by J. P. Oliver
“Victor,” Adrian mumbled as I pressed my lips to his shoulder.
“I love you,” I said. “So, so much.”
“You only love me because I fuck you so good,” he chuckled.
I grinned and bit his back gently.
We were slow to unfold from one another, cleaning up with jelly legs and shaking fingers and breathless laughs. When we were sure we didn’t drip anything too uncleanable onto the sofa, Adrian pushed me onto it.
“I should probably put some clothes on,” I said, too tired to move. “Guests sit on here, you know.”
Adrian grabbed a throw blanket from a nearby armchair and fanned it out over my body. I shimmied to the side and lifted it for him to join me, which he happily did. As I buried my nose into the back of his neck, he hummed, perfectly content.
“How you feeling, Crash Test Dummy?” he asked.
I huffed, unable to help my smile. “That’s rude. Fine. I’m still seeing stars.”
“I think we fucked your concussion worse.”
“No,” I said, nuzzling closer and feeling for the first time in a long time, perfectly fine, totally unburdened. “That’s just you.”
24
Victor
“Long time, no see,” Dominic laughed, leaning back against the counter. “Where’s my brother been keeping you all this time, Adrian?”
I glanced over my shoulder, gripping the sizzling baking pan with oven mitt-clad hands. Heat wafted up from the open oven as I met Adrian’s mischievous gaze.
“Oh, you know,” Adrian hummed, gesturing loosely with his beer bottle. “He’s been keeping me busy.”
Beth, who was lingering nearby with her own beer, stuck out her tongue.
“You can spare us and just say you two are fucking,” she said, low enough for our mother to not hear. “We don’t need any of the fancy euphemisms.”
“Okay, fine,” Adrian said, more than entertained. “Your brother’s been giving it to me real good, every night. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
Dominic and Beth groaned.
“Okay,” he started.
“Like, really fucking good,” Adrian carried on, laughingly. “In fact, he had me in this one position right before we came here. Varsity moves. Your older brother’s sort of nasty, did you know that—”
“Okay,” Beth and Dominic said, cringing in unison.
“You asked,” Adrian hummed. “Isn’t that right, babe?”
All three of them glanced at me.
Beth shook her head. “Y’all are gross.”
“I don’t know, Beth.” I shrugged, the picture of innocence. “Maybe don’t make fun of the guy handling your food.”
Whatever snarky comeback Beth was sure to fire in response was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. On a cool gust of late October air, Curtis and Zach entered, shedding their coats and greeting everyone with hugs.
The whole family was here, as per tradition, for the monthly Savage family dinner. For the first time ever, that included Adrian. We weren’t engaged or anything, but we were officially dating, which meant he was part of the family.
As Dom and Beth and Robert chatted with Zach and Curtis, Adrian shot me a lingering look. He moseyed over, looking particularly good. He always looked good, but tonight he looked truly relaxed. With the baking pan set aside to cool on the stovetop, he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin against my chest.
I smoothed my oven mitts across his cheeks.
He snorted. “This is a real sexy look for you.”
“You like them?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah,” he drew, quiet enough for only us to hear. “Especially the little chickens on them? Oof. What a turn-on.”
His hands slid from my waist to my ass, giving a playful squeeze. I tensed, laughed, and kissed him quickly, hoping he didn’t feel the shape of what I had tucked away in my back pocket.
Adrian licked his lips as we broke apart. “Don’t ever kiss me like that in front of your family again.”
“Oh?” I raised a brow, incredulous.
“It’s really hard to keep my hands to myself when you do that,” he chuckled, voice dropping to a whisper. “And I’d rather not fuck you in front of your evil twin brother, so.”
I glanced up over Adrian’s shoulder, and sure enough, Winston was watching us carefully. His gaze flickered away as our eyes met. Anxiety curled in my stomach, like it always did when Winston was around, but Adrian was here with me, trying his best to soothe it away with a quick kiss to my cheek.
“Hey,” he said, “don’t worry about him. He gets too mean to you, I’ll put him in his place.”
To show he meant business, Adrian flashed a little fist at me.
I chuckled, demitted, and tossed one at his face. “Stop being cute, dumbass.”
He stuck his tongue out, flashing his piercing, as I called to my mom that dinner was ready. She and Uncle Anthony and Dad tucked away their card game. We all gathered the pots and pans—baked chicken, buttered corn, peas, green beans, cornbread, the works—onto the center of the table, ready to dig in, family style. We squeezed around the table, knees knocking in some spots.
“I’d like to say grace,” my father said, smiling from the head of the table.
Uncle Anthony chuckled as we all held hands. “Dear God, we’re seriously gonna need a bigger table soon.”
We all chuckled and followed my dad’s lead as he dipped his head, thanking whoever was out there listening and looking out for us for the food, the guidance, and good company. The last part struck me particularly funny with Winston sitting a few seats away. He was hardly good company; we were avoiding speaking like our lives depended on it.
He knew that we knew he was the one to pay those bikers to almost kill me. I don’t know if his intent was death or just to scare me, but there was no doubt in my mind or Adrian’s. But without any evidence, there was nothing to base an accusation off; I just knew. I never told our parents about it, either, which was why he was still invited to these family dinners; they were already stressed enough with my father’s illness and the business. They didn’t need the extra stress of knowing their one son had tried to maim the other.
“Amen,” we all said in quiet unison.
Before everyone began to dig in and ladle food onto their plate, I cleared my throat and stood. I didn’t want to lose my nerve; this had to happen now.
“Uh.”
They all looked at me as I shot up. Adrian’s brows twitched together in a funny, curious smile at my side.
“Before everyone starts, I just wanted to say something,” I said, anxiety fluttering inside me, making my stomach quiver. I fucking hated public speaking, but this was important, so I persisted, ignoring the worst possible outcomes of what I was about to do. “Adrian, I… just want to say that I’m really happy you’re here. With me. With the family.”
Adrian glanced around the table at the smiling faces.
“I… never really imagined meeting anyone that would stick around,” I said. “And I definitely didn’t imagine that the person who’d sweep me off my feet would be my younger brother’s goth friend from high school.”
Everyone chuckled, except for Winston, who looked exceptionally annoyed.
“Maybe it’s too soon. Maybe it’s too… much, but…”
I fished around in my back pocket with one hand, took his hand gently with the other. We locked eyes and I saw the question swimming in them, which he said out loud as I revealed the ring I’d been hiding all night.
“Victor,” he huffed, eyes wide. “Holy shit.”
“Adrian, you make me so fucking happy.” I grimaced a little. “Sorry, mom.”
A few chuckles. She waved the apology away, eyes wet and smile wide.
“And I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather spend my life with than you.”
Adrian nodded slowly.
“So,” I exhaled, feeling my face warm, all eyes on us. “Will you do me the biggest favor in the world, and be
my husband?”
“Fuck favors,” he said, mouth splitting into a massive smile. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
Everyone laughed as I slid the ring on and sat again—only to have him draw me into a deep, elated kiss. Aws echoed around the table, followed by an applause that my mother started. When we drew away, Adrian looked into my eyes and whispered, “I love you like crazy.”
I nodded and pecked him on the lips once more.
“That ring looks good on you.”
He winked and flashed it at me. “We just have to get you one to match.”
“I actually have an announcement as well.”
Winston’s voice cut through the celebration—through the ease and thrill of knowing I would be marrying the man who’d quickly become my best friend. We all turned to look at him as he stood, all fine-pressed and overdressed for a family dinner in his business suit.
He lifted his glass of red and grinned at each of us—at Adrian and me in particular.
“As you know,” Winston said, eyes stopping on Uncle Anthony, “North Creek’s due for an election soon. Uncle Anthony, you’ve been doing a fantastic job running this place.”
There was an element of distaste in his voice; sarcasm.
Uncle Anthony shifted uncomfortably at my father’s side. “Why, thank you, Winston.”
“When I say this, I mean no disrespect. You’ve served North Creek your whole life, always working hard to make sure was the best place it could possibly be.” Winston nodded at him in thanks.
“Get to the point, son,” our father said, smiling but nervous, trying to ease the tension.
“I believe it’s time for new blood to take over,” Winston said, all saccharine smiles. “So forgive me, Uncle Anthony, but come the end of your term, I’m throwing my hat into the ring.”
I felt the familial joy suck itself out of the room; the house.
There was nothing to say as Winston eyed me directly, like this was the revenge he’d been waiting to reveal, the bikers and the car accident an appetizer; this was his main course.
“Next year,” Winston said, “I plan on running for mayor.”
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Seeking Sanctuary
Hometown Heroes: Book 2
J.P. Oliver
© 2019
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are all fictitious for the reader’s pleasure. Any similarities to real people, places, events, living or dead are all coincidental.
This book contains sexually explicit content that is intended for ADULTS ONLY (+18).
