“I was thinking we could have a study group in the living room, but if you want to be a pervert, that’s fine by me.”
“It takes one to know one.” My hands slide up his shirt, and I smooth my palms over the contours of his abs until his lids flutter and a deep hard-won groan comes from him. “Just so you know, my weekends start on Friday.”
“They start on Thursday afternoon from now on.” Jet moans as he presses his lips just under my ear. “But as for tonight, please come home.”
“Home. I do like the sound of that.” I pull back, clasping my palms over his cheeks. “You feel like home.”
“I am your home.”
Jet
Friday night, Daisy and I bundle up and head out to the big game, a home game at Whitney Briggs. Rex kills it. There is not a move that boy can’t make on the field that isn’t the right one. I’ve always admired that about Rex. As much as I’ve teased him about being “golden,” I’ve meant it. And right now, with Daisy tucked safe in my arms, I’m feeling pretty golden, too.
After a landslide victory, we head over to the Black Bear. The 12 Deadly Sins rage up on stage as bodies pour into the bar as if it were a safe haven, and it is from the icy weather.
Daisy nods toward the bar. “There’s Lucky.”
And indeed, there my baby sister stands, looking every bit like a grown woman—one wearing far too little clothing and looking far too beautiful for me to ever feel safe.
“I don’t think I can do it,” I whisper deep into Daisy’s ear, soaking in her sugary scent, just breathing the woman I love. Last week, she suggested I cut the apron strings, so to speak, when it comes to my sister. I told her I’d try, and she insisted I let Lucky in on this, promising me that it would only strengthen our bond, not break it.
“I get it. I have big brothers.” Daisy twists in my arms, swaying her hips to the music. Before I know it, I’m doing the same. If you would have told me a year ago I’d be dancing in the middle of the Black Bear, I would have laughed and then probably shot you. But this woman, right here, can get me to do just about anything—including something I swore I would never do with Lucky, let go.
Daisy takes a gentle bite of my lip. “You’re a far better brother than either Nelson or Jonas, but, at the end of the day, I still love them, and I still want them in my life.” She gives a little shrug, her golden hair bounces over her shoulders, and I want nothing more than to lose myself in this goddess I’ve been blessed with.
Lucky’s laughter pulls me out of the moment, and I find her tossing her hair, having fun with Owen’s little sister, Ava, each of them with a red fruity drink tucked in their hands.
“Let’s do this.” I take a breath as we head on over. “What’s up?” I pull Lucky into a quick hug and nod to Ava. Both girls quell their laughter, buttoning up as if a parent just walked into the room. And that’s the moment I know Daisy is, without a doubt, right. “Hey”—I give Lucky’s hand a quick tug and nod toward the exit—“can we talk for a minute?” That long black hair, those corn silk eyes glare up at me a moment for even suggesting it. She looks every bit like our mother each and every day. And now that I think about it, I see traces of my father in her features as well—her strong jawline, those heavy brows. I see them both, and for whatever reason, it warms me.
She scowls at me as if I’ve offended her. “If it’s about the money I’ll give it right back.”
Knew it. In an effort to make Daisy look bad, Lucky conducted the ridiculous “heist” herself. “It’s not about the money. Can we step outside?”
“I’m good with here.” She scoots close to Ava, rooting herself to the floor, letting me know she isn’t budging. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Ava and Daisy.” She rolls her eyes just enough to get the point across that Daisy isn’t exactly her favorite person. It’s a little ironic because Ava adores Daisy. They’ve actually built a friendship, and as close as Ava is to her, that’s exactly how far Lucky is.
“Okay.” My chest expands with my next breath as I glance to the woman I love. It’s Daisy’s support that’s getting me through this. “Lucky”—I swallow hard, looking her dead in the eyes—“I just want you to know that I love you.” Her eyes widen as if it’s the last thing she expected to hear. “I do. You know that. It’s not something I say often, if ever, but that’s going to change.” She eyes the exit like it’s suddenly the best idea we hit it. “But something else is going to change, too. I’m not going to breathe down your neck every moment. You’re a grown girl. You’re in college. I want you to enjoy this season of your life without feeling like you need to ditch me every chance you get.” I tighten my grip on her hand, and she offers a firm squeeze back. “How does that sound?”
She looks from me to Daisy with a stern expression I can’t quite read. Knowing Lucky, this could go either way.
“Sounds like someone’s been drinking the Kool-Aid,” she snarls at Daisy for no apparent reason, and then as quick as her anger ignites, her expression softens. “And I kind of like it.” Her shoulders hike to her ears. “Whatever voodoo magic this girl is doing on you, it’s not half-bad.” She makes a face as if somehow it still made her sick. “But, yeah, I like it. I want that freedom. But I still want you.” Her voice breaks, and I pull her in close to me. “I still need you around. I may not like it, but deep down, I want it. You’re all I have left in this whole world, Jet, and without you, life would be a lonely place.” She shoots a painful smile to Ava for a moment. “All I’d have is this crazy lunatic dragging me off into all kinds of twisted trouble.” They share a secretive giggle as if they’re already in all kinds of twisted trouble, and as much as my stomach grinds thinking about it, I’m leaving it at that.
“You know right from wrong. Yes, people make mistakes, and, yes, I’m going to love you through them, but I’m trusting you’ll use your better judgment. Fun is one thing. Hurting someone else or yourself is something entirely different. Go easy, okay?”
“Okay.” She wraps her thin arms around me, and just like that, I’m transported back ten years to when she was just a peanut. Even way back then, I knew I would die for her if needed.
A dark scar blossoms over her forearm, and my eye snags on it.
“What the hell is this?” I pull her arm away carefully and examine the raw inky scab with what looks like a dead bird etched into my sister’s flesh.
“You wouldn’t give me a freaking tattoo!” she whines before shrinking back. “Sorry. I kind of went behind your back and found some hole in the wall, and they chewed me up for breakfast.”
“Crap. Keep an eye on this. Cover it with antibiotic ointment, and make sure it doesn’t get infected.” Everything in me wants to roar with rage, to turn tables over, and to kick chairs to the ceiling. Nobody should be inking up my sister’s skin with the exception of me. “I’ll fix it if you want when the time comes.” Daisy rubs my back because she knows how much effort it took for me to say that in a reserved manner.
“Thank you.” Lucky sags as if dejected at the offer. “I’m not in a hurry, though. It was pretty brutal.”
“I’ll make it as easy as I can.”
A group of guys walk by, and the brooding dude in the middle looks all too familiar. Grant. Before the night is through, I need to at least say hello to the kid. I recognize that pained look on his face. Underneath that tough guy exterior, he just looks plain grieved.
I pull Lucky into another quick hug, drop a kiss onto her head, and whisper, “Have fun. You know where to find me.” I take a few steps away, pulling Daisy right along with me. “Stay out of trouble.”
Daisy hops a little while pointing at the dance floor where Scarlett, Piper, and Cassidy are busy tearing it up.
“Go for it, girl. I’ll watch from the stands.” My hand slips into the back of her jeans, and I can’t help but give a tiny squeeze. This girl has me going twenty-four seven, and I don’t ever want to stop.
As soon as Daisy bops away, I head over to the brooding dude who�
��s now hiding in the corner with his buddies. I know for a fact he’s trying to avoid being spotted because he has his back to the bar, head bent to the table.
I slap a hand over his shoulder, and he jumps as if I had just electrocuted the shit right out of him.
Grant stands with a smile that quickly goes from polite confusion to instant recognition.
“Dude.” He slaps me five and pulls me in close. “What’s going on? You tatting people up in the back?” He takes a few steps away from his buddies, and I follow.
“Nope. Just hanging out with friends. You?”
“Same.”
“You go to the game?”
“First one.” He shakes his head as if it were hard just to do that.
“She’d want you to.” Yeah, I went there. It’s pretty evident that his heart is still seated firmly over his sister’s grave. “She wants you to enjoy life. To live. Heck, live for her.” I keep my voice down in the event his friends pick up on our more than slightly morbid conversation.
Grant grows intensely serious, staring me down, and any moment now, I’m prepared to have my ass kicked.
“You’re right.” That frown of his melts into something just this side of a grin. “This is a good step for me.” He takes a look around. It’s clear he’s still unsure of his footing. “I’ll get there. I’m stretching myself. Steph would definitely want me to pull myself out of this funk I’ve been in.”
“How long has it been?”
“Too long.”
“Get back in the game, man.” I offer a quick pat to his back. “You know where to find me if you need an ear. I’ll see you around.” I head over to Rex and Owen who are both laughing at Cade while he shows off on the dance floor—grinding up against Cassidy as if things were about to get pornographic.
“You hear the news?” Owen slides his phone over to me.
Daisy’s picture stares back at me in a split screen with a despondent looking Senator Danberry. “What’s this?” Senator admits to wrongdoing. Morano slaps Danberry with sexual harassment suit on victim’s behalf.
“It’s good news, dude.” Owen takes his phone back. “That speech Daisy gave last week took down a congressional Goliath.”
Rex leans in. “Scarlett says that the Legal Eagles have actually been fielding requests all day from other clubs to book her—they want to pay her.”
“She can be a life coach,” Owen muses. He knows a thing or two about coaching. He still runs his hookup business on the side, although he much prefers the word matchmaker. I settle my gaze over my old friend. A part of me wants to tell him that Grant Jones is in this very bar, just a few feet away. I know Owen. I know he’d want to go over and plead forgiveness for what his sister did. I know that Bryson, the dude who owns this place, would want to know, too. I’ve met Bryson a time or two. He’s a pretty good guy. Grant doesn’t need to hide. I just hope he’s not harboring resentment toward Owen, or Bryson either for that matter. I should know more than anyone else that resentment can kill. That’s exactly why I plan on watching out for the guy—like now, by not telling Owen.
“Life coach.” I nod into this. “She changed my life for the better. That’s for sure.”
Daisy falls onto my lap as the girls appear all at once.
“Scarlett just told me the best news!” She bounces hard up and down over my lap, and my boxers twitch because Daisy always brings the boys the best news. Daisy is free to bounce on me with or without her clothes on anytime she likes.
Daisy rambles it all out so quickly the sentences string together in one long word.
“I knew it’d all work out for you.” My hands warm her back as I draw her close. “I had faith.”
“Thank you.” Her mood grows serious as she pulls me into a smooth, heated kiss. “Thank you for being the rock I needed you to be.”
Piper smashes Owen’s glass over the table until she has the attention of just about everyone in the bar. Something about Piper reminds me a lot of Lucky, and not necessarily in a good way.
“It looks like our little circle is complete.” She falls onto Owen’s lap.
Cassidy gives an impromptu applause. “Sure is. I always knew Jet and my girl here belonged together.” She rocks back on Cade’s lap and taps her foot over Daisy’s knee. “It looks like your darkest hour is about to turn into your shining spotlight. I always knew you would set the world on fire. I’m still so sorry my sister had anything to do with this.”
Daisy takes a quivering breath. “Don’t be. In a strange way, it feels as if I was just propelled that much closer to my destiny. And if this nightmare had never transpired, I would have still been spinning my wheels—or my stilettos.” She wags her pink heel in the air. “I’m a big believer that the people you need in your life get put there right on time—and, no, I’m not talking about Senator Dingleberry.” She burrows in against me. “I’m talking about Jet Madden, the love of my life.”
Rex lifts his beer to me. “I don’t know what took you two so long. Once Jet was hanging at Stilettos every single night, I knew he was a goner. And don’t think for a minute that he noticed another girl there. It was all you, Daisy.”
“It was Daisy.” I bounce her over my lap a moment.
“I’m so glad you came to your senses.” She offers me a quick peck as the rest of the table explodes with a laugh. Daisy lifts a finger to Piper. “But you were wrong. I don’t think our circle is complete quite yet. I’ve got two little besties that are just feeling their way around campus. I’d love to have Ava and Lucky feel free to join us—to want to sit with us at some point in time.”
“Door’s always open.” Piper shakes her head. I know that Ava and Piper don’t have the best relationship—sort of like Lucky and Daisy. But it warms my heart that Daisy feels just the opposite toward her.
Scarlett clips Daisy with a look. “My brother, Lawson, is here, too. And, I don’t know, we’re pretty content keeping to our own social circles.”
Rex shakes his head. “Lawson’s not hanging around you because you’re hanging around me. He’s not my biggest fan.”
Cade huffs at Rex. “He’s her brother—and he’s your stepbrother. I can see how he’s a little uptight about it. It weirds him out. He’ll get over it—maybe.”
I glance over at the dance floor and spot Lucky and Ava talking to a couple of preppy looking dudes, and my blood boils in an instant.
Daisy follows my gaze. “Down, boy.”
Owen groans from across the table. “I’m not built for this. If that asshole touches my sister, he’s going to lose an arm.”
Piper cackles out a laugh. “Close your eyes, boys. Those girls are beautiful, and the two of you are in for one bumpy ride.”
Daisy sits up and effectively blocks my view. Her beautiful smile expands ear-to-ear and miraculously defuses my rage. “You’re letting her go, remember?”
“Maybe so, but I’m not letting her get kidnapped.” I crane my neck to get a better look at my little sister. Her hand is on her hip, her hair drapes over her back, and it kills me that she’s no longer that little peanut in pigtails. She shakes her head at whatever the dude tells her before grabbing Ava and heading out of the bar.
“Shut down!” Owen whoops as if we won the game all over again, and in a way we did—for now.
The music changes mood, and the girls pull us out of our seats. They sway us over to the dance floor before we realize what’s expected.
“You know I hate dancing. It’s one of my rules, no dancing,” I say, securing Daisy’s tiny body to mine, her hips adhering over me like honey. “You’re the only exception to this rule.”
A dark laugh bubbles from her. “That must mean you’ll be dancing all night long.” Daisy knits her fingers into the back of my hair and gives a firm tug.
“I was sort of hoping it meant I’ll be dancing forever.”
“Forever,” Daisy mewls like a kitten as she hikes her legs over my hips, and I catch her under her thighs. “Forever sounds much better than just o
ne night. You never fail to impress me with your genius ideas.”
“Not genius. Obvious. It was pretty obvious to me a year ago, too. I’m just sorry I didn’t act on it sooner.” True as God.
“I’d like to think we were right on time.” Daisy leans back as I give her a little spin. “How about we head back home and make up for lost time?”
“I like the sound of that.” I pull her close and cover her mouth with my own.
In a way, it feels as if Daisy has always been in my life. I know for a fact she always will be.
My phone bleats in my pocket, and I pluck it out in the event Lucky has run from a roaming lion, only to meet up with a drunken bear, but it’s not my kid sister.
Hey, Jet! Jody from Skyways Productions. If you’re still interested, let’s talk Monday. It looks as if that distraction in your life has cleared up for good. Extend my congratulations to your girlfriend. It’s about time that gasbag received what’s coming to him.
I flash the phone at Daisy, and we laugh and kiss as I spin her.
“I’m so happy for you!” She takes a bite out of my ear as if to prove it.
“I’m happy for you. The documentary will be pretty cool, I guess—especially now that you’ll be in it with me. In a weird way, it’ll be documenting more than the shop. It’ll document the beginning of us.”
“The beginning of us.” Her face lights up at the thought. “I love that.”
Daisy and I head out into the cool night air. The stars spray overhead like a sea of crushed diamonds, but this girl right here outshines them all.
“What are you grinning about?” She slams her shoulder into my chest as we make our way to the parking lot.
“The fact there’s not a person or thing in all creation that matches your beauty both inside and out.”
Her mouth falls open as she pauses in front of the oversized black bear that sits outside of the establishment.
“Jet Madden.” Her eyes shine ten times brighter as she fights the tears. “Thank you for loving me.”
Dirty Kisses Page 18