Wes put his forehead to mine and cupped his hands over my chest.
I reached for the railing and gripped it tight. I leaned back just a little, my body shaking from the fear of falling off the railing.
But I trusted Wes.
Ohgod, I trusted him with everything of mine.
His hands released their perfect hold on my chest and inched back down my body. My stomach fluttered to his touch but he kept going. His left hand moved to my lower back, holding tight, proving to me he wasn’t going to let me fall. His right hand touched my inner thigh and everything froze again.
I sucked in a breath and my eyes looked into his.
Then I looked down.
I released my hold on him with my legs, opening them, sitting on the edge of the railing.
My body shivered for the hundredth time as he crept up my inner thigh and moved to the center of my body. Wes was so bold he didn’t even waste any time touching me over my panties. He knew what he wanted and how to get it.
His fingertips pulled my panties out of the way.
The touch of him against me… down there…
My teeth chattered as the lower half of my body flexed with anticipation.
“Wes,” I whispered.
“No talking,” he growled. “Relax, darling, I’m here to take care of you.”
I bit my bottom lip and thought I was going to draw blood.
Wes’s fingers made small circles against me before pressing forward.
As he took me with his touch, my left hand let go of the railing and grabbed at his forearm. There I felt the muscles in his arm moving as he touched me.
He moved with a careful force, one that made my body begin to move with him.
Right there.
Outside.
The beach behind me.
My house behind him.
Out in the open.
Even if we were there in the middle of the night…
I leaned forward, demanding his kiss.
Wes brushed his lips to mine and I let out a small cry.
He slid his thumb across another tender part of my body between my legs and I jumped.
Wes quickly pressed his body harder against mine.
His hand slid up the back of my hoodie and his fingers spread wide.
His lips finally kissed me the way I had been waiting for all night long.
A second later his lips parted and that was when the explosion suddenly took over.
He kissed me as hard as he touched me. He kissed me as fast as he touched me.
I was lost to him, melting into his hand, with no way of stopping it.
I tried to kiss Wes back hard but there was no competing with him.
He broke the kiss to put his lips to my ear.
“Now,” he whispered.
And that single word… I knew exactly what it meant.
I sucked in a groan the best I could.
I heard the sound of a wave smashing down to the shore.
That was the exact moment a wave smashed down somewhere else.
My toes curled so tight they hurt, but it was worth it.
My nails dug into Wes’s forearm as I felt the rush of warmth. A tingling feeling soared through my body as I needed to kiss him again.
He was there.
Always there with me. For me.
Kissing me as I finished.
Gently pulling his hand away, leaving my body unsure of what to do next.
Damn him… opening more doors for me to explore. The feeling of temptation and need for more racing through me, almost as fast as my heart.
He stole another kiss from me in the middle of the night but not before he pressed his body against mine. I felt him. His hard thickness.
As his lips left mine, Wes put me on my feet and made sure I was going to be able to stand. Yeah, it was a cocky move to make, but to be fair, my knees were trembling for a few seconds as I stood there.
“You should get some sleep,” he whispered.
“What about you?” I asked.
“I’m keeping my promise.”
“Then I’m going to sleep right here. Outside. Right on the deck.”
“Then do that,” he said.
I wasn’t lying either.
I snuck back into the house and grabbed a bunch of pillows and blankets and made myself a little bed out on the deck.
Wes sat in the corner, smoking a cigarette, looking the hottest and coolest I could ever imagine him looking.
And you’d think sleeping outside next to the ocean with a clear sky full of stars would be the best sight but it wasn’t.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Wes.
He slowly looked up. “Want to pick out some stars?”
“Nope,” I said.
“Then close your eyes, darling.”
“Nope,” I said.
Wes laughed.
Five minutes later my eyes shut on their own. I could smell Wes. His smoke and his cologne. And I drifted off to a sleep where fires couldn’t hurt anyone I love.
Just the rotten fucking bitches that deserved to burn.
Chapter 19
Wes
I opened my eyes from the corner of the deck, still sitting up. There was something very peaceful about waking up outside. The sound of the ocean was the exact same as at night but yet in some way it had a different sound to it. I stretched my neck and slowly bent my legs. It wasn’t the most comfortable position for sleep, but nothing was going to get in the way of my promise to Aira.
When I saw her curled up under her blankets on her makeshift bed, I grinned.
She was so damn beautiful.
Like no other girl I had ever met in my life.
Even when I was a kid, there was just something there with Aira. The way she acted and talked to me and held herself together, it was just so different. She had this calm prettiness to her but if you pushed her too far she would attack.
But she still needed someone to look after her.
To protect her.
To care for her.
To love her.
And damn there were a hundred reasons why I wasn’t the right guy for any of that.
But I didn’t give a damn about anyone’s reasons.
I cared about my own.
And my reason was simple.
I loved her.
I fucking loved her.
After I climbed to my feet, I reached for my smokes and lit up a cigarette.
I turned and faced the ocean, leaning against the railing, enjoying the smoke.
Things weren’t going to be calm anytime soon.
That was for sure.
Kicking up the fight with Ryland. Waiting for Nick and Dean to make a decision on if they were going to fight back or just stay on the road like a couple of bitches. Hitting up BFH because why the hell not. I really had no idea who could have been messing around with Aira though. The names ran through my head and each one gave me a sense of understanding just how far into the fire Aira had stepped.
Fire.
Shit.
I tossed my cigarette away and looked back at her.
To think it all started with a fire.
One that nobody still knew who set or why.
Maybe she had been right. Maybe whoever set that fire at her house was coming after her again. It seemed crazy, but everything with Aira was crazy.
That meant even more names started going through my head. Names from her other town. But that list was short because I didn’t know many from there.
I walked across the deck and slowly dropped down to one knee.
I leaned down and gently pressed my lips to her cheek.
It was like one of those stupid movies with the prince kissing the princess to wake her up. Except I wasn’t a prince at all. I was in ripped jeans, smelled like smoke, and I needed a shower.
Aira… yeah, she was a princess. Just in her own way though.
She started to wake, rolling to her back, opening her eyes, suddenly looking
surprised.
She popped up. “Wes.”
“Morning, darling.”
“You’re still here.”
“Told you I would be.”
Aira looked at the door. “You can’t be here.”
“Why not?”
“Julia…”
“What? I came over to say good morning. It wasn’t like I was here all night, right?”
Aira smiled. “Wes…”
“Come here quick,” I said.
I leaned down and kissed Aira again.
This time it was a proper kiss.
The kind of kiss she deserved each and every morning of her life.
I could give her that.
But that meant we’d have to get back together.
Which meant… what were we now? Just friends who fooled around? Or I was the guy protecting her ass and my reward was a little touching and kissing, huh?
I pulled away and Aira reached for me.
She wanted more.
I moved down again.
“What is she doing out there?” a muffled voice yelled.
Both Aira and I looked at the same time to see the door sliding open.
Aira sat up even more.
I was still on one knee.
“Tell me she’s not getting proposed to right now.”
Aira touched her face. “Mom… what are you doing here?”
* * *
“Stella, I didn’t know she was outside,” Julia said.
Aira’s mother paced the living room, wearing a long fancy jacket and had gigantic black sunglasses up on her head which messed up her perfect hair a little.
“I slept outside,” Aira said. “What’s the big deal?”
“With a boy?” Mom asked.
You should have seen what happened before the sleep…
“I came over to say good morning,” I said.
Julia looked at both of us and it was a look of death.
“Wait a second,” Aira said. “What are you doing here?”
“Obviously, I’m checking up on things,” Aira’s mother said.
That’s when I took note of her eyes. They looked clearer than the last time I saw her. It made me wonder if she had decided to give up the wine for a little bit.
“What’s there to check up on?” Aira asked.
Her mother froze and put her hand to her hip. “Are you kidding me? Do I need to go down the list of things since you decided to live here?”
“Stella, that’s not fair,” Julia said.
“Don’t talk to me about fair, Julia,” Aira’s mother said. “I trusted you.”
“Hey, Julia is doing a great job here,” I said. “She hates me. She does everything to keep me away from Aira.”
Aira’s mother looked right at me. “And you listen so well, Weslee?”
“Have I ever listened?” I asked.
Aira’s mother laughed. Then she let out a sigh. “Aira… what were you doing outside?”
“She sleeps out there sometimes,” Julia said, adding to the mound of lies we were now all telling each other.
“It’s peaceful, Mom,” Aira said. “The beach. The sound. I don’t know. What’s the big deal?”
“You’re not homeless,” her mother said. “My goodness. We’ve worked so hard to provide a good life for you. And you sleep outside? Bad enough you’re living…” She glanced at Julia. “Sorry.”
“Oh, by all means,” Julia said. “Tear into my house. I'm sure your walk-in closet is bigger than this place.”
“No,” Aira said. “This house is perfect. Best house I’ve ever lived in.”
“You don’t mean that,” her mother snapped.
“Of course she doesn’t,” I said. I reached for Aira’s hand and took it. “Her favorite was the one where she lived next to me. That’s when you should have been worried about me hanging around.”
“What does that mean?” her mother asked.
“She wore a lot of dresses,” I said. “And I always found a way to look up them.”
“Ohgod,” Aira muttered.
“Weslee Jackson!” her mother’s voice cried out. “You did not.”
“Always did.”
“You’re horrible,” she said.
“Completely horrible.”
“You should leave, Wes,” Julia said. “You said your good morning. Now go. You can see Aira at school.”
I nodded. “Anything for you, Julia.”
“Now wait a second,” Aira’s mother said. “You came all the way over here just to say good morning to Aira?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Don’t teenagers just text and noise chat or whatever?”
“Mom,” Aira said.
“What?” she asked. “I mean, he came all this way. That’s romantic. Remember when he threw gum at your hair?”
“I remember,” Aira said.
“Sorry about that,” I said.
“Oh, Weslee,” her mother said. “It took me forever to get that out without having her hair cut. And we were just hours from her father’s business dinner. That would have been a disaster.”
“Speaking of which, where is my father?” Aira asked in a chilly voice.
“Still traveling,” her mother said.
“Right,” Aira said. “Anything about the house yet?”
Her mother shook her head.
“Your mother decided not to just drop by,” Julia said.
“What does that mean?” Aira asked.
“I’m going to stay for a little bit,” she said.
I felt Aira’s hand grip mine tighter. “What?”
“Yeah,” her mother said. “I’m going to stay. Just get away from everything. Check up on my daughter. It’s been hard for you. I’m sure.”
“She’s been great,” I said. “Tough. Smart. Beautiful.”
“Weslee, that’s sweet of you to say,” her mother said. “Never thought you’d end up like this.”
I looked down at Aira.
She looked up at me.
Darling, what are we right now?
* * *
The last person I wanted to see at the shop was Dusty.
Not only seeing him there but see the way he had everyone lined up.
Leo, Flynn, Rhyno, Tony, and Jett.
Pop was even outside, but he would never do a thing Dusty asked.
While the awkwardness at Julia’s house was amazing, I had to get to the shop when Leo text me that there was a problem.
Anyway, I figured that Aira could use some time alone with her mother.
That situation was a mess in itself.
Stella sober was a strange creature.
I wondered how long it would last though.
There were plenty of times when West would try to sober up. And he’d do something for me and Ma only to start drinking a week later and eventually disappear.
I tossed those thoughts and memories out of the way and walked toward Dusty and the rest of the guys.
Rhyno and Tony looked at me like they wanted to fight me. They probably had good reason. Tensions were out of control and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.
“What’s the problem, Officer?” I asked with a grin.
“Smart ass,” Dusty said.
“Not the time or place, Wes,” Jett said. He walked toward me. “Dusty is here about my truck.”
“Did you find out who did it?” I asked.
“I’m asking the questions here,” Dusty said.
“What the hell do we have to do with it?” Rhyno barked.
“Nothing,” Jett said. “You and Tony take the flatbed and pick up that order. And if you see West along the way, let me know.”
“West?” I asked. “He’s not around?”
“Haven’t seen him in a day,” Jett said.
“Maybe he’s gone again,” I said.
Damn, I hated that saying that bothered me.
Jett grabbed my shoulder. “One thing at a time.”
“Well, I don’t know wha
t you’re looking for here, Dusty,” I said.
“Answers,” he said. “These two know nothing.”
He pointed to Leo and Flynn.
“None of us do,” I said.
“There’s something I’d love to see written down. An admittance that you know nothing.” Dusty laughed.
“I’m serious,” I said. “We were down at the beach. We heard one of the girls scream and that was it. We ran up to the driveway and there was glass all over the ground. And there was a brick inside the truck.”
“Right,” Dusty said. “That’s what your two buddies said.”
“It’s the truth.”
“I know how the truth goes around this place.”
“Dusty, come on,” Jett said.
“It was your truck, Jett,” Dusty said. “That was one hell of a throw though. Both windows broken. Lucky nobody got hit and hurt.”
“So you basically have nothing on this,” I said. “There’s a shocker.”
“Something you want to say to me?” Dusty asked, stepping toward me.
“Nothing,” I said. “Thanks for what you do, Dusty.”
“You know what I think?” Dusty asked. “I think Wes pissed off the wrong person. Or group. Like he always does. So what do you want me to do about that?”
“Nothing,” I said. “You’ve done enough, Dusty.”
Jett squeezed my shoulder harder. He was trying to get me to shut up.
Good luck, Jett.
Dusty stared right at me. “You better take care of yourself, Wes. Before someone gets hurt or killed. Because when that happens, it’ll be on you. Not me.”
I didn’t say a word.
Dusty slowly put his sunglasses to his face. He looked around at all of us one more time.
Then he addressed Jett. “You know where this ends up.”
“Nowhere,” Jett said. “Thanks for looking into it though. I just wanted to make sure… so nobody does get hurt.”
“Of course,” Dusty said. “Have a great rest of your morning and day.”
Dusty left and it was complete silence until he drove away.
“Leo, Flynn, get to school,” Jett said. “Argue once and Dusty will be back here to clean you up off the ground.”
I looked at them and nodded.
That left me facing off with Jett.
We hadn’t officially seen each other since Jett’s windows were smashed.
“Anything you want to say?” he asked.
HIDDEN CREEK DARKNESS: a hidden creek high novel Page 17
