“So Henry, where are you taking my mother for your honeymoon,” I chanced a glance at Brad, finding him texting on his phone below the table.
Henry’s eyes lit up. “As if I would tell you with your mother at the same table.”
My mother grumbled on the other end of the table, I snickered. “Henry, darling. I’m going to find out sooner or later where we’re going. I’ll know how to pack if you just tell me,” she stated in a sugary tone.
He chuckled. “Nice try, sweetheart.” He leaned over kissing her cheek. “But you’re still not getting it out of me.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and I could resist laughing. My mother acted like a teenager when she was with Henry. It was a fulfilling sight to see. Her smile absolutely lit her face up when he was around. I was over the moon happy for the both of them. But I couldn’t help sitting here, envious of what they had. I wanted it. I wanted a man that would dote on me, make me feel like I was the only woman on the face of the earth that was made for him.
I excused myself from the table, tears brimming my eyes. Being around them for any long period of time was too much. I would look at them and see all the things that I missed out on, that I was currently missing out on. It wasn’t fair to be that way, but I couldn’t help it. Just being here made the memories wash over me, caging me within its grip. I couldn’t allow it to take me fully. If I stood any chance of being the same after I left here; I needed to learn how to turn the other cheek. Not let their love get me down.
I was washing my hands when the door to the restroom opened. I put a fake smile on my face before greeting them on my way out. However, when I heard the lock turn my heart was in my throat. I turned toward the intruder seeing none other than Brad, a scowl on his face. I rolled my eyes, throwing away the paper towel. I didn’t have time for any of this. I went to walk past him, but he grabbed my elbow forcing me to stop and look at him. When I did his eyes seemed to be blazing a bright blue with barely leashed fury.
“What the fuck was that?” He growled, taking his hand from my elbow.
I feigned innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know damn well what I am talking about, Claire. You damn near let it slip to our parents that we had sex,” he ranted, running his hands through his hair.
“If you remember correctly, I said I was not impressed. So if you made the connection of that with us having sex, what’s that say about you?” I quirked my eyebrow, putting my hands on my hips.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
He was pacing the bathroom now, not registering what I said. But when he did his look was beyond comical. I couldn’t contain the laughter, I bent over pointing a finger at him. I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard. He looked like someone just stole his frigging cookie. His lips were in a pout only a petulant child would use and his arms were crossed over his chest.
“You know, I don’t know if I like the new Claire or not. I liked you way better when you would trip over yourself to get my attention,” he snapped.
“Well, we don’t always get what we want,” I shot back.
He opened his mouth to say something but didn’t get it out before someone was at the door wanting in. My eyes snapped back to his in shock. What the fuck were we going to do? There was no way that I could get him out of here without anyone seeing. Hell, someone was at the door right now. He put a hand over his mouth, anger vanishing as he began laughing. I had to make a snap decision. Thank god he was right beside the first stall. I unlocked the door then bolted for him, pushing him in the stall with me. He fell over the toilet and I fell on top of him as I shut the door and locked it.
We heard a group of girls enter the bathroom not even a second later, laughing and giggling. We were so fucked if they found us in here. More than fucked, we’d be frigging dead. Coffins for two please. My nerves were balled up tight in my stomach, I felt like I was going to be sick. I started fidgeting on Brad’s lap. If this whole situation wasn’t painful enough, Brad’s big friend chose that moment to start poking me on the ass.
“Oh my God. Brad, you choose now to get hard. Seriously?” I whisper-yelled at him.
“It’s not like I can control it,” he snapped, shifting on the toilet. “The mother fucker has a mind of its own.”
“Holy fuck, that’s only making it worse. Tame the damn thing.”
“There’s no taming this bad boy, sweetie. Trust me… No one, and I repeat no one, can tame a fucking king,” he chuckled.
I scoffed. “You’re so full of yourself.”
He leaned forward, breath caressing the side of my neck. “That’s not what you were screaming earlier today.
I didn’t say another word. He knew he was right. I had came all over his fat cock earlier, so there was no denying it. I waited for the girls to make their exit from the bathroom before I extricated myself from him. I slide the lock, opening the door. He was about to follow me out when I heard my mother on the other side of the door. Fucking great. Let’s have a fucking reunion in here while we’re at it. I pushed him back into the stall, shutting the door.
I ran over to the sink, pretending I was washing my hands just as my mother came through the door. I looked in the mirror and gave her a bright smile. So help me god if Brad came out of that stall I’d rip his dick off. She gave me a bright smile, and asked if I was ok. I nodded my head and put my hand on the small of her back to lead her from the bathroom. Just as we were sitting down, I saw Brad exit the hall from the restroom.
His hooded eyes ate me up from all the way across the room. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good to have his eyes on me like that again. But I would be a damn fool if I took up what his sinful body had to offer. A smile started coming over me, until I saw a woman to the far left walk toward him. My smile stopped and turned into a scowl when I saw her touch his arm. The woman looked so fucking familiar, but I couldn’t place her. But I knew I’d seen her before.
He stood there talking to her for a few minutes, a smile on his face, but a death glare in his eyes. Whoever that woman was, was definitely not a fan of Brad’s. His posture was rigid, but I could tell that he was only trying to be polite in the middle of a crowded restaurant. The woman’s smile fell at what he said, she looked toward me, then back to him when anger came over her. She snapped something at him and then walked away. He watched her go, then joined us back at the table.
I wanted to ask him who that was, because the moment her hand touched him I wanted to rip it off. I’ve never felt so violent in all my life at someone. Not even Brad and he’d fucked me up the most of all. As we finished lunch, I hugged my mother before Brad and I left for our waxing appointment. Having not been waxed for quite some time, only sticking to shaving I was going to be walking bold legged for the rest of the night I was sure of it. I also knew Brad was going to make fun of me too.
What I hadn’t expected when we got to the salon was Brad getting waxed as well. It was frigging hilarious hearing his squeals coming from the waxing room. At one point in time I could swear on my very life, he was crying and telling the man waxing his male area he would pay him anything to just stop. However, I heard more girly screams echoing throughout the salon. I sat there snickering to myself just as the door opened. Here came Brad, perma-scowl on his face, walking toward me holding his junk as if he were protecting it from something.
“What in the world?” I giggled from behind my magazine.
“I’m going to kill him. I swear, I will. Then I’ll piss on his fucking grave,” he growled sitting down awkwardly next to me.
I giggled at the pained gasp that came from his lips when he sat down fully. “Who?”
“Dad,” he said, his face screwing up like the name left a bad taste in his mouth. “He told the wax technician when he made the appointments that if you had to go through the pain, so did I.”
Well thank fuck Henry had a sense of humor. He’d just literally made my day.
I tried to make ligh
t of the situation, but failed horribly when I started laughing. He gave me a stone cold killer glare, and then smacked my ass when I got up to go to the room. I was nervous going in there. Hearing all the screams and cries that came from Brad, I just felt that it was going to be worse for me. Instead of just getting one maybe two things waxed, I was practically getting my whole body done.
The woman waiting for me scared the ever living shit out of me. She was a solid six foot tall with broad manly shoulders, sporting a mustache. She looked like one of those German women named Helga or some shit. I wanted the man Brad had, he’d been hot. This woman just gave me the heebie-jeebies. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but she just put off a vibe that screamed butch.
Maybe Henry didn’t have a sense of humor, the asshole.
An hour and a half later I was complete hairless from the shoulders down. I thought I’d been pretty hairless before, but damn that woman got everywhere; and I do mean, everywhere. She spent most of the time hovering around my pussy and taint. I’d never felt so uncomfortable in all my life. But damn did she take her job seriously. However, I felt like I’d won a small victory. I didn’t even make a peep when she was going to war on my body with the wax and strips. Now I had something to hold over Brad’s head. He’d been a trooper, I’d give him that. But he was the one that screamed like a little girl. Taunting him would be so sweet.
When we started getting our hair transformed, I was exhausted. It being only four pm I thought I was going to fall asleep on my feet. Having no sleep the night before, then dealing with Brad all day was just getting to me. I caught myself dosing on and off in the chair as the man chopped away at my long once luminous hair. By the time he was done cutting, dyeing, styling my hair, and moving me to the station to get my nails done, I was so ready to get out of the salon.
Since I kept up with my nails up regularly, it didn’t take long to get them done. However, for Brad it took them a tad longer. Of course he being all male the only thing he did with his nails was clip them. It was a sight watching the technician grind his cuticles. I’ve never heard a man in all my life squeal the way he did. I was sure that this would be the last time any of these people would see him in here.
That thought alone is what kept me going. After we were finished he literally beat me to the door. I chuckled watching him wave at all the smitten woman in his haste to get the hell out of here. I wasn’t even fully out the door before he hoisted me over his shoulder, running the rest of the way to the car. It was absolutely hilarious that this big strong, virile, man was scared of a bunch of beauty technicians.
“Get in the car,” he said dropping me unceremoniously to the ground. “We gotta get the fuck out of here.”
I did as he said, laughing the entire time. Just seeing him in the shop made my entire fucking day. I was definitely going to be telling Alex and mom about this later. They would get a good laugh at it as well. Who knew a big man could get scared so easily? I sure as hell didn’t. But damn it was priceless none the less.
He dropped me off at my moms, screeching his tires as he left. I stood there laughing when the front door opened. My mom coming out onto the front porch, giant smile and all. She was leaning against the railing when I got to her. She looked me up and down with a knowing look on her face. It felt oddly weird to have her looking at me like this. Usually it didn’t bother me, but there was just that look on her face. As if she knew exactly what went on while we’d been gone today.
“Have fun today?” She asked, gripping my shoulders leading me into the house.
“Yeah, it was oddly cathartic.” I stated, going to the couch to sit.
She sat down next to me, internally fighting with herself. She finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and had to ask. “How did Brad like the waxing?”
At that I fucking lost it. Doubling over with laughter, I gripped my belly when it started hurting. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I continued to cackle with my laughter. “Ha. He just loved that. Said he needed to do it more often.”
“I can just imagine now.” She said with tears rolling down her cheeks.
We sat there for the longest time talking about what the day brought us. I left out all the parts about Brad and me. I didn’t need to deal with that pickle just yet. She told me how she met Henry, which was the sweetest thing ever. She was late for work one morning, only to have a flat tire on her way. She was on the side of the road, makeup a complete mess, clothes already wrinkling from the drizzle of rain. She was just about to give up when a man in a Range Rover pulled up behind her.
He’d gotten out and come to ask her if she needed help. She explained that she felt such warmth when she gazed into his dove gray eyes. But she said he pulled off his jacket, put it around her and led her back to his vehicle. Henry Titan was a very, very busy man. But hearing how he carved minutes out of his day for my mother when she’d been in need, softened my heart even more toward the old man.
We were crying, laughing, and damn near pissing ourselves when we had to part to get ready for dinner. I chose this time to call Alex. I hadn’t called her since I hit city limits yesterday. I was missing her something crazy, and needed to hear her voice. Grabbing my phone, I dialed her. When I got voicemail, I was slightly bummed. I tried again only to hear her voicemail again. I opted to send a quick text before getting ready.
With the way my mom wanted me to dress, it would take me an hour alone just to get my makeup and hair right. Not wasting a moment I laid my gown out on my bed and went to the bathroom to start getting ready for the night. In some ways I was glad tomorrow would be just and mother and daughter day. That was something that both of us needed, desperately. Just dinner. That was the only thing in the way of being around my mother for a whole day. I was so excited, I couldn’t wait.
Chapter Fourteen
I was rocking this shit.
Slipping into my stilettos, I went to the mirror to check myself out. I turned seeing the crisscrossing diamond straps at my back. The black satin dress I was donned in, was absolutely breathtaking. When I spotted it in the window of a shop in New York, I just had to have it. The gown hugged all my curves like a glove. It was diamond studded around my breasts, pushing them up giving me some ample cleavage. Even though I was absolutely exhausted from today’s events, I was looking forward to dinner. My mom told me that there was a surprise waiting for me at the country club. So that made all this playing dress up worth it.
If I knew my mother like I thought I did, it was something big. Grabbing my clutch, I came out of my room. Meeting mom at the bottom of the steps we gushed over how great we both looked. However, we knew if we stood here too long fawning over each other, we would be late. Slipping out into the night, we made our way to the country club. We spent most of the drive talking and laughing.
There had been so much to happen while I was gone. Most of the shit that did, had me cackling with laughter. I found out that Mr. Rogers was caught sleeping with Mrs. Simmons, by both of their spouses. It was the most hilarious thing ever. Not only were they cheating on each other, but it was like they swapped spouses. I didn’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life. What a way to be caught with your pants down? Literally.
“So it’s just me and you tomorrow,” I clarified.
She nodded her head with a big smile on her face. “Yup, just you and me kiddo.”
“Great, because tomorrow is your bachelorette party.” I stated with an evil smile, raising my eyebrows up and down.
She groaned. “No strippers, Claire. Just no.”
“Why?”
“Henry is the only man I want to see that way. Ever,” she chuckled.
“Ok…One, that’s just wrong. Two, you are such a party pooper.”
“Only being honest, my dear.” She shrugged her shoulder, chuckling.
I was lost in conversation I hadn’t noticed we’d made it to the club. The valet opened our doors, their mouths dropping open in delighted shock. I blushed from their reaction, taking the valets hand I got o
ut of the car. My mother joined my side, and we began ascending the steps. Just as a doorman opened the door, Henry’s car pulled up. I stood back with my mother clutching my bag in front of me.
The moment the men saw us standing there, their expressions went from being playful to sinful. Henry absolutely ate my mother up with his eyes. But that’s not what had me catching my breath. It was Brad standing there in a black tuxedo, with a lone red rose in his hand. His hair was perfectly gelled, he looked absolutely handsome. His presence quickly reminded me of the time he came to the house begging me to take him back. In that moment, I forgot how to breathe.
He made his way toward me, his gaze taking me in. He stopped just in front of me, offering me the rose. It was the sweetest gesture that I felt my eyes beginning to tear up. A person clearing their throat drew my attention. Snapping out of my trance I saw Henry and my mother examining the situation with watchful eyes. Backing away from Brad, I felt a blush stain my cheeks. I couldn’t let myself get caught up in him, especially not in front of our parents.
As custom for the club would have it. The men held their arms out to my mother and me. Slipping our arms through theirs, we made our way inside. The moment my arm touched his it felt like I’d been shocked. My body began thrumming with arousal. He was the only man to be able to send my body soaring from the simplest touch. I also knew in that moment, he would only ever be the one to make me feel this way.
I really wished that our parents weren’t getting married. There was something still between him and me; something that I desperately wanted to pursue, but found I couldn’t. I knew he was feeling the same way when his eyes came to rest on mine. His brilliant blues were lit up with an emotion I was all too familiar with. He still loved me just as much as I did him. I wanted to openly sob, because there was no chance.
Thick: A Stepbrother Romance Page 12
