by Bijou Hunter
“When’s this old guy coming home?”
“Larry isn’t old,” Margo said quickly. “He’s only fifty.”
“I’m nineteen, so yeah, he’s old.” Bailey stretched in the air. “Can’t you just say Lark has permission to stay at my place this weekend? And why does she need permission anyway? Are you running a gulag here?”
“What’s a gulag?” Margo asked.
Bailey shrugged. “Say yes, so I can leave. I have homework to do. I care about my grades lately. It’s my new thing.”
“It’s Larry’s decision,” Margo mumbled, glancing towards the garage where the door opened. “He’s the man of the house.”
“Barf. No man tells me what to do. Well, except my pop and occasionally my stupid brothers. I once let a cop tell me what to do, but I was sleepy and didn’t need the hassle of putting him in his place. You should try growing some balls, lady, and make your man behave. Just saying.”
While I laughed, Margo only frowned. Entering the room, Larry looked at the three of us then focused his fake happy gaze on Bailey.
“Who is this?”
“Bailey Fucking Johansson. Don’t pretend you don’t know me. I have no time for lies, Larry. I’m a busy woman. You know, with me caring about my grades and everything.”
Clearly confused, Larry frowned so I stepped up. “I want to spend the weekend at Bailey’s house. She lives with her parents.”
“Because I want to, not because I have to,” Bailey interrupted. “I’m mature enough to be on my own. Just saying.”
“I don’t know if this would be such a good idea,” Larry said, resting his briefcase in Margo’s obedient arms. “You’ve been running wild lately.”
“Are you telling me no!” Bailey hollered then stood on the coffee table. “Do I need to make a scene here, old man? Should I call my pop and have him explain shit to you?”
“Look…”
“No! No! No!” Bailey chanted and kept chanting.
As Margo covered her ears, Larry’s stupid poodle yelped and spun around in a circle. A moment passed when I thought the old man would treat Bailey the way he treated all women. Put her in her place, remind her how he was the man, and she was lucky to breathe the same air as him.
I saw in his fair eyes how he planned to grab Bailey who was still yelling, “No!” Realization flickered as he remembered why Bailey Fucking Johansson could walk into an upstanding member of the community’s house, stand on a coffee table, and scream like a child in the throes of a tantrum.
“You’ll stay at Miss Johansson’s house. No wandering off to see any boys.”
“Okay,” I said quickly then took Bailey’s hand so her yelling would stop.
“Did we win?” she asked.
“We won.”
Larry grunted at this comment then gave Bailey another fake smile. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Sure, old timer. I’m out of here. I’ll be back to pick up Lark on Friday evening. Don’t make me scream at you again or I’m pulling my gun next time.”
Done with her threats, Bailey strutted to the front door while wearing her duckface. I followed her outside then hugged her.
“Thank you.”
“You give great hugs,” Bailey said, softening in my embrace. “My mom gives great hugs too.”
“You’re awesomesauce and I’ll make this up to you one day.”
“No worries,” Bailey said, smiling softly after the hug ended. “I like helping people. It’s fun. I also like screaming. With that fuckwad, I got to do both. It’s been a good day.”
Hugging her again, I didn’t care if Larry was rude the rest of the night or if Margo gave me a lecture. All I knew was I had a weekend to see Aaron. I just hoped he really meant he would wait.
Chapter Eighteen - Aaron
Cooper had decked out the basement of his suburban house as a teenage boy’s dream. Home theater at one end and videogames at the other with a pool table in the middle. Farah was the one who seemed to enjoy the table the most and she hit a ball into the corner pocket.
Cooper slid up behind her and rubbed his groin against her butt.
“When we have kids, you’re teaching them to play pool,” he said in her ear. “I want them sending assholes into tears by beating them so badly.”
“You made less sense when you’re horny.”
“I’d feel sorry for you, if you weren’t the one wearing these shorts. Damn.”
For a minute, I thought they might fuck on the table with me standing awkwardly nearby. Fortunately, they remembered I existed and smiled at me in unison. Great, they really were sharing a brain now.
“Domestication isn’t always pretty,” I muttered, sitting in a chair and watching Farah take another shot.
“Dude, forgot to mention…” Cooper said, losing his train of thought as Farah bent over.
Farah finished for him, again proving they shared a brain. “Lark told her jerk stepdad that she’s spending the weekend with Bailey. She’d like to sneak over and spend it with you instead.”
Bolting to my feet, I nearly came out of my skin. “I’ve been here for a fucking hour and you never mentioned this?”
Farah frowned at me. “Coop wanted to be the one to tell you. Don’t blame me for his short attention span. And don’t yell at me either.”
“Want me to smack him, baby?” Cooper asked, nuzzling his groin against her waist. “I’ll do it for a small fee.”
“He yelled at your woman. Kick his ass for free, Coop.”
Awaking from his horniness, Cooper glared at me. “Apologize or I crush your face.”
“Fuck off. You should have told me about Lark as soon as I got here.”
“I’m not one to gossip,” Cooper said, eyeing Farah’s ass as she bent over.
“Twenty minutes ago, you told me about Bailey’s date with a stoner. Before that, you told me about the rumor that some chick I don’t even know is doing a professor.”
“Instructor,” Cooper clarified. “You know we don’t let them call themselves professors. Can’t let those fuckers get too uppity.”
“Whatever, man. You fucking gossip, but you didn’t tell me about Lark.”
“I was going to make a big deal out of it, but forgot. I’ve been trying to make a baby and it takes a lot out of me.”
When Farah glanced at me and rolled her eyes, I couldn’t help laughing.
“You’re an idiot,” I told Cooper who shrugged again.
“Hey, didn’t I tell you that Lark was your girl and she would find a way back to you? I’m too fucking perfect sometimes. Wise like Aristotle or Yoda.”
Farah turned and wrapped her arms around him. “I feel fertile.”
“Wisdom turns you on, doesn’t it, baby?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Go,” I waved at them before taking the shot Farah had long forgotten. “I’ll wait for you to finish your fertility rituals then you can return and tell me the plan for the weekend. Oh, and feed me too. I was promised barbecue.”
Cooper picked up Farah under the butt and started for the stairs. “Soon, you’ll be walking around with a horny woman in your arms,” Cooper yelled to me as he disappeared.
Smiling, I thought of Lark sneaking over to my place. Not for a few hours, but the whole weekend. That wasn’t the move of a girl testing the waters. That was the move of a girl staking her claim. Little Lark had taken her punch.
Chapter Nineteen - Lark
Bailey parked her SUV in the alley behind Aaron’s house. I noticed a small building just past the tall wooden fence with a house farther into the property. I’d seen this part of Ellsberg before and the homes were old craftsmen style bungalows. Some were rundown while others were fixed up and modernized.
“If shit gets weird and you want to bail,” Bailey said as I grabbed my bag from the trunk, “call me and I’ll pick you up. I’ll also smack Aaron around. Or if you want to smack him, I can hold him down for you.”
“I prefer the second one,” Aaron said
, appearing through the gate.
My heart leapt at the sound of his voice and it didn’t slow down when I saw him. Aaron stood in jeans and a white beater showing off a lot of muscles, tattoos, and kissable flesh. How did he manage to get more beautiful with every meeting?
“Hi,” I said, feeling dopey in the presence of such beauty.
“Ugh, get a room,” Bailey said, climbing back into the SUV. “Be good, Aaron, or I’m coming back with tools of torture.”
“If you mean the music you listen to, I’m in absolute terror and will behave.”
“Fuck off,” Bailey said with a grin before speeding off like someone was chasing her.
We both smiled at her fleeing SUV then at each other. Aaron glanced at where two little black and white dogs appeared behind him.
“They’re excited to meet my muse,” he explained, extending his hand to me.
“Your muse?” I murmured, grinning widely as I took his warm hand. “If I was an artist, I have no doubt you’d be my muse. You inspired me to be bad and hatch this plan to sneak off.”
Aaron kissed me gently, sucking softly on my tongue. When his lips left mine, he kept me wrapped against him.
“I’ve always wanted to be a bad influence on someone. Somehow, I always end up as the nice guy instead.”
“Nice guy is code for nerd. There is nothing nerdy about you, Aaron,” I said, licking along the cobra on his neck.
“Hell, we’re going to get the neighbors talking,” he whispered and tugged me past the fence to a small backyard.
As we headed inside, Aaron pointed out his studio in the back and introduced his dogs.
“Do you want to order a pizza?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“What do you like on it?”
An idea occurred to me and I smiled wider. “Let’s each write on a piece of paper what we want on the pizza. That way, we’ll be honest and we can learn something about each other.”
Grinning immediately, Aaron walked to a table with a stack of notebooks. He brought two back with him and handed me one.
“I used to play this game with Raven,” I explained. “We would test each other to see how well we remembered each other’s favorite things. We’d ask a question, write our answers, and show them. Like the newlywed game for sisters. We could play the game without the test part, if you want. Or does that sound stupid?”
“Nothing you say sounds stupid, Lark. I’m not your shitty family.”
I took the notepad. “Let’s start with our dream pizza. Be completely honest even if you like something gross. I want to know you.”
Our eyes met and I knew later we would get to know each other in a more intimate way. My body already warmed at the idea and I knew my nipples were hard under my light pink tee. If Aaron noticed, he didn’t show it. Yet, I suspected he was just that good at playing cool around girls.
Flopping on his comfy couch, I watched Aaron consider where best to sit. He was thinking if he sat next to me that it might seem too forward. If he sat too far away, he might seem distant. I think he was aiming for a middle ground.
“Please, sit next to me,” I said and Aaron grinned. “I missed you the last few days.”
Aaron’s smile faded and I saw genuine hunger in those eyes. As he struggled to fake a relaxed smile, I knew he missed me too. We’d both been waiting for someone special to steal our hearts and now we’d found them. Waiting was killing us both, but a quick trip to the bedroom would likely feel rushed after so much longing.
I wrote my list of favorite pizza toppings on my paper as Aaron did the same. When done, we switched papers.
“Pineapple?” he said, grinning. “Really, Lark?”
“Typical guy. Your pizza toppings require someone to slaughter Old McDonald’s farm.”
Aaron laughed then leaned over and gave us both a taste of what we craved. The moment his lips touched mine, I cupped his smooth cheeks and deepened the kiss. Aaron leaned farther over and his strong body covered mine. For the next few minutes or hour or however long, we tasted and explored and nothing else mattered.
My fingers slid under his shirt and I imagined the tattoos my fingers were caressing. I wanted to see, but the idea of stripping down on the couch felt wrong. Cheap maybe. It didn’t help that Professor and Pollack where staring hardcore at us and panting like we were getting them overheated.
Aaron finally pulled his lips away and the suction sound of our mouths parting startled Pollack who stepped back. Professor remained undaunted.
“Seriously, guys, give me a little space,” he said and the dogs decided he wanted them to climb on the couch with us.
Laughing, I ran my fingers over Aaron’s damp lips. “I can’t remember what we were doing before you came over to say hello.”
Aaron sat back and tugged me against him. “I think we were discussing my love of animal products.”
Professor took my spot while Pollack acted like she might attack the front door as teenagers hooted on the street.
“Don’t worry, Polly,” Aaron said, grabbing his cell. “Deputy Dickhead will give them a lecture.”
Pollack growled at the kids then decided they might not be able to hear her so she ran to the front door to make her voice heard.
As he searched for the number of the pizza place, Aaron grinned. “My neighbor a few doors down is an Ellsberg deputy and he thinks he’s top shit. There are two kinds of cops as far as I can tell. The cops who believe in the system and the ones who believe in themselves. Deputy Dickhead thinks he’s the law and his word is fucking set in stone. He’s always sticking his bitch nose in everyone’s business.”
Aaron rolled his eyes and I saw he was genuinely pissed. “If a neighbor complains about a dog barking too much, old dickhead comes over to give that person a lecture. He tried giving me one about sitting on the porch without a shirt. I told him to fuck off. Then, he gave me a lecture about using profanity around children. My fucking neighbors are mostly old people or teachers at the college. The youngest fucking person on the block is sixteen and she cusses worse than I do. Logic doesn’t matter where Dickhead is concerned. He’s a royal asshole and Pollack hates him. She nearly bit off his damn finger that he wears a stupid fucking giant ring on. The ring is some big deal and he tried to tell me about it, but I couldn’t give two shits about his life. He’s why people hate cops.”
“You know what your problem is?” I said as he texted our order for two pizzas – one meat lover, one Hawaiian.
“What?” Aaron muttered.
“You’re an introvert. You need to learn to open up more about how you feel.”
Aaron laughed. “The guy pisses me off. He’s going to shoot someone eventually or use a Taser on an old woman. Some fucked up shit. There are just some people who shouldn’t be given a lick of authority, let alone a gun.”
“Bossy men are the worst,” I said as my hand disappeared up his tee. “My stepdads have always been assholes. It seems to be the one thing all of the women in my family have in common. Bad taste in men.” When Aaron caught my gaze, I smiled brightly. “I like being the exception to the rule. It makes me special.”
“Fuck yeah, you are,” he said, kissing me then hitting send on his text. “Pizzas will be here in a few minutes. Want to do more of the newlywed thing or something else?”
Grinning, I straddled Aaron since Professor was sound asleep in my old spot.
“We can do the question answer thing when the pizzas get here. Let’s do something we can’t do when eating.”
Aaron wrapped his hands around my waist and snuggled our hips closer. I ignored how hard he already felt. There was no time for such concerns. The pizzas would arrive soon and I wasn’t interested in rushing once our clothes were off. No, I hoped we would take our time.
Chapter Twenty - Aaron
Despite her love of pineapple on pizza, Lark was perfection. I felt like a love starved moth drawn to the light of her smile. Lark smiled a lot too, but I had already learned to tell the difference
between the fake smiles of someone putting on a show and her genuine smiles. Lark’s green eyes revealed the truth. Every time she looked at me, I knew her interest was real. This was no Kristen situation where she said the right things and I never questioned her heart. With Lark, I knew her heart already belonged to me.
I made her laugh too. No one thought I was funny. Maybe Cooper laughed, but most people thought I was the artist or voice of reason. Lark thought I was everything. Funny and smart too. Hell, she was even curious how I named my dogs.
“Pollack is for Jackson Pollack, right?” she asked, making me want to kiss all over her again. “Why Professor though?”
Finished with the pizza, I shoved the rest in the frig and returned to sit across from her.
“It’s for Professor Longhair.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
Smiling like a crazy man, I couldn’t wait to share everything with her. I even considered showing off my paintings of her, but worried she might think I was a stalker or obsessed freak. Figuring I better let her get to know me before I showed off my weirder side, I was keeping the paintings to myself for the time being.
Once Professor Longhair played his rocking blues, Lark moved to the music.
“I used to love to dance.”
I nearly asked what made her stop until remembering how her brother died while she practiced for dance class. Based on how the light in her eyes dimmed, I sensed she was remembering that too.
“You are so beautiful,” I said, hoping to distract her.
Lark grinned, seeing my ploy. “I always wanted to fall for a boy with pretty blue eyes. It’s like God made you just for me.”
“You make it very hard for me to think.”
“And you make me feel like Thunder Kitten again.”
Speechless, I just stared and Lark burst into hysterics.
“Thunder Kitten?” I finally asked when she bent over laughing.
“That was my name when I was on a roller derby team. We were the Storm Babes.”
Looking at her little frame, I should be shocked at her playing the rough sport of roller derby. However, from that moment I first gazed upon her little pixy face, I knew my girl was a fighter.