by Amo Jones
He smiles a big smile down at me, and for the first time in a long time, I see how much he has aged; that feeling pulls at my heartstrings. “Very good. I hope your taste in music still stands, too?” I laugh at his question while taking a seat on one of the other sofas.
“Still very much alive, Dad.”
Sitting back into his seat and taking another drink, he smiles around the rim of his glass. “How is Alaina?” My family love Alaina; they took her under their wing from day one. Not that she needed it; Alaina had a very strong support system with her Nana and Aunt.
“She is good, really good. She has a boyfriend now, though.” Dominic walks in at the mention of Alaina. “Alaina has a boyfriend? Do tell,” he smiles while eating some peanuts. “He is…. interesting.” Dominic’s face drops.
“Good interesting or bad interesting?” I have to be careful with how I word stuff to do with Alaina around Dom; I always forget that he was Alaina’s first time. I almost killed them both when it happened. I did not talk to either of them for weeks, until I got over it.
“Hmmm, hard to say. He does really like her, so that’s all that matters.” I stand from the sofa and stretch out my arms. “I’m going to go and get settled in.”
Dominic looks at me with a smirk. “Sis? Stay away from Knox when he starts, too.”
I slump my arms back down and huff. “Ha ha, very funny. You make me sound like a man-eater. I can assure you, I will be staying away.”
His chest moves up and down from his laughter. “Well, I wouldn—” I snap my eyes at him with a sneer.
“Shut up Dom, don’t be mean. I am not like that anymore.”
He laughs and raises his eyebrows. “Oh yeah? Then tell me, how was spring break with Kalie?” I look at him with my chin held high; I forgot how close those two were, they drive me crazy, the both of them.
“It was… something that you probably don’t want to hear about.” I turn and make my way towards the guesthouse, before I say something completely sassy that will end up getting me into trouble. I walk past the back garden that still looks well kept; it makes me sad because this was my Mom’s favourite part of the entire house. I continue past the big pool and into the guesthouse. Turning on the lights, I see everything is still the same; looking very much like a bachelor pad, because my brothers always stay in here when they are back. I put my bags down and pull out my phone to turn it off; I see I have 10 missed calls and 2 texts from Blake. Deciding not to open them, I turn my phone off and put it into the top drawer until the end of my stay.
The next day, I open my eyes and stretch out my arms. I’m feeling sicker than I did yesterday, so I dash off to the bathroom. Walking out back into my room, I throw on a summer dress; put my hair into a loose fishtail braid, and make my way into the main house to find my brother. Opening the back door, I see Dom standing there talking to a young guy that has a smile to die for.
“Hey, want to go for lunch?” I ask my brother, who is looking between both me, and the sexy man standing in the kitchen.
“Yeah, give me a minute, precious. I’ll be out soon.”
I smile and start to make my way outside; the staring from the hottie doesn’t go un-noticed either. I get into my car and wait for Dominic patiently; it’s not for another five minutes that he comes out. He stops in his tracks, shoves his hands into his pocket and tilts his head to the side; he then lifts his thumb into the air in the ‘get out’ motion. Rolling my eyes, I jump out of my car and ask, “What?” He begins to walk out towards the garage, opening the door and showing me Dads’ old 1967 Camaro.
“Oh, I forgot all about her, did you do her up?”
He smiles a wide grin, “Sure did.”
I go to get into the passenger seat, and he stops in his tracks. “What, now the precious daughter wants to play princess? Since when do you not want to drive, Vick? Get in the driver’s seat.” I laugh while walking back over to him, snatching the keys.
“Please, of course not. That will never change.”
I get into the driver’s seat, firing her up to life. Feeling the deep rumble of the V8 from under my seat is amazing; I clap my hands in excitement while looking at my brother, who is laughing in the passenger’s seat. I begin to pulling out of the garage just as my Dad starts walking out onto the porch; he looks over to us, smiling. I see when realisation hits him, because his face turns serious all of a sudden. “Dominic! You get her out of that seat right now, that’s too much power for her.”
I giggle, looking over to my brother. “Should I?”
He laughs, rubbing his chin while nodding his head. “Yeah, do it.”
I drop the clutch and start to rev up the loud engine; waiting for my RPM’s to come up, I floor the gas and release the clutch as the front tyres lock up and the back tyres start spinning, creating smoke clouds instantly. Dominic and Jacob taught me how to do a burnout when I was ten, but my Dad had no idea. I hear yelling coming from the house, but I can’t see anyone because of all the smoke clouds that are surrounding the whole inside and outside of the car. Dominic and I are laughing our asses off, I love working him up. Deciding that I still need my Dad alive, I stop and let the car idle on the spot. Once the clouds clear, I see my Dad standing there with his hands on his hips and a small smile on his lips. “Well I’ll be damned; my baby girl knows how to drive.”
He can’t even be mad; between him and my brothers, there was no way I was going to come out playing with dolls and riding scooters.
Knox Bowden
I’m still laughing when I see the young guy standing up against our porch pillars, smiling at me with a toothpick in his mouth. I smile back at him. “Who is that?” I ask, nudging my head over to the big, brown haired, tanned beauty. Dominic looks to me and laughs.
“That is what you are staying away from. Dad only just hired him this morning; once you leave, he will move into the guest house.” I raise my eyebrows in surprise; he doesn’t usually hire the young ones, probably to keep them away from his whore of a girlfriend. I put the car into first, and begin to drive out of the driveway. Responsibly.
We are sitting at the café ordering food, and I notice all the girls looking at Dominic. I roll my eyes. I should be used to it; both of my brothers are very good looking men, but it still annoys the shit out of me. “I need to tell you something,” I say to him as he is glancing through the menu.
“Yeah? All right. Shoot.” I raise my hand up.
“First of all, you are not to tell Dad, or Mom. And definitely not Jake.”
Dominic is my eldest brother, so he is all responsible and easy to talk to. Jacob, though? He is bossy, controlling and a pain in my ass. Both my brothers and my Dad have always been fiercely protective of me, but Jacob takes it to some next level shit, and that’s why he cannot know what I’m about to tell Dominic.
“That bad huh?” he asks, taking a drink of his water. I can see his eyes harden as he mentally prepares himself for my confession.
“I’m pregnant.”
His face scrunches up, while his jaw ticks. I know he’s pissed, but he is my big bear of a brother who can’t be mad at me.
“Vicky, fuck sake. Who the fuck is the Dad?” I pull some food into my mouth to delay the next thing that is going to set him off.
“Um, I don’t think that’s relevant right now—”
“Vicky. Who.the.fuck.is.the.dad.” he repeats, clenching his jaw tighter. I sigh in defeat.
“Blake Rendon. We spent the summer together, and he got me pregnant. He was different to my other hook ups though, I felt something for him.” His face softens a bit.
“So you are together then?”
I clear my throat. “Not exactly, he is a part of a motorcycle club and—” He cuts me off again.
“You’re fucking with me? Tell me you are fucking with me, Vicky!”
I shake my head and butt back in before his mind goes wild with unnecessary thoughts. “No Dom, he’s not like that, he’s not grungy and gross. And before you get mad at me, Alai
na is seeing the president, just sayin.” Okay, that was not my finest hour, throwing my best friend under the Dominic bus; but I needed to get the heat taken off me for a second. I watch him as a few emotions pass over his face, settling back into a soft smile.
“Alright, it’s going to be okay, I think,” he pauses for a second, then looks up to me. “I’m going to be an uncle?” he smiles proudly.
“Yes, you big bear, you are going to be an uncle.”
After that, our lunch goes smoothly; we talk and chat as we used to. I love having big brothers. Thinking of that reminds me that I am going to have to tell Jacob.
“How is Kalie?” I ask around a mouthful of food. If my appetite was big before, it’s ginormous now.
“She’s good. She’s been creating waves in the hills with her moves; the girl is going to be huge.” I nod my head in agreement; Kalie is a professional dancer. Not the stripper kind, the kind that has her dancing for all sorts of famous people in their music videos.
“She is, we had heaps of fun over the holiday,” I say, smiling at the memories. Dom looks up to me. “What did happen? Kalie didn’t say much, she just said that it was unforgettable and that you were mischief as usual.” I laugh.
“Mischief is probably a slight understatement.” He scrunches up his face and shakes his head.
“Scratch that, I don’t want to know.” I always used to think that Dom and Kalie would make a good couple; some would think they had something going on, but it’s not true. He cares about her like a sister. I wonder how he would feel if he found out about a biker deflowering her, I think he would hate all bikers for life. Better keep that one to myself.
Walking through the front door, the smell of home baking hits me. I make my way into the kitchen and see Beverly in there baking up a storm. Beverly Scott is my Dad’s… whore. She basically broke up my parents’ marriage. I know that it takes two and all that, but she will always be the evil bitch that used to come around to my house, pretending to be my friend just so she could flaunt her little ass around my Dad. Yep, that’s right; she is the same age as me.
“Wow Bev, would have never taken you for the baking type. Didn’t know they taught baking at the cock sucking school for whores,” I say innocently at her with a smile.
“Nice to see you too, Vicky. Good to see you still haven’t changed.” I walk past her and steal a muffin. “Ditto, Bev. It’s nice to see you haven’t changed either; you’re still a walking skank with daddy issues.” I walk out smoothly before I blow up in her face and scratch out her box.
I bump into a rock hard chest on my walk back to the guesthouse. Looking up, I see it’s the worker hottie.
“Hi, sorry. I should have been watching what I was doing,” I apologize, looking up to him. He laughs, rubbing his hand over his 5 o’clock shadow, my eyes following his movements. .If I wasn’t pregnant, I would be tearing that ass up.
“No problem. Victoria, is it?” he asks with a tiny smile on his beautiful, square jaw.
“Yes— Yup, just Vicky though, you can just call me Vicky.” Pull yourself together woman, shame on you. “I had better go,” I quickly shamble into the guesthouse, panting like a child. Shit, he is really, really hot. Not in the same way as Blake, because Blake is on his own level of hotness; but in an obvious, classic good-looking way. He looks like a gentleman. I should have had his babies.
Over the next few days, I realise that I have not glanced at my phone once. The need to check it has gotten stronger and stronger everyday; but I know if I check it, I will end up replying to Blake. I see hot worker man working on one of the fences, so I make my way to him.
“Hi, I never did get your name?” I ask, smiling sweetly at him. He chuckles while stopping what he was doing. “Knox, Knox Bowden.” I can’t help but notice his southern drawl. I shake his hand, because he took it out for me to take.
“Nice to meet you Knox, are you from around here?” I ask while jumping up onto the fence in front of him.
“I’m from Bama, just down here for a change of scenery.” I look down at him, he’s wearing a white tank top, ripped worn jeans and cowboy boots. “I know that feeling.”
We talk for a couple hours flat; he is so easy to talk to, and a really nice guy.
“How long are you planning on staying here for?” I ask, genuinely interested.
“Not sure, I guess if I have a reason to stay, I might make my trip last longer,” he replies with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. I smile down at him as he makes his way closer to me, so he is eventually standing in between my legs. He reaches up and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “You’re so beautiful, Vicky.” I push my head back into his touch and close my eyes. I open them when I feel soft lips touch mine. I know I should push him away because I’m carrying another man’s baby, but it’s too good to stop. I open my mouth, letting him in while he licks around the rim of my lips. His kiss is soft and gentle, and before I let it get any further, I stop and hold my hand up against his chest. “I can’t do this, as much as I want to do this, I can’t,” I tell him, looking down to the ground.
“I shouldn’t have done that, I just couldn’t help it,” he replies, and I feel like I should at least tell him why I stopped. I bite my bottom lip and look at him again.
“I’m pregnant, that’s why. It’s all really messy and I’m not with the father, but I just can’t have any complications in my life right now.” Nice, now he will go running for the hills, and my Dad will be without a worker. Good job, Vicky. He tilts his head, making the afternoon sun hit his skin perfectly, and smiles at me. “So you don’t have a boyfriend?”
I laugh before looking back to him. “Did you not just hear what I said? I am pregnant.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t care. Not only are you beautiful; but the time we have spent talking together has made me see you differently, nothing can change that.” I get off the fence, noting that I cannot feel my ass. “What time do you finish?” I ask him. He looks down at me, bringing his hand under my chin, and running his thumb over my bottom lip slowly. “Five. I promised your father that I would cook dinner tonight, care to help?” he asks with a smile. I nod my head and bite my lip.
“Yes, that sounds fun. I love to cook.” He brings my hand up and kisses it gently, before I head back into the house. He is amazing; there is no doubt about that. He gives me butterflies and good feelings; maybe I should give it a try with him, without putting a label on it. Walking into the kitchen, smiling at the memory of his soft lips pushed up against mine; I see Dominic sitting at the table, arms crossed over his chest and eyebrows raised. This is not good. “What part of ‘stay away from him’ do you not understand? And for fuck sake Vicky, you are pregnant!” he almost yells from where he is sitting. And Dom never yells.
“First of all, you can’t tell me who to stay away from. We were just talking… and stuff. Second, he knows I’m pregnant, Dom! I’m not a shady bitch so keep your judgements to yourself,” I reply, shutting the fridge door.
“He knows you’re pregnant and he doesn’t care?” He asks in disbelief. I laugh at him.
“Dom, it’s not like we are actually an item or anything. Nothing has happened and nothing is going to happen. Let me be.” I walk out of the kitchen and head back to my room, needing some distance from an annoying brother. I feel like I am 15 again, and trying to crush on Brad Levitt, my hot neighbour.
After hibernating in my room, listening to music, I get up and make my way into the main house to help Knox with dinner. I’m walking out when I see him walking over to me.
“Hey, I was just about to come in and help you,” I say to him.
“Thought I’d come get you,” smiling down at me, he lifts my chin and looks deep into my eyes. “I wanna kiss you so bad, but I won’t, not until I know you want me to.”
I smile and nod my head. “Thank you,” I say before we head into the main house. We walk into the kitchen to get started on dinner; we decide on Spaghetti Bolognese, because it�
��s Dom’s favourite and I like to apologise to people through cooking.
“So, is it just you and Dominic?” Knox asks while chopping up tomatoes.
“I have another brother too, Jacob. But he lives back in Hollywood Hills, running his empire in the music department; he is a music producer, and a very big one at that.” I realise that I have been rambling on, so I turn my attention back to him. “What about you? Do you have any siblings? They are just great, I tell ya,” I say the last part with sarcasm. He laughs while adding the red wine into the pot; I notice that he has done all the cooking.
“I have two sisters; they’re a pain in the ass.”
I laugh while pouring a glass of water. “I’m pretty sure that all brothers just say that.”
He nods while laughing, “Probably.” I drain the spaghetti and he comes in behind me. “What’s your favourite colour?” he whispers into my ear. I smile a bright red smile.
“That is easy, blue. What’s yours?” I ask, turning around to face him.
“It was red, but now I’m thinking I like the colour brown just that much more,” he responds, looking into my eyes. I smile at him and pick out the plates so we can set the table.
Kiss me
After a really awkward dinner, because Dom was throwing glares at Knox, we begin walking back to the guesthouse. “Thanks for dinner. I know you did all the cooking, how did you learn to cook like that?” I ask, looking up to him as the moonlight hits the pool; making me notice all the curves of his perfect face. He sits down beside the pool, bringing his hand up to mine and tugging me gently, so I sit beside him. “My mom; she wanted to make sure that I could cook, because in her words, a kitchen isn’t just for women,” he laughs, looking up to the sky; it is in that moment that I think that maybe she is not here anymore. He continues, “She passed away a couple of years ago, car accident on the way back from a rodeo. Life hasn’t really been the same since, so I have just been drifting around the place.”