Last Good Thing (The Fallout Series Book 1)

by Heather Young-Nichols

  “Just… no.” I walked straight to my bedroom to get a bathing suit out of my dresser.

  “He is so hot.”

  “And he knows it.”

  “They usually do.” She wasn’t wrong.

  “He’s a whore,” I said, as if that would make a difference to her.

  She squinted and cocked her head to the side. “So I’d have to pay him?”

  I snorted as I brushed past her on my way to the kitchen.

  “Come on, Laney,” she pled.

  “Fine,” I said with a sigh. “Like I said. He’s a whore. Last I heard, he was seeing someone but he doesn’t do girlfriends so I doubt he still is. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing, but honestly, he’s really nice. At least to me. I wouldn’t know how he treats women he’s with because I try not to witness that.”

  “I guess I might just have to find out for myself.”

  It was really inevitable. I probably should’ve known the moment I’d decided to stay in East Branch for the entire summer that they’d meet, which meant a possible hook up.

  “Don’t get pregnant,” I called out as I buried my head in a cupboard.

  “Gross,” she said with a laugh.

  The guys were right on time and we were ready. We had a tote bag packed with sandwiches, fresh veggies, and some fruit and chips. And we’d had time to change. Rhian had been wearing a skirt, but I’d assured her she’d want some shorts and we both needed to take a hoodie for later. We were already on the front porch when the guys pulled up in Zac’s Nova.

  Once we were loaded up, Zac climbed behind the wheel and his hand snaked over to grab mine across the bench seat. It was amazing how much I already missed that little touch from him.

  And I didn’t feel the least bit bad leaving Rhian in back with Porter.

  The party was already going when we got to the pond, the fire not quite at full force. The first thing we did was find a quiet spot to eat.

  “So, Zac,” Rhian started. The way her voice sounded made my stomach drop. “What was Laney like as a kid? I’m guessing tom-boy because she’s still a tom-boy.”

  “Yeah, I guess she was,” he answered. “She hung out with us most of the time.”

  “The only other girl around was Maddie,” Porter added.

  “Maddie?” she asked, glancing at me.

  Crap. I hadn’t told her about the whole situation just yet.

  “Zac’s baby-mama,” Porter said with a chuckle before I had the chance to. Then he leaned over and pointed over Rhian’s shoulder. We all followed his motion and found Maddie talking to someone I didn’t immediately recognize.

  “Baby-what?” She turned back to me with wide eyes.

  “They have a four-year-old,” I said, trying to keep any sort of emotion over that fact out of my voice. Also, I didn’t like knowing that as well as I’d been pretending, I was fine with their situation, a small part of me wasn’t.

  Rhian glanced from me to Zac and back probably fifty times before she gave me that intense look. The one she had which said she needed the details later. I’d give them, but I really didn’t want to answer her questions in front of the guys since I had no idea how each one would affect me.

  The silence between the four of us grew uncomfortable.

  “Hey, Porter.” Zac tipped a beer to his lips, taking a long drink. I watched his throat move as he swallowed. “Do you like gentle kisses on your butthole?”

  I knew Zac well enough to pick up the irritation in his voice. He was wishing Porter had kept his mouth shut.

  “Maybe. You offering?” Porter said back.

  “Might be.”

  Rhian giggled into the air, effectively resolving the heavy atmosphere around us. I could kiss her right then, but Porter would like that too much.

  Once we were done eating, Zac ran the bag back to his car so we wouldn’t have to worry about it while Porter dropped the cooler closer to the fire. I, on the other hand, took Rhian around and introduced her to whoever I could. She and Maddie hit it off despite whatever had been going through Rhian’s head earlier. I’d figured they would. Rhian always fit in anywhere she went.

  As we walked away from Maddie, Rhian said, “Baby mama?”

  “Yup.”

  “That is one of things you meant when you told me everyone was the same but different?”

  “Yup.”

  “Laney.” She yanked my arm so I’d stop beside her. “Give me more. You’re my best friend and you didn’t tell me any of this?”

  I sighed while moving my weight from one foot to the other. “I’m still working through it in my own head and didn’t want you to influence me.”

  “Me?” she asked with mock surprise. “How would I influence you?”

  “In every way. Look. You’re my best friend and I know you’d only be looking out for me but you’d for sure have an opinion about all this. I just want to make sense of it in my own head first.”

  Rhian took a beat, maybe wanting to form her response in her head, maybe trying to find a way to say what she thought without influence me. But finally, she said, “You’re right. I’ll reserve talking about it until you’re ready.”

  “Thank you.” I reach out and pulled her into a hug.

  As we passed a tree on the way back toward the group, Zac took me by surprise when he grabbed me. I didn’t even see him when his hand shot out, gripped my wrist, and pulled.

  “What the hell?” I said breathlessly. “You scared me half to death.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I needed to be sneaky to get you alone,” he said bringing me to stand between his leg. “I thought Rhian was going to keep you all night.”

  “Well, I can’t just abandon her. She doesn’t know anybody.”

  “Pretty sure Porter wants to get to know her.”

  I scowled up at him. “I know he does.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who told him no. You had to realize what that was going to do. It might have been four years, but Porter has always been Porter.”

  I sighed. “I know. Which is why I need to kick my own ass.”

  “Hey, Laney, can we stop talking about my asshole best friend? Because I’d really, really like to kiss you right now.”

  Well, who could say no to that?

  Zac fell back against the tree, bringing me with him, and wasted no time getting his lips on me. And I didn’t hesitate to encourage him to take the kiss deeper because I’d gotten comfortable with his tongue touching and stroking mine and him taking my bottom lip between his teeth.

  Suddenly, he spun the two of us so that my back was against the rough bark and he was pushing his weight into me. And he was into it. I could feel how much against my stomach.

  That was the first time I’d felt that particular excitement from him. He’d told me about it, but I’d never experienced it first-hand. A warm thrill shot through my body at knowing I could do that to him.

  “Oh, I see how it is,” Maddie said out of nowhere, making me pull away from Zac. He groaned low in his throat like my movement caused him physical pain and he didn’t let me get too far, whether because he wanted to keep me close or he was using me as a shield to cover his erection. I wasn’t sure which. “So, you two together officially?” she asked.

  For a moment, I panicked. Zac had told me that they didn’t do the baby mama drama thing, but the way she sounded had me a little scared. I guessed I’d been wrong about her already knowing about us, wrong that I thought they’d talked.

  Well, that was annoying.

  “Yup,” was all he answered.

  “About fucking time,” she said, then she walked away.

  “So we’re together?” I asked once I caught my breath.

  “If you want to be. I’m not looking to see anybody else.” He still hadn’t moved and that still hard part of his anatomy brushed the side of my leg. “Unless… ”

  I cut him off right there. “Right. Like I’m going to go off with Porter or something.”

  “Don’t say that, L
aney, even as a joke.” He shook his head sadly. “Porter has been my friend since we were eight. I’d have to kill him, hide the body, or do time. I’ve got a kid to think about.”

  Trying not to laugh right at him, I said, “I guess that’s settled then.”

  “Does that bother you?” he asked. I wasn’t sure which part he meant. The murder or doing time. “That I have a kid. I saw your face when Rhian reacted to me having Dylan.”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head for emphasis. “It doesn’t bother me that you have a kid. And Dylan’s great. But if I did have a problem, it’d be my problem and we couldn’t be together. He’s your kid. He comes first.”

  “Yeah.” He nodded. “Then Maddie? Is she the part that bothers you? I thought you were OK with that.”

  “I was. I mean I am.” Then I sighed. I should at least be honest with him. “What I mean is, I understand and my brain understands that it wasn’t a serious thing between you two. I know that. But I can’t say that some teeny, tiny part of me isn’t still… upset… jealous… I don’t know… about the fact that you were with her that way and never gave me a second look.”

  “I gave you lots of second looks,” he said quietly. “You know that.”

  “I know that now. But back then, I thought you wouldn’t have touched me if I were the last female on Earth.”

  “I’m so sorry about all of that, Laney. So fucking sorry and I wish I could go back and make sure you knew how special you were to me. Still are. But I can’t do that,” he said. There were a lot of things I wish we could go back and redo. But we couldn’t. “Back then… when you thought I didn’t see you that way… you still got part of me no one else did.”

  I snorted. “Right. Maddie got your kid, so I’m pretty sure she got a part of you no one else did.”

  “I’m not talking about sex, Laney. You got me. You were the only person I would have burned the world for. I would’ve dropped everything if you needed me.”

  “You did,” I said as several memories bombarded me at the same time. “You did drop everything for me. All the time.”

  He’d been out on a date when my car wouldn’t start at the library sophomore year. The place had closed and it had been dark. I’d left the headlights on and the battery died. I’d sent Zac a text and he showed up, without the girl, ten minutes later. Judging by the disheveled look of his hair and clothes, they’d been in the middle of something. But he’d left to help me out.

  After we all found out my parents were getting divorced, things had gotten weird around my house for a little while. Dad moved to the couch and I needed to get out of there. Even though his own father had threatened him with everything, including kicking Zac out if he left without finishing the chores list, Zac and I hopped into the car and began driving north. We drove for hours just to turn around and head back home.

  He’d never mentioned what happened to him when he’d gotten home, even when I’d asked.

  I had a hundred more memories like that.

  Zac had always been the one person I could count on back then without fail. Which had made him disappearing from my life all the more hurtful.

  “And I wouldn’t do that for anyone else,” he said. “You were my girl, even when you weren’t.”

  “OK, Zac,” I said quietly. “OK.”

  He kissed me softly. So softly it was almost painful given that we both wanted more but couldn’t have it here. We weren’t alone. My issues with him and Maddie having been together, for however brief a time, were my issues, and I’d have to push them aside. He was right. He came when I called no matter what he was doing or whom he was doing it with. I’d forgotten that, taken it for granted, but he’d reminded me.

  It shouldn’t be that hard to get over Zac and Maddie. They both insisted they weren’t a couple. They hadn’t had a relationship. They’d just had sex.

  We walked slowly, hand-in-hand, back to the fire and I was surprised to see how much time had passed, how dark it had gotten. The later it got, the thinner the crowd became until it was just a couple of handfuls, mostly people I remembered from before I’d left. Just like we used to, we sat around the dwindling fire telling old stories and laughing. Zac sat with his back against a log and me tucked between his legs. It felt nice. It felt safe. It was pretty much my new favorite place.

  When Porter offered Zac another beer, he declined. I told him I could drive because I hadn’t had any, but he still refused.

  “Please, Laney, you know he doesn’t drink much,” Porter said. Actually, I didn’t know that. Sometimes the guys seemed to forget that I hadn’t been around in a long time. It was nice to fold back into the group without issues, but there was a lot I’d missed. “I’ve known him basically his whole damn life and I’ve only ever seen him drunk once.”

  “Once?” I asked. “Really?”

  “Porter,” Zac said as a warning, but Porter being Porter, he either didn’t hear it or didn’t care.

  “Yeah. The weekend you left. He was fucked up. I was afraid he wouldn’t be sober enough to make it to work Monday.”

  I pushed up and twisted around so that I could set my eyes on Zac.

  “Seriously?” I asked. A tiny, almost imperceptible nod was all I got from him and I had the feeling that was going to be it. At least for now. I’d ask about his drunken weekend later.

  After my third yawn, Zac helped me up and told everyone we were leaving. Porter and Rhian were hot on our trail. Maddie had already left with someone I didn’t recognize.

  “How long you staying for?” Porter asked as Zac drove us home and he was absolutely not talking about me.

  Being tired, I rested my head against the door to enjoy the fresh air.

  “I don’t know,” answered Rhian. “Maybe the week. Depends on how long Laney wants me here.”

  “You could stay forever for all I care,” I told her.

  “Well, the week then,” she said with a giggle, definitely buzzed. I recognized the sound.

  “Excellent,” Porter said back. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

  Porter left on foot as soon as we parked in Zac’s driveway; one of the perks of living just up the street. The rest of us headed for my house. As soon as we were through the door, Rhian stumbled her way to my bedroom, saying I could come grab some pajamas whenever. Zac followed me to the couch, where I slipped my sneakers off to pull my knees under my chin.

  “I assume you want to talk,” he said, sliding an arm across the back of the couch.

  “About lots of things but since you’re willing… ” I gave him a sweet smile. “I don’t understand your visitation with Dylan. I’ve been curious. It seems random sometimes and you absolutely don’t have to tell me because he’s your kid.”

  Zac chuckled quietly. “It is kind of random, I guess.” He slid a little closer to me. “We have joint custody which means we get equal says in Dylan’s life.”

  “Makes sense,” I agreed.

  “And we don’t really have visitation exactly. In the beginning, it was some nights here, some there depending on our schedules. But now that he’s in preschool, Maddies’ parents take him and pick him up while we work. We kept to the same schedule of sometime here and other’s there but he started to act out. He needed a schedule. So we fell into more of an every other weekend thing and I do get him more in the summer, every minute I can. And of course I get him extra when she has shit to do. I usually never say no.”

  “That makes sense. You two are super grown up about this,” I half teased.

  “Have to be,” he told me. “Dylan didn’t ask to be born into a mess so we’re not going to give him one. I support him financially as well. So does she. We just have to make it about what’s best for him.” He picked him a lock of my hair and rolled it between his thumb and index finger. “What else?”

  “What was all that Porter was saying? You were drunk the weekend I left?” I asked.

  He nodded, running his hand through his mess of hair. “I was upset. Pissed off that you were lea
ving. Maddie was pregnant and I knew I was losing you. My entire world was fucked. Things would never be the same. I wanted to block out the fucking world.”

  “Aww… poor baby,” I said with a smile. “You know, I wasn’t happy to be going, either.”

  “I know.” He paused, bringing a hand to the back of my neck. “But you’re back now.” I didn’t bother to remind him it was temporary.

  Zac leaned down, just barely brushing his lips against mine, but that soft touch was enough to send my body into high gear. Before I’d given myself any sort of permission to go for what I wanted, I climbed onto him so that my knees were on either side of his hips. Right there on the couch. His tongue slid against mine. His hands squeezed my hips. And I had no idea what came over me, but I leaned back and pulled my shirt up over my head until I was there in just my bra.

  His gaze slid down. A soft groan rumbled in his chest right before his mouth came down on the swell of one breast. I curled my hands into his hair as we kissed, and he gently sucked on my bottom lip. I wanted this, had wanted it for a long time. As far back as I could remember, he was the only guy I’d wanted as much as this.

  There had been others, and I’d wanted everything I’d done, but he had always been there in the back of my mind.

  Zac flipped me onto my back and settled his body between my legs. An area that was only a couple of layers of clothing away from being touched the way I ached to be. His kiss became more demanding, only giving me a break long enough to reach back and yank his own shirt off. The way he moved against me, the pressure and rubbing in all the right places, I thought I might come right then and there. I was starting to sound like a panting dog.

  Not very attractive.

  “Oh, shit. Sorry.” Rhian’s voice came out of nowhere, slicing through the cloud of desire around us. I thought she’d been drunk enough to fall asleep right away. “Don’t mind me. I was just getting a drink.”

  The sound of her feet padded back to the bedroom, but the moment was over.

  She couldn’t have seen much, other than maybe the top of Zac’s bare back, but the sounds had been telling enough. Hell, she probably thought he’d already been inside me by that point.