“Hi, I’m Della.” I stuck out a hand, just as someone pounded loudly on the door from the hallway. One of the guys jumped up to open it and I could see his eyes widen from where I was sitting. “Oh shit.”
“Oh shit is right,” someone replied from behind the door.
Mia jumped up and I grabbed onto her arm but she shook me off with a giggle before skipping over to the door. “Oh,” she purred, “I didn’t know we were expecting Magic Mike themselves to show up tonight.” She turned her head, grinning widely at the two guys standing behind her that looked ready to piss themselves. “Did you guys order some strippers and not tell me about them? I love surprises!”
“Very funny, Mia.”
I sat up straighter, instantly recognizing that voice even though it was muffled.
Justin.
His voice was velvety smooth with a hint of that gruff edge always present, as he spoke lowly to Mia, though I couldn’t make out what he was saying. I heard another voice, and I could only assume that he had a partner with him.
I quickly brought the cup that I was still holding to my lips, draining the last of the liquid that remained, and groaned when the door opened further. Mia pouted her lips, but moved to sit down on the couch that she was being pushed toward. Someone flicked the switch on, causing my eyes to squint as the darkness of the room was taken over by blinding light, and then, there he was.
When I saw him, I think I just about orgasmed on the spot. I had many inappropriate fantasies, which I obviously kept to myself, about seeing Justin in a police uniform, but the picture in my head had nothing on this.
The dark blue uniform fit tightly against his toned body, with a holster attached to his hip. The one arm that was covered in tattoos was clearly visible, and gave him a badass look that said, “Don’t mess with me, or I’ll shoot your ass.” His hair was shorter than the last time I’d seen him, which had only been a week or so ago, but it just showed off those gray eyes of his even more—those eyes that were currently cold and hard when they landed on me.
Justin’s jaw tightened when he noticed the guy next to me, whose hand was currently gripping my bare thigh. I don’t think he even realized what he was doing. I think he was just scared shitless by the way Justin was stalking toward the two of us.
“Della,” he snapped, tugging at my arm to pull me off of the couch.
“Hey, Parker, don’t get so rough,” his partner scolded as Justin dragged me through the bedroom door.
“Don’t worry, she likes it rough.” He smirked at his partner before turning back to me and pushing me out into the hallway.
“Asshole,” I muttered, snapping my head up when his fingers grazed my shoulder, causing my mind to spin even more than it already was. I hated that one simple brush of his fingers could do that to me. “Don’t touch me with those disgusting hands of yours. Who knows where they’ve been.”
“Are you seriously gonna give me attitude right now, Della?” He pointed to his chest where in the corner above his pocket sat a nameplate, his last name engraved on it in tiny black letters. “Because I’m pretty sure there were some illegal substances in that room. Do you want me to drag your ass down to the station?”
“I’m twenty-one now,” I responded defiantly, pushing my shoulders back straighter, which only caused my feet to wobble slightly. Justin reached out an arm as if to catch me but I backed up a step, using the wall behind me to support my body.
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about. Where’s Nash? Shouldn’t he be out with you? How’d you end up at a party with Mia?”
I shrugged my shoulders at his slew of questions, trying to avoid his eyes as I answered him. “Nash is probably at home. He’s about to be a dad, parties aren’t really his thing anymore.”
Justin coughed loudly, and when I looked up his lips were pressed into a tight line. “A dad? Then what in the hell are you doing out? At a party? And doing drugs?”
“It’s not that big of a deal, Justin. I can have a little fun every once in a while. You should be the last person judging me.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” He rushed me, and I moved back against the wall, squeaking loudly when his fist pounded into the drywall right next to my head. I don’t know why I was scared. I knew he would never hit me, but he seemed so upset that was all I could think he was about to do.
His hand shook as he leaned away a little, and I was overwhelmed by his scent that was all too comforting, soap mixed with a little bit of smoke, telling me that he had taken up that habit again.
“Everything all right out here?” Justin’s partner poked his head around the corner, and Justin gave a slight nod, squeezing his eyes shut briefly before responding.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Any minors?”
“Nope, they all check out. Think we should hit ‘em with possession?”
Justin glanced down at me, before moving back and sighing loudly. “No, let’s just go with a warning. You good with that?”
“Sure.” His partner looked at me once more, before smirking and heading back into the room.
“I’ll meet you back at the car,” Justin yelled out, and once again, latched onto my arm.
“Wait!” I pulled back on my arm, which didn’t do much, as he continued his descent down the hallway. “I can’t just leave Mia here.”
“I’m sure she can find her own way back. She’s a big girl.”
I let him lead me out of the house, and noticed that it was nearly vacant now, besides one guy passed out underneath the table that had been pushed into the middle of the living room.
Justin opened the backdoor of the police car, and I shot him a glare. Did he really expect me to sit in the back as if I were a criminal or something?
“Just get in, Della. I’m dropping you off at home. I need to make sure you make it back all right, and you don’t do anything stupid.”
I huffed loudly, but slid in, and he shut the door behind me before getting into his seat in the front. He didn’t so much as glance at me as we waited, and the tension that was filling the tiny space of the car was almost suffocating.
“So, how are you doing?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he answered quickly and quietly. I could tell he really didn’t want to talk about anything, which made me wonder why he was so worried about getting me home anyway. He didn’t act as if he cared about me anymore.
“I’m sorry about showing up the other day.” He didn’t respond so I just kept going, not knowing if he was actually listening or not. “I shouldn’t have just shown up like that after…everything. I’m sorry if I made the day more difficult for you.”
He shrugged one shoulder, and looked back at me. “It’s not a big deal, Della. I was an ass and I shouldn’t have been, but it was a little bit of a shock to have you show up and I overreacted.”
I pursed my lips, happy with what I guess was an apology of some sort from him, but that didn’t mean I was over everything else. “So, was that girl you were with at Shorty’s the other night part of your ‘overreaction?’” I tried to make my question light and airy, but it was hard to keep the pain over what I had witnessed out of my voice.
“I don’t have to explain that, Della. We’re not together anymore. What I do on my own time, and with who, really isn’t your concern.”
I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, feeling the sting of his words. He turned back around as his partner walked out and opened the driver’s side door. I don’t know why it hurt so much to hear him say that we weren’t together anymore. We hadn’t been in a while, and I certainly didn’t think Justin was keeping it in his pants. He probably hadn’t lasted a week after I broke things off. I don’t know why I ever thought things were different between us.
“Where are we heading?” the other officer asked as he threw the car in reverse to pull out of the driveway.
“1434 Hill Street, just a couple of blocks over,” Justin replied, and I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head, wondering how in
the hell he knew where I lived. Had he been stalking me or something?
I really didn’t think it was the appropriate time to accuse him of it, and I didn’t get a chance to either since we arrived shortly after at my house. Justin’s partner looked over at him as he put the car into park, and Justin quickly shook his head. Soon enough, the guy got out of his seat and came around back to open my door.
This man really confused the hell out of me. One second he was worried about getting me home, and seemed mad that I was at some random party and a guy was barely touching me, the next he’s pissed off and telling me that who he’s whoring around with isn’t any of my concern, and then, he was just completely ignoring me.
Awesome.
“Justin—”
“Don’t, Della. Just go home. It’s where you belong, not out at some frat house.”
“But I—”
“No.”
“C’mon.” The officer, whose name was Richards according to his uniform, pulled on my elbow, shutting the door behind me to cut off all conversation. I looked over my shoulder as Richards escorted me to my front door, and Justin’s eyes were anywhere but on me.
If that’s how he wanted to play it, then fine. I was done, so done. Done with men forever. All they did was cause heartache and problems, problems that I didn’t need in my life, now and really ever.
Justin Parker had made it perfectly clear that things would never happen again for us, and I guess I had to live with that.
“SO THAT WAS your girl, right?” Ty asked as he slammed the door shut. He sat in the driveway while we watched Della fumble around in that big ass purse of hers before she finally found her keys, kicking the door open and slamming it shut behind her.
I could tell she was pissed, and I didn’t blame her, but I’m sure the anger that she felt was nothing compared to what I was feeling. I never expected to find Della at that house, especially with Mia. Those two didn’t get along at all, and really, Della didn’t need to be involved with some of the shit Mia got herself into. But she looked to be having a fucking fantastic time when we showed up, and that idiot next to her had some real balls with his hand on her leg like that.
But that wasn’t even the kicker. She mumbled something about Nash being a dad. Well, last time I checked, they were together, so that would make her fucking pregnant. Pregnant? I couldn’t even think about…I didn’t want to, but there was no way I could get that thought out of my head. Was Della trying to self-destruct or something? I knew all about her past and the abortion. Was she trying to do the same thing this time, too? I had seen a beer in her hand and she’d clearly been smoking something judging by her red-rimmed eyes. What in the hell was she thinking?
“She’s not my girl,” I corrected Ty, but left it at that. She most definitely wasn’t my girl, and she never would be again. I still held onto the hope that maybe there was a chance, even with Nash in the picture, that maybe she would come to her senses and see that us together just made worked. But not now. It wasn’t even a possibility anymore.
We finished out our shift, and by the time I got home, I was pretty much ready to collapse. The past few days of drinking and waking up hung-over had definitely caught up with me, and there were four workdays to go before I had a day off.
I checked my phone before crawling into bed, seeing that a message from Mia had come in.
Mia: Thanks for ruining all my fun 2night! Asshole. Still hanging out Wednesday?
Me: Yup
I decided not to ask her about Della, and why she was with her tonight. I didn’t need to care anymore, even though it was hard as hell not to. I’m sure she would tell me all about it on Wednesday anyway. My friendship with Mia was a little strange to say the least. I thought at first I was just using her because of her connection to Della, but Mia was genuinely a fun girl to hang out with, though that was all I saw her as—a friend. I could tell Mia definitely wanted things to go a whole lot further than that. I mean, she had the balls to flirt with me when I was still dating Della.
I was honestly surprised she hadn’t tried to jump on my dick yet, even though she hinted at it a time or two. I just brushed it off as a joke and then she would laugh along with me. I think I needed to give her a push into Nate’s direction; those two might possibly be made for each other. They both never seemed to stop going, barely ever leaving time to sleep, before they were up and ready for the next night’s adventure. On second thought, one of them might end up in the hospital by trying to out-party the other, so it probably wasn’t such a great idea.
IT HAD BEEN a week since I saw Della and I tried to keep reminding myself that was a good thing. I didn’t need her in my life anymore and if I did see her, it would probably make me even more pissed off than I already was anyway. I hung out with Mia a couple of times in between my busy work schedule, and when I finally forced myself to ask Mia about Della’s “situation” she seemed confused and quickly changed the subject. Maybe Mia didn’t know, and that’s why she took Della out partying with her? I found it hard to believe that she would just blurt something like that out to me, and not tell her stepsister, even if they weren’t the best of friends, but whatever. Della confused the hell out of me, and I guess I was lucky I had gotten that drama out of my life.
I pushed the front door open to my parents’ house, kicking my shoes off as I headed toward the kitchen, the only place I knew my mom would be. Mom hadn’t worked since I could remember, because she had been a stay-at-home mom and was always around for us when we were growing up. It was probably a more difficult job than most anyway, especially dealing with my brothers and me. We caused more than our fair share amount of trouble, me being the main culprit. Now, she seemed like she couldn’t keep herself busy enough.
“Hey, Mom.” I pressed a kiss on her cheek where she was standing over the sink, staring out the window with a plate gripped in her hand. I could see how white her knuckles were, so I gently pried her fingers off, and set the plate down gently on the counter.
“Oh, hi, honey.” She patted me on the cheek after drying off her hands. “I didn’t even hear you come in. How are you doing?” She gave me a concerned look, the same one she had been giving me when I showed up every day to check on her.
“Mom,” I said in a warning tone, “how many times do I have to tell you not to worry about me? I’m fine. I just need to know how you are.”
“Justin, it’s always a mother’s job to worry, and don’t try to stop me from doing it.” She poked her finger into my chest before scooting around and opening the pantry to take out the flour and sugar canisters. “I’m doing okay.” She blew out a deep breath, and bent down, pulling out a hand mixer and a large bowl.
“Okay? Like when you didn’t even hear me come in? You seemed to be somewhere else.”
She gave me a tight smile. “It seems like I have those moments often, honey. Not a big deal, just memories everywhere I turn in this house. That plate brought up a good one. That was the one and only plate remaining from the dinner set your grandparents bought your father and me when we first got married.” Her face brightened, and I was glad she looked happier than she did the past couple of weeks. I didn’t like to talk about my dad, but for my mom it seemed like a good thing, so I guess I could deal with it.
“I was remembering how we lost all of them but one over the years. Some were broken by you kids, I think a couple might have possibly been thrown out by your dad because he didn’t want to take the time to scrub something that had been sitting there for too long. I believe I even tossed one at your father’s head.”
I snorted loudly as she handed me a beater covered with batter, and then I began to lick it off as if I were a child again. I would never be too old to do it though. Cookie batter was the shit and thankfully, my mom was never worried about that raw egg non-sense. “Yeah right, Mom. I believe all the rest, but you actually throwing a plate at dad’s head?”
My parents rarely ever fought that I could remember. A lot of my friends were jealous over the ye
ars because while all of their parents were getting divorced, my parents were happily married; sometimes how happy they were together was almost too much.
“I swear.” She held up one hand while placing a baking sheet in the oven. “It was long before you kids were around, and I don’t even remember why I felt the urge to throw it at his head, but luckily, I missed. And we had a good time making up afterward.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me, and I covered my mouth to stop the gagging sensation that seemed to be bubbling up in the back of my throat.
“Oh, Justin. Stop acting like a baby. Do you know how many stories I’ve heard about you and your brothers’ sex lives that I wish could be scalded from my brain? Speaking of sex lives….”
She dropped down to the seat next to me, brushing her hands off on her apron, before grabbing both of mine. I knew what was coming before the words even left her mouth, and it made me feel all cold and sweaty at the same time, if that were even possible. I was hoping she would just let it go, forget it had ever happened, but I shouldn’t have been that stupid. My mother never let anything go.
“So, are you going to tell me what happened between you and Della that day?” I was glad that she at least didn’t mention the funeral because I probably would have just gotten up and left, making me look like an even bigger jackass than I already did.
“Mom, there’s nothing to tell. I was surprised when she showed up, and honestly, a little pissed off. She wasn’t there before, probably busy with her new boyfriend, and I didn’t need her there. Simple as that.”
“New boyfriend?” she repeated back to me, her mouth turning into a slight frown. “I didn’t realize she was seeing someone.”
I wasn’t going to mention her current…condition. I probably couldn’t even get that damn word out of my mouth because just thinking it made me sick to my stomach and white-hot anger bubble up in my chest like I was a ticking time bomb ready to explode, all at the same time. A freaking fantastic combination.
Twisted Bliss Page 5
