Summer Nights: Push It Forward & Hold Your Horses Read online

  “No, he doesn’t get to make you feel bad. Not about this. There was no reason for you to think it was him this time. You had no idea he was even in town for fuck’s sake,” he growled as he wiped the tears from my face. “He doesn’t deserve your tears. Or anything of yours anymore. You’re mine, and he’s going to learn that lesson very soon. Now go wash up while I make a couple of calls, okay?”

  I searched his eyes for any sign that his anger was directed at me since I kinda felt like this whole situation was my fault. If I hadn’t been an idiot and dated the loser in the first place, we wouldn’t be going through this now. I was relieved when I realized that Drake was pissed for me and not at me. He wasn’t looking at me any differently than he normally did.

  “Love you,” I whispered to him before turning to walk upstairs and wash my face.

  I wasn’t gone very long, and Drake was on the phone when I came back downstairs.

  “Fuck, Nico. I finally have a lead on who’s been messing around with Alexa’s head. Turns out her ex-boyfriend is back in town and Jackson thinks this is exactly the type of shit he would pull. But things are escalating and I need to move fast before he has a chance to get at her,” he grumbled.

  Drake paused to listen to whatever was being said on the other end of the call. “Godammit! I know you get where I’m coming from here, man. What I want to do is hunt this bastard down and beat the shit out of him. Rip his balls off and shove them down his throat. It shouldn’t be too hard to find him. Give me five minutes with him and this could all be over in a heartbeat.”

  Whatever he heard before the call ended didn’t seem to make Drake any happier since he threw his phone against the wall instead of just hanging up. “Fuck!”

  I ran over and picked up the pieces to see if it was salvageable, but there was no way his phone was ever going to work again. “Looks like we need to make a stop at the Verizon store first thing to get you a new phone,” I pointed out unnecessarily, looking for a way to end the silence.

  “Shit, babe. Sorry about that.”

  “No big deal,” I reassured him. “Throw as many phones as you want. It’s not like I haven’t killed my fair share of phones, too.”

  My reminder of my bad luck with cell phones made him chuckle and lightened the mood a little. “Yeah, you better watch out or I’ll take your place as the phone assassin. Only your preferred method is death by drowning.”

  And he was right. If there was a body of water near my phone and me, I had to be super careful. I could personally vouch that the bag-of-rice method of drying out a phone only worked so many times before it just gave up the ghost.

  “You better watch out or the next one I drop into a glass of ice water will be yours,” I warned him.

  He smirked in response as he was reminded of the last phone I’d killed. “I’ll make sure not to let you use mine the next time you’re drunk and I make you drink some. Or at least I’ll grab the phone out of the water instead of watching you stare at it like you have no idea what you’re seeing. Damn, that shit was funny.”

  I smacked his arm in response. “Yeah, until the next morning when I realized my phone was dead and I thought I would have to make it until Monday without one.”

  “Only you didn’t because I took care of it,” he reminded me. “Just like I’ll take care of my phone this time. And I’ll take care of this mess with Brad. I’ll always take care of you, Alexa. You know that, right?”

  My heart practically burst at the seams when I saw how serious Drake was. If I hadn’t already known that he would do just about anything for me, his intense stare would certainly have gotten the point across now. I nodded my head and sighed deeply at the realization that I didn’t have to be scared of anything with Drake at my side.

  chapter 7

  drake

  By the end of the day, I’d been able to confirm that Alexa’s ex was back in town. His parents had moved within the last year, so nobody knew why he was here. I didn’t like that we’d lost leverage against him with them having moved. He’d probably thought he didn’t have anything to lose when he’d decided to come back because the Silvers couldn’t threaten their home since it was sold. Little did he know that my family’s reach spread much farther. If I wanted to destroy him financially¸ there wasn’t anything that would stand in my way.

  He was booked into a local hotel, but nobody had seen him all day. I figured he’d been spooked when he’d recognized Aubrey at the bank. His choice to get out of there right away instead of stopping to talk to her had made it pretty damn clear that he was the one behind everything, too. Now I just needed to find him. Who knew how difficult that would be in a town this small?

  Alexa wasn’t super happy with me because I’d insisted that she stay close to home today. I couldn’t shake the feeling that things were about to come to a head, and with all the improvements to the security system here, I felt like this was the safest place for her. I knew she felt like I was going overboard, but if I could have gotten away with building a ten-foot gated fence around the house, I would have done that too. Then she’d have a reason to feel like I’d gone too far.

  I glanced across the bed at her, relieved that she seemed to be sleeping so soundly. She’d tossed and turned every night so far, but tonight, she’d fallen fast asleep in my arms like she didn’t have a worry in the world. Maybe she was finally getting it and knew that she would always be safe with me. No matter what.

  Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like I was going to get much rest tonight. I was too jazzed up from knowing that I’d set things in motion to bring this trouble with Brad to an end. I figured that the call my dad had made to his parents would either push him over the edge and get him to do something stupid or get him to back off completely. Either option was fine by me as long as this ended with Alexa safe and sound beside me.

  I had finally drifted off to sleep when the floodlight I’d had installed at the front porch turned on, quickly followed by a pounding at the door.

  “Alexa!” I heard someone bellow. “Open up!”

  Lexi rolled over in her sleep and mumbled under her breath at the noise. I quickly launched myself out of bed and headed downstairs. It sounded like I’d finally get the chance to meet her bastard of an ex-boyfriend after all.

  I wasn’t fast enough, and he pounded on the door again like a crazy man. I chuckled darkly as I realized that this was going to work perfectly since the cameras would have turned on the second he’d stepped onto the porch. I disabled the alarm and opened the door.

  “Dude, this is not cool. You’re going to wake Alexa up, and you’ve already stolen enough sleep from her this week. Quiet the fuck down,” I growled softly at him with a glance up the stairs.

  “Fuck you,” he slurred. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you better get Alexa’s ass down here now. Fucking bitch thinks she can just mess up my whole life.”

  “No way, man. It’s the middle of the night and she’s sleeping. Even if she weren’t, there’s no way I’m gonna let some guy call my woman a bitch and then let him into her house to talk to her,” I said, standing with my arms crossed in front of me. I made sure to block his way into the house. I wasn’t going to make this easy for him. Not even a little bit.

  “Get outta my fucking way,” he said as he shoved at me, barely moving me an inch.

  “Not gonna happen. Why don’t you walk away, cool down and come back tomorrow when she’s awake and you’re prepared to act like a reasonable adult?” I offered. “You smell like a brewery. Don’t do something you’ll regret later because you’ve had too much to drink to know better.”

  “Fuck yeah, I’ve been drinking. She’s out to ruin me. Just because I got some on the side back when we were dating, she can’t let it go. I tried making amends. Left her roses, her favorite. Did that soften her up? No—she had to call in the big dogs to go after my parents instead of just forgiving me,” he rambled on drunkenly.

  “Drake? What’s going on?” I heard Alexa murmur sle
epily from behind me.

  I swiveled my head to find her standing at the bottom of the stairs. At least she’d had the good sense to throw one of my button-down shirts on over her nightie.

  “Nothing for you to worry about, baby. Go back upstairs,” I answered, turning towards her, , giving Brad the chance to push past me into the house. And now his ass was mine.

  “What the fuck, Alexa? You’re too good to talk to me now? I left town like you wanted me to before. Why do you have to be such a bitch about me coming back now?” Brad lit into her.

  “Me? A bitch?” she gasped. “I didn’t even know you were back until today.”

  “Well you certainly didn’t welcome me back with open arms. And you moved damn fast to have your friends threaten me again,” he accused. “You need to call your fucking dogs off. I’m tired of the Silvers sticking their noses into my business just because Jackson wants in your panties,” he ranted.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I did no such thing!” she argued as she stepped closer to us.

  I shook my head and took a couple of steps to place myself between her and Brad as she paused at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Then who the hell called my parents to warn them about me backing off and leaving you alone?” he yelled.

  I heard Alexa groan as I turned to him to answer for her. I guessed now she knew some of what I’d been up to today.

  “That would be me.”

  “What, you’ve got a new douchebag in your life who can’t stand the fact that you gave it up to me?” he taunted.

  “The douche is going to be her husband, so why don’t you stop talking to my woman and hash this out with me, man?” I demanded.

  “Whatever, dude. She was my woman first, and if I want to talk to her then I will,” he argued as he tried to get past me again to reach Alexa.

  “I don’t give a fuck who the hell you think you are or what you once were to her. Make no mistake. She’s mine now, and you’re not talking to her like this,” I said as I pushed him back.

  He stumbled a little and came up swinging. It was the perfect excuse for me to do exactly what I’d wanted from the second he’d knocked on the door. No, scratch that. From the minute I’d heard about the way he’d hurt my girl back when they were dating. Now he’d just given me more reason to beat his ass into the ground with his actions over the last week. So I laid him out with an uppercut to his chin. One punch and he went down. Fucking sissy.

  “I warned you to stay away from her, but you just wouldn’t listen. Would you?” I asked as I leaned over and gripped his shirt in my hands.

  “Who are you to tell me what to do?”

  “You really are dumb,” I answered, punching him in the face again. “Didn’t you hear me earlier? I’m the man who makes sure nothing bad touches her anymore. The one who’s going to marry her and take care of her for the rest of her life. Clearly you aren’t getting that, so maybe I can knock some sense into you, dipshit.”

  He struggled, kicking out and swiping my legs out from me. I made sure I landed on top of him, driving a knee into his side as I went down.

  “Umph,” he groaned. “Get off me!”

  “Stay. The. Fuck. Away. From. My. Wife.” Each word was punctuated with a punch in his ribs.

  Brad was gasping for air underneath me, his arms wrapped around his torso for protection. “I was just trying to make amends, man.”

  I leaned down to glare into his eyes. “Then you’re more of a dumbass than I thought you were. If you wanted to make up for the shit you’d pulled in the past, you should have done it face to face without scaring her half to death with hang-up phone calls and mystery flowers.”

  Brad glanced over at her, and I forced his head my way so he was staring at me instead. “I didn’t mean to scare her. I just kept losing my nerve when I heard her voice. And I figured she’d know who the flowers were from. She never dated anyone else after me. Who else would have given her flowers?”

  “Then you missed something big, dude. She is dating someone else. And I don’t care why you were here or what you were trying to do. Alexa isn’t your concern anymore. She’s mine. If you know what’s good for you and your family, you will stay far, far away from her. You got that?”

  I stepped away from him, confident that he finally got what I was saying. I was breathing heavily, worried that I’d just scared the shit out of Alexa by beating the crap out of him in front of her until she came up behind me and rested her head on my back. Her arms sneaked around my waist.

  “My hero,” she whispered, making me feel about ten feet tall.

  I should have known my girl wouldn’t scare easily.

  chapter 8

  alexa

  What the hell just happened? I couldn’t believe that everything was over. Brad had been led away in handcuffs. Drake had to answer some questions since he’d beaten the crap out of him, but since Brad had come onto my property without my permission and refused to leave, I was pretty sure we didn’t have much to worry about.

  Everyone had left, and it was just the two of us. I felt like there was a giant elephant in the room because there was no way I could un-hear what Drake had just yelled at Brad while they were fighting. And I wasn’t even sure if he realized he’d called me his wife. Or maybe he did since he had still been pretty calm when he’d said that he was going to be my husband.

  “So,” I said hesitantly. “Your wife, huh?”

  “Fuck,” he growled and stomped out the front door to his car, totally freaking me out. He reached into the glove box and grabbed something from inside. He stormed back up the stairs, slamming the door behind him. “He might have fucked up my plan, but we aren’t doing this down here. Not like this. Upstairs,” he ordered.

  I shook my head in confusion, and before I knew it, Drake had picked me up in a fireman’s hold and was marching up the stairs.

  “Drake!” I yelped.

  “Calm down, baby. I’ve got you,” he answered with a pat on my ass.

  As soon as we made it to my room, he tossed me on the bed. I leaned up on an elbow to find him dropping down onto his knees at the edge of the bed and pulling a small, blue jewelry box out of his pocket.

  “Ohimigod,” I breathed out.

  Drake glanced down at the floor before looking up and locking his eyes with mine. I knew he loved me. He had no problem showing me how much I meant to him each and every day in so many different ways. But his feelings had never shown more clearly than right here, right now, as his love blazed from his dark eyes.

  “This isn’t how I planned this at all,” he started. “I wanted this moment to be romantic. Something you could tell our children and grandchildren about as we grow old together. But I don’t think I can wait to ask, so I guess they’re going to end up with a whole different story when we share how I popped the question.”

  I giggled in response as he pulled a gorgeous ring out of the box and pushed it onto my finger. “I don’t recall hearing any questions being popped,” I teased.

  He shook his head at me before responding. “Alexa, will you be my wife? Let me love you and protect you for the rest of my days? Wear my ring so that nobody will ever doubt that you’re mine?”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, worried that this was just a heat-of-the-moment decision.

  “Lexi, baby. I bought this ring months and months ago,” he said as he rubbed his finger across the ring that was nestled on my finger. “If I’d thought you were ready, you would have been wearing it at Christmas.”

  “You’ve had it that long?” I asked, shocked to hear that he’d been thinking about marriage when I’d had no idea.

  “Longer,” he answered.

  I smiled at him with tears running down my cheeks and nodded.

  “I don’t recall hearing an answer,” he razzed me.

  “Yes!” I shrieked as I threw myself off the bed and into his arms. “A million times yes.”

  Hold Your Horses

  Rochelle Paige

  prologue
/>   charlotte

  I watched Kaylie as she scoured the internet in search of an apartment for her and Jackson’s move to New York and couldn’t help but feel a little irritated at her excitement. I knew it made me a bitch, but I just couldn’t stop myself from feeling this way. Graduation was just around the corner, and she had a plan for what she was going to do, where she was going to do it, and who she was going to be with while she was doing it. At the start of the semester, she’d had no clue, but everything had just fallen into place for her since she met Jackson. He’d worked hard to make sure that it had done so.

  Don’t get me wrong. I was beyond thrilled that Kaylie had found Jackson. That he had managed to break down her walls and get her to see that life was worth living again. I wanted the best that life had to offer for my best friend. I really did. I just wanted it for myself too.

  I couldn’t wrap my head around the decision I needed to make. After four long years, Shane couldn’t wait to get me back home so that we could finally be together without the distance that had separated us for so long. And I wanted to be with him so much. Both of us had put a lot of effort into making sure our relationship survived while I was away at school. And now that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, I just wasn’t sure that I wanted to go back home and live my life in our small Tennessee hometown.

  Moving there the summer before my senior year of high school had been difficult for me, but my parents had to do what was right for our whole family. My parents had inherited the bar from a great-uncle we hardly even knew, my Nanny’s brother. And boy, doesn’t that make us really Southern, calling my grandma Nanny because her name is Annie. As if having six siblings didn’t make us hillbilly enough when I was growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee. When my parents found out he had left them a huge, rambling house along with the bar, it was a no-brainer for them. They moved us all a little farther south to a much smaller town where everyone knew each other because their families had lived there forever. And I got to spend my final year of high school feeling like an outsider before I headed out of town for college.