Reaching into the bag, I wrap my hand around the neck of a bottle and pull it out.
“Are you serious?” I laugh, holding the bottle of whiskey in my hand.
“Happy fuckin’ Birthday!” she cheers, slowing the car down to pull onto the gravel road leading to Castle’s house. I’m not usually one to drink when we go to parties, but I tell myself tonight will be different. What will one or two drinks hurt?
Pulling up the narrow drive, she guides her car to park behind a black Camaro.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, Maverick should be here before too long,” she says nonchalantly.
Dropping the bottle into my lap, I glance over at her. She clearly finds the look of surprise on my face comical. Holding the bottle between my thighs, I unwrap the plastic around the top and unscrew the bottle. Wrapping my hand around the neck again, I take a swig. I force my eyes closed as the burn slides down my throat, warming my body instantly.
Lifting the bottle toward Nadia, I nod my head asking if she wants some.
Shaking her head, she replies, “I am not drinking tonight. I want to make sure we get back to my place.”
“You know Castle would make sure you got home alright or even give you a place to crash, if you wanted one.”
Tilting her head back against the headrest, she lets out a sigh before peering over at me out of the corner of her eye.
“No,” she states matter-of-factly. “It’s not going to happen. He’s such a player and you know it.”
It’s true. He’s one of those guys who is good looking and knows it. He’s used to getting everything he wants either from his parents or from girls tripping over themselves to get a minute of his attention.
Nadia, however, seems to be completely oblivious to his good looks and bad boy charm. I think it’s what he likes about her, the chase.
I know her well enough to know if she gives in to him, she’s worried she’ll be made to look like one of the many girls in a long line of girls waiting for him to look their way.
Taking another swig of the whiskey, I screw the cap back on the bottle and slide it back into the bag. I decide against drinking any more, already feeling the slight buzz from the alcohol entering my bloodstream.
Stepping out of the car, I slam the door shut as a car pulls up behind us. By the looks of the cars parked in the grass lining the driveway, we are a little late to the party.
Following Nadia up the narrow sidewalk wrapping around to the back patio, Seether blares through the speakers when we enter through the door. People are standing around the kitchen, laughing with red cups in hand. I spot a few people I recognize as “happy birthdays” ring out over the music. I hold up my middle finger to everyone, which earns me a few laughs in return.
I spot Castle pushing his way through the crowd of people playing beer pong on the island. His eyes brighten when he sees Nadia.
He clearly takes her off guard when he wraps his arms around her, tilting his head down toward her neck. I’m not sure what he said to her but a moment later, she pushes him away jokingly. I choke out a laugh as I see the smile on her face and the pink shades highlighting her cheeks. As much as she might try to act like she isn’t interested, I can say her reaction to him says something else entirely.
A hand wraps around my waist, pulling me backward. I quickly spin around coming face-to-face with Maverick’s sinful grin.
“Rebel.”
My eyes narrow at him, trying to cover my smile as I glance over his shoulder to see who’s with him.
“Graham invited me. As far as I know, he won’t be here. When I left him earlier, he was heading home,” he clarifies, picking up on my question. I hadn’t planned on drinking but having Dean show up would be a fuckin’ buzz kill.
Cheers ring out behind us as I peer over my shoulder to see Graham slam a cup of beer. Adjusting my hat, I turn back to face Mav.
He takes a step closer, leaving an inch between us. The heat of our bodies pressed in close radiates between us as he reaches out, holding his hand on my hip. He’s so much taller than me so I tilt my head back to make eye contact with him as he leans in close to me.
“Did you have a good birthday?”
His breath feathers against the shell of my ear and I struggle to control my body’s reaction to him. Wrapping my hands around his wrists, I struggle to keep hold of my composure.
“The best,” I mouth to him. He winks at me, which makes my stomach flip flop.
The shift between our relationship is different after last night but I somehow feel closer to him.
I can feel eyes on us as I look over to where Nadia is standing. I’m not surprised when I find her staring at the two of us with a smile on her face.
“Will you come with me for a few minutes?” Maverick asks. My eyebrows furrow at his question. I was certain after last night we agreed keeping our friendship on the down low would avoid any ridiculous reactions from Dean. Let’s be honest though, nothing stays quiet in a town the size of Everton.
“Yeah, sure.”
I hold up my hand to Nadia, signaling to her I’ll be right back. She’s already chatting with our friends so knowing I’m sneaking away with Mav has her shooing me away.
Maverick leads me outside to the pickup truck parked off to the side of the driveway. It’s cooler, the sun has long since gone down, and the crisp breeze hits me in the face.
Holding my hands up to my mouth, I use the heat from my breath to warm my skin.
“Climb in quick. I have something I want to give you and it should still be warm in here.”
He grabs the door handle and waits as I climb inside, shutting the door behind me. My eyes follow him as he jogs around the front of the pickup and slides in on the bench seat next to me.
Turning the key in the ignition as the lights dim in the cab, my eyes connect with Maverick’s in the darkness and I feel like my heart could beat out of my chest with just one look. He’s always had the ability to take my breath away, feeling like the wind was knocked out of me.
“I was thinking we could go for a drive?”
His deep voice does crazy things to my body. Rubbing my lips together, my eyes travel down his jaw to his lips before glancing back up at his. I hope he’s thinking the same thing I am, I want to kiss him so badly. I have ever since last night when he was in my room.
I can’t form words, so I respond with a simple nod of my head.
He backs out of the driveway and takes the gravel road toward the edge of town. I recognize where we’re going as soon as we get closer. It’s been a while since I’ve been down here. Growing up, I would take my skateboard and skate along the river banks. Nadia wasn’t big into skating, but she’d always come with me. Maverick and Dean would often be here, although I made it a point to stay away from my brother no matter how much I wanted to be near Mav.
“I didn’t expect you to be here tonight,” I say, cutting through the silence.
Veering off, he pulls into a small parking lot overlooking the river and puts the truck in park. It’s dark, leaving only the moonlight casting a soft glow onto the water as the muted stars twinkle overhead.
He nods his head. “Graham told me about the party. I didn’t want to miss the chance to give you this,” he says, turning on the dome light and handing a box to me. It’s wrapped in black and silver wrapping paper.
“You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“I know I didn’t have to.” He bites down on his lip as his eyes meet mine. “I wanted to.”
Peeling back the paper, my eyes dart up to Maverick’s as I run my tongue over my lower lip. My heart starts to stutter as I continue to pull the paper back revealing a pack of drawing pencils and a sketchbook.
My heart warms as I run my finger over the edge of the notebook. He knows how much my art means to me. I’ve always felt like the people around me didn’t understand it. How do I find the words to thank him for a gift that is so perfect?
“I hoped you would draw something for me.”
His words draw my attention away from the sketchbook to his eyes.
“Is this like on Titanic? Do you want me to draw you like one of my French boys?” Raising my eyebrow at him in hopes he catches my humor.
“You just want to see me without my shirt on again,” he jokes.
My lip curves up at him beneath the muted light.
“What is it you want me to draw for you?”
“Anything. I want it to have meaning, and I know whatever you come up with will blow me away.”
I can feel the heat spread up my neck at his compliment. My tongue skates across my lower lip wetting my skin.
“I don’t know what to say. I mean, of course I’ll draw for you. It’s the least I could do to say thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I think, if anything, I should be saying it to you. I’ve been thinking a lot after our talk last night. I have never opened up about the shit going on at home.”
After all the years he has been friends with Dean, I can’t believe that Dean doesn’t know the full extent of what brought him here to Everton or what he’s been living through at home.
He doesn’t deserve the bullshit he’s been handed and I’m grateful he trusted me enough to open up.
“I’m surprised you’re even here. Won’t your dad be mad at you for driving his truck?”
“I don’t really care.” His voice holds no emotion as he cuts straight to the point.
“As soon as Graham told me you’d be here, I wanted to be here, too. I knew after your conversation with your mom last night you were going out with Nadia. I wanted to be able to give you the gift, but I didn’t know how or when I’d see you.”
“You came because Graham told you I’d be here?” I ask, surprised. I don’t even know if I fully listened to anything he said after that, my mind latching onto those words and holding onto them with all the strength I have in me.
“Yeah.” His hand wrapped around the bottom of the steering wheel clenches tightly.
Reaching over, I wrap my hand around his and pull it so it’s sitting between us. He never moves to let go and it reminds me of that day in the backseat of my mom’s station wagon. His thumb traces circles on the side of my hand and I get lost in the way his rough fingertips feel against my soft skin.
I want so badly to slide across the seat and wrap my hand around his neck, pulling him closer to me. I picture the way his commanding lips would feel on mine, how perfectly our tongues would twine together.
The images in my mind detailing the scene so vividly causes my chest to heave as my heart rate picks up.
“What are you thinking about, Ryan?”
His words are harsh, demanding.
“I’m thinking about how fucking bad I want you to kiss me.”
Six
MAVERICK
My lips stretch across my face at her honesty. She’s never been one to shy away from saying what she’s thinking or feeling.
“I’ve been dying to fucking kiss you for so long,” I mutter, wanting to see her reaction when I give it back to her just the same.
This time though, I don’t stop there.
“Get over here, Rebel.”
There is a moment of hesitation as her eyes dart to mine. Her tongue darts out, skating across her lower lip as she glances down at mine.
“Now.”
Her eyes brighten, and I can see her smart-ass remarks forming in her head. I fully expect for her to argue with me on this, to fight me in some way not liking how I’m ordering her around.
No, the words do the exact opposite, spurring her into action. She quickly sets her gift on the dash before turning to kneel on the bench seat crawling closer to me. She takes me by surprise though when she swings her leg over mine, climbing above me.
I should’ve known if I gave her an inch she’d take a mile.
“Now what?”
Growling, I wrap my hand in her hair and pull her closer until her lips are a breath away from mine. The proximity and our now heavy pants cause the windows to fog up, which is fine. Anything to keep the world outside the truck away from us.
I’m only focused on the look of desire on Ryan’s face and the way she’s biting her lower lip in anticipation. Her eyes flutter back and forth between my eyes and my mouth, waiting for the moment when I’ll finally put us both out of our misery.
Skating my palms down her sides, my fingers dig into her hips as I drag her closer to me. Her heat pressed against my growing length. I can feel every struggled breath as her chest rises and falls against mine.
As much as I would love to take her right here, I force myself to remember this isn’t the place I want our first time to be. I reach up to wrap my fingers around the silky-smooth strands of her hair as I bring her lips to mine. Her hands fold around my neck as her legs tighten against my hips.
Running my tongue along her lower lip, she opens her mouth. I fight the urge to groan with how much I want her. Clenching my fingers into her hips, I hold her body closer to mine. Her fingers skate up my neck and into my hair, scratching along my scalp as a shiver rolls through me.
She pulls back momentarily, and I can see her run her tongue over her swollen lips. They’re glistening wet and seeing them like that only turns me on more.
“Mav, I want you. I’ve only ever wanted you.”
My eyes look around us, for the first time checking to see if we’re still alone. It’s dark and thankfully the tint on the windows make it difficult for anyone on the outside to see in. Pulling her against me, I move so she’s lying down on the bench of the pickup truck.
The move takes her by surprise, but her arms pull me with her.
She lets go once she realizes I’m not going anywhere and moves to toss her hat somewhere on the floor, not caring or paying much attention.
“Last chance.”
Maybe I’m paranoid but I know when we cross this line, there will be no going back. We won’t be able to safely go back into whatever we are at this moment or even before last night.
Truth be told, I’m too far gone now. There’s a peace that has come from being near Ryan. The fire inside her lit something in me that has been cold and dark for a long time.
Grabbing hold of the front of my shirt, she wraps her fist in the cotton material and pulls me close to her. I take in the glint in her eyes from the lights on the dashboard as they run over my face.
Her leg hitches around my hip, pulling me closer between the apex of her thigh. The move brings us so close there’s not even a sliver separating us. I know she can feel how turned on I am as her eyelids lower with desire.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Rebel,” I whisper before opening my mouth to trace my tongue along her chest. She keeps my head pressed against her as I make my way up her neck.
“You taste as good as I expected. Like heaven and hell and everything I shouldn’t want but I do.”
I know after one taste of her, there’s not a snowballs chance in hell I’m going to be able to forget her. I won’t ever be able to recover.
I’ve thought about what it would be like to have Ryan for one night for a long time. Since moving to Everton, I’ve found myself searching for a way out of the darkness I’ve felt. After losing my mom, it left a hollow feeling in my chest where my heart was. I find myself craving the way she makes my heart beat out of control, a reminder that I’m still alive.
Pushing the material of her shirt up, I lean forward and run my tongue over her breast peeking out the top of her bra. Pulling the cup down, I run my tongue softly around her pert nipple. She smells just as good as she tastes and I’m acting out of impulse now, wanting more of her. I alternate between sucking and flicking my tongue, taking my time to learn what she likes.
“Holy shit,” she mutters as her body trembles. Her fingers lace into my hair, holding me closer to her.
Kissing a line across her chest, I give her other breast the same attention as she grinds against me. My cock is begging
for attention, making it difficult to focus on anything but how good it would feel to take her right here.
Her hands sneak down to the button of her jeans. Popping the first button and unzipping the zipper, she slides the denim over her hips.
I can spot the lace of her underwear and the thought has my body aching to have more of her.
Dragging my knuckle along where the lace covers her pussy, I feel the wetness seeping through the material. Sucking in a quick breath, I bite my lip to cover my moan before my finger disappears inside her.
“Damn,” I murmur, once my finger is buried to the hilt.
She squirms in the seat as her cries become desperate for me to continue. Her eyes squeeze shut as she reaches her hand out for me, looking for something to hold onto.
My hand pumps into her as her moans pick up, filling the small space. The heat between us in the small space causes sweat to trickle down my forehead.
I keep my focus on her, to all the ways her body reacts to my touch, to the trembles of her stomach as she clenches around me.
“Ryan,” I croak.
The battle I’ve been fighting with myself to take her right here is starting to win out.
Holding onto the edge of the seat, I tilt my head close to her ear and whisper, “It’s taking everything in me not to say fuck it and take you right here. You deserve better though. I promise the first time we’re together, it will be everything you deserve for it to be.”
Her hands hold both sides of my face as she looks me deep in the eyes. Warmth grips my chest, feeling the strength of her emotions shining back at me. I didn’t just tell her she was worthy of more; I told her I was prepared to give it to her.
I press a kiss against her lips. This one is filled with more force and passion than our last. Changing the angle of my hand, I rub circles over her clit and feel her heat tighten around me. Her body trembles with her release as her tongue plunges into my mouth, tangling with mine. My heart stammers in my chest as I hold her close to me.
The sound of Ryan’s phone ringing jolts me out of the moment, feeling like a bucket of ice over my head. Ryan’s hand wraps around my neck, pulling me closer to her.
Torn (Tattered Heart Duet Book 1) Page 4
