Page 9 of Going Home

COLT: Baby theres a surprise for u when u get home - dont be mad

LEX: Uh oh

COLT: I called reinforcements for the house - ull be set

COLT: O and Jolie says she likes our toy collection

Lex looks at the last text as she waits at the stop sign by the house and gasps. She hadn't even thought about what Jolie and Bodie would find when they packed up the place. She was just grateful to have someone else help out.

COLT: She says Bodie saw nothing but shes going to the sex toy store now

COLT: If only she new ur favorite toy was my tongue

Laughing, she sighs and continues driving until she pulls into the driveway. She could use Colt's tongue right about now to forget everything. But all thoughts of her husband's mouth on her pussy disappear the moment she sees a furniture store truck with two men carrying a box with a picture of a bunk bed on the side. It's the only truck in the driveway, which is not what she expected to see at all.

"What the hell?" she mutters as she gets out and follows the men inside. Colt directs them down the hallway room, and Lex stops dead in her tracks. "Uh, Colt?"

Her husband turns, his man bun a bit mussed from whatever he managed to do during the move, and he pulls her back onto the porch. "Baby—"

"Please tell me the bunk beds were ordered for Noah because he was upset about moving and wanted a new bed. Not because the two teenagers you left with this morning to bring home are sitting on our couch with our children."

The house, from what little she saw, looked set up. Even pictures on the wall where they used to hang. Whatever reinforcements he called in seemed to do a decent job.

"I know I should have talked to you about it first, but I couldn't leave them at that house."

Blinking, her chest tightens, and she knows she's on the verge of a full breakdown between the mental and emotional overload from today. Taking in two teenagers on top of everything threatens to push her over the edge of the cliff she's teetering on. "It's their home."

"Baby, I'll show you the pictures I took, but that asshole stepfather of theirs grabbed Lucas and slammed him against the wall. Told Hailey to go play in traffic, and he threatened them with a punishment. Not because they were gone but because they were being brought home by me. Their dad's dead, Lucas's mom is a drug addict who was passed out on the fucking couch, Hailey's mom killed herself, and there were maggots moving the mounds of trash and mold in that place. Ty's apartment looked spotless compared to this place with a stack of goddamned needles next to the couch."

Tyson Reeves was nothing short of a slob before he fell in love. Not only is he a crazy conspiracy theorist, the mold and fungus he lived with in the apartment at the clubhouse made him even worse. How he managed to clean the place without using a blowtorch, Lex will never know.

"Colt—"

"Look, they're teenagers, right? Hailey's graduating this year, and then she'll be off to college and on her own. Lucas only has a few years left before he graduates. I bought the bunk beds for the guest room so they could stay together."

Sighing, she looks past them at Hailey playing with Calla on her lap, keeping her distracted and out of the way of everyone. Lucas heads out the sliding door with Noah, both of them laughing, and she shakes her head. "That won't work."

"We'll also get free childcare. I mean, think about it, baby. They'll live here like Bodie did with us in Summerville."

"That'll be nice, but that's not what I'm talking about."

He cups her face, his large hands feeling like a hug she hadn't realized she needed, and she leans her head into his palm. "Lex, I couldn't leave them there. I know we should have talked about it first, but—"

"The bunk beds need to go in Noah's room, and Lucas should stay with him. Hailey needs her own room because she's a teenage girl. Sharing a room with her brother can't happen."

"You're not mad?"

Letting out another sigh, she gazes into his eyes. How can she be mad at a man with a heart this big? "If you think it was too bad to leave them there, I trust your judgement."

His eyes narrow as he finally seems to notice her. "You've been crying."

"It's been... a day."

"Can you tell me what's going on now? What we had to move back for?"

Tears fill her eyes as she holds back her sob. God, she wants to. "I can't. It's... it's not my story to tell, but I really hate this person for asking me to keep this from you."

"How bad is it?"

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