Page 230 of Second Sets Omnibus

“I want to do something special for River and kind of…make amends and shit for…”

“Walking away? Leaving her with a baby? I know all the deets, douche. You’re lucky I’m a professional.” With a frown, he brings his fingers to his ear and scoffs. “According to Agent Asshole in my ear, I am not being professional. Yeah, yeah, shut it…” He shakes his head, blowing out a breath. “What do you need?”

Anger heats my face. Who is he to judge what we did? It wasn’t our fault we were misled by our damn brother. “Listen, I know we fucked up, but there were other things happening that made it happen...”

“Like your brother, the pancake-maker, manipulating you all into thinking she cheated?”

“How the hell do you know so much about our lives?” I growl, growing tired of his cocky smirk.

He shrugs. “Hello, I’m a super-secret agent in a company that doesn’t exist on paper. I know things. Lots of things. So, what do you want?”

“Okay, so…” And I tell him every detail of the date I’ve had brewing in my mind since we stepped back into Central City.

Moisture leaksfrom every surface of my body, pouring like a damn waterfall. It stains my pits, and slickness coats my palms, making it hard to hold the flower in my damn hand. I bounce on my toes on the concrete patio just outside the back sliding glass doors leading to the beautiful backyard.

Calm down, dickbag. It’s just a date. With a beautiful girl. You used to be in love with her and fucking tore her heart out. Shit. That’s not the pep talk I needed to have with myself.

Tonight is the night I prove myself worthy to River with no expectations.

Noise from beneath me echoes through the glass doors, making me smile. Ever so slightly, my nerves die off when pride puffs out my chest.

First, it’s the random banging of Rad’s drums. Then comes the loud screeches of Asher’s guitar. Finally, like music to my ears, Lyric’s loud screech through the speakers fills the house, followed by deep laughs and applause.

I blow out a breath. This is it—the moment I’ve been planning for the past few days with the help of Jordy. When I mentioned my idea, he seemed impressed. Well, kind of. I’m unsure how to make that man believe I’m sorry for what I did.

“It’s a fucking start, dickbag. I’ll see what the team and I can come up with. But my advice?” He raises his brow.

“Yeah?” I reluctantly ask, anticipating his wicked words.

“Don’t fuck it up again, fuck boy. River West doesn’t need you. She’s only letting you close because Lyric means everything to her. You walk away again for any reason. I’ll cut your dick and balls off myself and feed it to you.” I swallow hard at the disturbing imagery.

“No dick-cutting necessary. We fucked up. I fucked up. I want to make it up to her.”

“Might work,” Jordy says with a shrug. “Now, if you’re done planning your romantic date. I have a stalker to catch, so we can all go home.”

For a split second, I thought he would blow me off and not pull through. But this morning, he discreetly showed up when River was in the shower and threw boxes filled with my requests at me.

“Good luck. You’ll fucking need it,” Jordy mumbles, silently slipping out the door.

“What’s that?” Asher asks, stirring something in a skillet on the stove. Lyric rests on the stool with her nose in her tablet, laughing at a random video, patiently waiting for Asher’s promised lunch.

“I’m taking River out on a date,” I say, clearing my throat from the emotions trying to bubble up.

He nods. “I bet that will be fun.” His eyes drift to Lyric, who is so lost in her tablet that she doesn’t realize I’m standing beside her with four large boxes in my hands. “I’ll watch herso you guys can have some privacy. Any time you guys want a date.”

I blink several times when he shrugs, returning to cooking. “That’s—uh, great, man. Thanks.”

“I won’t interfere,” he says softly, not bothering to look at me. “I don’t fucking deserve her, anyway.”

No, you don’t—is what I want to say, but I bite my tongue. Asher is already hurting so much, and I can see that now. Hell, he’s been hurting for years, and I never bothered to pay attention. Was it his fault he was in this mess? Yes. We all fuck up, though, don’t we? We all make major mistakes when it comes to the people we love. Not once has he stuck his nose in the air and denied the facts since he spilled the secret. I’m still fucking pissed at him. A little sliver of that anger will probably permanently hide away inside me.

But I want to let go. For my fucking sanity.

Therapy has helped so damn much to come to terms with what happened. Without that, I wouldn’t be here with a clearer mind. Asher and I have talked it through in the presence of the therapist, and she’s helped us really talk everything out. Every mistake. Every word said. We’ve discussed it at great length. Slowly but surely, we’re getting through this as a team again. A family unit. Our next session, though. I want to talk to him about what he thinks he deserves versus what he actually deserves. He’ll live with these mistakes for the rest of his life, but he shouldn’t keep punishing himself. The way he is with Ly proves to me he loves River more than anything, too. His actions speak volumes. And it’s time they get recognized.

So, now I wait for the woman of the hour on pins and needles, nervously pacing. I pull at my collar, marveling at the suit Jordy picked up for me. Somehow, it fit me perfectly from neck to ankles. I’m almost afraid to ask how he managed to get my measurements and make this happen.

The stars above twinkle on the warm September night, overlooking the beautiful setup on the back porch. For one night only, I’ll have River all to myself. Uninterrupted. Mine. And no one else’s.