All Horns and Rattles: The Baxter Boys #5 (The Baxter Boys ~ Rattled)

by Charles, Jane

  “It’s covering scars,” I blurt out.

  Mrs. Lippincott frowns and sadness fills her eyes before she leads me away from the gym and to a bench at the back of the building.

  “Scars?”

  Before I know it, I’m telling her about Teddy and the cigarette, and all of that. I don’t know why I’m suddenly spilling everything out when I hadn’t talked about it after the last trial and before Tex, but I think I want her to know that my tattoo wasn’t a whim. I think I want her understanding and respect for Tex. “I’ve wanted them tattooed over since I was fourteen so I never had to look at them again, but didn’t know what I wanted. When Tex started calling me Horns and explained why, I liked the idea of a rattlesnake and skull.”

  “That’s when you decided on the design?”

  “That’s when it took hold. I still constantly looked at other designs but kept going back to the skull and snake. It felt right. It felt like me.”

  She smiles and nods.

  “Do you hate it?” I finally ask.

  “No dear,” she assures me and there’s a bit of moisture in her eyes. “We aren’t against tattoos at all. We just hate to see kids doing something permanent to their bodies that they may regret when they are older.”

  “I won’t regret this.”

  She takes my hand. “No, you won’t, because it wasn’t an impulse, a whim, rebellion, or because it’s a fad. Yours goes much deeper.”

  She really isn’t half bad, but I think she has ideas about me and Tex that I’m not even sure of yet. But, it is better than her hating me.

  “Are you going to tell Julia and Tex what you know?”

  She studies me. “Why?”

  “I don’t think it’s right that I know what you’ve told me and they don’t. I won’t keep a secret from him.”

  She slowly smiles. “Ever?”

  “Well, the good kind, like if you told me what you got him for his birthday or Christmas, but nothing else, and especially not something as important as this.”

  Mrs. Lippincott nods as if she approves. “We are telling them at dinner. They are adults now, old enough to drink the beer they’ve been hiding from me, so we need to come clean on what we know.”

  I stand. “Well, that will be an interesting conversation.”

  She laughs and comes to her feet. “You’ll be there, so you’ll see.”

  I bite my lip. “No I won’t.” This is their family time. “The four of you need to have dinner as a family. I’d feel awkward and we can talk later.”

  There is a softening in her face, as if I just earned respect or something. Then she nods. “We will.”

  I’ve stepped into one of those sci-fi movies, and my mother has been replaced with some kind of alien. At dinner, she and Dad let us know that they’ve always known about the beer we tried to sneak and reminded us that they grew up in the same town with nothing to do and there has always been someone older to find beer.

  Then she told me that they’d already concluded that I wouldn’t be coming home and Dad supported my idea of buying the gym from Miguel. Then, they made Julia promise that when she pursues her tattooing that she do it in New York, near me, because she couldn’t do that at home. “We do have a reputation to uphold.” My mother actually laughed.

  The night left me and Julia reeling and we talked about it long into the night. Then she decided it was menopause. Some women become bitchy and weird, but our mom got nice and normal.

  Well, whatever it is, I am not complaining, especially since she really likes Nina and I promised to bring her down over the summer for a visit.

  Now, the two of them are side by side on Miguel’s couch. Nina is playing a rugby game and pausing it every five seconds to explain what is going on. Mom really wants to understand the game and made Dad promise he’d pay for the channels if they don’t get rugby at home.

  Maybe it is menopause.

  Dad isn’t fazed but Julia is still looking at Mom as if she’s grown two heads.

  “And, that is rugby,” Nina says when the game is over.

  “Well, we better go,” Dad says when he stands.

  “Where?” It’s like three in the afternoon.

  “Flight leaves at six. We only flew in for a couple of days to check on you two and meet Nina.”

  All that way just to check on us.

  “Best trip I’ve ever taken.”

  “Mom, you’ve only gone to Oklahoma,” Julia says.

  To that, Mom laughs. “No dear. Your father and I have been to England, France, Spain, Italy and the Caribbean. He took me many places before Wyatt was born. After that, we settled in. And, as soon as April is in college, we’ll probably travel again.”

  “Seriously?” Julia asks.

  “If either one of you would have ever bothered to look in the photo albums I keep in the family room, you’d see the pictures of our romance, before children.”

  “Well, we do have to go now,” Dad says and they each hug us and then Nina.

  After they are gone, Julia just turns to me. “Do you have anything to drink?”

  Nina laughs. “Not here, but back at my place. Besides, you wanted to talk to Alex some more since he does have his own tattoo shop.”

  “Perfect.” Julia heads down the hall. “Just need to get my stuff.”

  As soon as we are alone, I pull Nina into my arms. I wasn’t able to do that with my parents around because I thought they’d freak out.

  “I really like your mom and dad,” she says.

  I laugh. “I think I do too, now.”

  She goes up on her toes and kisses me. “I missed you last night.”

  “Not half as much as I’ve missed you every night but our normal Saturday.”

  Then she kisses me. A bone-melting, erection-rising kiss that makes me want to haul her up by the ass and drag her back to my room.

  “How about we drop my sister, make the introductions and find a hotel?”

  “How about we just make the introductions and go up to my room?”

  I start to smile. “They won’t care?”

  “No, but I should warn you that Mary left a pile of condoms in the middle of my bed last night. They were left over from the health fair. I didn’t have the heart to tell her we don’t need to use them.”

  I can’t help but laugh. “You know, if we head down to Texas this summer, Mom and Dad won’t let us share a room and we’ll have to sneak off.”

  “Like you did with Sarah Douglas.” She winks at me.

  “Don’t knock the loft until you’ve tried it.”

  She wraps her arms around my neck. “You should know by now that I don’t require silk sheets. All I need is you.”

  I stare down at Nina, convinced I fall in love just a little more each day, when I didn’t think it was possible to love her anymore. “So, you will visit Texas with me. Just a visit.”

  “Tex, I’d visit the moon with you if you asked.”

  “And maybe I’ll just take you there some day.”

  Dear Readers,

  * * *

  Thank you for reading ALL HORNS & RATTLES, the fifth book in the Baxter Boys ~ Rattled series. For more Baxter Boys, watch of Christian’s story – SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL, available in June, 2017.

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m know that there is more of the Rattled Series to come, and soon.

  If you are new to the Baxter Boys series, you can start reading the first book – Rattled – right now.

  EXCERPT – SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL

  SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL

  (#4 (Baxter Boys Series ~ Rattled))

  © Copyright 2017 – Jane Charles

  All Rights Reserved

  “Seriously? Feel Your Balls?” I read the sign above one of the booths at the health fair. The booth next to it has a sign Feel Your Boobs?

  “Got your attention, didn’t it?” Mary Robins grins at me.

  “Can we go feel boobs and balls?” Zach asks.

  “Only after you give blood,” Mary assures Zack the same way a mom would promise ice cream after booster shots. At least that’s what a few of my foster moms were like. The good ones, when I was still a little kid.

  “Right over there.” Mary points to a huge white tent. Inside are recliners and about half of them are filled with people giving blood.

  “They have cakes, cookies and juice for when you’re done,” she continues in a cajoling voice as she herds the guys toward the tent.

  I watch as my roommates slink off, shoulders slouched and heads hanging. Really, the needle isn’t that big and they only take a bag of blood. It’s really no big deal.

  Mary comes back to me, fists on her hips and stares me down.

  “Can’t.” I hold up my hands and step back. “I’m a regular giver,” I remind her. “It’s not my time yet.” And, they never let me forget either. With A negative blood, they love to get their needle in me to fill a bag and usually call to schedule an appointment two weeks before I’m due.

  “Maybe you should be on Alex watch.”

  I laugh. I wasn’t there, but last time Alex gave blood he passed out. “Kelsey’s with him. He won’t wimp out in front of her.”

  “It’s not wimping out to get light headed.”

  “He’s a fucking tattoo artist, and needles and blood make him squeamish. Explain that.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Totally different kinds of needles and a hell of a lot more blood.”

  We are right in the middle of the campus where on normal days students just hang out between classes, but today it’s filled with all things health fair related. I didn’t know what to expect, but not all of this. In one corner is a fenced off area, kind of like you’d see in a petting zoo, but it’s filled with little kids and playground equipment. Adults are in there watching too. The kids are running, screaming, playing and crying. Right next to it is a booth with the sign Are You Ready for This? With an arrow pointed to the playground. “Birth control booth?”

  “Whenever possible, it’s best to demonstrate. A crying baby is a lot more effective than a pamphlet sometimes.” Mary laughs.

  “So, what are you demonstrating?” Mary needs to be at a booth in a few minutes for her volunteer work.

  “The proper use of a condom.”

  “Um, isn’t that a given?”

  “You’d be surprised at how many guys were never taught the proper technique of rolling one on and leaving a reserve.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Sad, I know.”

  “It’s just as important for girls to know too,” I point out. Except a girl hasn’t been around my dick in, well, too damn long. I’m not even sure the condoms I own haven’t expired.

  It’s not that I don’t have the opportunity to get laid, like every weekend, but that got old real quick. Something about being in a band makes girls wet. I know this because they’ve told me. And, it was fun for a while but damn, I want more than a quick fuck in the back room of a bar. “So, you’re at the booth next to the kids.”

  “No, they are just handing out information about the clinic, services that are offered, a map of the health fair. More of an information booth.”

  I nod and do a full turn. There are a ton of booths and tents. I can’t even see everything they have, and the place is packed. They are mostly students, but it’s a huge turnout. I’m not sure I went to one health fair when I was in college. They seemed so lame and I didn’t really think I needed to learn anything new. Damn, if I knew they were like this, I probably would have stopped in.

  “I’m next to the balls. Condoms and balls kind of go hand in hand, don’t you think?” She wags her eyebrows at me.

  “If you’re doing it right.” I laugh as we start walking in that direction.

  Mary slips behind the table, relieving the girl who was standing there. Roll it Right reads the sign above her head and another sign on the table says One Break Can Last a Lifetime and Free for the taking, in front of tubs filled with condoms. Guys are grabbing up handfuls as they come by.

  Two guys stop and look at Mary.

  She tilts her head, giving them a saucy grin. “You sure you know how to use that thing?”

  One of them looks at his friend, then nods. “Maybe you should show me, just so I know I’m doing it right.

  “I’d love too.”

  What the hell? What kind of health fair is this? I glance back to make sure Dylan, my roommate and her boyfriend, is still in the tent. Did Dylan know what she was going to be doing?

  The guy leans on the table, getting closer to Mary. “Should we go somewhere, um, more private?”

  She grabs a condom out of the tub. “I’m more of an exhibitionist.” She dismisses him as if the idea of putting on a condom in front of everyone is no big deal, then reaches under the table and brings out a neon green dildo on a stick.

  “Oh, man,” the guy says with disappointment and I about lose it because I’m laughing so hard. She so played him. Though, if Mary is going to spend her afternoon showing guys how to use condoms, even if it is on a dildo, I may have to make sure Dylan is occupied elsewhere. He sure as hell is not going to like witnessing what I just did. Not that Mary did anything wrong. Hell, she didn’t even flirt or lead the guy on, but a girl offering to help with a condom is enough to get a guy thinking about what happens after the condom is on and that guy was definitely jumping ahead to wearing the condom and being with Mary.

  I glance at the next booth and forget to breathe. It’s the girl who was coming out of the campus clinic with Mary a few months back. I never got her name. I introduced myself and all she said was “I know. You play sax, right?” Then she was gone. I’ve wanted to ask Mary about her, but I don’t want Mary to start trying to fix me up with people either. Girls do that when they are in love. Kelsey worked on getting Dylan and Mary together and I have no doubt Mary would do the same to me and the auburn-haired beauty with light blue eyes if she had any idea how interested I am.

  She’s standing right beneath the Feel Your Balls sign and now that’s all I can think about. Her hands on my balls, stroking my shaft and maybe using that gorgeous mouth in the most pleasurable of ways.

  A slow smile comes to her face as I approach, as if she can read my mind. Hell, of course she can. You don’t put a sexy girl under a sign like that and not expect guys to immediately think of feeling and tasting.

  “Are you the one doing the feeling?”

  “Maybe.” She leans on the table, hands flat against the surface, her upper arms pressing her tits together, making the cleavage deep.

  Damn!

  “I hear that guys like it when someone is feeling their balls.”

  I lean in. “If you want to feel mine, I have no objection.” Even though I know she is working me, like Mary worked the guy on proper condom use, I’m happy to play along. Except, I’m not getting what this booth is about. How can feeling a guy’s balls be health related? Unless it’s to warn against blue balls. Which if this flirtation keeps up, I may have a serious case of.

  “You probably don’t spend much time with your balls,” she says. “Most guys, when taking themselves in hand, just jack off in the shower and give no attention to the family jewels.”

  Well, that’s true. If it’s bad enough that I have to take care if it myself, ball attention isn’t nece
ssary.

  “Did you know that could also be deadly?” Her voice is low and those blue eyes are boring into mine.

  “Why? I could slip on a bar of soap.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I. I don’t want to die in the shower.” I lean in closer. Our noses are practically touching. She’s turning me on like no woman ever has and we aren’t even touching. “Maybe you should shower with me, for protection.”

  “Give me your hand.”

  I’m about to break out in a sweat. She can have my hand. She can have anything she wants.

  I expect her hand to go into mine, but she places something soft and light in the palm. I glance down and it takes a moment before I realize what I’m holding and then drop it immediately.

  “I hope you don’t treat your own balls so poorly.”

  “What is that?” Well, it looks like a sack, balls, and scrotum, whatever, and the poor dick is even cut off.

  “Guess you don’t look at yours too often either.” She snorts.

  Holy crap! I’m flirting with Christian Sucato and we are talking about balls, feeling balls, and all I can think about are his balls and his cock and those light brown eyes.

  This isn’t the first time I’ve given demonstrations, but I normally don’t flirt. It’s not professional and we aren’t supposed to. This booth is for information that could save a life, but when Christian walked up, it was almost as if I couldn’t help myself.

  “Why did you just put balls in my hand?”

  I try not to laugh but it is so freaking funny that practically every guy drops them as if the testicular exam simulator has cooties or something.

  “To save your life,” I answer.

  Damn, I’ve gotten more requests today to perform personal exams than I can count. If Christian were to ask, I’m not so sure I’d really want to tell him no.

  I’ve had a thing for him for a good year. Ever since I saw his band play at a club one night. There’s just something about him and the way he plays that sax that is so fucking hot. Hotter than anyone I’ve encountered, not that I ever did anything about it. I’m pretty sure he has a fan base full of pretty girls who are all willing to feel his balls and anything else and I’m not a groupie. It’s not my thing. I’d just rather admire from afar, and it’s no different than seeing a hot guy in a movie. Nice to think about but knowing you’ll never actually get him. Out of reach, that is what Christian Sucato has been to me and after this display is done, at least I’ll have this encounter to remember.