Yolo (Carter Brothers #7)

Chapter 18

Are you a texter or a FaceTimer ? Neither , I’m a do not disturber.

— Garrett to Bindi

GARRETT

My heart had pounded as I’d looked up and saw the way Auden was all but dragging Bindi out of the house by her arm.

The dogs were going nuts.

Even Boss in the back seat was barking his head off.

I let him out, then rushed over to Atlas’s place and all but slammed myself into Auden , punching him in the arm when he went to reach for Bindi once again.

The next five minutes were tense as we ironed everything out.

Bindi held her hand out to Auden in greeting.

The way she was holding her hand out to Auden made him pause.

Why is that, you ask?

Because it was three feet to the left of where he was standing.

I saw the realization dawn on his face.

Then the utter devastation of what he’d just done to a blind person.

“ Shit ,” I watched him mouth.

His eyes came to me, apology written all over them, and he moved to take Bindi’s hand.

“ Allow me to apologize for that,” he said. “ I just saw some person I didn’t know going into Atlas’s place, and like you said, the lights were off. It was odd.”

“ I can understand that fully,” she concurred. “ I’m just sorry I didn’t go check the other places. I thought about it, but I just remembered that they had kids, and my mind was pretty singularly focused.”

“ I can’t,” I muttered.

She pinched my side.

“ I’m sorry,” Auden apologized again and dropped her hand.

She smiled. “ It’s okay. I really promise. I’m fine. I’m made of stronger stuff.”

“ Seriously , I’ll fuck you up if you ever hurt her again,” I murmured quietly so only he could hear.

Auden swallowed and nodded.

“ Not that I don’t mind talking to you some more, but Atlas is asleep at Garrett’s place on the couch. And there’s a baby inside all alone,” Bindi said carefully.

“ I’ll get him,” Auden offered.

Auden left to get Glades , and I wrapped my arms around Bindi and pulled her in tight to my chest. “ What the hell?”

“ What the hell, what the hell?” she asked.

I picked her up and spun her. “ What I mean is, what the hell were you thinking walking out of that house with no idea where you were going? And even worse, letting him in?”

“ Well …” She started to explain what had happened, poking her little finger into my chest as she did. “ I couldn’t just leave him out there, dammit! What did you want me to do there? He was sitting there running face first into the door.”

I reached down and rubbed Rooster’s head, followed by Rufus’s before saying, “ Well , hell.”

She had a point. I wouldn’t have allowed him to stay outside, either.

Then again, I wasn’t blind, nor was I a defenseless woman.

“ Maybe we should at least introduce me to your family so they don’t try to drag me out by my hair if they see me in your house,” she suggested.

I didn’t like the way that she’d made it sound like she didn’t belong there.

“ How about we introduce you, and don’t tell them anything more than that. Let them make their own assumptions.” I paused. “ Let them figure it out on their own.”

She smoothed my hair back with the hand that wasn’t holding her phone and the dogs’ leashes.

“ I’m sorry,” she whispered into my shirt. “ I tried to call. Or , at least, my mom did. Oh ! My mom!”

She pushed away and pulled up her phone. “ Mom ?”

“ Still here. Fanning myself,” Mom replied. “ Is the entire Carter family attractive, Garrett ?”

I couldn’t stop the stupid smile that split my face.

“ How are you even seeing how attractive they are, Mom ? It’s dark out here,” she countered, giving me some time to recover from the sexualized comment.

“ They have great street lighting,” her mother answered.

She was right, though.

That was one of the things that we’d made sure to put in on the Carter subdivision. Great lighting.

With all of us being cops, we wanted to make sure our families were safe.

Plus , the kids could play outside once it got dark and still be able to see and entertain themselves.

“ There’s Auden ,” I said as he walked out with the baby, a diaper bag, and a newly made bottle since Glades was wide-ass awake and screaming his head off.

“ You woke him up,” I accused.

Auden shrugged. “ Couldn’t be helped. They shouldn’t be trying to be quiet anyway. Kid needs to get used to the chaos.”

“ I agree,” my future mother-in-law said. “ Being quiet around babies is a landmine waiting to happen. One day you’re being quiet so you don’t wake the baby up, and the next day your daughter is an adult that can’t sleep when she hears the damn clock ticking in the living room.”

“ Listen , Mother ,” the woman in my arms said. “ It’s not the ticking that bothers me. It’s that you have a hundred freakin’ clocks on your damn living room wall and all of the fuckers go off at different times, and click all willy-nilly.”

That might fuck me up, too.

Not that I’d be saying that.

I wanted her to like me after all.

After saying goodbye to Lea , the group walked back to my place.

I let the dogs off their leashes and let them walk at the pace that they wanted and made it back into the house just as Boss opened the front door with his foot.

One day I’d have to think about replacing the lever door.

It was a mistake.

“ That’s convenient,” Auden muttered.

“ Until he lets himself out in the middle of the night, and you forgot to lock the door, but didn’t forget to arm the alarm. And he sets it off and scares the shit out of you,” I shared.

“ Maybe I should get an alarm,” Bindi said as I closed the door behind us all. “ Or maybe one of those little alarms that beeps when you open and close the door like yours does.”

I’d forgotten mine even did that, I was so used to it now.

“ That would be a great add-on,” Auden said as he walked to the couch, sat, and popped the bottle he made into Glades’s mouth.

Just as he calmed down and started sucking, Atlas popped up off the couch like he’d been electrocuted.

He started looking around wildly, and I held up my hand—the one that wasn’t still around Bindi’s body—and said, “ Calm down, bro. We got this.”

“ We got this?” he asked in confusion as he blinked stupidly.

“ You were sleepwalking.”

Atlas froze, looking at Bindi who wasn’t looking at him, but at the wall in front of her.

He looked slightly green, and I knew that he was thinking worst-case scenario here.

“ So I was just thinking,” she said. “ Because , you know, it’s kind of scary for me when I can’t see anyone come and go. I’m thinking that if you had a setting on your alarm system that alerted your phone—or maybe your wife’s—of your door being opened after you’ve set the alarm, it could be a really good thing. That way someone other than a blind woman would know that you’re out of your house when you shouldn’t be.”

“ I didn’t set the alarm,” he admitted. “ I usually set it, but I knew that Pepper would be home soon. Fuck .”

“ The door alert thing would be really good,” Auden said as he rocked Glades .

“ Yeah ,” Atlas agreed.

The front door burst open and hurried feet came our way.

She didn’t come to Atlas or her baby, though. She went right to Bindi , who was still in my arms, and threw her arms around my girl’s shoulders.

“ Thank you!” She squeezed, causing Bindi to gurgle slightly. “ Thank you, thank you.”

Then she let go and turned to Auden . “ This is now my sister-in-law-to-be. You fuck with her, you fuck with me. And your wife won’t take kindly to you manhandling our new BFF .”

Auden sighed. “ I didn’t know.”

“ Don’t blame him too much,” Bindi said softly. “ I would hope he’d do the same thing if he knew that I had an infant in my house. He didn’t know what was going on. Just that a stranger was walking in without lights on and looking kind of creepy.”

Auden looked relieved to hear that.

I could see her point, but…still. I didn’t like that she’d been hurt in any way, even if he hadn’t been trying to do it.

“ Well …” Pepper paused. “ Okay .”

“ Where are the other two?” Atlas asked tiredly.

“ I put them to bed,” she answered. “ And left Garnett with them. Germaine and Garnett came over to share their cookie cake since Garnett said that she couldn’t eat it all because her metabolism was atrocious since she turned sixty-five. She stayed over there while I came over here.”

“ Oh .” Atlas rubbed at his eyes. “ Fuck , I’m tired.”

“ I think it’s time for everyone to go to bed,” Bindi chirped.

Auden and Atlas focused on her, and I knew that they knew.

I hadn’t let go of Bindi once since we’d gotten inside.

When Atlas opened his mouth to call me on it, I made a neck cutting motion with my finger then mouthed “not now” to him.

He nodded, his eyes narrowed, and said, “ I think that’s a great idea. Give me my kid, Auden .”

“ I think he just filled his diaper up anyway,” Auden said as he stood, still feeding Glades , and handed him over. “ Get some sleep, bruh. You look like shit.”

“ I’ll lock him in, don’t worry,” Pepper chirped.

The three of them walked out, leaving Auden , Bindi , and me.

Auden walked up to Bindi and said, “ Future sister-in-law, huh?”

“ Um …” Bindi hesitated.

“ Maybe if you get tired of DPD , you can come work for Sunnyvale . They don’t wear you ragged like they do at DPD ,” he teased.

Then he was gone, leaving us alone.

The dogs all went to lie down after Auden left, leaving Bindi and me standing in the middle of the living room alone.

“ What did they say about full moons again?” I chuckled, skimming my nose against her neck.

She shivered against my side and said, “ I’m not all that tired, Gee .”

I picked her up and carried her to my room, forgetting about everything but getting her to my bed where I could slip inside of her.

She started taking my shirt off with her body entirely pressed against mine, causing us both to laugh as she tried and failed to make it happen before I put her down on my mattress.

I had one arm in my sleeve and one arm out, with the shirt half on, half off, when I set her down on the bed.

I quickly stripped off my shirt and started on her shoes when she said, “ Maybe tomorrow on the way to work we can stop by my place so I can get some clothes?”

“ Yeah ?” I asked. “’ Cause you want to stay with me?”

Forever ?

“ Because if we keep having sleepovers, I need some clothes that I haven’t already worn once this week,” she pointed out. “ Though , today’s outfit was pretty utilitarian.”

Her shoes and socks fell to the floor, followed by the stretchy pants, leaving her in a black thong and a t-shirt.

She took care of the T -shirt, the bra, and the panties in the time that it’d taken me to drop my jeans.

Her tits bounced when she fell back on the bed, and I had to stop and admire the view.

“ You’re beautiful,” I told her. “ Do you know that?”

She flushed red. “ You’re the first person besides my parents to actually say that to me.”

Anger at her ex rushed up inside of me like a raging volcano. But if she couldn’t mention that douchebag, neither could I .

I didn’t want his taint in our bed.

In the bed that I now realized that I intended to share with her for as long as she’d have me.

Fisting my cock, I said, “ We’d make beautiful babies.”

She burst out laughing, her eyes filled with tears of mirth.

“ As much as I might like the sound of that,” she teased as she rolled over onto her belly and reached for the nightstand. “ We still have to use condoms. It’d be weird to be pregnant and still hiding you from everyone.”

I didn’t want her to hide me from anyone.

Nor would I let her for much longer.

But I’d give her a few days before I made my intentions clear to the entire department.

For now, though, I enjoyed the view of her moving and thrusting that perfect ass up in the air.

She reached the condoms, grabbed an entire roll, and walked toward me on her knees.

I caught her before she could get too far and grinned when she pressed her body up against mine.

“ I want to suck your cock.”