Walk (Gentry Boys) (19 page)

Hay seemed relieved when I changed the subject, asking him about what kind of law he planned on practicing.  We spent the rest of our lunch talking about work and other things that didn’t really matter.  He walked me to the parking garage where I’d left my car and we hugged warmly before parting. 

“Don’t be a stranger,” he warned, giving my hair a playful tug. 

“I won’t,” I promised and waved as he turned and walked away with his head down and his hands in his pockets. 

I watched him fondly until he turned a corner, even as I knew we probably wouldn’t be seeing each other again. 

STONE

“Good job,” said Barrett, handing over a nice wad of green that represented my share of the day’s tips for three local moves from one apartment to another.  “You earned this.” 

I pocketed the cash.  “Thanks again for the opportunity.” 

He peered at me thoughtfully from behind owlish glasses that seemed misplaced on a guy as beefy, grizzled and tough as Mack Barrett.  I didn’t know what the nature of his former business dealings with Deck had been but they’d first met when they were young Marines and were still good friends today.  That was why he’d given me the chance in the first place. 

“Deck’s word alone would have been good enough for me,” he said, nodding.  “But you’ve already proven in a short amount of time that you’re a good worker.  Reliable and strong as a fucking ox.”  He grinned.  “Saw you carry that futon up three flights like it was a bag of fucking tissues and then you turned right around and came back for more.  Listen, Stone, you want full time you got it.  We’re bringing on two more trucks because we’ve had to turn down so many jobs lately.  I know you haven’t been at this for long but I’m sharp enough to spot value when I see it.  I’ll put you in charge of a team for thirty percent more than what you were hired on at.” 

I couldn’t really choke out the right words so I just shook the man’s hand.  Chances weren’t always given out freely in this life and I really appreciated the trust. 

“I won’t let you down,” I told him and he waved me away with a smile. 

Before I drove away I checked my phone.  It was five o’clock and Evie had just texted to say she was going to be stuck at work late and I shouldn’t wait on her for dinner.  I was kind of bummed because I’d been thinking we could go out to a decent restaurant tonight and then head home to celebrate the shit out of my promotion.  I’d be able to quit Cappie’s Party Rentals now, which would send Evie over the moon because I wouldn’t be working until midnight anymore.  I still had a few parties I’d already committed to working this weekend but after that I was done. 

When I texted Evie the news she answered back right away with lots of hearts and happiness.  I followed up with some dirty promises about what I planned to do to her later. 

A few minutes went by and I thought she must have gotten pulled into a meeting or something. 

Until I received a sext of her tits. 

“Fuck, where are you?” 

“Stall in the ladies room.” 

“Alone?”

“Yes.” 

“
Take your panties off.” 

“Done.  Now what?” 

“Two fingers, baby.  Inside”. 

We kept going while I gave her orders until she got herself to come. I had a hard time keeping my shit together as I thought about Evie in some downtown office building with her skirt pushed up and her face flushed with pleasure. Damn, I fucking loved this girl. 

Finally she had to go back to her desk and do something meaningful with spreadsheets because management was waiting on some numbers. I told her to let me know when she was on her way home and I’d meet here there with some takeout food and a movie. 

As I navigated the early rush hour traffic I thought about how that was the best part of having someone you were crazy about; there was always something to look forward to.   Most nights we spent at her place because Bash was always around at mine and all too often he brought home some random company.  Just the other day Evie had shyly suggested that I should start keeping more of my stuff around so I wouldn’t need to keep going back and forth. 

Maybe there was some macho stubbornness left in me that couldn’t quite take that step.  Not because I didn’t want to be with her.  I wanted to be with her all the time.  Yet I couldn’t quite get it out of my head that the apartment was hers.  

When I tried to put it into words as I talked to Deck yesterday he’d laughed and told me to cut out the ‘alpha male asshole shit’. 

“Why not?” I said to myself as I thought about it. 

Suddenly I knew what I was going to do.  I was going to stop by my apartment and pack a bag.  It wasn’t like I was moving in with Evie, although the idea of making it official like that flipped my stomach in the best way.  I wanted her to know that I took this seriously.  I took
us
seriously. I was going to accept the empty dresser drawer she’d offered me and then later tonight I was going to tell her I loved her.  The real ‘I love you’ deal.  Not  ‘I love being with you’ or ‘I love fucking you’. 
I LOVE YOU. 
I was a damn idiot for not saying so sooner. 

Bash wasn’t around when I got home.  Even though I would have liked to talk to him, he had my number if there was anything to report.  At my request he’d kept up his casual inquiries about Con.  I knew my brother had finished his short stay in Tent City Jail nearly two weeks ago but he’d been laying low since then.  Deck had even hired a private investigator friend to try and figure out what the hell he was up to but so far the guy had come up empty.  Either Conway had gone way underground or else his name inspired enough fear that anyone who knew anything wasn’t eager to talk. 

In spite of my brother’s unknown whereabouts weighing on my mind, I was in a good mood as I settled on the couch to wait for Evie to tell me she was done with work.  I didn’t turn the television on.  These days I never turned the television on.  I’d learned to live without it after four years and at this point I preferred the company I found in books.  The library at Chase’s school had recently replaced a bunch of their worn old classic volumes and I was only too happy to take all four boxes of them when Chase offered.

For tonight’s reading I had chosen a book of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories.  His work reminded me of Evie and the night we met, the night we danced.  

As soon as my phone buzzed I grabbed it.  My smile was automatic as soon as I saw the text was from Evie. 

“On my way out.” 

“Meet you at your place.  I’ll bring pizza.”

“Yum!  BTW I never put my panties back on.” 

“Perfect.  You won’t be needing them, honey.”   

Evie always preferred little hole-in-the-wall indie eateries rather than chain restaurants.  Her favorite pizza joint was a little place called Greasy Joe’s so I figured I’d stop there on the way to her apartment. 

Greasy Joe’s was more crowded than I’d thought it would be.  Mostly families and a few college age kids were occupying the dozen or so old-fashioned vinyl booths.  I stared at a quartet of young people who were probably my age.  They looked so shiny and carefree.  Sometimes I wondered where I would have landed in life if it hadn’t been for that night four years ago. 

It was a pointless thought.  I could waste a lot of energy being bitter about the years that had been taken from me. I’d resolved long before I’d taken that final walk out of the prison gates that the only way to tackle life was to keep on walking through it, not clinging to the would-have-could-have-should-have bullshit that no one had an answer for. 

The man in the kitchen sang as he shaped the pizza dough.  I watched him from the lobby bench and it was kind of hypnotic the way he’d stretch the dough, toss it up, catch it expertly and then begin on another disc of dough.  If he felt my eyes on him then he didn’t seem bothered by it.  Maybe he was just used to being watched since half the restaurant could see him back there. 

“You look lost, boy.” 

A boot lightly kicked my shin and a big man sat beside me without being invited. 

“Creed.  What are you doing here?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders.  “I was hungry.  They happen to sell food at this place.” 

A little black-haired boy came barreling out of nowhere and Creed grabbed him up.  The child squealed and broke out into peals of laughter as Creed tickled him. 

“Put me down, Daddy,” he howled through his laughter. 

“Yes sir, Jacob Gentry, sir.” 

Creed set the little boy on his feet and the kid looked at me curiously. 

“I remember you,” he said. 

“Hi, Jacob.  You met me a few months ago at your Uncle Cord’s house.”

The kid nodded.  “You had a pretty lady.” 

I grinned.  “I still have her.” 

Jacob smiled back like he approved.  He was a handsome little guy with thick black curls and light brown skin.  There was a story about him. Chase had told me.  He was the son of Truly’s wild child sister and had been adopted by Creed and Truly when he was just an infant.  

I glanced at Creed and saw him watching the boy with a father’s pride. 

“Where’s your mama?” he asked.  “She still in the bathroom changing Zoey?”

“Yes.”  Jacob grimaced.  “My sister poo poo’d in her pants,” he explained to me.

“That happens,” I said, trying to keep a straight face. 

“So I hear you’re doing well,” Creed said, looking me over with approval.  “Got a job, got a girl.”

“Can’t complain,” I agreed. 

The Gentry triplets all had the same blue eyes, yet they each carried their own personalities in their eyes.  Cord’s eyes were friendly, Chase’s eyes were always laughing, and Creed’s eyes were sharp, almost penetrating.  When he studied you it seemed like he saw far more than you would like him to.

I got the feeling he was seeing a whole lot right there beside me on the bench. 

“No news?” he asked quietly and I knew he was talking about Conway. 

I tensed.  “Not lately.”

“You ever feel like giving up?” 

“No.”  I gave my cousin a hard look.  “You telling me I should?”

Creed sighed and glanced at his son as the kid stared at a crudely painted rendering of the New York City skyline.  He turned back to me with the same Creed Gentry intense stare that was more or less his everyday expression.

“Once upon a time,” he said, “if someone told me I ought to give up on a brother I would have clocked him in the jaw.  You know what though?  I wouldn’t do that now.  Now I’d only thank him for his bad advice and walk away, keeping my fists handy to face the real enemy.”

“What enemy?”

His eyes narrowed.  “Whatever threatens those you love is the enemy.  I’ll never tell you to abandon a brother, Stone, no matter how lost he seems.  God knows I’d fight to the death for mine.” 

“Right,” I said, nodding, grateful that he understood and could put it into words.  “You’re right.” 

Truly Gentry appeared then, carrying a baby girl who’d grown quite a bit in the short time since I’d last seen her.  The baby smiled at me shyly from her mother’s arms, reminding me that life goes by so fast. 

Once Truly was on the scene there was an eruption of bright, southern-accented chatter with questions about me and questions about Evie and enthusiastic invitations to dinner at their house.  She barely paused long enough for me to give a short answer before she’d move on to another subject or a different question.  While she talked I caught a glimpse of Creed’s face.  He watched his wife with the look of a man who was utterly in awe of what he had. 

They insisted on waiting around to keep me company until my order was ready.  After about fifteen minutes I got the nod to pick up my pizzas and I was smiling as I waved goodbye to my cousin’s little family in the parking lot. 

Evie was just pulling in when I got out of the car in front of her apartment.  I had some trouble balancing the pizzas while she tackled me but I sure as shit wasn’t complaining.  She sat on my lap as we ate pizza on her couch while her guinea pig watched us balefully with his nose twitching, like he was hurt we wouldn’t share with him. 

She’d barely finished chewing when I decided it was time to take a trip up her skirt to find out if she was really walking around without any underwear. 

God bless her.  She was. 

After I had my way with her on the couch I carried her to the bedroom and went about it more slowly.  This time I set the pace slow and sensual, each thrust teasing toward a shattering finale that ended with me grabbing onto the fucking headboard and pushing so deep she outright whimpered as the climax shook her.  I watched her the whole time, not even tearing my eyes away when I came. 

I loved the way she looked afterwards; all hot and flushed with a small smile on her face.  I loved the way she ran her fingers along my skin and whispered my name in the darkness.  I loved her legs and her tits and her sharp mind and her quirky sense of humor, all of it. 
ALL OF IT!

As I rested my cheek on her belly she lightly stroked my shoulders and then started threading her fingers through my hair. 

The words were easy.  They’d been waiting for a while already. 

“I love you,” I said.