by Marie James
“When’s your party?” Gigi asks, sliding even closer to Clay’s elbow. “I think one last awesome party is just what I need.”
His eyes dart to her, and as if realizing for the first time that Gigi is flirting with him, a slow, seductive smile slides across his face. All of his attention is directed at her. I hear Ivy huff as we watch her sister trail her finger over Clay’s muscled arm.
“Good to see you, Clay.” He doesn’t even acknowledge me as Ivy and I turn away to continue our shopping.
“Well that didn’t take her long,” Ivy hisses when we’re two aisles over.
“Never does.” I grab a package of green, glow-in-the-dark mustaches. “What do you think about a photo booth with all kinds of props?”
I turn to find Ivy grinning and holding a package of lime green and hot pink face masks. “It’s like you’re in my brain.”
“Here are the bracelets and necklaces,” Pop says emptying his arms into the cart. “I also grabbed plates, cups, straws, and these little bags for party favors.”
I frown and Ivy giggles at Pop’s cluelessness. “I think we’re past party bags.”
“What?” He looks at the package pinched between his fingers. “You’re never too old for party favors.”
“Never,” Gigi says bounding up, back to her old self after having been doted on by a boy. “We can put the jello shots in them.”
“Like hell,” Pop says looking at the package of small, lidded containers she’s waving in her hand. He tosses the neon colored package back on the shelf. “Okay. No party favors.”
Gigi frowns when he snatches the package out of her hand and tosses it next to his discarded item on the shelf.
“Food shopping next?” Ivy asks as we make our way to the front of the store to check out.
“Catered,” Pop answers. “Delilah didn’t want to have to worry about cooking.”
“Awesome,” Ivy says with genuine happiness.
“Can we start the car?” Gigi holds her hands out for the keys.
Pop’s eyes go from Gigi to Ivy. Unspoken conversation flows between them. With a small nod of her head, Pop hands over the keys. Ivy follows her twin out of the store, knowing he would never let Gigi go alone. It’s not only a safety measure, but we can never guarantee Gigi won’t get a wild hair and take off. Impulsive isn’t a strong enough word to describe her.
“D,” Pop begins as we wait for the lady in front of us to load her luau items on the counter.
“Please,” I beg, holding my hand up to stop him. “I know what you’re going to say, but you don’t see her like I do.”
“Enlighten me,” he says, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.
“It’s all a front for her. I honestly think Gigi is more insecure than any of us.”
“I can agree with that,” he says pushing the cart to the counter as the luau lady rolls her cart away. “But you shouldn’t allow her to treat you poorly.”
I hand him several more items from the cart so the cashier can ring them up. “I seriously don’t even think she realizes she’s being rude.”
“Even still,” he says. “You have to stand up for yourself, especially with the people you’re closest to. Feeling taken advantage of and disrespected by the ones we love does more damage than when it happens with strangers.”
I nod, knowing he’s right but also unsure of how to proceed from here.
Half an hour later, we’re pulling up to the front of the clubhouse. There’s no sense in carting our purchases to the house, so we opt to just store them in the front entry closet until Saturday morning. Ivy is carrying an armload, and surprisingly Gigi has offered to help as well, when Dad and Lawson pull in, parking beside us.
Lawson, never making eye contact or offering to help with our bags storms past, taking the sidewalk toward our house rather than cutting through the clubhouse.
“What’s his deal?” I mutter, startled to the point of jumping when Dad’s hand lands on my shoulder.
“He’s had a rough life,” Dad whispers in my ear. “Just treat him with kindness.”
I watch his back as he disappears around the corner, but my thoughts stay with him as we get all of the purchases stowed away in the closet.
Chapter 13
Lawson
“Community service,” I grumble as I run a soft towel over my wet body. “Fucking probation.”
Working for my money has never been a problem. The burglary was out of necessity when the work around the small town we lived in dried up. Jaxon’s offer to let me pay off my probation fees in the shop working on the motorcycles is like a dream come true. I’d do that shit for free just to fill my time.
After wrapping the towel around my hips, I swipe my hand over the condensation on the mirror. Empty, ice-blue eyes stare back at me. It’s strange finding their familiarity in those of my long lost father. The compassion he’s shown since mine and Drew’s arrival has never faltered. That type of humanity is a foreign concept to me. I can see, feel even, the love he has for me. It’s been there since realization struck him in the chest the day we showed up at the clubhouse.
Pissed about the things I’ve missed, the opportunities that have been lost by not knowing this family, it takes all the strength I have to not punch a hole in the wall. My anger isn’t dissipating by any means, but the blame is beginning to shift, and it makes me sick to my stomach that I’m starting to have ill feelings toward my deceased mother.
“So fucked up,” I say to myself, stepping out into the hallway.
A squeak and a hiss register in my ears, but it’s the hands on my bare stomach that have my undivided attention. Warmth, flowing from the lime green tipped fingers against my skin, spreads from the point of contact all over my body, my cock getting the message first. Twitching against the softness of the towel brings a smirk to my face, as I watch Delilah jump back a step.
“I’m so sorry,” she apologizes quickly and bends at the waist to grab a stack of laundry I’m just noticing must have fallen to the floor.
The top of her head grazes my already straining cock when she stands upright.
“Oh, God.” Her cheeks flush the most amazing shade of pink when she realizes what she’s done. “Did I just head-butt your… your… penis?”
Rolling my bottom lip between my teeth to keep from laughing at her, I remain silent, letting the awkwardness seep a little further in. I love the color on her face. It means she’s not unaffected by me even though she’s avoided me for the better part of a week.
“Gives a whole new meaning to giving head,” I whisper, noticing the huskiness in my own voice.
Her eyes dart from mine to below my waist, pausing long enough to understand exactly how I feel about the situation.
“Oh.” I don’t even know if she realizes that she’s staring at my towel-covered cock, but he’s received the memo loud and clear.
Betting on a shy reaction, I flex, making it jump behind the towel. She only gawks harder. Her perusal only serves to make me harder, the tip growing wet with desire.
“It’s yours if you want,” I tell her palming my length.
She may see it as taunting her, but relief from the pressure exerted by my hand is immediate. A groan rumbles in my chest as she continues to stand, staring as if she anticipates it revealing itself to her.
God, I wish.
“Is your mouth watering to taste my cock, Princess?” Her eyes snap up to mine, the trance she was in broken by my filthy words. “I’ll return the favor. I bet your pussy will be the best-tasting thing I’ve ever put my mouth on.”
Heat overrules the agitation in her eyes when she looks up at me, but she remains silent. My cock screams in protest when I release it from my grip. A second later, the same hand is reaching for her, running my thumb over the fullness of her bottom lip.
“I don’t fuck very often,” I whisper taking another step closer to her. “But I’ll make an exception for that tight virgin pussy of yours.”
She blinks up at me
. Once, twice. Then searing pain radiates from my foot and up my calf. She’s already down the hall and inside her room before realization hits. She just stomped on my fucking foot with her sneakers on.
“Goddammit,” I hiss, hopping on my uninjured foot while I try to soothe the pain she’s just inflicted.
“What happened?” Jaxon is the last person I want to interact with tonight.
“Stubbed my toe,” I lie and place the throbbing foot back down on the carpet.
His eyes narrow, dart down the hall toward Delilah’s room, and back at me, but he doesn’t say anything about his suspicions.
“I was coming up to give you this.” He offers a piece of paper, and I take it.
“You already paid my fees?” I ask looking down at the printed receipt.
He shrugs. “I was just waiting for the receipt. I paid them as soon as I found out about them. Navajo County is a little old school, so I had to wait for snail mail for the receipt.”
“Thanks.” The word tastes like shit in my mouth, but the man did me a favor, and I refuse to just brush that off.
“No big deal,” he responds, but to me, five hundred and eighty dollars is a fuck ton of money. “You’ll work it off.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Delilah leaves at nine in the morning to head to the animal shelter. Knock out the community service first then you can worry about working the money off.”
“I’ll be ready,” I tell him and turn toward the bedroom.
“Lawson?” I face him again. “There’s a lady in the house. Please don’t roam around in only a towel.”
I nod, acknowledging him and leave him standing in the hallway.
I can’t shake the image of Delilah’s chest rising and falling with her harsh breaths when she was touching me. My skin still burns from the contact, even though it’s been several long minutes since she pulled away from me.
“What’s up?” Drew asks from the top bunk of the bed.
His eyes never leave his cell phone to look over at me as I drop my towel, of which I’m thankful because just the thought of Delilah’s soft lips is making me thicken again.
I tug on the tightest pair of boxer briefs I own in an effort to constrict my cock and then a pair of athletic pants. “Not much,” I finally answer. “Just that I’m now at the mercy of this fucking family because Jaxon paid my fucking probation fees without even bothering to consult me on it.”
He laughs before speaking. “You’re the most ungrateful asshole I’ve met.”
“Don’t cuss,” I mutter as I sling myself on to the bottom bunk. “And it isn’t about gratitude. He shouldn’t just do shit without speaking to me. I could handle the money without his fucking help.”
“Now you’re just lying to yourself.”
I glare at him through the bottom of his mattress.
“You wouldn’t be able to get that much money without breaking the law, and you know it.”
“Whatever.” I roll over and face the wall.
Silence fills the room, and just as I’m sure he’s fallen asleep, he speaks again. “Gigi was eating you alive this morning at the pool.”
“Who?” I ask refusing to play into whatever game he’s trying to start.
“The twin with the dark hair?” I don’t answer. “The wild one in the barely-there bikini?”
I grunt a noncommittal sound. Of course, I noticed her. With her tits on full display and a devious smile, she’s kind of hard to miss. Man-eaters aren’t my style at all though. Now, the gorgeous blonde in the navy suit beside her? That’s a whole other story.
“You planning on going to the party next weekend?”
“Probably not,” I lie, knowing even though I shouldn’t, I want to be wherever Delilah is. Even if that means some lame ass teenager party.
“I’m going to go,” he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice. “There are going to be tons of fine ass girls there. I bet I can convince one of them to get on their knees for me.”
I laugh, so deep in my gut, I get a cramp.
“Dude, seriously?” I hear him huff in agitation.
“Asshole,” he mutters as I feel him turn over above me.
He doesn’t say another word. I hate that he feels like he has to act like a badass all the time. I’ve done it for years for self-preservation, but he should be able to live worry-free.
“You have plenty of time to worry about shit like that,” I say to him. “Don’t try to grow up any faster than you have to. Being grown fucking sucks.”
Especially when you’re not grown at all and have to depend on your absentee father to foot the bills for crimes you committed because your mother lied to you about his existence.
I sprawl out on my back and relegate myself to another sleepless night of thinking about Delilah until my balls ache so bad I want to scream.
Chapter 14
Delilah
“Perfect,” I whisper with a quick pop of my lips.
I could lie to myself, claim dry lips as the reason I’ve slicked on tinted gloss rather than my normal chapstick, but it would do no good. Lawson hasn’t left my brain since the minute he showed up. Last night, after feeling his hot skin against my fingers, I tossed and turned, the interaction on repeat in my brain. There’s nothing I can do about the redness in my eyes from lack of sleep, but he doesn’t really pay me any attention, so maybe I’ll get lucky, and he’ll not even notice.
But, I want him to notice me.
Shaking my head at the ridiculousness of it all, I grab my keys and cell phone from my desk. I don’t get boy crazy. Yeah, I’ve found guys at school good-looking, but getting to the point I want to doodle their names on my notebook never entered my mind.
Making sure I pulled my door closed behind me, I make my way down the stairs with a grin on my face. I know most teens spend their summers vacationing in the sun, going to parties, and sleeping late, but I’ve enjoyed going to the animal shelter four to five days a week. Even though summer is coming to a close, and I’ve been busy with the animals, I still get excited about my volunteer work. There’s nothing greater than the smiles on the dogs’ faces when I show up.
In the kitchen, I find Dad, Pop, and Drew at the breakfast nook, each eating breakfast. Over the last week, Drew has stopped shoveling food into his mouth like someone is going to take it away from him. He’s growing comfortable in his skin here, acclimating better than I thought he would, after witnessing his first meal with us.
“Hey, Delilah,” Drew says with a quick smile before taking another bite of chocolate cereal.
“Morning,” I respond and head to the coffee pot.
“Coffee?” Pop asks noticing my change in routine.
“Yeah,” I mutter pulling two cups from the cabinet. Being nice, I decide to make a cup for Lawson. He hasn’t gotten out of bed before noon since his first night here, so I know these early days are going to be brutal for him. “I didn’t sleep very well last night.”
“Too excited about the party to sleep, huh?” Dad smiles over his own steaming cup of java.
“Something like that,” I answer. “Where’s Lawson? You told him nine, right?”
“He’s still sleeping,” Drew answers before Dad can respond to my question.
“I’m sure he’s awake,” Dad says. “Run up and grab him. You don’t have a set time to be there, but I know you hate being late, even if the schedule you're keeping is your own.”
I grumble to myself as I finish fixing my cup and refuse to be nice any longer. His cup sits empty when I turn and head back up the stairs. It’s rude to keep people waiting, and rudeness is a pet peeve of mine.
Knocking on his bedroom door goes unanswered. I look over my shoulder, noticing the bathroom door is open, and the light is off. Last night’s scene runs through my head again, and I do my best to ignore the full body shiver that runs up my spine and out of my fingertips.
Agitated, I turn the doorknob and swing open the door. The bang as it swings wide and hits the wall startles th
e sleeping boy on the bottom bunk. He jerks, his large hand shooting straight to his dick as if protecting it at all costs is priority number one. The sheets are tangled around his legs as if he got too warm in the night and kicked them off.
Unbidden, a small sigh escapes my lips at the sight of his straining penis, large and thick, behind his sweats. I swallow around the lump that is forming in my throat until his husky chuckle makes the lean muscles on his stomach jump.
Unable to pull my eyes away from his body quickly, my eyes take long seconds to meet his. White teeth clamp onto his bottom lip, and his eyes hold mine in challenge.
“Wanna help me take care of my little problem?” If I thought he had a sexy voice before, I can vouch that his early morning, throaty words nearly make me breathless.
“Little?” I squeak before catching myself.
Now is not the time to get all weird and awkward, spouting the words that have no place out in the open.
“I’ll be gentle,” he assures me, the playful smile never leaving his lips. “Unless you like being gagged until tears run down your beautiful cheeks? I’m more than willing to give you what you need to have those rosy lips wrapped around my cock.”
Cock.
Such a dirty word, but for some reason, it has that shiver reigniting over my skin.
“You look terrified,” he husks out, shifting, so his body is angled more in my direction. “Sweet really. The little virgin girl scared of me. The thought of you choking on my cock makes my nuts ache. Take care of it for me, Princess.”
My eyes are once again pulled to his hand gripping his length.
“No thanks,” I finally manage to say. “You disgust me.”
He really doesn’t, but the blatant sexual innuendo is being taken too far. I hate him for calling me Princess. I hate him for thinking he can say such awful things to me. But more so, I hate myself for wanting to open my mouth to a boy for the first time in my life.
“You’ll have me in your mouth eventually,” he promises.
I shake my head and turn back to the door. “You have five minutes to be downstairs, or I’m leaving without you.”
