Hearts and Thorns

by Ella Fields

Dash scowled, then stole his blunt.

  “And I care because she asked me to fuck her,” Raven said.

  My brows shot up. “She did?”

  Rave shrugged. “Don’t look so surprised. Word has it that I’m a great lay.”

  Lars snorted, slumping to the grass-flecked dirt and lighting a cigarette. “Who’d you fuck?”

  “Ainsley,” I said without an ounce of feeling. It bothered me my friend would do that but not enough to say it did. She could do whatever she wanted. In fact, what I wanted was for Ainsley to be happy.

  She could be reckless and a little mean like the rest of her crew—Kayla, Daphne, Annabeth, and so on—but when she was on her own, she was different.

  Lars hooted. “Breaking bro code.” He nodded, sarcasm dripping from his tone. “Nice.”

  “I didn’t fuck her. I said she asked me to,” Rave said. “Read between the lines, motherfuckers.”

  “And what, you just said no to those tits?” Dash passed the blunt back.

  Raven was a boob guy, and everyone knew it. “Sure did. I already had a ride lined up.”

  Laughing silently, I swiped my hand over my cheek, then stood. “Good for you. I’m out.”

  “You coming to Summer’s tonight?” Lars called.

  Rave moved away from my truck as I climbed inside and tore my boots off. “Nah, got that bio paper due.” I threw my boots into the back, then grabbed my Vans. “You already finished, oh smart one?”

  Lars shrugged, which meant yes. “Give me a ride?”

  I jerked my head to the passenger side in answer, then flipped off the other two before peeling out the side entrance that led to the wooded area behind Dash’s house.

  “I can’t believe she asked your friend to fuck her,” Lars said, flicking ash out the window. “How are you not pissed?”

  “I ended shit with her for a reason,” I said, wishing everyone would leave it well enough alone already.

  “Cold, man, cold.”

  “And what you do with chicks is any better?” The guy had been following every move Daphne Morris made since he’d been accepted into Magnolia Cove Prep via a full scholarship, the likes of which were only handed out to one student each year. Meanwhile, he fucked anything in sight and never committed. He could pine all he wanted; Daphne was the cold one. And she wasn’t interested in him or any of the assholes who attended school.

  “Love and leave them, just leave them nicely enough to make sure they don’t spit fire at you in the school halls.”

  I chuckled, nodding. “You’ve got a point.”

  “So,” he said after he’d finished his cigarette, “you’re really not hooking up with someone else?”

  Lying was becoming an overused pastime, one that shouldn’t have come so easily. It had to. The alternatives were nothing we could ever contend with. Ignoring how we felt was something that couldn’t be done.

  I’d lie forever if I had to. As long as she was willing to lie with me. “Nah, dude. No one.”

  The stars, moon, headlights, and blazing bonfire were the only sources of light as far as the eye could see in the barren fields of Danny Vestin’s property.

  His family owned a ranch near the edge of town, but they were currently enjoying a two-week stay in the Bahamas to escape the frigid winter that’d swept through the cove and had decided to stay a while longer than what was normal.

  By March, things would usually begin to thaw and warm up, but it was nearing April, and if anything, it was colder now than it was in January.

  Parked as far away from the festivities as possible under a cluster of old oaks, I pulled my hooded black jacket tighter around me, itching to do the same for Willa.

  I couldn’t, not only because it’d look strange to have her brother fussing over her in that way, but also because she was stalking across the grass toward the bonfire, hands tucked in her denim jacket pockets. It was fur lined, and her cream dress fluttered around her black tight-covered thighs, the knee-high weeds caressing what my fingers longed to.

  “Jack-Jack,” Dash shouted, racing over with a bottle of Jack. “Fucking thought I saw you pull in.”

  I took the bottle, taking a few sips as Daphne walked over to Willa, greeting her with a blinding smile that I could make out even from my vantage point.

  I handed it back, and Dash drank greedily before plonking onto my tailgate and lighting a blunt. “Don’t suppose you’ve got some cups back here under all those blankets, do you?”

  “I don’t,” I said, eyes tracking Willa as Daphne handed her a bottle of something, and Willa took a sip and a seat next to her by the fire.

  “You devil, you.” Dash laughed. “Planning on getting some pussy under the blankets tonight?”

  I didn’t see the point in lying because he’d see right through it. “That’s the plan.”

  “Don’t sound too excited or anything, fuck.” He scooted forward, legs hanging over the gate. “You get more somber and shit as you get older, know that?”

  “Fuck off, then.”

  He laughed. “Nah, luckily for you, I like somber. Makes me feel good about myself.”

  I took an offered blunt, lighting it when he passed me the lighter, then handed it back. “Where’s Lars?” I knew they’d planned to ride together.

  “Probably in the trees fucking some cheerleader.”

  “Rave?” I sucked in a drag, held it within my lungs as Danny and Byron neared Willa and Daphne, and Kayla stared daggers at the lot of them.

  “Grandma needs babysitting again,” he said. “If you ask me, the old bird just wants someone to baby instead of being babied.”

  I smirked, exhaling. “No wonder Raven drops anything for her.” The guy was a sucker for being taken care of.

  “What’s Daphne want with Willa?”

  Good question. Daphne had been the one to invite Willa, and Peggy, being Peggy, wasn’t all that interested in parties just yet. Even if she’d accompanied, I’d still have come. Willa wasn’t used to parties, and she needed to be looked out for until she was.

  “She invited her.” I took another drag. “Got no idea why.”

  Dash hummed around the lip of the bottle. “She’s cold as ice, that chick. Maybe she wants some of Willa’s sunshine to warm her up.”

  My teeth gritted. That he’d noticed enough of Willa… I shifted, telling myself to curb the bullshit. He’d known Willa for as long as he’d known me. Since elementary school.

  He didn’t want her. He just knew her.

  My shoulders loosened somewhat, and I finished the blunt before stomping on it, desperate for the rest of my body to relax.

  “So are you a chaperone, or did you come to party?” Dash pushed some more. “Because from where I’m sitting, you don’t look like either.”

  “It’s Daphne. She’s friends with the worst of the best.” I scoffed and folded my arms over my chest. “Of course I need to keep an eye on this shit. Mom and Dad will kill me if Willa gets hurt.”

  They didn’t even know she was here. They bought the excuse of a movie trip with her friends. I’d said I’d take them and hang out with my own friends until they were done.

  I didn’t think Daphne would hurt her in any way. But even though I’d attended school with the girl for years, I didn’t know much of anything about her. She’d always kept to herself, even among the posse of hyenas she hung out with, and I couldn’t get a read on her.

  “Daphne will be fine,” Dash said. “It’s the others who don’t know how to play nice. So let’s get wasted and wake up wondering where the hell we are.”

  “Can’t. Mom and Dad know I drove.” And I wasn’t about to ditch Willa to drink with friends. It was too dark, too crazy, and I wanted, needed to be exactly where she was.

  The crowds grew thicker as the night wore on, and Lars soon joined us, zipping his fly and groaning at the rip in his T-shirt.

  Girls were dancing in the back of trucks, some even on top of cars, and at least three different songs vied for attention from all the sp
eakers.

  “How is Stacia?” Dash asked.

  “I don’t kiss and tell,” Lars mumbled, sighing as he plucked the cigarette from behind his ear and stuck it between his teeth. “Mom’s gonna kill me. This was a Christmas present.”

  Dash handed him a light. “Still a screamer? Not your mom.” He winked. “We already know she probably is.”

  The smoke almost fell from Lars’s mouth as he fumbled to hand the lighter back, laughing. “You sick fuck.”

  Dash sipped from the bottle of Jack, shrugging.

  I smothered my laughter by scrubbing the stubble growing in around my mouth and looked back at the bonfire.

  My chest constricted. I couldn’t see Willa.

  Trying not to let the apprehension show, I feigned leaning down to tie my already tied laces and squinted through the growing darkness to the shadowed figures, searching for hers.

  Over by a truck, she and Daphne were crowded against it by Danny and Hennessy.

  She’d said she didn’t know Daphne well, that they’d only really hung out during art class, but she’d wanted to at least come and say hello.

  Well, she’d said hello. Time to say goodbye.

  Dash chuckled when I rose. “Looks like Willa’s about to get in that trouble you were worried about.”

  Lars peered over, smoke clouding his scrunched expression. He grinned, waggling his brows at me. “Want me to rescue her? Might be less embarrassing.”

  Over my dead fucking body. He laughed at whatever look was on my face, and when I muttered, “She deserves to be embarrassed if she’s hanging with those dickweeds.”

  He chuckled, and I stalked over. They followed, thankfully dispersing into a herd of senior girls.

  Willa’s drink was still half full, her posture stiff as Hennessy leaned close to bump her arm with his, laughing over something.

  She forced a smile that came to life when her gaze found me, but it slowly fell at whatever expression she saw on my face.

  “What’s up, Jack? Got any green?”

  I was sick and tired of people thinking I was always the one who bought the shit. I smoked it, sure, but not as much as my friends did. “No. Got a clue? Because it sure as shit doesn’t seem like it.”

  Hennessy sputtered out a laugh, his brows creasing when he realized I was being dead serious. “We were just hanging out.”

  Danny licked his lips, grinning broadly. “It’s all good, man. Seriously, we were just saying hey.”

  My nostrils flared as my gaze flicked back and forth between them. Danny was fidgeting, shifting from foot to foot and glancing around while Hennessy stood his ground, that smug smile still on his stupid face.

  I turned to Willa, who was chewing her bottom lip and peeling the label on the glass bottle. “We need to head out soon.”

  Daphne eyed me a moment, then smiled at Willa. “I’ll DM you when I get home.”

  Willa nodded, then followed me when I jerked my head toward the trees where the truck was parked.

  “Are we really going?” she asked once we’d escaped most of the people and noise.

  “No,” I said. “But if I have to watch you being treated like prey for another minute, I’ll end up breaking someone’s nose.”

  “Prey?” She laughed. “I was fine.”

  “You were uncomfortable.”

  She took a sip from the bottle, smacking her lips together. “Fine, but only when he kept bumping into me.”

  I snatched the drink and tossed it into the bushes when we’d reached the trees.

  “Hey!”

  Peeking over my shoulder, I made sure no one was close enough to see as I took her hand and hauled her to the truck. I opened the door and picked her up, leaning close as I said, “I don’t want you drunk.”

  Her brow rose. “It was only one drink.” Her cheeks bloomed when my meaning dawned on her, and she ducked her head. “Here?”

  Without giving her an answer, I jogged around to the driver’s side and climbed in.

  We crawled forward, enough for people to think I might’ve been leaving if they were watching, but only enough to be farther out of view.

  Willa climbed out a second later, and I followed. Jumping into the back of the truck, I helped her arrange the blankets before we settled over and beneath them.

  Melon rolled off her breath as she whispered close to my mouth, “Did you just stand over here all this time?”

  I pulled the blanket higher over our heads, hating that it was too dark to see the green flecks in her hazel eyes but loving the way every part of me began to heat when her leg moved between mine.

  I kicked my shoes off and felt her do the same. “Yeah.”

  She stared at me for a minute, then reached out and ran her finger over the crest of my cheekbone. “I missed you.”

  “It was only an hour or two,” I said, wanting her lips.

  “I still missed you.”

  I smiled, my nose nudging hers as my words floated over her parted lips. “Show me then.”

  Her hand moved to the side of my face, forcing it down for her mouth to close over mine. For long seconds, she held us there, unmoving and just breathing, her grip tight.

  I flew and sank, holding her waist, submerged in the familiar curve of her lips, the way they fit with mine, and murmured, “I feel like I need you to breathe properly.”

  Her breathy exhale warmed my tongue. “Me too.”

  Then I parted her lips, my tongue caressing hers, and my hands going crazy, touching every curving space of her body.

  Our breathing grew labored, the air beneath the blanket hot and damp. And when she grabbed the hand that’d been toying with her stomach and hip, guiding it lower, my eyes opened.

  Hers did too, luminous with the question, dare, and plea swimming within.

  I hadn’t touched her there yet. Not skin on skin. Heavy petting over clothes and a fuck ton of kissing was all we’d done; all we’d dared to do.

  Some tiny part of me worried that what I felt for her wouldn’t be enough to mask the memories I’d had of us as kids running naked through the sprinkler, the dual toilet training, and the time she laughed at my first ever boner. I’d been so mortified, so freaked out by what my body was doing, that I’d snapped, and said, “Laugh it up. I’d rather this than that weird taco any day.”

  That part and the memories were obliterated when her tights and panties disappeared, and my hand slid lower over her mound, encountering silken skin.

  Silken skin that unfolded into warm, wet want. “Holy shit,” I croaked. “Willa. Shit.”

  I was going to come in my briefs, but I didn’t care. I leaned over her, absorbing her shocked delight as my finger stroked up and down, familiarizing itself with her. “It’s so wet.”

  “Is that bad?”

  “No.” I laughed against her mouth. “No fucking way.”

  When she said nothing, and I found her entrance, thick with need and so fucking tiny, fear began to trickle in, and I met her eyes, checking to see if she was still enjoying it.

  Her heaving tits and the lazy glint to those orbs said she was, but the tense line in her forehead said something was wrong.

  My finger stilled, my hand resting over her. “What’s wrong? Is it…” I couldn’t even bring myself to finish that sentence. Any fear or worry I’d had was completely unfounded. If anything, my hunger and feelings for her were only growing. Yet it was possible that even if she liked what I was doing, those concerns, the wrongs, might still be there for her.

  I tried to swallow over the terror that lodged in my throat like a boulder, rasping, “Bug?”

  She smiled, soft but not reassuring. “It’s nothing. I’m being…” She sighed. “I’m just being stupid.”

  “If you’re feeling it, I need to know it. Spill already,” I urged, my heart slowing to a bruising pound.

  Her lashes fluttered as she seemed to battle with herself. “It shouldn’t matter.”

  “But it does, or you wouldn’t be thinking it. You’d just be
thinking about what it might be like to orgasm from my fingers.”

  She laughed, pressing her finger to my mouth. “Shhh.” I nipped it, and she giggled that giggle that would forever be the death of me. “I just, well, have you…?” She stopped, groaning a little.

  But I knew exactly what she was asking and bit my lips in relief.

  “Don’t laugh,” she said, slapping at my chest.

  I grabbed her hand, my laughter soft as I kissed her fingers. “You can’t say it.”

  “I don’t need to.” She rolled her eyes. “Which just answers the stupid question I couldn’t ask.” Pulling her hand back, she shifted, her thighs trying to move my hand. “Sorry. I guess I just feel kind of jealous.”

  “Kind of?” I scowled, then wiggled my middle finger, causing her thighs to clench.

  A small moan left her. “Extremely.”

  “Better,” I whispered, lowering my mouth to hers. “But you’re jealous for no reason. I’ve never touched a girl like this.” Her mouth refused to move as I tried to love it with mine, and I lifted my head. “Willa?”

  Her eyes were glassing, and she sniffed. “Sorry.”

  “Jesus.” I laughed. “Don’t fucking cry.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  I laughed harder, kissing every bit of her face until she was laughing too. “I’m relieved. I mean, I would’ve been okay if you had. I thought you had, but—”

  “But nothing,” I said. “Only you, so open your legs and let me play.”

  She clutched my head to hers, her teeth and lips ferocious. But as my fingers continued to explore her softest, warmest part, she failed to keep up.

  My blood became a thundering roar, whooshing and drowning out every sound that wasn’t her small cries of pleasure.

  “Touch yourself,” she whispered. “Touch yourself while you make me come.”

  I quickly shucked off my jeans enough to fist my cock and rolled to my side. Willa turned so I could play with her and pump myself, her tongue and lips sliding over mine and my jaw.

  The blanket began to slip, but it didn’t matter. We were too lost to save ourselves.

  “I think it’s happening,” she panted out, as I continuously circled the swollen nub, her body and breath trembling more every time.