Page 1 of Tangled

Chapter 1

Kane

3 Years Earlier

My brown leather combat boot thumped steadily on the floorboard in the back of my Uber, keeping the rhythm with the song playing from the radio, but also the nervous beating of my heart in my chest. My left hand clutched my duffle bag next to me, fighting to keep the shaking at bay that I felt the moment I stepped off the plane and back on American soil.

“Coming home?” My driver asked, glancing back at me in the rear-view mirror.

“Yup,” I curtly reply, too anxious to offer up more words.

It had been six months.

Six months since I’d been home—seen her face, kissed her lips, and felt like everything was right in the world. Natasha would be ecstatic to see me. I could already hear her scream of excitement, the jump in my arms she would complete the minute I opened the door and she saw my face, and the insane sex that would commence once we both came down from the thrill of the surprise and finally being back in each other’s arms.

The brakes on the car screech as the driver eases to a stop in front of our apartment complex, the one I can’t wait to leave in search of the home we’ll raise our family in. My time away has been difficult, but the monetary compensation has been welcome as I’ve saved every dime I could for a down payment on our future home. The long list of things to accomplish now that I’m home for good has been running through my mind since I boarded the plane, but all of those things can wait until after I surprise my girl.

“Thanks for the ride,” I acknowledge the driver, adding a more than generous tip for his time, reach for my duffle on the seat, and hoist myself up and out of the car, staring at the two-story building in front of me.

My palms are sweaty as I trek up the sidewalk and two flights of steps, the brush of my Army greens creating friction and background noise before turning the corner and gliding down the balcony of the tan building before arriving in front of our door.

I’m home, back in Oregon, a place I never plan on leaving again.

I put in my eight years in the Army but ultimately decided the military life wasn’t for me. Natasha begged me to leave after four years, but I didn’t feel like it was the right time. Plus, I wasn’t finished with my teaching degree and my unit needed me still. We were knee-deep in operations overseas, and if I had left them four years ago, I know I would have regretted it and I would have let them down. Instead, I re-enlisted, much to the frustration of Natasha, but I promised her when those four years were up, so was my time in the Army.

And I kept my promise.

The only thing I asked for her was to understand and stand by my side, and also to marry me, so I knew she wouldn’t doubt my commitment to her.

And here we are. I’m a bundle of nerves and longing as I find my key, turn it in the lock, and push open the door to the rest of my life.

The silence that fills the apartment is unsettling, especially because I know she’s home. I checked to make sure her car was in her parking space as I walked up to the building. Then I think, she’s probably in the bath or at least in our bedroom binge-watching a Netflix show in bed, so I set my bag down by the front door and make my way down the hall.

“Yes…”

I stop, dead in my tracks with the sound of her moans, the moans I know all too well with every touch I’ve given her body.

“You like that, baby?”

A man’s voice rings this time, eerily familiar, yet equally unsettling. My stomach instantly drops, fearful that what I think I’m about to walk in on, is in fact, true.

“More…” Natasha encourages, letting out a small shriek that lets me know she’s enjoying the activities that are ripping a gaping hole in my chest as I come up to the door to our bedroom and hear the unmistakable sounds of slapping skin.

“Take it all, babe…. Fuck yeah…”

That voice. I swallow hard, knowing now with no doubt that I’m about to walk in on my best friend fucking my fiancé.

Sweat beads on my forehead, my palms instantly fold into fists at my sides, and the war of emotion I’m feeling in my chest makes the thump of my heart shake my entire body.

Do I let them finish? Or do I interrupt what I’m sure will be a blissful climax?

What do you think I did?

I slam my fist into the door, the echo of my hand hitting the hardwood booming off the walls.

“What the fuck?!” I shout as I get an eyeful of my best friend’s ass as he slams into my fiancé beneath him.

“Kane!” Natasha shouts, pushing T.J. off of her and rushing to find the blankets to cover her naked body. Sure, now she opts for modesty.