Steal You Away

by Ashley, Victoria

  “Wait. Seriously?” My sister sounds surprised. “You haven’t hung out there in years.”

  “Things have changed.” Kennedy shrugs. “I’ve been skating again. It helps relieve stress that I could definitely get rid of right now.”

  “I’ll go too then.” I smile, Kennedy’s glare landing on me, as if she didn’t expect me to invite myself. “I told Travis I’d meet him there anyway. I’ll drive.”

  “All right. It’s settled then!” My sister laughs and reaches for her phone again. “This should be interesting. The two of you skating together again. Never thought I’d see the day.”

  “And I never thought I’d see the day you’d go back to the skatepark to watch boys skate. Which one is it this time? Paxton or his cousin?”

  “Shut it,” she bites out, tossing her dirty plate in the sink, before finishing off her coffee. “I haven’t decided yet. I’m keeping my options open.”

  I laugh, because it reminds me too much of mine and Kennedy’s situation, which earns me a hard glare from her. “No judgement here, little sis. Just a small tip…”

  She stops at the bathroom door to look at me. “Yeah?”

  “Make them both work for it. The one that cares about you the most will be the one fighting ‘til the end.”

  Kennedy’s eyes on me have me turning to face her. Without saying a word, she disappears into the bedroom, knowing I’m right.

  “Good tip, little brother.” She smiles, before going into the bathroom and headed straight for the shower to get ready.

  Instead of going home first to get changed like I should, I let myself into Kennedy’s room and shut the door behind me.

  “What are you doing?” she asks quietly as I pick her up and pin her against the wall. “We can’t go to the skatepark together right now.”

  “Why not?” I question against her lips.

  “Because we can barely keep our hands to ourselves.” She closes her eyes and moans when I press my erection between her legs. “That isn’t helping. Like, at all.”

  “Good,” I whisper into her neck. “But I’m still going.” I graze my teeth along her neck, before gently biting it. “We’ll see how good you are at hiding how much you want me.”

  “That’s a shitty idea,” she growls, pushing at my chest. “Stop.”

  “Stop what?” I tease.

  “Using your mouth on me. I can’t fucking take it.”

  “That’s the point. You need my mouth on you. And my hands and my body. You can’t handle time away from me, and we both know I sure as fuck can’t. You want me to go. Admit it.”

  “No,” she whispers, her hands diving into my hair when I roll my hips into her. “I don’t want to, because I know being around you makes me weak. I’ll cave and I can’t do that in front of anyone. Not yet, Colson. All I’m asking for is a little time.”

  “Do you want time?” I grip the back of her neck and pull her to me so that her lips are against mine. “Tell me you want time and mean it and I’ll give it to you. Can you do that?”

  She doesn’t say anything. She can’t, because she knows time isn’t what she wants. She only thinks Dax needs it and she feels guilty.

  The shower water turning off seconds later has her slapping my chest until I let her go. “Out of my room. We’ll discuss this later.”

  Grabbing her chin, I tilt it back and kiss her, a small moan escaping her. If she’s going to spend the afternoon resisting me, the least I can do is leave her with a little reminder of what she’s missing.

  * * *

  Kennedy

  After Colson slipped out of my bed this morning, I didn’t expect him to come back. I also didn’t expect to find him in the kitchen cooking one of my favorite breakfast meals.

  The first thing I wanted to do was go straight into his arms to kiss him, while also wanting to scold him for making things so hard. I’m trying to do somewhat right here by keeping my distance from Colson for a little while, but he’s making it impossible.

  He may not get along with Dax, but they’re still brothers. I thought he’d understand why us keeping our distance for a while would be the right thing to do considering the situation, but clearly, he doesn’t plan to hold back. How can I push him away when all I want is to pull him toward me?

  Now I’m supposed to spend the afternoon with him at the skatepark, watching him do the hottest thing he does, which is skate. We’re not even there yet and my heart is already going crazy, picturing him on his board.

  There’s no way I’m going to be able to resist him if he comes on to me here, in front of everyone. I’m sure by now that word has gotten around about mine and Dax’s breakup, especially with Steve’s big mouth. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes and reports everything I do back to Dax if he’s here again.

  Blaire is in the backseat texting Paxton or Ridge—I’m not sure which one she’s communicating with—and all I can think about is reaching over and grabbing Colson’s hand. He must notice, because he smiles and adjusts his dick to get my attention there.

  He’s enjoying this torture. I think he likes seeing just how hard it is for me to resist him. I’d slap him, but he’d probably like it so much he’d fuck me right here in front of the entire skatepark.

  “They’re in the back room.” Blaire is the first to jump out of the truck, leaving me alone with her brother.

  Looking over my shoulder, he leans in close and whispers. “Think my sister would notice if we stayed in my truck and fucked while she goes inside to meet her boy-toys?”

  “You’re a pain in the ass.”

  “I could be. Right here in my truck.”

  Before I can even allow my mind to wander to that very dark, sinful place, I jump out of the truck and meet Blaire.

  “Bring your board?” Blaire questions, once realizing I’m without it. “Thought you wanted to skate?”

  “Changed my mind. Thought I’d sit back with you and watch the boys skate.”

  “She can use mine if she wants.” Colson appears beside me, his board tucked under his arm. “She doesn’t need hers.”

  Blaire nods and heads toward the door, but Colson speeds up to hold it open for us. As usual, Jerome is behind the counter selling merchandise, but offers us a nod as we head toward the back room.

  It’s a small, more private area, where most of the more skilled skaters hang when they don’t want to deal with the younger kids getting in their way.

  Ridge—the hot inked dude from Travis’s party the other night—is standing with his hands on his knees and catching his breath while watching Paxton take on the mini ramps and rails.

  His attention lands on Blaire and stays there once he notices her in the room. The way he’s looking at her reminds me too much of how Colson looks at me; like he wants her and will do what it takes to get her.

  I know her and Paxton have a short history, but if he shows interest in her too, I have a feeling she’d have a tough time making a decision with these two.

  “Hey, guys. What’s up?” Paxton skates over to greet us, giving Colson a handshake before flashing a smile at Blaire. “Glad you came.”

  “Me too,” she says, looking between the two of them. “We’ll be over here watching.” Blaire grabs my arm, pulling me to the picnic table that sits in the corner. “Shit,” she says once we’re alone. “Did both boys get hotter or is it just me?”

  I laugh, thankful for the distraction. “They’re both hot, that’s for sure.”

  “Just for the record, I call dibs on both,” she teases.

  “You don’t need to,” I say, my attention on Colson as he jumps on his board, taking in how gorgeous he is.

  “I know, I know. You just broke up with Dax. I’m sure you won’t be looking for a while.”

  “Right,” I say, feeling guilty. “Definitely not.”

  Butterflies fill my stomach when Colson looks my way. He’s doing that thing he does, where he’s only paying attention to me if someone’s talking to him, and it gets me every single time. />
  “Shit. He’s looking at me.” Blaire sounds nervous. “Those eyes are the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.” She’s obviously talking about Ridge, because Paxton has green eyes. “Look at those sexy, full lips. Would it be wrong if I just jumped on him and kissed them? Kennedy,” she nudges me when she realizes I’m not listening to her, “are you staring at my brother?”

  “No,” I lie, guilt creeping in just like two years ago when she first called me out. “Just trying to decide if I want to skate or not. That’s all.”

  “Okay,” she says, unsure if I’m telling the truth. “I’m not going to give you a hard time if you are, but just know that Dax would probably flip his shit if you two ever dated. I know Colson likes you. I think he always has. I just hope he respects Dax since you two just broke up and all.”

  “What do you think Dax would do if Colson and I ever dated?” I ask nervously.

  Her gaze lands on me. “Is that a serious question, because that totally sounded serious? That scares me.”

  “Just curious is all. You’re the one that brought it up.” Shit. I never should’ve asked that.

  She’s quiet for a moment, before finally saying, “There’d most likely be some broken bones involved and he’d probably never speak to either one of you again.”

  My stomach twists into knots, taking in what she just said. “Come on, Blaire.” Paxton waves her over to join him by the flat rail. “I’ll show you that trick you asked me about last week.”

  As if forgetting our conversation about her brothers, she grins and jumps to her feet. “I’ll be back.”

  I’m barely alone for ten seconds before Colson skates my way and grabs my hand, pulling me to my feet. Blaire is wrapped up in what Paxton is showing her and Ridge is doing his own thing. “Want me to show you some tricks?” he teases, making fun of his sister drooling over Paxton and Ridge.

  “As long as you’re teaching me, then… yeah.”

  “I have a few tricks I could teach you in the bathroom if you want.” He moves in a little too close, my body instantly heating with need. “My sister probably wouldn’t even notice we’re gone.”

  I place my hand on his chest and smile, trying my best not to explore his muscles with my fingers. “Just give me the board. Maybe I’ll show you a thing or two.”

  I go to reach for it, but he pulls it away and spins me around, making me laugh and forgetting for a moment that we’re around other people. I let go and play back, fighting him for the board until he finally lets me have it.

  He stands back, arms crossed as I skate around him, glancing in Blaire’s direction a few times to make sure she’s not paying attention to us. “Name a trick and I’ll do it.”

  He laughs and grabs my waist, pulling me and the board to him. “Are these bedroom tricks? Because I know a lot of those.”

  I laugh and push away, before skating around him. “Just name a trick I used to do. I want to see if I still have it.”

  “Okay.” He leans against the picnic table and crosses his arms, eyes on me. “Hospital Flip.”

  I inhale and slowly exhale, before positioning my feet on the board and attempting one of my old favorite tricks. I actually learned it from watching Colson back in the day.

  “Again,” he says when I fail the first time. “Pay attention to the front foot. Slide your foot up to the nose a few times for practice first.”

  I do as he says, before attempting the trick again, landing it this time. Then I do it a few more times, feeling good about what I just accomplished. Getting into the groove, I do a few more of my old favorite tricks, enjoying myself.

  “That’s my girl,” Colson whispers close to my ear while handing me an unopened bottle of water from the picnic table. “I’m so hard from watching you skate. It’s always gotten me hard.”

  His confession has me downing half the bottle of water, needing to cool off as he adjusts himself and takes over the board.

  Standing back, I watch him do some tricks, unable to stop looking at the bulge in his jeans every chance I get. It’s so thick against his jeans that anyone close by would notice. I distract myself by taking another long drink of water and looking around to see if anyone is watching. They’re not.

  “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be back.” I hurry away to the bathroom in the back, but right as I reach for the door to slip inside, Colson pulls me back, closing the door before I can make my escape.

  “Don’t run away from me,” he breathes against my lips, his body pinning me against the door. “Stop fighting this…”

  All it takes is his gaze lowering to my mouth and I’m a goner, yanking him to me and kissing him so hard that he growls into my mouth. “Fuck this. Let’s get out of here.”

  “What are you doing?” Kennedy asks once I’m boosting her into my truck. “We can’t just leave.”

  “The fuck we can’t.” I flash her a smile. “My sister can get a ride home from one of the guys. I’m sure they won’t mind.” Before she can protest, I shut the door behind her and jog to the other side of the truck to jump in.

  She watches me but doesn’t say anything as I start the truck and back out of its parking space. It’s not until we’re a few blocks away that she speaks again. “Where are we going?”

  Glancing her way, I grab her hand and pull it into my lap just like the last time I had her in my truck. “Someplace we can be alone.”

  She swallows, before her eyes lower to my lap where my fingers are intertwined with hers. It’s so quiet in my truck that the only noise is the sound of her heavy breathing as she squeezes my thigh.

  “Pick out some music.” I hand her my phone and roll the windows down, wanting to enjoy the fresh air and just drive for a while with no distractions. “It’s connected to my truck.”

  “Okay.” She scrolls through my playlists. “You have a lot of new songs since the last time. Which one is the playlist you had playing the day you trained me?”

  “Playlist twelve.” I smirk and squeeze her hand when Dirty Mind by Boy Epic starts playing through the speaker.

  I can feel her staring at me while listening to the lyrics. “You would have a song called Dirty Mind on your phone. I’m not surprised at all.”

  “You know me well.” I bring her hand to my mouth and kiss it, before setting it back in my lap. “Just kick back and relax, because I have entertainment for hours.”

  “Hours?” she questions, looking a bit nervous.

  “We’ll be back in time for work. Don’t think. Enjoy yourself. I’ll take care of you.”

  She hesitates for only a short moment before closing her eyes and smiling. I glance over occasionally, watching as she closes her eyes and moves to the music, just enjoying the moment with no stress. This is what I want to see from her. Her just relaxing and letting go. I love that she trusts I’ll take care of her.

  “I love this playlist,” she says once the fifth song comes on. “I can see myself skating to this for sure. I miss those days of skating to your playlists. Remember when we used to take over the back room and blast the speaker of your beat-up phone? The screen was cracked from you dropping it out of your pocket while skating on multiple occasions. We couldn’t even see what we were playing and had to guess how to get to the playlists.”

  “I still have your favorite playlist from that one summer I broke my arm skating. Scroll up to playlist one.”

  “What!? That was from over seven years ago.” I see her scrolling through the list from the corner of my eye, an excited smile taking over once she reaches the old list of songs. “Oh, wow. This is amazing. I miss these songs.”

  “Play it.” I squeeze her hand and glance in her direction to see her watching me. “You’re in control. Anything you want, no questions. It’s always been that way with me. Still is.”

  “I can handle that.” She hits shuffle and Closer by Kings of Leon plays. “Yes,” she says happily, her squeezing my hand this time. “Takes me back to the days when everything felt so much easier. I had just started workin
g at the tanning salon with your sister that summer and things weren’t serious with your brother yet. I didn’t have many other cares. I just wanted to hang out, listen to good music, and skate.”

  “It feels good, doesn’t it?” I look over to see her reaction. “It feels right, like it always has with me?”

  She nods. “Yeah.” I feel her staring at me, so I finally pull over in a secluded area and park the truck.

  “Come here.” I push my seat back as far as it will go, before pulling her over to straddle my lap, my hands cupping her face. “This natural feeling, the one you always felt with me before shit got fucked up… it can feel like this again, and it never has to end.” I rub my thumbs over her cheeks, looking into her eyes. “I’m sorry I was an asshole all those years ago. I was pissed at my brother for taking you away. I wanted you with me—at the skatepark and anywhere else I could get you. I stooped to doing what I could to get a reaction out of you; any kind of fucking reaction. I missed you, Kennedy. I missed us. I may have been too young to be with you romantically, but it didn’t stop me from wanting it. I’ve always known you were the one.”

  Her green eyes search mine for a moment, her hands moving into my hair as she takes me in. “I wish things could’ve been different back then.” She runs her fingers through my hair, playing with the strands. “I missed you too,” she finally says. “But because of our age difference I didn’t start thinking of you that way until it was already too late. I was with your brother when you turned into this young, hot guy who hit on me every chance he got. I pushed the old Colson from my mind. The Colson who used to be my friend. I’ve seen him again lately and it scares the shit out of me. I’m terrified.”

  “Of what?” I move my thumb along her bottom lip, causing her eyes to close. “Tell me.”

  “Falling in love with you,” she says gently. “Of your brother never speaking to us again. Or putting Blaire in a messed-up situation. Lots of things. It’s why I asked for time.”

  “I can’t leave you alone,” I admit, pulling her forehead to mine. Her heavy breathing against my lips has my heart racing. “I’ll do everything I can to keep us a secret for now, but I can’t fucking leave you alone. Those two days killed me.”