“You took vows. You promised to love each other forever.” My voice breaks. “Was that all a lie?”
“Not at the time.” He turns away as if he were slapped. “Okay, I still love her. Is that what you want to hear? I still care about her. On occasion, I wonder what it would be like if we were still together as husband and wife.” It’s his voice that’s wobbling now, and my gut says run. Put both of us out of our misery and end this carnival of grief.
Trixy shouts from the outside for the two of us to hurry up, and we make our way to the door.
Dad turns to me as we hit the porch and pulls me in for a quick embrace. “Don’t worry about your mother and me. We’re both exactly where we want to be in life. She’s happy, and I’m happy, too. I don’t need a plus one in my life to be content.” He pulls back with his eyes glassy with tears. “We’re all going to make this work. In fact, I’m meeting up with her and Bradley next week for drinks.”
“What?”
“Relax, we just want to discuss a few things before they make it official.”
“Such as?” My chest wallops as if a baseball bat were striking against it. “Does he know? Are the two of you going to tell him?” All I can think about is how livid Scarlett will be once she finds out she was right about my mother. She’ll think she’s a snake in the grass, a gold digger, and that’s the furthest thing from the truth.
“That’s on her. I’m just heading over to discuss the kids, holidays. In truth, I want to have at least one sit-down with the man who’s about to become a second father to my children.”
I shake my head, our eyes latching one more time. “There’s not a man on the planet who will ever replace you.” I pull him in hard and hold him like that. My chest bucks as I fight back tears.
No sooner do Trix and Dad take off than my phone buzzes, and I fish it out of my jeans.
It’s a text from Owen. I’m at the movies. I need a date, sweetheart. Death Blow Five starts in an hour. You in, pussy?
I text right back. I’m in.
I hit the shower and drive off to the Hollow Brook Cineplex.
Death blow is exactly what’s happened to my family. Ironically, the movie will be just the respite I need to step outside the drama of life if only for a moment.
The first death blow of the evening is spotting Owen and Cade with Piper and Cassidy. I try to piece together how I’ll break it to them that I’m suddenly not up to seeing the movie as I make my way in their direction. Obviously, Piper wants to spend the evening with Owen. And they most likely just ran into Cassidy and Cade, so it makes the perfect double date. There’s no way I’m tagging along on this quad rigged for romance.
“What’s up?” I slap Owen five before the first excuse has a chance to burp from my lips then I see her, and the pieces of this devious dating puzzle fall right into place.
Scarlett stops short with a tub full of popcorn in her hand. Her hair sits in a wild mess on top of her head, her low-cut lace top does its best to showcase the girls, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say she looked sexy as hell. Her lips are stained a ruby shade of red that makes my mouth water just looking at them, natural no doubt. If Scarlett is anything, she’s a natural beauty. That heated kiss runs through my mind, and my dick twitches in my boxers at the memory. In my entire mouth puckering history, I don’t think I’ve ever had a kiss that didn’t involve my greedy tongue, and, yet, that chaste closed-mouth kiss was hotter than anything else I’ve ever partaken in. I’ve been with girls. I’ve done outright embarrassing things, outlandish, physically challenging things with girls that should only be relegated to gymnasts and acrobats, but that kiss by far surpassed them all as the most erotic, dick-wagging event of my lifetime. If that’s what a wholesome kiss with Scarlett feels like, then a wild night beneath the sheets might just have the power to kill me.
“What the hell is this?” Scarlett struts over and hugs that tub of popcorn in her arms as if protecting it from my deadly clutches.
Cassidy’s shoulders rise to her ears. “I think we just figured out those seating arrangements you were so worried about!”
The four of them head off to the ticket counter, and I shake my head at the feisty fireball in front of me. “Come on, I won’t bite.” I help myself to her popcorn, and she growls at me. “We’ll shore up a few logistics about tomorrow night, and then we can ignore each other for the next two hours.”
I purchase our tickets, and we head on in without a single word. Both Owen and Cade are seated in different sections with their girlfriends. Scarlett heads to the nearest aisle, and I follow her like an obedient puppy. My heart starts racing, and my palms sweat up a storm as if this were an actual first date. We take our seats, and the lights dim just enough for some stupid quiz to replay on a loop on the screen.
Scarlett leans in. Her honeysuckle sweet perfume grazes over my dick like cool fingers and leaves it aching for some attention. “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow night?” Those glassy green eyes of hers dance over my features, and a knot builds in my stomach because I know she’ll never be mine.
“I think we should go together. As soon as we get there”—I trace her lips with my gaze—“I’ll follow your lead.” God knows my body is begging to devour her in twelve different ways. Scarlett has been the star of my wet dreams now for weeks. I can’t really blame myself for something I have no control over, but I won’t deny I haven’t enjoyed the hell out of them.
“My lead.” Her lips part just enough as we lock eyes, and her fingers fumble over her mouth a moment. “Um”—she clears her throat—“is there anything off limits?” Her eyes rake over the length of my body as if she were sizing up her next meal.
A dull laugh penetrates my chest, but I won’t give it. “You have an all-access pass to everything you see.”
A crowd of girls moves in from behind her, and I groan. Tucked in the middle of the crowd are Savannah and her shrew crew.
Shit.
“Hey!” Savannah gives a wild wave and lands in the empty seat to my right. She leans over to Scarlett, her hand landing over my crotch as if to stabilize herself, and I gently remove it. “Sorry if I acted like such a bitch the other night. Rex totally explained that you had a little too much to drink and got carried away with the music.” Crap. I may have uttered those words, but only to suppress any raunchy rumors she and her rumor mongering friends were about to spew all over campus. It’s bad enough there was a choir of he’s making out with his sister! going off around us. “And when he said you were lonely, it just broke my little glass heart to pieces.” She sighs for effect. “Trust me, I’ve got a whole list of guys that are just as desperate as you are to get into the dating pool. I’ll set you up first thing!”
I sink in my seat a notch before slowly shifting my gaze toward Scarlett.
“Oh, is that so?” Scarlett bleeds a black smile my way that suggests I hold on to my nut sack because she’s a damn good shot with that bow, and everybody knows it. “Why, I look forward to meeting up with guys just as desperate as myself. In fact, I’m just dying for you to make this happen.” Scarlett throws me the death stare.
No sooner do the lights dim to pitch than Savannah’s hand finds a home on my knee. I’m quick to remove it. Casually, I shift as the movie gets underway and find myself pressed up against Scarlett’s side of the theater. Her knee hits mine as if telling me to scoot the hell away, but I’m not budging. Her shoulder presses to mine as if to physically move me to the other side, but I give her a run for her muscular money. For the next two hours, Scarlett and I press in so tight you can’t squeeze a dime between us. I couldn’t tell you what the movie was about, but for the next one hundred and twenty minutes, Scarlett Kent’s body adheres to mine, hot as a fire—and burning alive never felt so good.
By the time I get home, I’m shaking like a virgin as I throw myself into the shower. All I see is Scarlett, all I can think about is what it would feel like to be deep inside her, with my face buried in her tits, her bottom seated on the throne of my
lips.
Holy hell, I’m too far gone. I come hard thinking about having her in a hundred different ways, but there’s no satisfaction, no relief. And there won’t be until I’ve got the real deal. The only problem is, that little detail is never allowed to happen.
The Hollow Brook Country Club is smaller, far less opulent than the one in Bel Terra, but then, Bel Terra has always been far bigger than life, far too opulent for its own good and that of its patrons. Perhaps that’s the real reason my mother and father couldn’t make it work. They wiped the shine off that phony town and saw right through the grime underneath. All that glitters isn’t always gold, and neither was their partnership. As much as I hate to admit it, there is a level of peace that’s taken over in the years since their split. Before those dark days, there was a lot of yelling, a hell of a lot of shouting matches that preceded the main event, that preceded my mother’s personal living hell. My heart breaks just thinking of the ways my parents tormented one another. They’re both good people who just so happened to have their relationship meet with a tragic end.
The country club’s house band plays light jazz, adding a touch of casual elegance to the otherwise stuffy environment.
“There they are.” Scarlett presses her tits to my chest while keeping her eye on the table that seats our family. Crap. My balls ache at the touch of her skin. As soon as Scarlett stepped into my truck tonight with that tiny red dress hugging every sinful curve, I knew I was in far too deep to ever admit. Tonight is the night Scarlett and I have committed to going for the proverbial gold, and I’ve already made the decision I’m not holding back.
“Listen to me.” She pinches my chin and forces me to look at her. “I want a performance that will make a ten-dollar whore blush. You got that?” Ironically, it’s her face that’s lit up like a stop sign.
“You sure about that?” There’s a dare in my voice, and as soon as she picks up on it, her eyes widen like lily pads.
“I’m sure.”
A dark laugh rattles my chest. “Hold on to your skirt, sweetheart. Things are about to get heated.” My arm finds a home over her waist as I shuttle us over to the table set dead center of this decrepit establishment.
Bradley and Mom rise as soon as they see us, and those smiles they were wearing long before we ever arrived at the table quickly diminish once they pick up on our body language.
“We’re so glad you could make it,” her father grunts, shooting me a warning shot with those tired eyes.
“Yes.” Mom rakes up all of the fake enthusiasm she can muster. My mother is a lot of things, but enthused to see me with my arm around my future stepsister she is not. “Please take a seat.” She points to either side of Knox, and I grimace. Not one thing I have planned for Scarlett tonight involves my brother.
Sabrina and Duncan rise to scoot down to make room for the two of us. Scarlett’s sister stares at me as if she’s seeing me for the very first time. Her eyes slowly raze over my features, and I can feel the uncomfortable burn. She’s wearing a hot pink low-cut dress that might as well come down to her navel, and already she’s leaning over in an effort to introduce the girls.
Duncan tilts his head over at Scarlett with that mournful look I’ve seen a thousand times before in guys who woefully regret the decisions they’ve made. Of course, he regrets cutting Scarlett loose. She’s beautiful and smart and a hell of a good person. I’d include nice, but that might actually be a lie. Nevertheless, he’s a douchebag who deserves the twisted sister he’s chosen because his cheesy ass isn’t good enough for Scarlett to begin with. I scowl at him until both he and Sabrina find their way into their new seats. It’s me who lands next to Scarlett’s ex, and I want it that way in the event he decides he wants to play games with her feet or any other part of her body. I’m not giving this idiot another chance to break her heart. What kind of fucker dumps a girl just to go for her sister? And now she has to put up with the fact this idiot might be sticking around for a lifetime? I’m just as pissed as she is, if not more. I nod to Lawson to move it, and one by one our siblings scoot over until Scarlett and I have the two seats closest to the couple we soon hope to evict from their happy thrones—our parents.
“So, is this still a thing?” Bradley’s finger drifts from his daughter to me.
“What’s a thing?” Trixy leans in with her eyes sprung wide as if she’s about to hear the juiciest bit of gossip, and she is.
“Yup.” I wrap an arm around Scarlett, and both of my siblings’ jaws unhinge. I don’t dare look at Lawson because if there’s anyone at this table who can take me it’s him. “Scarlett and I are happening.” I nod to our siblings. “The cat’s out of the bag. We’re officially together.”
“What?” Lawson rumbles, glancing to his sister with a stone-sober look that spells out the fact he’s gearing up for a beatdown more than he is a round of congratulations.
“Relax, Law.” Scarlett widens her eyes at him with a veiled threat. “We’re in love.” Her fingers thread through mine, and that simple act has the power to satiate something deep inside of me. Both my dick and I know that it will take a little more physical contact than that to quell this ache building inside of me, and that physical comfort can only come from Scarlett herself.
Mom leans in, wild-eyed. “Can you hold off on the physical affection until later—much later?” She’s speaking through her teeth, batting her eyes manically as an elderly couple comes over and are briefly introduced as Dr. Muller and his wife, Ruth.
“What a lovely brood you’ve got here.” Dr. Muller beams as he takes us in as a group.
Bradley puffs with pride. “Team Kent-Toberman is enthused to make it official. Both Lynette and I have always wanted a large family, and now we’ll get a supersized one at that.”
Ruth nods over at Scarlett and notes our conjoined hands. “And all of the significant others that come along with it! The holidays are going to be something special to behold.”
“They’ll be special all right.” I plaster a grin to my face as I look deep into Scarlett’s turquoise eyes. “My new sister is something to behold. The holidays will be great.” I peck a quick kiss to Scarlett’s lips, and her entire face lights up magenta. “I already know who I want to find in my stocking come Christmas morning.”
“What the fuck?” Lawson belts it out so severe I half expect a kidney punch, but I’m not taking my eyes off my new spitfire of a loving sis.
The Mullers scoot off in a fit of gasps and sputters.
And I turn back to find every eye at the table affixed on us.
Knox has his brows hiked into his forehead as if he’s not buying it. I knew he’d be the hardest to convince.
Lawson calmly places his palms over the table. “Dude, take your hands off my sister, or I’m going to have to kill you.”
Scarlett and I amicably disband as the waitress comes by and takes our orders. A strangled silence seeps in again once she leaves.
Trixy leans in with a stunned expression that makes me feel like an ass for dragging her into this mess. “So, like, is this even legal?” She flicks her finger from Scarlett to me. “I mean, I’m not the only one who thinks it’s kind of gross, right?”
“Sure, it’s legal,” Sabrina answers for us. “But, believe you me, gross or not, it’s temporary. Scarlett wouldn’t know how to hold on to a man if her life depended on it. Someone like Rex here needs a real woman, one who’s been around the block to show him a good time. Isn’t that right?” She gives a little wink, and the heel of a shoe rides up my leg, causing me to jump in my seat.
Shit. I knew this chick was coming on to me.
Scarlett grunts at her sister’s lunacy, “My life doesn’t depend on a man. Never has, never will.” I give her waist a squeeze, and she straightens. “With the exception of my sweet Goober.” She manufactures a grin and pulls me in with the strength of a gorilla. My mind goes straight to the mattress, and for a second, I picture a nude wrestling match, her pinning me down, me pinning her down in far more practical
ways.
Mom leans in with a scowl on her face that’s usually reserved for my father. “It’s legal, but it’s not right. The only thing that’s right is Sabrina.”
Scarlett sucks in an audible breath.
Shit. Did she really just go there? I know that Scarlett has a hard time trusting my mom, and once my mother’s dirty laundry is aired out, it will be that much more difficult to regain any trust, but to trash her future stepchild enrages even me.
“The two of you are simply infatuated with one another.” Mom softens toward the two of us, and something in me settles down a bit. “You’re both young and beautiful. The attraction was bound to be there, but for God’s sake that doesn’t mean you need to act on it. I suggest the two of you cool it for a time.”
“Date other people.” Bradley offers a furtive nod, and it’s starting to feel as if they’ve rehearsed this little break-up number. Ironic that while Scarlett and I are plotting their unified demise they’re off doing the very same thing.
Sabrina strums her blood red nails over her water glass. “Scar Scar has never been good at testing out the waters. She’s a clinger. She finds a poor guy, deems him ‘the one,’ and sticks to him like glue.” She says the one in air quotes. “I think something deep inside of her has fractured, and she simply doesn’t think she’s good enough to find anybody else.”
Scarlett growls at her older not necessarily wiser sister. “I’m about to fracture something.”
The two sisters initiate a stare-down.