Damn, this is going to be interesting.
Slade drops down at Damian’s rear tire and starts setting up the jack. I watch in awe. I’ve never been one to know anything about cars but Slade seems to know exactly what he’s doing and to be honest, it’s kind of sexy that he’s such a man’s man.
Within moments, he has the car jacked-up and I’m passing him some sort of tool that helps loosen the bolts to remove the tire. I’m left shaking my head with every move he makes, but as he looks back up at me with a grin, I can’t help but grin right back.
The tire comes off a shitload easier than I ever imagined and just when I think that’s the end of his payback, Slade starts rolling the tire towards a tree. “No,” I gasp as Slade starts climbing the tree.
“Yes,” he tells me, sitting up in the branches. “Now, you’re probably not going to like this, but I’m going to need you to pass that up to me.”
“What?” I shriek, staring down at the tire in horror. How the hell am I supposed to lift that?
I glance back up at Slade to see him watching me with that same cocky grin only this time, it makes me want to slap it off his face. I let out a heavy sigh and push my sleeves up my arms, knowing they’re about to get destroyed.
I grab hold of the stupid tire and groan. It’s fucking heavy and the only way I’m able to get it up to Slade is by pressing it against the tree with my stomach and rolling it up there.
He holds back a laugh and I glare as he takes his sweet ass time taking it off me. He plucks it out of my hands as though it’s nothing and positions it in between the branches. Slade shuffles around in the tree and just when I think he’s done, he pulls a tube of honey from his back pocket and begins slathering it all over the tire.
When he’s done, he looks back at his handiwork with a proud smile and then drops down to the ground with ease. Slade pulls his shirt over his head and wipes the honey off onto it as he walks back over to his truck.
After rifling through his back seat, he emerges with his basketball jersey and pulls it over his head. “I’d slam you up against my truck and kiss you goodbye but this fucking honey didn’t really come off my hands.”
“No shit,” I laugh. “I could have told you that.”
He leans in and brushes his lips over mine anyway but thankfully keeps his hands to himself. “Come to practice with me?”
“Nah,” I tell him, shaking my head. “I’m going to head home and get through my homework so I can binge on old ‘Friends’ reruns.”
“Aright,” he says, walking backward. His eyes travel up and down my body and my skin instantly burns from his gaze. He winks and everything melts within me. “I’ll see you later.”
With that, he spins on his heel and takes off at a jog, knowing damn well that he’s going to be late for training. I laugh at his retreating figure and knowing just how much homework I have to get through, I start heading for the exit.
I walk home, hating this whole not having a car thing but I can’t deny that the alone time isn’t so bad. I used to avoid being alone. I hated the idea of wild thoughts entering my mind because I always knew where those thoughts would take me, but now, I don’t hate it quite so much. Hell, I even kind of like it. It’s soothing, relaxing, and has me feeling somewhat at ease.
I get home to an empty house, but I’m not surprised. It’s always like this after school. Blake trains nearly every afternoon, Ben works a nine to five job and never gets home until late afternoon, and Shay has been stopping by the gym on her way home from work as I kind of took over her home gym.
I head into my room and get started on my homework but find myself glancing at my art project. I really need to get that done and despite how badly my fingers are twitching to pick up my pencils, I force myself to get everything else done first. If I start on my art, I’ll lose track of time and before I know it, it’ll be the middle of the night and nothing else would have gotten done.
I pull everything out and thankfully get through it all within an hour and a half, leaving me plenty of time to get into this art project.
Just as I had thought, my pencil glides across the paper and the next thing I know, I hear Blake pushing through the door but when high-pitched laughter follows his grumbling, I find myself pushing out of my desk chair.
I hate the way things are with Blake right now. We’ve never had days on end where we haven’t spoken, but then, we also haven’t had a time where he’s told the whole fucking school that I was raped.
I let out a sigh. I know this has been killing him but I’m tired of holding onto the bad. Deep down, I know he was doing what he thought was best at the time. He was trying to protect me and had he not been drunk because I told everyone about our fucked-up past, then it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.
I make my way up the hall, groaning as I hear some random girl welcoming herself into my home. Coming out into the living room, I find Blake dropping down on the couch and Kathleen Harris attempting to straddle him.
For fuck’s sake. I should have known it would be her. What is it with this kid and this girl?
She pulls her shirt up over her head and leans in to kiss Blake as his hands drop to her ass. So, I do what any responsible big sister would do and grab a cushion off the end of the opposite couch and launch it at the skank’s head.
I watch with bated breath as it travels across the sky in a perfect arc that Slade would be proud of and comes crashing down, right in the back of Kathleen’s head. “Fuck, yeah,” I cheer, pumping my fist into the sky as I find Blake’s eyes on me. “Did you see that aim. Fucking perfect. I should join your team I’m that fucking good.”
Kathleen’s head whips around and she narrows her eyes as a ferocious snarl comes tearing out of her. “What’s your fucking problem, bitch?”
I go to respond but Blake’s carefree sigh cuts me off. “How is it possible that you catch me every fucking time I’m about to get my rocks off?”
“It must be a sixth sense,” I tell him. “I seem to be able to tell when some cheap whore is trying to screw you over. I don’t know,” I add. “It must be the desperation I can smell in the air.”
Kathleen clambers off Blake’s lap and he groans, stealing the discarded cushion and slamming it down over his groin, covering his bits so I’m not scarred by seeing what he’s working with.
“Are you kidding me? You’re the desperate whore around here. We all know you’ve been fucking Slade Cruz.” She glares down at my brother. “Are you just going to let her talk about me like that?”
Blake shrugs his shoulders, really not giving a shit about this girl. “I mean, this is her home too. She can do whatever the fuck she wants in it, but you…you can’t, and calling my sister a whore, after knowing what you already know about her, is fucking wrong. And for the record, she’s not just fucking Slade, they’re together, so really, she’s not a whore at all. You’re the one giving it away for free.”
Kathleen’s eyes go wide and she stomps her foot on the floor, making her tits jiggle around as they spill out of her bra. She lets out a loud huff, snatches her shirt off the couch, and rips it over her head. Blake smirks, watching the show and a second later, she flies out the door.
“So,” he questions slowly. “I’m assuming you’re talking to me now?”
I press my lips into a firm line, studying the kid that I love so goddamn much. “Not exactly,” I tell him, striding across the house until I reach his training bag. I scoop the basketball off the top and walk toward the front door. “I’m going to allow you the chance to beg on your knees for forgiveness while also playing HORSE because I need to practice my shots if I’m ever going to have a chance of beating Slade one day.”
Blake scoffs before meeting my eyes. “That’s really a thing now? You and Slade?”
I shrug, glancing away. “I guess…I mean, it’s super new and it just kind of happened. Actually, I don’t think I really understand how it happened but it did and it’s kind of growing on me.”
“Yo
u realize how fucked up that is, right? One minute you’re at each other’s throat and the next, he’s walking through here with you thrown over his shoulder. Do I need to give you the safe sex and ‘no kids before you’re eighty’ speech?”
I raised an unimpressed brow. “You want to talk to me about what’s fucked up because I have a list and your big mouth is right at the top of it.”
Blake hangs his head and lets out a deep sigh. He glances back up. “You know how sorry I am about that,” he says, getting up off the couch and walking towards me. He takes the ball from my hand and gives me big puppy dog eyes, desperate to win me over. “I never intended to hurt you, Sky. You know that. I thought he was trying to get under your skin and I saw the tears. I just snapped. I want to protect you so badly and he just…are you really sure about dating that guy?”
“Blake.”
“Fine,” he says with a roll of his eyes before focusing back on mine. “Will you forgive me? I’ll beg on my knees if you really want me to.”
I consider it a moment before stealing the ball right back from his hands and tossing it to the floor. I pull him into a tight hug and he instantly wraps his warm arms around me. “I’ll forgive you on one condition.”
“Fuck me,” he says under his breath. “Go on. Hit me with it.”
I grin, pulling back to make sure I can see his face. “Every time you address me for the next week, you must call me ‘Your Majesty’ and give me one of those big sweeping bows, no matter where we are; at school, at home, during a game.” Blake groans and I continue. “Oh, and for the record, ‘My Queen’ and ‘Your Royal Highness’ are also acceptable, in fact, they’re encouraged.”
Blake stares, his mouth open and eyes unblinking. “You’re shitting me, right? I can’t be bowing to you like that during a game.”
I suck in a breath through my teeth. “Damn, that’s no good. I guess we have no deal.”
“Shit,” he grunts to himself while scooping up the ball. His gaze falls back to mine with irritation shining brightly. “Fine. I’ll call you ‘Your Majesty’ and bow like a fucking idiot.”
“Even during your game?”
“Yes. Even during the game.”
“Good,” I grin wide, stealing the ball right out of his hands and spinning on my heel. I reach for the door handle and look back over my shoulder. “You know I’m going to kick your ass, right? Did you see my aim with Kathleen’s big head? I’m on fire.”
He rolls his eyes but nonetheless follows me out the door, knowing just as well as I do that I have absolutely no chance in hell of beating him. The only way I’d ever beat him is if his arms were tied behind his back and he was blindfolded. Same goes for Slade, I guess. The two of them are so ridiculously good. I can’t wait to see how far they go.
I walk out the door with Blake on my heels and as we step out into the fresh air, the ball is instantly bounced, just like any time Blake has a ball in his hand. “You’ll never guess what happened,” he comments, walking out to the drive to where Ben had set up a hoop for Blake after we moved in.
“What?”
“Someone fucked with Damian’s car while we were at training. You should have seen him. He fucking lost it.”
“No shit,” I laugh as Blake starts dribbling the ball and shooting it through the hoop. “What’d they do to his car?”
“They took one of his rear tires,” Blake laughs as a familiar Dodge RAM comes barreling up the street. “You should have seen it. It was fucking hilarious, but whoever did it better watch out. I don’t think Damian is the kind to sit back and let that shit slide.”
“No,” I laugh, watching the truck drive past to find a winking driver who makes everything deep inside of me clench with desire. “I’m counting on it.”
Chapter 5
I walk up the stairs of the near crowded bleachers on Thursday afternoon with excitement pulsing through my veins. Being here for sweet, sweet revenge and being here as Slade’s girlfriend are two very different things.
The whole school has shown up to support our team and while I’ve never been one of those preppy girls filled with school spirit, I feel that today I could be. Just give me some of those pompoms and I’ll be down there shaking my ass for their captain.
I don’t know what it is about basketball but there’s something so damn sexy about it. Don’t get me wrong, when I watch Blake screwing around with the ball, it just looks like some kid trying to show off and succeeding, but watching Slade move his body along the court and take control of that ball as though he could physically command it is something I’ll never tire of. Even just walking up and down the school corridors, if he has a ball in his hand, it’s bouncing and he looks damn fine doing it. Jesus, and don’t get me started on the way he so effortlessly bounces it through his legs. I’ve attempted it once and ended up getting a basketball to my pussy and to be completely honest, it wasn’t a great feeling.
I get myself comfortable in a near-empty row, knowing that by the time the game starts in twenty minutes, it will be completely packed.
Aston Creek has a soft spot for their athletes. They’ve always been put up on a pedestal and considering the way Slade plays and how he keeps his team undefeated, it’s pretty clear why. But it’s not just the basketball team. It’s the football team, the swim team, the wrestlers and the girls’ volleyball. So, no matter what, there’s always some sort of event or game going on and the school loves it. It’s even better for me as it means that the cheerleaders are always kept busy, but a busy cheer team means extra hours of practice, and extra practice means that they’re damn good and being damn good means that they’re egotistical bitches. Though, egotistical bitches who don’t have time to get to me.
Despite how the cheer team somehow manages to suck the life out of me, I find myself watching them. They really are good and the preppy Rachel in front knows it. Their school spirit seems to impossibly triple as the opposing team makes their way through the door and I find myself watching them, purely out of having nothing else to do.
These guys seem alright. They’re not strutting, there are no cocky grins on their faces, and there’s no over-the-top show of force filing in with them. They’re simply here to do their job. These are the kinds of teams I like. Tonight won’t be a shit show between Slade and the opposing captain, it’ll just be a bunch of boys working their asses off and trying their damn best to win it for their team.
These are the games I like. Despite how thrilling it is to watch bullshit go down on the court, it’s nice to have a game where it’s simply about playing the sport they love, and when they love it, it shows.
The opposing team makes their way to their seats and starts stripping off their sweats and jackets and jumps straight into warm-ups. I watch them move but with no real action happening, boredom starts to claim me.
I’m about ready to pull out my phone to keep occupied when a shadow falls to my side. I look over to find Nessa squeezing her way down the row with her eyes on me. She gives me a tight, awkward smile that puts me on edge.
What the hell does she want? The last time we spoke, she was apologizing for making horrendous comments. She showed she was being the bigger person by coming to me and I respect her for it, but apart from that, there’s no reason for her to be coming my way.
My eyes narrow and she laughs. “Chill out,” she says, dropping down into the seat beside me. She leans back and props her foot upon the empty seat in front. “I just came to talk.”
“Talk?” I grumble. “About what?”
“About how there are no hard feelings where it comes to Slade.” I raise my brow in disbelief and she laughs. “No seriously. During that whole catfight bullshit, you pointed out just how much he doesn’t care and that kind of hit hard. I didn’t want to believe it at the time, but you were right. He really didn’t care. I must have looked like such a fucking loser fawning over him for so long.”
I nod, completely agreeing with her last comment. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me this
.”
“Because I’m turning over a new leaf. I’m done always having bullshit drama in my life and that means that I need to clear the air with you. I just want to get through high school and get out of here and if letting you know that I’m not going to be a problem for you anymore is going to make that easier, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
“You mean that? You’re really not going to cause any more trouble?”
“Look, I’m not going to lie, seeing you with Slade over the last few days hasn’t exactly been easy but I see the way he looks at you. He never looked at me like that and I realized that I’m jealous. I want someone to look at me like that. I want that whole true love butterflies bullshit that comes along with finding someone who really cares about you.”
“Woah…I’m not in love with him.”
“Right,” she says under her breath. “All I’m saying is that I’m moving on. Me and Slade had fun together and now he’s found someone he really wants and deep…deep down I think I can be happy for him.”
I nod, looking at this girl as though she’s a complete stranger. “Wow, I’m impressed,” I tell her. “So, what are you going to do now?”
A wicked grin pulls at the corners of her lips. “Me?” she laughs. “I’m going to get my freak on.”
“Wait. Didn’t you just say something about wanting to find someone special?”
“Yeah, definitely. I want that, but why rush into it? I’ve been holding out for Slade for years and never gave myself the chance to be a bit of a whore, so why the hell not?” she shrugs. “This is going to sound bad, but I kind of want to slut around a bit.”
“Oh, my God,” I laugh, shaking my head. “Have you met Damian? He’d be down for that.”
Nessa’s face scrunches up in disgust. “No, thank you. I’m sure I could find someone who hasn’t already got every STD under the sun.”
“Good plan.”
Nessa falls into mindless chatter and I find I don’t mind. She’s really not so bad and I believe her when she says that she’s done with Slade.
Lost Girl: Aston Creek High (Book 2) Page 4