23. Lake

LAKE

I missed wakingup next to Bronson.

It had been a few weeks since I'd woken up with him wrapped around me. That one morning in his arms was all it took for me to become addicted. But he'd gone back to sleeping on the couch so as not to confuse Stormi. That, however, didn't mean he wasn't in my bed when she went to sleep, sneaking out before she ever got up.

Thank gosh my daughter slept hard or I'd be having serious withdrawals. I went from never thinking about sex to thinking about it all the time because of Bronson. Don't get me wrong, I had the necessary lady toys hidden in my room, but that just wasn't the same anymore.

Not when Bronson's toys proved to be a hell of a lot better.

"Wipe that look off your face before you get us both in trouble," the man of my desire said as he waltzed in the kitchen.

He walked up behind me, his strong arms winding around my waist and pressed his lips to the side of my neck just below my ear. "It is very hard to resist you, Cupcake."

Was it crazy that my best friend was now my lover?

Lover was the wrong word. I mean sure we made love, had sex, or fucked like wild animals, it all depended on the mood, but Bronson was more.

He was the man I loved.

I just couldn't tell him yet because I was too scared that the world we seemed to be building could still crumble to the ground.

"You're pretty hard to resist yourself," I murmured.

"Mom, is breakfast ready?" Stormi yelled as her little feet padded down the hall toward us.

I laughed. "Looks like we'll both just have to resist each other."

"Raincheck," he said as he kissed the same spot once again before releasing me.

"Brat," I mumbled. Bronson was beginning to find all the places that made me weak in the knees and he'd just laid his lips twice to one of those spots.

He threw his head back and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Stormi asked, walking into the kitchen with us.

"Your mother, she's pretty silly," Bronson replied.

Stormi smiled. "She is silly, but she is also the best mom in the world because she let me change schools."

I'd enrolled my daughter into the private school that Gemma taught at and a lot of our friends" kids attended. Sure it wasn't as close to our house, but it was worth it when over the last couple weeks since she"d started, she had been so happy and thriving like never before.

And I never seemed to be doing anything on my own anymore. Bronson was always helping. We'd become a team when it came to the house, Stormi, and anything else.

Just like telling Bronson how I felt, I was nervous to put a label on my thoughts but…

I'd say, if only to myself for the time being, we'd been becoming a family.

I finally foundmyself at No Surrender.

After dropping Stormi off at school, I went to meet some of my new friends for a morning self-defense class. It was Friday so I hadn't worked the evening before and I had the day off. On top of that, with Bronson working, it was perfect timing when they asked me to join them.

Not that I couldn't go if the man wasn't working, but lately if we weren't at our jobs, we seemed to be attached at the hip. It felt marvelous and also odd if I was being honest. Back in the day we'd been like that too, but there was one monumental difference now.

We had off-the-charts sex as often as possible.

I shook off the thoughts that had my cheeks warming and pressed the call button to get buzzed in. There sat Patience at a desk in the entrance of a very spectacular looking building. And that was just the initial view when people first walked in.

The guys had quite a place.

I couldn't believe that my co-worker, Huntley, had been going to No Surrender. He'd mentioned it a few times but never went into any great detail. It was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that he and Bronson had spoken.

"Hey, Lake. Are you ready for the class?" Patience asked in a soft, friendly tone.

The young woman reminded me of Jurnee with her girl-next-door look and sweet disposition. But unlike Jurnee, she was still a bit lost and sad. I was no therapist like my new-found sister but I could guess it had a lot to do with her past and her best friend, Jett, being gone.

I knew all too well what that felt like.

She was a bit younger than me when she had become a single mother, but she'd been lucky to have found Jett and the group early on. I was so happy she'd had that. And I think her son, like my Stormi, was what made her happy and kept her moving forward.

I made my way right up to the desk and smiled at her. "I'm excited," I told her, finally answering her question.

She caught my gaze as it shifted down to a notebook by her hand. "I was just messing around with some lyrics."

My eyes lifted back up to hers in curiosity. "You write songs?" I'd heard Jett was very musically talented but had decided to go into the military instead of pursuing his other passion first, but I didn't know about Patience.

A blush colored her cheeks. "I just dabble in it, but only for myself. It's kind of therapeutic for me."

I immediately thought about River. "My sister," I started. "God, that sounds weird to my ears." I let out a little laugh. "I think she would love to hear that and be really proud of you for finding an outlet."

Patience smiled. "I think it's wonderful you found her. Writing lyrics releases all my feelings. It also makes me feel closer to Jett."

She sucked in a breath and her eyes rounded. I could tell she didn't mean to announce that, it had just spilled out.

"Whatever helps, I think that it's wonderful. When Bronson left for the military, I'd lost my best friend. Only he didn't keep in touch and it was torture." I knew she'd already heard some of this at the parties when all the ladies talked, but it felt different sharing it with her now, just the two of us. "Then my parents died and I was all alone with a baby while still a teenager."

I was startled when she reached out and touched my arm briefly before dropping it again. "I'm sorry about all that and I wish you would have found the ladies earlier on like I had. Jett and the group have been a godsend."

The buzzer sounded just then and Patience smiled. "Brace yourself, the crazy clan has arrived," she announced with laughter and so much affection in her tone.

I turned to see most of the ladies jumping around and waving at the door. Patience hit the button and let them in. Before they could descend on us like vultures, she said, "Maybe sometime I will let you read one of my songs."

Touched by her words, I swung back around toward her and placed my hand on her arm like she'd done moments ago. "I'd absolutely love that. We have a lot in common and I'm always here if you ever need another ear. Even though you have a whole slew of them."

We both burst into laughter as we were swarmed.

"What's so damn funny? I hate missing the fun," Gemma said.

"Inside joke," I teased.

Gemma stuck her tongue out at me and Patience. "That's not gonna fly and you know it." She pointed at Patience.

"She's right. We may as well spill the beans," Patience said as she began to share a bit of our conversation.

Ruby walked around the desk and threw her arm around Patience. "This girl has serious talent but keeps it mostly to herself. If she shares with you then you are one lucky girl."

Another blush hit the woman's cheeks at Ruby's praise.

"You guys better get in there for the class," she told all of us, clearly trying to deflect and take the focus off herself.

"Let's do this," Alley said, a knowing look in her eye. She caught on to Patience too.

Everyone did from the looks of it, but nobody called her out on it.

Most of the ladies were in attendance. We'd managed to pick a day when kids were in school, but Jurnee was at the children"s center she owned and Summer had volunteered to watch some of the younger kids that were not in school yet.

"Are you ladies going to stand there all day gabbing or do you want to learn something?" Kace hollered from the entrance of a hallway.

"Oh hush," Teal called back to her husband as she headed his way.

As we all followed, I watched him wrap her up in his embrace and give her a heart-melting kiss as he bent her backward over his arm.

"Get a room!" Alley yelled and the ladies all laughed.

When he brought her back up and they unlocked lips, Teal's looking plump and pink from just the one blistering kiss, I wished Bronson were there to make me look that way.

Kace smirked knowing the effect he had on his wife, then swatted her ass softly and said, "Get a move on, Little Momma."

We headed down the hall and I whispered, "That's so cute."

"What? That Kace calls her that?" Brinley asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I guess I haven't heard him say it before, but I haven't been around long."

It was adorable like some of the other nicknames I had heard the guys call their ladies. Which made me think of Bronson and him calling me Cupcake, bringing a smile to my face.

"Kace has been calling her that since she had Denver and it's the cutest thing. And fitting since she is an itty-bitty thing and a mom."

I still couldn't believe all the stories I'd heard about the ladies and their men. They were remarkable, Kace and Teal just being one of them.

"Wow!"

The class had been exhilarating and empowering. I worked out and was in decent shape, but I'd finished the class feeling like a different person.

I'd gained some amazing skills and great knowledge. If attacked or put in a situation where I needed to protect myself or others, it seemed like what I'd learned could really make a difference.

"I remember how I felt after my first class," Ruby said. "These classes truly helped me when I went through what I did."

Her story was another for the books, that was for sure.

"While I hope I never need these moves, I'm so thankful to learn them. The stories that you have all shared have seriously shown me that we never know what is coming our way."

My expression dimmed slightly.

"Are you thinking about the asshole who is harassing you?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, what is happening with that?" Gemma inquired.

I let out a puff of air and shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing, he's just disappeared."

The ladies all frowned.

"We've learned it is never that easy," Brinley said. "Don't let your guard down and I'd say it's a great thing you are taking the class."

A little shiver ran down my spine. It would be nice if nothing else ever came about, but again with every story I'd heard just from this small group of ladies, I wasn't counting on it.

"Not that you're not in shape. Girl, you got some muscles," Brinley added.

"Speaking of muscle, that must make things interesting in bed." Alley said. "Who runs the show?"

Laughter burst from my lips. These ladies were nothing if not straightforward. "How do you even—"

"Oh please," Alley started, cutting me off. "We could see it written all across your face the moment we walked in today."

My hand went to my face and the girls giggled.

"We'll get to the details of that in a bit," Alley said as we slowly made our way out of the room and back down the hall toward the lobby. "I want to add first that we all have your back with the bastard who is giving you hell." Her tone was venomous and bold as she came to a halt and looked me in the eye. "You're one of us."

"You'll get used to her," Gemma said, teasingly. "And she also has all the baseball bats if push comes to shove."

I'd heard about the bats, but I hadn't seen them.

Alley's eyes twinkled with humor, but the edge was still there. "Just pick a color," she told me, wrapping her arm through mine as we started walking again.

I so wanted to be her when I grew up.