“That still on?”
He scoffs. “Unless Haze grew a conscience overnight, yeah.”
What’s to say he didn’t? He and Winter left together yesterday after dinner, and we didn’t hear anyone, not even my brother, come home last night—except my mom, who came back from her night shift at 4:00 a.m. Who knows what happened between them? Is Haze having a change of heart really that far-fetched?
“Is that what you were texting about?” I gesture to his phone lying screen-down on my bed.
“Yeah, I have to be at training in thirty minutes. We won’t be able to catch a fucking break the next few days. Kendrick’s going to get his ass handed to him unless we…” He stops short.
The reminder seems to weigh him down. Kendrick. His best friend. We completely forgot about him last night.
Didn’t once bring up the “best friend’s sister” dilemma while we were getting together—ahhh, we’re together—or going at it against the wall. No way around it. We’re going to have to tell my brother we’re dating. Soon. Will’s mood switches from worried to distant in a blink.
“I, huh… I should go.” He clears his throat.
Oh hell no.
He does not get to shut me out again.
Not after we slept together.
Not after he didn’t say it back.
I told him I loved him last night, and in response, he crawled down my body, spread my thighs, and gave me the third-biggest orgasm of my life. I tried not to overthink it—it was pretty damn hard to be mad with his face between my legs—but now that we’ve come back down to earth, I’m a bit… sad? Why didn’t he say it back? Did I read his fairy-tale declaration wrong?
Come to think of it, nowhere in his speech did he say he loved me. He talked about “wanting to be with me” but never, not once, brought up the L word.
Ouch.
I watch Will roam my room in search of his pants, feeling like a dumbass whose one-night stand is leaving before blocking her on everything.
“Are we… okay?” My voice wavers.
He stops.
And stares.
When he sees me, sheet wrapped around my body, fearful eyed pointed at him, his face softens. He doesn’t say a word, dropping his pants where he found them and making a beeline for my bed. Silent, he sits by my side, easing a strand of loose blonde hair behind my ear.
Then he closes the space between us. My heart gives a jolt when our lips touch. His tongue finds mine, the heat settling in my stomach almost as satisfying as the relief pouring over me. His hand drops to my shoulder, tracing down my arm and leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake.
He presses his forehead to mine. “Definitely okay.”
I smile.
“More than okay.” I lure him in for more, falling backward onto my bed and ushering his body closer. The sheet skates off my chest as we kiss, exposing my left breast and earning an irritated groan from Will.
He brings his mouth to my tight left nipple in an instant, slowly grazing the tip with his tongue and making me squirm. The tension ramps up as his hand sneaks under the sheet, landing on my stomach and drifting to my… “Okay.” He pulls back, tugging the sheet over my body. “Put some clothes on before I jump you.”
I chuckle, my hand snaking down toward the bulging shape in his briefs. Someone’s awake. His jaw clenches as I run a finger up and down his arousal.
“What if I want you to jump me?”
“Kass,” he warns, but I can’t get enough of the look on his face. I love having him at my mercy. I give his length a squeeze, and he sucks in a breath. “I should really go.” He tries to convince himself, his eyes shutting at my touch.
I jerk my hands away.
“Okay. Maybe next time.”
His eyes snap open, and he looks at me in an “are you fucking kidding me?” manner.
“You should finish getting dressed. Don’t want to be late.”
“Way to give a guy blue balls.” He’s appalled.
“Sorry. Payback for yesterday.”
Letting out a bitter scoff, he kisses the tip of my nose and pushes to his feet, adjusting his briefs.
“I’m going to make you pay for that, control freak.”
“Uh-huh,” I tease, watching him throw his clothes back on. Damn, he’s a snack. “How long are you going to be off doing dumb street fighter things?”
“Don’t know. A few days at most. I’ll text you.”
“You better. I’ll only accept dead pet or family member if you don’t.”
He laughs, stealing one last kiss. “Trust me, a life would have to be in danger for me not to text you back.”
As I watch him trail to the door, I want to say it again.
Kass, don’t.
He won’t say it back.
But maybe you just caught him off guard last night.
Maybe…
“Willy?”
“Yeah?”
Fuck it. Are we together or not?
“I love you.”
I regret saying it as soon as the words leave my mouth. The most awkward smile of all time spreads across his face.
“I’ll see you when I get back,” he replies before scampering down the stairs.
Twenty minutes later, I get a text from him. At first, I think he’s going to apologize, or maybe—just maybe—say it back, but I’m quickly knocked back to reality.
Willy Wonka: Winter came in when I was walking out. I told her I forgot something at your house and came to pick it up before training, but I think she’s suspicious.
Butthurt, I don’t text back, grab some clothes, and stroll into my bathroom for a shower. So not only are his feelings not as strong as mine, he’s also paranoid one day into the relationship that someone will find out about us? We didn’t have time to discuss it. Does he expect us to keep this a secret?
To never tell Kendrick?
What did I just get myself into?
Thirty minutes later, I’m sauntering down the stairs to grab breakfast. I’m supposed to be working at two, and while Luke said I was fired, I never heard from Isabella. Checking my other messages, I notice I have one from Ethan.
Ethan: Isabella wants you to come in at 1.
Kass: Great. I’m getting fired.
Ethan: SIS, WHAT? We’re both going to need a new job then. McDonalds? Starbucks? Take your pick.
I laugh. I can’t believe he’d even consider getting fired with me. I love this weirdo. Another text from Will comes through when I reach the first floor.
Willy Wonka: I miss you already.
I snort. He feels guilty about blowing me off, and he’s trying to smooth things over. I see what you’re doing, Willy. I make a mental note to reply later, heading toward the kitchen. Just as I’m about to turn the corner, I hear something.
Sniffling.
I stretch my neck, careful not to make a sound, and see her. Winter. Sitting at kitchen table with her face nestled in her hands. What the hell happened with Haze last night?
I step out of the shadows. “Are you okay?”
She jumps at the sight of me.
“I’m fine.” She wipes her eyes quickly.
I’m going to smash this guy’s balls with a brick.
I take a seat at the table. “You’re not fine. What did he do?”
She keeps to herself at first, fighting a war with her better judgment. She looks conflicted as to whether she can trust me with this. Can’t blame her. I grilled her about Haze so many times. I regret it now.
“Winter, please. Let me be there for you.”
She heaves a deep breath.
And tells me everything.
She tells me the day I walked in on them in the bathroom was when it all started. Haze had just taken her to a rooftop—more precisely the abandoned high school’s, a place well known around here for being nearly destroyed by fire—and from there, they started talking more and more.
Until she caught feelings, things happened between them, and then she found out about H
aze’s terrible scheme to sleep with her, then dump her to piss off Kendrick. Not sure what he was trying to achieve. Maybe assert his power and dominance over Kendrick and the guys. Like an “I fucked your bitch” type thing. What upsets me the most is how she found out. Haze made it clear he didn’t care about her, or anyone—his words.
All I have to say to that is…
What a gigantic load of crap.
Fine, maybe Haze did want to use Winter to get to Kendrick, but… I saw the way he looked at her at dinner. I’ve seen this guy with Zoey, Bianca, and a never-ending parade of girls in the years I’ve gone to school with him, but I have never seen him look at a girl the way he looked at Winter last night. It’s so obvious the player lost at his own game.
“He didn’t mean it,” I state.
Winter glances at me through teary, wet eyelashes.
“He’s afraid, Winter. Typical boy.”
She scoffs. “Afraid of what? That I caught feelings and he didn’t?”
“No, dummy. He’s not afraid because you caught feelings. He’s afraid because he’s feeling it, too.”
My eyes jump to the clock, and anxiety grasps me when I realize I have to be at work in ten minutes.
To get fired, but still.
“Oh shoot. I’m late for my shift. I have to go. But please, call me if you need anything, okay?” I pull her into a tight hug. “Oh, and don’t text him. Let him be alone with his lies for a while. Might be exactly what he needs.” I swing the door open, my gaze flicking to her. “Never underestimate a man’s capacity to run away from something he’s afraid to want.”
She nods, dabbing at her tears with her sleeve. As I sprint to my car, I can’t help hoping, with all of my being, all of my bruised, control freak heart…
That this is why Will didn’t say it back.
Entering the shop with a sinking pit in my gut, I tell myself that this is for the best. That maybe getting fired from a job I got from a guy I rejected is not so bad. But I don’t mean it. Truth is, I’ve grown to love this job. I love my coworkers, the work itself. If it were up to me, I’d stay in a heartbeat.
Two steps in, I catch sight of the long line of customers stretching all the way to the door. Evidently, Ethan and Isabella are swamped, only taking notice of my presence when I pass them on my way to drop my stuff in the back store.
“Thank God,” Isabella rejoices when she sees me.
“Where’s Diana?” I ask. Diana is the store manager Isabella hired to replace Jenny. Haven’t met her yet, but the fact that Isabella, someone who never picks up shifts, is working right now tells me something is wrong.
“Sick. She’s puking her guts out,” Ethan replies, and Isabella reprimands his crude words when a judgy lady in line pulls a disgusted face. “Sorry, she is busy emptying the contents of her stomach,” he revises, and I barely swallow a laugh.
Even Isabella bites back a grin.
“Hurry, we’re getting destroyed over here,” Ethan presses, and I oblige, joining them at the front to start my shift. Around thirty minutes later, the store is empty, and we can finally breathe again.
Isabella doesn’t pull me aside. Not in the first hour. Not in the second. She acts exactly the way she always does, leaving me to wonder if she changed her mind about firing me. Ethan leaves an hour before me, but the end of my shift quickly rolls around and I close the shop per usual. I gather my stuff in the back, switch off the lights, and pad out of the building to lock up with Isabella on my tail.
I’m the first to gather the courage to say it.
“Thank you so much for this opportunity. I really enjoyed working here.” I force a smile, turning on my heels.
Her hand flies out to hold me back.
“Kassidy, wait. What are you talking about?”
This is weird?
“Well, I’m sure you know by now that Luke and I got into a fight. He told me that I was fired and—”
“He did what now?” She’s stunned. “Honey, he doesn’t speak for me. He’s my nephew, not my boss.”
“You mean… I’m not fired?”
“Of course not. He called me last night, telling me to let you go, but I told him I’m not losing the best employee I’ve had in years because he’s got a bruised ego. He’ll get over it. It’s not the first time he’s sent one of his crushes my way, you know?”
Her revelation shocks me.
“You’re the fourth. Two of them quit, the other one was let go because she was always late, but not because he asked me to fire them. Which he did. Every single time. What kind of boss would I be if I fired my employees without cause every time my nephew asks me to?”
I must have something in my eye, because a tear threatens to leak down my cheek. Embarrassed, I blink back my emotions. God, I’m such a baby, but I really thought I was out of a job. I’ve never been more relieved.
“Oh, honey, come here.” Isabella captures me into a quick embrace. I remember thinking she was a cold woman. I was wrong. Once she warms up to you, she’s the best boss you could ask for. “You’re not fired. Get that out of your head.”
“Thank you so much.”
We say our goodbyes and part ways. I jog to my car, coming to terms with my guilt. I don’t regret stringing Luke along anymore. Yes, I made mistakes with him, but I owned up to them and apologized. To know that I wasn’t the first. That he uses his aunt to get his way. That’s low.
Sliding into the passenger seat, I check my phone for the first time in hours. No new messages from Will—my bad, I didn’t answer him earlier.
I text back quickly.
Kass: I miss you too. How’s everything going?
I’m aware I should be mad at him for point-blank ignoring my “I love you” this morning, but right now, all I want to do is tell him about Luke’s stunt. Sure, he may not be ready for the L word yet, but I have to believe he does have feelings for me. You can’t just fake last night. Maybe he needs more time.
That must be it.
I wait for a reply, sitting in my car pointlessly for a few minutes. Not a peep. He warned me he’d be busy, so I don’t think much of it, fire up the engine, and drive off.
Will
The next day
Sprawled across Alex’s couch with Winter, Kendrick, Alex, Blake, and Nicole, I ignore the buzzing off my phone in my pocket and fight the urge to open her text. The fight is today, a few hours away to be exact, and while Kendrick’s been training since dawn, the anxiety is chipping at my sanity.
Kendrick and his psycho ex Nicole told the group they were back together a few minutes ago. Said it happened yesterday at the kegger, which explains why Kendrick didn’t come home all night. I’m not saying I don’t like Nicole, but… let’s just say if Kendrick is half as bad at fighting tonight as he is at picking girls, we’re fucked.
Blake has been acting weird as hell since we got here. He looks pissed at me, staring bullets into my forehead every chance he gets—not that I’m surprised. I beat his ass at training yesterday. Even gave him a black eye by “accident.” It took everything I had not to blurt out, “That’s for fucking Zoey,” when I sent him straight to the mat.
“I have to take a piss.” I bound to my feet, setting off for the bathroom. When I walk back out fifteen minutes later, the living room is deserted. I’m assuming they relocated upstairs to prepare Winter for what she’s going to see tonight. The fights are no picnic. We can’t have her fainting on punch number one.
I trail into the kitchen and grab a beer out of the fridge—maybe it’ll take the fucking edge off—but before I can open it, Blake’s voice erupts behind me.
“Hey, man.”
I whisk my head back to find him reclining against the counter, arms folded over his chest.
“Hey?” I twist the beer cap off.
“I wanted to ask you… How’s Kass?”
I stop moving.
“Or should I say how was Kass? The pussy still good?”
The beer nearly slips out of my hands.
&n
bsp; How the hell does he know that?
“Don’t look so surprised. People talk.”
The answer seems evident.
Zoey.
It has to be. They’re probably shagging again. I bet she just couldn’t wait to run her fucking mouth.
“I also saw you sneak out of her house like a fucking criminal yesterday morning.”
Shit.
He did tell me he wanted to talk to Winter in person after Haze crashed the fake-girlfriend dinner. Probably turned up at Kass’s house early.
“You spent the night there, didn’t you? You fucked her?”
This can’t be happening.
Not before the fight.
It would stir up a shitstorm—no, a shithurricane—between me and Kendrick, and we need him on top of his game right now. Struck dumb, I consider my options. I could bullshit him and say I crashed there because I was drunk—how much can he really know from standing outside her house?—but something tells me his mind is made up and set in stone.
“You’re right. I did fuck her. And it was good as hell, thanks for asking.”
He seems floored.
In disbelief that I came clean that easy.
If I were smart, I’d stop there. Stand down. But I find myself wanting to push his buttons for what he did to Kass. A beating wasn’t enough.
“We did it everywhere. On the wall, on her bed, on her desk. She came on my cock over and over again. Oh, and she told me how she faked it your entire relationship. That what you wanted to hear, Blakie?”
His jaw hangs.
I mock gasp. “Shit, TMI?”
“You bastard.” He lurches forward, throwing a punch that he fails to deliver when I duck. “Why her, Will? Why Kass? Couldn’t you find some other girl to empty your balls?”
In one move, I grip his collar, slamming his back to the fridge without breaking a sweat. Blake’s an okay fighter, but he’s far from the best of us. He won’t come at me if he knows what’s good for him.
Forgotten Rules: A Brother's Best Friend Romance Page 25
