“Sounds good.” She smiles a small smile.
“You should come to my house. My parents are gone.” I run my fingertip along the curve of her breast.
“I’m not having sex with you in your mother’s house.” She rolls over and grabs her clothes.
I get into my undies. “Then what are you going to do today?”
“Take a shower, giggling and crying. Lie in bed all alone with the curtains drawn and cry again.”
I frown, pulling my shirt on. “Why would you cry?”
“Because that’s what you do when you just sexed up your best friend’s twin brother in the woods and you liked it. And when you will probably sex him up again and everyone you love is going to hate you because he’s the golden boy and you’re just a townie from a no-good family,” she explains, putting her bra and torn tights in her purse. She pulls her shirt on and adjusts her skirt. She pulls on her boots and zips them up the insides of her calves. She looks at me and smiles her sad girl smile.
Is it that bad? Persephone, yes. My mom? I don’t know. She acts pretty cool about a lot of things but I know she’s not cool about screwing around. She knows about Persephone and her sex life and hates it. Persephone doesn’t care though. My mother treats me like I’m her baby boy. She adores Nikki now but I guess that could change. But Marc would fix things. “You should come to my house.”
“I have to take a shower and change clothes and junk. What would we do at your house?”
I smile. “Whatevs. Watch a movie. Watch TV. Play some video games. I can go down on you. We can play cards.”
She looks at me. “Don’t play, Ares.”
I laugh. I want to touch her. I want to grab her and pull her into my lap.
“I can’t. I have to go home. Ready to go?” she asks.
I look around to make sure I picked up everything, and to make this moment last for as long as I can. But there’s nothing left to do but go back home. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
Chapter Thirteen
Nikki
“What’s been goin’ on in your life?” Persephone asks me, watching me cut pattern pieces.
“I saw Robert a few weeks ago at the diner,” I tell her, my heart pumping thinking about her brother being a big part of something that happened in my life recently. And I haven’t been able to think of anything else. We haven’t said more than five words to each other since. I’ve hardly seen him and when I do my heart stops and I get pink and sweaty.
“Did he ask about me?” She smiles like she knows it’s silly to ask but she can’t help it.
“No.” I grin. “He actually tried to get me to spend my lunch break with him.”
“Ugh! What a perv. You didn’t, did you?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Good ‘cause that’s gross. But you are in love. I can tell. Who is it?”
God, please don’t let her ask questions I can’t answer. And I’m not in love. I can’t be. It’s nice while it lasts. It feels good. I think I’m more intensely curious than in love.
But, I mean, in the big picture, who’s not in love with Ares?
“It must be serious otherwise you’d be spilling your guts like you usually do. Is it anyone I know?”
Oh God, if she only knew. “No. It’s just a crush. How are you doing lately?”
“You know how it is. Life. Jimmy and I are fighting. But he’s partying at the lake house this weekend. I might go anyway.”
“I don’t trust Jimmy or his friends. You shouldn’t either.” I warn her, stopping what I’m doing to make sure she sees the look on my face.
She laughs. “Right, like Jimmy would let his friends do anything. He’d kick their asses.”
Jimmy is small and wormy and sleazy. Ares hit him the first time he cheated on her and now he visibly flinches whenever Ares walks by him. He comes over to her house when her parents aren’t around. He wouldn’t kick anyone’s ass for messing with his girlfriend. “I don’t think you should. Please tell me you will reconsider.”
She shrugs. “I will seriously consider it,” she relents.
“Thank you.” At least it’s something.
“I saw River the other day,” she says, sitting sideways in the chair with her legs over the arm.
“Oh yeah? How is she doing?” Seeing people from high school is the worst.
“She got fat.” She grins.
“Good. She was a stuck up bitch.” She was a preppy cheerleader chick and Persephone and I were the opposite.
“I know. She said she was working at FredMeyer. I’ve never seen her there though. She just had a baby.” She swings her legs, having an obvious ADD moment. “Are you hungry? Let’s go eat.”
“Persephone! I can’t afford to constantly go out to eat! Besides, do you want me to finish this?” I give her squinty eyes of exasperation.
She groans. “I’m just so bored!”
“Get another job,” I tell her.
“So I can be like you? No thanks, Miss Stick in the Mud.”
“Better than being Miss Crazy and Irresponsible.”
“Well, it’s my lot in life. I am the twin of Mr. Perfect in Every Way. By comparison I will always be the crappy one.”
He does set the bar high. “You can try.”
“It’s not as much fun.”
“Hmm.” I take out the pattern directions and look them over before sewing.
“Life goes by too fast to worry all the time.”
“It’s not like I have a choice.” It’s maddening to think people think I put this on myself when it would be ridiculous of me to choose this.
“We should go dancing. We can hit Robert’s club. Wouldn’t that be awesome?”
I stop and relish in the fantasy. Dancing is my first passion. I was in dance classes and singing lessons from before I remember until my dad left and I had to take care of Dexter. I can dance to anything. It’s one of the two things I’m great at. I know every dance as it comes out and I’m one of those girls people make a circle around to watch at a club. If she says she wants to go dance, I’m down. “You got me where I’m soft and squishy.”
“Let’s go tonight.” She chews on her nail in concentration. “We can get Ares to go so he can drive and we can drink.” She jumps and runs out of the room.
I get back to sewing, getting in the groove of stitching and the noise of the machine lulls me into a good place.
Is Ares going to dance? He danced with me a little the last time we went clubbing. He’s a great dancer. He dances in competitions at powwows and wins a lot. I’ve never been invited but I have danced with him, and had sex. Will I be able to feel how excited he is to be rubbing against my body? Will I be able to keep my feelings for him on the low in front of Persephone? Will he get mad if I dance with other guys?
“He said yes!” Persephone bursts in. “He didn’t even argue with me.”
I smile. Of course he didn’t.
“Do you want to stay for dinner?”
I look at the clock. Dexter is just getting home. “No. I can’t. I need to finish this so I can get home to Dexter.”
“That’s cool.” She practically skips out of the room.
I get back into my sewing zone.
I love dancing. My mom always picked on me and told me I was doing everything wrong or that I was too fat to make it professionally, even when I was just six years old, but I still loved it. I would dance in my closet, going through formations to the music in my head, until she found out what I was doing and took my closet doors.
“Where have you been? I thought you’d never come back.”
I jump and look at where Ares is standing in the doorway. “Where have you been? I thought you used me like an old dirty rag,” I whisper back.
“Are you kidding?” He looks at me like I’m an alien. “I’ve been working. And I have a lot of school stuff going on. But I’ve been hanging around, wanting to see you.”
My stomach flutters. I try to concentrate on sewing so I don’t pee my pants in a
nticipation.
“What are you doing? Get out of here, Creeper.” Persephone pushes Ares out of the doorway.
I finish my sewing while Persephone runs around getting ready to go.
✽✽✽
“Where are you going?” Dexter comes in and sits in the middle of my bed.
“I’m going out dancing.”
“Where? When are you coming back?”
I look at him with my best fake mom look. “None of your business.”
“What if there’s an emergency? What if Mom tries to kill herself again? What if I get sick?”
I frown. “Why? Are you feeling sick?” I touch his forehead. No fever.
“No, but still. I should know where you are. Just in case.”
I roll my eyes. “If there’s an emergency you can call my cell.”
“Then can I spend the night at Jacob’s house?”
“Did his mom say it was okay?”
“His mom doesn’t care.”
“Call and ask and I’ll take you over there.” I can hear my mom’s haunted guitar playing as I put my shoes on. It’s good he won’t be here.
“She said yes!”
“Okay. Get your stuff together. I gotta go.” I zip my backpack and put it on. I go out to my car and wait, biting my fingernails. I don’t know what to expect with Ares. I’m a nervous wreck.
I take Dex to his friend’s house and go back to Persephone’s.
Chapter Fourteen
Ares
I got a text from my artist friend, Thomas. He said I can show a couple of my paintings at his next show. I’ve showed at smaller venues and there’s a very small hole-in-the-wall brewery in town that regularly shows my work. My mom always gets a booth at powwows, too, for her photography and my paintings. I always sell out but I’ve never shown at this big a gallery. I’m pretty stoked. My mind is racing with possibilities.
Nikki comes out before Persephone because my sister is a peacock. She’s wearing her boots and a long, mid-thigh length shirt thing. Her hair is in a ponytail looking purposefully messy. She has long dangly earrings and a long dangly necklace.
She takes my breath away. I would much rather see her skin and natural beauty than see her made up beauty, but I understand the concept. Her brown eyes look like deer eyes and her lips attract my attention.
“You look amazing,” I whisper and she smiles. “Do you have a jacket? It’s cold outside.” It hurts to look at her because I want her so bad and I have to hide it so I have unlimited drama-free access to her.
“Yeah. It’s in my car.” She sits next to me on the bench like it’s nothing, another night. She’s so much better at lying than I am.
“Do you want me to get it for you?”
“No, it’s cool.” She looks me over with a sexy curve to her lips. “You clean up nice.”
“Thanks. So do you.”
Persephone walks up with her long hair loose and wearing club clothes. “How do I look? It’s exactly what I wanted Nikki! Oh my God I look amazing. Robert is going to flip.”
Nikki smiles. “See what happens when you let me finish things?”
I look at her again. “You made that?”
She admires her handiwork like it’s no big thing. “Yeah. I made this too.” She gestures to her own clothes.
“You should have made yours show a little more in the boob area and hers a little less,” I tell her, looking her over as she stands.
She smiles, flirting back. “I like to leave some things to imagination. Your sister doesn’t have any.”
“I don’t trust what I can’t see. Let’s go,” she says, walking toward the door, dodging my mom trying to kiss her goodbye, but it’s okay because Nikki takes it and hers too.
We go through the VIP line at the club and Robert is talking to the door guy in front. He smiles and waves us forward. He shakes my hand and hugs Persephone. He puts our VIP bands on and sends us in.
There are platforms for go-go dancers but they’re not on right now. A DJ plays on stage at one end and standing tables surround the bar. People are dancing in the space between.
Nikki looks at me, tucking her phone and ID into her bra. “Wanna dance?” she yells over the music.
I nod. Yes I want to dance with her.
We leave Persephone at the bar to go to the dance floor. She puts her hands on my chest as we get into the rhythm of the music. I hold her hips as she dances in my arms. I keep us to the side so I can watch Persephone out of the corner of my eye. But I lose myself in dancing with her, feeling her hips move in my hands and her body rubbing against me. She’s beautiful. Her body moves with mine, just like when she held onto me on the back of my Honda.
Her arms go up around my neck and her fingers push into my hair. My hands want to explore her body. I have to fight to keep from sliding them down her butt and grabbing her. They want to be all over her. My head keeps coming down to smell her or kiss her. I catch myself at the last moment and the pressure of my dick in my jeans is too much. She’s not stopping, she’s still grinding against me like my sister isn’t here and neither is anyone else. Her hand slides down my body to run her finger along my zipper.
It’s too much for me. It would be embarrassing to lose it in my jeans on the dance floor.
I pull her hand away and back up to my neck and she looks at me with the darkest most beautiful eyes. Her lips so red and pouty. I want to grab the bottom of her dress and pull it up to her waist. I want to find a dark corner and get rid of this ache.
Her eyes flutter as I grab her skirt in my fists. I step back, neither of us dancing anymore. “I need some water.” I pull her to the bar for some water.
Persephone and Robert are flirting in the corner and she has a hard drink. My jaw clenches while I watch her. I don’t like that he’s getting her drinks.
Nikki looks at me. “Do you think that’s why she wanted to come?”
“Hopefully.” Only because I hate Jimmy more than Robert, even though he’s not a winner either.
“Bad for Jimmy. Good for us,” she says, watching Persephone toss back her drink.
“Jimmy’s a punk bitch.”
She laughs. “Ready to go back out?”
I dance with her for a few more songs, trying to think of dead puppies and anything I can to keep my thoughts away from us and our bodies and breath, but her body keeps pressing me and I’m sweating just thinking about pulling her to a corner or a bathroom stall. It’s all I can think about.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I want to dance with you, but you make me too hot.” I wish I could bend down and kiss her.
She looks me over, hungry, before turning it into a girl look. “You won’t get mad if I dance with other guys, will you?”
“No. Just don’t touch anyone’s dick or make out with anyone.” I squeeze her hips as I pull away.
She gives me an okay sign and some guy immediately starts dancing with her as I make my way to the bar for more water.
I find a place to sit at the seating along the walls to watch everything. My sister is getting drunk and Robert is touching her. I turn back to Nikki where a crowd of people have made a circle around her to watch, but I see her between bodies. She looks like she was made to dance. I can imagine her dancing with me around a fire, putting my stick on her shoulder and taking her to my tent.
“What’s the matter? Don’t have anyone to dance with?” Some drunk lady comes to me and yells.
I look at her. “I do but she’s better than me. I didn’t want to hold her back.”
“I love this song and you’re pretty cute. I want you to dance with me.” She pulls on my hand.
I pull it away. “No thanks.”
“You’re a dick. Go fuck yourself.” She saunters off to the dance floor in wobbly high heels.
I shrug it off. Okay.
Nikki’s watching me. She doesn’t look happy anymore.
She comes over to where I am now that the song is over, her skin shiny and her
cheeks pink. She sits and steals my water. “What was that about?”
I pick up her hand and put it on my thigh so she can feel what she does to me. “She said I was cute and she wanted to dance with me.” I look at her glistening cleavage. God, I would love to touch her, anywhere.
She cocks an eyebrow and rubs me softly through my pants, watching my head fall back with a sexy smile and sparkly eyes. “And what did you say?”
“I said I wasn’t interested.”
“Good,” she purrs, petting.
I bite my lip, my heart high with everything. “Oh my God, Nikki’s jealous of some drunk girl touchin’ her man at the club,” I sing to her, happy to see her pink cheeks and smiling eyes.
“Shut up.”
“Does this mean we’re married?” I tease her.
“Shut up.”
“I thought you were just messing around because you don’t want any complications right now but look at you. You’re all over this.” I grin, running my hands down my body.
She tightens her hand, gripping and squeezing until I grip her wrist and groan. Oh God. I don’t want to get thrown out of the club for this. But I would love it if she kept doing that.
She rolls her eyes. She takes her hand away and looks around. “Speaking of complications, where’s your sister and Robert?”
I look over to where they were, still reeling.
Not there.
“I hope she’s banging him,” Nikki says, “because I hate Jimmy. But then I feel like I shouldn’t let her cheat on her boyfriend because she’s drunk.”
“She’s been crazy lately.” I’m looking at her pretty face, wanting her hand back, wanting so badly to be alone with her. “And they’re broke up right now.”
She frowns. “Did she tell you about his lake house?”
“She’s stupid. Let’s go see if they’re here.” We stand and go to one of the security guys. “Have you seen Robert?” I ask him.
“He left with your sister five or ten minutes ago. Said he was out for the night.”
“Thanks, man.” We walk toward the door where it’s not so loud. “What do you want to do now?”
Chasing Stars Page 6
