by L. N. Pearl
I was sorry, too. But it wasn’t my fault Drake made stupid decisions. That was all on him. I couldn’t bail him out this time, even if I wanted to.
And I didn’t want to, not after what he did. Especially to a girl like Angela.
What the hell was the matter with him? I knew he wasn’t exactly a gentleman, but pimping her out? To a sick son of a bitch like Marco? It was a new low, even for him.
Our friendship was over. I finally saw it. I couldn’t have a guy like that in my life.
I owed Gigi, Trinity and myself better than that. There was nothing between us anymore.
I was sadder for the way things used to be than for then present. He’d had my back in some pretty tough times. But that was a long time ago.
He was obviously a different person now…and so was I.
“What now?” Trinity asked.
She was still in my arms, and I couldn’t help thinking how good it felt to have her there. Natural, like it was where she belonged.
“I don’t know. I feel like we should go home, I guess. There’s nothing else for us to do here. But it’s so late already, and it’ll take hours to get home.”
She nodded. “I’m exhausted, too.”
“So am I. What do you think? Spend the night?”
She pulled back, searching my face. “Like in a hotel? Together?”
I laughed. “No. Two separate hotels.”
She blushed. I got the message. I knew why she was so jumpy. It was one thing for us to have sex, but another thing to spend the whole night together.
“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to,” I said.
“No. I want to.” Her arms slid up around my neck. “I really want to.”
***
We found a reasonable hotel just outside of town. Once we checked in, Trinity made a couple phone calls.
“I’m just staying at Maggie’s to study. We’re working on a big project. I’ll spend the night here.” She hung up.
“Wow,” I said. “I’m impressed.”
“Why?”
“You lie so easily.”
She blushed. “It’s not a big lie.”
“Oh, no. You’re just three hours away with a guy your father hates. No big.”
“Thanks. Good thing you didn’t say that before I spoke to him.”
She stuck her tongue out. Then, she picked up the phone again, calling Maggie this time.
“Hey, if my dad calls, can you tell him I’m spending the night at your place so we can study? I’ll tell you all about it later. Just please, cover for me if he calls? Yeah, everything’s totally fine. Really. That’s part of it.”
She looked at me when she spoke. “Thanks. See you tomorrow.”
And that was it. We were spending the night together.
“What’s part of it?” I asked.
“Oh. I told her I was going somewhere with you today, so she wouldn’t freak out when I didn’t show up for class. It’s rare for me to do that. She wanted to know if I was still out with you.”
“What does she think about all of this? You and me, I mean?”
I started off asking the question as a joke, almost. By the time it left my mouth, though, I was serious.
“She wants me to protect myself,” she admitted. “Because who knows what’s going to happen.”
“Good advice for anybody.”
I got up from the bed, needing to walk around for a second. So I was still the bad boy, out to break the good girl’s heart.
Well, it wasn’t totally untrue. The people in my world had broken her heart. She hadn’t found anything but pain since she got hooked up with me.
Maggie might have had a point.
It was time to change the subject. “I’m starved. What do you wanna eat?”
I flipped through a stack of menus the hotel had in the desk in the room. “Pizza, Italian, sandwiches, Chinese, sushi…”
“Pizza’s fine,” she said.
So I ordered a large pie, and we hung out watching TV while we waited.
I could tell she was a little nervous, so I let her have her space and stuck to my side of the bed.
That couldn’t last long, though. The electricity in the room was so strong, there was almost a charge in the air. We were side-by-side, on our stomachs, facing the TV.
I reached over to stroke her hair. She smiled, closing her eyes. It was hanging loose, out of its ponytail.
“You have pretty hair,” I said, touching it.
“Thank you.”
My hand moved lower. “You have a nice back, too.” I felt every muscle as I stroked up and down.
“And a nice butt. A very nice butt. I remember it was the first thing that got my attention.”
She snorted. “You’re so romantic.”
Just the thought of the way her ass looked in that thong had me tightening up in my pants. It took nothing at all for her to turn me on.
“And your legs. I love the way you wear a pair of jeans.”
One hand traveled down the inside of her thighs, and she squirmed with a little moan.
I stayed there, rubbing against the heat between her legs, moving up to stroke her ass every so often before dipping back in.
She started pushing back against me, rubbing herself on my hand. Little moans and sighs came from her mouth as she worked.
I knelt. With my other hand, I pulled up her blouse and unhooked her bra. I ran my fingers over her creamy skin.
I couldn’t get enough of her. She was so different from all the other girls.
Words like good, pure, clean and soft came to my mind. Best of all…she was with me. It blew my mind.
She got up onto her knees, facing me. I took her beautiful, thick hair in my hands and pulled her to me, tasting her sweet lips.
She sighed, reaching down to pull the blouse over her head before latching onto my mouth again. I pulled the bra from her, then pulled off my t-shirt so our skin could touch.
It was so perfect, the way she felt against me. Something inside me cried out in relief. I had been missing this for so long.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her that way for a long time, crushing her against me as we kissed. It was enough.
After a while, though, it wasn’t. Our kisses became more urgent. Her hand cupped me, stroking me, driving me wild with need for her.
I unbuttoned her pants quickly, our kisses becoming harder and more frantic. Just like that, we were wild for each other.
“Oh, Tyler,” she whispered as she laid back on the bed.
I pulled down her jeans in one quick motion, and her panties with them. She was so perfect, laying there naked on the bed, open to me. Ready for me.
I saw her need glistening between her legs, and I almost tore through my jeans in response.
Seconds later I was burying myself inside her. We both groaned when I pushed past her entrance and slid home. She was so tight, so hot.
Already I wanted to lose myself. Her arms and legs gripped me, squeezing as hard as she squeezed my cock. It was a struggle to keep control of myself.
I didn’t want to take her that way, though. I wanted to watch her work me, and herself. I wanted to see the way she liked it.
So I rolled us over until she was on top of me. She grinned down, pushing the hair back from her face.
“You like it like this?” she asked, moving slowly, just barely sliding up and down.
I groaned, clenching my jaw to keep from coming then and there. She was a wet dream come true—gorgeous, tight, luscious.
And the way she worked my cock couldn’t be beat.
I looked up at her, watching the way her body moved as she rocked her hips against me. I felt the pressure she built between us, grinding her button against me, getting herself off.
My hands ran over her body, taking in her curves and softness. I fondled her tits, rubbing the nipples with my thumbs.
She cried out, holding my hands in place, squeezing them to ask for more. Her eyes were closed. She was lost in pleasure. It wa
s the sexiest thing I ever saw.
The little cries coming from her mouth got louder and louder as she picked up her pace. She went from grinding to bouncing, and I moved my hands to her hips to guide her as I thrusted upward to meet her.
The heat got hotter. The pressure increased inside, tearing at me, making me want to scream as I exploded inside her.
But I couldn’t. I had to watch her first.
She stiffened, throwing her head back. Her body trembled, her muscles clenched down around my length.
I jerked my hips up to meet her, thrusting as fast as I could. My body took over. I had to release the tension building inside of me.
“Fuck!” I slammed into her one more time, exploding with a long groan.
She fell against me, stretched out with her body pressed against mine. We were both out of breath, sweaty and completely spent after the day we had together.
“Holy shit,” she whispered, pushing herself up on one arm and brushing the sweaty hair out of her face.
“How do you always do that to me?”
“What?”
“Make me feel so good.” She leaned down to kiss me.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
“Pizza’s here,” she murmured, giggling.
Chapter 5 - Trinity
The next day, I went back to class.
I didn’t want my grade docked for missing too many—though it was nearly useless for me to be there, since I wasn’t paying attention to a single thing the professor said.
All I thought about was Angela. Drake’s story. Marco. How could I talk to him? I sure as hell couldn’t go straight up to him. I wouldn’t want to be alone with him, for one thing.
For another, I doubted he would tell me the truth. Just like with Drake, Tyler was against the idea of going straight to him for the truth.
Why would Marco up and confess? He owed me nothing.
I didn’t have any connections to him, either. Unlike Drake, Marco and Tyler weren’t exactly close. They hated each other. I didn’t have a way to get to him, and I wasn’t about to do any digging on my own.
My Nancy Drew days were over. No more parties for me.
I had no leverage over him, which was the bleakest realization of all. In Drake’s case, it was jail. I could call my dad, and that would be it.
Was Dad after Marco’s crew? I didn’t even know. I could ask, but that would mean talking to him in the first place.
We still hadn’t done much of that ever since the debacle with Tyler in the kitchen. It would also tell him I’d been digging around and maybe uncovered something dangerous.
He might rush ahead like a bull in a china shop and ruin any progress I’d made.
Once Marco found out the cops were wise to him that would be it. He might run the way Drake did—and we wouldn’t have a connection to tell us where he’d run to.
No matter how hard I thought it over, it didn’t seem as though there was any way out. I could have thrown my books across the room, buried my head in my arms and wept in front of the whole class.
I was very tired and very hurt. And I was really tired of hurting.
Class finally came to an end, and Maggie made a beeline to me.
“What’s up with you? You looked like a zombie throughout the entire class. I didn’t see you take a single note. What happened while you were away?”
We walked out of the building together and sat at a table outside. I filled her in on everything, choking back tears as I recounted Drake’s story about the five thousand dollars.
Maggie covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes filling with tears just as mine had.
“I can’t believe it,” she whispered, wiping her eyes. “Poor Angela. That pig! How could he do something like that?”
I shrugged. No matter how many times I told the story or turned it around in my head, it never got any easier to swallow.
“So wait. Marco. We’re talking about the same Marco who just raced Tyler a few days ago?”
I nodded. Maggie’s face crumpled in a look that would have been funny had we been talking about anything else.
“Oh, Jesus. He’s bad news.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered.
“How could you get him to go along with you?” she asked.
“How would I know? You now literally know everything I know. Any bit of help you feel like giving me is more than welcome.”
I felt bad for snapping at her as soon as I said it. She didn’t deserve it—she was just trying to help.
But I was way too frustrated and exhausted to act rationally. I had no idea how to deal with Marco.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, squeezing her hand. “I’m just…”
“I know,” she said, waving her hand. “It’s all right. I’m just trying to figure it out now. I mean, you didn’t like this idea before…”
“I don’t think I’m gonna like it now, either,” I said.
“Yeah, well, it’s all we have to go on.”
I shook my head. “We? Maggie, you know how much it means to me that you care the way you do. But I can’t put you in danger. You don’t have to get any closer to this than you already are. Please. Just stay safe, keep your distance. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”
I had already lost so much.
“But just listen, all right? If you can come up with anything better, I won’t go through with it. God knows that I have enough practice flirting with guys that I can find out what we need to know without having to get too close. No sweat.”
“I hate it.”
“I know. And I’ve seen Marco, so I’m not such a huge fan of it myself. But it’s our only chance. He knows you hate him. He might have seen me, but I didn’t say anything to him. I can always act like he turned me on or something when we ran into each other at the race. I can’t imagine how that would be possible, but…some guys will believe anything.”
She shuddered. “Eeww!”
“He’s gross, I know.” I put my chin in my hands, thinking it over. “I’m not a fan, still. But you’re right, it is our only hope. I can’t think of anything better.”
“Besides,” Maggie said, biting her lip, “I owe you one. Let me pay you back.”
“What does that mean?”
She didn’t owe me a thing, as far as I was concerned.
She took a deep breath, letting it out in a shaky sigh. “I sort of gave you up to your dad last night.”
“What?”
I hadn’t seen him that morning, as usual, so there was no way for me to know that he’d been wise to where I was. “How? What happened? What did you say to him?”
“First things first. He called me up, asking where you were. I lied, just like you told me to. I told him you were with me, but you were sleeping when he called. He totally saw through that.”
She looked me straight in the eye, saying, “Listen, it was doomed from the start. Your bag was still in your room, James Bond. So was all your makeup, and shower stuff in the bathroom.”
I covered my face with my hands. “Crap! What could I do? I didn’t know we’d be spending the night when we left. Damn it.”
“So he knew I was lying, and he called me on it. I’m sorry.”
I lifted my head from my hands. “It’s all right. There was nothing you could do. I was the dope who came up with the story. Jeez, sometimes I forget he’s a cop.”
Just then, my phone rang. It was like he knew we were talking about him. I shot Maggie a worried look.
“You should pick up,” she whispered, looking as worried as I felt.
“Dad—”
He cut me off immediately, letting his built up anxiety and anger fly.
“Where the hell were you? You think it’s smart to run around without telling me where you’re going? I know you think you’re a big, bad grown up now, and you can do what you want, but you still live under my roof—”
“Dad, Dad. I get it. I’m sorry I worried you. But I had a lead. I big on
e.”
He fell silent. “A lead?”
“Huge, Dad. That was why I went. I had to find out for myself if it was for real.”
“And it was?”
“Most definitely.”
He seemed to be warming up, but just a little bit. “You know I still have a problem with you being with him. You know that, right?”
I sighed. “How could I forget, Dad? It’s burned into my brain for the rest of my life.”
I rolled my eyes at Maggie.
“Then you should know that I’m never going to be happy when I find out you were away with him for the night. And don’t try to tell me you weren’t, because one of my buddies at the precinct saw the two of you on his bike this morning. Coming into town. So don’t you dare deny it.”
I clenched my jaw.
“I’m not denying it.”
Still, it wasn’t easy to be completely honest with him when I knew he disapproved. I was still a people pleaser at heart and I didn’t want my dad to think poorly of me.
I knew that the idea of me running around with a criminal he already couldn’t stand horrified him, and there was still part of me that felt guilty.
“But you’re still going around with him. That’s what I don’t understand.”
I closed my eyes.
“Dad. You have to understand this, if nothing else. He really cares. He’s actively involved in helping me find out who killed our girl. Don’t you see? He’s my inside person, too. He knows this world. He keeps me safe out there. I couldn’t do any of this without him. And he doesn’t have to do it. You know? He could mind his own business—especially now that he knows you’re my dad. If he were smart, he’d stay away.”
“True.”
I was melting him down, at least a little. I had to keep pressing on. It was promising.
“I trust him, Daddy. Can’t that be enough for now? At least, until we get to the end of this? Then we can figure out everything else. All right?”
He was quiet for a while. I let him process things. Maggie held up crossed fingers.
“All right,” he muttered. “We’ll do it your way for now, but don’t you lie to me again. And geez, if you’re going to be a private eye, wise up and get your story straight.”
I smiled, giving Maggie a thumbs up. “Thank you. I will.”
“So,” he said, his tone changing to one of pure business. “What’s this about a lead?”
