Page 2 of 12 Months of Mayhem

Chapter One

Dalton

“Until I Found You” — Stephen Sanchez

After both Ryian and I moved back to the New Orleans area and ran into each other, I truly thought we were destined for a second chance. Kind of like in those books she used to read when we were in high school. It had been weeks before Christmas, and to me, it had seemed like a sign.

Especially after finding out she’d had my son—the same one I’d been having dreams and visions of for over a year. Though at the time, I hadn’t realized he was my son.

Though Ryian and I had wild chemistry, we were also both extremely stubborn. The last couple of months had been filled with some crazy sex and a lot of head-butting. She was insisting on taking things slow as far as our relationship went because of Anson.

My argument was that Anson knew I was his father, and I knew I wanted to be with her. Despite the years that had passed and the angry impulsiveness I’d initially experienced, my feelings for her were just as strong as they were before she disappeared.

That left me thinking that she was the one who actually wasn’t sure she wanted to be with me.

Valentine’s Day was coming up. Time to pull out all the stops.

I had been gathering all of her favorite things. What started out as a smallish basket had now become a laundry basket. It was full of so much stuff that I told myself I might need to up my gym workout to carry it.

“This is getting a little ridiculous,” Dallas muttered as he stood there watching me try to cram Ryian’s favorite gummy bears in with the rest of the shit. “Valentine’s Day is still two weeks away—and she’s not your girlfriend.”

With a scowl, I rearranged the items and didn’t make eye contact. “Fuck off.”

“Whatever, man. You do you,” he replied. “Is she bringing Anson by tonight?”

My brother had developed a fondness for my son. Yet it had nothing on the love I had for him. It was crazy that I’d only known of his existence for about two months. He was the coolest little kid I’d ever met. Then there was the fact that we were so much alike it was a little scary.

“No, she’s working until eleven tonight because someone is out sick. I’m running over to her mom’s to grab him now. I should’ve driven my truck to the shop so I could’ve gone straight to get him. But I wasn’t anticipating my client having a panic attack that set us back almost an hour. Wanna ride with?”

“Wish I could, but Dexter is coming over to watch the game.”

My brother was a huge hockey fan, and the Austin Amurs was his favorite team. Turned out, Dexter was a fan too. Then again, Dex was raised up in Minnesota playing hockey as a kid so that was no surprise. He’s actually friends with one of the players on the Amurs. I couldn’t remember which one, though.

During the time I’d lived in Montana, I’d become a little bit of a fan myself.

“No worries.” I tossed a towel over the top of the basket so Anson wasn’t tempted to dig into it when he got here. Valentine’s Day was Ryian’s favorite holiday—or it used to be anyway. I wanted it to be perfect. “Okay, I’m out then. We’ll be back in a bit. Want me to stop by and pick up some stuff for dinner?”

“Sounds good.” He opened the new fridge I’d bought and pulled out a beer. The house was still a work in progress, but it was coming along. I’d hoped that Ryian and Anson would be living there with me, but she’d dug in her pretty little heels. They were still living at her mom’s.

I grabbed my keys and went outside.

As I opened the door to my truck, I was momentarily blinded, and all my muscles seemed to freeze. The scene that unfolded before my eyes had my dick twitching in my jeans.

Skin on skin, her hands slid up my sides as her lips trailed kisses down my abdomen. I was vaguely aware of the trickle of sweat that ran down my temple and along my jaw, but locked in my vision, there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

As she inched lower, I grabbed the headboard. Then she lifted her head with a wicked grin, and I roared in disbelief. My visions weren’t always clear, and I couldn’t tell who she was, but I definitely knew that it wasn’t Ryian.

What the fuck?

As the me in the vision reached out to lovingly touch her face, I was snapped back to reality. My stomach churned at the thought of being with someone other than Ryian. The fact that it didn’t seem like I wanted to be there didn’t make it any better. No way was I letting that shit happen.

Shaken to my core, I climbed into the driver’s seat and backed out of the driveway. By the time I reached Ryian’s mom’s, I had calmed down. I parked in the hardware store parking lot and went in the back door.

The bell rang out, and Ralph looked up from where he was setting up an end-cap display. In greeting, he gave me a wide grin. “Dalton. You here for that little hellion you created?”

“Dad!” I heard shouted from around the corner, followed by the slap of shoes on the concrete floor, and I chuckled. The blond-haired boy in question barreled into me so hard I actually stumbled back half a step. After quickly recovering, I scooped him up.

“Have you been trouble for Gigi and Mr. Ralph?” I asked him with forced sternness. He was so damn cute I really had a hard time getting after him. It was something I was working on.

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