Page 23 of My One
“Hey.”I’d smiled at him.
“So, how was it?”
My grin had widened.“Amazing.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, besides the fact that Nic wants a pig now.”
Easton had slammed his locker shut.“A pig?”
I’d shook my head, and we started to walk out of the locker room.“Yeah. We went swimming with pigs in the Bahamas, and now she wants a fucking teacup pig or some shit.”
“Are you going to get her one?”
“Fuck no. If I get her a pig, she’ll want a goat, and before I know it, we’re living upstate in a fucking barn.”
Easton had chuckled.“Ah. The married life.”
We’d stepped onto two treadmills next to each other.“Yeah, you’re next.”
“Shit. I’m not taking Brooke to the Caribbean. She’ll want a farm.”
“No?”We both sped up our machines.“Where are you planning on going?”
“I’m thinking Paris.”
“France?”I questioned.
“No, Texas.”He’d given me a side eye as we’d started to jog to warm up.“Yes. France.”
“Damn. That’s gonna be sweet.”
“Yeah.”He’d smiled. “I figured I couldn’t do a cruise since you did one, and while Hawaii is alluring, I thought to myself, this is Brooke. This is the woman who had a fucking tumor and who has never been treated like a queen. Figured I’d take her to see all that Paris has to offer. Stuff ourselves with pastries and wine and shit.”
“Yeah, sounds amazing. But first, we have to have your bachelor party.”
Easton had looked over at me.“And what do you have planned?”
I’d grinned.“I’m not telling you, and you know I can keep a secret.”
Easton had known about the cruise since the week after I’d proposed to Nic. I’d held that secret for months. At the time, I had no idea what we would be doing for his bachelor party. Back in the day, Easton and I used to shoot pool to have fun, so I’d thought we could have a low-key bachelor party for him like I’d had for mine. We were in our thirties. Getting drunk and dancing with random chicks just wasn’t our thing anymore. Little did we know, that night of pool would become known as the night we were almost scammed by a pool shark. That shit was crazy.
Over the last several months, I still hadn’t heard from my parents. Christmas had come and gone, birthdays, and my and Nic’s one-year anniversary, but no call.
Fuck. Them.
My wife, Easton, his parents, Brooke, and Cheyenne were my family. If my blood family didn’t want to acknowledge me, then I would focus on the people who actually wanted me in their lives.
Nic and I had decided to put starting a family on the back burner for now. We wanted to enjoy married life, and she’d stay on birth control. If she got pregnant again, it was meant to be.
Easton and Brooke got married and went off to Paris as Easton had planned. Halo was booming. Even my man Gary seemed happier, and I thought that had to do with Brooke’s sister, Bailee. Both of them denied having any sort of relationship, and Baileewasliving in Boston. Even Cheyenne was excited about starting high school and hoping to make the varsity softball team.
Life was good for all of us.
Though that quickly changed.
Two months after Brooke and Easton got married, Brooke got the news that she had another tumor. This time was far worse than the time before, and there was a moment when we weren’t sure if she’d lose her arm. Luckily, the doctors were able to remove the tumor and save her arm. They did, however, have to remove some ribs and cut a nerve and shit. She wasn’t doing well with the pain, so Easton got her some weed, which seemed to help. Over the months of her recovery, we didn’t spend much time together. Brooke needed rest, so I caught up with Easton at Halo and during our weekly dinners at the Crawfords’.
