Chapter Fifteen
***Zeke***
Ifoundmyselfeager to get back to the beach house. I’d had to be on-site at a couple of restaurants for a few days and I’d been thinking about Autumn the entire time. I wondered if she was pissed that I’d just slept with her and left. It wasn’t by choice, that was for sure. I hadn’t wanted to leave her room, at all, that night. Frustration at having no idea what she was thinking was eating away at me.
I’d officially won the bet, but I hadn’t even had time to talk to Con and Griff about it. They’d been busy, too, from what I could gather. They were going to be green with envy when I told them that I’d won the bet and would be trying to get Autumn to keep seeing me. I didn’t care, though. She was such a change from the women I normally dated. She was a firecracker, and I wanted more of her.
I’d rushed away from a job earlier than I normally would have, just to get back to the house and see where things were with her. The excitement that I’d been feeling in my blood since first kissing her hadn’t faded a bit. I wanted to talk to her more and see what made her tick. I wanted to spend more time with her, in her, around her. I just wanted more. She was like a drug.
I got to the house mid-morning and hurried inside, expecting to find the house like it typically was. Mostly quiet, cold, and vacant feeling. What I didn’t expect to find was the house overrun with squeals of laughter and barks. I actually hurried in, almost frightened at what I was going to find. Maybe an entirely different family.
A giant mass of fur slammed into my legs and took me out before I could make sense of what I was seeing. I groaned as I hit the ground, and the giant furball sat on my chest and licked my face. “What the—”
Autumn’s face appeared over mine, a huge smile beaming. “Sorry, Zeke! Sir Fluffy Butt is a little excited to be sprung from the shelter. Are you okay?”
Jones’ face showed up next, his eyes brighter than I’d ever seen them. He laughed as the dog licked his face and then took off running, making the dog kick off of me in the most painful of ways, with one of his feet on my dick.
As the laughter of the kids faded with the knowledge that the dog might’ve just kicked my chance at ever having kids right out of my future, I stared up at the ceiling and questioned my sanity. Why had I come home so fast?
Autumn’s face reappeared and she bit her lip. “Um. Ice. You probably could use some ice. Or…um…I don’t know. What helps with that?”
I glowered. “With getting kicked in the dick by a thousand-pound beast?”
She giggled. “He’s not that big.”
Oh. That was why I’d rushed home. Her little giggle and the way she bit her lip as she tucked her hair behind her ears. I groaned and shook my head. “A kiss would help.”
Her eyes went wide, but she leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to my lips before standing back up and offering me a hand. “Come on, stranger. You have new nephews to meet.”
“I didn’t mean a kiss there. I was thinking—” I stopped. “Wait. What’d you say?”
She laughed. “Your brother lost his mind and let the kids get two dogs!”
“You don’t seem sad about it.”
Her energy matched the dogs in that moment. She was practically bouncing as she looked out at the backyard. “I’m so sad. So, so sad. Can’t you tell?”
And just like that, I lost her attention. I sat up, cupping my still throbbing dick, and watched as she ran out the door and disappeared, a laugh trailing behind her.
My stomach clenched and my chest fluttered as I sat there, wondering what the fuck had happened to my family while I’d been gone. I found myself unable to stay away from whatever Autumn was doing, though. There was something about her, about her spirit, that called to me. I’d never been a romantic, but the feeling in my chest as I limped outside to find her was the deepest craving I’d ever had, and I wasn’t sure it was all physical.
Down on the beach, Con and Griff both sat in the sand, watching as the kids chased two huge dogs around. I noticed their eyes kept going to where Autumn ran along with them. I couldn’t blame them. I wasn’t any stronger at looking away.
Her long, dark hair flew around behind her as she ran around, and I could almost smell the coconut scent of her from where I stood. Her curves were wrapped in a small pair of blue jeans shorts and a loose tank top that morning, neither doing anything to hide her sexy body. I could still taste her in my mouth, yet she was so far away, it seemed.
Trailing down to sit with my brothers, I raised my eyebrows at Griff. “What the fuck?”
He scratched at his beard. “I don’t fucking know.”
Con sighed. “We all know. Autumn.”
“She’s a fucking contagious disease.” Griff growled. “I should fire her.”
The two massive dogs sprinted back towards us, kicking sand everywhere as they went. Jones and Caroline were right behind them, while Grace struggled to keep up. Autumn scooped Grace into her arms as she ran, and they all laughed when the dogs changed direction in a split second and left them all stumbling over each other.
“Okay, I get it. She batted those damned lashes at you and you were suckered into getting a dog, but two? What the fuck were you thinking?”
Griff shook his head. “I don’t even know. It was like a dream. She took us to a shelter to visit the dogs and then I was filling out an application for them and now we’re here. I blinked and everything exploded.”
“You let her take the kids to a shelter? And you didn’t think you’d be leaving with dogs?”
He scowled. “She didn’t exactly tell me she was doing it. Not that I would’ve stopped her. She’d just spent five hours with Stacy, so I felt like I owed her. She could’ve asked for a house and I would’ve felt obligated.”
I grimaced. “I’m sure that went well.”
“She got me in trouble.” Griff couldn’t hide his smile. “She didn’t like the way Stacy was treating the kids and she blew up on the guy supervising the visits. I got a call this morning letting me know that if our nanny came back, she’d need to be nicer.”
I barked out a laugh and turned to watch Autumn running through the water. “She’s something else.”
“She’s verbally bitch slapped me multiple times.” Rubbing his neck, Griff chuckled. “I returned the favor by kissing the shit out of her. So, I think I’m winning.”
I scoffed. “No fucking way. You kissed her? When?”
He had the nerve to look cocky. “Yesterday.”
“Well, I slept with her before I left for work. So, I win.” I turned to watch her again and tried to resist the urge to punch my brother. “And I plan on continuing to win.”
“You slept with her?” Con punched me in the arm. “Are you shitting me?”
I punched him back. “No, I’m not shitting you. It was the best sex I can remember having, and I’m not finished with her.”
“I’m not, either.” Griff shrugged when I gave him a wide-eyed look. “I don’t care that she slept with you. That kiss… I want more.”
“Hey, I won. End of story. You two can back off now.”
“Fine. You can take my money, but I’m not backing down.” Griff was certainly feeling defiant.
“So, what? A new bet, then? Whoever she chooses wins? How about we up the stakes?” I was feeling out of sorts, caught off guard by my brothers not admitting defeat and leaving me to my spoils. “Whoever she chooses by the end of the summer gets the six million we already agreed upon and another…fourteen?”
Griff raised his brows. “Twenty million?”
Con shrugged. “Twenty million.”
Growling, Griff shook his head. “Like I said, I’m not backing down. She’ll pick me.”
“I’m not backing down, either.” Con stood up and dusted his pants off. “You two can sit here and argue, but I’m going to be with her.”
I grabbed his legs and took him down. “You sit here with Griff like you were doing before I came. I’m going to hang out with her.”
Griff shoved off the ground and tried to get away from us, but Con caught his ankle and tripped him. We quickly made a dog pile of cheap shots and dirty tricks. It was the first time we’d resorted to fighting like boys in longer than I could remember. It didn’t take long for the dog pile to become literal, with the two dogs climbing in and licking us halfway to death. Kids showed up next, and then Autumn, all laughing and panting from their own play.
I managed to crawl away and stopped next to Autumn’s legs. Grabbing her leg, I looked up and pretended to gasp. “Ma’am! I’ve been injured in battle. A kiss would surely heal me, though.”
One of the awful dogs chose that moment to get in my face and lick from my chin to my forehead. Autumn laughed and backed away. “I think your prayers have been answered, good sir.”
I groaned and gently pushed the dog away. “This sucks.”
Griff grunted as he took a knee to the chest. He fell backward in the sand and just laid there. “My life is no longer my own, is it?”
Con crawled with Caroline and Grace both on his back. “Nope.”
I smiled as one of the dogs sat next to me and rested its chin on my arm. Looking at it up close, it was pretty cute. Then, it opened its mouth and burped into my face before getting up and running away again.
I wasn’t sure what was happening to my family and how it would all end, but things were vastly different in a very short amount of time. It was kind of nice.