Before Officer Zimora leaves, he gives me a lecture about coming back to the house. I have no idea what he said. All I could focus on was that navy uniform and the gun attached to his upper thigh. Maybe I should become a cop; that way, I could look at hot officers all day long! Then I’d own a pair of cuffs. Oh, what I could do to Ayden with a pair of cuffs!
WTF Lexi!!
Okay, it’s safe to say that I need a little alone time to get this sexual frustration out!
Since everyone went their own ways after leaving my house, Ayden, Marcus and I return to their place and spend the afternoon lounging around in the living room watching more episodes of Stranger Things. I end up falling asleep while watching TV, so Ayden turned Stranger Things off, so I didn’t miss anything, and while I was quietly snoring, they watched the footy.
It’s around 5pm when I get a call from Rhys, inviting me over for dinner to meet her foster parents. I never pegged Rhys as a sit-down and have dinner with the parents type of girl, but apparently, she is, so I ask Andrea if she can drop me there, and she gives me her warm smile and nod.
I can tell that Ayden doesn’t want me to go when it’s time to leave, but I need space from him before I self-combust from all the sexual tension. On the drive to Rhys’s, Andrea asks me again about what happened at my house, even though Ayden and Marcus already filled her in, and when we arrive, she waits parked on the curb until Rhys answers the door and lets me inside.
Rhys lives in one of the newer parts of Fox Pines. There are houses still being built around her home, and the un-landscaped front yard and pile of dirt indicate that she hasn’t lived in the house for long. It’s a single-story modern home with large shop-front style windows and a mix of brick and render on the facade. Inside is white. Like white, white. White ceilings, white walls, white tiled floors. The carpet is a light grey, but even the kitchen cabinetry is white. It looks good, just extremely white.
“I’m giving you a heads up. My olds are… annoying. And my brothers are a pain in my arse. You will probably like my older sister. She can be kind of cool for a rock chick wanna be... Sometimes”
My brows shoot up, and Rhys grins, gesturing for me to walk through a door. It’s a theatre room, but no one is watching anything. Two dark-haired boys bounce on the armchairs throwing coloured balls at each other, while an older girl with green hair at the tips and blonde roots sits in the corner, too busy on her phone to notice anything else going on around her.
“Archie! Connor! Say hi to Lexi!” Rhys hollers over the giggles from the boys. Hearing her, they both turn to me and wave, saying “hi” in sync.
The first thing that grabs me is that they are Asian or something. I have no idea, but the two boys don’t look like Rhys. The next thing that grabs me is that they are identical.
“Twins?” I ask Rhys, and she nods.
“Yep. Twin pains in my arse.” Rhys pokes her tongue out at one of the boys. I don’t know who’s who. “The snob in the corner is Charlotte.”
Hearing her sister speak, Charlotte looks up from her phone and raises a very pointy brow at Rhys before turning her green eyes to me. She looks me up and down with distaste and returns her attention to her phone.
“Happy thing, isn’t she?” I know I shouldn’t be disrespecting Rhys’s sister, but I’m sick of arseholes going around being arseholey!
“Oh, she’s a real fucking treat!” Rhys snickers.
“Bitch.” Charlotte hisses from the corner.
“Mum! Char and Rhys are swearing!” One of the twin's yells.
“Oh, don’t worry, I heard.”
I swing around in shock, instantly recognising the voice. Principal Cynthia Rogan stands before me in a casual pair of blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt. Usually looking perfectly groomed, today Cynthia looks the opposite with her long brown hair up in a messy high bun and a smudge of flour on her makeup-free cheek.
“Well, I can see by the look on Lexi’s face that you didn’t tell her I am your guardian Rhys,” Cynthia states, looking a little annoyed.
Rhys shoots her a fake smile, “It never came up.”
“I don’t suppose it ever came up that you live with a foster family filled with foster kids?” Cynthia asks while I stand like a stunned idiot. How can Rhys be Mrs Rogan's foster child? Surely, she would try enforcing rules like no nose piercings or black lipstick to her foster kids if she’s a catholic school principal?
“Nope. We have too much other fun stuff to talk about.” Rhys says smugly, and I’m sure Cynthia is going to get angry. She doesn’t, though. She simply rolls her eyes.
“Dinner will be ready in five minutes. Go wash your hands and wait at the table.”
A tornado of dark-haired little boy's stampedes past us while Charlotte slowly rises from her chair and swings her hips as she strolls across the room.
“Lexi, I apologise for the rudeness of my children.” Cynthia declares.
I don’t know what to say in response, so I stay quiet but offer a small smile Cynthia’s way, and she returns it before turning and leaving the room.
I glare at Rhys because I really should have known that her foster mum is the school principal.
“Girl, you might be my best friend, but don’t think I won’t kick your arse if you give me shit about this at school.” Rhys crosses her arms over her chest, challenging me. I laugh.
“You’re an idiot, you know that?” I ask, and Charlotte snickers walking past us to leave the room.
“She knows you too well, Rhys.”
“Shut up!” Rhys snaps, glaring at her foster sister.
We follow Charlotte out of the theatre room, down a long hall to the back of the house where we all sit around a large white dining table to eat. William Rogan, Cynthia’s husband, is introduced to me when he joins us at the table, and I experience a very normal dinner, reminding me of dinner at the Grady’s or Mitchell’s houses.
After dinner, we help with the dishes, and I learn that although Rhys pretends to be tough, she has a soft spot for the twins. Even Charlotte manages to get Rhys to laugh.
“Okay, ask your questions. Let’s get the bullshit over and done with.” Rhys whines and flops down on her large queen four-poster bed, which is also white.
“This house is very white. Too white for you.” I announce, and she lifts her head off her bed to look at me.
“Girl, are you racist?”
I laugh. “You know what I mean. Where’s all the colour? Or the darkness. I imagined your room would look like a dungeon.”
Rhys bolts up on her bed, “Oh, you’ve seen into my heart! When I’m old enough to leave this family, I’m totally going to have a dungeon.” Rhys lifts her finger to her chin in thought, “Or perhaps a red room of pain, with whips and chains and…”
“Ah-okay. I got it.” I cut her off, not really wanting to see too far into her sex-crazed mind.
“I’ll let you bring your pack of wolves there to play with you if you’re into that?”
“Rhys.” I sigh. “When are you going to accept that I’m a one-man girl? Why don’t you find a group of guys and have your own reverse harem thing? You talk about it so much. You’re obviously into it.”
She considers my words and then flops back on the bed. “Maybe. My life is a little complicated. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to settle down and have a relationship.”
“So… Marcus is just a one-night stand?”
“Probably more like a three-week stand, or friends with benefits. We will have to see how much he annoys me.” I laugh at Rhys but also feel bad. What if Marcus really likes her? Should I warn him that Rhys isn’t into serious relationships?
“He does have a really pretty cock. I might keep him around for a bit. It’s hard to find pretty ones these days.” Rhys divulges.
“Rhys!” I scold, shocked at her. I don’t know why I’m shocked, though. She is always upfront about this stuff.
“Oh, come on. You can’t tell me you like the hoods? Eww! No way! I’m a helmet girl all th
e way.”
“What? Hood? Helmet? What the fuck are you on about?” I laugh because I’m completely lost.
She sits up again, this time crossing her legs, a glint of mischief in her dark eyes. “I can see I have my work cut out with you, Lexi. I would never have guessed you were so green. Or perhaps vanilla is a better word for you.”
“I am not vanilla… I think.” I frown. Am I vanilla? Isn’t that boring? What if Ayden doesn’t like vanilla?
WTF! I don’t need to think about that because I’m not getting back together with Ayden!
Rhys laughs, “You totally are! That’s fine. It’s just because you are so green. You said you gave Ayden your virginity, so I’m guessing you haven’t seen a lot of cocks in the flesh.”
“Rhys!”
“Don’t Rhys me! I can tell you haven’t.” Rhys’s dark eyes stay locked on mine as she leans forward a little. “A hood is foreskin. Gross!” She gags, “A Helmet is a pretty circumcised dick. So much better when they are in your mouth.”
My cheeks heat at her words, but I say nothing, because I think I’m actually learning something. I think.
“I like my men to be circumcised. Some chicks don’t care, but I do. If he has a hood, then we are a no go!” Rhys looks so serious right now. She’s having this conversation with me so casually like we are talking about baking cakes.
“So, what happens if you’re in the heat of the moment, and you see that the guy you’re with has an, ah- hood?” I ask, genuinely interested.
“Oh, I never even kiss a guy until I know they are hood free.”
“What?” I screech, and she nods. “So how did you know Marcus was hood free?” I can’t believe I am having a conversation about Marcus’s dick!
“I asked him, of course. Then I made him send me a dick pic to confirm.”
My brows reach my hairline, “But you were all over each other in the back seat of the car last night. There was no time to have that conversation between him carrying you out upside down, to putting you in the car.”
“Oh, Lexi, Lexi, Lexi. We have been chatting for a few days on SnapChat. I found out about his glorious cock a couple of days ago.” Rhys declares with a huge smirk.
“Wow. You work fast.”
“Of course I do—no point in beating around the bush when you both want the same thing. Life’s too short to hesitate, Lexi. You gotta grab what you want by the balls and claim it.” She wags her dark brows, reaches up to her hair, and starts to pull pins out of her buns.
I’m quiet as I watch her unravel each bun to reveal beautiful extra-long dark hair. She’s stunning, even with her black lips. She reminds me of a supernatural goddess of some sort.
“So, are you going to ask the questions you want to ask about my family? My past? Better to get that shit out of the way now.” Her mood changes, and for the first time since meeting her, I see her confidence wane.
“Rhys, it’s none of my business. You don’t have to tell me shit.”
“Well, isn’t that what best friends do? Tell each other everything?” She runs her fingers through her long hair, combing out the knots.
I consider her words. I used to think that until I started keeping secrets from Abbey and until she betrayed me.
“I used to think so. Now I think friendships should be about respecting boundaries. I like you, Rhys. I know you’re a good person, and I even like your craziness. I want you to know that I don’t need you to tell me things if you don’t want to. I won’t hold it against you. We all have our demons remember?”
Before I even know what’s happening, Rhys launches herself off her bed and wraps her arms around my neck.
“Thank you.” She whispers, and for a moment, I think she may be crying, but when she pulls back, her eyes are smiling as big as her mouth. Pulling away from me, Rhys strips out of her clothes and changes into a Creed t-shirt and nothing else but her black lacy knickers. She has no problem getting bare in front of me, but I turn away because it seems she is right; I am a little green.
“My mum died when I was nine.” I turn at the sad words and see Rhys sitting on the end of her bed. “She was into drugs. Loved them a little too much. I found her when I woke to get ready for school one morning. When I found her, I knew straight away that she was dead, so I went next door to Mrs Mabel, and she called the cops. Since no family came forward to claim me, I went into the foster system. I lived in a few dodgy homes during my first year, but then I was placed with Julie and Brian.” Rhys smiles. “They were okay, I guess. Julie could be a mean bitch, but Brian was good to me. The best and only dad I’ve ever known until William. I was with Julie and Brian until I was twelve. I was happy there, but then… something happened… and I had to leave.”
I’ve never seen Rhys look miserable. Pain contorts her face as she remembers her past.
“Anyway,” she waves the pain off, “then I was placed with a few more families that couldn’t handle me until Cynthia walked into the group home. It’s like she sought out the most unstable kid and said, yes, let me take this child to stir up my boring life! Turns out she already had Charlotte, who is more fucked up than I am.”
I’m not sure what happened when Rhys had to leave Brian and Julie’s home, but she seems genuinely upset about it. It must have been bad, though. I can’t imagine what could have happened.
“You’re happy here with Cynthia?” I ask, hoping she is. I’d like to keep her around.
She shrugs, “Yeah, they are okay. Bit boring, but that’s okay. They let me be who I want to be even though it goes against the school rules. I like the twins, and sometimes I like Charlotte.”
Smiling, I take her hand, “Good, because I don’t want you going anywhere.”
“Oh, no way. You’re stuck with me now, so get used to hearing about cocks, and vaginas, and sex, and dungeons, and…”
“I get it!” I laugh, cutting her off.
“Now. Tell me all about Ayden’s cock? Is it pretty?”
For fuck’s sake!
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Screaming. It’s faint, like in the distance, but it’s close enough that I can tell it’s screaming. It’s a girl's scream. It’s too high to belong to a boy. Who’s making that noise? She sounds terrified.
Bright light suddenly startles me awake, and my eyes fly open to the tail end of a scream ripping from my throat. I’m in bed. My new bed, in the ugly lilac room, and at the end of the bed stands Andrea, Barb and her husband Tony, who is stark naked, cupping his junk.
I scream again and throw my hand over my eyes.
Oh, man! I’ve seen way too much Grady nudity this week!
“Dad! Shit dad, get out!” Marcus yells, drawing everyone’s attention away from me, and I peek between my fingers.
“Tony!” Barb scolds when she sees his state of undress.
“What? She was screaming. She could have been getting attacked for all we knew. You want me to waste time getting clothes on while she’s getting stabbed to death?” Tony still hasn’t moved to leave the room, and I peek at Andrea for guidance. The moment our eyes meet, she bursts out laughing.
“Lexi!” Ayden’s voice booms from somewhere in the house, his footsteps heavy as he approaches my room.
Andrea is still laughing but trying hard to compose herself, but each time she tries, she loses it again.
“Andie, this isn’t funny.” Barb hisses, and Andrea tries to stop, but the moment she tries, another wave of laughter hits her.
“Lexi!” Ayden bursts into the room, knocking into Barb, who stumbles into Tony, who trips and loses his hold of his manhood.
And... Andrea practically stops breathing. She hits the floor in hysterics, and Ayden glares at his mum like she’s lost her mind.
“Mum! Stop!” Ayden demands, but it only makes her worse.
Meanwhile, tears are coming out of my eyes, streaming down my face, because apparently, I’m laughing too.
“Oh, for goodness sake, Tony, go back to bed; you’re embarrassing yourself!” B
arb demands, and then Marcus starts to laugh.
Through my blurred vision, I watch as Tony mutters an apology, turning to walk out of the room, flashing us his bare white arse. There’s no hope for any of us at this point, fits of laughter turning us into inconsolable idiots.
“Are you all high?” Ayden asks, and Barb glares at him. “What? It’s a legit question given what I’ve walked into.”
Barb looks away from her sister, son, and nephew before focusing on me.
“Lexi honey. You were having a bad dream. Are you okay?” Barbs concerned question sobers everyone up, and we manage to stop laughing.
Wiping the tears from my eyes and sucking in deep breaths, I work to compose myself. When I’m finally able to string a few words together, I address Barb’s question.
“I’m okay. I’m so sorry for waking everyone up. I shouldn’t have tried to go to sleep.”
Barb frowns, “Lexi, you need to sleep. Maybe we should take you to a doctor? Perhaps there’s something you can take to help you sleep.”
“It’s not really the sleeping part that’s the problem,” Marcus speaks up. His dark hair dishevelled. It’s a better look for him than his usual near-perfectly groomed look.
“Then what is it?” Barb asks, looking confused.
“The dreams,” Ayden answers for me.
The weird thing is, I haven’t actually had a conversation with the guys about this. As far as I know, they thought I’m just a big scaredy-cat and can’t sleep alone. I hadn’t realised they paid that much attention. For some reason, most of the time, when I’m not alone when I sleep, my dreams are kinder or just not there. I don’t know why. It’s just another fucked up thing about me.
“You know what, Barb, I’ll sort this out with Lexi. Why don’t you go back to bed?” Andrea steps up to the side of the bed and sits on the edge to smile at me.
“Okay. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” Barb says, turning and cupping Marcus’s chin, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek before leaving the room.
Deep (Heavy Hearts Book 2) Page 25
