Page 25 of Caught Up In You (The Monroes 2)

Both men turned to Zach, who shook his head. “Not me. I’m building a house for her, not gossiping while we get our hair done. If I had to guess, I’d say Sophie said something, but I never discussed Braxton or Cora’s status with her. She’s picked up on something all on her own.”

Braxton shook his head, silently vowing to speak with Sophie later. “Let’s circle back to you and Macy.”

Liam turned, crossed the patio, and brought another empty pot over to the corner. “There is no me and Macy. She contacted me about catering something, I returned her call to tell her I couldn’t, and we started talking. Lasted all of five minutes and that’s the end of it.”

Braxton glanced at Zach.

“Stop it,” Liam growled. “You two are like a bunch of women. Quit looking for something that’s not there. I’m friends with Macy. We’re allowed to talk.”

Braxton was keeping his opinion to himself. He’d always had his suspicions about Liam and Macy, but the two never did more than dance around each other, so maybe there was nothing to see. Still, Liam would rather eat nails than talk on the phone, especially with a woman, so the fact that he’d called Macy back spoke volumes because he could’ve easily texted her.

Granted, if Liam had feelings for anyone he was good at hiding them. The man had always been a bit standoffish, but after the accident he did everything he could to close in on himself. When Zach had gone to prison for a year, Liam didn’t even make an attempt to visit him. To Braxton’s knowledge, Liam didn’t do relationships of any kind. Whatever demons he faced from his past, they were giants and Braxton had his own occupying his mind. While he cared for Liam and loved him, Braxton didn’t have the mental capacity to dig too deep into Liam’s heavy backstory.

Zach jerked up from his squatting position and pulled his cell from his pocket. Apparently, the vibrate setting is what sprang Mr. Moody into action. He gave the screen a brief glance before answering.

“Tell me he passed.” Zach cringed. “No, tell me he failed and we have to drive him everywhere and keep an eye on him.”

Liam snorted and shook his head as he packed the dirt into the pot around a freshly planted spray of blood grass. While Zach pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a groan, Braxton went around the patio area and picked up their trash, shoving it all inside a deep contractor bag. From the look on Zach’s face, Brock had passed his driver’s test. Poor Zach. No doubt he was already figuring up the insurance, another car, gas. He’d have Brock working even more to help pay off those added expenses.

Brock was exactly what Zach needed and Zach was exactly what Brock needed. The two couldn’t be more alike. Besides the eighteen-year age difference, the two could’ve been cloned. Brock was damn lucky Zach had taken him in, gone through the proper channels, and was now his legal guardian. A piece of Braxton’s heart broke thinking how cold and heartless Brock’s biological father had been. The man signed away his own son as carelessly as making out a grocery list. Braxton hated that for Brock, but the teen was in a much better place now and Zach could easily relate to the broken childhood.

Braxton shoved another empty container into the trash. Not all childhoods had to be broken to be bad. Braxton had parents who were married and a mother who adored him. It was his controlling father who had destroyed any happy childhood, any chance at a family life they could’ve had. Things were always strained, but toward the end, when Braxton kept trying to fix all the cracks in their relationships, to help calm the currents crashing through their home, his father had gotten violent, accusing Braxton of meddling, of trying to take over as man of the house.

When Braxton’s mother came to his defense, his father turned on her.

Swallowing the guilt, closing his eyes against the flashback of that horrendous day, Braxton wondered yet again if he’d actually caused his family’s downfall.

The moment Zach hung up, he dropped to the closest chair. Elbows resting on his knees, head dropped between his shoulders, he sat there silently gripping his phone between his hands.

“You do know that all sixteen-year-olds typically get their license, right?” Braxton asked. “It’s how things work. In two years he’ll vote, too.”

Zach swiped his hat off, raked a hand over his sweaty head, and slapped his hat on his knee. “Shut up.”

Liam crossed the patio and slapped Zach on the back. “Brock is a smart kid. He’s going to be fine and so are you. But you better act happy for him when he gets home or I’ll kick your ass. That kid is a teen boy and he’s finally gotten his first taste of freedom. He deserves for all of us to be happy and not automatically thinking the worst.”

Zach came back to his feet, shoved his hat back on, and shook his head. “It’s the fact he’s a teen boy that scares me. I was a teen boy, I know how they think. Cars, sex, booze. I think I’d rather have the toddler stage of parenting. I’m pretty sure I could handle toys being flushed down the toilet before I can handle this.”

Braxton laughed as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he cringed.

“Not again,” he muttered. Why did this woman have to harass him?

“Problem?” Zach asked, raising a brow. Braxton wanted to punch that smug smirk off his face.

“Kiss my ass,” Braxton replied before shoving the phone back into his pocket. “I had a moment of weakness one time and damn if I’m not still regretting it.”

“Better you than me,” Zach replied.

Evelyn Barkley was a divorcée who also happened to be Zach’s neighbor. She was blatantly horny. There was no other way to describe the woman who was constantly on the prowl. And in a time where Braxton wasn’t thinking clearly, after coming off a life-altering breakup, he’d lost his mind and taken Evelyn out . . . he may have stayed around for the proverbial nightcap, too.

Braxton didn’t regret many things, but giving this woman any attention was ranking high on his short list. He wasn’t a long-term man, not anymore. Not that Evelyn was looking for a relationship. No, she somehow got it into her head that he was her go-to booty call guy.

Hell. No.

“If you want to call her back, we’ll give you privacy,” Liam joked with a wink. “Don’t let us come between you and your lover.”

“She’s not my lover,” Braxton ground out. “And I don’t need any damn privacy. We’re not talking about my life here, we were talking about you and Macy and then Zach and the teen driver he’s responsible for.”

“Damn it.” Liam slapped down his hand onto the back of a wrought-iron chair. “There is no me and Macy. Lay off. Zach sees her more than me. He’s the one building her a house. Harass him.”

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