So, by the middle of first grade Tory had given up on making things for her mother at school. Anytime in grade school that it had come time to make something for your mother, she had poured her heart and soul into making something for her grandmother, who had prominently displayed every piece, no matter how badly made, because Tory had never been much for art; on her refrigerator or sometimes on her mantle. She wondered if her dad had kept any of it when his parents had died.
Lindsey and Langston had disappeared without bothering to say goodbye again. She was left alone in the kitchen with Tony, who was still standing, leaning against the counter.
She looked up at him and he gave her a grin. "You really have to push it don't you Tor? Flashing your ass at me in the hall, and then giving me an eyeful of your tits when you got that cup out of the cupboard. If your stepdad had been paying attention he probably would have taken you over his knee."
"I think I'm a little too old for spanking Tony. Unless you're offering."
He pointedly ignored her comment. "So what are we going to do today?"
"I thought we'd start with a little light bondage. I'll tie you to my bed with a pair of Lindsey's panty hose and have my way with you."
"Are you sure you're the same sweet virgin that I took to bed a few months ago? I can swear that the girl I've been dealing with for the past couple days is nothing if not a highly experienced seductress. Showing me your ass when your mom's ten feet away, flashing your tits at me when your stepdad's sitting right there at the table."
"In the hallway I dropped my sock so I had to bend over to pick it up. If you checked out my ass that was on you. When I was getting the coffee cop out of the cupboard if you happened to look down my shirt that was on you too."
"Don't act innocent Tory. You know that if you stick your butt in my face, I'm gonna look. And that smile that you gave me after you got that glass out of the cupboard told that me that it was by no means an accident that I could see down your shirt."
"So?" She busied herself with picking at a hangnail on her thumb. "You're my boyfriend and I love you. There's nothing wrong with me wanting you to look at me."
"Of course there isn't Tor." He sighed. "Just not in front of your damn parents."
"You started it. Coming out into the hall with no shirt on when you know it drives me crazy. I was giving you back a dose of your own medicine."
"Ah my love, that I do know. But I also know that your stepdad made it a point to mention that there was a bathroom at your end of the hall. So you made it a point of walking past your bathroom and coming to mine."
"What if my mom was in the bathroom? What then?"
"I've got you easily on at least two counts there, Tor. You said that your mom was still asleep when I ran into you in the hallway. And second, your mom and stepdad obviously have the master bedroom. In a house this size, there's not a snowball's chance in hell that the master bedroom doesn't have its own bathroom."
“Okay, so you got me Tony. I live to seduce you. Is it my fault if I fail miserably?" She gave him a pout.
"You've never failed to make me want you Tor. It's a little thing they call willpower. Which you don't seem to have enough of if you can't keep track of your hormones when we're under your mother's roof. Bet you wouldn't be acting this way if we were staying with your daddy." He gave her a knowing look.
"I haven't seen my father in five years so you're right, I'd have things on my mind other than jumping your bones. Which reminds me, if I can talk him into it, you're gonna take me to see my dad over spring break okay?"
"Well babe, I appreciate the thought that you've got confidence that we'll be together in three months and I wouldn't mind meeting the only parent you seem to give a shit about so why the hell not?"
"Oh, thank you Tony." She jumped up from the table and threw her arms around him. "I know he'll love you."
"I'm still marveling at the fact that his daughter loves me." He gave her a crooked grin. "So really, what are we going to do today Tor? And nothing that involves sex, looking at someone else having sex or even thinking about sex, because if you don't quit doing shit on purpose to make me picture you naked, willpower isn't going to be enough to stop me from giving you what you want. Hell, if you keep it up, the thought of your stepdad chopping my penis off isn't going to be enough to stop me."
"He wouldn't really do it." She squeezed his hand, batting her eyelashes at him. "I wouldn't let him."
"Hell baby, I sure as hell wouldn't let him. Might not stop him from trying, though." He grimaced.
"We'll just make sure he doesn't catch us doing anything naughty then."
"We're not going to do anything that would be considered naughty under his roof. No more Tor. No more tempting me, no more teasing me. Pretend you're still a good little virgin for a couple days."
She rolled her eyes at him. "If I'd lost my virginity to almost anyone else, I could probably do that. And that you can't blame on me. It sure as hell wasn't me that made you so good in bed. I'll shut up now. I promise I'll TRY to be good Tony."
"That's all I can ask I guess."
He was already downstairs when she came back down jacket on, unlit cigarette in his mouth. She was tempted not to set the burglar alarm to piss Langston off, but figured since they'd probably be back before Lindsey and Langston, he'd never know. So she set the alarm and followed Tony to the door, quickly locking the door, going out to the pool which was covered and empty in the winter months.
She took the cigarette that Tony handed her and lit it, giving him a dirty look when he said "You know that when you get pregnant we're both quitting smoking."
"What is it with you and kids Tony?"
"Just letting you know." He grinned.
She shook her head at him. They finished their cigarettes and then went to Tony’s car. They drove aimlessly for a while, Tory having no idea what they were going to do that day. Then she figured she might be able to get Tony a present at the mall. “Do you want to go to the mall? Tell me now because I gotta turn up there at the next light if you do."
"Whatever you want is fine with me Tor."
"You don't wanna hear what I really want because you'll get mad at me."
"We're not making a stop at a seedy motel Tory. We’ll figure out something to do that will keep your mind off of sex. It should be easier to keep your mind off of sex here than it is at home. I can’t imagine that what we saw at the movie theater last night goes on anywhere near as often here as it does there."
He gave her a bright smile as she turned into the parking lot of the mall, searching for an empty parking spot that wasn't a million miles away from the entrance.
"That is so not funny Tony. How could you stand growing up in a town that might as well be one big continuous orgy?" He gave her a look. "I forgot. All teenage boys think about is sex. So you wouldn't have minded growing up in that shit. No wonder people keep coming back. If you decide you're tired of sleeping with your wife, you can sleep with your neighbor's wife or hell why not your teenage daughter's best friend?"
"Not everyone in town messes around. Look at my aunt and uncle. They've been married for like twenty years I think or almost. Married right out of high school. I seriously doubt either of them has ever screwed around."
"Like they'd tell you if they had," Tory said under her breath as he held open the door for her.
"I heard that. You better not let Carl hear you talk shit about his mama. You think I'm protective over Aunt Lori, you should see Carl."
"I was kidding Tony."
"I know. Just giving you fair warning. Carl almost took some kid’s head off when he was in Jr. High for calling Aunt Lori a pothead. That boy had himself a good lesson in the medical uses of marijuana before Carl was done with him. I was picking him up from school that day, caught the tail end of it. Poor kid was crying like a little girl. 'My mom is not a stoner. She's got migraines and uses it for medicine you fucking asshole.' I reamed Carl's ass for fighting in front of the other kids of course, told th
em I'd make sure that Carl's dad heard all about it. But we were both laughing so hard by the time we got back to the car. We had tears rolling down our faces. And it was even better when we got back to the house. Told Uncle Keith what had happened, and he looks at Carl and says 'I'm proud of you son. You should always defend a woman's honor and your mama's the best around.' Gives Carl a hug and whispers in his ear 'But don't let your mama hear about this.' No one's got the balls to talk shit about Aunt Lori anymore. Between me and Carl, and I'm sure Uncle Keith would come up with a reason to arrest any moron dumb enough to talk shit about Aunt Lori in front of him; no one will dare. It's only the small minded idiots like that kid's parents that would talk shit. Second only to my mom when she's in her right mind and my grandma you'll never meet a better woman than my Aunt Lori."
"Your grandma's still alive?"
"Yeah. Why, you wanna meet her?"
"Maybe later."
He laughed. "You're gonna be on family overload by the time you go back to school. Dad and Uncle Keith's mom is still alive. Grandpa died right before Carl was born and Mom's parents both died when she was in Jr. High. Are any of your grandparent's still alive?"
She shook her head. "I never met my mom's parents. They both died before I was born. My dad's parents, they died about five years ago. Last time I saw my dad was at his mom's funeral. His mom was the closest thing I ever had to a Mom. I spent whole summers at their place when I was little. Felt more like home there than it ever did at any of the places that I lived in with Lindsey. I wonder if my dad sold their place? I never really thought about it. He doesn't live there obviously but there's no way in hell his bitchy sister would want the place. So it had to have been left to him."
"Is that your dad's only family besides you?"
"I met her a few times when I was younger. Didn't hurt my feelings any not to see her again, though. You could have sworn that she was Lindsey's sister instead of my dad's. Same stuck up attitude, looks at men the same way Lindsey does, nothing more than a checkbook. I think she's been divorced almost as many times as Lindsey. Though I don't know for sure. My dad never talks about her. It's pretty funny. I think they had a falling out when Lindsey was pregnant with me. I guess my Aunt Brenda saw Lindsey for what she was and tried to warn my dad and he didn't appreciate it."
"I can see that." He took her hand as they made their way through the crowded mall. "I wouldn't take too kindly to someone trying to warn me off of you."
"Yes, Tony.” She took on a fake southern accent. "I only want you for your money baby. And you'd better step it up honey, because if you don't put a diamond ring on my finger before New Year’s we're through."
There was a jewelry store on the other side of the mall, though she hadn't noticed it until she'd been teasing him about a ring.
"So that's what it's gonna take to keep you? Putting a ring on that pretty finger of yours? I don't think I can afford no diamonds but I think we can come up with something."
"No Tony," she protested as he dragged her toward the jewelry store. "I was teasing. The locket was enough. It means more to me than some expensive ring ever could."
"They say that secret desires come out when people make jokes. Have you ever heard the term homophobe? The people who are the biggest anti-gay assholes have secret hot gay fantasies. So my girl says she doesn't want a ring, it means she wants a ring."
"No." She stopped him outside the store. "You gave me the locket which means more to me than you'll ever know. You're still here with me, putting up with my bitchy mother and my stupid stepfather. You brought me here with almost no notice."
"If you want a ring, I'll buy you one."
"I don't want a ring Tony. Have you not heard a word I've said?"
"So what you're telling me is that we're gonna get married someday and you're not going to wear my ring? There you go again, being ashamed to be with me." She could see that he was teasing.
"I was never ashamed to be with you. I just didn't want to admit to myself that you were my boyfriend instead of my fuck buddy. I never said I wouldn't wear a wedding ring if we get married. I don't need you to spend any more money on me to prove to me that you love me. You've done everything in the world in the past few days that you could possibly do to prove it to me. What more could I possibly ask for?"
"I wanna do this for you baby. You've saved me Tor. You've made me believe that there's something better out there. You've made me want to do something more than just get by until I end up in prison or dead because some junkie shot me because he didn't have the money for his next fix.
Tory sighed. “I’ll let you buy me a ring if you’ll give me some time alone to get you a present.”
“Deal, but don’t spend too much money.”
Tory made a face at him. “”You didn’t seem to care about how much money you spent when you bought that watch for my dad or that expensive alcohol for Lindsey and Langston.”
“I don’t care about money Tor. I never really have. Yeah, it’s nice to have around when you need something, but money is something that way too many people care way too much about.”
“Yeah, people like Lindsey and Langston.”
She gave Tony a brief kiss, wondering what she was going to buy for him. “I love you Tony. Don’t you spend too much money either.”
Tony grinned. “I won’t baby.” She could tell by the look on his face that he was going to buy her a ring without caring what it cost. He pulled her to him for another kiss that was not brief. “I love you too. I’ll meet you back here in an hour or so. Then we’ll get something to eat.”
She shook her head at him and watched him walk away. She wandered around for a while, and then spotted a pair of satin sheets in the window of a store. She went inside. The sheets were pricey and she almost decided against buying them, but then the thought of how much fun they could have on the sheets entered her mind and she grinned. The older woman behind the counter gave her a dirty look when she paid for the sheets, and she figured she must still have the silly grin on her face, but Tory didn’t care.
She headed to the music store, figuring she could buy Tony a CD or two but then she passed by an auto store and decided to buy him seat covers and a steering wheel cover. She didn’t spend long in the store since the time was nearing for her to meet Tony, but she thought that he would like what she had bought for him.
Tony was waiting for her when she reached their meeting place. He gave her a cocky smile and reached for the bags. He held out his hand for the bags. “I’ll put those in the car and then we’ll go eat.”
“Don’t peek.”
“Okay.”
She wondered where her ring was, but she put it out of her head as he walked away. He was whistling and she wondered how much he had spent on the ring that she hadn’t really wanted.
When he returned a few minutes later she said “Did you peek at your presents?”
“Nope.” Then he gave her a sheepish smile. "Maybe a little peek. Those sheets must have cost quite a bit Tor. You shouldn't have."
"Are you kidding Tony? When we get home we're gonna go find you a new bed and slip those suckers on and put them to damn good use."
"Thought we were having a contest to see who could go without sex the longest.”
"I give now. The very thought of having sex with you on those sheets is enough to make me give in."
He laughed. "They were pretty sexy weren't they?"
“Hell yeah they are. Where’s the ring that you insisted on buying for me?”
“I want to wait to give it to you until we get home.”
Tory raised an eyebrow. “You spent too much money on it didn’t you? You don’t want to give it to me until we get back to your house, because you know that you’ll be able to seduce me and distract me from thinking about what it cost you.”
“I want it to be special baby. Let’s eat.”
Tony took her hand and they made their way to the food court, agreeing on Chinese food. They took their time eating since they di
dn’t have much else to do and then wandered around the mall for another little while hand-in-hand. They ended up at the movie theater again, though Tory wasn’t really in the mood for another crappy movie. It was definitely better than going back to Lindsey’s house though she thought.
"What stupid waste of money so we don't think about sex movie are we going to see?"
He laughed, and pointed out a Christmas movie that had been playing for the last month and a half. She shook her head. It was a sequel and the first one hadn't been worth seeing.
"Well, then all we're left with is a cartoon, and the movie we already saw."
"Damn. Well, I guess it’s 'Home for the Holidays 2' then. You've got to love that tagline. 'Merry Christmas Mom and Dad. I'm finally pregnant but we're getting a divorce'."
"Yeah, pretty catchy isn't it?"
She followed him into the long line in front of the ticket window. Suddenly realizing she had to go to the bathroom, she gave Tony a plaintive look. "Will you buy the tickets and then wait for me? I don't want to have to trip over a million little kids while I'm trying to find you in the dark."
"No problem baby."
When she reached the bathroom, all three stalls were being used. With the extra-large soda that she'd drunk at lunch, she was practically dancing around by the time the first door opened.
A pretty girl came out giving her an off handed smile. It looked like she'd been crying, and Tory did a double take.
"Mellenda?"
"Oh hey, Tory. I didn't expect to run into you here. And me looking like such a mess too."
"Are you okay Mellenda?"
"I'm all right. Just got into a big fight with my boyfriend. But then everybody's extra stressed over the holidays huh? Does your family live up here?"
"Yeah, well my mom and stepdad.” Not that she really counted them as family but. . .
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 121
