He chuckled sarcastically. If I’d had enough strength, I would have gotten up and punched him in the face, but with the amount of alcohol streaming through my blood it wouldn’t have resulted in anything remotely painful so instead of looking like a fool with a pretend punch, I stayed still, and pushed the thought of the guy that left me behind as far down as I could. The last thing I wanted to feel were tears forming in my eyes.
“I didn’t drive Oliver away from you. He was just strong enough to leave before being dragged down with what I had to offer.”
I tightened my fists and dug my nails inside the palm of my hands. “I don’t want to talk about him.”
“You’re the one that brought it up.”
“And I’m the one telling you I don’t want to talk about him.” I scowled. “Why are you here, Damian?”
He shrugged. “I saw you cross the street, and you looked like you needed the company. My good nature was telling me I should come and see if you were okay.”
“Your good nature? You don’t even like me.”
“There you go assuming things again, Abbygail. Didn’t I just tell you that you shouldn’t do that?” The way he said my name made me shiver. It was sexy, yet the danger in it was clearly apparent. He reached inside his leather jacket, and pulled out what looked like a cigarette and lit up beside me. The strong smell piqued my curiosity. I could only make out the silhouette of Damian’s face as he breathed in loudly. I watched him smoke quietly and admired his square jaw through the soft glow of the moonlight. After a while of my staring at him, he lifted his head and his serious lips turned into a sexy grin. “What?”
“I just wonder why you do it.”
“Why do I do what?”
“The drugs.”
“You want to know why I use, or why I sell?” he asked, looking back up at the sky.
I followed his gaze. “Both. I guess.”
“I use because it feels good, and helps keep my mind off the shit going on in my life. I sell because I need the money.”
“Why do you need the money?”
“Because my father’s an ass, and I need to eat and drink just like you do. Plus, this hot bod isn’t going to dress itself you know.”
“Hot bod?” I smirked. “You’re so full of shit, Bushmans.”
“Are you telling me you don’t think I’m hot?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
He sat up and turned his focus back to me. I felt his long gaze travelling the length of my body. After sizing me up he chuckled and licked his lips. “Funny how your eyes seem to tell an entirely different story.”
“Why don’t you just get a real job like everyone else does?” I asked trying to get the attention off me and my obvious attraction towards him.
“Why would I? It’s easy money. Besides, I’m good at what I do.”
I remained quiet, pensive for a while. Damian was extremely smart, and I had to admit that he ran his business very well, but even I knew selling drugs was a stupid idea. “You’re going to get caught some day.”
“I’ll cross that bridge if I get there.”
“You mean when.”
Just as if he knew I was right and that his time would come soon, he let out a deep sexy laugh that made my insides quiver. I stretched my hand and took his lit joint from his, grazing my touch against his rough fingers. After looking at it for what seemed like an eternity I put the moist tip on my lips and sucked in sharply, swallowing the strong smoke down my constricted lungs. As I choked and coughed my life away, Damian exploded into laughter.
“Fuck you.” I managed to complain between coughs. “You could have warned me.”
“I’m glad I didn’t. This has got to be the funniest thing I’ve seen all day. You’re a lousy smoker, Abbygail.”
I rolled my eyes annoyed by his insult. “Okay, Damian, since you seem to think you are such an expert, how about you show me how it’s supposed to be done?”
“Gladly.” He moved closer to me, and placed his legs on each side of the bench we were sitting on. He motioned me to do the same, so I let my legs down and straddled it just as he did.
I think somewhere deep down, his nearness was scaring me: I knew I shouldn’t be sitting there with Damian. He gave Oliver the drugs… he made Oliver leave me. He was my enemy, yet I was unable to back away. My inhibited self was kicking me in the gut because not only did I not want to leave, I was enjoying his company. I wanted to be with him.
“Close your eyes and open your mouth.”
I frowned at his demand. It was the type of thing Henry would say when I’d surprise him with my usual pre-diner visit.
***
“Hi, Uncle Henry.” I hollered walking through the front door without knocking.
“Hey, Abbygail. How was your day?” He stretched his neck from the kitchen. Come take a seat, I’m making dinner.”
I crossed the hallway and sat in front of him at the counter. I watched as he diced various types of vegetables in front of me. “It was okay, I guess. I had a French exam this morning.”
“How did it go?”
“In all honesty, I’m pretty sure I flunked it.”
“I really doubt that. Isn’t that the exam you and Oliver studied for all evening yesterday?”
I nodded but it was a lie. Oliver and I hadn’t spent hours studying. We’d spent hours watching deleted scenes of ‘Dexter’ online and then I’d spent the entire night awake because of it.
“You two spent hours studying. What went wrong?”
I shrugged and looked at my hands.
“I think you underestimate yourself, Abby. You’re a lot better at it then you think. You really should learn to believe in yourself more.”
“Maybe.” I frowned.
“Okay, what’s the matter kid? This isn’t about your French class is it?”
I shook my head. I was having these bizarre feelings about my best friend bubbling inside of me for the past months, and had no idea what to think of them. I needed to talk to someone, and out of all the people surrounding me, the only person I could think of was my best friend’s father. Talk about awkward.
“Abbygail?”
“How did you know you were in love with Aunt Evelynn?”
He smiled and put his knife down on the cutting board.
“Who’s the lucky guy?”
I groaned. I knew the question would be coming up sooner than later. “No one. Forget I asked. So, what are you making for dinner tonight?”
He chuckled. “Why do I have a feeling that you’re changing the subject because you don’t want me to figure out who your secret crush is?”
“Oh I’m well over the crush phase now. So tell me. What are we having for dinner?”
He smiled. “Close your eyes and open your mouth.”
“Hey Dad, I’m home.”
I felt my heart thrumming at the sound of his voice, and opened my eyes before the spoon touched my lips.
‘We’re in the kitchen. How was practice?” Henry replied to his son.
“It was okay. Coach made us do the beep test for over half an hour, though. It was fucking exhausting. Who’s we?” he asked climbing upstairs to his room before coming into the kitchen.
“It’s either one of two people.” I replied hearing him run back down the steps. “I’ll let you take a wild guess.”
“Abs? I was just about to go knock on Cole’s door. Weren’t you supposed to be babysitting?”
“Mr. Hunter got home earlier. I came here to surprise you before you got home.” I grinned at the drink he was holding in his hand when he walked in. “Is that for me?”
“Only if you agree to share,” he winked.
I hopped off the high chair I was sitting on, and grabbed the spoon Henry was still holding out for me. I moaned. It was delicious, as always.
“Am I keeping you a spot for dinner?” Henry asked turning back to his stove.
“I think that was already implied, Uncle Henry.” I smiled and stepped o
ut of the kitchen with Oliver. He and I would be crossing the street to go sit under the willow tree in my backyard to enjoy our frozen drink together.
“I guess it was,” he chuckled. “Tell your mom we’re having you for diner and that if she wants to join us, she is more than welcome.”
“Okay,” I replied taking the glass out of Oliver’s hands. I took a huge gulp of the frozen drink and got hit by an intense pain. “Shit.”
“Brain freeze?” Oliver teased.
I nodded.
“Where?”
I pointed to my forehead, and he hit me with the palm of his hand.
“Dude,” I winced. “Why the hell did you do that?”
“It’s a known fact that if you hit your head where your brain freezes it will make the pain disappear, Abby.”
“But you just hit me, dimwit.”
“Did the brain freeze go away?”
“Well yeah but–”
“Then don’t complain.”
We started walking out of the front door when I heard Uncle Henry calling my name. I stopped walking and turned back to his watching us. “I had trouble breathing when she wasn’t there, Abby. That’s how I knew I would never be able to let her go, that’s how I knew I would do anything for her, and that’s how I knew I was in love with her.”
I nodded and turned back to Oliver who was waiting for me on the door frame. “What the hell was that about?”
“Nothing” I looked at my Uncle Henry one last time before shutting the door behind me and saw him wink subtlety. I put my finger up to my lips. My secret was out, and bizarrely enough I was relieved.
“So, beautiful,” Oliver said, putting his arm around my shoulders, “How did your French exam go?”
I groaned.
“Yeah, me too. Next time we need to study, let’s not watch ‘Dexter’.”
“I had nightmares because of you. Weren’t you supposed to come and sleep over last night?”
“I tried to sneak out, but my mom caught me,” he explained, trying to reach out for the glass I was indulging in. “Give me that before you drink it all.”
“You want it?” I mocked rushing out of his hold. “Come and get it…”
***
Months before, I appreciated the random thoughts of Henry popping into my head, they made me smile. But as time moved forward, memories of Henry would turn into thoughts of Oliver, and I didn’t welcome those as well as I used to. Reminiscing about Oliver and how much I missed him was heartwrenching. I preferred convincing myself that I hated him. It was just easier to push down the memories about us as far as I could and forget about them. Or him.
“I won’t be putting anything disgusting in your mouth, Abbygail.”
“Why should I trust you?”
He smiled. “You shouldn’t, Little-Bird. I’m a predator. And little birds like you should never trust guys like me. But in this case, I guess you’re just going to need to believe me.”
I don’t trust you... I don’t even trust myself right now...
I watched Damian bring his lit joint to his mouth and breathe in the smoke. I licked my lips waiting to see what would happen next, and he smiled.
“Close your eyes and part your lips,” he whispered as he inched closer to me.
I followed his order and felt the warm smoke as he puffed slowly the air out of his mouth and into mine. I inhaled and let it travel down my throat, his proximity made my head dizzy and my heart race at an extremely fast pace. The experience was a thousand times better than it had been just seconds before.
I had to hand it to Damian, he was right. I swallowed the smoke down and let the air leave my lungs slowly. When I opened my eyes, Damian was still close and staring at my mouth. I bit down on my bottom lip un-thoughtfully.
“You shouldn’t do that.”
“I shouldn’t do what?”
“Bite your lip like you keep doing all the fucking time.”
I giggled. “Why?”
“Because it makes me want to kiss you.”
“Is that so?” I purred. “Then tell me, Damian, what’s stopping you from kissing me?”
He didn’t respond with words. As soon as his lips touched mine I lost myself. My will to fight, my will to be the person I knew I could be, it all disappeared to his greedy demanding kiss.
I loved the way his tongue grazed mine. I adored how his teeth bit into my bottom lip. As he devoured my mouth and the side of my jaw, my skin shivered. When he lifted me to straddle his hard body, I felt desired. The sound of his lustful moans made me feel wanted. And as his eager callous fingers traveled inside the protection of my clothing, caressing my scorching wet skin, my heart raced faster than it had in months.
I loved how Damian Bushmans made me feel alive. But above all, what I loved the most was letting myself get lost to someone I really didn’t care about.
***
My eyes tried to adjust to the harsh sunlight that woke me up. I couldn’t understand why it was shining so bright in the morning.
Unless it’s the afternoon and Mom let me sleep in?
I shook my head knowing that the probability of my mother letting me sleep until late afternoon was highly unlikely. I sat up feeling very dehydrated and reached to my side table, but my hand hit a wall that was normally not there. Feeling more than a little disoriented I rubbed my eyes, and looked around trying to focus. Nothing in the room I was sitting in made sense.
What the hell happened last night? Scratch that… where the hell am I?
As I tried to assess my surroundings the door to my left opened and I saw him come in. “Damian? What are you doing here?”
“You’re in my room, babe. Where else am I supposed to be?” he smirked.
“Your room?” I frowned trying recall what had happened in the last few hours. The last thing I could recollect was us kissing, and him feeling me up on the football field’s line up bench. I looked at myself. I was wearing his Vans T-shirt.
“Yes, my room. How are you feeling?” he asked. “Do you have a headache?”
Unable to word anything that made sense, I licked my dried lips and shook my head.
“There’s a glass of water on my side table if you want a drink.”
I nodded, picked up the glass on the left side of the bed and brought it to my lips. The warm water travelled down my throat but it wasn’t soothing much. “Can I–um–use your restroom?”
He nodded, never letting his eyes falter away from mine. “Second door to your right.”
I stepped out of Damian’s room with wobbly legs. I felt his gaze but didn’t look behind me. When I came back feeling a little fresher than I had a few minutes before, Damian was still standing at the exact spot, waiting for me.
“Feeling better, Little-Bird?” he asked with a mocking smile.
I watched as he took his shirt off. The scars on his body made me wince but he thought nothing of it as he unbuckled his belt and let his lose jeans hang low on his hips. I bit my bottom lip unsure if I was uncomfortable our aroused by his half naked body standing before me.
“Sort of. What time is it?”
“Nine.”
Okay, so my mom is definitely killing me now...
“Where are my clothes?” It had dawned on me when I got up out of bed that I was wearing absolutely nothing under Damian’s shirt. He didn’t say a word, he only nudged towards the corner and I saw all my clothing neatly folded on his computer desk.
Really Abby?
“Last night, did we–um?”
He shook his head. “At some point you passed out.”
I slipped back into Damian’s bed covers, and leaned on the wall behind me. Why I wasn’t running out of his bedroom screaming my head off, I had no clue. In any normal circumstances I would have been out of the door, yet there I was taking back the spot I woke up confused in, with absolutely no intention of leaving.
“Abbygail,” Damian voiced. His low growl hadn’t gone unnoticed, and it made me smile. I watched him swallow the lump i
n his throat as he observed his t-shirt run higher up my thighs.
“Damian,” I murmured seductively.
He raised his brow. “Tell me how you’re feeling right now.”
My eyes travel the length of his naked torso and then the lower part of his body. I let the sly smile creep up on me as if what I was currently feeling was entirely normal.
“I’m just going to go ahead and say that I’m feeling exactly what you’re feeling, Bushmans.”
The fire in his gaze was questioning me, it was warning me.
I didn’t care.
Damian meant nothing and I didn’t give a shit about the consequences of my choices. What I cared about was my desire to feel his hands caressing my skin as they had on the football field the previous night. The difference was he wouldn’t be stopping there. He would take more because I wanted more. And if he requested it, I would give him all.
He unbuttoned his pants and they hit the floor letting his very present erection show me exactly how aroused he was. I licked my moist lips and he advanced towards me.
“I want to try something with you, Little Bird.”
“Could you please stop calling me that?” I complained.
“Nah! I don’t think I will. I kind of like the nickname. It fits you,” He answered climbing onto the bed. He straddled my half naked body and reached inside his night table, I watched him pull out a condom and a bottle of pills. He uncapped the bottle and pulled a bright pink pill out. He bit into the tablet, splitting it in two.
I furrowed my brow. “What is it?”
“Ecstasy.”
Ecstasy? Okay. That’s not so bad right?
I wrapped my hands around his neck and put my lips to his. With an appreciative growl he stroked his tongue with mine and slipped my half of the drug inside my mouth. I swallowed it down without giving another thought, and pulled his hard body down over mine.
“Abbygail?” he moaned against my jaw. “Did you know that I could barely sleep while you were rubbing your tight bare ass on my dick last night?”
“Well Damian,” I replied mockingly. “If you hadn’t undressed me, then it wouldn’t have been bare.”
“Ah babe. I didn’t undress you. You undressed yourself. This shirt was the only thing you agreed to put on after I begged you to stay dressed.”
No Regrets (No Regrets #1) Page 17