5. Cody

FIVE

"You are the luckiest motherfucker I know."

I grinned at my best friend's voice coming through the line as I pulled a fresh tee over my head. A shower had been more than required after I'd gotten home covered in sweat and dirt after I'd spent the day tearing out the old decks to make room for the new.

"Come now, Ryder, were they really going to pick anyone else? Have you met me?" I laid it on thick, my cell propped between my ear and my shoulder as I ran a towel through my wet mop of hair.

"Of course not. You go flashing that grin, and women tend to fall at your feet. Who'd you dip your dick in to get your way?" he razzed.

"You wound me, man. That contract didn't have a thing to do with my sex appeal and everything to do with my raw, crazy talent."

Dude had been giving me shit about winning this contract since I'd told him about it two months ago. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was jealous, but really, we just loved to bust each other's balls.

"Besides, you know I don't mix business with pleasure," I added.

I couldn't tell you the number of times I'd been working a job and a housewife had invited me in for a glass of lemonade.

Fuck no.

That was a sure-fire way to lose everything I'd built.

Hailey's face flashed through my mind.

Undoubtedly, I'd crossed a line I shouldn't have, seeking her out earlier today.

I'd made the excuse that I needed to take a piss, and I'd slipped into the stables.

There was no question in my mind that I was pushing boundaries.

If she wanted to, I bet she could go to her supervisor and claim I'd been harassing her, and I'd be booted off the property, some fine print making that contract nil.

Buh-bye five million dollars.

And I was the idiot who'd done it, anyway.

Apparently, I was losing my goddamn mind when it came to her.

But there it was, nagging at the back of my mind.

The oldest kind of guilt and want, that time so fucked up that I still didn't know how to process it. I'd done my best to put it behind me, but there it was, luring me to a place that I knew better than to go.

"Besides, I've taken the whole week off from dipping my dick in anyone." I smirked, knowing he could feel it through the phone.

Ryder chuckled low, and I could almost see him scrubbing a tatted hand over his face, all black hair and intimidation. "Such a fucking liar. I was just at Mack's with you two nights ago, and you left with that short-haired chick. Unless you couldn't get it up?"

"Blasphemy, man. I just…forgot about her."

"You forgot about her?" Incredulity dripped from him.

"Can't help it if she wasn't exactly memorable."

Hell, I couldn't even place her face at this point. Not with the one that was currently inhabiting every thought.

"Such an asshole," he mumbled.

"Like you weren't the exact same way until you started dipping your dirty dick in my sister."

Truth be told, I had nearly lost it when I found out he and my sister, Dakota, were hooking up. Was legitimately pissed because I knew the trouble he'd had himself in, and I didn't want my sister involved in any of that.

I hadn't found out they were sneaking around behind my back until she was already reaping the consequences of his mess.

As much as it'd broken my heart, I'd honestly thought it was over for me and Ryder. A lifetime of friendship gone because I wouldn't stand for him hurting my sister. My entire purpose in this life was standing for her.

For both my sisters and my mother.

Which was kind of fucking ironic considering the jacked-up decisions I'd made. But I'd promised—promised to provide and protect—whatever that looked like.

Besides, I hadn't understood the way Ryder loved her. The lengths he would go. The way he'd fought to protect Dakota and her son.

It didn't take long for me to see it for what it was, their love something bigger than I had the right to intervene on.

That didn't mean I would ever let him live it down, either.

His laugh was raw. "Now that is memorable."

"Gross, man," I grumbled, though I was laughing under my breath, too.

"Hey, you're the one who brought it up. Besides, I'm not going to deny that I can't keep my hands off her. Speaking of, she's pulling in. I need to run to help her bring in her and Kayden's things. Just wanted to call and say congrats again. I know this was a big day for you."

"Thank you, man. I truly appreciate it."

"Of course. You know Dakota wants to celebrate? Did she text you yet? Girl can't help herself when it comes to the ones she cares about."

It wasn't like I was going to complain.

"Yup, next Saturday because her café has some big gig this weekend," I told him. "She made me swear to put a reminder in my phone."

As if I was going to forget.

"Sounds about right."

"Sure does."

I heard a clatter in the background, the slamming of a door before the voice of my little nephew, Kayden, carried through the line. "Hi, my Daddy Rye-Rye. I home! Come find me!"

"See you then, brother. Take care." The line was dead before I even had the chance to say goodbye, dude so far gone for the both of them he didn't think of much else.

And that? It meant the fucking world.

I tossed the towel onto the bed and walked from my room, dragging both hands through my damp hair, loving the way the tiles felt cool on my bare feet as I walked out into my kitchen.

It was done in light grays and whites with splashes of color since my sisters and my mother had insisted on coming to help me decorate.

Each of them were so damned sweet, doing their best to take care of me when my only true purpose in life was taking care of them.

The rest was fucking fluff.

Extra.

Bonus days that I got to live out because I never knew when my time was going to run out.

I dipped out the front door and into the waning day. The temperature was still warm, though it'd cooled a bit as the sun had begun to sink behind the soaring trees that enclosed the neighborhood.

Twilight tossed those wispy hues of blue and pink through the atmosphere.

Nothing but calm and peace in the air as birds flitted through the leaves.

I headed down the sidewalk toward my mailbox at the end of the drive, making no attempt not to eye the U-Haul that was still parked in the neighbor's drive as I opened my mailbox and blindly reached in to find what was inside.

Wondering why the hell she was back.

Well, mostly wondering why she was living here in this modest neighborhood when she'd been raised in what equated to a palace.

A fist of contempt squeezed my chest as that voice I'd come to abhor flitted through my mind.

Don't think you could ever be good enough for her.

Regret clamped down behind it.

So many times, I'd wished I'd done things differently. Said them differently.

But would it have made a difference?

Changed a thing?

I fuckin' doubted it.

But I'd spent a lot of damned nights wondering if I was to blame.

And I guessed my attention was so firmly rooted in the past that I didn't notice any other activity in the neighborhood until a tinkling voice came flooding from the opposite direction.

"Hi, mister, hi! What's your name?"

I swiveled that way, peering down the sidewalk that rounded the cul-de-sac at the end of the road. My house was the last on this side of the street, and at the very end of the cul-de-sac was a small, grassy playground that took up the lot before the land gave way to the woods.

A little girl with tight ringlets of blonde hair that made her head look three times its actual size was hopping and skipping my way, dragging a tiny wagon behind her, the plastic wheels grinding on the concrete.

An elderly lady trailed close behind.

The child was all pink cheeks and overexaggerated excitement and the brightest damned smile known to earth.

No doubt in my mind the force of it could guide satellites.

Caught off guard, I scrubbed a palm down my face to break up the disorder before I let a slow smile claim it. "Well, hey, there. I'm Cody."

She increased her speed, little legs bringing her up the sidewalk, her free hand lifted above her head in a zealous wave as she approached. "Hi, Mr. Cody. I am Madison Ella, but I got a nickname called Maddie, and this is my greatest grams-gram, Lolly."

Before I had time to respond, another voice hit from the opposite side, one that was throaty and low and dragging like a caress across my flesh. "And you are not supposed to be talking to strangers."

A shockwave of lust barreled straight through me. Fuck, that was the last reaction I should have toward the woman, but the attraction had already taken hold last night, and I wasn't sure there'd be any taming it now.

I looked that way to find Hailey standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, still dressed like the hottest damn cowgirl I'd ever seen. Though she'd ditched the hat and had undone her braid and waves of that ridiculously long blonde hair now whispered around her striking face.

It was those lips that could do a grown man in, though. Set in this endless pout that screamed seduction.

I was immediately pummeled with the vision of wrapping those locks in a fist as she got on her knees and put that delicious mouth on me.

Yeah, that was exactly where I wanted to dip my dick, except the woman was scowling at me so hard I was pretty sure the only vision she was having right then was stabbing me.

"Mommy, he was gettin' his mail, and that means he lives right next to us, and we gotta meet our new neighbors if we're goin' to have any friends, and there wasn't even one single kid on the playground." The little girl huffed through her reasoning.

It took me a second to catch up to the fact the child belonged to Hailey.

She was her mother.

She had a kid.

I wasn't quite sure what to make of the feeling that swept through me. Something that was both sinking and swelling.

On instinct, I peered over Hailey's shoulder like I was going to catch some fucker standing behind her in a stance of possession.

My gut twisted, the thought of someone touching her making me sick to my stomach. What the fuck was that? She was the last woman I should want.

Clearly, I needed to keep my distance the best that I could because I was losing my damned mind.

Another voice snatched my attention. "That's right. We must meet the new neighbors, especially this one. No need being standoffish when he's already been so helpful."

The old lady was grinning wry, her stringy gray hair set free and red lipstick staining her lips. "Braving that storm the way he did to help Hailey rescue our Maddie's favorite stuffed animal last night."

"You helped to get my Princess Verona for me?" Madison squealed it as she came to a stop right in front of me, grabbed a purple bunny from the wagon, and held it up for me to inspect.

"I was gonna get another bad dream if I didn't find my Princess Verona because I got to sleep with her always, and she got lost in our big truck that has all our stuff from our old house, and my mommy got super wet trying to find her. Did you get wet, too?"

I felt the exasperated sigh pilfer from Hailey, and my attention swung to her.

Apology on my face.

Because it was becoming clear why she'd been out there in the rain, and I'd given her shit for it when I didn't have the first clue of her intentions.

When I didn't have the first clue about her.

Not one fucking idea about her circumstances just like she had accused me of.

I looked back at her daughter. "No, I didn't get too wet. It was your mom who found her. She's the one who gets all the credit. I just helped bring the boxes to the door. No big deal."

"Well, that's good that you didn't think it was a big deal because we might need your services again, big strong man that you are."

Shock was spluttering from my mouth when I realized the old lady was suddenly standing at my side, bony fingers squeezing my biceps as she issued the words.

Hailey gasped, and her voice whipped in a reprimand. "Lolly."

Lolly shrugged. "What? You didn't think I was going to help you haul that couch into the house, did you? I might be spry for my age, but an old lady knows her limits."

The woman winked at me, and I chuckled low before I turned my gaze back on the woman who appeared to be about two-point-five seconds from blowing a gasket.

"You don't have a man to help you?"

Shit.

The question was out before I had time to contemplate the ramifications.

But there was a coil of something inside me that needed to know.

Her arms tightened over her chest, emphasizing those gorgeous tits under her blouse. Her head cocked to the side. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

She said it at the same time as the old woman offered up, "No man around here. Not one for miles and miles."

Hailey shot out another frustrated, "Lolly."

"Are you gonna get our couch for us?" The little girl hopped on her feet, that hair bouncing all around her, beaming up at me, so fucking adorable it speared me in a place that wasn't supposed to exist. "Mr. Cody, that is so very nice."

She turned to her mother. "Mommy, I think we hit the jackpot and got the best new neighbor."

No doubt, I was digging a brand-new grave, but how the hell was I supposed to resist that?

So, I looked straight at Hailey and said, "Well, then, it looks like I'm moving in a couch."