Roni swayed on her feet, unsure of the feelings that were coursing through her body. She had never felt this way before, not even in her previous experience with Rooster. Digging her fingers into his arms, she did her best to hold herself upright, to keep from sagging down the fence as she moved her neck to the side, to give him all the room he needed to work. She wanted to purr when he dug his fingers in the hair at the nape of her neck and pulled, exposing even more of her throat.
He wanted to get closer to her, as close as they could get with clothes still separating them. Pushing her harder against the fence, he wedged his leg in between her thighs, pressing up against her. His hands had moved to her hips and were canting them against the strong muscle there.
Roni’s head rolled back further and she moaned, scratching at the material over his back. She wanted his shirt off like five minutes ago, she wanted to feel the heat of his skin and know that this wasn’t a dream. It had been so long since she felt anything like this that she was on the verge of screaming for him. Her hands went to the hem of his T-shirt and her fingers began pressing upwards when she felt a vibration in his pocket.
“Shit.” He stepped back from her and fished the phone out of his pocket, not bothering to get out of the rain.
Letting you know that there’s a camera facing y’all, bro. Might wanna take it inside.
“Fuck you, Travis,” he yelled loudly as he grabbed Roni’s hand and pulled her back to the porch and then through the sliding glass door.
“What happened?” she asked, her breathing erratic as she ran her hands down her shirt, no longer sure what to do with them.
“Apparently, we were giving Travis a show.”
She couldn’t help it, she giggled and she couldn’t stop. She hadn’t felt so carefree, so light, in such a long time.
He joined in, biting his lip as he took stock of how she looked. A few more minutes and she would have been his; he knew that without a doubt. Her lips were swollen, there was a purple bruise on her neck, and he knew she was his. It was the best feeling in the world.
Chapter Eleven
Rooster made his last round of the almost empty school. The first day of classes was tomorrow and most of the teachers had already headed home. Football practice had let out about an hour ago, and the cheerleaders had been dismissed around thirty minutes before. Usually he would have already been gone, but something told him to take one more lap, make sure it was empty before he told Stacey they could lock up for the night. He rounded the corner of a group of lockers that faced the cafeteria.
“Drew, I don’t like it,” he heard a female voice say.
It was panicked, and that made him uneasy. He stood deep in the shadows, so he could see what was going on but they couldn’t see him. Drew stood in front of a girl Rooster thought he recognized as Charity, the daughter of Jasmine, a stripper at Wet Wanda’s. He had her backed up against the locker, and if Rooster was reading the situation right, they knew each other well.
“It’s only for a couple more weeks, Charity. I need to make varsity.”
“No, you don’t, you’re a sophomore. Nobody’s expecting you to be first-string, and if you don’t stop, I’m gonna tell Bianca,” she threatened him quietly.
“The fuck you will,” he yelled at her. “This is my business, not yours.”
“It is my business. You’re acting crazy. You used to never get this mad over anything.”
Rooster watched as the girl shrank further away from Drew, obviously scared. He’d never known Drew to be physically threatening to anyone, and to see this girl cower was scary. He was about to step in and make his presence known when Drew pulled back and hit the metal locker, growling in what seemed to be frustration.
Charity screamed, ducked, and put her hands over her head. “I don’t know you anymore,” she told him, her voice thick with tears.
“Charity, I’m sorry.” Drew tried to grab her hands and pull her to him. “I can’t control it sometimes. I would never hurt you, I swear to God.”
She put her hand to her mouth, sobs echoing through the mostly empty hallway. “You already have.”
From his hiding place, Rooster watched her run down the hallway, her ponytail bobbing up and down as she did. He was shocked. He didn’t know what to make of this at all, and he sure as fuck didn’t know how to approach the kid that was leaning against the lockers, watching the girl he obviously cared a great deal about run away from him. He was about to show himself when he saw two teenage boys come down the hallway towards Drew.
“What’s up?” one of them asked Drew, and he clapped his palm together with Drew’s and gave him a half hug.
“Bitches are crazy,” Drew laughed, but it was forced.
Rooster could tell he was putting on a show. This wasn’t the kid he knew, and he also knew if Liam or Denise heard him say that, his ass would be kicked into next week.
“You need some more?” the taller of the two asked.
Drew hesitated, and Rooster wondered what it was he needed more of, if he was going to say yes or not.
“Yeah, but I can’t get you the money until tomorrow, if that’s okay. I gotta do a job for my dad.”
The taller one reached into his backpack and pulled something out, handing it to Drew. “It’s okay, we know you’re good for it.”
Drew grabbed what was handed him and put it in his own backpack and then watched as the two guys made their way further down the hallway. Once they were out of sight, Drew put his backpack on his shoulder and made his way the opposite direction, straight towards where Rooster stood.
Thinking fast, Rooster opened the door closer to him and then shut it, whistling as if he’d just come out of the room. “Drew?” he played like he didn’t expect to see him there.
“Hey, what’s up?” Drew asked, looking nervous and more than a little guilty.
“Making my last round before I tell Stacey it’s okay to lock up. Did you have a good practice?”
“It was alright, I’m not gettin’ my ass handed to me anymore, so that’s always good.” Drew shrugged.
Rooster doubted that Drew had ever gotten his ass handed to him. “You sure you’re not the one doing the handing?”
“I am now,” he smiled. “I think I’ve finally gotten big enough.”
Looking at Drew this time, searching for something that hadn’t been there before, Rooster gave him a critical eye. If he were being critical, Drew had gotten bigger, but he wasn’t insanely huge. He didn’t look any different than a lot of other teenagers that spent most of their free time working out. He was focused, and Rooster was willing to bet that by being the type of person that would dig in and work hard, he’d gained a lot of respect on the field, and that had more to do with the ass handing than anything. “You have gotten a little bigger.”
“A little?” Drew raised an eyebrow. “Motherfucker, I been lifting almost three times a day.”
The tone with which Drew talked to him made Rooster take notice. It was obvious his moods were shifting rapidly. “What did you just say to me?”
The easygoing smile was back in place, and Drew backed away. “Nothin’, man, I was outta line. I’ll see you at the shop.”
With those words, Drew was gone, leaving Rooster little doubt that there most definitely was a steroid issue at this school. It looked like the prince of the clubhouse was deep in the fucking middle of it.
“Shit.”
Rooster did not want to be the bearer of this bad news. Instead of running to Liam right this second, he wanted to sit on it and make sure his facts were straight before he went about accusing someone. The last thing he needed was to be wrong.
“What the hell is that on your neck?”
Roni jerked her head up from where she had been bent over the parts order that Liam had given her. She’d been so deep into it; she hadn’t heard Denise and Tatum make their way inside. The year-old niece that had completely stolen her heart toddled over to her and lifted her arms up, begging to be picked up.
/> “What?” Roni asked, confused.
Denise marched over to where she sat, pulled out her makeup compact, and angled the mirror so that Roni could look into it. “What the hell is that on your neck?” She pointed to a dark purple bruise that sat right where her neck and shoulder met.
“Shit,” she whispered.
“Don’t make me drag this out of you,” Denise grinned.
Tatum picked that minute to get loud, banging her hands on the desk and demanding attention. At the same time, Cash came in, handing Roni an invoice.
“I signed for this, Liam said it was okay.”
Roni grabbed it from his hand and read over it quickly. “Yeah, you’re good.”
Denise knew an opening when she saw it. “Tatum, honey, you wanna go with Cash for a few minutes?”
Besides Drew, Tatum was completely in love with Cash. The little girl had a crush something fierce, and Cash couldn’t help but love her to death in return. As soon as he held his arms out to her, Tatum turned traitor on her aunt and couldn’t get to him fast enough.
“There’s my girl.” Cash grinned down at her, putting her on his hip. “When you two get sick of female bonding time or what the fuck ever, we’ll be outside.”
“Language.” Denise leveled him with a stare.
“Sorry, sorry.” He slapped his free hand over his mouth and made his way out of the office.
“Really?” Roni leveled her with her own stare. “You said hell in front of her.”
Denise laughed. “She knows which words are the absolute worst and says them when she shouldn’t. I’ve caught her saying ‘motherfucker’ twice. I know she gets it from either Drew or Tyler. She’s not even said ‘momma’ yet.” Denise shook her head. “Yet, she can say ‘daddy’ and ‘motherfucker’? I’m totally mom of the year.”
Roni giggled. “Well you gotta admit, it’s kinda the same thing.”
Finally getting why Roni was giggling, Denise joined in. “Don’t think this is getting you out of telling me about that hickey on your neck.” She wiped at her eyes. “Spill.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “Rooster came over and we had dinner. Dinner lead to drinks. Drinks lead to us making out in the rain in my backyard. End of story.”
“No, no, no, not end of story. How was it?”
“Are you and my brother in a marital rut, woman? Damn.”
“No.” Denise shook her head. “Your brother is never in a marital rut. I’ve just never heard you talk about a guy before. Now you’re coming to work with a hickey.”
“There’s not really much to say. I’m sure we’ll go out again, but we didn’t make plans before he left.” That bothered Roni more than she could say. She wished they had made plans, that Rooster had wanted to see her so badly, he couldn’t leave without knowing the next time they would be around each other. Of course she wouldn’t voice those thoughts, but it did bother her.
“Well, you need to look alive, ’cause lover boy just pulled up and, oh my God, he’s in uniform. Back when we didn’t like him so much, I couldn’t say that, but now I can.” Denise looked out the window, waving.
“Stop!” Roni hissed at her.
“I’m trying to help you,” she hissed back as Rooster came in.
“Hey, ladies, how’s it going?” he asked both of them, but his eyes were on Roni. As soon as their gazes met, it was like all the air was sucked out of the room.
“It’s going great, but if you’ll excuse me, I have to go save my daughter from having her heart broken by Cash at the ripe old age of one.” Denise got up from the chair and made her escape.
“You’re a traitor,” Roni yelled after her as she shut the door.
Rooster gave her a once over before a shit-eating grin spread across his face. His eyes had landed on the mark he’d given her. His face turning wolfish. “Finally, we’re alone.”
Roni hadn’t been this scared, in such a good way, in a very long time.
Chapter Twelve
“I’m glad I got you here by yourself,” Rooster was saying, but Roni wasn’t sure she was following any of it. All she could do was watch the way his mouth moved, the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down while he talked.
“Are you listening to me?”
She shook herself out of it. She had to get a grip; otherwise, she’d be crazy by the time he was done in this office. “Sorry, I’m listening now.”
He walked around the desk and stood in front of her, holding his hands out.
There was no hesitation as she grabbed those hands and let him pull her up. Once she stood in front of him, he caressed her neck with his hand, paying special attention to the part that held his mark.
“It’s cute that you can’t pay attention to me, but I’d really like for you to.”
Nobody had called her cute in a very long time, and she didn’t know how to respond to that. “You have my full attention,” she told him, putting her hands at his hips to steady herself. Her gaze met his and she did her best not to sway.
“I realized after I left that you and I didn’t make plans about when we could see each other again.”
Her heart soared. He did want to see her again. There had been doubt in her mind, and she’d hated that. “No, we didn’t.”
Rooster was having just as hard a time concentrating as she was when he saw her eyes connect with his lips. Throwing caution to the wind, he exerted a small amount of pressure on the back of her neck and pulled her lips to his. He told himself that he couldn’t let this get out of hand. They were too old to be acting like teenagers, making out where anyone could see them. Using his free hand, he pulled her tightly to his body, so that they touched from head to toe. He wanted her to know exactly how much she affected him. There shouldn’t have been any doubt in her mind.
Roni fought to get her head about herself, but she was breathless and her stomach was doing funny things. She’d never been the type of woman to get all caught up in a man, to let passion overrule every part of her life. Hell, she could count on one hand the number of times she’d made out since she was a teenager. Rooster had her throwing all her defenses out the door and giving in to everything she wanted with him. Her fingers fought for purchase against his clothes as he turned her around, picked her up, and sat her on the desk. She wanted to feel his skin with hers, know that this was real and that she wouldn’t wake up in an empty bed. That had happened too many times for her to admit to anyone but herself. She’d missed him.
“Damn,” Rooster mumbled near her ear as he spread her thighs so that his body had room there, as he leaned her back on the desk so that he had room to work. “I don’t know what it is about us, but I feel like a horny teenager every time I kiss you.”
The feeling was mutual, definitely mutual. This was exactly how things had been years ago. As soon as he touched her, she lost her head and she was willing to say yes to anything he asked. It was nice to transport herself back to that time when there weren’t so many responsibilities. Fisting his uniform shirt in her hands, she tugged, slipping the edges past the belt that held his pants up and shoving her fingers underneath. Her fingertips connected with the hot skin of his abdomen, and she raked her nails there, wanting him to wear a badge of possession just like she did.
His hand felt impossibly large against her as he trailed it down her back and stopped at the curve of her ass, pulling her back against him. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, trying desperately to get to the rest of the skin beneath.
“Wait, wait.” He pulled back from her, picking her up and sitting her back in her seat. He quickly walked around the edge of the desk and had a seat in the chair facing her.
She had no idea what had happened, but when the door to the office opened, she was thankful he’d had the presence of mind to be listening. Liam stood there, asking a ton of questions. For the life of her, she couldn’t tell you anything he asked or said, and when he left, her glazed expression shifted to Rooster. “What the hell did he just say?”
“I have
no idea,” he laughed.
She joined in, happy that he’d had the same reaction.
“So.” He cleared his throat and stood up, pushing the tail of his shirt back into his pants. “You wanna hang out tonight?”
If they weren’t careful, they were both going to get burned, and she knew it. What if this didn’t work out? It would kill her and she wasn’t sure if she could come back from it a second time. On the other hand, she’d felt nothing in the way of passion and romance for such a long time that she was willing to take a chance on it. “Sure. My place or yours?”
He thought for a moment. “Let me come get you.”
“Sounds good. What should I wear?”
A lazy smile spread across his face. “I’ll be on the bike, but bring a change of clothes, just in case.”
Before he could ask why, he was gone. Did he want her to bring a change of clothes in case she stayed the night at his house? Because he planned on doing something that she’d have to change for? She could kill him for leaving the way he always did. He never let her ask questions and it drove her nuts on one hand. On the other, it was exactly what she needed, because that meant she never had a chance to second guess things.
Rooster was on a mission as he left the office. “Hey, Tyler, is Cash here today?”
“He’s out back. He had an unfortunate mishap with some brake fluid,” Tyler chuckled. “He’s washin’ up.”
Rooster shook his head. He had a feeling that Tyler had been in on the unfortunate mishap. They were constantly doing things to one another. The way Tyler treated the kids that hung around with them made him sad. He’d heard the problems that Tyler and Meredith were having in the baby department, and he knew the two of them would make the best set of parents ever. “Thanks.”
Heaven Hill Series - Complete Series Page 102
