by Chloe Walsh
“Relax, Dude,” Mase shot back with a grin, holding his hands up in retreat. “I aint judging you. Go right ahead and bang your stepsister. Hell, I would too if you hadn’t cock blocked me.”
“Don’t,” Daryl hissed. Jumping to his feet, he caught ahold of me just I was about to lunge for Mason. “Get the hell out of here, Mase,” he ordered, struggling to hold onto me. “Now, asshole.”
“Aye-aye, captain.” Mason saluted us both with hand against his forehead before sauntering out of the dressing rooms, singing his own improvised version of Bloodhound Gang’s The Ballad of Chasey Lain at the top of his lungs – switching the name Chasey Lain to Mercy James.
Asshole.
“I’m gonna kill him,” I snarled.
“Can someone remind me why we’re friends with that douche nozzle?” Bear chimed in, joining in the conversation for the first time. “Mase is such a fucking asshole.”
“Yep,” Daryl added. “Boy is living proof that there are times in life when a woman needs to swallow.”
“Nah, he’s alright,” Reebo defended with a chuckle. “He’s just...”
“Mase?” Bear offered dryly.
“Yeah,” Reebo said with a sigh. “He’s just Mase.”
Mercedes
I SKIPPED THE GAME and went straight over to Molly’s house instead. After my run in with Britt, I wasn’t feeling particularly peppy, and watching that skank shake her ass in front of Rourke was just about the last thing I wanted to see.
Thankfully, Molly wasn’t too difficult to sway. Of course, I had to assure her that Daryl would be making an appearance at her party tonight with Rourke. She believed me because she had heard the rumor going around the school about us. Yeah, our little class skipping hook up had spread like wildfire around the halls of the Academy.
“Are you sure your dad’s cool with this?” I asked, looking around at the forty plus kids from our grade piled into her house, drinking and dancing to their hearts content.
“Absolutely,” Molly replied. “Besides, he’s away on business for at least another two weeks. Here, help me with this, will you?”
“I can try?” I offered, taking ahold of one side of the keg. “But I warn you now, the strongest muscle in my body is my tongue.”
That comment won me a laugh from Molly. “I’m so freaking happy you moved here,” she said as we attempted and failed to drag the keg of beer in through the back door of her house. “I’ve missed this.”
“Missed what?” I grunted, trying unsuccessfully to get the keg over the lip of the door. “Aiding and abetting minors in the consumption of alcohol? Yeah, I’d miss that, too.”
“Having a friend,” she surprised me by saying. “One that doesn’t look at me with pity and discomfort.”
My heart jerked in my chest. Is that how it was for her? “Molls.”
“I’m okay, I promise,” she assured me with a bright smile. “And I don’t want pity. Just answers.”
I cocked a brow. “Answers?”
“That’s right,” she replied in an even tone. “So fess up. Are you with him now?”
“Who – Rourke?”
“No, Axel freaking Rose.” Molly rolled her eyes. “Yes, Rourke!”
“Um, no,” I muttered. “We’re just friends.”
“Just friends?” She raised an unimpressed brow.
My cheeks burned. “With benefits.”
“I knew he liked you,” Molly squealed, clapping her hands in what looked like genuine delight. “Rourke has never chased a girl out of class like he did today. Never. Not even Britt. You are his only exception, Mercy.”
“I’m not his exception, Molls,” I corrected, cheeks hot and flushed. “He just wants to have sex with me.”
Molly frowned. “Is that what you think?”
“It’s what I know,” I confirmed grimly. “He told me.”
“What a douche,” Molly whispered. “Ugh.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, biting down on my bottom lip. “And guess what even bigger douche agreed?”
Her eyes widened into saucers. “You didn’t!”
I nodded in shame. “I did. I freaking did.” Throwing my hands up in the air, I released a pained sigh. “And I have no idea what I’m doing because in case you haven’t already noticed, I’m not the most experienced girl around here.” Not when it came to boys. Not when it came to him! “Help me, Molly,” I begged then. “Tell me what to do?”
Molly opened her mouth to say something to me, but Daryl freaking King chose this exact moment to walk over to us, distracting Molly from my love life. Selfish asshole.
“Hey,” he said gruffly, eyes locked on Molly. The humor in Daryl’s voice I was so used to hearing was absent tonight.
“Hey,” she replied, eyes right back on him. “I’m happy you could come tonight.”
“Yeah, me too,” Daryl replied, though he sounded anything but happy. In fact, he sounded downright depressed. “Can we go somewhere and talk?” He stared hard at Molly. “In private?”
Molly’s face fell. Seriously, her entire expression changed. “Um, I guess,” she whispered, clearly nervous now. What the heck was going on here?
“You okay, Molls?” I asked, feeling a trickle of unease roll down my spine. I didn’t like this. Something was off. And red flags were shooting up in my head like crazy.
“I’m fine, Mercy,” she told me with a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. “I’m going to go speak to Daryl. I’ll see you in a bit, okay?”
With that, I watched as Molly abandoned me and our keg, walking straight over to Daryl, who pressed a possessive hand to her lower back before leading her into the kitchen
“What the hell was that about?” I muttered to myself, staring after them until they disappeared from my line of sight.
Secrets, I decided.
Those two definitely had secrets.
All thoughts on what those secrets were fled my mind the moment two arms came around me and pulled me backwards into the garden.
The scream that was on the tip of my tongue died away when Rourke turned me in his arms and planted his lips on mine.
Rourke
THE MOMENT I STEPPED out of Daryl’s truck and my eyes landed on Six, fighting a losing battle with a keg, I was hard as fucking rock.
After the game tonight, I hadn’t wanted Britt or anyone else. I wanted Six, and not just to touch her either, but to be around her. In her company.
She looked fucking beautiful tonight in a pair of denim cut offs, a fitted pink tank top, and her signature Converse. Her long, black hair was pulled back from her face in a high ponytail that still swished at the middle of her back. Unable to stop myself, I strode up to where she was and pulled her back before spinning her to face me. Ignoring the small yelp of surprise that came out of her mouth, I cupped her face between my hands and crashed my lips down on hers.
The second I kissed her, she went completely pliant in my arms. She moaned into my mouth and that small sound made my dick strain in my jeans.
“Rourke!” Six finally gasped, breaking the kiss. Her eyes were wide, lips swollen, cheeks pink, and it was taking everything in me to stand here and not drag her lips back to mine. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I was kissing you,” I replied dryly. I wanted her and now that I was done denying it, I didn’t want a waste a second with her. “And thoroughly enjoying myself before you pushed me away.” Again.
“Yeah, but…” Six looked around nervously, before locking eyes with me once more. “What if someone sees us?”
“So, what if they do?” I shot back with a frown. I didn’t get where she was coming from. “We’ve got nothing to hide.”
“But aren’t you worried?”
“Why would I be worried?”
Her cheeks turned bright pink. “If people see us together, Rourke, they’re going to talk. And that talk might get back to our parents.” She blew out a breath. “They’re back next week, remember?”
I bit back the snarky comment on the tip of my
tongue.
I didn’t care what our parents thought.
I only cared about the fantastic fucking way this girl made me feel and how I wasn’t about to give it up for anyone.
“Screw them,” I told her. I probably should have used more tact, but it wasn’t something I was known for. I went for what I wanted, and I wanted her.
To hell with everyone and their opinions. I wasn’t breaking any damn law here. We weren’t related and, as far as I could tell, Six wanted me just as much as I wanted her.
“I want this, Six,” I said, cupping her face in my hands again. My voice was thick and husky as I added, “I want you.”
Mercedes
“I WANT THIS, SIX,” Rourke said in a husky tone as he held my face between his large hands. “I want you.”
Oh god.
Breathe, Mercy.
In and out…
“I want this, too,” I whispered, looking into his blue eyes. “You.” I swallowed deeply. “I want you.”
Rourke smiled the biggest smile ever, revealing those deep dimples. “Yeah?”
I nodded and leaned into his touch. “Yeah.”
And then, instead of resuming our kiss like I thought he would, he surprised me by stepping around me and catching ahold of the keg I’d been wrestling. “Perks of friendship,” he teased with a wink, lifting it with ease. “Where do you want it?”
“Um, the kitchen, I guess?” I replied with a shake of my head.
“Kitchen it is.” I trailed behind Rourke as he carried the keg into the kitchen, setting it down alongside the table filled with beer and alcohol. “Do you have a pump?” he asked, looking back at me.
I shook my head in confusion. “Like for a bicycle?”
Rourke threw his head back and laughed. “A beer pump.”
“Oh.” My face burned. “No.”
He grinned. “Been to many parties, Six?”
“Nope,” I replied, deciding there was no point in lying. Rourke and I weren’t enemies anymore. There was no need for me to keep such a tall guard up around him. “I’m not a big party person.”
His gaze slid from my face to the table behind me. “Huh,” he mused, reaching around me for what I could only describe as a long steel contraption with a hose dangling from it. “I never would’ve guessed.”
I watched with reluctant admiration as Rourke quickly went to work on hooking up the pump to the keg. He looked amazing tonight in faded denim jeans and a fitted black button down. “Wow,” I said with a smirk when he was done. “Watching you set that up was actually sort of attractive.”
Rourke filled two plastic cups with beer and handed me one. “If you think that’s attractive, wait until you see my dance moves.”
Wait… “You like to dance?”
“I’m full of surprises, Six.” Rourke waggled his brows and grinned. “You’ll see.”
“WHEN WILL I SEE?” I asked several hours later as I sat in the passenger seat of Rourke’s truck. Molly’s imaginary party had turned out to be a huge success, and I had consumed far too much alcohol for a school night – hence why I had to leave my car at her place and was being driven home.
In my defense, I drank because I was frustrated. And I was frustrated because Rourke hadn’t touched me. With the exception of that one kiss in the back yard when he first arrived, Rourke hadn’t laid a single wanted finger on me the entire night – much to my drunken dismay.
“When will you see what?” Rourke replied in a coaxing tone, eyes on the road ahead of us.
“You said I’d see your full bag of surprises,” I slurred, leaning my head against the window. “You lied to me.”
“Bag of surprises?” I heard him laugh softly. “How much did you drink, Six?”
“Too much.” I hiccupped and wiped my mouth with my hand before asking, “Did you win tonight?”
“We did.”
“Did you score a goal?”
“I scored a touchdown, Six,” Rourke chuckled. “Five of them.”
I hiccupped again. “With your hands?”
“With my hands,” he confirmed, laughing loudly now.
“Wanna score again?” I purred, trying my best to sound sexy. “In my goal?”
“Six,” Rourke groaned. “You’re drunk.”
“So?” I grumbled. “You’re supposed to want me.”
“I do,” he promised in that patronizing tone one used when speaking to a drunk person.
“You didn’t want me tonight,” I huffed.
“Because I didn’t feel you up in front of half the school?” he countered.
Yeah. I shrugged. “No.”
“I wasn’t joking when I said I’d be your friend,” he added with a smirk. “What kind of friend would I be if I felt you up in front of half the school?”
“The best kind,” I grumbled. “Asshole.”
“Well this is a first,” Rourke laughed in amusement. “I’ve never been chewed out for being too nice before.”
The truck pulled to a stop then and he killed the engine. I heard the snap of his seatbelt seconds before a car door slammed and then another opened.
“Come on,” Rourke coaxed, unbuckling me and lifting me into his arms. “I’ll take you to bed.”
“Your bed?” I slurred, snuggling into his chest.
Rourke chuckled. “When I take you in my bed, Six, you’re going to be in your full senses.”
Mercedes
PAIN LIKE I NEVER knew existed was searing through my eyeballs. The sunlight beaming through my window only made the already horrible sensation a million times more unbearable.
Slumped in the passenger seat of Rourke’s truck on our way to school, I remained perfectly still, afraid that the slightest movement might cause my already upset stomach to turn mutinous against my body.
“You good, Six?” Rourke asked with an annoyingly upbeat voice as he drummed his fingers against the steering wheel.
“Uh, not really,” I confessed, hugging myself and wishing for some divine intervention. I was a good kid. In seventeen years, I’d only gotten drunk twice. I didn’t think I deserved to suffer a hangover of this magnitude. “Actually, do you think you could drive me home?” So I can die in solitude.
Rourke frowned. “We’re here now.”
“Oh.” Shit. “Okay.”
Rourke pulled into his usual parking space in the student lot. Killing the engine, he leaned back in his seat and turned to look at me, his brows creased in concern. “I’ll take you home if you’re really not up to school,” he offered, eyes searching mine.
“No,” I said wearily. “It’s fine. It serves me right for drinking on a school night.”
I expected Rourke to laugh or tease me for my outrageous behavior last night.
He did neither.
Instead, he leaned across the console, and cupped my cheek with his hand. “I called Molly,” he said softly, leaning close. “She agreed to drive your car to school for you.”
“You did?” My heart fluttered at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing,” he replied, blue eyes still locked on mine. “If you feel sick during the day and want to bail, just text me and I’ll make it happen.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but Rourke leaned in and pressed his lips to mine, effectively shutting me up. “If not, I’ll meet you at home after school,” he whispered against my lips. “We can hang out.”
Hang out?
Christ… “Okay,” I breathed.
Rourke
“I HEARD A NASTY little rumor today,” Bear announced as we loaded our gym bags into the trunk of my Chevy after football practice on Friday evening. “Wanna hear about it?”
“Nope,” I shot back. I didn’t give a shit. “Couldn’t care less, man.” Bear never gave a shit about idle gossip, which was why I was confused as to why he was bringing this up to me now.
Closing the trunk, I walked around to the front of my truck and climbed into the driver’s seat. “You coming?” I called out, thrumming
my hands against the steering wheel. I was anxious as hell to get home and hadn’t planned on having to drive Bear, too. Of course, knowing Six was there waiting on me was a hugely motivating factor.
“It’s about Mercedes,” Bear explained, climbing into the passenger seat.
That got my attention.
Cranking the engine, I slipped my truck out of gear and gave my friend my full attention. “Let’s have it.”
“I hooked up with Clary Fisher during lunch today.” He looked a little embarrassed as he spoke. “You know; the cheerleader with the huge rack?”
I nodded in acknowledgment. Clary Fisher had been born with a pair of tits that were made to motor boat. I had no doubt that’s exactly what Bear did during lunch – in between screwing her, that is. “What about her?” I asked.
“Clary said Britt told her it’s over between you guys because you hooked up with your, and I quote, “dirty skank of a stepsister” behind her back and she gave you the uh, gift that keeps on giving.”
My entire body stiffened. “Are you fucking serious?” Was Britt honestly spreading shit about Six having herpes? I slammed my hand on the steering wheel in frustration. “What a bitch.”
Bear held his hands up. “Hey man, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m only telling you what I heard. Ain’t like I believe it or anything.”
“One, Six is clean,” I snarled, dragging the shift into gear. “Two, I haven’t touched her.” Fuck this. I couldn’t sit here. Slamming my foot down on the gas, I tore out of the student parking lot like a bat out of hell. “And three, the only person likely to be walking around with an STD is Britt.”
Bear shrugged. “Yeah, I figured you’d lose your shit over this.”
Lose my shit?
I was beyond that.
I DROPPED BEAR HOME before heading straight to Britt’s place. By the time I reached my ex-girlfriend’s house, the anger that had been rising steadily inside of me since Bear’s declaration was spilling over.
Fuck this. I had just managed to win Six over to my way of thinking. The last thing I needed was my ex-girlfriend spreading her venom around the school and fucking up the one good thing that had happened to me since… since I didn’t even know how long.
