Yolo (Carter Brothers #7)

Chapter 17

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.

— Text from Bindi to Garrett

BINDI

It was the full moon.

That had to be why today was so awful.

Damn lunatics.

I smiled as I thought about the conversation I had with Garrett last night.

I smiled even wider when I remembered what he’d done with me to prove that he wasn’t a ‘one pump chump.’ He’d repeated the process not once, not twice, but three times since our first time sleeping together.

Needless to say, I was sore in all the right places and more than ready to go home and repeat the process with him.

Except , my hopes were dashed the moment I answered my office phone and heard his apologetic tone.

“ Hey ,” Garrett said quietly. “ I really fucking hate to do this to you, but I’m gonna need to get you a ride from my mom or dad. I’d say one of my brothers, but you don’t want them to know yet.”

“ Your mom or dad is fine. And I’m sure they’re all trustworthy but…y’all gossip like a bunch of sixteen-year-old girls.”

Garrett snorted. “ You don’t lie.”

“ Why are you having to work late?” I asked.

“ A K -9 officer was called to the scene of a traffic stop because the officer suspects that there’s a drug dealer driving the car,” he explained. “ And usually, this would be Delphine and Rufus taking care of it, but yeah…fun stuff.”

I beamed. “ Am I going to your place or mine?”

“ Would you go to mine?” he asked. “ I know you’d probably be more comfortable at yours, but Rufus is at my place, and I don’t want him to get too lonely. My sisters-in-law have stopped by, but he doesn’t know them. They said they couldn’t get him to eat.”

My belly sank. “ Of course I’ll head to your place.”

“ I love that you knew that either place we went, we’d be together,” he mused. “ You know how we talked about the full moon last night?”

“ Yeah …” I said carefully.

“ I feel like we jinxed ourselves. Today has been absolute?—”

I cut him off with, “ Lunacy ?”

He chuckled. “ Yes .”

“ Same here,” I admitted. “ I’ve had more calls today than I did yesterday, and I feel like this isn’t normal. Even your mom’s ex-assistant feels like this is more than usual.”

“ Why are you calling her mom’s ex-assistant and not her name?” He chuckled again.

“ Because if I call her Melody , it might seem like I actually like her,” I admitted. “ But since I don’t, then I’m not going to grace her with her actual name.”

“ What did she do?” he asked, sounding angry on my behalf.

“ I hate to say this, but I don’t have time.” I grimaced. “ I can be sure to fill you in about it when you get home, though.”

“ Good ,” he said. “ I’ll text you when I’m on my way back. But my dad’s leaving in twenty, so make sure you have everything ready to go so he doesn’t try to spend more time at the office. His and Mom’s anniversary is today, and he’s already in the doghouse because he somewhat forgot. Don’t dig him in deeper.”

I gasped. “ Oh , shit.”

“ Yeah ,” he sighed. “ It’s been a fun day listening to the two of them bitch to me separately.”

After saying goodbye, I hung up and got back to work, finishing up everything I could before shutting down my computer.

And since it was well past twenty minutes after that phone call and he still hadn’t come, I gathered up my belongings and called for Rooster to follow.

He did, and I locked my office door with a thumbprint—something new that’d been on my office door this morning to help accommodate my disability—and went in search of the chief.

I found him talking in low tones to some man I couldn’t place.

“ Um , Mr . Carter , erm, Germaine ?” I called out.

Both men stopped talking, and Germaine said, “ Hey , Bindi . I’m almost ready. Just taking care of a few short details before we go.”

“ Actually , about that,” I said. “ I’m not feeling all that well. Headache . Really bad. Do you mind taking me home now?”

Germaine immediately made his departure known to anyone that needed to hear it, and then helped me outside to his truck.

Since he was the big boss, he got the nice parking spot right outside his door.

It took us two minutes to get in and head out before he said, “ You get headaches often?”

“ Yes .” I paused. “ But I don’t really have one. I just wanted you to stay married.”

There was a long moment of silence, and then, “ I swear to Christ , that woman.”

I laughed. “ We’re fickle little things. Sometimes we’re perfectly content with a kiss and a candy bar from the gas station. And sometimes we need a little more than that.”

“ I forgot. Kind of. I knew, and I told her before I left in a note on her bathroom counter, but it got knocked off by the cat, and I didn’t say anything to her until well after one this afternoon,” he admitted. “ I also forgot to get her a present.”

“ What’s her favorite ice cream?” I asked.

“ All of it.”

I grinned. “ You got a gas station close to your place?”

“ Yes …” he hesitated.

“ Go buy her every single pint they have and take it to her. It’ll make her day, I promise,” I told him.

He was silent for a few long seconds before saying, “ I meant to get her a cookie cake from the mall—no offense to Maven , who owns a bakery—but I forgot to do that, too.”

“ The mall takes like ten minutes to make those. I’ll call. You drive there. We’ll pick it up, then blame everything on traffic. Or , you could blame our lateness on me. I’m blind and have a perfectly good excuse,” I pointed out.

He laughed, then swung the vehicle around and headed toward what I assumed was the mall while I made the call to the cookie place.

I was right. It’d take them ten minutes max to get it done.

Fifteen minutes later, Germaine parked and got out, and I helped myself out while Germaine got Rooster .

“ Such a good boy, aren’t you?” Germaine asked my sweet dog.

And man, he really was sweet.

He’d turned out to be one of the best things that had ever happened to me.

I adored him, and he captured the hearts of every single person he came into contact with at the police station. He was actually a calming addition to my job when I had to deal with distraught people as well.

Speaking of…

“ Did you hear about the call I took today where the kid was missing?” I asked.

This morning around nine, a five-year-old had gone missing from his school bus. With it being a substitute driver, the man didn’t know that the kid wasn’t supposed to get off where he had.

“ Yeah ,” Germaine said as he handed me Rooster’s leash. “ He’s okay, by the way. They were able to find him with your help.”

My hand pressed to my heart. “ I was hoping to hear that.”

“ The language barrier is really tough,” he admitted as he caught my elbow and helped guide me. I appreciated it, because I could hear a ton of people around. “ It’s freakin’ heartbreaking when you are just trying to help, and they don’t understand you, and you don’t understand them. You really came in clutch today.”

I beamed. “ That makes me happy.”

“ It should,” he said. “ You accomplished a lot, and it’s only your second day.”

Flushing with the praise he’d given me, I walked happily at his side, and Rooster walked happily at mine.

They both helped guide me through the throng of people.

“ Why is it so busy right now?” I asked.

“ The holidays are around the corner, I would assume,” he grumbled. “ It’s two weeks from Thanksgiving .”

“ And it feels like it’s still August ,” I grumbled too. “ I thought for sure I’d get to put on a pair of Uggs by now.”

He chuckled as he caught my shoulder on the opposite side and steered me out of the way of something.

“ Fuckin ’ inconsiderate assholes,” he grumped.

“ I’m sure they can’t tell that I’m blind,” I pointed out.

“ You have a dog with a bright neon yellow vest that says ‘seeing-eye dog’ on it. You also are wearing glasses indoors. I’m sorry to tell you this, but they can tell that you’re blind.” He chuckled.

“ I guess when you put it that way…” I giggled.

We arrived at the cookie place right as the woman was boxing up our order—at least that was what she said.

“ Sorry it took a bit longer than we promised,” she said to Germaine who was paying now. “ I had a huge group come in and clean me out entirely. Had you not called, they would’ve taken this one, too.”

“ Oh , good.” I clapped. “ Is there anything left at all? I’m a bit hungry and it smells delicious here.”

“ Looks like they have a small piece of cookie cake shaped like some sort of mammal. There’s also mint chocolate chip cookies, one gingerbread, and a bag of what looks like discards,” Germaine answered.

“ Ohh .” I tapped my lips with my thumb. “ I’d say gingerbread if I had coffee to go with it, so maybe just the cookie cake mammal.”

“ It’s an elephant,” the worker said. “ And if you’re into good coffee, if you drive around to the south entrance, there’s a hella good coffee truck that sits out there. They’re not very well known about, either, because they usually cater to all the mall employees, so they’re a bit tucked into the loading area. Go check them out.”

I smiled and was about to say “no thank you,” but Germaine answered for me and said, “ Let’s go with the mammal and the gingerbread.”

I grinned, feeling my heart melt.

The Carters were fantastic people.

I’d met them all but Auden now, and I really enjoyed being around them.

Though , none of them held a candle to my dark, broody Gee .

As we were walking back out to the car, I said, “ Do you ever get terrified to have your kids in the same field of work as you?”

“ In the beginning, yes,” he answered as he helped guide me to the passenger side of his truck. “ It’s a tight squeeze, some asshole parked really close. I’ll take Rooster to the other side.” He helped me in, and got Rooster in next, before joining me in the truck. “ Now , I worry about them a whole lot less. Though , just sayin’, every last one of them has gotten hurt now in some way. Whether physically or emotionally. I could do with a whole lot less of the freakin’ crazies coming after my family.”

“ Atlas came by and had Pepper with him,” I said. “ Pepper was hurt in the police station parking lot?”

“ She was,” he growled, sounding pissed. “ Never seen anything more horrible in my life, watching her fly across the parking lot after that car hit her.”

“ And then after that, Gable was shot,” I said softly. “ That’s scary.”

“ Yeah ,” he said quietly. “ This all started when Garrett was stabbed by that gang member, and every time I get my heart calmed down again, there another one is, getting hurt.” He paused. “ If both of you could stay safe while you get this relationship figured out and solidified, I’d be grateful.”

I whipped my head toward him. “ Relationship ?”

“ Relationship ,” he confirmed. “ I wasn’t born yesterday, honey.”

I snickered. “ I wasn’t really trying to hide it from y’all, per se, but y’all have the biggest presence I’ve ever encountered at DPD . I want to pave my own path first before I let anyone know that I’m in love with your son.”

“ You’re in love with him, eh?” he asked.

I thought about backtracking on my words but instead said, “ I’ve been in love with him since he picked me up and carried me down a mountain. I just didn’t know how in love with him I was until I found him in the same apartment complex as me.”

“ Good ,” he said. “ It feels good to know that all of my kids have found the one.”

“ Well , I don’t know if Gee — Garrett —feels the same, but…” I started, but he interrupted me with, “ The fact that he lets you call him Gee is indicative of his feelings for you. Him being the baby, he got bullied by his older siblings. He has heard every name in the book and hates having anyone call him anything but Garrett . Trust me when I say he likes you. A lot.”

My heart melted at that.

“ I stopped calling him Gee for a little while, and he got upset with me.” I laughed then. “ That makes me feel a little bit better.”

“ Tell him how you feel,” he suggested. “ And also, ask your parents to come down here for Christmas . We’d like to meet them.”

We talked about the next month the entire way home, and I was confident in my absolute adoration for the Carter family by the time that Germaine helped me into Garrett’s house.

“ He put one of those thumbprint locks on for you,” he said. “ But since I don’t know how to go about doing any of that inputting information, you’ll have to wait for him. In the meantime, I’ll put in the code for you: 1166.”

Ten minutes later, he was gone, and I pulled up my phone to let Garrett know I’d made it to his place.

“ Siri , tell Garrett I’m at his place,” I said into the phone.

The next ten minutes were spent with Rufus as he sluggishly gave me lots of lovings.

“ You ready to eat there, big boy?” I asked him.

He gave a cute doggy grumble and laid back down, so I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed both bowls, some dog food, and brought them back to the living room where I sat down between Rufus and Rooster and waited for them to eat.

Rufus , luckily, did decide to eat.

In the meantime, I waited patiently for them to finish.

We were just about done when my mom called.

“ Hey , Mom .” I smiled as I answered.

“ Hey , you. How was your day?” she asked.

I explained about my day, then told her all about Garrett .

By the time I’d finished telling her that I loved him, she was squealing.

“ This is the best thing ever!” she crowed. “ Show me around his house!”

“ Sure ,” I got up and called to the dogs. “ Let’s go outside for a little bit, boys.”

Both dogs followed me, Rooster keeping pace with Rufus , and headed to the back door.

“ The door has the lock turned,” Mom said to me.

I felt for it and unlocked it, letting the dogs out. “ This is the backyard, what’s it look like?”

“ Lots of space. There looks to be a community pool between all of the houses. You’re in a sort of circle design with all of the backyards facing the pool. It’s a bit closer to you than it is to the rest of them, though. Looks awesome,” she explained. “ Everything is fenced, too, so you can leave them out there.”

I left the dogs outside to play since it was rather cool and went back inside to show her around the house.

“ It’s gorgeous,” she breathed. “ Tall ceilings. Lots of windows. Fabulous kitchen. Walls are a soft tan. The cabinets are a deep brown, almost black. Countertops are white quartz.”

We did this through the entire house before we wound up at the back door again.

“ Dogs want in,” she explained.

I let them in.

“ Is that Boss ?” she asked.

“ Actually , this is Rufus ,” I explained.

“ The one that got locked in the hot car?” She gasped. “ He looks like he’s doing much better.”

“ I think he is,” I said. “ The horrible thing is, literally the next day, the weather cooled off to the point where a dog in a car for an extended period of time wouldn’t have mattered. There was just that one really hot day.”

“ What’s the verdict on that woman?” she asked.

“ I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “ I’m sure that it’s been discussed, but I haven’t been bringing it up because I’d rather not get mad.”

“ Hey ,” she said. “ There’s a man that’s about to come up the front walk.”

“ What’s he look like?” I asked.

“ Well , he’s shirtless, in sleep pants, and nothing else. Lots of tattoos.” She paused. “ He just banged into the door.” She hummed. “ Did it again.”

After hearing the fourth thump, I said, “ I was informed that Atlas sleepwalks by his wife today. Does he have a tattoo of a P over his heart?”

“ Sure does,” she said. “ Great body. I’m talking smoking hot. Do you think that’s what Garrett looks like without a shirt on? I’ll gladly volunteer to explain every little detail about him if you want. Rawr .”

Ignoring the sound of my mother growling like a cougar over the phone, I opened the door and let Atlas inside.

He came right in.

“ He sat down on the couch.” She paused. “ Now lying down.”

“ Shit ,” I said. “ Do you think his wife is at home?” I was mentally slapping myself in the forehead for not getting Pepper’s number. “ They have kids.”

“ Call Garrett .”

I bit my lip. “ Can you try? I don’t want to hang up with you.”

It just didn’t sound like the right thing to do at that moment in time, losing that connection. I didn’t want Atlas to go wandering off when I couldn’t find him.

“ Sure .” She paused, and I heard ringing. Then a call failed sound. “ Went to voicemail.”

“ Is he not moving?” I asked.

“ Doesn’t look like it,” she answered. “ Looks like he’s nice and comfortable.”

“ Then help me start knocking on some houses,” I begged. “ Rufus , Rooster . Let’s go.”

“ No cars in that driveway, either,” my mom said ten minutes later. “ This house looks a little bit different than the others. More of a classy, timeless look. It’s nice, but doesn’t fit with the motif.”

I thought about Garrett and how he’d explained, in detail, everyone’s houses.

Thinking back, I realized he’d given me so much detail because he wanted me to be able to envision their houses.

The sweetness of the man came in handy now because I remembered another little tidbit about the houses that Garrett had mentioned. Atlas’s house had been designed differently because he liked the “cottage” style when he’d started to look into building his house.

“ This has to be it,” I murmured.

“ There’s a Ring doorbell,” Mom said. “ If you reach to the left and press that button just to the left of the door.”

I did as she instructed, and the sound of the doorbell ringing clanged.

“ Bindi , oh my gosh. Are you all right?” Pepper asked, sounding worried.

I imagined that she would be when a blind woman was at her door at night.

“ Pepper ,” I said, relieved. “ Hey . I have an issue.”

“ What is it? Oh my gosh. Atlas is there. Knock on the door. He’ll wake up. Maybe .” She groaned. “ He had a really hard day at work the last couple of days. It might take him a while to orient himself.”

“ That’s actually why I’m here,” I admitted. “ I just let Atlas into my house—my mom is on FaceTime with me—and he went to lie down on Garrett’s couch.” I paused. “ Are your kids home?”

She inhaled sharply. “ The baby is.”

I bit my lip. “ Is there anyone else at home? I tried knocking on a few doors before I got to this one, but no one is answering.”

“ That’s because we’re all at the circus,” she groaned. “ Fuck . He’d been doing so good.”

“ My husband sleepwalks,” Mom piped in. “ When he was overly, overly tired anyway. I imagine that’s much the same for you. But much to popular belief, you can wake a sleepwalker up. They just become disoriented for a bit because they’re not where they went to sleep originally.”

“ If you don’t mind, I’m going to unlock my door. Could you go check on the baby?” she said. “ I wasn’t supposed to be gone this long, but the circus is the circus, and the kids were having a blast playing with their cousins. I can call Germaine and Garnett , and they can come over.”

“ I can watch him,” I suggested. “ It’s their anniversary. I don’t want to interrupt their night. As long as you’re comfortable with me watching the baby.”

She was silent for a long second before she said, “ I just met you today, and I got a great vibe off of you. I feel like if you’re in Garrett Parrot’s house, then you really are important to him. And let’s just say, the broody Garrett doesn’t usually let anyone inside his home or his heart. For you to be there, you’re special. So yes, I trust you with my son.”

The lock in front of me made a whirling sound and then, “ Before you go in, can I have your number?”

I rattled it off and said, “ Just make sure you FaceTime me. Calls work, but I’m gonna need you to guide me around if you actually need anything more than words from me.”

“ Hey , Bindi’s mom, here’s my number if you ever need me,” Pepper called out to my mother.

“ Got it,” my mother replied.

“ I’ll be home in thirty minutes, God willing. These Dallas roads are atrocious.” She sighed. “ Glades should be in the last room on the right down the first hallway.”

I entered the house after saying goodbye, and Mom guided me.

“ There are toys all over the floor,” Mom warned. “ You’ll have to shuffle your feet.”

I did, making my way through the house with my mom’s help.

Pepper was right, too. We found Glades in his crib in his room, fast asleep.

The dogs panted lightly at my side, and I reached down and petted both of their heads before saying, “ He looks okay, Mom ?”

“ He looks darling.” Mom sighed. “ Chest is rising and falling. Cute smile on his face.”

I turned to go, heading back down the hallway.

I was halfway there when I ran smack dab into a brick wall.

“ Oooof ,” I cried out, my hand going to my nose where it’d smacked off the “wall.”

“ Oh ,” Mom cried. “ Sorry , sorry! I was admiring the man candy.”

“ What the hell is going on?” the deep voice asked.

“ Mr . Sleepwalker is awake and angry,” Mom called out.

“ Are you Atlas ?” I asked, still rubbing my nose.

“ Auden ,” he answered shortly.

Auden .

The one I hadn’t met yet.

“ Good .” I sighed. “ I’m glad to see that someone’s here. I was slightly freaking out.”

“ Who the fuck are you?” he asked, a little bit more angry this time.

“ I’m Bindi ,” I answered.

“ That’s a good name, I guess, but why the fuck are you in my brother’s house when they’re not at home?” he challenged.

I felt a shiver go down my spine at the sound of Auden’s angry voice.

Okay , so I knew how it looked.

But …

“ I was at your other brother’s house, waiting for him to come home, and…”

A hand grabbed my arm, and I was roughly pulled down the length of the hallway.

“ Hey !” my mother yelled. “ Stop !”

Rufus started to bark, and I could feel Rooster bumping into my side, trying to slow me down.

And to slow down the man that was all but yanking me out of the house I had been invited into.

“ Please , slow down,” I begged.

“ Not a chance,” Auden replied.

I tripped over a toy of some sort, and only the firm grip Auden had on my arm kept me upright.

He never hurt me, though, only all but bodily carried me out of the house.

So strong.

I wasn’t upset or nervous in any way.

I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.

I finally caught my feet when we got outside, and he let me go immediately once I was out of the house.

I stumbled, temporarily surprised to find myself standing on my own, and said, “ Wow , you’re fast.”

I went to take a step back, but Rufus was there, and I stumbled.

Auden caught me before I could take a tumble, then hissed.

I heard a meaty thump and then Garrett’s seething voice.

“ Get your fucking hands off of her,” Garrett growled.

I blinked, surprised at the sound of his angry voice.

And boy, was he angry.

Like , really angry.

I didn’t need to see his face to know that he was.

“ Whoa ,” Auden called out. “ What the hell, man?”

“ What the hell? You just dragged my girlfriend out of a house with two dogs tripping her up. I watched her trip four times as you did it, and not once did you slow down to make sure that she could stand!” he bellowed.

“ What ? Girlfriend ?” Auden asked in surprise.

“ Yes , girlfriend.” He paused. “ Just don’t tell anyone.”

I nearly laughed at Garrett’s words.

I wished I could see Auden’s face after Garrett asked that.

He was probably staring adorably cute-like.

“ Do you understand me, Auden ?” Garrett seethed.

Okay , so he was still really mad.

“ Well , maybe if you weren’t trying to hide her from us, I would know that you’re dating someone! And she wouldn’t be a stranger!” Auden countered.

“ I don’t care what you think about what we’re doing.” Garrett growled so low in his throat that it sent shivers down my spine. “ And if I ever see you touching her like that again, I’ll fucking end you.”

“ Boys ,” I said, patting Garrett’s chest. “ It’s okay. It looked bad. I know it did. Everyone’s gone to the circus. Me going into someone’s house with all the lights off and turning no lights on because I didn’t need them. Leaving the door wide open. He didn’t know who I was. I realize that. It’s okay, I promise.”

“ It’s not okay,” Garrett defended.

I sighed. “ Garrett , honey. It is. I’m not hurt.”

“ But he dragged you out of there like you were doing something wrong. You weren’t,” he grumbled.

“ He didn’t know that!” I patted Garrett’s chest harder. “ Calm down. It’s okay.” I turned to where I thought Auden was standing and held out my hand. “ Hi , I’m Bindi . I’m secretly dating your brother, Garrett .”

There was a moment of silence and then I felt a hand in mine.