Chapter 51

Gage

Kendall was used to me slipping out of bed early. She groaned into my chest, clawing at me to get closer when I started to roll free, but I pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“Just going for a run.” A little snort at that, her eyelids barely fluttering. “You could come if you like?”

I chuckled to myself as she rolled away abruptly, grabbing a spare pillow and putting it over her head.

Normally I’d be pulling on my running gear, chugging down a protein shake before taking off down the road, but instead I had another idea in mind. I brought out my phone and sent out a group text before I jumped in the van and left.

“Gage…”Mum rushed out to the front gate as soon as she heard my van turn up. “Are you all right, love? I’m sorry about last night, but you gave us a terrible shock.”

“I’m fine, Mum.” I reached down to give her a hug. “I know everyone needed time to process, but I couldn’t stand by and let Kendall be disrespected.”

She nodded slowly.

“You’ve always been sweet on her, haven’t you?”

Sweet? That wasn’t the right word to describe how I felt about Kendall. It evoked images of something light, pleasurable, easy to consume. No, what I felt was more like a damn landslide, carrying with it the momentum of years and years of sediment as it swept everything out of its path.

“Always,” I told Mum. “There’s never going to be any other girl for me. I loved her back when we were kids and that’s never stopped. It never will.”

“Then you better come in and talk to your father,” she said with a sigh.

“What were you bloody thinking?”Dad shot up, leaving his still-steaming coffee on the kitchen table. “Kendall Kennedy? She’s a good girl.”

“She is.”

I couldn’t help but smirk at that, remembering just how good she was last night. I’d watched her take Connor out of his head, in awe of the way she could settle him, and while my best mate got some sleep, Van and I had shown her just how much we appreciated her efforts. We lost count of how many orgasms were had, all the stress of the day exploding between us.

“Don’t stand there smirking like a gormless twit,” Dad raged. “This isn’t the way I raised you. You need to find your own woman, look after her, provide for her, not—”

“Love her.” Dad fell silent. “Want no one else but her. Feel a burning need to key lock the front door so Kendall couldn’t leave, but not letting myself do that. Listen to her talk like there was no one more interesting than her. Give her my van when her rust-bucket of a car was on its last legs. Keep her safe. Dad, that’s what burns inside my chest. A fire that has never gone out and it never will. I don’t know what you think is going on, but… I love Kendall Kennedy, and the boys and I aim to show her that every fucking day. We’ll keep people in our lives that can respect that, but if they can’t…”

I watched my dad’s brows twitch, a frown forming then smoothing, both of the bushy caterpillars rising in surprise, only to frown again.

“You love her?”

“There’s never been anyone else,” I told him.

Mum’s hand rose to her lips, but Dad wasn’t done.

“But you lot treated her terribly.”

“I’m not saying I was very good at loving Kendall…” I stared at Mum’s carpet, following the old, dated swirl pattern and when my eyes finally lifted, I saw a change in both my parents’ expressions. “But I’ve worked damn hard on learning the past few years. I read a lot of books, listened to a lot of podcasts at work.”

“Not sure what you’re gonna find there,” Dad grumped. “Put her first, that’s all the advice you really need.”

I smiled, knowing that was true, but also that the podcasts I listened to provided concrete strategies to use that would help me to do just that. There was no point in arguing about it. Dad was a stubborn old prick who thought he knew everything that was worth knowing, which was why I was here in the first place. Right as I was about to agree with him, I heard a sharp knock at the door.

“Who could that be?” Mum asked, bustling over, but I knew. I’d sent Finn a text on my way over here and sure enough, there he was, standing in the doorway.

Along with his parents.

“Morning, Maggie,” Bruce said, all friendliness until he saw me. His eyes narrowed as he took me in, a growl forming in his chest. “What’s he—?”

“Well, considering this is Gage’s parent’s place, I’m assuming he’s here to try to sort things out about last night,” Alice said, poking her husband in the back. “So let’s go inside and do just that rather than hovering on the doorstep.”

The lounge room felt too full as Mum fluttered and Dad got up to say g’day to Bruce, but Finn just walked right up to me, crossing his arms.

“I’ve got a black eye. My wife has moved out to stay at her mother’s, and my sister isn’t talking to me. My best friends are trying to kick me out of the company I helped build. What do you want, Gage?”

“To fix everything.” Real emotion bled through into my voice and that had his eyebrow jerking up. “I’m just like you, Finn. I want the woman I love to be happy and I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure she stays that way.”

“So how do I make Cheryl happy, Gage?” Finn said. “How do I get her to come back home to a house I don’t know if we’re still going to be able to afford? How do I…?” Our parents looked up from what they were chatting, obviously sensing the growing tension. “How do I make things right?”

I’d never expected to hear Finn’s voice crack, to see real tears in his eyes, but somehow that gave me hope. If he was feeling like shit, maybe he’d see it. What Mark had done was a gift of sorts because he’d made clear something I already knew. Things couldn’t just stay as they were. Everything needed to change for all of us to have the kind of future we wanted and we could either embrace that… My hand clapped down on Finn’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. Or they could be left behind.

“I askedall of you over here for a reason,” I told the entire room. “Last night didn’t go very well, but… we’re family, aren’t we?” I looked into Mum’s eyes, then Dad’s, seeing hers soften as a wariness rose in my father’s. “We boys were always thick as thieves, more brothers than friends, and through Kendall, that’s going to become a reality. That’s why I need to talk to the lot of you. Are you in or out?”

“In or out of what, mate?” Bruce said in the same gruff tone he’d used with us boys when we were kids.

“Bruce…” Alice said, grabbing her husband’s arm, but he shook his head.

“Maybe you might want to start out by letting me know what shit you’ve got my daughter mixed up in.”

“OK, let’s all sit down then,” I said, gesturing to the dining table.

“I’ll put the kettle on,” Mum said.

“Just sit down, love.” Dad took her hand and ushered her over to a chair. “I think you’re gonna want to hear this.”

“Lemme just start by saying I love Kendall. I’ve always loved her…”

I’d kept what I was feeling locked down so tightly that I hadn’t realised how good it would be to confess this to the people we cared about. The words just came bursting out, one after the other, about what Kendall meant to me, about everything we’d built, hoping to have it all together by the time we found her again. On and on I went, pointedly looking at Finn when I described the ways I tried to shift my thinking, learn how to be the kind of man my girl would want. I talked about the fucking horrible years, when the world seemed to be covered by a grey haze, something I got used to until Kendall walked in the door. Then it was like being able to see colour again, smell flowers and good food. Sensory information hit me over and over as I…

“Came alive,” I said. “Kendall brought me back to life, and I’ll never stop thanking her for that, but right now she needs something from me.” I scanned the table. “From us. Mark Woods is threatening everything we built for Kendall, and I need to find a way to make that right. That’s why I’m here. We’re family and I’m hoping you can help me fix this shit.”

Finn looked as pale as milk, his eyes wide and staring, right before he straightened up and looked across at his father.

“I think I know a way.”