Cherrie Lynn - Take Me On

Throughout all this, he kept thinking of her—her smile, her laugh. Kept remembering the night out by the lake, when anything and everything had seemed possible. He wanted a lifetime of nights like that. With her. If the people inside that house were the only thing keeping him from it, then he had to take them on.

He got out of Brian’s truck, jaw set with determination as he followed his friend to the front door. He’d had enough confrontation in his younger years that he tried to avoid it now…but dammit, this was his future at stake. His family . How dare they try to keep him away from that? What gave them the right?

He continued the mental psych-up as he and Brian took the brick steps leading up to the massive front door two and three at a time.

Then Brian was flinging the door open and bellowing, “Hello!” while Ian stalled at the threshold. Cheerful greetings answered Brian’s call from within.

“Dude.”

Brian looked back at him. “What are you, a fuckin’ vampire? You’re my guest. Enter.” He swept his arm toward the interior.

Sighing, Ian walked into the blissfully cool house, realizing how much the back of his neck was burning…and then he looked around in awe. It seemed to be a European country style, tasteful with muted colors, dark shiny wood and beautiful iron work. Jesus, just when he’d been feeling a little confident, he had to walk into this palace. This was where she’d grown up, wasn’t it? This was what she was used to. This was what he could never give her.

“What’s the matter with you?” Brian asked.

“This is beautiful.”

“Man, fuck this house. Come on.”

Leave it to him to put the matter into perspective. Anyway, this was it. Brian headed in the direction of the voices. Ian could hear them all, chatting and laughing, the bubbly babbling of a toddler ringing above the adult conversation. Holy shit, they were at dinner, weren’t they? What the hell was Brian dragging him into?

A pretty, dark-haired woman appeared in the arched doorway of what was apparently the dining room, pausing in uncertainty when she saw Ian but then rushing ahead to give Brian a hug. “Hey, you! Where’s that pretty wife of yours?”

Brian returned her embrace, then jerked his thumb in Ian’s direction. “You’ll have to settle for him. Not as pretty, but he’s good for a laugh sometimes.”

She gave him a light smack on his arm, then extended her hand in Ian’s direction. “He’s so bad. Kelsey Ross.”

He shook it. “Ian Rhodes.”

Kelsey’s assessing gray eyes widened and her grip on his hand tightened, fused to his, he supposed, by her surprise. “Oh! Oh, you’re…oh!”

Brian scoffed. “Well spoken, Kels.”

“Shut up, Brian. I’m sorry, Ian, it’s just that…yeah, I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s so nice to meet you!”

“Same here.” She seemed genuine, so he hoped Brian had been correct. A little black-haired boy appeared at Kelsey’s legs, holding his arms up to her. But Brian promptly scooped him up and turned him upside down while he squealed in delight.

“Where’s Alex?” Brian asked, looking around in mock confusion. “I can’t find him.”

“Here, Bi!” the kid cried happily, while Kelsey shook her head. Laughing, Brian turned him upright again and gave him a high-five. “My nephew, Alex,” he said to Ian.

“He loves his Uncle Bi,” Kelsey said, reaching forward to tame Alex’s black mop of hair.

Brian gave Ian a death look. “If you tell Ghost he calls me Bi, I swear to Christ I will fire you.”

Ian grinned. “I’ll just file that away for future reference.”

“Good idea,” Kelsey agreed. “Ian, you’ve met everyone except Evan, right?”

“Yes, well, briefly.”

“He’s here to have a word with the parental units,” Brian said. “Have you talked to Gabby?”

“Earlier today,” Kelsey said. Her brow furrowed, and she gave her brother-in-law an uneasy look. Something about it raised the hair at the back of Ian’s neck. “Have you?”

“Not in a while…a week or so, maybe?”

“How about you, Ian?”

Shame settled hotly in his chest. Well, it had been there for a while, it just flared hotter. As well it should. He knew he’d been avoiding Gabby, thinking it was for her own good that he was out of the picture, though it was the last thing on earth he’d wanted to do. Probably the last thing she’d wanted him to do. “It’s been a couple of days,” he admitted.

“Oh, guys,” Kelsey said, taking Alex from Brian when he stretched his chubby little arms out to her. “I could kill her. I’m assuming you don’t know who she’s going out with tonight.”

Once, a long time ago during his short-lived JV baseball stint, Ian had taken a line drive to the chest. He’d fallen to the ground and lain there in helpless anguish, trying to force his lungs to fill with oxygen for what felt like an eternity. He’d been convinced something inside him was broken, that this was it; he was going to die.

Even that moment didn’t compare with this.

Gabriella going out with someone.

Who wasn’t him.

Both gazes swung toward him, gauging his reaction to this news. “Who?” he managed to choke out.

“Mark. Her ex.”

Jesus Christ.

“I’m really sorry,” Kelsey said quickly, and he had to wonder what had registered on his face to spur her to move toward him. She put a hand on his arm. “I don’t know what’s happening, but she’s miserable there without you. I’m afraid she might do something stupid.”

“Like go back with that asshole,” Brian all but growled. “I should’ve whipped his ass when I had a chance.”

“Whose?” A man appeared at Kelsey’s side, slipping an arm around her waist. Piercing green eyes—almost identical to his Gabby’s—met Ian’s, and he suffered yet another blow at the memory of her endlessly green gaze. How he felt stripped to the core when she looked at him.

“Evan, this is Ian ,” Kelsey introduced. “Ian, this is Evan, my husband.” Evan only gave him a nod and an almost surreptitious once-over. The conclusion he seemed to come to, judging from the look in those eyes that were so like Gabriella’s, was here’s the bug who dishonored my sister.

“My jackass brother,” Brian was saying.

“We’ve got to do something,” Kelsey said, ignoring him and gazing imploringly up at Evan. “Tell me you don’t agree with what she’s doing.”

“What she’s doing?” Evan said, the implication being that he damn sure didn’t agree with what Ian had been doing in comparison. “She’s all alone there. I really can’t say I blame her.”

“Look, I’ve been an idiot.” The words tumbled out, and Ian only hoped he could keep from causing a scene that would get him tossed out of here. “I know that. I let her go back alone, and I shouldn’t have. But it was only because I know she needs you guys. I didn’t want her getting in trouble with all of you because of me. So I stepped away.”

“Which is a pretty shitty thing for y’all to do, by the way,” Brian said, pointedly loud. A moment later, Mr. and Mrs. Ross walked in, looking none too pleased to see Ian standing in their house.

“Brian, what is this?” Mrs. Ross demanded.

“Please, dude, shhh ,” Ian hissed at his friend.

“All right,” Brian said, standing back, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. “I got you in. It’s all on you now.” He smirked as if to say he couldn’t wait to watch the show.

Ian took a deep, fortifying breath. All eyes were on him, and if thunder could be personified, it would take the form of Alexander Ross. The guy looked scary as hell. It wasn’t so much that he was bigger or badder than anyone in the room—it was simply the authority he exuded that made him seem ten feet tall.