by Marie James
I feel her presence behind me. After dropping the bags on the empty pallet in the corner, I turn to her.
“What I said earlier—” I sigh and run my hand over the top of my head.
“Is it that difficult?” Her words sting, but at least there’s a smile on her face and no sharp tools in her hands.
I quirk an eyebrow at her.
“Apologizing? Is it that difficult?”
I grin, my eyes lingering on her lips before meeting her gaze.
“I don’t do it very often. Will you forgive me?”
“For what?” she prods, insisting I actually say it.
“For saying those awful things. I’m sorry.” Well, that wasn’t as painful as I imagined it would be.
“You didn’t mean them?” Her throat works on a swallow, the action drawing me closer to her.
It’s my turn to bite my lip, trying not to lie to her because fuck if I didn’t mean every word out in that field. I release it immediately, wondering if I look as stupid as the chick from earlier.
“The truth?” I whisper mere inches from her mouth. She nods, eyes focused on my lips. “You sucking my cock, me licking the length of your pussy, the way you’re going to feel sliding down my cock when I take you the first time is all I think about. I meant every word.”
She swallows again and nods. “Good to know.”
My eyes flutter as my mouth reaches out to hers. She deserves more than being Frenched in a storage room that smells like dog food and mothballs, but not everything in life is as glorious as we watch in movies.
My lips meet air, and when I open them, I see her back as she walks away from me. My cock aches at her rejection, but a smile is on my face all the way to her car.
Chapter 16
Delilah
“Can you be any more obvious?” Ivy sneers at her sister’s question, but she pulls her eyes from Griffin anyway.
“You can’t tell me you didn’t miss him while he was away,” Ivy says looking down at her clasped hands.
I hate to tell her that while she’s had her eyes on Griffin; his eyes have been on her sister. She either doesn’t see the way he watches her or she ignores it.
“He’s been gone a couple of weeks,” Gigi says with a shrug.
“Months,” Ivy corrects. “He’s been gone for months, and he’s fixing to deploy to Germany.”
“Okay?” Gigi says but doesn’t pull her eyes from whatever guy she's honed in on tonight.
“There’s no telling when he’ll be back home,” Ivy whines. I rub a hand over her shoulders. “Or if he’ll ever make it home.”
“None of that. We’re supposed to be having fun.” I tell her. I look over at Gigi. “Quit being a bitch.”
She turns her head, shock in her eyes and just stares at me as if I’ve grown three heads in the last five minutes. “Sorry.”
It’s a half-assed apology, but it’s the best she ever has to offer. When she looks across the room, I follow her line of sight. Lawson. I should’ve guessed.
He’s not looking at her, however, his eyes are locked with mine. Drew calls his name from the other side of the room, but he winks at me before turning his attention to his younger brother.
“He seriously likes you,” Ivy whispers and I can feel my cheeks flush.
“He likes embarrassing me,” I counter.
“You either go after him or I will,” Gigi spits before she stands in a huff and walks away.
“She’s disgusting,” Ivy says. “You don’t have to worry though. I don’t think he’d touch her. I heard her on the phone with someone bitching because she came on to him and he shot her down. She thinks something’s wrong with him.”
“Because he didn’t accept when she threw herself at him?” Ivy nods. “She’s nuts.”
“Mom and Dad have been talking about sending her to boarding school.”
My eyes widen. “They wouldn’t.”
I look across the room finding Griffin, Shadow, and Diego huddled together. I wince when Gigi bounces up to them and commands all of Griffin’s attention without so much as a glance in his direction. Diego frowns and shakes his head. Gigi walks away, pouting like a reprimanded child. Griffin’s eyes follow her until she disappears into the small crowd on the make-shift dance floor. He doesn’t stop looking until he takes a punch to the shoulder by Diego. I grin when Shadow tries to hide his laugh behind his beer bottle. Griffin straightens, nearly standing at attention as the MC President rips into him for checking out his underage daughter.
“He doesn’t even know I exist.”
I turn to find a tear glistening on Ivy’s bottom lash.
“Maybe I should be a slut like my sister. He’d have no choice but to notice me then.”
God, I feel terrible for her, but I have no experience with guys, so I don’t have anything to offer.
“I doubt that’s the best course of action. Acting that way just makes them want to use you and toss you away.”
“Really?” Ivy asks, her eyes darting to the bare skin of my thighs not covered by my shorter than usual skirt. “Are you wearing half a skirt for Lawson?”
I clear my throat, knowing she’s exactly right. I have no defense.
“He gets his jollies by torturing me. I’m sure if I actually challenged him, accepted one of his grotesque offers, he’d back away in a flash.”
“I doubt that,” she mutters.
“He’s an asshole,” I assure her.
“Yet you say it with a smile.” She returns my grin. “Delilah has a crush on the bad boy. Never thought I’d see the day.”
I look at her but refuse to say anything else. It isn’t until the light from the neon pink disco ball is blocked that I look away.
“Hey, ladies.” I smile up at Griffin, but then wince when Ivy’s fingernails dig into my thighs.
Without pulling my eyes from his, I grab her hand and bend a finger back until she releases her death grip on my leg.
“How long do we get the pleasure of your company?” I ask sweetly.
“I have to be back in San Diego tomorrow,” he says as he takes the empty spot on the sofa next to Ivy.
She’s stiff as a board, but she deflates when he wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her to his chest for a hug. “How are you, kiddo?”
I wince. Kiddo? Damn, that’s got to hurt.
“Fine,” she grumbles but doesn’t pull from his embrace.
“Looked like you and Diego were having a heated conversation. What was that all about?”
At least he has the decency to blush, but Ivy glares at me when he pulls his arm away to run his hand over the top of his crop-top. I don’t imagine she’ll ever wash her shirt again.
“He was…. Ah… giving me some advice that could save my life. Pointers about survival and shit.”
“For your deployment? Or the enemy combatants in the clubhouse?”
His eyes dart back to Diego, and the glare in his President’s eyes has him putting a little distance between himself and Ivy.
“Stop,” she mutters.
“Cut me some slack, D. She’s less than two years younger than me.”
I tilt my head, taking in his discomfort. He defends his sexual attraction to Gigi, but calls Ivy kiddo?
“Did you tell him that?”
He shakes his head back and forth almost violently. “Fuck no. He’d kill me.”
“Hey,” Samson says as he walks up. “You said we could use your playlist.”
“Yeah, sorry.” Griffin stands and walks away with my brother.
“And I thought Gigi was a bitch.”
I sigh, hating that teasing Griffin was at her expense.
I slap my hands on my knees, the uncomfortable sting from the impact lighting my nerve endings on fire. “You just need to take your mind off of him.”
“Impossible.”
“Let’s try anyway.”
I hate to dance, mainly because I suck at it, but if she needs the distraction, I’ll throw myself on the prover
bial altar for sacrifice.
“I hate this song,” she mutters as Dawin’s Dessert begins to fade out.
She perks up the second it transitions into Nelly’s The Fix. We both look up to find Griffin grinning at us. Thumb up in the air, he winks at Ivy. She may think she’s invisible, but playing her favorite song reveals that it’s so far from the truth.
Before the song is over, we’re both glistening with sweat, and there’s a smile on her face I haven’t seen in a very long time.
“And this one!” Ivy squeals when Anaconda by Nicki Minaj blares through the speakers.
I shake my head, fanning my overheated face with my hand. “I have to sit this one out. You want a water?”
She nods and bounces around in a circle with her arms in the air. I can hear her singing the lyrics as I walk away.
“Jesus,” Dad mutters when I step up to the refreshment table. “It’s like watching mating on Animal Planet.”
I grab a water and turn back to the dance floor.
“I hope nobody gets pregnant out there,” he grumbles.
I laugh, head thrown back at his complaint. He’s smiling when I turn back toward him. “That’s not how it happens, Dad.”
An eyebrow shoots into his hairline, the star tattoo on his cheek twitching. “And just what do you know about it?”
I smile wider. We’ve had the birds and bees talk a couple of years ago. It left me broken and disgusted, and it’s not a subject we’ve revisited since.
“Just what I’ve watched on PornMD.” Both eyebrows disappear into his dark hair.
“I’m canceling the data on your phone.” I roll my teeth through my lips. “And turning off the Wi-Fi in the house.”
“I’m seventeen, Dad. I can’t stay a little girl forever.”
His eyes narrow in challenge. “Seventeen on Monday,” he corrects.
“Old enough to consent,” I tease.
“I’ll kill any bastard with the balls big enough to touch you.”
“So violent,” I say as I tilt my water up to my lips.
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” he hisses and storms off.
I watch as he joins Pop on the other side of the room. Pop looks over at me as Dad flails his arms and animatedly tells him about our conversation. He smiles and rubs dad’s back to try to calm him, but the look in his eyes tells me to stop torturing the man. I give them both a little wave and head back to the dance floor.
I bite my lip when I pass Lawson stretched out on the sofa. Rachel is practically in his lap. If I thought my skirt was short, it has nothing on Rachel’s. I know I’m not the only one who can see her lime green panties glowing between her legs.
“So fucking skanky,” I whisper to myself as I walk past them.
Samson is still standing near the stereo system with Griffin, but he’s throwing daggers at Lawson. My night just went from playful and fun to disappointing in an instant.
I can’t wait for everyone to leave so I can go to bed and just forget about the whole damn thing.
Chapter 17
Lawson
“Where are you going?” Drew asks with a yawn from the top bunk.
I reach for the doorknob. “I need to find Delilah and explain that what she saw earlier with Rachel wasn’t what it looked like.”
He chuckles. “You’re screwed.”
“I hope not,” I tell him as I pull the door open.
“Why in the world didn’t you go find her then?” He shakes his head and looks back at his phone.
“I tried to find her. She just disappeared,” I explain.
“If Jaxon finds you in her room at two in the morning he’ll rip you to shreds.”
“You let me worry about Jaxon,” I mutter stepping out into the hallway.
“Famous last words,” he says with another laugh as I pull the door closed. I still hear him through the door. “Your funeral.”
I tiptoe down the hallway, grateful for the plush carpet under my bare feet. Her door isn’t pulled all of the way closed, so I stick my head in. The bed is made, and she’s nowhere to be seen.
I turn back and make my way down the stairs. If I’m caught in the common areas by Jaxon or Rob, the fallout will be less intense.
The sight of Delilah, bent over in her short skirt, is worth anything the men of the house can throw at me. I’d gladly spend time in jail so long as they have no way to pull these images from my mind.
Backlit by the light inside the fridge, her golden hair seems to glow in a curtain around her. Resisting the pull her body has on mine would only be in vain, so rather than announcing myself, I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her middle. She stiffens, frightened at first, but soon settles into my embrace.
“I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you tonight,” I whisper in her ear, nuzzling into her soft neck.
She whimpers when I pull her closer. I never imagined the warmth of her skin against mine would be life-altering, but here I stand in the dark kitchen of my newly discovered father’s house a new man.
“Jesus,” I pant into the web of her tangled blonde hair. “I can die a happy man.”
“Well isn’t this cozy.” The kitchen light flips on bathing us in light that leaves nothing to the imagination.
Releasing Delilah, I turn to face a pissed off Samson, only to find the shimmering eyes of—
“Delilah?”
My stunned eyes flash from the devastation on her face to the blonde now standing directly against my side. I recoil, taking a few steps away from Rachel. She bats her eyelashes at me, and I move further away until my hip collides with the counter.
“What the fuck is going on?” Samson seethes through gritted teeth.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rachel’s breathy voice makes my skin crawl. The look in her eyes dares me to tell him I’ve made a mistake.
“We were…” I sigh and drop my hands to my sides. I’ve got nothing. I can’t explain to Samson that I thought Rachel was his sister. The look in his eyes says he’s ready to snap me in half, and a week ago I would’ve welcomed the chance to beat his ass, but things have shifted for me since working with Delilah at the animal shelter.
“We were just getting to the good stuff when you so rudely interrupted,” she sneers at Samson. “You need to get over your little obsession with me. It’s never going to happen. I’m only interested in real men.”
I bite my tongue but stand stock still when her fingernail scrapes down the front of my bare chest.
I can’t even look at Samson. His anger is secondary to the pain that’s crushing me under Delilah’s devastated stare. She just nods, gives me a weak, sad smile, and turns and walks away.
“Don’t,” Rachel warns catching my arm when I take a step to go after her. “She’s upset that her twin is upset. She’ll be fine.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, only able to hear the soft retreat of her footfalls on the stairs. Even as upset as she is, I don’t even hear her door close with a thud.
“Was this your plan all along?” Samson says with fists balled at his sides.
I shake my head.
“You knew I liked her.” He jabs his finger in Rachel’s direction. She merely rolls her eyes, looking bored.
“Doesn’t matter, Sam. There’s no mutual attraction. We’re only friends.” She says it sweetly, but the twinge on his face tells me it doesn’t make things any better.
“You’re a whore!” Samson yells.
I take a step forward. Rachel may not be an innocent angel, but I wrapped myself around her, and he’s out of line. “Enough,” I hiss.
“Enough? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You show up out the fucking blue, with some devious agenda and you have the nuts to stand there and tell me enough?”
“What the hell is going on?” Jaxon’s booming voice circles around us.
Only now does Rachel step away from me, having closed the distance between us when Sam started ranting.
A menacing grin spreads across Samson’s face, and
I just know the fallout from this is going to be awful.
“Lawson here is pushing up on my girl. Pretty sure they were about to fuck on the kitchen table.”
“She’s not your girlfriend.”
“I’d never touch you. Gross.”
Jaxon and Rachel speak at the same time.
Jaxon holds his hand up when Samson begins his rebuttal. “And watch your mouth.”
Samson’s eyes narrow as he looks at his dad, but he doesn’t make a sound. Jaxon commands respect, and I find myself standing a little straighter, even though what I’m about to face could end up with me on the street.
“Rachel, go get your things. Rob will give you a ride home.”
“But I drove?” she argues, stopping short when Jaxon’s glare lands on her.
“You can come get your truck in the morning. I’m not sending you out on the road this late at night.”
“Yes, sir,” she mutters and walks away.
Silence fills the room around us when she leaves. I’m not going to be the first person to speak, but I also haven’t been given permission to speak. Why I’m resorting to the things I learned in the probation boot camp last year, I have no idea. Yet, here I stand, waiting to be addressed like I’m still in that hell hole with a drill instructor in my face.
“Calmly,” Jaxon says with a warning in his voice. “Tell me what’s going on.”
He looks at Samson first, who crosses his arms over his chest and pouts for a quick second before he begins to speak.
“D and I came down to cut into our birthday cake early.” Sam looks at his father, who smiles at him? The hell? “We—”
“Didn’t want to wait for the family.” Jaxon grins wider before schooling his face back to impassive seriousness. “Just like every year.”
“Right.” Even pissed Samson gives his dad a quick smile.
Seems my impromptu need for Delilah has ruined a family tradition. And my night just keeps getting better.
“When we stepped into the kitchen, Lawson and Rachel were all hugged up on each other in front of the fridge.”
Jaxon looks toward me. All I can do is shrug in response and pray Jaxon doesn’t figure out that it was his gorgeous daughter I’d wanted in my arms instead. I have a feeling though, that if Samson saw my arms wrapped around his twin, he’d lose his shit even more than he is now.
