“They’re all adults and willingly posed. It’s not like I secretly taped someone. Calm down. I’ll throw them away.”
“How long have you had them?”
Another lie was coming out of my mouth. “Years. Stop worryin’ yourself. I’m not some creep. Just because I don’t have a girlfriend, don’t mean I’m on there takin’ advantage of helpless women. The one’s that I do choose to be intimate with are treated respectfully.”
She was still crying, but seemed to relax a little bit. I stood up and hugged her until she finally reached her arms around my back. “Please throw them away, Joey. I don’t want to ever see them again. Do you hear me?”
“Yeah. I promise.”
I took the photos and stuck them underneath some shirts in my dresser. It wasn’t like I sat in a room staring at them while beating off. Sure it was a collection of sorts, but I liked having them to remember the good times that each woman gave me. Her finding it couldn’t change the way I was. It wasn’t like I was some kind of monster. I had arrangements with a few women and we kept each other satisfied without strings. Why was that so hard for people to understand?
My mom stayed busy getting ready for the party, while I tried my best to put on a happy face and pretend that all was well with the world. The guests had started to arrive and I was itching to see what Lacey had put on for the occasion.
A short while later I saw her getting out of her car. She looked amazing as usual. I walked outside and met her before she could get to their door. “You’re invited to the after party tonight. It’s bein’ held in my bed.”
“Flattering, but I think I’ll pass.” She started walking again.
“The back of you looks just as good as the front. Tell me, Lace, are you wearin’ panties or just airin’ it out?”
She slapped me with her purse before going inside leaving me standing there.
A while later, when both houses were full of family and friends, I wondered what Lacey was up to. My mom had made it clear that I was to stay and show everyone my new place, but I was too curious not to check things out. I only had weekends to work my magic, so I had to make the most of it.
I grabbed a case of beer and used it as an excuse to go over to their place, but just as I was walking out of my apartment, I spotted Shayne walking in theirs. I waited a couple seconds to see if Ford would actually throw him out. When nothing happened, I knew it was safe to proceed inside.
I spotted Lacey almost immediately and winked at her, even though she was standing with Shayne. After seeing him up close and personal, I had to wonder what she saw in him. He looked like every other lifeguard type that I’d ever known. Apparently, he’d seen me and Lacey locking eyes and wasn’t too happy with it. He started on her immediately, and for some reason, it really pissed me off.
“You’ve got a lot of room to talk about me not bein’ what you thought, seein’ as you’re fuckin’ someone that’s worse than I’ve ever been.”
Then Lacey shot right back at him. “I can see who I want.”
“I highly doubt that you would call it ‘seein’.” He crossed his arms and I started walking toward them. He wasn’t going to run his mouth about me and get away with it.
“Screw you. I can be with whoever I want. You lost your say in what I did the day you lied to me.”
Then I decided to walk away, because causing a scene was going to piss my mother off even more than she already was. I didn’t make it to the door, though. Shayne grabbed me by the arm. “So it’s true? You’re doin’ my girlfriend?”
I looked at Lacey and wondered if she’d told him that. Knowing that nothing was happening between us, it made me curious. Did she actually want him to think we were fucking? “Back off, Shayne. Last I heard, she wasn’t your anything.”
Lacey must have sensed what was about to happen. She wedged herself in between us and looked right into my eyes. I couldn’t read her mind, but I was certain she was trying to mentally tell me something. Finally she said it out loud. “Let’s just go back to your place.”
Shayne looked at both of us. “I don’t believe you, Lace. You wouldn’t be with someone like him. This is all an act, isn’t it?”
If he thought I was going to stand around and let him imply I was some monster, I was going to make his bitch-ass suffer. I wrapped my arms around Lacey’s back and looked right at Shayne. “It’s true. She’s with me, Shayne. Sorry you had to find out about it here, man. No hard feelin’s.” I wanted to laugh, but it would have caused a brawl.
Shayne stood there pouting while I drug Lacey out of the apartment. I didn’t know what was going on, but I couldn’t let things escalate and get worse. This was supposed to be a nice night and Ford was making progress with both of his parents. I knew for a fact that he didn’t even want Shayne around.
I saw the look on my mom’s face as we entered into the apartment, and I knew she was pissed. I took Lacey in the bedroom and shut the door before I started to say anything. “Don’t you dare do somethin’ like that without warnin’ me. I ain’t havin’ my mother upset because I had to beat the shit out of Shayne in the middle of this party, you got it?”
She nodded. “Sorry. It just happened. I didn’t think about what I was doing. Can I leave now?”
She grabbed the doorknob like she was just going to leave. I put my finger in the elastic of her pants and pulled her back to me. “Not so fast.”
Her face was so close to mine that I could smell her fruity chap stick. I would have done anything for the chance to kiss her, but knew the timing was all wrong. If I wanted to get her into bed, it wasn’t going to be when she was upset, which she clearly was. She got serious and squinted her eyes. “You have ten seconds to get your hands off of me, before I ruin any chance of you ever having children again.”
I let go of her and acted like I wasn’t offended. “I thought you wanted to play house.”
“The game is over. I could see how hurt he was and now I feel like shit.” I couldn’t understand why she felt bad for him.
“He should feel like shit.”
She sat down on my bed and I liked the way she looked there. “Maybe, but it doesn’t solve anything.”
“You want to be with him, don’t you?” I wanted her to say no and I couldn’t understand why I cared so much. This chick had drama, which was the one thing I hated being a part of.
She looked at me and her expression changed before my eyes. “I can’t help it. Maybe I’m glutton for punishment, but I still love him. I’ve liked him since we were younger. My summers were spent chasing him around when we were teenagers. He didn’t even know my name back then, and all I knew was that he was the hot guy that had a place close to ours. Then one party changed everything. I never looked back, because I thought he felt the same way I did. I was wrong.”
I knelt down in front of her thinking of what to say to make her not be so upset. “If you want him so bad, then why did you tell him you were with me? That was a game endin’ blow, you know that right?”
She shrugged. “I wanted to hurt him, like he’d hurt me. It was stupid.”
I was about to give up, but something wouldn’t let me. “I can help you, but you’re not goin’ to like the idea.”
She laughed but it wasn’t because she was amused. “Does it involve me sleeping with you?”
“In theory, maybe. Look, if you want Shayne back, maybe you need to show him what he lost. We got a rise out of him back there. I think it’s an option you should consider.” It would force us to spend time together, in which I could make her see that he was wrong for her.
“And I would want you to help me with that?”
I could tell she thought my idea was shit. “It’s just a suggestion.”
“What’s in it for you? Obviously you want to sleep with me. I’m not trading my vagina for your help.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her declaration. Still, I had a chance and I needed to play it right. “Look, we both need to get out there and mingle. Meet me down
here when everyone leaves. I promise that I won’t lay a hand on you, unless you ask me to.”
“I won’t.”
“I’ll still be nice and help you. I’ll pretend we’re a couple and play fair. If I can’t have you then I’d want you to be happy anyway.” For some reason, I actually believed what I was telling her. Never before had I cared about a woman’s love life. Although it made no sense, it was the God’s honest truth.
“Are you drunk?” She looked as confused as I felt.
“Not drunk enough, that’s’ for sure.” I walked out of the room leaving her there alone. The last ten minutes had been like an out of body experience. Why was I getting myself involved in someone’s troubles? I’d either had too much to drink, or not enough. In both cases, I needed to rectify the situation before I got in over my head just for one night of pussy. My recent actions were leading me to believe that this girl was going to be more trouble than pleasure.
Chapter 8
The family had all congregated in Ford’s apartment, so I headed outside to smoke before going back over. I’d no sooner put out my cigarette and walked inside when Lacey came running right into my arms. Not understanding what was going on, I looked down at her tear-filled eyes. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
She was starting to sob “Please, just get me out of here.”
I looked around and saw a few people looking in our direction. No matter what my opinion was, or what I eventually would expect from this girl, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for whatever had her so upset, even if it was Shayne.
While Lacey sat next to me on my couch, I was next to her wondering how in the hell I gotten myself into a situation like this when all I ever did was avoid drama. She sobbed and I flipped through the channels until I couldn’t take hearing her cry anymore. I turned down the volume and looked over at her. She had her hands covering her face.
I got up and went into the kitchen, where I contemplated going out somewhere and just leaving her by herself so she could pout about her douche of an ex alone. It wasn’t my business anyway.
After she’d settled down a bit, she looked around as if to scope out my digs. I sat back down next to her and wiped a set of tears off of her cheeks then kissed her forehead. “Do you want my opinion?”
She sniffled and shook her head. “Not really.”
“Fair enough.” I handed her a beer and took a few swigs of mine.
“Thanks for saving me.”
Was she serious? This was beginning to become a habit that I wanted to break. I wasn’t the kind of guy that saved damsels in distress. “Which time?”
“Don’t be a dick, Joey. I can’t take anymore sarcasm tonight.”
I’d gotten several messages from my friend Candace, who’d invited me over. I knew that inviting her over had implied that I wanted something more. I couldn’t believe that after all these years, she was ruining our arrangement. I needed to talk to her about it and clear the air, before I lost my Wednesday appointment. I looked at my phone and saw I had another message. “Listen, I have somewhere I need to be. I think everyone’s gone, but you’re welcome to stay here. I won’t be back until later.”
“Are you coming home alone?” She whispered.
I had to smile imagining her wondering what I was doing so late at night. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. “Why do you want to know?”
“I…I don’t want to mess up your opportunity to get laid.” She had no idea how right she was about me. The odd thing was that it bothered me even though it was true. For some reason I wanted Lacey to think I was this great guy she was missing out on.
I couldn’t help adding sarcasm and a hint of intent. “You could always wait for me in my bed, but that’s up to you, of course.”
I walked into the bathroom as if we weren’t just having some kind of moment. This past week had been insanely confusing for me when it had anything to do with women. For the first time, I had no idea why my head and my dick weren’t on the same page.
“No thanks. I’ll probably just go back upstairs, once I know Sky and Ford are in bed.”
“My door is always open if you change your mind,” I added.
I turned on the shower, but didn’t immediately jump in. I could hear her crying in the other room, and as much as I wanted to not care about her pathetic problems, I found myself feeling the opposite. It pissed me off that Shayne had made this woman so upset. She was kind and beautiful. She was clearly the sort of woman that a man would want to settle down with, if that’s what he was looking for.
I stood under the water and attempted to clear my head. Candace was a dime a dozen and if things needed to stop, I had to respect her decision. I knew that at some point she’d want to settle down. She’d always been a good girl and sometimes I wondered if she only kept up with our deal because she thought I would change my ways. It was unfortunate for me, because I was so familiar with her intimately. It took years to build up that kind of knowledge.
After I’d changed, I walked out of the bathroom and saw Lacey sitting there staring at me. For a second I could have sworn that she was into me. Her face turned a shade of red before she looked away.
“So, I’ll be back later. Like I said before, you’re welcome to stay. I’ve got ways to take your mind off of him, you know.”
She shook her head and avoided eye contact. “I’ll be gone when you get back. Don’t worry, I will lock up.”
“Suit yourself, Lace.” I thought I’d be getting some brownie points if I leaned over and kissed the top of her head again. “I bet you’re awesome to wake up next to.” Why I said that to her made no sense. Again, it was out of character for me to act this way and even more disturbing was the fact that I was inviting her to spend the night, when clearly I knew I was having trouble having anyone stay over.
“Too bad you won’t ever find out,” She said as I walked out the door.
Since it was so late and pretty chilly, I decided to take the Camaro over to Candace’s place. Unlike when I came over for appointments, she was dressed normally and laying on her couch. She didn’t even get up to let me in, but yelled that the door was open.
Immediately, I knew I’d been right. I sat in a chair across from her instead of next to her. She smiled and motioned with her finger for me to join her on the couch. I put my hands on my knees and looked right at her. “Listen, I think I need to clear the air about somethin’ before we get into it tonight.”
“What’s that?” She asked as she stood up and walked over to me, climbing on top of me and kissing me on the lips.
I looked right at her and tried to focus, but my dick was already responding. I felt her warm tongue brushing over mine and closed my eyes.
Candace’s hand wasted no time going down my pants. She massaged my dick, while humping her body against mine. I unzipped her sweat jacket discovering that she had nothing on underneath. Her tits bounced out before me, calling me to suck on each one. I pushed her away, enough so I could lean in and take one into my mouth. Her hardened nipples brushed over the tip of my tongue, sending vibrations right to my cock. Candace knew it right away, since she was stroking me the whole time.
She used her other hand to reach into my back pocket and grab the rubber. This chick knew the routine and that’s why I always came back. She scooted down between my legs and started tugging off my jeans to apply the rubber, then stood up and let her own pants drop to the floor. She stepped out of them and climbed back on top of me. I was caught in the moment, somewhere between lust and frustration. I wanted to believe that my move had just caused me to be unsettled. I wanted to think that after a couple of months, I’d stopped having issues about women coming over and making more to our little agreements. I wanted to think that I knew exactly what I wanted.
As Candace began to ride me, I wondered if I was wrong.
All I could think about was that sad girl that I’d left crying in my apartment. For the first time in my life, what I was doing wasn’t what I was thinking abo
ut. My mind was on the woman that could still be crying in my apartment. I wondered if she was still there and not because I thought I could fuck her.
Candace was grinding her body into mine harder. I stopped her abruptly. “Hold up! I need to tell you somethin’.”
The worried look on her face told me that she suspected it already. “I thought you changed your mind?”
She leaned in to kiss me again and I backed my face away. “I didn’t. I won’t, Candace. I told you when we started this that I would never want nothin’ more. I thought we were good?”
She slapped me hard across the face. I grabbed her arm, so she couldn’t do it again. “You want to just fuck? Let’s fuck then, Joey. Give it to me hard, like you fuckin’ mean it. Show me who’s in control.”
I growled and became completely turned on by her sudden change in attitude. Like a switch, she’d gone back to the chick I looked forward to messin’ around with. I reached and took hold of her other arm, securing her close to me. She leaned in to kiss me, but I wouldn’t let her, knowing she was getting off on the fight. “You like it rough, don’t ya?” I picked her up and carried her over to the couch. Her legs wrapped around me as I sat her down and I slammed back inside of her, forcefully, letting my frustrations bleed through my stiff dick.
Then my phone started ringing.
I ignored it the first time, but figured it had to be important when they continued to call. After locating my phone in the pants on the floor, I saw that the call was from Ford.
“Yeah, it’s not a good time, man.”
“Sorry, I thought you were downstairs. Sky wants to know if Lacey is with you?”
“When I left she was at my place. I guess she’s still there?”
“We went to bed a while back. Sky thought she heard someone knockin’ but nobody was there.”
“It’s fine. I told her she could stay there. I’m not even home.”
“Dude, when you do get home, don’t fuck with that girls head. She’s messed up enough.”
Restore Me (Book 2.5 Kin Series) Page 5
