Warning Track

by Meghan Quinn

  “Dude, don’t make me fucking ask you again. Hand me the damn pipe. I’m losing my high.”

  Nash shook Luke out of his thoughts, thankfully before they completely took ahold of him. He looked down and saw the pipe Nash was referring to and handed it to the smug bastard who kept eyeing Rhonda.

  “Are you going to tap that tonight?” Nash asked, nodding toward the now-stirring woman.

  “Nah, I’m over it.”

  “Damn, mind if I drill her?”

  “By all means. Just make sure she’s awake. I don’t want to be involved in any creepy-ass rape shit.”

  Nash sat up and looked at Luke with all honesty. “Dude, I may be a sorry-ass mother fucker, but I’m not one to stuff an unwilling pussy.”

  Luke nodded and then turned his attention back to the TV. Nash was honorably discharged from the army a year ago, while Luke was still missing in action. Nash was in Afghanistan, helping build a school when a street car bomb went off, sending loads of shrapnel into his leg and head. Luckily, there wasn’t much damage to his head, only some memory loss, but it was his leg that was pretty fucked up. The man was reluctant at first, but finally gave in when they amputated his leg, giving him a prosthetic. Nash hated it, you would have thought he’d lost his dick…he was that angry at life. He walked perfectly fine and rehabbed better than expected, but he was ashamed. He never wore shorts, which was difficult since they lived in Atlanta, and very rarely did he fully remove his pants when fucking a girl. The only reason Luke knew that was because Nash told him, no reason to lose all his clothing when he was just going to zip back up and send the girl on her way.

  A distant ringing echoed through the room as Luke took another sip from his beer. When the sound went off again, Luke turned to Nash, who was blowing out a puff of smoke and asked, “What the hell is that noise?”

  Nash lifted his head and then yelled, “It’s unlocked.” It must have been the front door.

  “Expecting someone?” Luke asked.

  “No,” Nash turned around and then looked back at Luke. “But I think you are.”

  Luke turned around to find his brother, Connor, standing in the entryway of the living room, chest heaving and a very angry look on his face.

  Fuck.

  **Parker**

  Regret flooded Parker’s mind as he pulled into Lexi and Jake’s driveway. The rest of his evening with Margo had turned into a tension-filled night that was not only awkward, but very uncomfortable, and he only had himself to blame. Why did he have to bring up Margo’s love life? The moment he said he only cared because she was his friend, he felt her tense up and shut down. Talk about acting like a complete idiot. It’d been a while since he’d actually been with a girl, on a date that is, so he was a little rusty, but putting a girl in the friend zone when that was the last thing he wanted was a rookie move.

  He definitely wanted more with Margo. In the back of his mind, he was pretty sure he always wanted something with Margo, but now that they were out of college, free of all their college restraints and prying eyes, he wanted, no needed, to pursue her.

  Getting out of the car, Parker slowly went to Margo’s side as she popped out of the passenger seat. She looked deflated, but still as beautiful as ever. When he opened the door when she first arrived, he could have swallowed his tongue, she looked so good. His libido shot straight through the roof and he just prayed she didn’t notice his instant arousal as he perused her outfit. Whatever she was wearing, a combo of shorts and strapless top, was doing wonders for her curvy body. Even as she stood before him now, her outfit a little wrinkled from the night, he still couldn’t tear his eyes off of her.

  She held out her hand and looked up at him, “I’ll take my keys now, thanks for driving.”

  Instead of giving her the keys, he grabbed her hand in his and led her to the back of the house. She was reluctant at first, but gave in when he practically dragged her.

  “Parker, what are you doing? I have work in the morning.”

  “Live a little, Mo.”

  Parker plugged the security code into the side fence and walked her out to where the lounge chairs looked over the ocean. He grabbed a blanket from one of the chests and sat down on one of the chairs. Margo just stood next to him, looking down at what he was doing.

  “Take a seat.”

  She rolled her eyes and headed toward the chair next to his, but before she could sit down, Parker grabbed her hand and made her sit down on his chair. Parker straddled the chair and pulled Margo into his chest.

  “Parker, what are you…”

  “Relax, Mo.” Margo’s body was completely tense as she stiffened against his chest. He rubbed her arms with his hands and slowly got her to lean back against him and put her feet out on the chair. He leaned back and grabbed the blanket to put over both of them. “There, was that so hard?”

  “No,” Margo mumbled as she leaned against him. “But I can’t stay long.”

  “I don’t care if you’re only here for five minutes, I needed this.” Parker rested his chin on Margo’s shoulder as he looked out on the moonlit ocean.

  “Parker…” Margo asked tentatively.

  “Yeah?”

  “What are we doing?”

  “Enjoying each other’s company.” Parker copped out. Why couldn’t he just say what he was really feeling? Maybe because he didn’t know what he was feeling, all he knew was that he needed to stay with Margo just a little while longer. He wanted her to stay.

  She started to pull away, which made him panic. “And I want you to stay.”

  That seemed to calm her, so he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in even closer. She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, completely giving herself over to him. It was exactly what he wanted, for her to be close to him, to put down her walls and give in to the crazy feelings that were rolling between them.

  “I’m sorry about earlier,” Parker said right next to her ear. He felt goose bumps rise on her skin and he relished the small effect he had on her.

  “What are you sorry about? I thought we had a nice time.”

  “I’m sorry about saying you’re my friend.”

  “What?” Margo said as she turned around to look at Parker with confusion. “You don’t want to be my friend?”

  “No, I mean, yes, I mean…ugh I want you to be my friend, but I…” Parker ran his hand over his face as he tried to figure out what to say. “Fuck, I mean, I want you to be my friend, but if there was ever the chance for more, I want you to know that I uh, want that, if you do.”

  Wow, apparently he’d left his finesse back in Atlanta because he looked like a total pencil dick right now.

  “Oh,” was all she said as she turned back around and leaned against his chest.

  Oh? That was all she was going to say? Just oh? Well fuck, what did he do now?

  They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Margo took the blanket off her lap and got off the chair.

  “I have to get going. Thank you for such a great night, Parker.”

  Wait, what? What was happening? She was leaving? Parker stood up quickly, since she was headed toward the side gate and he wanted to at least see her out. They walked in silence to her car and stopped right before she opened her door. She turned and grabbed him in a warm embrace. Parker returned the hug as he buried his face into her hair, taking in the vanilla scent emanating from her silken strands.

  She pulled away and smiled. “Thanks, Parker.”

  She was about to get in her car when he stopped her. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

  “Working.”

  “After work.”

  “Uh…” she looked up at the sky as she thought about her schedule.

  “Whatever it is, cancel it,” Parker said, cutting her off. “Meet me here tomorrow and bring your cleats and glove.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him and asked, “What are you up to, Kirbs?”

  “Just want to play a little ball with my favorite short stop.”


  Her eyes lit up as she nodded. “Sounds like a good time. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “If you wear short shorts, that would be good too.”

  She rolled her eyes and shut her door. Parker watched her drive off and thought, even though shit was awkward between them, he felt the last part of his evening was a small victory. Even though he didn’t get a kiss like he wanted, he did score a second date.

  Chapter Five

  **Connor**

  Throwing his keys on the coffee table, he sank down onto the couch as he put his feet up on the table in front of him. When Molly called him and told him that his brother was possibly at Nash’s house, Connor lost his mind. The moment he finally confirmed that his brother was, in fact, at Nash’s house, he let loose on him. Connor didn’t care if his brother was fragile…if he was going through some serious mind games because, out of all the places he could be, he was at Nash’s, the infamous bad-boy trouble-maker. Nash was doing him a disservice and he was going to have to have a talk with the man because after the piss-poor conversation Connor just had with Luke, it didn’t seem like his brother would be giving up his squatting rights anytime soon.

  Connor popped the lid off of a bottle of beer and brought the sweet microbrew to his lips. He needed it, needed to relax. As he settled into the couch, he thought about how there was another way he could relax and when he looked up, she was heading right toward him.

  “Hey, you’re home. I thought you were working late.”

  Connor slightly winced at the lie he’d told Lucy about not coming home right after work. He didn’t want her to get involved in the Molly and Luke drama because, for one, they were living in their own little love triangle drama, but also because Lucy and Molly hated each other. Lucy didn’t take well to Molly’s name being mentioned.

  “Yeah, I got some things done faster than I thought.” He reached out and grabbed her hand, forcing her to sit on his lap. “Come here, love.”

  Shifting comfortably on his lap, Lucy rested her head on his shoulder and kissed his jaw. “I’m glad you’re home earlier then you said you were going to be.”

  “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

  “I couldn’t wait to get your fat meat log in my mouth,” Lucy said innocently, as she kissed along Connor’s jaw.

  He nearly spit out the beer in his mouth at her comment and started coughing as the beer that stayed in his mouth went down the wrong tube. Lucy just rubbed his chest and giggled.

  “Seriously, you can’t say shit like that to a man.”

  “And why not? I thought we were always supposed to be honest with each other.”

  A small pang of guilt ran through Connor’s mind as he thought about the little lie he’d told Lucy today. If he was being honest, he’d only told the little lie for Lucy’s sake. He was watching out for her.

  “So, you’re saying you want to suck me off?”

  Lucy licked her lips and nodded her head. Connor instantly went hard, not that he wasn’t already sporting a woody from her first proclamation.

  “Well, no one’s stopping you, beautiful.” Connor held out his arms as he allowed total access to his lap. Lucy looked down, pleased with his bulge and slowly maneuvered between his legs. “Just so you know, when you’re done sucking me dry, you can bet that pretty little ass of yours that I’m going to fuck you so hard with my tongue.” That warranted a bright smile from his girl.

  Not speaking, Lucy unbuckled Connor’s pants as he rested his head against the back of the couch and waited for Lucy’s sweet lips to take him in completely. She was about to pull his briefs down when his phone started ringing.

  Inwardly groaning, Connor pulled his phone from his pocket, just to put it on silent, when he glanced at the incoming call and saw that it was Molly.

  Shit, he needed to answer.

  Glancing down at a confused Lucy, Connor said, “Give me one second, love. I need to take this.”

  It was as if he’d slapped her because the look on her face at his removal from her seduction gutted him. He didn’t want to hurt Lucy, but he didn’t really have a choice when it came to his brother. He would do anything for Luke, and if that meant butting in on his life and making sure his….girlfriend was okay, then he was going to do that.

  Connor held up his finger to Lucy as he said silently, “one second” and walked into his office. He silently shut the door and answered the phone, “Hey, Molly.”

  “Did you talk to him?” Molly didn’t even bother with pleasantries.

  “I did, you were right, he’s been staying there.”

  Connor heard a loud smack on the other end of the line and he just hoped she hadn’t harmed herself.

  “I can’t believe this; he’s been living a couple of blocks away from me this whole time. Why would he do that, Connor? Why wouldn’t he just try to work things out with me? Why is he with…that girl?”

  Exhausted from the drama that wasn’t technically his, he sat down in one of his leather chairs and said, “He’s not well, Molly. He has a lot of demons, you can see them racing through his eyes as you talk to him. Even though I tried to ring him a new asshole, he wasn’t even affected. It was if he was made of stone or his soul was sucked out of him. He’s not the same man.”

  “Did you tell him to come back to me, to work things out?”

  “I did.”

  “And what did he say?” Molly’s voice rose over the phone.

  “He didn’t say much, he just stared into space. A part of me thinks that subconsciously he’s keeping himself away because he knows he’s not the same man…the man you want him to be. He’s hurt, scared, and tormented; I’m not sure how he would react if he was with you. And what about Winnie? I don’t want anything to happen to her.”

  “Nothing is going to happen to her. She’s going to stay with your parents if Luke ever comes back. I want to work things out with him. I want to help him through what he’s going through. When we’re together, you know, like really together, we connect. We’re the only ones who can pull each other out of our funks; we’re each other’s soul mates, Connor. We’re each other’s drug…the only way to heal us is us. You have to help me.”

  Connor ran his hand over his face as he said, “I have an idea.”

  “Do it, whatever it is, just do it.”

  “I think if I bribe Nash enough, he’ll kick Luke out, but it has to be enough money where he would betray his friend, his brother.”

  “I don’t have money…”

  “I’ll take care of it, Molly. I have plenty,” Connor said without hesitation. “Believe me, I want nothing more than for you and Luke to be happy again. If Nash kicks Luke out, he really doesn’t have any other choice of where to go besides you, because none of his other friends will allow him to crash on their couch when they know the situation. Luke was smart and went with Nash because he knew Nash was just as fucked-up as he is.”

  “When are you going to bribe Nash? I want to be ready to hand Winnie over and make sure she’s comfortable.”

  “I’ll visit the bastard tomorrow. Will that give you enough time?”

  “Yes, the sooner the better. I’ll start to pack Winnie’s things tonight. Thank you so much, Connor. I can’t tell you how much I’ve appreciated everything you’ve done for me during this time, even just being there to talk to.”

  “Anytime, Molly. I care about you two, I want to see you happy again. You deserve it.”

  “Thanks.”

  Connor hung up with Molly and looked down at his phone as he thought about what he was going to do tomorrow. Luke was going to have to learn the hard way that he needed to pull his head out of his ass. Wanting to ease the tension that was now in his shoulders, Connor went to the living room to find Lucy, so they could finish what they started.

  But when he went out to the living room, Lucy had her purse over her shoulder and her overnight bag gathered.

  “Where are you going?” Connor asked tentatively.

  “I need to go home.”

  �
�Why? Did you forget something? You have everything you need here, love. But if you need something, let me drive you.” Connor started toward her, but she held her hand up.

  “Don’t bother helping me; you’re already spent from helping out Molly.”

  Shit, she must have heard the conversation. Preparing for the nuclear blast that was about to hit him, he steadied his breath and spoke evenly, “Lucy, she found out where Luke’s been hiding.”

  “I don’t care!” Lucy shouted. “Her fucked-up life is not our problem.”

  “It is when her boyfriend is my brother.”

  “No, it’s not! If Luke wants to stay the hell away from her, I say good riddance and hell if I blame him. The man is smart, trying to get out before he makes a huge mistake.”

  “Lucy…” Connor said warningly.

  “Oh my God, you’re defending her.”

  “I’m not defending her.” Connor kept his voice even, trying not to convey his frustration over the ongoing problem that existed between Molly and Lucy. “I’m just looking at things from both sides. If you were in that situation, wouldn’t you want someone helping you as well?”

  “You see, I would never be in that position because I’m not a psychotic bitch like she is.” Lucy adjusted the straps to her bag and said, “I can’t be around you right now. Your betrayal is too overwhelming.”

  It took everything in Connor’s body not to roll his eyes. “Now you’re overreacting.”

  He should have saved some of his control for his mouth as well because the look on Lucy’s face spoke absolute death. Shit, she was going to slit his throat; he could see it in the way her eye twitched.

  “Don’t you dare fucking say I’m overreacting.” Pregnancy hormones were fun, Connor thought, as he saw tears fall from Lucy’s face at the same time that she glared ice daggers in his direction. “Don’t you remember what she did to me? Do I need to remind you?”