Peaches (The Izzy Quinn Series Book 1)

by C. Penticoff

  "What, Prissy? You know you can tell me anything."

  "Well...did you pay rent?" She grabbed a piece of hair and twirled it, which told me her anxiety was elevated. I didn't even know Prissy knew we were struggling to pay rent, let alone her stressing about it.

  "Yes, we did." I put my hand on her shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me you were worried about this?"

  "I don't know. I didn't want you to be annoyed with me."

  "I wouldn't be annoyed with you for expressing your concerns, sissy. I may get annoyed when you bring your schedule everywhere." I nudged her shoulder, letting her know I was kidding. She giggled. "But you can tell me anything." She took a deep breath so I knew she was relieved. "Hey, speaking of your schedule."

  "What about it? Are you wondering what's on there for today?"

  "No. I noticed it's making you feel stressed out."

  "Oh, no it's not. It's helping me to be organized."

  "I know schedules are a good thing. But you began to--almost--panic when you get off schedule a bit and it's not--" I didn't want to say normal, so I hesitated to think of a better word. "Healthy."

  "What are you saying? I can't have my schedule?"

  "No. All I'm saying is when you make a schedule, you've got to understand that it's normal for things not to go as perfectly as you planned. That's going to happen sometimes no matter how hard you try. It's not worth getting stressed out over."

  "I understand. That's sensible."

  "Tyson was also telling me that you follow a girl on Picstagram who you're fixated about."

  "I'm not fixated on her."

  "Pris, I know how you get."

  "I'm not fixated."

  "Listen. You need to stay off Picstagram so much or I'm going to have to delete it from your phone. Besides, what are you doing following a stranger?"

  "Well, she's friends with Grayson."

  "Let me see." I held my hand out and Prissy handed me her phone. I opened the app up and searched for the girl. When I found her profile I noticed she was friends with Grayson and I clicked on his profile just out of curiosity. I wanted to see when the last time was that he posted on there. I was about to hand Prissy's phone back to her before I noticed something.

  Grayson’s also friends with Kent.

  Now that was odd.

  Did Kent know Grayson and just wasn't telling me? That doesn't make any sense. There'd be no reason for it. I knew I was going to see him in a while, so I decided to wait until I saw him to ask him about it.

  Thirty minutes later Kent showed up, and off we went to Izzy's. I told him I wasn't up for anything extravagant, so a pizza and salad bar would have to be good enough for him. Of course he had to make a joke about how Izzy wants to go Izzy's--as if I didn't hear that literally every single time I'd ever been there.

  "Hey," he greeted me as I slid into his passenger seat.

  "How's it goin'?"

  "Stressed. But happy to see you."

  "Stressed about?"

  "Just got back from the Longview property."

  "You're not supposed to be working on Sundays."

  "Well, it's not gonna fix itself. Anyway, how are you, sexy lady?"

  He squeezed my thigh and kept his hand there, moving it up my thigh half an inch.

  "Good. I've got a question. Why are you friends with my brother on Picstagram?" I was cutting right to the chase.

  "Your brother?" He looked caught off guard. "Which one?"

  "Grayson."

  "Grayson's my friend on Picstagram?"

  Was he playing stupid? "Yeah, I saw it just a little bit ago."

  "Oh, you know what? I accepted a bunch of random follow requests awhile back. I've got tons of friends on there I don't actually know."

  "So, it's just a coincidence?"

  I knew he could tell I was suspicious. He removed his hand from my thigh and placed it on the steering wheel with his other hand. "Well, yeah. Do you think I'd lie to you about knowing Grayson? That makes no sense."

  I took a moment to study his face. I couldn't judge it by eye contact because he was driving, but his body wasn't giving any of the other indicators like gesturing with their hands after they speak rather than during, or being fidgety. He seemed to be telling the truth and I guess I should have expected that since he was right, it didn't make any sense for him to be lying about that.

  "You're right. It doesn't make sense. I was just surprised, that's all."

  "I'm surprised too. What a weird coincidence. Maybe it's a sign." He gave me the sexy half smile.

  The moment I saw the sign to the restaurant my stomach growled. That has to be psychological.

  The waiter led us to our table and we were off pretty quick getting our food. Kent immediately went for the pizza bar whereas I visited the salad bar first as I always did. Besides, there was no way I was going to mess with cheese again. I learned that lesson the hard way.

  When I was scooping ranch on my salad, I noticed a beautiful, curvy girl move in next to Kent to get pizza. I caught him eyeing her up and down and I wanted to claw her eyes out. I felt my body tense up.

  Chill out, Izzy. I told myself.

  I relaxed and made my way to the table. I tried not watching him to see where his eyes wandered but I couldn't help it. It's like my eyes were a magnet and he was metal.

  When he finally sat down, we basically were quiet for the first two minutes as we grubbed, besides a few "Mmms," to break the silence.

  He wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "So, did you find out when your brother is going to be moving in?"

  "Yes, actually. Looks like it will be a few weeks. He's got to finish up with inpatient treatment, then he'll start outpatient."

  "You feel good about it?"

  "I think so. We'll see."

  "I'm sure it'll be good for you to have him back there."

  "Yeah, as long as he stays sober it'll be great. If he doesn't, we'll have another falling out and I don't know if our relationship can withstand another one."

  "You never did tell me what happened between you guys."

  "That's a super awkward ass story."

  "Tell me." He took a bite of his chicken barbeque pizza.

  "Well, Kent. My brother fucked my boyfriend." I got straight to the point.

  "Really?" He stopped chewing for a second.

  "Yup."

  "That's pretty bad."

  "That's not even the worst of it." I shouldn't have said that. Now he knew there was more. More that I didn't want to reveal. Not yet. But I wasn't sure I had a choice.

  "How much worse can it get?"

  "Never mind."

  "Oh, you've got to tell me now."

  "Naw." I took a meek bite of my salad.

  He finished his bite, wiped his mouth and grabbed my hand. "Iz, you can tell me."

  "Well, after he slept with him, I broke up with him and…"

  "And what?"

  "I went and slept with his ex." I lied to him. I didn't want to talk about it. I wasn't ready.

  Kent cocked his head back, shocked by my response. “Wow. Didn’t know you rolled like that. I don’t know whether to be shocked or impressed.”

  Kent and I finished up our meals and headed out the door. He wanted to go out dancing, but I just really wasn't feeling like it so we decided to go back to his place. It was pretty out of the way considering he lived in Camas, Washington, but I wasn't ready for him to meet my family yet. Not to mention, I wanted to get laid and there was no way that could happen at my house. Well it could, but it wouldn't be easy. Plus, having sex in a mansion sounded way more exciting.

  Kent and I sat on his couch and I had my head laying on his lap as the credits to the horror film we watched rolled down the screen.

  "That was kind of lame. Not gonna lie." Kent stretched his legs out, which sort of moved my head off his lap, so I scooted away. "No, come back."

  I scooted back. "It was kind of scary."

  Kent ran his hands through my hair and squeezed it at t
he roots, soft enough not to hurt, but hard enough to send a sensation through my body.

  "I suppose as long as my ploy to get you scared so you're cuddled up to me works then it's all good." I tilted my head to look at him and he winked.

  I laughed and scooted my knees up and Kent placed his hand on one of them. I opened up my legs, revealing my black lace underwear beneath my dress. Oh yeah, I pulled out the black lace thong for this night.

  I tucked my finger underneath my underwear line and ran it across, back and forth as I stared at him directly in his chocolate brown eyes. I bit my bottom lip and I saw Kent squirm.

  I could feel his dick rising slowly underneath my head, which was still on his lap. He had changed into sweats, so it was going to be an easy entrance once I got there.

  I watched Kent as he watched my finger going back and forth. He swallowed. I stuck my hand further down and instantly I could feel the blood flowing rapidly in his cock.

  He placed his hand on top of mine, feeling my hand as I rubbed my clit. Eventually, he slid his finger inside me and I moaned. I flipped over, keeping his hand inside me. I grabbed his dick, first on the outside of his pants, then I slid my hands inside and grabbed a hold of it bare. I stroked up and down as he groaned in his sexy, deep growl.

  Bang!

  The sound of a gunshot outside sent Kent to his feet. He pulled his sweats up, and reached his hand underneath the coffee table. When he pulled his hand out, he was holding a gun.

  "What the fuck, Kent. What was that?"

  "Stay here."

  "Don't leave me here, Kent," I pleaded on my knees in front of the arm of the couch.

  He shewed me down with his hand. "Stay here, Izzy. I'm serious."

  Kent walked out the front door and the shouting immediately began. I couldn't hear what he was saying, so I jumped up from the couch and went to the window. I could see Kent yelling at a man who actually looked a lot like him, and I wondered if they were related. This guy looked more Italian with his olive skin tone and his bushy eyebrows.

  I couldn't make out everything they were saying, but from the little I could hear, it sounded like Kent owed him a lot of money. They weren't shouting anymore and neither of them held their guns in a threatening manner, but the man Kent was talking to looked really agitated with his scowl and the shaking of his head.

  Finally, Kent turned back around and I darted back to the couch, pretending I didn't hear. He came in rubbing the back of his neck, looking tense as fuck.

  "Is everything okay?"

  "Oh yeah. Sorry if that scared you. Just my idiot cousin who's a little crazy."

  Cousin. I knew they were related. "What's wrong? He shot a damn gun."

  "Oh, he's just fucking around. He thought it would be funny to scare me."

  "So, he's not upset?"

  "Oh, no. He just stopped by to chill, but I told him I've got company."

  Why was he lying? He didn't know I was watching and saw the guy who was definitely livid, and said something about Kent needing to pay him back. I didn't want Kent to know I was spying, so I just left it at that. But I couldn't help to wonder if there was more Kent was keeping from me.

  ***

  Today should be interesting. I agreed to go to Grayson's rehabilitation center to have a family meeting. Unfortunately, the family part also included my mother. He's so lucky I love him. She was always, at all times, the last person I ever wanted to be around. This also meant I had to be with both my brothers, who were way too tolerant of her toxic behavior because they craved her love and affection. They better stand up to her. It's interesting how my mom always favored the boys and not me or Prissy. I didn't know if she favored them because they were the only siblings who liked her, or if the boys only liked her because she favored them. My mom grew up without a father and with only sisters, so I think she craved the male energy, and that could've been the very reason she was more drawn to her sons. Oh well.

  "Okay Priscilla, we're leaving."

  "Why can't I come, sissy? I want to see Grayson. I miss him."

  "I know you do, honey. But remember, he's going to be living with us in a couple weeks. Won't that be awesome?"

  "Yes." Prissy grinned.

  "Okay, so Coyote is in her playpen napping. We'll be back in a few hours. Call me if you need anything."

  "You ready, Ty?"

  "One sec." He twisted his remote, as if turning it would help his character do what he wanted him to do. "Dick fucks."

  I groaned while I impatiently waited for him to finish his dumb video game. I never understood the hype about them. I played Mario a little as a kid, but other than that, I wasn't into it. That was Grayson and Tyson's thing. Suddenly, I got a vision of Grayson planting his ass next to Tyson on the couch and playing games all day with him. Not gonna' happen. Grayson would have to know that he wasn't going to be lazy and do nothing all day like he used to. That's what got him into trouble in the first place. I truly believe if Grayson would've had something productive to focus his mind on, he would've never got hooked on drugs. I noticed that the friends I had who didn't play sports, do theater, or do something other than be bored at home were the ones who didn't get into partying and doing drugs. Maybe if he got himself a job, and even a hobby, it could take his mind off the urges to use.

  "Okay, ready," Ty said, then he hopped off the couch, dropping his remote on the couch.

  "I wouldn't leave that there, or Coyote will throw it in the toilet like the last one. And none of us have money to replace those expensive things." That's another thing I hated about video games. It was all so expensive. The only reason he had this PlayStation 4 is because he got lucky. He had some druggy friend who was desperate for money and sold it to him for dirt cheap.

  We left the house and began our hour-long walk to Grayson's rehabilitation center. We could've taken the bus, but I convinced Ty to walk because it was so beautiful out. It was one of those perfect spring days where it was somewhat chilly in the shade, but once you were in the sun's rays it acted like a heating blanket.

  On the way, we talked about Grayson for a while. Then, he asked about my new job and I explained that I'd be starting in a few days because Desmond's new job had to delay starting him since the background check was taking forever.

  "It'll sure be nice not to worry about money anymore again," Tyson said.

  "Tell me about it."

  "You know, I can get a job."

  "I know, but I want you to focus on school. You've got one more year after this school year ends. Just ride it out, then we can figure out where you go from there. Besides, you're not doing bad right now." He was getting C's and one b. I know that doesn't sound great, but for Tyson it wasn't bad. He almost failed out of eight and ninth grade. He was passing and that's all that mattered.

  "Is this the place?" Tyson stopped.

  "Oh yeah, I think so. I almost walked right past it."

  We were fifteen minutes early, so we had a quick cigarette then headed inside where I saw Gray sitting in the waiting room, twirling his shaggy hair and staring at a magazine. He popped his head up and grinned when he saw us. I couldn't believe how different he looked already. The dark circles under his eyes were gone. Where his cheeks were before sunken in, they were replaced with healthy, peach colored, beautiful plumpness, like before. Grayson always had a baby look to him because of his chubby cheeks.

  "Frizzy. Ty Guy!" Grayson held his arms out as Tyson rushed to him and hugged him tight. I joined in shortly after.

  "Sup Grayley Goose?" I greeted him. "You look so good."

  "So good, bro," Tyson added as they started their handshake.

  "I feel really good," Grayson grinned. It was so nice to see his genuine grin. Growing up, he was always so smiley, but that fire had been gone for a long time. It meant the world to have it back, but I was still guarded. There was plenty of time for Gray to fuck this up. He's not even out of rehab yet. I tried not to be too pessimistic--okay let's be real, I really didn't try that hard, but I just a
lways wanted to avoid that feeling of disappointment.

  "I feel like a new person." Gray stood up. "I'll walk you guys to the room." He began leading us through a door that led us behind the lobby. "Normally I wouldn't be in the lobby, but our receptionist is out for the day."

  Grayson brought us into a room where a wrinkly man with a warm smile and a head full of thin, silvery strands that wisped around his face.

  He stood and his smile brightened. "You must be Isabelle and Tyson?" He held out his hand to me.

  "That's us," I said, returning his handshake. Tyson followed suit.

  "I'm Tim. Why don't you guys take a seat anywhere you'd like." There were eight chairs set in a circle. It made me feel better that there were more chairs than we needed. It meant I wouldn't have to be as close to my mother. "We're still waiting on your mom, so why don't we get into introducing ourselves until she arrives?"

  "Sounds good." Grayson took a seat in between Tyson and I.

  "Grayson, would you mind sitting there instead?" Tim pointed to a seat across from us. "That way you can see each other easier.

  "Cool." Grayson hopped up and into the other chair. "I'm just gonna text mom and tell her where to go when she gets in here so we don't have to keep checking the front."

  She was late to everything. I'll be amazed if she actually shows up.

  "Okay." Tim lightly smacked his legs. "Why don't we start with you, Isabelle. Or is it Izzy?"

  "Izzy," I corrected him.

  "Izzy." He smiled. "What's your story?"

  "What do you want to know exactly?"

  "Who are you? What do you do? What do you like? What's your relationship with Grayson like? Whatever you think is important for me, as Grayson's coach, to know about you."

  "Okay. Well, I'm Izzy." I felt super awkward. I didn't really know what to say. "I, uh. I've got four siblings. Two sisters and two brothers. Um…"

  "Your whole life revolves around taking care of them, doesn't it?"

  "Yeah." I laughed, awkwardly.

  "So much so that you can't even think of anything to say about yourself."

  "Hmm."

  "You're so focused on them that you don't even know who you are."

  Whoa there. This guy just met me and he was reading me like a book. I didn't know whether to feel offended by his blunt approach, or to take it as a learning experience. The guy had a point. I literally couldn't think of anything to say about myself.