Juicy Rebound (IceCats Book 1) Read online

  Chandler is doing just that.

  Before I realize what I’m saying, I whisper, “Will you come home with me?”

  “Come home with you?”

  “Stay at my mom’s with me? As my boyfriend.”

  His hold on me tightens as he presses his nose to mine. “I’d love that very much.”

  “Me too.”

  “You know what my Christmas wish is?”

  “You still have Christmas wishes?” I tease, and he laughs.

  “Hey, my mom spoils me.”

  “No, I did not know that,” I deadpan. “I still don’t know how I feel about her washing and folding the clothes I left at your house.”

  He laughs loudly. “You’re grateful ’cause if I had done it, that white shirt of yours would be pink.”

  I snort as he nuzzles my neck. “Fine, give me your Christmas wish.”

  “To have the hottest date at your brother’s wedding.”

  “So you’re taking Shelli?”

  When he bites my neck, I cry out but laugh at the same time. “While Shelli is one hell of a spitfire, she isn’t the one I want to take.”

  “Then who?”

  He nibbles my neck. “You.”

  “Me?”

  “Only you.”

  His words shake me to my core and stun me. Two simple words completely knock the breath out of me. I know he means them, and they’re a promise.

  A promise he’ll never break.

  “I guess it’s a good thing my dress is backless.”

  “I do love your back.”

  “And I won’t be able to wear a bra.”

  “I love when you free the boobs.”

  I grin huge, laughter bubbling in my throat. “What am I going to do with you?”

  When he takes my jaw in his hand, turning my head to meet his gaze halfway, our eyes lock.

  “Love me.”

  God, he makes me swoon.

  “Done.”

  “Done,” he says back right before he kisses me.

  Nothing else seems to matter. Not the fact that my cousin beat up my ex. Not that I’m about to take my boyfriend home to my insane family. Not that my brother very well may beat up his best friend, the one I have fallen hard for in just a few months—which may mean I am absolutely insane.

  Yeah, none of that matters because Chandler is kissing me.

  And he loves me.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chandler

  “Don’t be mad.”

  “I’m not mad,” she snaps, but she is slamming the pots on the stove pretty hard. “It’s just very disappointing that I don’t get you for holidays—”

  “Mom, we’re coming to the house for Christmas morning with you guys since Amelia’s family does Christmas on Christmas Eve.”

  She glares. “I wasn’t done talking.”

  I blow out a breath to keep from pulling my hair out. My father is lying back in the easy chair with a shit-eating grin on his face. He probably thinks I’m not the favorite in the house anymore. Little does he know, I’ll always be my mom’s favorite. Even when I want to spend every waking and sleeping moment with Amelia.

  God, I love her.

  My heart honestly can’t handle the way I feel for her. She stuns me with a look. When she laughs, I feel it in my soul. And when her lips touch mine, I feel as if I’ve been sent straight to heaven. It’s absolutely insane. I’d thought I loved Lana, but it doesn’t even come close to what I feel for Amelia. Then again, I always knew she was special.

  My mom points her spoon at me as she goes on. “When you were married to that train wreck, it upset me so much that you wanted to spend the holidays with her and her parents. But now, you’ll be with Amelia and her family, and it’s really hard to be upset because I love all those people. Especially Amelia.”

  “Mom, I know Mrs. Justice would love to have you guys over. I just need to ask, but I have to wait till I’m there.”

  Mom furrows her brow. “Why?”

  I shake my head as I tap my spoon against the table. “She was going to stay with us, but she was worried what her family would say. So now she’s bringing me there, and she’s still worried what they’ll say.”

  My dad sits up from his chair, groaning. His hip is still hurting from Thanksgiving. “Why is she worried?”

  “’Cause of her last marriage. She rushed into it and got stuck.”

  Mom leans on the counter. “How so?”

  I look down at the table as the anger bubbles inside me once more. It wasn’t even my disaster of a marriage, and it still fucks with me. How someone could put their hands on Amelia, not to mention hurt her mentally, is beyond me. She was so outgoing, so comfortable in her skin in college, but now she struggles. With each day that passes, I see more and more of the girl I remember. But knowing she wasn’t comfortable in her own skin for the last five years sucks. She deserves more than that.

  She deserves the world.

  “The bastard was emotionally and physically abusive—” I stop once I realize what I am saying. I’m so comfortable with my parents that it didn’t occur to me not to tell them. But then I realize I am going against my promise not to tell anyone about Amelia’s situation. “Shit, I wasn’t supposed to say that. She doesn’t want people to know, obviously.”

  My mom waves her hand at me as my dad says, “We won’t tell a soul, son. But honestly, when she does speak of her past marriage, it’s easy to tell it wasn’t good. Not in a ‘he cheated’ way, but definitely in a ‘he hurt her’ way.”

  Mom nods. “Absolutely. She brings him up, and there is such fear in her.”

  “I hate him, and I don’t even know him. It annoys me that I can’t kill him and get away with it.”

  Dad scoffs. “Stupid laws.” He shakes his head as he sits down beside me. “Being with someone who has been abused is tough, son. You know that, right?”

  I nod. “She had a little over a year to heal from what he did, and then I came along. I don’t know. She has moments where the memories get to be too much and it hurts her, but I’m there, and I think I’ve helped.”

  Mom cups my shoulder. “Of course you have. We’re just worried you’ll get hurt.”

  My brows come in. “Get hurt? How?”

  “What if she freaks out and runs—”

  “No, she won’t,” I say sharply. “That won’t happen. We have great communication, and we’re doing well.”

  “That’s good,” Dad says slowly. “We’re just worried you’re rushing into this.”

  “What? I am not.”

  “Chandler, honey, it’s only been a couple months—”

  “Four.”

  My mom’s eyes narrow a bit, disbelief swirling in them. “Four months and you’re already ready to kill for her.”

  “So? I love her. What’s wrong with that?”

  “You loved Lana.”

  I let my head fall back, groaning loudly. I lift it and glare back at my father. “Amelia is not Lana, and I’m not the guy I was when I was with Lana. Yes, I rushed into that, but it was because I wanted someone to come home to. I was lonely without you guys, but it isn’t like that anymore. I found that I can live without someone. But now, Amelia has happened, and I can’t live without her. She adds to my life. She makes me happy, and I love her.” I swallow hard. I feel like I’m drowning. I don’t understand what is happening here. “I thought you guys liked her.”

  “Oh, we do,” Mom says, taking my hand. “I love her. She is wonderful, and I love how happy she makes you.”

  “She’s great. But, son, we just don’t want you making that mistake again.”

  I shake my head. “She’s different, though. You both said so yourself. When I brought up that I had seen her again, you both went on and on about how you remember me talking about her all the time. I’ve always thought she was special, and now that I have the chance to be with her, I’m not giving that up.”

  “We’re not asking you to,” Dad says. “We’re just asking you to be sm