by Lane Hart
"I can't imagine how difficult it would be to become a mother so young," I say. "It definitely wasn't easy for my mom to be a single mother. The hours she worked...I practically raised my sister and brother, taking care of them after we got home from school. Sometimes it was one meal at a time, and our cabinets were empty. I would worry about where the next one would come from. But our mom never let us down. She made sacrifices and did everything she could for the three of us. We got through the tough times together and had a lot more good times than bad, before she died. So I've always wanted my own children, as selfish as it would be to raise them the same way. But like our mom, I think I could love them enough to make up for the insignificant material things they may always want but never have."
"I could easily give them both," Linc says with a contagious smile.
"I know you would, even if you started over with absolutely nothing tomorrow. Because you're the type of guy that takes care of what's his."
"Damn right," he growls bringing my mouth down to his. "And I'm gonna spend the rest of the night and the rest of my life takin’ care of you.”
With the simple sweep of his tongue against mine, a frenzy ignites between us. Even though I’m still straddling him, our bodies pressed flush against each other, we can’t seem to get close enough.
“I need you. Right…fuckin’…now,” Linc tells me between pants. His fingers delve between us and thrust inside my pussy to ready me, but I’m already there.
“Now,” I agree, reaching for his cock to replace his hand. I ease down his thick length with no resistance and start to ride him slowly, savoring every inch that’s stroking me where I’m desperate for him.
“God, yes, baby,” Linc groans against my mouth. “You feel so damn good.”
We stay connected by our mouths and lower bodies for what feels like hours, not racing toward a climax but simply needing to be joined, melded together like this.
“Move in with me,” Linc says with his forehead against mine after we start to come back down.
“What?” I ask, pulling back to look at his face in the glow of the jacuzzi lights.
“I want to see you every day and every night,” he says, cupping the side of my face gently in his palm when I hang my head. “I want you to live with me.”
Inside I’m torn. There’s nothing I’d rather have than this with Linc, the sweet and naughty breakfasts, the nights spent talking about anything and everything about our days. Kissing him goodnight and having him hold me until I wake up in his arms with the sunrise. Too bad, that’s just not something I can do right now.
“I wish I could,” I tell him. “I really do. But I can’t leave Mandy alone.”
“Why not?” he asks softly. “She’s a grown woman-”
“She’s an addict,” I tell him honestly. “It’s bad enough trying to keep her clean with us under the same roof, but if I left her…it’ll only get worse. I’m trying to convince her to enter another inpatient rehab facility. She went once before. It helped for a few weeks but then…”
“Let me help,” Linc says, smoothing his thumb over my lip where I’m absently chewing on it.
“No, you’ve done enough, and it’ll take forever to pay you back the money she owed Vito.”
“You know you don’t have to pay me back.”
I start shaking my head before he finishes his sentence. “No. I want to be with you, but not because of your money. And if I take it, I’ll feel guilty, like I do now, owing you twelve thousand. It’s too much, too soon. Just let me take care of it, okay?”
“Fine,” he agrees with a sigh. “Get her clean and then get your ass over here with me, permanently.”
“Deal,” I reply with a smile. Leaning down, I brush my lips over his, picking things up where we left off, before all the serious talk. “There’s no rush,” I tell him. “We’ve got all the time in the world, right?”
Chapter Fifteen
Linc
After she gathers her things, I walk Claire out to her car. It’s a gray, cloudy mornin’ and too early to be awake and have her leavin’ me so soon. We kiss, my body plastered against hers on the driver’s side door until she pushes at my chest, insistin’ she has to leave.
“Fine,” I grumble with one last kiss, not ready to let her go. “Come over again tonight?”
“Okay,” she says with a stunnin’ smile before openin’ the car door and climbin’ in. “But just one more night, and then I need to stop running out on Mandy.”
I nod my agreement, even though I’ll miss her. When I’m halfway to my porch, I hear the asthmatic cough of her engine followed by silence. Turnin’ back around it only takes a second to realize her POS isn’t gonna start.
Even after I hook up my truck to try and jump her off, the ancient car can’t be revived. “Might be the alternator,” I tell her when I remove the jumper cables from under her hood and slam it shut. “But we’ll have to get it towed in to town to let a mechanic look at it.”
“Fuck,” she groans, rubbin’ the sides of her temple in annoyance. “I have to be at work in an hour!”
“Come on,” I tell her. “Let me take you to work, and then I’ll make the arrangements to get your car fixed when I get back.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, chewin’ on her lip hesitantly.
“Yes,” I respond, kissin’ that lip until her teeth release it.
“Thank you,” she says softly. “If you’ll just take me back to my apartment, I can probably drive Mandy’s car to work.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
On the drive to Durham, Claire is quiet in my truck’s passenger seat, her eyes focused on some point outside the window, watchin’ the scenery go by. “You all right?” I ask, reachin’ over to squeeze her thigh.
“It’s always something,” she says on an exhale with the shake of her head. “Just when you think you’ve solved one problem another one always pops up.”
"We'll get your car fixed," I tell her, omittin’ the fact that if it's too far gone, I'm gonna buy her a new one. "If there are any other problems you're worried about, just tell me. You know I'd be glad to help."
"You've done enough, dealing with Vito. I'm sorry you got dragged into my family's mess."
"I'm really glad to be in your family's mess," I joke.
She shakes her head but gives me a small smile. "The next right, and we're in the third building on the left."
At first glance, the apartment complex looks rundown. A few broken windows have been replaced with wood instead of glass, and gang style graffiti is spray-painted on several of the brick walls. Broken furniture and trash litter the grassy areas. It’s definitely not the best part of town. I wouldn't let my sister, Hailey, live here alone, but since Claire and Mandy share an apartment, maybe it isn't so bad. I'd feel better if Mace lived with them. Hell, I'd prefer it if she lived with me, but I know that's not somethin’ she’s willin’ to do yet.
"It's the best we can do for now," Claire says, readin’ my thoughts.
"I know," I reply as I pull into a parkin’ spot. "Mace comes over and watches out for you both, right?"
"Yeah, several times a week. We're fine," she assures me as she reaches for the door handle. I lean over and cup the side of her face with my palm, titlin’ her head toward me so that I can kiss her goodbye. At first she's tense, probably because she’s in a hurry, but after a couple of seconds she loosens up and let's my tongue mingle with hers, makin’ it even harder to leave her.
"I'm gonna be late," she says against my lips so I finally let her go.
"All right, go. See you tonight."
"Thanks, Linc." With her bags, she gets out and heads for the first story apartment, the one behind the staircase of the unkempt building. I wait and watch until she slides her key in the lock and steps inside out of sight. My hand is on the gear shift, about to put the truck in reverse and drive away when the same door swings opens again. Only instead of Claire or Mandy, it's a man that comes out of the apartment. A familiar lo
okin’ man in a pair of slacks and wrinkled dress shirt. Slick Rick, that motherfucker. What's he doing inside their apartment? I don't like that at all, and I still hold him responsible for connivin’ my girl, my sweet, innocent girl, into havin’ sex with me on camera for millions of fuckers to see her naked, just so that he could make a few bucks.
Instead of leavin’, he pulls out his phone and lingers around the front so I sit right where I am waitin’ for Claire to come back out, which I know she will as soon as she changes. Sure enough, the asshole spins around and puts his phone away in his pocket when he hears her come out the door. She’s jugglin’ her purse, phone and keys, and doesn’t notice him until he’s next to her. He says somethin’ to Claire, but she keeps walkin’. Then he makes his first mistake, he grabs her arm to force her to stop. She yanks herself away from his grasp and keeps walkin’ to Mandy’s silver Nissan. He makes his last and final mistake when she’s tryin’ to unlock the door. The motherfucker walks up behind her, pressin’ the front of his body to the back of hers, until she’s effectively trapped between him and the side of the car.
The sudden onset of rage has the sleepin’ beast roarin’ to life. I'm out of the truck a half a second later. The adrenaline immediately starts pumpin’, and then I'm grabbin’ the back of his neck and slammin’ his face on the hood of the car so hard he groans.
With his head turned to the side, he finally sees me. "Oh shit," he grumbles. His nose is bleedin’ and his wide eyes look panicked, as they should be. "Vito will fucking ruin you if you so much as leave a bruise on me." He thinks he can threaten me while I’m holding him down? Fuck that. Now that the whole world has seen my cock, I don’t think there’s anything else he could do to ruin me. I'll no longer be known for being a world champion fighter. No, from now on I’ll be famous for fuckin’ a porn star. Or a woman who everyone thinks is a porn star.
Squeezin’ his throat tighter, I lean down and warn him, “If you go anywhere near her again, I’ll do more than leave a bruise. I’ll break each and every bone in your fuckin’ body.”
“Linc, stop,” Claire says from behind. “I need to get to work.” Her tone is one of annoyance at being late for work, not concern for the fucker face-planted on her car.
“Just a second, baby,” I tell her. Grabbin’ a handful of the back of his shirt, I lift his upper body from her car and toss him over to the ground of an empty parking spot. “There. Now you can leave. But why the fuck was he in your apartment?” I can’t help but ask.
“He’s dating my sister,” Claire says, her eyes narrowed at the pile of asshole strewn on the concrete.
“Fuckin’ hell, baby,” I groan and clench my fist, still wantin’ to pummel that fucker for layin’ a finger on her. Knowin’ he sometimes sleeps under the same roof? Hell no! “This is why I wish you’d move in with me. I don’t want you dealin’ with this sonofabitch when I’m not around!”
“Linc,” she starts with her head hangin’, her long hair shieldin’ her face. “Just let it go.”
“Let it go!” I exclaim. And when the fucker tries to stand up, I kick him in the gut so that he collapses again. My adrenaline is pumpin’ and now I’m ready to fuckin’ fight.
“Linc! Seriously, that’s enough. He’s not worth it, and I can’t stay here to babysit you two. I’m already late for work!”
“You deserve better than this shithole,” I tell her, gesturin’ with my arms to the decrepit apartment complex, “And you don’t have to keep goin’ back to that crappy ass job that barely pays peanuts!”
That was apparently the wrong thing to say since Claire shakes her head, climbs in her car without another word, and pulls away.
Well fuck.
“You’re gonna pay for this,” the asshole says to me from where he’s still sprawled flat on his stomach on the ground.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” I ask, even though I heard him.
“I said, you’re gonna-”
My shoe plows into his face before he can finish, makin’ blood gush even harder from his nose. I really don’t like bein’ threatened.
“Fuck!” he exclaims holdin’ his hand to his face.
I know that if I hit him with my fist I won’t be able to stop. The beast is beggin’ to do more damage to him, but I rein it in. Barely.
"Screw with me or Claire again and you’ll be sorry. You hear me, fucker?" I ask, my chest still heavin’ with unexpended adrenaline.
“Just wait,” he mutters. “Don’t be surprised…when you get a video…of me fucking her.”
That’s it. The final fuckin’ straw that broke the beast’s back.
My fist landin’ on his jaw is the last thing I remember until someone grabs me from behind, pullin’ me off of him. I whirl around ready to pound them into the ground, but the blue uniform stops me, just before the tall, slender man says, “If you hit me, you’ll be charged with assault on a police officer. Now turn around and put your hands behind your back!”
Fuck.
…
I hold the receiver in my hand, dreadin’ the call I’m about to make. Finally, I punch in the familiar seven numbers.
“Hello?” my mom answers her cell phone right away.
“Hey, Mom. What are you up to? You busy?”
“Working away like usual, why? You want to do lunch?” she asks, soundin’ hopeful.
“Sure. We can do lunch. Anywhere you want to go,” I tell her.
“Great! How about Arigato’s at noon?”
“Perfect,” I tell her. “There’s just this one little favor I need you to do for me before then.”
“What’s that honey?”
“Come bail me outta jail?” I ask, cringin’ durin’ the several seconds of air intake before she explodes.
“Lincoln Abrams! Have you lost your fuckin’ mind! What did you do?” That’s right, Lynn Abrams curses like a sailor.
“It’s just simple assault this time, no serious bodily harm,” I tell her optimistically. “Bail is only five thousand secured, but I don’t have that much on me, and believe it or not, these cheap bastards don’t have any ATM machines in their cell blocks.”
“Just simple assault? Who did you assault?!?” she exclaims.
“Ah, well that would be an asshole that made the mistake of messin’ with my girl.”
“You have a girl?” she asks excitedly, and I know we’re in the clear on me gettin’ arrested. My dating life is the perfect distraction.
“I do.”
“Oh, honey, I’m so glad. You and Abby worked things out, huh?”
“Ah no, Mom. I told you, that ship sailed a long time ago. Went by the name Titanic. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”
“So a new girl?” she asks.
“Yeah, a new girl.”
“Oh. Well, when were you gonna tell us about her? I want to meet her. What’s her name?”
“Claire, and there will be plenty of time for that after you bail me out of jail.” Now is not the time for me to tell my mom she's the porn star look-alike from the sex tape.
“Shit, sorry,” she says gettin’ back on track. “Cary PD?”
“Durham.”
She sighs heavily. “I’m on my way.”
“Thanks, Mom. Love you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Claire
"Can I get you anything else?" I ask the elderly couple, the last two people in my section…who've ordered nothing but coffee for over an hour.
"No, thank you, sweetie," the old lady replies, clutching her warm mug in both wrinkled hands. I paste on a fake smile and walk away, trying to find something to keep me busy to help pass the time until I get to leave.
Screw the tips, I'm just ready to head home and get off my feet. Maybe hide under Linc's covers with him and pretend like millions of people haven't seen us fuck, my sister's not a drug addict and my brother is not a drug dealing hothead. Oh and that my car won’t cost every penny I have to fix it.
So far no customers, and only a handful of our close friends, have
realized it was me and not Mandy in the video, thank God. I don't know how my sister handles this type of constant publicity. People are mean and saying hateful things all across social media. Not about Linc, though. No, he's been getting nothing but women talking about how much they want to fuck him and his big cock, while I get things like, "Eve sure has been putting on the pounds. Is she pregnant or just fat?" Awesome.
"Hey, sis." I practically jump out of my skin when Mason sneaks up behind me.
I spin around clutching my chest, and then it aches even more when I see his face. "What the hell have you been doing? Is this from training?" When he simply raises an eyebrow in response, I understand. "The video?"
"Uh-huh. I told you, you weren't as slick as you thought you were. But at least things are good with you and Linc, right?" he asks with a grin. I notice he’s wearing the black Havoc hoodie that he’s so proud of.
"Yes, not that it's any of your business," I reply. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I saw Mandy's Nissan out front and thought she was here.”
“Oh, well, she let me borrow her car since mine died over at Linc's this morning."
“Shit,” he grumbles, chewing nervously on his thumbnail. “Fucking Vito called me this morning looking for her. She hasn't answered her phone all day and wasn't at the apartment when I went by. It's not like her to not at least text me back that she's busy."
"Since I've got her car I don't know where she is. With that asshat maybe?" The same asshat who stupidly touched me in front of Linc this morning. Thank God he was still sitting in the parking lot or who knows what may have happened. The jerk keeps trying to talk me into making movies for Vito. Never gonna happen in a million bazillion years.
"James?" Mason asks.
"Yeah."
"I hate that son of a bitch. Especially after what he pulled over on you and Linc."
"Preaching to the choir." I decide not to tell my brother that Linc had a run-in with James this morning, since I know Mason will lose his shit.
"So when do you get off?" he asks, as I turn around and finish filling up a line of salt and pepper shakers.
