by Holly Hood
“So, Dad is okay,” I said for the fifth time. “I don’t know how to explain what she did but it worked.”
Karsen sighed. “I don’t even know what to think right now.”
“That makes two of us.” I rubbed at my ear. “Just know that we did the right thing.”
“I’m sure you did.” Karsen took my hand. “You did what you needed to do to get your dad back. Anyone would have. Don’t beat yourself up about at what cost. These people will get over it.”
“I hope so,” I said. I hoped Kenny could take control of the giant mess he created and not let it spill over on us again.
Karsen and I watch Slade and Kidd take down a giant bush with the chainsaw Kidd brought. She elbowed me in the side. “Do you think we’re crazy for falling in love with these guys?”
I shrugged. “Look at them. Who wouldn’t fall for them?”
“Good point,” Karsen said. “And besides being a rock star, he fucks like one too.”
I shook my head, looking away from Karsen and her crude statement. “Oh shit.”
“What?” Karsen followed my gaze. “I can’t believe he has the balls to show up here.”
We both stood up. I hurried down the steps. “Get the hell out of here.”
Hutch grinned. “What’s wrong, Doll. Not happy to see me?”
Karsen crossed her arms. “She would be happy to see you if someone dropped your dead body at her feet.”
Hutch ignored our wishes and kept right on pushing my buttons. “I see your boyfriend is moving on up in the world.”
I wanted to punch him, but I settled on slamming the gate open. “Get the fuck away from me right now.”
“Or what, doll?”
“Don’t call me doll,” I warned. The chainsaw cut off, and seconds later Slade and Kidd were pushing me out of the way to get closer to Hutch.
“You got to be kidding me,” Slade said. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
Hutch remained composed. “I was wondering how you guys managed it.”
Kidd stepped forward chainsaw still in his hand. “Pick your words carefully because I would hate for this chainsaw to slip.”
Hutch lifted his chin. “You don’t have the balls my friend.”
Karsen stopped him before he could prove it. “He’s not worth it. Let’s go inside.”
“How did we manage what?” Slade asked. “How did we manage to bring her father back? I guess that’s something you might want to ask your friend about.” He stepped forward. “Now get the fuck out of here.”
Hutch’s nostril flared. He bared his teeth waiting for Slade to strike. And Slade didn’t disappoint. Slade hit him in the face and went after him like a football player knocking him into the fence.
“No!” Kidd yelled, refusing to let Slade get into a bigger mess with Hutch. He pulled Slade off of him. “I’m not going to let you do this. He’s not worth it and if I have to bail you out of jail one more time I swear to god I’ll kick your ass.”
Slade’s jaw flexed. He stared Hutch down. Hutch dusted himself off, swiping his hands together to free them of sand. “I see you still can’t control you boyfriend’s temper tantrums. When you’re ready for a real man and not a common thug you know where to find me.”
I gritted my teeth, looking away from him.
“Go fuck yourself,” Karsen yelled at him. “That’s the only person who would be willing.”
“Just remember at one time your friend was,” he said. I cringed at the thought of it. I couldn’t believe I ever let him put his hands on me.
“Yeah well we all are delusional once or twice in our lives,” Karsen said.
I touched her shoulder. “It’s okay you can stop defending me. He’s leaving.” I watched him walk away.
“I hate that guy,” she said.
Slade sat down on the porch. “I think we all do.”
“No shit.” Kidd took the spot next to him.
Slade looked at me concern written all over his face. I sighed looking away.
“Don’t let him get under your skin,” he said. “I don’t care about what you did with him.”
I hated he was bringing it up in front of my best friend and Kidd. But that was the kind of person he was. He didn’t care what people thought about him.
“I care,” I said, wiping tears from my eyes. I didn’t want them to know I was crying but it was too late. Karsen wrapped her arms around me.
“Do not let that idiot make you feel bad. We’ve all slept with people we shouldn’t have. Who the hell cares?” She smoothed my hair.
The next thing I knew Slade took over, he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight. He kissed the top of my head. “There will never be anything in this world you could do to disappoint me except not be in love with me.”
“How fucking sweet,” Kidd said.
“Yes. A page right out of a fucking fairy tale,” Karsen added.
I rolled my eyes burying my face in Slade’s chest. “I will always love you.”
“You better,” Slade said. “Because the only thing that makes sense is you and me.”
The best kind of friend
“Is it me or are we the only ones on the beach with amazing bikinis on?” Karsen looked around the sands at the frumpy older woman and teen girls in modest one pieces. “God, this church is going to be the death to fashion.”
I smirked sliding my glasses down. “I’m so glad we are hanging out today.” I missed Karsen and all her quirkiness.
“So much better than scrubbing floors and washing down windows,” she pointed out.
“Bad fashion isn’t the only thing this church is destroying,” I said thinking about Henry Park. “They have taken the best thing to happen to this place away. And I feel so bad for Slade and Kidd.”
Karsen agreed with me laying back to soak in the sun. She untied her bathing suit top giving me familiar pangs of panic. “They will be fine. They always are.”
“I hope so. I know what it’s like to feel disappointment because of this shitty town.” I sighed. “In more ways than one.”
Karsen rolled to her stomach and let go of her bathing suit top. The teens a few blankets over caught on rather quickly and stared her down. “Take them in boys I got a feeling it’s going to be a long time before you see any of these.”
I dropped down on my towel to get over the embarrassment. “You never fail to shock me.”
“After all these years you shouldn’t be shocked anymore,” Karsen said. “Did I mention how sweet Slade was after Hutch showed himself?”
Butterflies swarmed in my stomach and I smiled. “He was wasn’t he?”
“That boy is head over heels in love with you. It’s adorable,” she said. “Almost as adorable as Kidd and I.”
I grinned thinking about Slade’s handsome face and tattoos and what I wished I could be doing to him. “I love him too.”
“I know you do,” Karsen said. “It’s written all over you.”
“I just hope everything can go smooth from here on out.”
“It will.”
I wasn’t so sure. Hutch already proved he wanted to start problems between Slade and I. I wished he would get a clue and move on. Having to deal with a pissed off man who once had a thing for you was not fun or easy.
I closed my eyes trying to relax and get Hutch out of my mind. I wasn’t going to let him ruin my day. The sun was out, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and Karsen was right beside me.
But like everything else in Cherry that quickly fell apart. We both screamed when the water hit us. I ripped my glasses off just in time to see a group of kids running from us.
“So much for my tan,” Karsen groaned wiping at the water. She found her top and took her time securing it around her neck letting everyone on the beach get a free peek of her goods. Then she looked up at the woman staring us down with looks of disgust on their faces. “What? Are you jealous?”
They stood up, and collected their things. “We will never b
e jealous of two girls involved with the devil.”
Karsen laughed. “You only wish you could have so much fun being evil!”
I grabbed her arm. “Stop.”
She pulled away. “We date boys with tattoos and piercings, sue us.”
“We hang with witches,” I said under my breath reminding Karsen who we were to these people. “Arguing is never going to get you anywhere with them. They only see black and white.”
“I’d rather hang with witches than a bunch of bitches.” She turned around staring at the crowd gathered. “Do you really think a little ocean water will run us off the beach? Or out of Cherry?”
Nobody said anything.
“Be very careful, or I might have my boyfriend give you genital herpes.” She pointed at each and every one of them. “Come on, Hope. Let’s jump in the water and show them how to have some fun.”
Word of mouth
I loved the way he looks at me when I don’t have a single stitch of clothes on. Maybe a year ago the thought of being in front of anybody naked would have scared the crap out of me, but not anymore. I liked when he was looking at me.
“Why the smile?” Slade asked, biting down on his lip ring. We were in the bathroom when we should have been out in the garage so he could practice with the band. But we couldn’t get enough of each other.
“I was just thinking about something.” I ran my hand down his chest and stopped at one of his tattoos. “I like when you’re looking at me.” Now I was the one biting my lip.
“Is that right?” He cupped my breast in his hand and used the other hand to stroke the back of my head. I kissed him, letting him tug me close and do what he wanted. His tongue found my nipple sending tremors between my legs. He was good with his mouth. I tried to hide my moan but it was no use. I reminded myself Karsen wasn’t a virgin and it wasn’t her first rodeo. And of course I knew Kidd could care less about our sex life now that I knew what I knew about the two of them.
He ran his fingers down my stomach, I groaned when they slipped inside, which wasn’t a hard feat because I was already turned on just by looking at him, Slade smiled for that exact reason.
I was disappointed when he stopped, but when he dropped to his knees it didn’t matter. He grabbed my hips and guided me against his mouth, this was something I never did before but I liked it. He managed to make our sex even hotter than it already was. His tongue did things to me I couldn’t keep quiet about.
Slade’s fingers dug into my flesh egging on my moans even more. I was about to come and we just started.
He worked his tongue in and out of me at such a tortuous speed I was about to turn to a puddle of mush. I tried to hold it together, I did everything I knew how to keep control.
He laughed when I lost it only seconds later. His breath hit my clit when he did pushing me even further into a glorious orgasm. I didn’t know it but I nearly ripped his hair out of his head and he hadn’t complained.
He kissed the sensitive part of my stomach right underneath my belly button and smiled, standing back up.
Someone pounded on the door. “Time to practice. Quit fucking and get your ass out here already,” Oz yelled from the other side. I smirked, taking a fresh pair of underwear from the top of my clothes.
“I’m coming asshole,” Slade yelled back. “Not in the way I wanted either.”
I took my underwear back off feeling bad Slade was left hanging. “Come on. What’s a few more minutes?”
Slade grinned, fingers digging into my ass, he pressed me against the wall. “You are amazing.” He planted a quick kiss on my lips and set me on my feet. “We’ll finish later.”
I ran a hand through my hair confused. “After what you did to me there is no way I am letting you leave here.”
He yanked his shirt over his head and pulled on his jeans. “Making you come was good enough. Later you can repay me.”
I didn’t want to repay him I wanted to completely ravish him and leave his entire body numb and tingling like he left mine but I didn’t say so. I wasn’t sure I could ever come close to pulling off what he did.
“Okay,” I said softly, slipping my underwear on. I lifted my shorts and work them past my feet. “Sounds good.”
Slade cupped my chin and looked me in the eyes. “What is wrong with you?”
I shrugged. “Nothing, you’ll just think I’m an idiot if I say anything.”
He sighed. “If you’re worried about reciprocating I promise you it will be fine.” He touched my cheek. “I’ll be there to guide you through the whole thing obviously.”
I swallowed. So he did want me to give him a blow job. The words sounded so wrong yet so right and dirty. I wanted to try it.
“What if I do it wrong?” I asked him, running a brush through my damp hair.
Slade unlocked the door but stayed where he was. “Like what? I don’t know how that could even be possible.”
Anything was possible. What if I bit half of it off? What if I choked on it? I was sure it was possible. Shit, I was so out of my league.
He kissed my forehead. “It’s not rocket science, it’s a dick. If you’re nervous we can start on a banana.”
I swatted him in the arm shoving him out the door. “You are an asshole.”
***
A few minutes later I successfully flat ironed my hair. I pulled the plug resting my flat iron in the sink to cool down. I sprayed on some body spray and turned the door knob to the bathroom—nothing.
“Very funny guys.” I called out. “Open up the door.” I twisted and pushed the door and still couldn’t free myself. I looked all around the bathroom for any reason behind why the door wouldn’t open.
I kicked it with my foot yelling for someone to free me before I had a nervous breakdown. If it was Kidd’s way of playing a joke on me it wasn’t funny.
The lights above the sink dimmed and crackled. The hair on the nape of my neck lifted. What the hell was happening? I jerked the door knob with everything I had in me and fell into the hallway.
Nobody was around. They all were outside. I could already hear the music. I took a few steps down the hall past a couple of boxes. Something felt off. When I made it to the end of the hallway I searched for the light and screamed when the boxes fell behind me.
“Is somebody there?” Only an idiot would go back down the hall but I needed to know I wasn’t losing my mind. When I made it to Slade’s bedroom door I pushed it open with my foot and looked around.
It looked no different than any other time. There was nobody there.
“Fuck.” I sighed. “You’re going to drive yourself crazy.” I started down the hall. As soon as I made it to the end Slade’s bedroom door slammed shut and I wasn’t sticking around to find out why.
I ran as fast as my legs could carry me down the porch steps into the garage. Kidd stopped playing. Everyone looked at me, and I felt like the biggest idiot.
“Everything okay, Hope?” Karsen asked from her seat in the corner.
I forced myself to nod and took the seat next to her. “I’m fine. I thought Kidd was playing a prank on me but I guess it was just the wind or something.” I crossed my arms.
