Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
Chelsea walked up a few seconds later with her egg rolls and nodded toward Harley as she walked away. “New friends? I’ve seen that couple around town before, but haven’t met them.”
“They’re Steff’s friends. His business partner and his wife. They seem really nice. I think I’m going to try to hang out with her at some point.”
Chelsea raised her eyebrows. “Oh, meeting the friends already? Hmmm.”
“Oh, quit it. Let’s go get the rest of the food.”
We took the next fifteen minutes stopping at three other food trucks and got a bunch of different things. Then we made our way toward the guys. Steff was standing with Kellan and another big beefy guy. Kellan was listening to something Steff was saying, and tilted his head back, barking laughter. I had to stop and do a double-take. Seeing Steff and Kellan like that, buddy-buddy, was surreal. Like stepping back in time. When had they
fully made up? It didn’t look like there was any animosity between the two of them.
Since we’d broken up, all Kellan and Kris talked about was how much they hated Steff. And now Kris was there as well, although he didn’t look as comfortable with Steff, but he was still smiling and laughing along. It was strange, but they had said they were ready to bury the hatchet. Kellan told me he was ready to move on. That had sounded like lip service, but it looked like my brothers had been telling the truth. They really were ready to put the past behind them and move on. I smiled, realizing that with every day that went by, I was ready to move on too.
Steff turned and caught sight of me. In an instant, I was overcome with a desire to be near him. It was a pull unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. My feet moved forward, almost of their own accord. He grinned and walked to meet me halfway. He slid a hand around my waist and pulled me close. With his other hand, he grabbed the bag of hamburgers and fries I’d gotten at one of the trucks.
“How are you enjoying everything?” he asked.
“It’s great. This disguise is not working for me, though.”
There were a ton of people from out of town who’d come for the holiday. I’d decided to try to stay inconspicuous. I’d donned a baseball cap, pulled my hair back into a bun, and put on sunglasses. But Tate had recognized me from across a crowded field.
Steff winced. “Yeah, it’s not very good. You look like yourself, but maybe with a hangover or something.”
“Well, shit.” I yanked the hat and glasses off. Deciding,
screw it. “That’s better. The hat made me hot.”
He handed the bag of food to the guy who had been standing with him and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “No disguise in the world could keep me from recognizing you anyway.”
As he finished tucking the hair away, his fingers slid across my cheek and jaw. It was all I could do to keep from shivering under his touch.
“Okay, let’s tone down the pheromones, guys,” Steff’s friend said. I blushed and averted my eyes until I had myself under control. “I’m Miles.”
I shook his hand. “The third owner of the business, right?”
“Correct. Somehow, there are three of us who are able to deal with Steff’s shit and not kill him. Four, if we count you, I guess.” He laughed, and I grinned along with him.
“I’m standing right here.” Steff sighed.
We settled down on blankets laid out on the grass and started to eat. Kellan, Kris, and Chelsea were across from us. Miles was sitting in a lawn chair next to our blanket, and Steff was right beside me, so close our bodies were touching. It was hard for me to concentrate on eating with him next to me. He wasn’t the boy I’d known back then. He’d… blossomed? Was that what you said about men? Whatever you were supposed to say, he’d grown more attractive over the years. His body was more muscled, his jaw line more pronounced. He was hot as shit, and a beautiful fucking man. Women walked by and eyed him like a steak dinner, even with me sitting beside him. He didn’t even notice them, though. I could tell he only had eyes for me.
“I haven’t asked yet. How’s it feel to be back home?”
I finished chewing my hotdog before answering. “It’s really nice. I can really relax here.” I pointed at Aiden as he ran around with some other boys. “Getting to know him has been delightful. I’ve missed so much. I cried the other night when I went to bed and realized I never held him when he was a baby. I was too busy to visit. Those are moments and experiences I can never get back. Being with him and my brothers? It kind of makes me not want to leave it all behind again.”
It was the first time I’d verbalized how much I enjoyed the quiet life. “I guess what I’m saying is my life can be chaotic, and I’ve gotten content with that chaos.”
Steff pulled a fry from the bag and ate it. I could tell he was contemplating something by the way his forehead wrinkled. It was the same look he’d had back in high school when he was studying or thinking of what to say during class.
Finally, he looked up and asked, “Why don’t you retire?”
I took a second before answering. “I guess I’m not just content with chaos, but I’ve grown to like it. At least a little bit. The last few weeks are not what I mean. That shit can go away and never come back. But the hustle and bustle, all that? It’s been a part of my life for so long that I don’t even know how to function without it. It’s a love-hate thing. My career lets me travel the world and see so many things and meet different people. I can try on gorgeous outfits. I’m not totally sure I could get used to the stillness of small-town life again.”
Steff listened intently. “I completely understand that.”
At first, I wanted to tell him that he really didn’t, but then I remembered he did. If anyone understood, it was him. His baseball career had elevated him into the stratosphere. For a few short years, he’d been where I was. A star collegiate player, then a major leaguer. Steff had been on a big-time team, had played with a hall-of-famer, and had begun to get some endorsements.
I remember being in Milan for Fashion Week years ago and seeing his face on an Italian sports magazine. I went back to my hotel and cried for an hour. He’d been where I was and had lost it. He did understand.
“It was hard for me to come back home. I hadn’t been in that life as long as you, but that was perhaps the most painful part. I’d been right there, just a breath away from
really making it. Then it all got ripped away. It was humbling to come back home, especially knowing my uncle wouldn’t be here.”
I covered my hand with my mouth to stifle my gasp. I’d always like Steff’s uncle. The man had raised him since he was a boy. He’d been kind and quiet. All I could remember was that he’d left town not long after Steff had. I hadn’t asked about him, and now it was too late.
Steff nodded at my reaction. “Cancer. He’d been going through it off and on for years. Even before I moved in with him. It was a struggle. It got better while I was in college, but right before I was drafted, things took a turn for the worst. He moved back home to be with his family. I thought it would be like the other times, but he’d been hiding how bad it was. Apparently, he didn’t want me to worry about him and lose focus.
“I didn’t even know he’d passed away until a week afterward. Word finally got to me, and I guess he’d been right all along. I got a call, and they told me he was gone. It was thirty minutes before a game, and I’d still gone out to play.” The sadness and pain I saw in his eyes hurt my heart. “That was the same game my leg got mangled. It was the end of my career. You could say it was one of the worst days of my life.”