Without Consequence

by Michelle Corchis

  She looked at me as if I was some sort of stalker and got off the bench and ran to her car. I groaned as I watched her ass wiggle and chased after her.

  When Darcy pulled open the driver's door, I pushed it closed. “What do you think you’re doing?” Darcy snarled while poking me in the chest. Her brows pulled together, and her plump lips were in a thin, straight line marring her beautiful face.

  “I have no idea of what you’re talking about,” Darcy declared, crossing her arms.

  “Do we have a bet?” I smirked. She wasn’t impressed with my words or the bet as she looked over at her friend, who was walking over to us with my brother.

  “Geez, what are you two doing?” Charlee asked.

  “We’re doing nothing, Charlee. You didn’t need to come over here, you know.” Darcy stated curtly, blowing her hair from her eyes.

  “Let Darcy get in her car. ” Jon demanded. Not that it was any of his business, and I shook my head and chuckled, “Did I say something amusing?”

  “Darcy and I don’t need an audience when we’re talking. Why don’t you two start your run and leave us to discuss things, alone.” I ushered both of them away with a motion of my hand.

  I caught Darcy eyeballing me, and no matter what she did, she just couldn’t help but be sexy. It was then that I realized how much she was shorter without wearing heels, not that it mattered, it was all about those legs! And I groaned, my brother and Charlee staring at me as if I just grew another head.

  “Can I talk to you, alone, Eli,” Jon asked me.

  “Not right now, Darcy, and I have some things to clear up.” I glanced over at her. I guess my lack of finesse really pissed her off, or maybe it was the confession that made her rip into me. All I know was, she lost her shit as if it was only the two of us at the track.

  “No, we have nothing to discuss,” her usual business voice was bristling with raw emotion. “I didn’t know that was you the other night, but you knew it was me.”

  “What,” Charlee choked out and grabbed Darcy’s hand.

  “Yeah, I should’ve said something, I should’ve let you know it was me,” I searched her eyes for any sign that she understood. “You wouldn't have given me the time of day. Not that I would've blamed you after everything,” I admitted.

  My heart continued to crash against my ribcage as sweat trickled down the back of my neck as I rubbed my hand over it before it dripped onto my collar and down my back. “Did you ever think that maybe, subconsciously, you knew it was me?” She stared at me blankly, “I didn’t push you to leave the dance floor, I’m not that kind of guy, honey.” I drew in a sharp breath and raked my hands through my damp hair. “I don’t need to play games to get a woman interested in me, but you, you think you’re better than me.”

  All the time I spoke, I watched the fire building in her eyes, but she never said one word. Panic gripped my insides and twisted in my gut like a python when I realized that there wasn't a hope in hell that Darcy was attracted to me. “I don’t know what made me think that you were a prize worth having, but I can see now that it was a mistake.”

  “Hey, you can’t talk to my friend like that,” Charlee piped in an uppity tone.

  “Charlee, I think this is between the two of them,” Jon exclaimed. “They need to fix this themselves.”

  “Oh, so that’s all you have to say!” Charlee's petite five foot two frame shook with anger. “He’s your brother, so I guess that means you would think like him.” She growled, then turned to Darcy, “Let’s go, forget the run, the air around here is too thick, anyway.”

  Jon stared at the blonde spitfire, “I didn’t know that I was bothering you, Charlee,” he quipped and walked around her. “Ms. Fitzwilliam, we will be at your house by nine in the morning. I have the key you gave me, it will get noisy so you might want to leave for work early. Have a good day,” he nodded and walked to his truck.

  “Have a great day, ladies,” I smirked and ran after Jon. “Can you give me a lift home?” I asked, even though I knew he was pissed and decided that I was going to walk when he answered, “Get the fuck in.” Then we took off spitting up stones and squealing the tires when we hit the road.

  ~~~

  I didn’t live far from the trail, and within minutes we pulled into the complex where I lived, “You want to come up for coffee?”

  Jon sat quietly for a few short moments and nodded, “I want to know what the hell happened between you and Darcy Friday night.”

  “Fine, I have nothing to hide, bro. It was something that happened, and honestly, I was shocked it went that far,” I huffed out.

  “Yeah, yeah, did she threaten your virtue?” He grumbled.

  “Very funny, she got what she wanted,” I smiled, and his face lost all humor. He was about to berate me with questions, “Uh, no, inside,” and I pointed to the building. There went the peaceful Sunday I had planned for myself as I unlocked the door and walked into the small foyer.

  “Now, can you answer me?”

  “Damn, you’re worse than a kid,” I smirked and took in his lack of enthusiasm. “Ah, hell, I’ll start from Friday morning.”

  I told him what happened after he and Mr. Fitzwilliam left the poolhouse, and I heard a noise in the bedroom. We all thought we were alone, but when I peeked inside, I saw this exquisite woman wrapped in a towel. She moved with ease, confidence, and grace. I watched as Jon’s face went through a spectrum of emotions, but when I told him about the bat, he burst out laughing. Of course, he lost all humor when I relayed about her towel falling to the floor when she swung it at me.

  “Holy shit,” he muttered.

  “Yeah, so you see what I’ve been dealing with, Jon,” I smirked. “Fuck, I can’t get her body out of my mind, then you asked me to go with you to Lefties,” I glanced at him as I put his coffee down in front of him. “I was good and well fucked, bro,” I told him with a deep sigh.

  “Shit, no wonder you didn’t want to go there on Saturday,” he grunted while putting sugar in his cup. I sneered at the desecration of his coffee, “Don’t look at me like that, Eli, you know I like lots of sugar in my coffee.”

  “Yeah, I know, but it seems like you have a sugar drink with a bit of coffee,” I chuckled when he leaned over and punched my arm. “Okay, so you two screwed around at the bar, and she had no idea that it was you?”

  “In a nutshell, nope,” as I took a hefty gulp of my liquid sanity. “Without getting into specifics, I stayed behind Darcy and talked in a deep voice. She had no idea who I was, but she didn’t balk when I pushed her toward the back hall either.” Just the thought, had me popping a boner, there was no way that little tryst was the last one we’d have.

  “You know she probably has a boyfriend, Eli,” he claimed. “Women like her don’t walk through life without someone by their side.”

  “I thought about that,” and took another drink. “Was anyone there when you guys showed up at her place?” There, I asked the one thing I wanted to know but was too chicken-shit to ask.

  “There was a guy there, in her room, but he wasn’t a boyfriend. It was her brother,” Jon looked at me and furrowed his brow, “Just how much did she drink?”

  “Hell if I know, but she was toasted,” I chuckled at the memory. “So, why are you asking me that?”

  Jon laughed, “We heard a noise from her room, and looked in. She was on the floor in the same dress she had on the night before,” his eyes crinkled at the corners from smiling. “Her dress was around her waist, and she looked every inch like a wet fucking dream.”

  “So not funny, bro,” and Jon burst out laughing. “Fuck off, Jon,” I said.

  “You got it bad, Elijah Bennett,” he smirked. “My advice, stay away from her, she’s out of your league, and so is Charlee for that matter,” his thumb rubbed over the side of his mug, “I think we both better just let it go.”

  “You do that, pussy,” and his eyes locked on mine. “I want more of that, and I always get what I want.”

  Jon tilted his
head and stared at me, “You mess up this contract, and I’ll make it so you’ll never have to worry about getting laid again,” he warned.

  “Whoa, is that a dick threat,” I asked him, but he didn’t answer as he downed the rest of his coffee and got up. “I’ll see you at dinner,” he hollered over his shoulder just before he closed the front door. That left me to my own devices, as horrible as it was, sitting alone with my thoughts, eating away at me.

  I went to change into jeans, a black tee and called Karson, our second-youngest brother. “Hey, what’s up, bro?” he asked, answering my call after one ring.

  “You up for a game of pool, maybe grab a few beers before dinner. You know mom is going to bombard us with shitloads of questions about who we're dating.”

  “Hell yeah, let me get rid of the girl in my bed, and I’ll meet you at Beats.” I had to laugh, Karson never slept alone. He had a revolving door to his bedroom, and there was no end in sight for him.

  “Sure thing, Karson. I’ll be there in fifteen,” I muttered and disconnected. There were five of us, Jon was always the serious one, oldest brother and me, I just didn’t give a shit. Max was the only one of all of us that went into University; he was an uptight, pretentious asswipe most of the time. I honestly don’t think he had a fun bone in his perfectly toned body. And Liam was a hard worker and one hundred percent committed to his fiancee, Roxanne.

  ~~~

  I was at Beats first, so I grabbed a pool table, a pitcher of beer, and did a few warm-up shots. The door opened, and in came Karson with a girl hanging on him. He whispered something in her ear, and she glanced up at him as if to say you’re a douche and walked out. Yeah, he was the master of ‘get it in, get it out, don’t mess my hairdo.’

  He tossed his leather on the table where my jacket was and poured himself a beer, “So, let's get this game going.” He was in a mood, fucker must have gotten his weenie wet again before he got here.

  “Aren’t you all chipper,” I winked. “That girl ride you here?”

  “Nah, she blew me on the way over,” he chuckled as he picked up the triangle to set up the balls.

  “No shit, and what did you say that pissed her off?” I wondered while he downed half of his glass of beer and wiped his sleeve across his mouth.

  “What’s with all the questions,” he groaned, “She outdid her usefulness, that’s all. I told her to fuck off,” and he grabbed a pool cue, rubbing chalk on the end. “You know I don’t want any crap in my life.”

  Yeah, that was putting it mildly, “So, are you seeing her again?” I knew he would get pissed-off at me for asking, but I’ve always pushed him as far as I could, brotherly love at its finest.

  “Did you want to go get a bite to eat and talk about our feelings, Eli?” He smirked and shook his head at me, “Stepping in feelings is something like stepping in shit, I don’t care for either one.”

  Karson had a shaggy head of dirty blond hair, a lean body, a natural smile, a pleasing face, and a penchant for women with loose morals. The makings of a bad boy, but make no mistake, he was one hundred percent a mama's boy.

  I laughed, it was so typical of Karson to say stuff like that, “So, Liam and his lady love will be at the house tonight,” I waggled my eyebrows. “Mom is going to make a big ass deal out of this, you know that right?”

  Karson finished his first beer and quickly filled it up, “Well, that’s her M.O., right? Ma wants grandbabies, and at least one son is going to do that for her.” Our talk subsided as the game became a bet, the loser buying the next round. We all played quite well, but Jon was the master at the game; I can’t remember the last time he lost, or if he ever did.

  Two pitchers down, we both won a game, and a guy that knew Karson came over and laid some money on the table. “Hey man,” they clapped their hands together, and a chest bumped, “Your dad doesn’t know you’re here, does he?” Karson laughed.

  “Nah, he does, I’m staying at my sister’s, the old man keeps riding the hell out of me.”

  “Oh, hey, Austen, this is my brother, Eli and vice versa,” Karson introduced us.

  “Nice to meet ya,” I nodded at him just before I sunk my last ball. “I guess that makes me the winner,” I taunted. “You should go find your girlfriend, Karson.”

  “No one likes a sore winner, ya know that, Eli.”

  “Thanks for those words of wisdom,” I joked. “Line them up, Austen, and let’s see who wins this game,” I smirked, “Oh, the round is on you, bro.”

  “I forgot what a dick you are when you win,” Karson chuckled and walked over to the bar to get another pitcher of beer.

  “You guys close?” Austen asked.

  “We’re brothers, and Karson’s younger, so he puts up with more crap than I have,” I explained while watching him rack up the balls. “What do you do, Austen?”

  “It's my break, eh?” He muttered, and I bent over the table to shoot, “I’m in University, taking psychology. I’m aiming for being a shrink, but might end up a psychologist instead of a psychiatrist.”

  “Why is that? You’d make more money being a psychiatrist, wouldn’t you?”

  “Stop with all the damned questions, Eli,” Karson murmured. “This is supposed to be fun. We'll get fifty questions with mom and dad tonight.”

  I looked at my watch, “Shit, let’s make this game fast, we’ve got to go, Karson.” So we smashed through the game, and Austen won, so it was decided that once dinner was over, all of us would meet up at head my place for a night of video games.

  ~~~

  Dinner went off without incident, which was nice for a change. Mom about broke her butt over Liam’s finance, Roxanne and dad talked about a house that wasn’t far from here that would be perfect for them.

  “Now, Elijah, when are you going to settle down?” Mom asked me, “Your dad and I worry about you,” she muttered and started on the ‘if you are gay’ talk. Not that there was anything wrong with that, it just was that I wasn’t gay and very much in lust with a certain lawyer that had rebuffed me today. My ego, on the other hand, was tipping toward the gutter. That’s probably generous, my outlook on the whole situation was shit at best.

  “Mom, if I were gay, I’d tell you,” and Jon burst out laughing. “You might want to ask Jon if he is, though,” I teased.

  “I know Jon’s not, he’s had plenty of girlfriends, but you never seem too interested in anyone.”

  That did it, “Mom, damn, I’m not gay!” I mean, a guy can only take so much.

  Our dad stood up, came over to me, and pulled me out of my chair, “Outside, right now,” he ordered. So, outside we went as we ducked into the garage, “Look, Eli, don’t ever tell your mom that we come out here for this,” and he crouched down and pulled a bottle of Crown Royal from underneath his workbench. He took two cups from a shelf and poured us each some, “You know she hates when I drink, but you know if I have a drink here or there, it won’t hurt.”

  “I know, Dad,” and downed the contents of the cup he handed me. “What’s going on with you? You never get upset with your mom, which, by the way, I didn’t appreciate.” Dad gave me his stern look before clinking his glass with mine.

  “Just a lot of shit going on, that’s all, and we have this new contract,” I told him. “I’m trying not to mess it up,” and he poured another few shots in my cup.

  “What’s that nonsense about? Why would you mess up the contract?” he questioned.

  I heaved in a deep breath and blew it out, and told him everything that happened the last few days. He didn’t remark, make any faces or even make a gesture, he just listened to what I had been dealing with.

  “Sounds like you have some feeling for this woman,” he said with a smile. “Maybe it would be best if you stayed away while working in her home. That family has more money than they can spend in this lifetime, so I understand what Jon’s talking about too,” he muttered, patting my shoulder. “Eli, you’re a good man, and any woman would be lucky to have you, but don’t let this one drag y
ou down,” he warned. “Once you’re down, it’s hard to climb back up, son.”

  ~~~

  It ended up that Jon, Karson, and Austen came over to my place. We drank a bottle of whiskey, and everyone passed out around two-thirty in the morning. This wasn’t the best thing because we had to be at Darcy’s at nine a.m., but after a few or ten shots, I found out that Austen was a Fitzwilliam. That fact blew my ever-loving mind, much to Jon’s amusement.

  Of course, he felt it necessary to tell Austen that his sister and I had a bit of history. Which only made the younger Fitzwilliam chuckle, because their dad ruled who they dated. The world, as I knew it was getting smaller by the second and squeezing the light right out of me.

  I dragged my ass to bed in the early hours and tried to sleep, but it was useless. My brain wouldn’t shut off, and my chest ached, there wasn’t much that I could do to remedy the circumstances surrounding this fiasco. My alarm went off at five. I groaned, ripping it out of the wall and throwing it against the opposite wall.

  “Hey, get up, you lazy shit,” Jon yelled through the door. “You’re going to want to look all purty to start your day at Darcy’s.”

  “Get out of my house, asswipe,” I muttered and threw my pillow at him when he opened the door. “I want my privacy back,” I hollered as Karson walked into my room and pulled some of my clothes from the drawers. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “You’re going to ask me that?” he grumbled and sighed.

  “Yeah, I guess I am,” I fumed as I got out of bed. “Go home and get your own damned clothes.”

  “I am not going home, then coming back, and then to work, not happening.”

  “Why not? You have lots of time before we have to be to work,” I watched as he pulled my shirt over his head and did up my jeans. “I guess that’s my answer, isn’t it,” I sneered and went into my ensuite to shower. I turned on the hot water and let it cascade over my back, thinking of the day that lay ahead when someone knocked on the door, “What,” I yelled, but no one answered.