“About me? My private life? And you just told him everything?”
“I didn’t have to tell him much. It’s pretty obvious what’s happening.”
“Oh, and what’s happening?”
“That Brendan is a shitty father. A shitty person.”
“I hate you,” Wren snapped. “You told Travis my business and sent him to attack Brendan.”
“I did not. We were all at Pop’s. A group of us.”
“So you all ganged up on Brendan,” Wren said. “And you wonder why he’s worried about coming around. You think he’s a bad father? A bad person? You’re the bad person. For getting involved.”
I took a deep breath. “Wren, he was there with another woman.”
“His cousin.”
“What?”
“He told me. It was his cousin. From Utah.”
“You’ve met this cousin?”
“She flew back this morning.”
I scoffed. “Are you really that gullible? We all saw what was happening. He was with another woman. It was not his cousin.”
“You allowed Travis to attack Max’s father. Do you not understand how fucked up that is?”
“I didn’t allow Travis to do anything,” I said. “I tried to stop him. I tried to get between them. Then Brendan said something about his sister…”
“Oh, right. Defend Travis. The guy you’ve loved since high school but never admitted to it. Right? The guy you probably still love, but you’ll never have because he’s an asshole. He does what he wants, when he wants. He’s going to leave you and you’re going to be the same person you are right now.”
“And what’s that, Wren?”
“A nosey bitch,” Wren spat.
There was silence.
Wren was on the verge of tears. So was I. But they were different tears. Wren’s were tears of anger. Mine were from her words. And the fact that maybe, in some screwed up way, she was right. Travis had no business going after Brendan. I should have done more to stop it.
“Just stay out of my life,” Wren said. “Max’s too. You’re not his mother. I am.”
“Then act like it,” I said. “Brendan has done nothing for you or for Max. Ever. I don’t know what you think, Wren, but everyone knows the truth about him except you.”
“It’s my business and my life,” she said.
“What about your son?”
“That’s my business still,” she said. She charged toward me. I didn’t move. “I’ll raise my son the way I want to. You don’t have the fucking right to tell me what to do.”
“Only when you need money, right? Or you need food. Or when Max hasn’t taken a bath in days.”
“I hate you, Willow. How’s that? I hate you.”
I swallowed hard, trying to fight back the emotion.
“You don’t mean that, Wren. I’m sorry, okay? I was talking with Travis… just… whatever. He asked about my life. Max is a big part of my life. So are you, Wren. And all the stuff you do.”
“And you hate Brendan.”
“Yes.”
“Are you jealous of me?”
“No,” I said. “I’ve watched Brendan leave you over and over. You’ve cried more tears on my shoulder about that guy than anything else in the world. And he has you wrapped around his finger…”
Wren got closer, nose to nose. “Have you ever thought for a second that maybe it’s the only thing that makes sense to me? What am I supposed to do? Tell him to leave for good? And then what? I’ll be the one who has to tell Max he has no father and the reason why. You think I want that on my conscience?”
“What are you two doing down here?” Mom asked as she came rushing into the kitchen.
“Nothing,” Wren said as she backed off. “Willow was leaving.”
“Is Max asleep?” I asked.
“Yes,” Mom said. “And you two are down here arguing. Over what?”
“She can’t stay out of my fucking life,” Wren said.
“The language, Wren,” Mom said.
“Sorry, Mom.”
Mom looked at me. Judging eyes. “Well?”
“Nothing,” I said.
“That’s what I thought,” Wren said. “You’ve fucked up what I had with Brendan for the last time. Maybe you should go and figure out your life instead of worrying about mine.”
I nodded. “And when your rent is due again in a couple of weeks, what are you going to do?”
Wren showed me the middle finger.
Mom slapped the table. “Dammit. You two! Wren, go outside and take a breath. Willow, if you’re leaving, you should go.”
I was in a combative mood, but I held back. I didn’t want my mother to have her mood flip. Which meant she could sit and hear Wren tear me apart limb from limb over how much of a terrible person I was.
“I’ll go,” I said. “Sorry about this.”
“You really shouldn’t be involved in her life so much, Willow,” Mom said.
“Really? She came to me for rent money…”
“And you’re her sister. If that was you, you’d want her to help. You think she’s not ashamed to have to ask?”
I gritted my teeth. “Right. I’m sorry then. To the both of you. I’ll talk to her when things cool off. I don’t want Max to wake up.”
“Drive safe, Willow,” Mom said.
She moved the deck of cards a couple of inches and slid a green zippered bag in front of her seat. That was her coupon collection. She would review them, organize, throw out the expired ones, and rarely did she ever actually use them.
I drove home, keeping myself together. I heard the echoing argument of myself and Wren in my mind. Both of us were right. Both of us were wrong.
When I got home, I looked around the empty apartment and shook my head.
This wasn’t what it was all supposed to be like. There were pieces of my life I just couldn’t let go. No matter how hard I tried. No matter how angry I got. No matter how far I traveled. Truthfully, I should have just stayed down on the beach. Stayed until the pain went away. Stayed until it felt okay to come home. Stayed until I was ready to go to work again. Stayed until…
There was a knock at the door.
A part of my heart hoped it was Wren. She and I could fight, laugh, hug, cry, and watch cheesy romance movies and fall asleep. And forget about everything.
I opened the door a little and saw Travis standing there.
His hair was long and messy. Wearing the same hoodie as the day before. The same jeans, too. He looked tired, beaten up, on the verge of punching a wall. Or maybe just crying.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
I shut the door to unhook the chain.
I opened the door again and he stepped right inside.
I jumped back as he grabbed the door and slammed it shut.
“Travis,” I said. “Where were you? You took your stuff. You left a…”
He touched my face with both hands.
“I’m going to just fucking say it. I’m leaving tomorrow. I can’t be here anymore.”
“Okay,” I said. My heart ached a little, but I knew this was the only reality that made sense. “You do what you have to do.”
“That’s not why I’m here, Willow,” he said. “My shit is packed. I’m good to go.”
“Then why are you here?”
“For you,” he said. “I can’t leave without knowing something…”
“Which is?” I asked, my heart no longer aching, but now just solely racing.
Travis inched closer and kissed me. I tasted his lips, his tongue. I tasted smoke, desire, everything tempting that should have made me push him away.
Except my hand clutched onto his hoodie.
And I pulled myself closer to him… knowing exactly what he wanted.
16
Road Trip
TRAVIS
I picked her up and she bucked her hips at me. A sign of desperation, but who the fuck was I to judge? I had spent hours driving around town, trying to chase away g
hosts that were only visible in my mind. And all my logical thinking brought me to one place.
Here.
With Willow.
She kissed me with a sense of goodbye, hinting that she was going to expose herself in a way she wasn’t used to. Because I wasn’t going to be around after tonight anyway.
Which was perfect for the both of us.
We were both broken pieces of whatever we once were, blowing in heavy winds, drowned by the rain, burned by the sun, forgotten by time.
Only I never forgot about her. Never once did Willow slip from my fucking mind.
I kissed her with warning of what was to come. My tongue flirting inside her mouth, breaking the kiss so I could playfully taste just her lips. They were soft, smooth, thin, leaving my cock raging with fire, wondering if her other lips matched.
There was only one way to find out.
In her bedroom, I kicked the door shut with enough force that something fell over on her nightstand. She broke the kiss to see what had fallen. That left her neck wide open for me to taste. I latched onto her like a cheesy movie vampire. My teeth grazing her skin. Her neck twisted as she shivered, trying to knock me away, but it was too late. My tongue flicked forward, tasting her sweet skin. Her hands kneaded my back and she groaned and sort of laughed.
I dropped her to the bed and hovered right over her.
“You’re ticklish,” I said.
“A little,” she said.
“Fuck,” I said.
Why does that turn me on? Why does that make my dick feel like it’s going to explode right now?
Because everything about Willow was fucking beautiful. Her always messy hair. Never wearing makeup. The look in her eyes. The curve of her lips. The way her chin came to a point that was off center. Her shoulders, arms, breasts, the curve of her hips.
Goddammit, I was going to lose my mind if I didn’t have her right now.
Willow slipped her hands up my shirt and bit her bottom lip as her fingertips explored the bare muscle waiting for her. I truly never gave a shit what my body looked or felt like. But for the first time, I actually appreciated it. The look on her face made me grin for a second.
I pulled away and she hurried to sit up with me. Her hands still pushing up, wanting my top half naked.
I tore off my shirt and hoodie in one move, tossing it across the floor.
Willow slid her hands down my body and hooked her fingers around the top of my jeans. She pulled and groaned, almost disappointed they didn’t just magically vanish.
I eased my right hand along her cheek. My thumb traced the line of her jaw and then up to her bottom lip. She tilted her head down a little and kissed my thumb. Then came her tongue, flirting.
“Oh, fuck that,” I whispered. “You’re not playing that game with me, bunny. You want the real thing, fucking have at it.”
I opened my jeans and allowed her to peel them and my boxers down, revealing myself to her. I popped free and her hand moved with an instinctive and almost magnetic approach, gripping my thickness down at its base before slowly sliding up to the tip.
My thumb traced another line along her bottom lip as she stroked me again.
I hissed and shook my head. “So, this is what’s been hiding all this time?”
“Maybe,” Willow purred as she crept forward.
Her soft and sweet lips kissed the tip of my cock. Trying to be cute and flirty, which was fine by me, but that wasn’t going to get the job done. My hand slid to the back of her head and I took a handful of her hair. She greeted me with an open mouth, her warmth making me stiffen even harder, sending a paralyzing feeling down my legs as my knees bent just a little to line myself up perfectly with her eager mouth.
She moved down on me, taking more than I honestly expected her to do. I felt my body tighten again as I groaned, appreciating her hidden talent. She paused and stayed there, her tongue fighting for space when there was none, leaving a pressure against the bottom of my shaft that threatened to end this wild moment long before it should have.
Willow eased back at a deadly slow pace. She popped her mouth away from me then went right back at it again. This time, she added her hand into the motion, both her mouth and hand working as best friends.
I stood there and watched her, amazed at her beauty and how she looked as she pleasured me. Her eyes shutting, the groans rumbling in the back of her throat, sending a pulsing through my body.
I finally had no choice but to pull away from her.
I stepped back and looked down at my cock for a second. I was as hard as I could ever remember being. I gritted my teeth as Willow slid back on the bed, moving with an unplanned seduction that left me with one choice.
She officially brought me to my knees.
I skipped the top half of her body for the moment and tore at her pants as though taking them off was the only way I could save her life. I slid her pants down her legs and tossed them aside. As far as her panties went, they stood no fucking chance. I came forward and kissed just below her belly button. I touched her inner thigh and moved my hand up to the swell of her heat. Pressing against the cloth of her panties, feeling her wetness moving easily underneath, I came all the way up with my hand and slipped my fingers down into her panties. I kissed down as my fingers curled and rested against her slit. I curled my middle finger and dabbed it against her tender clit. Her hips bucked over and over at my touch, leaving me growling under my breath.
I’d reached my breaking point of foreplay.
I was thirsty. And she had what I craved.
My hands curled around the left side of her panties and I ripped them like a piece of paper.
Willow cried out and clawed at my shoulders. “Travis… fuck…”
I looked up into beautiful dark eyes as I slipped my hand to the other side of her panties and pulled the torn cloth away.
She was fully mine. Finally, mine. And the look in her eyes was the green light to fucking go… and never fucking stop.
The first taste of her body would forever be locked into my memory. My tongue curled against her tender folds. Her hips jumped up for a second as she gasped. My hands touched her hips, driving her back down to the bed, holding her where I wanted her. I tasted her sweet honey again, this time, my eyes looking up at her face. Her head was back though, her hips thrusting at me, wanting more.
I slipped my hands up her body, feeling her curves. From her hips to her sides, around as my hands cupped over her breasts. To me, she was wearing too many fucking clothes. I brought my hands down her body, unable to peel my lips and tongue away from her sex.
My hands gently rested against her inner thighs. She was so damn ticklish. Touching her inner thighs made her jump. Moving my hands even half an inch made her tense up and groan with a little laugh.
I wasn’t sure I had ever encountered this before. And it drove me fucking crazy. Everything about Willow made me feel a certain way that was hard to explain, and hard to accept.
Growling, I tilted my head and sliced my tongue up and down against her core. I used the tip of my tongue to seek out her clit. I made every shape a dork like her could probably name, complete with angles and all. I closed my lips around her lips and suckled all the honey I could get. I pressed forward, adding pressure, my tongue moving faster, wanting more.
Willow let out a louder groan and arched her back. Her fingertips slowly climbed down the bed as she began to reach for me. Her nails caught my shoulders and pulled, scratching me, wanting me closer to her. I couldn’t get any closer, but that was okay. I stayed right where I was, my tongue dancing against her clit faster than her hips were able to rock and thrust. With her unable to keep up, that meant I was in complete control. Of her body. Of her pleasure. A sense of power that wasn’t new to me. But a sense of power that I really enjoyed, especially with Willow.
Her hips rocked faster as I brought her toward the edge. Coaxing her with each flick of my tongue. Soon there was a battle in the room. The sounds of me pleasuring her versus the s
ounds of her groaning and calling out my name. Her nails were sunk down pretty hard into my shoulders. Her entire body began to quiver. Her feet slowly moving to press against the bed, lifting her hips up. I slid my hands to her ass, holding her.
“Travis… I’m… oh… fuck…”
Her hands fell from my shoulders as she slapped the sheets and curled her hands tightly, pulling. Her body let go, the pleasure mounting to its peak. I inched my tongue down and thrust forward into her, feeling her throbbing as she came. I moved my hands to her hips again and pulled her to the edge of the bed. I hated to leave her, my lips were left lingering with her sweetness, my tongue just getting started to memorize her body. I was far from getting my fill, but there were other situations to take care of first. The biggest issue being the rock hard one between my legs.
It was time to finish what Willow had started.
As I stood up, my hands quickly touched the edge of her shirt and I lifted it up. I had taken shirts off more times than I cared to actually admit. This was different. I watched her body become exposed. I wanted to see the color of her bra. I wanted to see the way her breasts filled her bra. The one thing that struck me was the way her hair fell back down after I took her shirt off.
I bent over and went for her mouth, needing to kiss her. She kissed me with the same passion-filled force. Her hands touched my stomach, fingertips counting the ripples of muscle, teasing her way down to my cock again. This time though, I took hold of her wrists and growled.
“No fucking way, Willow,” I said between kisses. “Back on the bed, right now.”
She inched back and started to move down. I had to make my move and make it fast, my right hand twisting at the clasp of her bra, opening it. I brought my hand around and touched her bare breast, warm and full, but only for a split second as I curled my hand around her bra and tugged, giving her a chance to let me take it off her.
Now we were both naked.
Nothing separating us but the rare chance that she would have second thoughts. But even then, it was too late. I had tasted her desire. Her lips were pouty with sin from tasting me.
I moved down to her body, our lower halves coming together. The heat between her legs raged more than ever. I welcomed myself against her, feeling her gently sheathe me as I wasted no time wanting to be inside her.
What You Don't Know (True Hearts Book 6) Page 15
