“I guess look outside for them and then call her. I have his number too, if she doesn’t answer,” she wrings her hands a little. She pulls her cell phone out of her top as we go outside and to the car.
I nod, mildly curious as to why she has his number.
She calls Persephone, then Robert. “Straight to voicemail.”
We sit in the car quietly for a second. I think Nikki was supposed to spend the night. So now we have a problem. We have a “no soldier left behind” rule at my house. If we all leave together we all have to come home together. The only way to get out of it is if Nikki went home and we told my mom Persephone went with her, which is not going to happen on my watch. Neither one of us has ever actually been to her house but our mom doesn’t know that.
I turn in my seat to look at her. “Now what?”
She turns too, getting comfortable. “I guess we wait and see if they call or come back?”
I let out a breath. “I don’t think she’s ever coming back.”
“Well, we can’t go to your house without her and I left all my stuff there. I don’t even have my keys.” She throws her hands up, exasperated.
“We can wait ‘til I know my parents will be in bed and then go home.”
She grits her teeth, pissed at my sister.
“It might be fun. We could talk.”
She looks at me for a minute and melts. She finally smiles. “Okay.”
I hope I convey as much warmth when I look at her. I look at my hands on her lacy thighs. “I’ve been wanting you so long. I can’t stop thinking about you. Is that weird?”
“I don’t think so. I think it’s like when you’re a kid and you get a new toy.”
I wait for her to continue but she doesn’t, so I reach for her, watching her bite her lip and close her eyes as I touch her barely covered thighs. “I crave your taste.” I want her so bad. I wish we were in my bed.
She breathes deeply. “Don’t play, Ares.”
I laugh. “Right now.” I’ve wanted it since the first time. I have dreams about it.
“Eew, no, I’ve been dancing. I haven’t taken a shower.” She waves me off. “I wonder if they’re doing it.”
I don’t really want to think about my sister doing it. “I don’t think she’s coming back. What should we do?”
“I don’t know. A part of me wants to go back to your house and whatever happens is her fault for ditching us. Then the other part doesn’t want to betray her by getting her caught.”
“We can go camping and hope for the best.”
“Isn’t it too cold? I want indoor plumbing and warm water.”
“You’re such a girl. You’re going to choose indoor plumbing over a night of sex in the woods with me?”
“It’s easier for boys to pee in the woods, Ares,” she explains.
“I want you so bad all the time,” I tell her, touching her thighs.
“I want you too. I just have to pee. And take a shower.”
“I wonder if we could—”
“No.” She looks at me firmly. “I love your parents. The last thing I want is for your mom to look at me like I’m a total hoebag. Not gonna happen.”
“Then how is it going to happen?” I need space so bad but I have to wait until I get back. If I come back.
She sighs. “Are you trying to pressure me to have sex with you?”
“Yes.” I nod, emphatic. “I want you and time is slipping away.”
“So you want to get as much sex as you can before you leave?” Her eyes narrow.
“I want to have enough to hold me over.” I’m just being honest.
“Whatever. You’re going to get so much New York Artsy Chic pussy you’re going to forget all about my Small Town Tenino pussy.”
“Probably. But I want you.”
“We’ll see how long it lasts.” She smiles sadly, thinking it won’t.
“Let’s go to bed. I know you’re probably exhausted.” It will last.
“Always.”
It starts to rain on the way back to my house. She gets comfy and falls asleep and when I pull into my driveway she looks so beautiful I don’t want to wake her. I want to sleep with her so I close my eyes and drift away.
There’s a knocking on glass entering my sleep and my eyes open immediately. Marc is standing outside my car looking like an irritated ax murderer in the dark. I rub my stinging eyes with one hand and roll down the window with the other. Nikki is awake now too.
He looks in the car. “What the hell’s going on?”
I try to use telepathy to tell him Nikki was asleep so I closed my eyes and now I’m awake, but he doesn’t receive my message so Nikki takes over. “Persephone took off with Robert. We waited for her to come back but she never did. I guess I fell asleep in the car on the way here. I’m sorry.”
He looks at me. “Why are you sleeping in the car? Why didn’t you come in?” He looks confused.
I rub my face sleepily.
“Will you get in the house? Natalie would die if she saw you two out here sleeping in the car together. I don’t care where Persephone is as long as she’s not with Asshole.” He shakes his head. “Robert’s the one we kind of liked, right?”
She smiles. “Yes. Kind of.”
He nods. “Get in the house. I gotta get to the office. The Kleinfield building is getting a reboot. Ares, how do you feel about arches?”
I shake my head and draw a squared off arch in the air.
“Hmph.” He walks away.
We get out of the car in the rain and hurry to the house. She goes to Persephone’s room and I go to mine, showering and getting into bed.
I feel myself surfacing from deep, perfect sleep and there’s a light shining on me and an annoying chirping.
“Ares, where’s your sister?”
I pull myself through the fog of sleep and blink my eyes open to see my mother standing over me. I reclose my eyes. I was up way too late last night to be awakened like this.
“Wake up, Ares. Where’s your sister?”
I cover my head with my blanket and re-find my comfy spot. “She took off with Robert. Leave me alone.”
“I know. Marc told me. Where is she now?”
“I have no idea.”
“You guys are killing me! You leave my house together, I expect you to come home together. I have to go. I’m going to be late for a shoot. Please find your sister and be good. Nikki is not to go in your bedroom. Hear me?”
“Yup.” I turn over and listen for her to leave. I hear the car engine fade with distance and the dogs stop barking. I jump out of bed and head to my sister’s room. I open the door quietly. Nikki is sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing her eyes. “Nikki,” I breathe. She looks fresh and clean without all the makeup messing up her face. I’ve never seen her so pure.
“What time is it? Your mom was all up in my grill,” she says, grumpy and sleep foggy.
“Like six.”
“That is way too early.” She lies back and covers her head with the blanket.
Hmm. “Yeah well, I’d like you to come to bed with me right now. Let’s go.” I pull her into my room. I lay her down in my bed and pull her pants off. She looks at the ceiling, smiling. I kiss the insides of her knees and her soft hot thighs before putting my mouth on her. I’ve wanted this so long: her fingers running along my scalp, her taste on my lips, her foot on my back. I lick her while she arches and moans. She moves her hands from my hair to grip my sheets as my mouth moves on her until she comes and pulls my hair. She pulls me and I kiss my way up to her mouth and sink myself into her, her body clenching around me in waves that get me there way sooner than I wanted to. She wraps herself around me, moving her hips against me. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to come.” I suck on her neck, my eyes rolling back into my head.
“Come then.”
“I want you to be happy.”
“Ares, I’m very happy.”
Chapter Fifteen
Nikki
I close my eyes
. with a smile as he makes me shiver. Everywhere he touches makes me burn with electricity, making my body weak from the overstimulation. “You need to stop or I’ll stay here all day.” I turn, tangled in his soft, fancy sheets and blankets. I pet his hair and his cheeks. His lips brush my flesh as he lies next to me in nothing but his skin.
“Good,” he mummers.
“I have to go to work,” I whisper.
His mouth moves over my breasts and I tingle everywhere.
It’s too good. His bed is too good and his room. I’ve never been in here before but I love it. It’s so much homier than Persephone’s room and the gloominess from the clouds outside makes it so tempting to just lie here, naked in bed all day.
I look around in a blissful fog as he kisses me and I hold his warm body in my arms, pretending he’s mine. He has unfinished paintings against one wall and there are prints of art I recognize. He has bookshelves full of comics and books and toys. His bed is the most unimportant thing in here but the blankets make up for it. The other half of the room is taken up by a sofa, chair and TV with video games. There are sketches tacked to his walls everywhere there’s space.
“Call in sick.” He sucks me into his mouth, running his tongue over me.
My eyes flutter. Oh my God. “Would you, Mr. Work Ethic?” I whisper, breathless.
“No. But I have most weekends free.”
“Hmm.”
“Come with me to New York.”
“I wish I could.” But that’s a lie. I have no desire to visit New York. I’ve been there with my dad before. He went back when he left. I know it’s a big place but even the thought of running into him or his family makes my skin crawl.
“Find your dad so he can take care of Dexter.”
“My dad is not Dexter’s dad.” I look out his big window from where I’m lying on his bed, sad and cold now because he’s distracted me from my distraction.
It’s gray and raining. The evergreen trees are standing tall and black and proud, like they know they belong here.
I hate this feeling of loss.
Loss of a thing I never had.
I pull the sheet to cover my nakedness while he watches me, curious. I get out of bed. My bare feet touch the plush carpet and I walk to his open window to breathe the rain scented air.
“Does Dexter know?” I see him reach for his sketch pad and pencil out of the corner of my eye.
I shake my head and watch the ducks play in the puddles, looking for worms.
He finishes sketching and stands, coming behind me and wrapping his arms around my middle, holding my ribs in his open hands. He nuzzles my neck, kissing me softly. He straightens slowly and tucks my head under his chin and the rest of my body against him, pulling me into him with his hands on my body. “I hope he knows how much you’ve done to give him a happy life.”
“I hope he doesn’t.” I smile, heavy with the thought and the way his fingers make me tingle, touching my warm body through the thin, cool sheet.
“Why don’t you find his dad?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Does he know?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care. Okay?” It’s not his fault. But I don’t want to think about it.
“Okay.” We watch the dogs run across the yard towards the gate. I feel his heart leap anxiously. “Someone’s home.”
I pull away. “I gotta get ready to get to work anyway.” I turn to him and kiss his lips hurriedly. I leave to Persephone’s room, picking up my clothes as I go.
Chapter Sixteen
Nikki
Persephone and I are eating lunch at the marina. We’re sitting outside at a table with an umbrella, rain falling all around us. She just got back from wherever she ran away to and has been on lockdown at home but her mom let her come out with me.
There’s something iffy about her and it worries me.
I open the pizza box and take a slice. I dig in, filling my mouth with hot cheese and veggies.
“You look happy. I haven’t seen you look this happy since you were banging that guy. What was his name? It was something funky.” Persephone asks, picking up a slice and concentrating on rearranging the toppings. “Is it the same guy?”
“I don’t know.” I shake my head. It’s not good to continue this line of questioning with her.
“Yeah right. I don’t know why you won’t tell me. I tell you everything.”
She’s not kidding about that. “I don’t know. It’s the beginning and it might be special so I don’t want to jinx it by talking, ya know?” I look at her face, hoping she won’t keep pushing.
She nods. “Yeah. I understand.”
“So, were you with Robert or Jimmy?” I don’t want to push her either.
She sighs and looks away. “Both. I accused Jimmy of cheating on me. I found some incriminating evidence in his car. So he said a whole bunch of shit to me and we broke up. Again.” She shakes her head disgustedly, looking out at the boats. “Robert let me cry on his shoulder and one thing led to another. Then Jimmy called while Robert was gone and he said all those things he usually says and I went with him to the lake house.”
“So you’re back with Jimmy?” I want to shake her. It makes my stomach hurt how dumb she is when she doesn’t have to be.
She nods. “I don’t know why. I can’t get over him.”
It’s weird what hormones will make a person do. I’ve had my fair share of indiscretions for sure. “I guess it’s like that sometimes.”
“Yeah. I want to go to my dad’s house to get away for a while but Ares won’t go with me.”
“Why don’t you go by yourself?”
“I can’t.”
My eyebrows move together. I don’t want him to go away so soon. “He’s leaving in a couple of months anyway.”
“I know.” She looks far away, sad.
“Can I do anything to help?” I ask, wanting to be able to help.
She shakes her head and snaps out of it, back to her normal self. “I’m fine. How’s Dex?”
“Good. I hardly see him but from what I do see he’s regular old Dexter: getting into trouble, making everyone laugh.”
“That’s our boy, right?”
Yep.
Chapter Seventeen
Ares
My mind flashes scenes of her pale skin and dark eyes, the ever-present bruises under them from sleeplessness. The way she looks when she thinks no one is watching her. The way she looks at me while we’re talking. The way her lips part when she feels good, the curves and planes of her body and my hands on her skin.
Oh, shit, I dropped my coffee cup.
I can feel Marc in the corner of my vision as I inspect the damage. The cup is intact but the hardwood has a small ding.
I retrieve my cup and turn back to the coffeemaker for my coffee. Getting caught fantasizing by your dad is weird.
I guess it could have been my mom.
Marc comes over with his cup. “What was that all about?”
I scowl and fix my coffee.
“I think you’re twitterpated.” He pours his coffee, leaving it black.
I don’t even know what that means.
“I think your mother might be focusing too hard on the wrong twin. What’s going on with you and Nikki?” He leans back against the counter like he’s settling in for a long talk.
If I could blush I probably would be; those images of her are so fresh in my mind. But I look around, paranoid. The walls have ears and I don’t want them to get any ideas. Satisfied there’s no one, I set my jaw and continue to scowl, not looking him in the eye.
I wish I could talk to Marc. My stupid brain won’t let my body get over it. I can speak to almost everyone now most of the time except for them, my two fathers.
“Aren’t you leaving soon? You don’t know if you’re coming back. Why would you start something and then leave?”
I’m hoping she’ll decide to come with me. Or we’ll be able to stay friends and see what happens. But hopefully she�
��ll come with me.
“Aren’t you afraid of what will happen to her? You’ll be gone and all she’ll have is Persephone, and she can’t talk to her anyway. Can you imagine how that would go? And when your mom finds out you’ve been sneaking around? She’s going to start questioning me, fool.” He crosses his ankles in front of him and leans into the counter with his elbow looking real cowboyish. “Nikki won’t have anyone at all.” He shakes his head. “She doesn’t have much to start with, Ares. What is she going to have to do to take care of Dexter? Kids don’t get cheaper and her mom is unreliable. You’re the only person she has right now. What happens when you leave, Persephone is pissed she violated the best friend code by hooking up with her brother, and your mama’s pissed you were deceitful?”
I can’t stay. I have the opportunity to be a successful artist and use that success to do what I want instead of what I have to. I’m going to make art and build houses and this grant is going to pave my way.
It’s the only way.
“You’re so stubborn.”
My ears prick. I look at him to figure out his angle. He’s trying to provoke me and I don’t know why.
“I hope you’re not just playing. She’s a good girl and she doesn’t deserve to have her heart messed with. You’re not fucking with her because you think she’s easy, are you?”
My hands ball into fists.
“I didn’t think so. Put those away, Slugger.” He nods toward my fists. He looks at my face, waiting for me to put them away. “Did you start something with Nikki?”
I hesitate for a beat before shaking my head negative and slow.
I hate lying.
No good comes from lying.
“Then I want to know why you’ve been hanging out together so much? Why did you zone out into another dimension and drop a coffee cup? Why do you have hickies you should cover before your mother sees?” He frowns. “That’s not from your twin sister’s best friend?”
I touch my neck, feeling butterflies from the memory.
I put my coffee cup down and look into his eyes, imagining mine are lasers, microwaving his brain until his head explodes.
Chasing Stars Page 7
