Page 12 of Without Bound
“I’ll be back in a few. Let me go pry my body out of my ruined hostess outfit.” Viv throws Nix one last heated look, then slides past Anais and into the house.
All eyes turn to Phoenix who still stands near the pool with his hands on his stomach and the remnants of a smile on his face.
“What?” he finally asks.
“You better sleep with one eye open tonight, buddy,” CeCe tells him. “And if I were you, I’d also wrap that head of yours in a kerchief unless you were planning on shaving your hair sometime soon.”
Nix’s face goes from light and laughter, to dread and sheer panic.
“She wouldn’t do that,” he says, his voice shaking just the smallest bit.
“You’re right. She probably wouldn’t. She’s more likely to shave the wordsViv’s Bitchover shaving it bald. She likes to make a statement.” Cat smiles over the rim of her margarita and the rest of us choke back our laughter.
Phoenix’s face grows slightly pale and he pushes out a quiet, “I’ll be right back,” as he shuffles quickly past us.
“Lord, I never thought I’d see the day my son would meet his match. But that wild thing bested him and put him right in his place.” Mama West cackles from her seat and everyone else goes back to enjoying the day.
With school about to start, we decided to spend another year together celebrating Dagen’s thirteenth birthday. She’ll have a party with her friends another weekend, but today is for family. And we’re all here.
Vaughan and Cami’s parents are here as they both now claim Dagen as their grand-daughter, along with Cami’s brother Drè, his wife Lisette and their two year old daughter, Madeliene. CeCe and Luca sit together on a lounge seat, her belly now protruding from her bikini. Luca smiles at her like she’s his world, and rubs his hand over where his son lays tucked safely.
Two weeks ago, Vivian bugged CeCe and Luca to their wits end about finding out if they were having a boy or girl despite them wanting to keep it a surprise. Viv also reminded Luca that he destroyed all their little girl dreams by marrying in secret, so he relented and caved to her demands. That’s how we came to know we’ll have a nephew in just a few short months.
Hayes is in the pool with Dagen, taking turns dunking each other. Cat whips up batch after batch of her famous margaritas, and Phoenix’s mom and Anais round out the guests. His sister, Sierra, went home to Slidell earlier in the week since she had to work.
I wasn’t here to witness the goodbye, but I heard it was a soggy mess when she left Anais. Phoenix said they acted as if they weren’tgoing to see each other in two weeks for his game, which is exactly what they’re doing.
Anais has been staying with Nix and Viv for the past few weeks, waiting to move into her dorm on campus. Viv offered up her condo that is currently serving as a rental, but Anais insisted she wanted the full college experience by living on campus. I’m sure she’ll change her mind once she realizes just how small her new living quarters are and the fact that she has to share it.
I have been lucky that I’ve been busy with my seniors and juniors workouts as we get ready for the school year to begin. It’s allowed me to stay away from Nix’s house as much as possible where normally we’d be spending every free moment all together. We’ve seen each other at Nix’s home games, but luckily there has been too much excitement to notice her.
That’s a bullshit lie. I notice her.Allthe time. But being around all our friends makes it a bit easier to focus on them and not how badly I want to feel her skin underneath my palm. Or how desperately I ache to taste her lips. How I wonder what it would be like to have that thick mane of hers, wrapped around my fist while I–
“Bishop,” I hear my name and snap out of my mental haze.
I look over to see the man who is more than just my best friend, holding a beer out to me.
“Where’d you go, man? I was calling your name,” Vaughan asks as I take the frosty bottle from his hands.
“Sorry, man. Just thinking about the babies that’ll be around when we celebrate Day’s birthday next year.”
Vaughan’s boyish crooked grin flashes and his eyes sparkle with joy. “Yeah. I can’t wait. All I’ve ever wanted was a family with Cami and now we have it. Cami, Day, me and one on the way. It’s wild.”
“Not to mention CeCe and Luca’s little boy, and I’m sure Viv and Nix won’t be too far behind.” A heaviness suddenly weighs on my heart when I think about my friends getting married and having their own families.
They’re moving on to the next stage of their life while I’m over here daydreaming about a girl who can never be mine.
“Yup. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you pull up the rear right behind them with your own baseball team.” Vaughan winks and taps his bottle on the lip of mine, causing the foam to rise and making me suck it down for dear life.
“Fucker,” I growl, which only makes him laugh. “Vaughan, I don’t even have a woman in my life. How the hell will I be having babies soon after y’all?”
“Aww, don’t be such a Debbie Downer. Your little lady is out there, just waiting for you to find her. Ya just gotta look.” He quirks a brow at me with a smile, but I don’t share his optimism.
“I don’t know about that. But I like your glass half full attitude.” I throw back my beer and when it comes away, my eyes land on the curves of a woman walking towards me.
Vaughan leans in and whispers, “That girl is going to be trouble. Phoenix is going to have his hands full with that one.”
I gulp hard and nod my head. Phoenix isn’t the only one who’s sure to have a hard time with Anais.
