I took a big, relieved breath. She must not have heard Chris’ accusation, or Rudy’s complete lack of denial of said accusation—though we hadn’t actually slept together yet, so he could have denied it.
“I pissed Chris off by being better with an engine than he is,” I said with a grin. “He’ll get over it.”
“Excellent! Then we’re right on track for total Seymore humiliation,” Macy giggled, rubbing her hands together in a way that didn’t quite suit her. “You just keep being better at boy things than they are.”
I decided to let that go. I didn’t really consider running and auto to be boy things, but Macy always had been more girly than me.
“We’ll keep an eye on you while you’re running, just in case Rudy tries to do something like trip you or whatever. I’ll pretend like I’ve got cramps and sit on the bleachers so I can see you wherever you are.”
That sounded like the most terrible idea in a world of terrible ideas. I tried not to cringe as I looked up at her.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said quickly, but not too quickly.
Lazily, Julianne swatted my refusal away like a half dead fly. “Oh hush, your safety is more important than tennis! Besides, I’m already ahead of the class, it’s not like I’m going to fall behind.”
I looked at Macy, who nodded ruefully. “It’s true,” she said. “She can definitely afford to sit this class out, Kennedy. She’s going to do it with or without your say so, you know.”
I sighed, realizing what this meant. No stolen kisses or conversation on the track, not today. And maybe not the day after that or the day after that one either. Julianne often got bored with trivial things, but stick a Seymore tag on it and the excitement would come rushing right back in.
“All right,” I said, because it didn’t matter anyway. Plus, my insistent refusal would have just wounded her up even more. “As long as it won’t hurt your grade.”
Julianne dismissed that with another wave of her hand, then we all got changed and jogged outside. Of course, Rudy was already waiting on the track, not at all expecting to see these two hanging onto me like a tick on a cow’s ass.
Even in the quick glance that I stole at him, it wasn’t hard to see the disappointment written all over his face. I decided that as soon as I got a second or two away from their eyeballs, I’d give him a heads up. During the warm up lap, that chance didn’t come. Every flash of my head back in their direction was a flash that met them eye to eye. Or at least, Julianne.
It wasn’t until twenty excruciating minutes later while Rudy and I were jogging up the side of the bleachers Julianne hadn’t held hostage, that I was able to whisper a word to him.
I kept my face straight and tried not to move my lips too much as I spoke. “Julianne’s watching because of what happened in the hallway,” I said.
“Damn. You still good to meet me later?”
“Yep,” I said, not letting myself smile. Julianne was already standing up, possibly about to charge over here and accuse Rudy of something that he hadn’t done. “Now shut up and run,” I whispered and watched as he took off a couple paces ahead of me.
Chapter Thirty
When I got back to the garage I was annoyed to find Chris waiting outside the door, ankles and arms crossed, glowering at me. I would have ignored him if he wasn’t blocking the door.
“Excuse me,” I said, letting my irritation leak into my voice.
“Nope,” he said.
“Let me get past.”
“Why, so you can cheat? Not a chance, bitch. If you can’t make it to class, that’s your own damn fault. Maybe you shouldn’t try to screw with people between classes.” He tilted his chin and straightened his shoulders.
I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t going to screw with you. I was trying to talk to you despite all the insults you insisted on throwing at me. Plus, if you recall, you’re the one who started the damn conversation.”
He sneered. “Right. Like Julianne tries to talk to us? No thanks, princess, I don’t need to be questioning my brothers’ loyalty or any of that other mind fuck bullshit. You can keep your talking to yourself. Now run along home before I have to do something drastic.”
“Get out of my way,” I said. “I have a class to make up.”
“Not happening.”
I thought about pushing him out of the way, then I had a better idea. Mr. Foster should still have the garage bay doors open. I shrugged and started for the door to the parking lot. I thought that would be the end of it, but Chris was walking next to me before I was even a dozen steps away.
“What do you want now? You have a crush on me or something?” I asked, suppressing the smile that absolutely wanted to make its way to my lips, especially seeing how he cringed at the accusation.
“Don’t get me confused with Rudy. I’m just here to make sure you actually make it out to your car.”
I snorted. “Good luck. Hope you feel like hanging out in a hot garage for a couple hours.”
He stepped around in front of me. For as short and skinny as he looked next to his brothers, he was still taller than I was and outweighed me by a decent amount, so pushing past him didn’t seem like a great option. I sighed at him.
“Look, you already put me behind the rest of the class with your little locker stunt. Are you really so threatened by me that you can’t even stand to let me make that up?”
Chris smirked for a quick second, then looked confused, then got angry.
“I’m not threatened by a little girl! I don’t know why the hell you’re even in that class, it’s not like you’re going to use it. If you ever end up at the side of the road all you’re gonna do is step out looking pretty and helpless and someone will come rescue your dumb ass.”
I batted my eyelashes at him. “Aww, you think I’m pretty?”
“Shut the fuck up.” He stepped closer to me and narrowed his eyes, which only made him look like he needed glasses. “Listen up, Kennedy. Rudy’s been protecting you for years—you ever wonder why you don’t get it like the rest of those bitches? It’s all him. He won’t let us touch you. Don’t ask me what he sees in you, ‘cause I don’t fucking get it, but now he thinks he’s winning.”
I couldn’t hide my smile. It felt good to know that he’d always had my back, even before we had said a single word to each other.
“Yeah, that little smirk right there? Keep that up and you’ll end up face down in a dumpster. If you screw Rudy over, you’ll get what’s been coming to you for years. And trust me, cupcake—you can’t fucking handle it.”
He turned and left as the smile fled from my face. I wasn’t planning to screw Rudy over. I liked him a lot—but what if something happened? What if whatever it was we were doing didn’t work out and Rudy took it personally? I’d be screwed. Royally screwed. It wasn’t such a far-fetched fear, either. Between the stress of sneaking around and the fact that we still hadn’t had a real conversation, the chances of this working out were slim. Super slim. And that fucking terrified me.
I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered, my stomach dropping like I’d missed the last step on a staircase. What grudge was Chris holding against me, anyway? I couldn’t remember ever doing anything to him personally—but the back and forth had been so intense for so long, there definitely could have been something that I just wasn’t remembering. It wouldn’t have stuck out in my memory if Rudy had forced them not to get back at me personally.
There was no way I was going to be able to focus on my project like this. Besides, I was so late already that Mr. Foster probably figured I wasn’t coming and left. Annoyed that Chris had won, and not in the mood to try to get into the garage, I pulled out my phone and texted Rudy.
Can you meet me nowish? Not finishing my project today. Someone wouldn’t let me into the classroom.
I left without waiting for an answer. Even if he didn’t show up until later, I could use the time alone away from the house. Thankfully, though, Rudy was waiting for me when I got there, his f
ace grim and his hair a ruffled mess because he kept running his fingers through it.
We disappeared under the bridge before touching one another, but once we did, it was several minutes before I could breathe long enough to speak.
“Hold on,” I said as he started to go in for another kiss. “We need to talk.”
He visibly paled, then nodded slowly and sat down on the gentle concrete incline. I sat down beside him, letting the river below soothe my nerves. Nervous nausea still clutched at my gut, but I could breathe a little easier.
“Chris kept me from going to the shop after school,” I told him quietly. “He told me that the only reason your brothers have been leaving me alone is because you’ve been protecting me—and he said the minute I screw you over, I’ll feel the full wrath of everything he’s been wanting to do to me all this time.”
I swallowed hard around the lump in my throat. Rudy was watching me thoughtfully, not saying a word. It stressed me out - loosening my tongue, spilling my insecurities.
“I’m not planning on screwing you over.” The words tumbled out of my mouth in the worst kind of order, but my mouth was moving faster than my brain, keeping pace with my racing heart. “I’m not playing you or anything, but I can’t predict the future, I don’t know how this is going to end, if it’s going to end. We don’t even really know each other and now there’s all this pressure, like if things come to a natural end—like you said before, if it’s just the forbidden unknown and we get over it—Chris will do something terrible to me and he’s so angry and I don’t know what I did to make him so angry. I really don’t, even though I’ve been trying to remember and—”
He kissed me. I’m pretty sure it was just to shut me up or force me to take a breath, but my mind was still racing. He kissed me until my eyes closed and my breath steadied, only releasing me when he could gauge my calm by the gentleness with which my tongue danced with his. What he didn’t count on was that as soon as my mouth was free, it would start running again.
“I mean… I’m sure I deserve it. I’ve been right there with Julianne doing terrible things to you guys and I’m sorry, but there’s been too much stuff and I don’t know which part of what I’ve done has pissed him off and if I don’t know I can’t make it right especially if I actually did hurt his feelings and not just his pride, which, let’s be honest, is pretty fragile as it is, and—”
He kissed me again, harder this time, cupping the back of my neck and bracing an arm around my waist. He kissed me again and again, letting me gasp for breath, but preventing me from forming words, then he lay back and rolled me over on top of him. My thighs fell to either side of his hips and I felt him grow against me as he devoured my mouth and pulled my hair. All of my thoughts quickly turned to a mushy slurry as he grabbed my hips and rocked them against him, sending a wave of hot, wet need right through to my core.
His shirt rode up on his firm, toned belly as I writhed on him, and he tugged mine up too, running his hands over my spine and pressing our bellies together, our sweat-slickened skin sliding over each other, moving our clothes up and down by inches. I forgot about the traffic and the ranchers and the possibility of curious kids. I forgot about everything except the way his skin felt against mine. How our hearts beat in sync and our breaths were taken in unison. I forgot about everything that didn’t have to do with this moment.
The bulge in Rudy’s pants was hard and straining against his jeans, pressing into my thigh like it wanted nothing more than to be released. Between my thighs, a puddle sat, creating the kind of discomfort that made me need to get out of my panties.
There was a part of me that should have been questioning whether or not I was ready, whether this next steps should be taken right here, right now. But that part of me was dimmed and dulled by all the emotions and sensations and desperation sparking at every single nerve ending.
Losing myself to Rudy felt so right, so perfect. Even if things between us turned sour two months, or as little as two weeks from now, it wouldn’t matter. As long as I could recall a modicum of the feelings I possessed in this moment, regret would be the farthest thing from my mind.
I reached down, desperate to unbutton my jeans when the world exploded. Pops like gunshots echoed around the bridge as smoke smelling of gunpowder filled the air. Red paper confetti floated through the smoke, some of it still smoldering.
Rudy and I ducked and covered, pressing our palms to our ears and curling into one another, making ourselves as small as we possibly could. It must have taken two full minutes for the noise to stop, though it felt like it went on for forever and an eternity.
When it eventually came to a halt, I couldn’t really tell. My ears were ringing so loudly I couldn’t even hear myself speak. Rudy was saying something, but I couldn’t read his lips. My stinging eyes poured water and I couldn’t catch a clear breath.
After trying to talk to me for a few useless seconds, Rudy finally grabbed my wrist and dragged me out from under the bridge. Now in the open, he pointed up at the edge of the bridge.
Two used-up strands of firecrackers hung off the bridge on this side. I ducked, looking under, and could just barely make out matching strands on the other side. I pointed them out to Rudy, who nodded. He took my hand and led me up the brushy slope to the bridge. There was nothing to see up there, save for a set of fresh tire tracks where someone had burned out.
Whoever set the firecrackers hadn’t waited around to watch them go off. Rudy frowned at the tracks and squeezed my hand in his.
My hearing slowly started to come back. When everything still sort of sounded like it was underwater, I crouched down and touched the tire tracks. They were definitely new.
“Did Chris do this?” I asked.
Rudy started shaking his head, then stopped. “I don’t think so,” he said, sounding slightly muffled. “We only have my car and Jason’s car. Jason’s in Dallas to pick up a foster kid. He’ll be back, but not until tomorrow. But—”
He paused, scowling fiercely. A car was coming behind us and I tugged him off of the bridge. He waited until the car passed, then grabbed one of the blackened strings from where it had been taped to the bridge and examined it. His scowl deepened.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I know the brand,” he said. “We passed a stand selling these the last time we went to Houston. Illegal, I think, but Chris wanted to get out of the car and look and the rest of us had to pee anyway, so—” he shrugged. “I didn’t see him buy any. He could have hidden them—he was alone near the stand for a few minutes. This was a long time ago, though. Last year sometime.”
“You guys go on a lot of road trips,” I observed absently.
My mind was racing. It completely skipped the Chris accusation, though I knew that was very much likely. But I had my own memories to track down. Julianne had complained about Thomas buying up a bunch of fireworks a few weeks ago. I didn’t know the brand, of course, and therefore had less to go on than Rudy. But… could Thomas have done this?
I felt sick. If Thomas knew what was happening between me and Rudy, it was only a matter of time before he told Julianne. If he hadn’t already.
“You thought of something?” Rudy asked. He sounded hopeful and it occurred to me that maybe he didn’t want Chris to be responsible for this.
“Remember when I pissed Thomas off?”
He nodded, then his eyes widened. “You think?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t even directed at us. Maybe it was just somebody being stupid. But—I did piss him off and he does like fireworks.” I frowned. “I think that’s more likely, unless somebody’s been watching us. We weren’t under there long enough for someone to spot us, come up with the idea, go get the fireworks, and come back.”
“But if the fireworks were in the car already…” Rudy raised his eyebrows at me.
I wished he hadn’t said that. I really wanted to believe that it was a random coincidence. The only problem was, I didn’t see any evidence at
all that shooting off fireworks over the bridge was a common occurrence, and it was a really weird time of day for someone to randomly decide to do that. The sun was still up, the wind was strong, and the brush near the river was dry and brittle from the long, hot summer. It was an exceptionally stupid thing to do, and they hadn’t even stuck around to watch the fireworks after lighting them.
Rudy put his arm around me. “But no harm done, right? Your ears okay? No burns?”
“I’m fine. No burns.”
He nodded. “Then if it was a prank, it was a harmless one. Let’s forget about it. We won’t give the prankster the satisfaction of a reaction, right?”
“Right,” I said, hugging myself.
But I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that the firecrackers had been a warning and I spent my entire drive home checking the rearview mirror.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Holy cow, Kennedy, you look rough. Didn’t sleep last night?” Julianne greeted me the next morning with the kind of words that were truthful, but still not welcoming to hear.
I shook my head. “Somebody was setting off firecrackers,” I said, which was the truth, though not the entire truth. It was also very much the reason I couldn’t sleep last night.
“Assholes,” she said passionately. “That’s why I told Thomas to get rid of his. I wonder if he finally did or if I’m going to have to punish him.” She flashed me an evil grin.
I snorted. “How on earth would you punish Thomas?”
She gave me a sickly sweet pitying look. “Oh, Kennedy. So naïve. It is way more fun to punish your boyfriend than it is a child—easier, too. There’s only one thing he wants, and only one place to get it. You should try it sometime. Oh my god!” She thumped herself lightly yet dramatically on the forehead.
Them Seymore Boys: An Enemies to Lovers Bully Romance (The Seymore Brothers Book 1) Page 19