by T. L Smith
He gets out, closing the door and stepping closer to me. “You can be really annoying.” He says it, but I can see he doesn’t mean it—his eyes are the window to his soul and they are sparkling right now.
“It’s one of my most endearing qualities. And you love it.” I wink as he glances at me, and we stroll into the ice cream parlor. Looking at all the flavors, I can’t help but watch his face as he becomes confused.
“Bacon ice cream?” he says, and the shock is not lost on me.
“August?” We both look up to the guy wearing a white hat with an apron behind the counter.
Neither one of them speak. They simply stare at each other.
“Hi, I’m Rylee.”
“I know who you are, Miss Harley,” he replies, then his eyes fall back to August. “I tried to contact you. You just—”
“Let’s go,” August interrupts, gripping my hand so tight it almost hurts.
“No. We came for ice cream,” I say, pulling my hand free. “He’ll have the bacon.”
“I don’t want the bacon ice cream.”
“I’ll have the popcorn,” I say to the stranger who’s serving us, who also seems to be annoying August.
“I’d like a chance to talk to you,” he says, scooping my ice cream. He hands it to me, then looks at August. “August.”
“I’ll have the same as her…”
“My name is Sully,” the stranger tells me.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“I went to school with you, well… I was in August’s year.”
“Oh, yes, you do look familiar.” I turn to August. “You don’t talk much anymore?”
“No,” August replies quickly.
“I’ve tried, but he won’t have it. I’m surprised to see you two together.” Sully raises his eyebrow at us.
“We should eat, so I can go home.”
I nod at August’s words and move over to a small table where we sit.
“He was your friend?” I ask, peering to where Sully is still standing behind the counter. He keeps glancing in our direction.
“Was. I told you those close to me either use me or leave. It’s always one or the other.”
“Maybe you haven’t let the right person in yet.”
“Is that an invitation, rich girl?”
“I’ve been throwing invitations at you, left, right, and center, that you never take,” I say, scooping a spoonful of ice cream. He does the same, places it in his mouth then scrunches up his nose. The bowl is then slid over to me.
“I’ve taken a few. I seem to remember how you taste and feel.”
“Remembering how you feel is a favorite of mine, too.” I wink.
“August.” We both turn to Sully who’s standing there, hat in his hand. “I’d really like to talk. I haven’t worked with Josh since you went away.”
“I’m busy with my girl, Sully. Fuck off.”
Well, well, well, my cheeks flush at his words.
His girl.
Turning to me, Sully says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin your night.” He shakes his head and walks away.
“He was trying,” I say.
“And now we’re leaving. You coming back to mine or going to yours?”
“Am I allowed at yours?” I ask, standing. I offer a small wave to Sully as we leave. When we get outside, I slide into the car and August follows.
“Do you know what usually happens to people like me?” he asks, gazing out the window to where his friend, or not friend, is currently standing. “We do bad things. We kill. We end up in prison. People like me don’t have a future, rich girl. When will you see that?”
“How would you know? You aren’t like most people, August. Stop putting yourself down or in those categories.” I drive off, but I can feel him staring at me.
“I’m unsure if you’re remarkable or just plain stupid,” he finally says.
“I’d go with the first one, thanks,” I tell him, smiling as I drive to his house.
“I guess only time will tell.”
He pushes me against the wall, his hands finding every curve of my body. We didn’t talk again, even as we got out of the car at his house, but the minute the door shut behind me, his hands were all over me. Grabbing me in places I only give him access, roaming my body as if I am the last thing his hands will ever touch.
But he does it with such tenderness and roughness all mixed into one.
When his hands touch me, I become lightheaded, and all my mind thinks about is him.
As his forest-green eyes lock onto mine before his lips devour me, I melt.
It’s then I know I’ll do almost anything he wants.
I was that girl once.
I don’t think I’ll be that girl again.
But for some reason, this doesn’t feel the same. Anderson had his own issues. Issues that don’t involve me, but somehow, I became the center of them.
With August, he’s never tried to control me. Instead, he tells me to go away at every turn. The more he pushes me away, though, the more I want to be next to him.
My hands reach out for him with the same need his hands touch me with.
August is different. I haven’t experienced a force like him before.
August monopolizes my thoughts, stealing them as a thief steals jewelry in the night.
And I’ll never complain.
The first time I saw August, I remember thinking he was beautiful. Even with all his rough edges.
The second time I saw him, I watched him from afar, hypnotized by the way he moved and talked but never smiled.
His demeanor was soured by the past.
His behavior distorted by everything life had thrown at him.
“Rich girl.” August pulls me out of my thoughts of him. He leans back just a little to see if I’m still here, still in this, and when I reach for him again, he has his answer. August lifts me, and I wrap my legs around his waist.
Sex. It might be all he’s willing to give, but I am willing to take it.
Sex with August is my favorite thing.
His hands, rough from work, feel good against my naked skin, especially when they drag up and down my body.
“Rich girl,” he says as I bite down on his neck.
“I have a name,” I tell him, pulling back.
“Yes, you do,” he says with a smirk, his hand reaching between us so he can touch me. His hand slides up my skirt, and he pushes my panties out of the way so his finger can enter me.
“You can say it,” I tell him breathlessly. I’ve only heard him say my name once.
August’s fingers stop moving. “Do you want to fuck or have a conversation about your name?”
“Both.” I smile, my hands stay around his neck.
“Rich girl,” he says with a shake of the head. He places me down and leaves me standing there. I watch, shocked, as he walks away to the kitchen. I pull my shirt off, followed by my skirt as quickly as I can. I’m left in only my heels as I step up behind him. He’s in the refrigerator reaching for a drink when I move my hands around him and capture his hard cock through his pants.
“August,” I say, making him turn, and when he does, his eyes eat every part of me.
“I’m thirsty,” he says with hooded eyes. I retreat from him until my back hits the counter, then I climb on top and lie back, lifting my head and opening my legs.
“I am, too.”
He steps closer. At first, I think he’s going to drop the bottle, but he uses it instead, letting the coldness run up my leg until it reaches my middle, then he pauses, pulling it away and opening it. I watch him do it all because he’s quite simply fascinating.
The liquid spills on my belly, and he watches it flow along my skin before his mouth comes down and starts licking it off me. When he has licked it all up, he moves the bottle and the liquid pours out over my vagina.
Then he doesn’t miss a beat, bending down to lick, taste, and play.
Soon, though, the bottle is forgotten, an
d his hands are on either side of my legs, pushing them as far open as they will go while his mouth works circles on my clit. I start humping his face, my hands find his hair, but he never stops. He drinks me in like I’m the liquid in the water bottle. He takes pleasure in tasting me as if I am his favorite four-course meal. And when he inserts a finger and flicks upward, I’m done for.
My legs eventually go slack, and he pulls away only to wipe at his mouth with the back of his hand.
“I’m not thirsty anymore.” I smile at his words. “But now I’m fucking delirious with need,” he says, pulling his cock out and using his fist, sliding up and down the shaft as he steps up to me.
He slides in, lifts me up, so our bodies are locked together, and fucks me while his mouth finds mine. I taste myself on his lips, and I don’t pull away. How can I? My body is his, and I’m just here to watch and enjoy the show.
And what a fucking show it is.
Chapter 26
August
We passed out on my floor in the sitting room. After the first time in the kitchen, she pushed me back and got on her knees to make me hard again. Then we proceeded to fuck in every corner of the downstairs area until we finally landed on the rug in the sitting room, both exhausted. She is tucked into my shoulder, her dark hair fanning out behind her, lips slightly parted as she sleeps peacefully next to me.
She wants things I have never given.
Things no one has ever asked from me before.
And I quite simply don’t know how to give them.
What if I do?
What if I become a man who’s worse than Anderson ever was or could be?
She moans in her sleep and hooks one of her legs over me. Then, as if she isn’t sleeping, her body starts moving until she’s basically on top of me. I hold her to me, and when I do, her eyes pop open.
“Morning.”
“Good morning indeed,” I say as she slides down. I’m already hard—it’s a constant around her.
Rylee leans forward and kisses the side of my mouth as her hips start sliding back and forth. I am powerless to stop her, not that I want to. Her hands grip my shoulders hard, and when I look up at her, I can see the mark on her neck from me, from my mouth.
She’ll have to cover that.
I let her go at her own pace. This is her show, and who am I to stop her? I feel when she starts to come, her pussy squeezing around my cock, which makes me come as well. She starts moving faster, her hands digging in further as her head tips back. I reach for her tits, cupping and squeezing the nipples. Her hands cover mine as we come down.
“I have to get ready,” she says, then proceeds to lie on my chest, her hair fanning over my face. “I have work.”
I smack her ass, and she yelps, then giggles.
“Do you see it?” she asks, pulling back carefully once she gets off of me.
“See what?” I ask, sitting up and watching her grab her clothing and start to get dressed. She doesn’t answer until her car keys are in her hand and she’s walking out the door. Those dark eyes slide over to me, her hair cascading down her back in luscious curls.
“How beautiful we could be together.” Rylee winks, and then she’s gone.
I don’t disagree. I think a life with Rylee would be great. But it’s not just her, it’s everyone else as well.
My life isn’t as easy as she thinks it is, and that’s the damn problem.
Dreaming of a life with her is the stupidest thing I could do. Reaching for my bag of groceries, I walk out of the store. In the parking lot, I spot them straight away. Anderson and Josh both turn to face me, Anderson looking down on me, as if I’m scum. To him, I might just be, but to me, he is much, much worse.
“We’ve been waiting,” Josh says, his arms crossed over his chest.
Anderson walks over first, his eyes assessing me. He isn’t taller than me, he comes to my hairline, and he definitely isn’t stronger than me. He may have been the high school football star, but since then, all he’s done is party and fuck, and it shows on his body.
I turn to go in the opposite direction when Anderson steps in my way, his eyes flick to my bag and then he reaches for it, pulling out a bottle of cream that Paige requested to make some cakes.
He throws it on the ground, and my eyes follow it as the white substance leaks out in a pattern all over the asphalt.
“I know what you did, you scum,” Anderson says, leaning in.
“How am I going to spread that over Rylee’s body if it’s now on the ground?” I reply. “She likes it when I fuck and taste every part of her.”
These words have the desired effect. It makes Anderson’s hands bunch into tight fists, and he attempts to swing at me. I drop, seeing his fist coming, then move out of the way. He growls and steps up to me again, and Josh, who is now behind me, kicks at the back of my legs. Only one bends, but it gives me enough leeway to turn and punch him straight in his gut, making him fall to the ground, his breath now gone.
Turning back to Anderson, he smirks and goes to step up to me again.
“Piece of shit, that’s all you are,” he spits.
“Your mother didn’t think so.” I smirk, and his eyes turn to slits as he runs at me. I step out of the way, my foot catching his, making him slide to the ground face-first. He screams but gets back up quickly. All the while, Josh is still rolling around, cradling his stomach like a baby.
“Don’t you talk about my mother like that, you piece of shit.” He runs at me again, and this time, I let him. When his body makes contact with mine, I have to brace myself for the impact. He may have lost some muscle, but he can still run and tackle, obviously.
“Get the fuck up.” We both turn to the rent-a-cop standing next to us, his hand on his belt as he evaluates us.
“Fuck off, Larry,” Anderson says, his fist cocking back to hit me. I move, getting back on my two feet as Josh does.
“I’ll kill you, August. You fuck everything up. Where’s your mother?”
So she really did leave.
Holy shit.
“Where is she?” he screams.
“What do you care?” I ask.
Honestly, why the fuck does he care? He used and abused her. There’s no reason he should care about her whereabouts right now.
“She’s mine,” he says with anger, one hand holding onto his stomach.
“No. It seems she isn’t.”
“She never loved you. Complained about you all your life,” he tells me like it might hurt me. As if those words could do more than make me smile. I don’t care about the woman, about what she does with her life or anything else for that matter.
“That’s great to hear.” I pick up my bag of groceries, trying to move away from the shitshow in front of me.
“Fuck off, Larry,” Anderson says again to the rent-a-cop.
“No can do, boys. Videos here show what just happened.” He points to the cameras overhead. “So unless you want extra charges, you should leave now,” Larry says.
I watch him standing ready for them.
Josh’s eyes fall to me, and he smiles, but it’s more like a grimace before he grabs Anderson by the arm and marches off.
Slowly, I pick up the rest of my things, and Larry bends down to help me.
“I don’t know if you remember me…” He holds out his hand for me to shake. I don’t. “Well, Sully speaks highly of you. And those two”—he nods to where they’re going—“have always been nothing but trouble.”
Larry would, at a guess, be my age. His face appears familiar, but it’s been too long and all faces became the same to me.
Except hers.
No, hers stands out like the brightest star in a blue sky.
“You know Sully?” I ask.
He scratches the back of his head. “Yeah, he’s my boyfriend.”
Okay, well, I didn’t expect that. At all. Though, I don’t remember Sully ever being with girls in school either.
“He tried to visit you when you were locked up, but y
our mother wouldn’t allow it. She controlled who was able to visit you.”
I didn’t know that.
How the hell could I not have known that?
“Anyway, he’s been talking about you.” He turns. “I should go. Nice to see you again, August.”
I call out to him as he gets to the door. “Tell Sully to stop by.”
“He would love that. I’ll be sure to pass on the message.”
When I arrive home, he’s there in an old beat-up car. Sully’s leaning against the door, checking his phone until he notices me. “I was on my way to see Larry when he called. Figured I better not blow my chance, so I came straight over now.”
I nod. Sully follows behind me as we step off to the door of my house.
“You and Larry…” I ask him as we enter and walk through the house to the kitchen.
He looks around nervously. “Yeah, he’s good. Been there for me since I stopped working for Josh, and gave me a place to live.” He shrugs. “I owe him a lot.”
“Good.” I nod, placing the bag on the counter.
“You have blood there.” Sully points to his upper lip, and I wipe at mine. “Josh is using Anderson. It’s what he does… uses people to get what he wants.” He pauses. “And I’ve heard he wants you gone since you won’t go back to working for him.”
“Josh has to realize he can’t get everything he wants.”
“Yes, but try telling him that.” He takes a seat. “Are you doing good? How are you?”
“Why do you care?”
“Your name is on a lot of people’s lips, not just because of who you are, but because you’re with the Harley girl. And not the sister, but the golden child.” I shake my head. “So as your friend, who hasn’t seen you in years, I want to know… how are you?”
“My friend?” I ask.
“Yes, of course, I’m your friend. I asked Noah if I could pick you up the day you were released, but he said it was best he did it to get you settled.”
“He was right.”
“I worry for you,” Sully says. “You’ve always been by yourself, August, so I know you can survive. But sometimes you need a team, people who have your back.”