Sean: Denver Royalty (Book 3) Read online

  “True, but I get covered in shit instead.”

  We both fall into uncontrollable fits of laughter, only stopping when my cheeks begin to hurt. I finish off my lunch and with ten minutes remaining before we have to head back, I stretch out on the bed and close my eyes.

  I listen to the sound of Mel typing away on her phone and I don’t doubt she’s messaging Tom. “Do I need to go out tonight?” I question.

  “Ah, yeah,” she confirms with a smile in her voice.

  “This better be just a one night thing,” I warn her, really not wanting my best friend with a guy like Tom.

  “Ha,” she scoffs, “Isn’t it always?”

  “Good point,” I laugh.

  By the end of the day, I’m utterly exhausted and if I can’t be at home, then there’s only one other place I’d rather be.

  I push through the door to my parents’ place and instantly fall into their couch. “Oh, hi, honey. What are you doing here?” my mother asks as she drops her laundry basket at her feet and reaches over the top of the couch to give me a welcoming cuddle.

  “Mel has a friend over,” I explain.

  “Oh,” she cringes, knowing exactly what it is I mean by ‘friend’.

  “Do you mind if I crash for dinner?” I ask as she picks her laundry basket back up and shuffles over to the drying rack.

  I get up and help her hang the clothes. “You know, washing is a lot easier with a clothes dryer.”

  “I know,” she says, rolling her eyes, not wanting to revisit the old argument. “How was work?”

  “Good,” I smile up at her. I tell her all about my solo delivery and help her with dinner.

  An hour later, my dad pushes through the door and instantly pulls me into his arms. “How have you been, pumpkin?” he asks, refusing to let me go.

  I’m an only child and I must admit, I absolutely love it that way. My parents spoil me like you wouldn’t believe and I soak that shit right up. It’s fantastic. Growing up, we weren’t that well off but my parents did everything in their power to make sure I never went without. Though, that also meant I was alone a lot while they both worked demanding jobs.

  I’ve made myself a promise that one day I’m going to spoil them right back, whether that be paying off their mortgage or sending them around the world, I don’t know. All I do know is that they deserve it.

  I’m sure things have gotten easier for them financially since I moved out a few years ago, but I still want them to have the world. After all, they brought me into the world and showed me unconditional love each and every day.

  I sit down to dinner with my parents and they boast about how great I am, and naturally, I let them. “So, how’s everything going?” Dad asks, always worried about my welfare.

  “Good,” I smile.

  My mom narrows her eyes at my answer. She’s always been able to see right through me. “What do you mean ‘good’? What aren’t you telling us?”

  “Nothing,” I whine.

  “Georgia,” she scolds.

  I let out a huff and look up at my mom. My inner child instantly comes out as my bottom lip begins to pout. “It’s a boy.”

  “What boy?” my father demands, hating the idea that I’m a grown ass woman.

  “His name is Sean. I met him in the ER and helped his daughter, then I somehow got roped into going dirt bike riding and found out the guy is married.”

  Dad scoffs which brings on a string of curses grumbled under his breath.

  “Don’t worry, love. You can’t let it get you down. I dated hundreds of clowns before I met your father. And you know what? He’s a clown, too.”

  “What are you saying, mom?” I smirk, playing with her and enjoying the reaction I know I’m going to get. “You want me to settle for a clown?”

  She gives me a blank stare. “You know exactly what I mean.”

  “I know,” I smile. “You want me to date hundreds of men.”

  “Georgia,” she scolds.

  “Gee,” dad sighs. “Don’t do that to your poor mom.”

  “Sorry,” I grunt.

  “Gee,” dad reprimands as if I’m still a child. “What have I told you about apologizing?”

  I force myself to not roll my eyes at him. “Only do it if you truly mean it,” I say, reciting the memorized saying from my childhood.

  “Good, now quit talking about boys and eat your dinner, you need more meat on your bones.”

  With that, we dig into our food. Twenty minutes later, we wash the dishes and eventually find our way to the couch. Dad flicks through the channels while I cuddle up to my mother and enjoy being a child again, forgetting about life, forgetting about responsibilities, and forgetting about Sean.

  Chapter 11

  Sean

  I head in Georgie’s daycare and watch as she plays with her friends. I go into the room and find her belongings. She spots me almost immediately and comes barrelling into me with open arms. After giving her a quick cuddle, I squeeze my arms through her school bag and grab her around the waist before hoisting her up on my shoulders. I unlatch the safety gate and slip through, making sure to not let any of the other rugrats out.

  “Say bye, Georgie,” I tell her as she giggles, showing off to her friends that she’s on her daddy’s shoulders.

  “Bye, bye, Miss Beccy,” Georgie says.

  The daycare teacher turns around and gives her a beaming smile. “See you next week, Georgie,” she tells her before training her eyes on me. “See you later, Sean.”

  “Bye Bec,” I say before walking up the hallway and out the door of the day care center.

  “Were you a good girl today?” I ask Georgie as I strap her into her car seat and dump her school bag on the floor.

  “No,” she grins.

  I stop what I’m doing and look up at the little monkey. “Why?” I question.

  Her eyes meet mine and I see mischief written all over her. “Well…,” she starts. “Sammy was pwaying wif Gemma and I wanted to pway wif her so I pushed him down and he cried like baby Max.”

  “Georgia,” I scold, wondering why the hell her teachers didn’t bring this up with me. I mean, it’s not like this is something normal for her as she’s never intentionally hurt another child before.

  A million questions start flying through my mind. Why did she do it? Has she forgotten her manners or is something bigger going on? Did Sammy do something to piss her off or is she just starting a new phase? And more importantly, where the hell is Sara when I need her? “Why did you do that?” I question, desperate for some answers.

  “I wanted to pway,” she tells me as if it’s an acceptable answer.

  “Are you allowed to push your friends down?” I question.

  “Sammy not my fwend,” she says with a shake of her head.

  “Oh, and that makes it alright, does it?” I ask, still a little in shock. She looks at me with those big beautiful eyes and nods her head. “Georgia,” I scold. “No, it’s not ok. You hurt Sammy and made him sad.”

  She pouts her bottom lip out and gives me those beautiful puppy dog eyes. I turn away, knowing I’ll cave if I look at her again. “What happened after that?” I ask. “Did you get in trouble?”

  “No,” she says. “I pwayed wif Gemma.”

  Oh geez. Maybe it’s nothing and she has blatantly forgotten that hurting other people is not okay. No, that couldn’t be it, she knows that. Damn. What the hell am I going to do with her? I let out a sigh and get in the driver’s seat. This is a conversation for another time. Maybe I should speak with Brianna about this, she’s a grade school teacher and will most likely have some advice on how to handle it.

  I start up my truck and pull out of the parking lot while Georgie chats away to herself and points out every yard that has a garden out front. The game gets old quickly but I ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ every damn time.

  We’re just pulling into my driveway when a call comes through the Bluetooth. “Hey, what’s up?” I question.

  Logan’s booming l
aughter instantly cuts through the call. “Yo,” he says, trying his hardest to gain control of himself. Georgie giggles in the background and I have to strain to make out his words. “We were playing a game of football and Carter broke his leg on….”

  “What?” I cut in.

  “Cassie’s face. There’s blood everywhere, man. You should see it.”

  “Fuck,” I curse right before Georgie gasps. “Why are you laughing? Is Cassie hurt?”

  “I don’t mean to laugh,” he says, “But you should have seen it. They both went down. It was amazing.”

  “Are they ok?” I question.

  “Nah,” he says, finally sobering up. “We’re on our way to the hospital. Carter’s leg is broken and Cassie’s nose… well, it’s not good.”

  “Shit,” I say as I turn around at the bottom of the driveway and head straight back out. “Is she upset?”

  “Yes,” he scoffs. “She’s pissed that she didn’t win the fucking game, not about her nose, but I think she’s still in shock. It’ll hit her when the bruising comes out tomorrow and she looks like a raccoon.”

  “I bet,” I grunt. “We’re on our way.”

  “Alright, man. We’ll see you soon,” he says, “But be aware, Jax is on the warpath. He’s not happy that she got hurt.”

  “I can only imagine, but he must know that Carter wouldn’t have done it on purpose.”

  “Yep, he knows but there’s no stopping Jax where Cassie is concerned. He’ll calm down eventually.”

  “Alright,” I murmur as I rush down the all too familiar road. “We’ll be there in a sec.”

  He hangs up and Georgie instantly jumps into action. “What happened, daddy? Where are we going?”

  “Aunty Cassie and Uncle Carter had a little accident,” I explain.

  “What kind of accident?” her curious little mind questions.

  “They bumped into each other and they got hurt.”

  “Oh no,” she says as dramatically as possible before dismissing the topic and focusing out the window.

  I set my concentration back to the road and before I know it, I’m pulling up next to Logan’s truck and rushing inside with Georgie in my arms. I find my misfit family all squished into a room and they instantly turn to me with horrified looks, as if I’m the parent amongst them, but I guess I kind of am.

  “What is going on here?” I scold them all.

  I look to Carter first who sits on the bed with his leg propped up and a doctor examining it. “I didn’t mean to,” he instantly says with his hands up.

  Jax scoffs and draws my attention to the other side of the room where he sits with Cassie in his lap. Cassie has a massive handful of bloodied tissues glued to her face and she looks positively miserable. I guess the shock has worn off leaving her in pain.

  Jax jumps straight into his recap of their afternoon while Carter argues the whole time. After thirty minutes, the only thing I’ve gotten from them is a headache. “Shut up,” I yell over the top of their voices. “You’re all fucking idiots, I don’t care anymore. Just get yourselves fixed.”

  With that, they finally settle down and the doctor comes back in with a shit load of drugs. Cassie is told her nose is going to have to be set, then starts freaking out about it affecting her singing while Carter is pretty much told the same thing, only he’s going to have to be knocked out for it.

  Following that, I take Georgie out to the waiting room, realizing this is going to be a long afternoon which is most likely going to go well and truly into the night.

  We sit down for all of three seconds before Georgie pipes up. “I hungwy,” she tells me.

  I look down at her with a smile. “Of course, you are.”

  Logan and Elle get up beside me and together we somehow manage to get all five kids to the cafeteria. Logan sits them all down while I go over to order. I return a few moments later and crash down into the seat beside Georgie.

  We’re halfway through our meal when Elle focuses on something behind me. “Hey, is that Gigi?” she questions with a mouthful of her hamburger.

  My head instantly whips around to find the woman that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind for the past two weeks. She stands with another nurse as they study the salad selections. The need to go to her runs through me, but I hold back. I’d give anything to feel that sense of ease I get when I’m with her, but I get the feeling she wouldn’t want me to. She never replied to my text and I haven’t heard from her since.

  “Dude, what are you waiting for?” Logan says as he watches me studying her. “You’re clearly into her. Why don’t you go talk to her?”

  “Nah,” I grunt. “If she wanted to talk she would have reached out.”

  “I don’t know,” Elle pipes up, “She seemed shy to me. Maybe she’s too nervous to put herself out there. Maybe you’ll need to break that barrier instead.”

  Crap. I look down at Georgie and realize she hasn’t heard a word we’re talking about. “What do you think, Georgie? Should I say hi to Gigi?”

  “Gigi?” she questions before turning around and searching the cafeteria with sauce smeared all over her face. Her eyes lighten up as she spots her across the room. Without giving me a second to stop her, she jumps onto of the table and screams at the top of her tiny lungs. “Gigi.”

  Shit, what are children even for if they’re not embarrassing you? “Thanks a lot, kid,” I groan.

  Gigi spins on her heel and searches out the voice. Her eyes land on our table and she cringes, making me feel like absolute shit, but I guess I deserve it. She gives Georgie a bright smile and reluctantly makes her way across the cafeteria.

  “Dude, she does not look excited about coming over here,” Logan grunts under his breath.

  “No shit,” I murmur as I get to my feet to be polite.

  “Hi guys,” she smiles while avoiding meeting my eyes. “What are you doing here?”

  Logan pipes up with a grin. “There was a little accident at my place involving Carter’s leg and Cassie’s nose.”

  Her hands fly up to her mouth as her eyes widen in panic. “Are they ok?” she asks, finally meeting my eyes before flicking them back to Logan’s.

  “Yeah,” he laughs. “They’ll be fine. They’re getting fixed up now.”

  “Oh, good,” she says before looking down at Georgie. “How are you, miss? Are you keeping out of trouble?”

  “No,” Georgie grins as she looks up at her, making me jealous over how easily she can talk to the woman.

  “Oh, dear,” Gigi laughs. She looks back up at me awkwardly before averting her eyes to Logan. “Well, I better run,” she says. “It was nice seeing you again.”

  She turns on her heel and starts to leave without waiting for a goodbye. I don’t recall moving but I find myself rushing after her. “Gigi,” I call, gaining her attention.

  She turns around and I clearly see the disinterest on her face. “Hey,” she says with a tight smile. “What’s up?”

  “I, um,” I start, making myself sound like an idiot. “I was wondering if you’d maybe want to grab dinner?”

  “Seriously?” she grunts in surprise, but by the tone in her voice it didn’t sound like a good thing.

  “Yeah,” I smile.

  She cringes and I see the rejection before it happens. “I don’t think that’s such a great idea,” she tells me. “I can’t get myself involved in all of this.”

  My eyebrows furrow. What the hell is she talking about? “Involved in what?” I question.

  She lets out a sigh and shakes her head. “Sorry,” she says before turning away and disappearing out the door with the other nurse.

  I stand there dumbfounded and quite honestly, I feel like an absolute fool. I’ve never been rejected before. Well, actually, I’ve never put myself out there to be rejected. Things with Sara happened so quickly and easily, I’ve never had to do this whole asking a chick out bullshit. It’s fucking nerve raking.

  With a sigh, I turn back to my family and realize that I’m actuall
y a lot closer to them than I had thought, meaning they’d overheard the whole thing. Logan grins at me with embarrassment in his eyes. “Dude, what the fuck was that?” he asks, looking truly appalled by me.

  “It was nothing,” I defend.

  “No, that was not nothing. That was a whole lot of something, but I have no idea what the something was.”

  “Leave him alone,” Elle cuts in.

  “Nah, this shit needs to be dealt with now before we unleash him on the world.”

  I roll my eyes as the rest of our meal consists of Logan going over all his old pick-up techniques, to then be told by Elle that it’s all bullshit. Those girls were after the glory of being able to claim they slept with Logan Waters, rather than falling victim to the charm he brought on with his ridiculous pick-up lines.

  I ignore every damn word Logan has to say on the topic and finish off my meal. I know I should probably listen to some of his bullshit, as I’ll probably want to better myself in the future but for now, I’m content sitting here in my own rejection filled bubble.

  Half an hour later, we get comfortable in the waiting room and settle in for the long haul. It’s going to be a long night. Georgie falls asleep in the chair next to me while Logan, Elle and I do our best to keep up with the rest of the kids’ schedules.

  The doctor finally comes out a few hours later and I’ve never been so happy. He lets us know that all broken bones have been set and that we can sit in the room with them while the drugs wear off, though, I’m sure they’re just saying this so they can get rid of all the upset kids in their waiting room.

  We pick up all the kids and I struggle to balance a sleeping Georgie and a screaming Nate in each hand.

  I basically dump the kids on the bed before collapsing into a chair.

  Fuck, I’m exhausted.

  Chapter 12

  Gigi

  Why does he have to be here? I mean, I’m not working tomorrow. Cassie and Carter could have decided to break each other’s bones then. That would have worked wonders for my schedule.