Page 9 of Everything After (Everything Trilogy)

I saw him first, reading something on his cell phone. But the moment he’d glanced my way, he’d immediately strode toward the cart, tucking the device back in his pocket.

My breathing grew faster as I excitedly took in my tall drink of water.

The moment Alfie’s gorgeous hazel eyes locked in on mine he cracked that lopsided smile of his.

It was that sexy tilt of his head and almost shy smile that had made him irresistible to me.

My heart clenched in response to his burning gaze, and I instantly felt loved.

Stepping in front of the cart, Alfie held a hand up, stopping the driver. Climbing in next to me, he enveloped me in his strong arms and hugged me like he’d never let me go.

“God, I missed you.” I heard a note of desperation in his tone as he whispered in my ear.

The cart lurched forward again and stopped beside the helipad.

Alfie leaned back and looked at me, and I held my breath while he took me in like he hadn’t seen me in months.

Eventually, his slow smile turned into a cheesy grin before he leaned in again and pressed his lips to mine.

Once he broke our kiss, he pressed his lips to my temple. “Fuck me, it’s been a long five weeks.”

“Felt like ten,” I grumbled in agreement, fixated on his gaze. Alfie realized we’d stopped and exited the cart, pulling me with him.

“Come on, let’s get you home,” he ordered, taking my hand and easing me out of the cart. “Where’s your baggage?” he asked, spreading his arms wide.

“There was quite a lot, so I sent it in Cody’s town car. It’ll get delivered to the house by tender or water taxi later.”

Grabbing my hand, Alfie led me to his new toy, his Agusta helicopter.

Once he’d settled me inside and taken the pilot’s seat, he flashed me a sheepish grin.

The novelty of piloting his own craft hadn’t worn off, yet it had been almost a year since I’d surprised him with the machine for his birthday.

A couple of years ago Alfie had complained to my dad about the inconvenience of living on Star Island, off the coast of Miami.

I’d admitted it had been a pain to scoot back and forth on a boat to get anywhere.

But I’d argued it was a small price to pay for the privacy we had from the fans of both bands that plagued us wherever we went.

Don’t get me wrong, there is an access road onto the island, but it’s on the opposite side of the island to where we live. Alfie did occasionally drive to Miami, which was usually if he wanted to ditch our security, or if he planned to make more than one scheduled stop.

It was then that my dad, Charlie, who had been a commercial helicopter pilot in London, and now taught others to fly, suggested flying as a transport solution to our remote living arrangements, to Alfie.

Nowadays, we had a helipad on our lawn and had since realized the sense of freedom a helicopter gave us.

“It still feels strange, not needing to rely on someone else to ferry us back and forth to the airport,” I admitted.

“Isn’t it great,” he agreed, grinning. “I wish I’d asked your dad to teach me to do this years ago.”

“I know. He said you’re a natural,” I admitted, smiling as we both put our noise reduction and communication headsets on.

“He was a great teacher,” Alfie conceded as he ran through his preflight checklist and started the engine.

After a smooth take off we slowly climbed until we’d cleared the cityscape, turned in the direction of our secluded home and headed out across the water.

Releasing one hand from the joystick, Alfie squeezed my knee. “How was your flight?”

“Okay,” I deadpanned.

“Who flew back with you?”

“Just Cody,” I admitted. Alfie’s head whipped around and he stole a glance toward me, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Alfie, pay attention,” I urged, nodding at the windshield, which prompted his focus back in the direction we were headed.

“Tell me he didn’t hit on you,” he ground out in frustration, immediately suspecting Cody may have made a remark since we’d been alone.

“No,” I replied a little too fast. “I mean, it’s Cody. He knows there’s no chance with me… a-and he accepts that.” I shrugged. “It’s crazy, but I can’t help but feel sorry for him sometimes,” I confessed.

“So long as you’re not sorry enough to fuck him,” Alfie bit out angrily

I stared at him in wide-eyed horror and for a few beats my thoughts were scrambled. Once I’d regained my composure, I saw red. “What? Are you serious? Where in hell is this coming from?”

“It pisses me off that he’s still sniffing around you. He wants what’s mine, always has. I guess I need another word with him. For my sake, if not for yours.”

“Please, Alfie… don’t.” I huffed out an exasperated breath. “Jesus, I’m sorry I mentioned him now,” I grumbled. “And he’s not… sniffing.”

“You’re sorry? Sorry for being honest with your husband?” he raged. “Fuck, look the guy is already coming between us,” he protested.

“Is not. Jeez. And if anyone should be annoyed it’s me. Why did you wait until I was out of town to visit Sienna Oliver? If I hadn’t called you, would you even have told me that you’d gone there today?”

“Of course I would have,” he replied, frowning that I could think any different.

“You have never once mentioned that you were thinking about going to see her, and that visit was planned. Tell me I’m wrong.”

My heart pounded both from how quickly we’d gotten into an argument after being apart for weeks. And how jealous and irrational I felt inside whenever the topic of Sienna came up.

“No, you’re not wrong. I had been thinking about it,” he quietly admitted.

Panic rose in my chest until it became harder to breathe.

After a few beats of silence he drew in a long breath, puffed out his cheeks, then exhaled.

“Hell, if I’m honest, I’ve been thinking about her for a while.

I just figured as it was Memorial Day and I had time to kill, I’d go there. ”

“So you could spend a day with her without me realizing you were gone?”

“Fuck, no. That’s not it at all… and it wasn’t a day… wasn’t even an hour… since you called to say you were landing early. I meant that we wouldn’t have time to go deep because I had to be somewhere else.”

“Go deep? Balls deep?” Did I think that’s why he’d gone there? Of course not. But I was furious about his comment toward me regarding Cody.

“Now who’s being ridiculous,” he muttered.

We fell silent for a minute and I watched him and wondered what thoughts ran through his head.

“I guess I still miss Gary sometimes,” he said as he stole another glance in my direction.

“He was like a brother to me, and when I realized it was Memorial Day and I was at a loose end, I just did it.”

“That last part may be true, but from all you’ve told me about Sienna, she was hardly like a sister to you,” I argued.

“Christ, Lily, it’s not like you to be jealous. I was only a kid when I dated Sienna.”

“Right,” I replied, agreeing. “But you’ve been inside her. So you’d be fine if I visited with Saffy’s brother Max without mentioning it?”

Alfie’s shoulders bunched and the glare he stole told me I’d gone too far. “Now you’re throwing him in my fucking face?” he questioned.

During my early, complicated relationship with Alfie, I had a rebound affair with my friend Saffy’s brother Max.

“And if you had treated me right in the first place, Max would never have happened,” I replied. I placed my hand on his and softened my tone. “Look, can we not fight?” I asked. “It’s been five weeks. We’re not even home yet and we’re at each other’s throats.”

Alfie exhaled and glanced toward me again. “Sure. But I am going to talk to Cody, no arguments,” he stated in a flat tone.

“Why did you go to see her?” I probed, unwilling to let the subject of Sienna slide easily.

“She’s been on my mind for a while.” My heart sank with his admission. “But I haven’t been pining for her, if that’s what you think.”

My heart began to pound, and I felt panic rise from my gut. “Then why?” I insisted.

“I don’t know… well maybe I do. I thought if I saw her again… spoke with her, she’d make me feel closer to Gary.”

“And did you?” I demanded, concerned that it wasn’t the whole truth.

For a long moment he considered my question. “Standing in his grandpa’s house spurred a torrent of memories within me, mostly good ones. Yet at the same time I felt an immense sense of guilt.”

“Guilt?” I placed a hand on his forearm, concerned.

“Yeah, that he never got to experience his bucket list that we’d both talked about.”

“No, but from what you told me, he made a personal choice, and lived his dream to be a soldier for a while.”

“True. Since we’d been kids the army was all he talked about.

” Alfie sighed and shot me a look of frustration.

“What kind of man wants to go to war? I mean those men and women are built differently to you and me. They’re brave beyond measure, but I still can’t accept that he made the ultimate sacrifice like that. ”

“Yeah, a wasted life,” I muttered.

“Never a waste,” he quickly admonished. “Gary and people like him are the reason the rest of us have the freedom to live our dreams.” With a helpless shrug, he glanced toward me again with a softer expression on his face. “This isn’t exactly how I’d envisioned your homecoming.”

“Me neither,” I confessed and turned my attention toward our imposing waterfront house as it came into view. “Oh, my body’s aching to climb into a warm bubble bath,” I admitted, changing the subject to a lighter topic.

“Do I get an invite to that party?” he mused.

“Do you think you need one? The wild Alfie Black I knew would gate crash,” I said, cracking an affectionate smile.

We fell silent as Alfie landed on the helipad on our back lawn and turned off the engine.

While we waited for the rotors to stop, Alfie took off his headset, then turned and removed mine. Leaning over, he took my face in his hands and pressed a slow kiss to my lips.

“Sorry we got off to a bad start,” he murmured close to my lips. Leaning back, he searched my face with eyes full of love. “I’m only going to say this once. About Sienna, she’s Gary’s sister—that’s all she is to me.”

“Right,” I replied, nodding.

Taking my hand, he placed it over his chest. His strong heartbeat raced under my fingertips. “You’re the only woman that has ever made my heart pound like this. You’re my obsession, Lily Black. Never forget that.”

It was seldom I heard him use my married name in that way, but the times that he did were always when he needed me to believe in him.

“Okay, Mr. Black, lead the way, I have a bath waiting for me.”