. Tonight was going to be epic.

“Are you ready?” I paced the floor in our bedroom. It was five minutes to six, and we were ten minutes away from the new center. Bex had been working hard on it for the last two months since we’d been back. April had been spending tons of hours over there with her, getting everything ready for this opening. Robbie had been doing school at home and doing well. He was in therapy with both of us and by himself. We’d had a few hurdles to cross along the way, but nothing like how he’d been in the group home.

His testing was all complete, and we had an appointment next week to discuss the results. We didn’t see any need for him to be medicated as of right now, especially since he spent all his time with us, but I wanted to make sure I crossed all the T’s and dotted all the I’s.

“Two minutes,” she said. I watched as she leaned over the sink in the bathroom, checking her eye makeup. My breath caught in my throat as I caught sight of her. She was mine. It still shocked me I was living this life. If someone had told me a year ago this would be where I was, about to do the scariest thing in my life, I would’ve said no way.

Her dark hair was down and straightened, reaching almost her mid back. She was wearing a modest black dress and pearls. My dick stirred as I thought of having her while wearing just those pearls. Heels made her sexy legs seem longer. I glanced down at myself. I had on a dark pair of jeans, boots, and my signature Henley. I wondered if I should’ve dressed up a little more, but then she’d
know
something was up. I was already acting funny, and I knew it.

Robbie skidded into the room, dressed almost identical to me. I laughed. “Well, look at you!”

He grinned. “Do I look like you, Dad?”

“You sure do! That’s awesome! Hey . . .” I lowered my voice. “Are you ready for tonight?”

Robbie shifted his gaze to the bathroom, where April was now applying lipstick. I got distracted watching her paint those full, beautiful lips, thinking of them wrapped around my . . .

“Yes,” Robbie said in a whisper. “It’s our secret, right, Dad?”

“That’s right. Just ours. Now if we could get your mom out of here, we won’t be late.”

“Mom!” Robbie called. “We gotta go!”

“I’m ready!” April said. She grabbed a small purse from the dresser, and her eyes met mine. I loved having her here. Seeing her makeup on my counter and her clothes in my closet fulfilled me like I never thought it would. She wrapped her fingers in mine and smiled at me, her eyes showing me what her words couldn’t say with a child in the room.

“Aren’t you handsome.” She kissed me lightly as not to mess up her lipstick. Hell, I’d gladly walk into the center wearing her lipstick. “So are you, Little Beau,” she said to Robbie.

“You’re beautiful, too, Mom,” Robbie said. Damn, that kid was smooth. He was always telling April how pretty she was. He had skills already, and he wasn’t even ten years old.

“What he said.” I tickled Robbie’s side. “Don’t be trying to take my woman.”

He shook his head. “I’m not, Dad. But she
is
pretty.”

“The prettiest damn woman I’ve ever seen.” I placed my hand on her back and leading them all to the car. This was it.

April flitted around the room, making sure everything was in place for the grand opening. This had become her baby, and she was so proud of how it had turned out. They’d found a fantastic place for it. It had once been a small assisted living home, but it had gone into foreclosure. Jaded Regret had bought the building and had it cleaned and fixed up over the last two months. Now it had an enormous rec space with a large screen for watching movies, an entirely separate area that was soundproofed for playing music, a kitchen with cafeteria-like seating, and an immense outdoor living space, pool included. Basketball courts were out back behind the pool. It also had a few rooms Bex had already decided would be used for on-site counseling. It would be the hottest hangout space this area had ever seen, and it was all to keep the teens who were growing up in the foster care system off the streets and in a place where they could be safe.

They would get music lessons for free. We would teach them when we were in town, and if we weren’t here, we had hired wonderful people to fill in for us. The place would be run by a staff April had employed, with her at the helm. If she was on tour with us—because I wanted her with me at all times—then her second in command would step in. They had a great plan, and I couldn’t wait to see it.

We wouldn’t have teens here tonight. We would have people invited only by us. They were local people who had supported us and helped not only us become successful, but this center become a reality. April’s parents were coming from Orlando, but she didn’t know that yet. All our new employees were also going to be here with their families.

It would be a tight knit group of people who were important in our lives, and that was the way we wanted it. Especially for what I had planned. We would play to begin the night and then again to conclude the night. That was the moment I was impatiently waiting for, but I knew I had to allow April the time she needed to be in her element.

The way she moved through the room, Robbie on her heels, warmed my heart. Once he’d learned about April’s mom being a foster kid also, as well as Bex, he’d wanted nothing more than to work with them and help them get this place together, and he’d been here with her almost every day. He was a great kid. While school was important, the life lessons he would learn here could take him further than any knowledge he got from a book.

“Let’s get set up.” Bex walked up next to me. “You okay?”

“Great.” I followed her into the large room adjoining the one we were standing in. We’d had our equipment set up the way we liked it, so it was ready. I gazed around the large space that had been remodeled. All types of instruments sat on shelves and in cabinets, waiting to be used.

Tanner was already there, warming up. Johnny followed after Bex and me and we all got to work, preparing to play in just minutes. I stared, not touching my drumsticks.

“Hey,” Bex said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just nervous,” I explained.

She smiled. “Don’t be nervous. That woman loves you with every fiber of her being. And Robbie.”

I nodded, picking up my drumsticks and tapping them a few times. I was ready. I could do this.

Once Natalie escorted everyone into the room, Bex introduced them, and we played a few songs. April and Robbie watched me the entire time. He was a quick study and was learning fast. He wanted to try the guitar next, and I couldn’t wait to see which instrument he chose—if any. I would never pressure him to be anything he didn’t want to be. Whatever his dreams were, I’d support them.

Dinner was a blur. I was barely conscious of April sitting next to me and Robbie next to her. Bex kept kicking me under the table, but I couldn’t seem to fake it. I was freaking out. I was nervous as hell. I was waiting for the voice of my mother to pop into my head, so it made me uneasy. She’d been way too quiet lately.

The food was fantastic, but I could barely eat. Bex and April had the event catered from one of the Italian restaurants in town. They had donated all the food once they’d heard what we were doing. It was amazing the number of people that genuinely wanted to help.

“I need to do some tours,” April said into my ear. “Are you okay? Do you want to come with me or stay here?”

I needed to go with her, to show her I was okay. I wasn’t good at faking. I needed this night to be over, so I knew one way or another where my life was headed. Sitting here might drive me out of my mind, however. I stood, pasting a smile on my face.

“Let’s do some tours.”

Despite my nerves being shot, it was time. I was ready. We took the makeshift stage, April front and center. Robbie was at her side, ready to come up when I motioned for him. The band all watched me, waiting for my cue to start. I had to do this. I could do this. It had been my idea, after all. No one was holding a gun to my head and saying I needed to do it this way.

I saw April’s parents toward the back. They’d been a little late, but they were here. After the shock had worn off that her parents were there to see her, I’d seen the pride in their eyes when April had taken them around and showed them what she’d be doing here. And when her dad had shaken my hand and smiled like he knew exactly what they were doing here, I swear I almost threw up.

Johnny and Bex started with a slow guitar chord progression, both of them looking at one another as they played with the slide guitar. Tanner was playing the pedal steel. We didn’t use it during our regular sets, but Bex had gotten one from Beats, so he was using it for this song. I had chosen a song that wasn’t ours, but I wished it was. One of my favorite bands was Staind, and they had this song called “Tangled Up in You” that spoke to exactly how I felt about April. I wasn’t needed for this song, so me sitting behind my drums was purely for looks until it was my turn to come out.

Johnny’s voice started the song. The low, gravelly sound reverberated around the room as he began the lyrics. Bex joined in after a few chords and the two of them belted out the song that shredded my heart to pieces. Not because it was sad, but because it explained everything to her. I watched her. At first, her eyes were on Bex and Johnny as they sang, but once she heard the lyrics, her eyes shifted to mine. When they got to the part that talked about the “hand to hold as I grow old,” I stood. My hands were sweaty as I put the drumsticks down on my seat and stepped around my drum kit. April watched me as I walked to the middle of the makeshift stage, Bex and Johnny’s voices surrounding me. Robbie beamed as I indicated for him to come up.