Wild Tendy (IceCats Book 2) Read online

  I watch emotion slip over Aviva’s face as she cups Hannah’s little hand. I want to know what she is thinking, but not here. Not now. I rock Carter back and forth as Chandler comes into the room. “Hey, man. Oh hey, Callie!”

  His brows are at his hairline as he looks from Callie to Aviva and then to me.

  Callie, none the wiser, grins back at him. “Hey, Chandler!”

  It’s like it all clicks in his head. “Aviva is Callie’s sister.”

  Aviva waves. “Yup, that’s me.”

  “And you guys came with Nico.”

  They both nod, and Aviva asks, “Is that okay?”

  “More than okay. Just putting together the pieces,” he says, heading toward the kitchen. “It’s great to have you guys.”

  Aviva makes a face as she looks up at me. I shrug and follow him into the kitchen. “Dinner almost ready?”

  Chandler nods, stirring some rice. “So, Aviva?”

  “Aviva.”

  “I see it worked out.”

  “Yeah,” I say against Carter’s temple. He’s starting to fall asleep. “We’re together.”

  He gives me a sideways look. “Together? You’ve only known her a month.”

  “Yeah, and I think you and Amelia got together quicker.”

  He scoffs. “We hooked up in college.”

  “And you only knew her for a little bit then.”

  He holds up his palms at me. “Not judging. Just saying.”

  “Saying what?” I ask, and he glances back over at me.

  “Don’t use her to fill the void that Shelli left.”

  I scrunch up my face. “She has nothing to do with Shelli.”

  Chandler nods. “I hope not, ’cause I hear she’s a good woman. She loves that girl so damn much. And you gotta remember, you’re not dating just Aviva. You’re dating Callie too. That’s two hearts that will break if you decide—”

  “I’m not gonna decide anything like that,” I snap, holding his gaze. “Don’t do that to me. I like her. A lot. And I love Callie. I wouldn’t hurt them.”

  “Good,” Chandler says softly. “I want this to work for you. I want this to be it, because I want you to be happy, bro.” He clutches my shoulder, holding my gaze. “You’re a damn good dude, my best friend, and that’s all I want for you. If she’s it, then I’m nothing but supportive.”

  I swallow hard. I feel guilty all of a sudden. This guy has been my best friend for years, and I told Callie before I told him. This guy cares for me. Cares for my happiness as I do his, and I’m too much of a coward to tell him the truth. I’d rather he think I’m an asshole who fucks around than that there is something not normal about me. But what if Callie is right? That everyone will believe it’s my superpower? That’s silly. I’m not a kid. I’m an adult, but the guilt is real.

  “I love you, dude,” I find myself saying, and Chandler grins.

  “I love you too, man.” He smacks my arm and goes back to stirring the rice. I feel a hand slide up my back, and when I look to the side, it’s Aviva.

  “You guys having a bro moment?”

  Chandler snorts. “Totally. We have the best bromance.”

  She smiles. “That’s wonderful,” she says before leaning up to kiss my jaw. “Does he approve of me?”

  I scoff as Chandler laughs before he speaks. “It’s not you who needs the approving. It’s him. He’s wild as all get-out.”

  Aviva’s face brightens. “Yeah, but he’s also great.”

  Chandler looks between us and then nods. “Yeah, he’s okay.”

  He leaves the kitchen, and I roll my eyes. “He’s a pain.”

  “I just got the third degree.”

  “From Amelia?”

  “Yup,” she says, still smiling, so it must have not bothered her. “She said you’re a handful. I didn’t disagree.”

  “Why does she hate me? I love her,” I say in a teasing matter, but Aviva smacks my arm.

  “She just wanted to make sure I was happy.”

  I lean my head on Carter’s and ask, “What did you say?”

  She sighs slowly as she places her hand on Carter’s back. “Very much so.”

  As our lips meet, my eyes drift shut. Yeah, it’s new and sparkly, this relationship of ours, but damn if she isn’t the beginning to my happiness.

  Chapter Twenty

  Aviva

  “Why am I nervous?”

  Jaylin looks over at me from the table where she’s sitting. She has paperwork spread out, and her brow is furrowed. Dustin Sr. is coming in to discuss why my rent is now two hundred dollars more and why he told my dad. I don’t know why my stomach is churning, but it is. I knew never to trust that man, but I had no choice. My mom rented the place way before I knew anything about business. If I had my way, I’d buy the building outright and flip him the bird.

  “I don’t know. You have no reason to be. I’m going to ruin him.”

  I sigh as a smile pulls at my lips. My best friend is a badass.

  “How’s the car doing?”

  I cover the olive bin and grab the cucumber one. “Good, thank you. I love it.”

  “Awesome. It’s a good car.”

  I nod. “Nico thought he was gonna give me his red sports car.”

  Her eyes widen. “You should have taken it!”

  “No way. I can’t imagine myself in something like that. Callie, though… She already decided she would look fabulous.”

  Jaylin laughs. “That girl is a mess. Why did he want to give you that?”

  “I guess he’s getting a truck. He says he’ll be better protected from crazy women drivers,” I say dryly, and she snorts with laughter.

  “So, things are going well?”

  I’m beaming, and I don’t even try to hide it. “They are. He’s wonderful. Direct as all hell, but wonderful.”

  “What do you mean, direct?”

  “I don’t know. He doesn’t think. He just does.” I shake my head, a grin on my face. “He goes on these big stream-of-consciousness bursts of stuff that don’t even make sense, but he’s telling me. Like, last night, I guess his cup thing shifted during the game, and his ball fell out?” I start to giggle, remembering how silly he sounded. “So he goes on this long ramble about how he was worried he was going to lose it, and then he wouldn’t be able to have kids, and then he would be known as One-Nut Buck, and I wouldn’t want to sleep with him because he only has one ball. I swear, he is so silly.”

  My face hurts from grinning, and I know Jaylin notices. “Aw, someone is smitten.”

  I shrug. “I guess. I don’t know.”

  “You do know. You like him.”

  I bite my lip. Should I admit it? “I do. A lot.”

  “Good. You need someone who makes you feel good,” she says sweetly, and I know she means it.

  I think she’s my biggest cheerleader when it comes to my bliss. For so long, I haven’t cared, but now I do. I feel like I’m chasing it now. Craving it. Since Nico is gone and we only have the phone to communicate, I look for things around me to make me feel good. Usually after a long day of work, I go to bed. But the past couple nights, I’ve gone to watch Callie at the gym. We made cookies last night and had our version of Netflix and chill. Stranger Things and cookies. It was the best, and it was what I wanted to do. I wished Nico were there, but I was still happy. It’s all so crazy. All it took was for someone to come along and show me that I can be happy even with this shittastic life of mine. I don’t know how it all happened so quickly, but it has.

  I’m smitten.

  “He asked me to be his girlfriend,” I say, and she looks over at me, her brow perked.

  “Let me guess. You said no?”

  “No. I actually said yes.” I pause. “Well, I didn’t disagree or agree. I just said I like being wanted, but that was my way of saying yes.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Because being direct is so hard.”

  I scoff. “Not for him. I wish I could be like that. I always second-guess myself.”