All Horns & Rattles: A Baxter Boys Novel

by Jane Charles

  “I’m a guy. My face was in your perfect pussy. It’s a natural reaction.”

  She just laughs. “Want me to do something about that?”

  I do, but not here and not now. “Later.” I wink at her and finish washing.

  After I turn off the shower, I grab a towel for both of us then move her in front of the mirror so that Nina can see herself again.

  “Now, say the words.”

  Nina stares at herself, more at the pubic area that I just uncovered. I’m afraid this was a mistake, but then she looks up, into her own eyes. “I am strong.” She stops and flicks her glance to me. “Do I have to say beautiful, because that is just weird?”

  “Yes!”

  Nina blows out a sigh and then looks at herself again. “I am strong. I am beautiful. And this is my proof.”

  “How does that feel?”

  Nina smiles. “Pretty damn good.”

  30

  I kind of thought we’d go into the bedroom and have sex, but Tex just wrapped me up in a robe and told me to go get jammies on while he started dinner.

  The guy has a raging hard on. I thought those had to be taken care of. At least that’s what I’ve been told. Then again, all my knowledge of sex, before Tex, was from the three guys I’d been with and what I overheard at high school. Maybe not dealing with an unrelieved erection wasn’t the life and death, pain inducing experience I’d heard about because Tex pretty much ignored his.

  He’s dressed in another pair of pajama bottoms and a grey t-shirt, and he’s browning meat in a big pot.

  “What are you making?”

  “Chili, of course.”

  “Of course.” I snort. Tex makes chili about once a week. It’s good, but I’ve come to learn that Tex can make about three things from scratch, which is basically three more things than I can, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

  “Why don’t you mess around on the laptop while I cook?”

  “Seriously?” Is he going to be pushing me to contact my brothers again?

  The phone rings and I grab it.

  “Hello.”

  “Nina, how are you?”

  Miguel sounds tired and sad. “Okay, how are you?”

  “My brother is gone.” There is a crack in his voice.

  “I’m so sorry, Miguel.”

  “He was a good man.”

  I don’t know what to say. I’ve never known anybody who had someone die before.

  “The funeral is going to be Friday so I’ll be flying home Sunday like planned.”

  “If you need to stay longer. Tex and I have everything covered.”

  “I know. I know, but I need to get back.”

  “Okay. Is there anything we can do?”

  “He is with God now and I need to be at peace with that.”

  “I suppose so.” What the hell am I supposed to say?

  “Find your brothers, Nina. There are no promises for tomorrow.”

  I don’t say anything.

  “Promise me. You and Tex start looking tonight if you haven’t yet. It’s too important and everybody needs family.”

  “I will,” I reluctantly promise. “Tex started showing me how to search for people on Facebook, so I’ll try that.”

  “Good girl.” He sounds relieved. I hadn’t realized it was so important to him. But, maybe losing his brother made it more important than it already was.

  “We’ll see you Sunday, Miguel. Call if you need anything before then.”

  I hang up the phone and tell Tex what Miguel said.

  “Then I guess you better get on that laptop.”

  With a sigh I plop down on the couch, open his Facebook account and start searching for Dylan White. There are thousands of them, or so it seems. I can’t go off profile pictures because I don’t even know what he looks like. Location means nothing. Hell, he could be in California now. There is no guarantee he stayed in New York. Some profile pictures aren’t even people. This is going to take forever.

  “Doesn’t anyone keep anything private anymore?”

  “It doesn’t seem that way.” Tex laughs as he brings me a bowl of chili and a glass of milk.

  “Seriously there is some really private, or should stay private, shit posted.”

  “There is just as much generic, like memes, jokes, politics, and stuff like that.”

  Yeah, I did see plenty of that too.

  “Any luck in finding him?”

  “No. At least I don’t think so.” With that I push the computer away from me and grab the bowl. I’m starving and I’m tired of searching. This could take days. “Maybe I’ve already seen him and don’t know it. What do I know of Dylan? The twenty-four-year old Dylan?

  “What did he like to do?”

  “He didn’t have a chance to like to do anything.” At least I can’t remember him being into anything or even hanging out with friends. “He was the one who got us up in the morning. He was the one who made sure we ate a bowl of cereal. He is the one who got us to school. He is the one who made sure we got our homework done. He was the one who made sure we had supper. He was the one who made sure we brushed our teeth and took a bath before bed.”

  “Why don’t you put this away for now and start back up tomorrow?”

  “We’ll be at work tomorrow,” I remind him. We can’t stay closed another day.

  “What makes you say so?”

  “The plows started going through a little bit ago.”

  “I guess we better turn in early, or at least me, since I’m going to be out shoveling before the sun is up.”

  “I’ll help you.” Since the club opens at six, we’ll need to get up at like four so we can have everything cleared before we unlock the doors.

  “What are you going to use for a shovel?”

  Crap! I’d forgotten that mine broke. Maybe Miguel has another one. “I’ll figure something out.”

  Nina and I finish eating and we clean up the dishes and the kitchen before heading back. I’m not really tired, and this is earlier than I usually go to sleep, but I’ve also got to get up real early.

  I pause at her bedroom door. I don’t assume anything with Nina.

  “Join me.”

  “You sure?”

  “I kind of liked sleeping with you.”

  “And I sure as hell like sleeping with you.”

  She sets her alarm for four and then turns out the light and we snuggle into the bed and I’m curved around her the way I like. I start getting hard immediately.

  She wiggles that fine ass back against me. “Keep that up and you won’t be getting to sleep anytime soon.” I whisper in her ear.

  She wiggles her ass against me again. “Maybe I’m not tired yet.”

  “In that case…” I roll Nina onto her back and kiss her like I’m a starving man. She comes right back at me and curves a leg around my hip.

  I want to be in her so bad right now.

  Nina sits up and pulls her shirt over her head and I do the same and then we scramble to get our bottoms off. No awkwardness of trying to undress each other since we are both intent on getting naked as fast as we can.

  My hands skim over her ribs and up to her perfect boob. Already her nipples are tight and I take one in my mouth and suck as I slide my hand down her abdomen to where her curls used to be and sink my fingers into her folds. Normally I wouldn’t move this quick, but Nina seems as anxious as me. In fact, she’s already getting wet. What I wouldn’t give to taste her.

  I pull back and look down at her. “Do you really think oral is gross or were you just wanting to keep me away from that part of you?”

  “Well, I don’t get why any guy would want to do that, but it was really about keeping you away.”

  “Do you trust me?”

  “You know I do.”

  And with that, I’m kissing my way down her stomach and over her freshly shaved mound until my face is right where it wants to be. I nudge her legs over my shoulders, lift her ass and find the nub with my tongue. Nina jerks a few ti
mes and then relaxes. I lick a few times then tease her clit with my teeth before entering her with my fingers, spreading her tight channel and go back to licking.

  Nina grabs my head, but she doesn’t try to move me away and then her hands fall away as she arches. Her channel tightens around my fingers and a second later she cries out. I slowly let her relax back on the bed and edge my way up her body until my cock is at her opening.

  “What did you think?” I grin down at her, already knowing the answer.

  “I think I may have a change of heart.

  I nudge at her opening and stop.

  “What?”

  “I almost forgot a condom.”

  “I’m on the pill and I don’t have anything.”

  That’s like the best news. A condom is great and all, but the pill is so much better. “I’m good, but I can get one if you want.”

  “Is it really necessary?” she asks with a frown.

  If she’s on the pill and we’re both good otherwise, I don’t really see the point and slide in home.

  She gasps and meets me, taking me deeper inside her body. Pure heaven. That’s what being in Nina is.

  31

  For an hour I’ve been awake and haven’t been able to get back to sleep. It’s probably because I fell asleep much earlier than I usually do last night. Tex is snoring quietly in my ear. It’s not loud and irritating, but kind of nice. And, I like that no matter how much I shift in my sleep, he follows and is always touching or has an arm around me. I never thought I’d like sleeping with someone, but it’s real nice, and it’s temporary. Miguel will be back Sunday and there is no way in hell he’s going to let me and Tex keep sleeping together.

  I want to just stay here with Tex, but I’m also getting antsy. It’s not in me to just lay around in bed when I’m not tired. As quietly and slowly as I can, I slip out from under Tex’s arm, grab my clothes off the floor, and quietly walk out of the room, closing the door behind me. Just because I’m awake doesn’t mean he shouldn’t sleep until the alarm goes off.

  After I make a pot of coffee I sit back down at his laptop and open Facebook.

  I remember which Dylan White’s I looked at yesterday and skim past those and start opening the ones I hadn’t seen yet.

  It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack. By the time I’m done with my second cup of coffee and about to give up, I click on the next Dylan White and my heart nearly stops. It’s not the profile picture that I recognize, it’s the cover photo that’s familiar. The picture of me, Dylan, Noah and Jade taken the summer before we were all separated, standing in front of a pool. It was one of the few things Mom and Dad had done for us. While they filled it with water, Dylan took us down to the secondhand store to buy swimsuits. Mom told us that one day we’d have a real pool, just like she was always saying we’d have a bigger and better house. Our parents were actually around for a couple of days after we got that small pool, and took this picture, and then they were back in the basement or gone again. Dylan was a little too big to really enjoy the pool, but it was perfect for Jade and me.

  I can feel myself smiling at the memories. We had a good time playing outside that summer.

  “Did you find him?”

  Tex’s voice makes me jump. He was so quiet and I was so lost in the memories that I didn’t even know he was up.

  His arms slide around my waist as he kisses my neck. Then, he wipes a tear from my cheek. I hadn’t even known I was crying.

  “Is that you?” He points to me in the picture on the screen.

  I just nod.

  “Well, look at you in that cute, frilly pink bikini.”

  “I loved that suit. It was my first and only swimsuit.”

  “We’ll have to fix that. This summer I’m taking you swimming.”

  He can’t be serious. “Leg, remember?”

  “First, I’m getting you that tattoo you want and then I’m getting you something pink and frilly to wear to the beach.”

  Like he can afford to get me a tattoo. That’s part of the reason I don’t have one already is because of the cost. Plus, I just turned eighteen and I think there’s an age requirement that I had to wait until I was old enough anyway. “I’m not a pink and frilly kind of girl.”

  “You can be anything you want.”

  “It still won’t be pink and frilly.” Besides, I can’t imagine I’d ever be comfortable in a swimsuit out in public, and in front of strangers. Then again, I never thought anyone would ever really see me naked.

  Tex goes and pours a cup of coffee. “So, what did you learn about him?”

  “I just found him. I’ve only looked at the picture.”

  “Well, get on it. Scroll through his posts and learn what you can about your brother while I get some of that snow out of the way.”

  He is so not shoveling on his own. There is too much for one person. “I’m helping.”

  Horns has got to be the most stubborn woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I don’t need her help to get the sidewalks cleaned off, but she was out there anyway, right beside me, with another shovel we found buried. It isn’t as fun as yesterday. No making a race of who could finish first and she didn’t lob snowballs at me either. I get it. She was thinking about her brother.

  So why the hell wasn’t she up there going through his page, looking at his pictures and reading his posts? I tried to get her to go back in but Horns refused.

  When we were done with the walk, she headed inside, went right past the computer and into her room to change for work. It’s like if she doesn’t look at it, she doesn’t have to think about it.

  She’s scared, and I get that, but then again I don’t. Of course, I’ve always had my family. The only time we’ve been separated was when we went off to camp as kids and then college. But we still talk all the time. I’ve got to remember that her brother is basically a stranger to her and Nina doesn’t trust easily and she has no reason to trust that a blood relation would be more trustworthy after the shit her parents pulled.

  “Anybody come in yet?” I ask as I come into the gym. She’s already sitting at the front desk, just staring outside.

  “Nope.”

  “Do you think they are going to?”

  She shrugs. “Depends, I guess. Maybe not everything is cleared yet.

  I put the computer down in front of her. “Well, since you don’t have anything else to do.”

  Nina just blows out a sigh.

  “I’ll check the answering machine if you haven’t.”

  She perks up. “Crap. Change the message to that we are open. Totally forgot to do that.”

  “Could explain why nobody is here,” I laugh and go back into the office and settle behind Miguel’s desk. I change the message back to what it was and then listen to the messages. One part-timer is still not coming in today, but it’s not like we need him. Then there are three for Nina, which I write down and take back to her.

  “What?”

  I smile. “The school needs a copy of your immunization records to complete the process.”

  Her eyes light up. “Really?”

  “If they are wanting all the paperwork, it’s a good sign.”

  “Which one?”

  “All three.”

  She hops up from her seat. “Cover the desk for me.”

  I don’t even get a chance to answer before she’s heading back to the apartment.

  It’s all I can do not to scroll through Dylan’s page, but it’s her brother, not mine.

  A few minutes later Nina returns, carrying a manila envelope and frowning.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “My last foster mom gave me this and said everything I needed was inside. All it has is a birth certificate and old school transcripts.” Nina looks up at me all dumbfounded. “Where am I going to get proof of immunization?”

  “Wouldn’t the state have that? Your caseworker.” I assume something like that would be in her file.

  “I suppose so.”

 
“Then go get it.”

  “I’m not sure I can just walk in and ask for something like that.”

  “Won’t know until you try.”

  “I suppose.” Her shoulders slouch like she’s defeated or something.

  “You also have a doctor’s appointment today.”

  Her eyes light up. “That’s right. I totally forgot what day it was with being cooped up for a couple of days.”

  “It wasn’t so tough being cooped up, now was it?” I wink at her.

  Her cheeks start to turn pink. I so love to make her blush. A week ago, I would have bet everything I own that Nina would never blush.

  “Maybe the doctor will release me to get back to training.”

  “Don’t push it, Nina.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Miguel is bad enough. Don’t you start too.”

  “Your appointment is at ten. Why don’t you go to child services when you are done and get your records?”

  “I’m supposed to work today, remember. Don’t you have school?”

  “Nope. Checked. No classes today and it isn’t as if we’re busy around here.”

  “Thanks, Tex.”

  “In the meantime, why don’t you look at your brother’s page?”

  She just looks at it real quick and then looks at the clock. “Can’t. Gotta get ready for my appointment.”

  That’s two hours away, but I won’t push her. Sometimes it’s got to be baby steps with Horns so she can come to something on her own and in her own time.

  32

  I guess there is a balance to everything. The doctor released me, completely, and I can start playing again, which totally put me in a great mood. Except now, I’m standing outside of child services and a big black cloud has just blocked out my mood.

  I hated coming here as a kid. Scared me to death every time. My stomach is tight and I’m getting a headache as the tension builds.

  After taking a deep breath, I go up the steps, open the door and head down the hall, stopping at the door to hell.

  Inside people are waiting on benches that look like church pews and on the other side of the long, wooden counter are desks, full of crap, where the caseworkers do their job. Each desk is piled high with folders. How the hell do they keep it all straight?