Evan turned around, strolling to the doors that would shape his life for the next year, and Kane watched him disappear, until the bell rang, bringing him out of his trance.
“He’ll be okay.” I patted his back, then caressed his pecs and rubbed down his stomach.
“I think I need to go home and take care of my girl.” He pushed my hand further down until he was rubbing it against his firming erection.
“We can’t do this here. We would get kicked out of school.”
The engine growled as he pulled away, turning heads as we pulled back out onto the main road.
“Wouldn’t it be worth it though?” I teased, unzipping his pants.
“You’re always worth it.”
And there went my heart, pitter-freaking-patter.
Chapter 5
“Oh my God!” Kane slammed the door to Evan’s room, briskly walking away. I was in the kitchen making finger sandwiches since Molli was coming over.
I licked the ranch-mix off my finger. “What? What is it?”
“He has a girl in his room, and they were making out! Oh my god, my eyes. I get why he is always cautious with us. When did she even get here?” He tried to whisper, but he was too angry.
“She got here an hour ago. I don’t know where you were, but she’s a nice girl.” I shrugged, spreading the flavored ranch mixture onto the cucumber sandwiches.
The bedroom door opened, revealing a surprisingly put together Evan and blonde-headed girl.
“I think I’m going to go. Call me, Evan. Bye, Mr. and Mrs. Bridgeshaw.” The girl practically ran out the door while I choked.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bridgeshaw? Just how old do we look to have a seventeen-year-old?” That was horrifying. I ran to the circular mirror in the hallway, checking for any fine lines or wrinkles, or anything that remotely showed I had a baby.
“All right, Evan, I’m not mad. I should have knocked. I’m sorry. I’m learning boundaries, but what was she doing here? I thought…I thought you were gay.” Kane’s eyes softened as he spoke to Evan.
Evan couldn’t meet his eyes. “I wanted to see if I was bi. There are these guys at school that give the gay kids a hard time, and I don’t want that.”
I saw a flash of disappointment in his eyes. “And?”
I could have laughed when Evan scrunched his nose. “I didn’t like it. I tried, but well, I couldn’t…I wasn’t feeling it.” He kept glancing to the floor and back at Kane before Kane’s eyes widen at the realization that his little brother meant he couldn’t get hard with women.
“Oh, oh, oh…I see. Okay.” Kane rubbed his fingers through his tangled hair, reminding me that I needed to brush it later. I loved brushing his hair. The silky strands glided smoothly through the brush. He kept it down when he slept, and he would fall asleep with my fingers playing with his hair. It was my favorite thing to do.
“I had to think of Dylan,” Evan admitted like the weight of the world was just taken off his shoulders.
Kane put his hand up. “All right, that’s enough. Also, no seeing Dylan until you’re eighteen. Not with your horny uncontrollable teenage hormones. I know how you guys work. You’d stick your dick in a light socket if you knew you could, and I wouldn’t put it past you to try.”
“Ummm, hi.”
We turned to see Molli carrying a considerable amount of totes in the doorway with a struggling David behind her, carrying more bags.
“Jesus, Molli. How many Magazines did you bring?” I ran over to help David before he was about to fall over.
“Well, I might have been subscribing to a few of them for the past couple years.” She tucked her hair behind her hair. “You never know what you will find, Leslie. Hi, I’m Molli, this guy behind me is David.”
After all the introductions were made, we all made our way to the living room, and David started to take out the first batch of magazines.
“All right, what are we thinking?” Molli clapped her hands. She took her blue notebook out of her purse along with a fluffy blue pen. You would think her favorite color was blue, but it wasn’t. The girl had a new favorite color every week, and this week, the unfortunate victim was blue.
I cleared my throat staring at Kane. “Well, we want to get married where he proposed underneath the weeping willow. We want it to be sunset with lights and sheer curtains? Are they called curtains? Like the sheer drapes?” I looked around to see if anyone knew what I was talking about and Molli was taking notes like a mad woman. “Umm, we wanted to keep it small. Family, close friends, and the dogs.”
That got Molli’s attention, “The dogs? Leslie, you have a thousand dogs. That would never work.”
“Just Lily and Flamingo!” My handsome boy was lying right next to me, sleeping like the sweetness he was. Lily was next to Kane, sitting protectively, looking for danger.
“Colors? Dress? Tux? Suit? We need details.”
“You and David are my bridesmaids.”
David piped in, “I am no one’s bridesmaid. I will be a bridesman, but never a maiden. You can quote me on that.”
“Are you gay?”
Kane cuffed Evan on the arm. “Evan!”
“Ouch, it was just a question.” He rubbed his arm as it hurt.
“To answer your question, I’m flattered by the way, but I am not gay. I’m all about men loving men and women loving women. I prefer if women just loved me, but here I am, talking about wedding cakes and colors. I might as well be gay,” David muttered the last few words as he tossed a hacky-sack in the air.
“I wasn’t asking because I was interested. I was asking because I was curious is all.” Evan shrugged his shoulder, which caused his shirt to fall off his shoulder.
Kane and Evan couldn’t be more opposite. Evan was delicate and feminine, while Kane was a man’s man in an obvious way.
David sat up. “Why is that? Am I not attractive enough or something for you to be interested?”
“Uh, I…didn’t think you cared.” Evan popped a brow at David from his strange antics. I was used to it. David was an interesting person.
“Of course I care! I need to know these things, Evan.” He pouted.
“Why? You aren’t gay.”
David seemed appalled. “That is not the point.” David got up and stomped away, going down the steps to the tattoo shop. He was probably going to the shelter to pet a puppy to make him feel better.
“I don’t know what I did…” Evan held up his hands in surrender.
I waved my hands. “Eh, that’s typical David. Ignore him. We do.”
“Anyways, Flamingo is the ring bearer, you’re wearing a strapless purple dress, and the men are wearing tuxes. Finger food and champagne. That’s all I have for now. You can go now. Leave the magazines. I’ll look through them.” I helped Molli up who was still writing ferociously and steered her towards the door. “I suddenly don’t feel well.” Which wasn’t a lie. My stomach was turning all morning, but I thought it was just heartburn.
“Yeah, I need to go. I need to put drawing boards together. I’ll send you pictures.” She never took her eyes off her notepad. I hoped she didn’t fall down the stairs.
“Yes!” Shutting the door, my stomach did a somersault that had me hauling butt to the bathroom. I barely made it in time before I was throwing up the finger sandwich I ate.
Kane was right behind me, holding my hair and rubbing my back as I heaved my stomach contents out.
Puke was disgusting.
“Crazy, talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I don’t feel good though. Maybe it was something in the finger sandwich?”
“Leslie! Are you okay?” Evan was peeking around Kane, and his worry made my heart melt, but I didn’t want anyone to see me like this.
“Fine, just a bug,” I muttered through a mouthful of spit.
The sound of the facet running was calming. Before I knew it, a cold rag was against my neck, and my sickness subsided a smidge. “Oh, that feels good.” I had my forearms on the ri
m of the seat, laying my cheek against it, waiting for the next wave to hit.
“Evan, can you go to the store and get ginger-ale, soup, and some crackers?” Kane whipped out his debit card to take care of it, but Evan just glared.
“Are you kidding? I recently just came into a shit load of money. I think I can cover it.” Evan laughed as he prepared to leave.
“Language,” Kane hissed.
Evan rolled his eyes. “Sorry, I’m going. I’ll be back, Leslie. Don’t go anywhere.” He cringed. “You know what I mean.” He tapped the doorframe a few times, before heading out. It was supposed to be a reassuring gesture, but it made my head feel like it was getting split in two.
“How about we get you into a lukewarm shower, change your clothes, and put you to bed? I bet you’ll feel better then.”
“Okay.” I sounded weak and I hated it.
The toilet flushed and Kane lifted me in his strong tattooed arms. “I love you, Kane,” I muttered.
“I love you too, Crazy.”
I smiled at the nickname. I should hate it considering how it came about, but it morphed into something unique from our feelings for each other.
I pouted, “I wanted to do the nasty later too. This sucks.” My bottom lip puckered, bummed about not being able to get dirty later on.
Kane chuckled. “You can have me whenever you want. I ain’t going anywhere.”
“You promise?” Gosh, I sounded like a twelve-year-old. For some reason, I was feeling insecure.
“I swear I love you more than life itself. And if that’s not enough, then I’ll have to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.” He stripped too, and I finally got to see that rock-solid body that had been teasing me all day. His cock slapped against his thigh. Even soft, it was impressive.
“I’m trying to take care of you, but when you look at me like that, you make it hard to be good.” Kane’s fists clenched by his hips.
“I don’t want you to be good.”
“Too bad. Now, stand still while I wash you. If you feel better later, I might let you tap this ass.” He slapped my butt to prove his point and even exhausted, I giggled.
“Again?” Gone was the sick feeling and what replaced it was pure lust.
Kane growled, actually growled like a lion. “Leslie, don’t push me. I don’t want to take advantage of you while you don’t feel well.”
I stuck my butt out until it was rubbing against his erection. “Well, he doesn’t seem to agree with you.”
“’Cause he has his own mind,” he grunted as he absentmindedly rocked his hips. His hands gripped my hips keeping me in place, making my skin pinch. “You better behave. I’m serious. This isn’t happening right now.”
My bottom lip quivered. “Don’t you want me anymore?”
His eyes went wide as he pulled me into his arms underneath the spray. “What? No, of course, I want you. I’m just trying to respect your body, Crazy. You don’t feel well.”
My body was burning with lust though. “What’s wrong with me?” I cried. My pussy was aching for him, my stomach slightly hurt, and the tears wouldn’t stop.
“We will figure it out.”
I didn’t know what was going on, but I didn’t like this new me.
Chapter 6
“Are you ready to get slutty and sexed?” David announced as he kicked open the front door with a bottle of champagne in his hand.
Thank God I was the only one home.
Struggling to put on my earrings, I sighed and finally gave up. My ears would be earring less, I guessed. “Um, is that a requirement to try on wedding dresses?”
Molli barreled in, swinging her sunglasses off like a diva. “It is when we are going lingerie shopping!” She took the bottle from David’s hand, turning it up like a college freshman going to her first party.
Just thinking about that made my stomach turn.
“You ready? Your world is about to get rocked!” David threw confetti in the air as Molli put on a white sash around my shoulders that said Bride to Be.
“This is just wedding dress shopping, guys, not a bachelorette party.” I situated the sash until it felt comfortable on my shoulders. It was cute. It was white like the color of snow and was outlined in fluffy pink feathers. The words, Bride to Be, were in beautiful bold cursive. It like fun, classy, and tacky all at the same time, which pretty much summed up Molli—in a good way.
Molli put her hand over her heart, gasping. “This isn’t just wedding dress shopping,” she finger quoted. “This is a stepping stone in your life, Leslie. This wedding dress defines everything in your life. This is the dress you will be wearing in your photos. Your daughters will see this dress, possibly your grandchildren. This…this is monumental.”
Great. She was getting all fired up. Molli started to pace in the kitchen, looking like someone running for president at a rally in the midst of giving a speech.
She pointed her finger at me. “This is life changing. Kane is going to see you walking down the aisle and either cry with joy or wince in disgust because the dress will either be so beautiful it takes his breath away, or so awful he will regret marrying you. This dress is history. Something you and Kane will remember forever.”
I rubbed my temples, annoyed that she made sense and was so exhausting at the same time. “Okay, I get it. Let’s go.” The champagne bottle felt cold against my palm as I snatched it from David. If I had to deal with this, I wanted to be buzzed for it.
“That a girl!” David whooped.
“Ugh, gross. Is this dollar general champagne?” A few droplets fell from my chin and instantly my hand went to my mouth to wipe the alcohol off my face. It even smelled bad. “Is this stuff expired?” Reflections of the light bounced off the dark green bottle while I held it against the sun. I couldn’t find the stupid expiration date.
“No, it’s your favorite. And why are you so cranky?” Molli had her hands on her hips, glaring at me.
I was a jerk. They were going out of their way to make this special, and I was a buzzkill. “I don’t know. I’ve been fighting a stomach bug, and it’s left me exhausted.”
“Oh, Leslie. If you don’t feel well, we don’t have to go,” David suggested before he took another swig of champagne.
“No, I want to. I’ve haven’t left the house in ages because I’ve been praying to the porcelain god. Fresh air will do me well. Come on, I want to get my dress!” My hips swayed as I danced out the door to my beat and smiled, trying to convince them that I did want this.
“Well, you heard the lady! Let’s go!” David shouted.
“All right, where to first?” I asked no one in particular. We made it outside and I paused to close my eyes. I breathed in a lungful of fresh ocean air, felt the breeze on my face that carried the slightest smell of fish. It should have been gross, but after days of being inside, I found it refreshing. The sun was beaming and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen for miles. The water was a deep shade of sapphire and there wasn’t a wave in sight. The seagulls cried above us as they let the breeze carry them.
It was peaceful. It couldn’t have been a better day to buy my wedding dress. I mean, I wouldn’t have minded the waves crashing, so I could hear them. But I guess beggars can’t be choosers.
We climbed into Molli’s car, which I was apprehensive about because she had to pump the gas pedal three times, hit the steering wheel, and turn on the radio for the car to start. One of these days, we would be running from zombies and the only vehicle we would have is the one that would get us killed because it took too long to start.
“What are you rolling your eyes for? She’s going to start. Ye have little faith, my friend.” Molly did her ritual, but this time she pumped the gas again after turning on the radio.
“Wait, what was that for? That’s new. Why the extra pump?” There was no way I was staying in the vehicle when it needed an extra pump. She was lucky I got in it in the first place.
“Oh, that. It’s a new thing. Don’t worry about it.” She s
hook it off like it wasn’t a big deal, making her hair fall around her shoulders as she started the car.
It groaned, backfired, and sputtered. A cloud of black smoke filtered from beneath us as she whipped out of the parking lot.
It did turn on, but that was not the point.
“Molli, I want to make it to my wedding day. Please, for all that is holy, do not crash.” I grabbed the grey plastic handle above me for dear life, giving a nice hard squeeze, but when she took a turn too hard, it snapped off. There it was, the thing that was saving my life, in the palm of my hand. I had no words. I stuttered, “Are…what. How? Forget it.” Curling my fingers in, the cheap plastic dug into my skin, but I didn’t even wince. It wasn’t Molli’s fault that she couldn’t afford a safe car yet. Not even an expensive car, a vehicle that was intact.
“You’re so dramatic. You know, David never complains about my car or my driving. Do you, Davey?” Molli took her eyes off the road to turn around to look at him putting her arm around my seat.
“Molli!” I screamed. The hunk of junk swerved and almost hit the guardrail, tires squealed, the smell of rubber drifted through the vents, and bile rose into my throat.
“Sorry, sorry. Oopsie.” She shrugged her shoulders like we didn’t just almost hit a guardrail and die.
“I don’t say anything because half the time I’m scared into silence,” David plunge between the middle console and whispered.
Molli sharply turned the wheel, destroying whatever was left under her car to smithereens as we pull into the parking lot in front of Jazzie’s.
“Jazzie’s? Really? What could I need there?” As of right now, I’d go anywhere that wasn’t Molli’s car.
“Seriously? You’re getting married. You need something hot underneath all that dress!”
I stepped out of the death trap, thankful I made it here alive, and tilted my head back to look at the store sign. It was huge. The name Jazzie’s was written in cursive and glowed bright blue. I didn’t know how Jazzie, if that was the owner’s real name, accomplished drawing the ‘e’ and the ‘s’ into a penis, but she, or he, did. It was pretty impressive—big too.
The Ink Romance Series Page 33
