Home Free

by Sonnjea Blackwell

  He jumped up and chased me, screaming, around the pool. He caught me by the arms and threw the hose to the side, then held me out, dangling me over the pool. I clutched at him and struggled to keep a grip on the deck with my toes. Tears ran down my cheeks from laughing so hard, and Danny’s mouth and eyes were grinning.

  “Don’t throw me in!” I pleaded. I didn’t want my hair and makeup ruined.

  He held me there for a second longer, thinking, then slowly pulled me back. “You’re right, you don’t deserve to be let off that easy,” he teased, his grin turning mischievous. “You deserve to be punished.”

  “Tell me what you’re going to do!”

  “You’ll see. Tell your mom you’re staying at Pauline’s tonight.” He kissed me, deep and sexy, and continued, his voice rough, “I’m going to get even with you, Lex, even if it takes all night.”

  Now that’s my kind of punishment, I thought.

  Danny and Kevin’s team won, and there was a lot of whooping and hollering at the end. My mom had come to see the game, and I wandered over and told her I was spending the night at Pauline’s. She reminded me I had work the next day before she left to congratulate my brother. Pauline had hooked up with her umpire again, and I told her I’d get a ride home, then went to wait in the Mustang while Danny finished the round of high-fives and back slapping.

  When we got to his house, we tiptoed around the back and snuck in through his bedroom window in case his folks were still up. Danny climbed through first, then turned back and lifted me inside. We stood there for a second, then he smiled.

  “I gotta take a shower.” He started to leave the bedroom, then glanced back at me with the slow smile. “Don’t start without me.”

  I kicked off my flip-flops and peeled out of my jeans, t-shirt and bra. I found a clean baseball jersey hanging in the closet and pulled it over my head. Luckily, it was white with red pinstripes, so it matched my red string bikinis. I flipped off the overhead light and turned on the dim lamp on the nightstand and arranged myself in what I hoped was a flattering pose on the bed.

  Danny came back after the fastest shower in history, wearing nothing but a towel and a horny grin. I reached for the towel, and he slapped my hand away playfully.

  “Hunh-uh. You’re being punished, remember? Now just relax.” He slid my bikinis down in one swift motion and bent his head to my stomach, his mouth moving lower with each kiss, his tongue making relaxation a distant memory, and then a little lower still, and a little slower and -

  “Dude! Come on, let’s party!” The bedroom door banged open. “Damn, now that’s what I call a party. Jesus Christ, is that my sister?”

  Danny flung a blanket over me and shoved Kevin out the door and slammed it shut in a single movement, but not soon enough to avoid giving us all nightmares for weeks. He winked and adjusted his towel.

  “Don’t move.” He followed Kevin into the hall.

  Like hell, I thought. I flew out of the bed and looked around for my underwear. They weren’t to be found, so I yanked on my jeans and stuffed my feet in my flip-flops and was halfway out the window when Danny hooked his finger through my belt loop to stop me.

  “Where are you going?” he breathed into the back of my neck, in that husky, gravelly voice of his. He pressed little kisses under my ear and pulled me back into the room, turning me around to face him.

  “I have to go home so my father can kill me. It wouldn’t be polite for him to kill me here, and make a mess for your mom to clean up.”

  He slid his hands under my shirt, along my belly and upwards, and I hadn’t found my bra either, and I felt my breath catch, and I thought, well, if I’m going to die anyway...

  “Your brother’s not going to say anything.” He touched my throat with his tongue and then kissed the same spot.

  “Are you sure?” I no longer had any clue what we were talking about.

  “Mmmm-hmmm. Darn, looks like I’m going to have to start all over.”

  If I’d known when I woke the next morning that the first day I greeted from the warmth of Danny’s arms was also destined to be the last, I wouldn’t have been nearly so cheery. But it wasn’t till two days later, when Rose came into the ice cream store to get a gallon of Rocky Road, that I found out he’d gone to Michigan, three weeks early, “to get settled in.”

  “I think we need to clear some stuff up,” he said, his eyes meeting mine.

  “Uh-hunh.”

  “I know I hurt you. I’m sorry.” He meant it, I could see that, but he was just so utterly fucking clueless I had the urge to strangle him. Despite their obvious advantages over battery-operated appliances and cats, sometimes I think men have the lower IQ.

  “You’re not sorry for the right thing, Danny. You’re sorry you left. I was never sorry about that.” He wanted to clear some stuff up, fine, let’s clear some stuff up. I felt my throat tighten and my eyes went a little blurry, but I’d be damned if I gave him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I clenched my jaw and went on. “I always knew you were going to leave. But you didn’t give me a chance to say goodbye. All I wanted was to tell you I loved you, tell you I wanted the best for you and say goodbye. But you didn’t trust me. What did you think, that I’d throw myself at your feet, crying, and beg you to stay? Christ, Danny, I would have cut off my right arm before I asked you to stay in this town. So, yeah, it hurt when you left. But you didn’t believe I loved you enough to let you go, and that’s what broke my heart.” I glared at him and shoved a wayward strand of hair out of my face.

  “Goddammit, Alexis.” He had only called me Alexis once before. “Of course I knew you’d let me go. I just didn’t think I could.”

  I thought, hunh? But I just stared at him, turning my shoe over and over in my hands.

  “After we spent that night together at my parents’ house and I woke up with you in my arms, I knew that was all I ever wanted. I was ready to give up baseball, my scholarship, my future, everything just to be with you. I went to work that day, and on my way home, I stopped and bought a ring.”

  “What?”

  “Shut up and let me finish. I bought a ring. I had it all figured out. We’d get married, and I would take over the gravel yard like my dad always wanted. We’d have some kids and live happily ever after. I went home to change and my folks were there. The old man was on a bender and my mom was tiptoeing around, trying to be invisible so he wouldn’t start in on her. And I saw us in ten years. Probably less.”

  “That’s crap. You’re not your father, for crissake.”

  “My old man’s mean when he’s drunk. He didn’t start drinking until he got disgusted with his life. How long do you think it would’ve taken for me to get disgusted with my life, stuck in Minter, no education, no baseball, running the goddamn gravel yard and breaking bones for Casaletto?

  “I knew I had to leave, and I didn’t think I could do it if I looked in your eyes one more time. I threw everything into the Mustang and left that night. I figured I could live with you hating me, but I would never be able to live with you being afraid of me.”

  I stared at him for a full minute.

  “Turns out, I can’t live with you hating me, either.”

  I threw my shoe at him and stood up, hands on hips, voice quavering. “Damn you, Salazar, you’ve had over a decade to come up with a story, and that’s the best you can do?” I pulled off the other shoe and brandished it.

  I felt the tears slide down my cheeks. He stood too, closing the gap between us in one stride, and took my face in his hands, wiping away the tears with his thumbs. Our eyes locked, and his flashed too many emotions for me to sort through. Regret, for sure.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  “I hate you,” I whispered. My shoe clunked to the floor.

  “I know, baby.” He tilted my face up and met my mouth with his, and damn if I didn’t forget my name. Then his tongue was in my mouth, hot and searching, and the flames seared through my body and I thought, shit, how does he do that? He slid his hands
under my shirt, lifting it over my head, and the last vestige of reason I had left took a stand.

  “Not in the living room, someone might see.”

  Danny looked around. “Lex, you live alone.”

  “Sure I do.” I took his hand, leaving my t-shirt where it had fallen, and led him down the hall to my bedroom, then closed and locked the door behind us.

  “I, uh, wasn’t planning - ” I started.

  He reached in his pocket and pulled out a strip of about a dozen condoms and tried for a sheepish grin. It was more of a smirk, and I thought about being indignant that he was so confident, but who was I kidding? He was fucking gorgeous. We had years to make up for. I seriously doubted if a dozen was going to be enough.

  I tried to push his shirt up, and he backed away, an evil smile lighting his face.

  “No way. You saw me in my underwear the other day. Now it’s my turn.”

  I wriggled out of my cargo shorts, sucking in my breath and holding it. I slipped my bra off and stood there, glaring at him and praying he wouldn’t laugh. His breathing got a little uneven, and I thought that was probably a good sign.

  “Maybe,” he said.

  Maybe? Maybe?!? Was he fucking kidding me? I got more enthusiasm from my gay ex-husband. I was speechless. I didn’t know if I was mortified or furious, or where the blunt instruments were. I sputtered and Danny bent forward, kissing my neck, his hand trailing down my belly.

  “Your underwear,” he said between nibbles, “they say maybe. What do you say?”

  I remembered now. “Stupid underwear,” I whispered, still holding my breath.

  “Lex,” he was still nibbling, but not on my neck anymore.

  “Mmmm-hmmm.”

  He traced a little circle on my breast with his tongue. “Breathe, honey.”

  The afternoon of world-class sex was cut short by Danny’s meeting with his attorney, a former teammate whose practice was in Oakland, two hours northwest of Minter.

  “Jeez, couldn’t you find a lawyer further away?” I whined. We still had condoms left. That didn’t seem right.

  “I tried, but no luck,” he countered, pulling on his boots. He leaned over the bed and kissed me goodbye in a possessive way that didn’t bother me in the least. “It’s a dinner meeting, Lex, so I won’t be back till late.” His eyes gleamed. “But I will be back.”

  I shrugged, pouting. “I might not be in the mood later.”

  “Oh, you’ll be in the mood.” He laughed and sauntered down the hall.

  “You know, arrogance isn’t that appealing,” I hollered after him, closing my eyes for a well-deserved nap.

  Now I was in the bathroom, slutting myself up for a date with the man of my dreams’ brother. Who says I have problems? I showered without washing my hair and touched up my makeup, adding an extra layer of mascara and a slash of red lipstick. My hair was sex-tousled, which went with the theme, so I left it, fluffing it up a bit and spraying it for insurance. I went to the closet and got out the new, slinky pink number and slid into it, then pulled on the sandals that went with it. I looked in the full-length mirror on the closet door. I could definitely do some damage in this dress, I thought as the doorbell rang.

  I ran down the hall to get the door, and the goddamn floorboard squeaked. Oh well, it would give Jack something to do when he was finished with the wiring. I opened the door, and Mikey gave me the once-over, black eyes glinting mischief.

  He shook his head in mock disgust. “Don’t you have any self-control?”

  I blushed and shrugged. “Not when it comes to your brother, evidently.”

  “Things still complicated?”

  “I’m not sure. We don’t seem to be mad at each other anymore,” I said, unable to keep from grinning like an idiot.

  “Please don’t feel compelled to give the details.”

  I laughed and got my purse, making sure I had the invitation. I remembered something. “You didn’t tell me you’d visited Sherry this morning.”

  “I didn’t. I dropped off flowers. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who was going to get many well-wishers, and I know how girls like flowers. How did you find out? I didn’t tell Danny I went.”

  “Jimmy C was having you tailed and expected you to go in the room and try to finish the job. The uniform had orders to follow you in the room and arrest you. They think you spotted the tail and dumped the flowers at the desk to avoid being caught.”

  Mikey stared at me. “And you think what?”

  I shrugged. “You always know what I’m thinking. Why don’t you tell me?”

  He hesitated a moment. “Common sense is telling you that you shouldn’t believe any person you’ve just met, least of all an ex-con and a murderer to boot. Common sense is telling you that your brother is a pillar of the community and would never do anything illegal or immoral, or anything that wasn’t mind-numbingly boring, for that matter. Common sense is telling you that the cops are better at this than you are, and that the only person with a real motive for any of this is me.”

  “That about sums it up.”

  “Fortunately for me, common sense isn’t exactly your forte.”

  “Hey!”

  “You can trust me, Alex. I know you’re thinking that I wouldn’t tell you that you couldn’t trust me, and I suppose that’s true. You’re going to have to make up your own mind.”

  I figured I already had. Don’t ask me why. I just wasn’t getting an I killed the body shop guy vibe. And once again, my stomach felt fine. I noticed his suit for the first time. It was dark and well-cut, and he filled it very convincingly.

  “You look nice,” I offered.

  He growled. “Not a suit guy. I can’t breathe.” He fiddled with his tie, and I smacked his hand so he wouldn’t mess up the way it lay. “So what’s the deal with this thing, anyway?”

  I forgot I hadn’t given him any details. I explained about the fundraiser. “You said we need to get my brother excited, push him to make a mistake. Well, he’s completely obsessed with this election, with his image and everything. So I’m thinking that his slutty little sister showing up at a campaign fundraiser with the best looking convicted felon in town might just get him excited.”

  “It’s definitely getting me excited.”

  “Very funny.”

  I’d conveniently neglected to mention my plan to Danny before he left. I wasn’t sure if he’d be more annoyed that I was trying to provoke a possible homicidal maniac or that I was going out with his brother, but one way or the other, I was pretty sure he was going to be annoyed. Since the afternoon had been going along quite nicely, I figured I’d postpone the annoyance as long as possible.

  I shoved Mikey out the door and locked it, and we got in the Cadillac. He kept fidgeting with his tie as he drove. “This tie is cutting off the flow of blood to my brain.”

  “It’s not the tie, it’s my dress,” I said, kidding.

  “Ain’t that the truth,” he muttered, not kidding.

  The fundraiser was downtown, at the Art Center. They have a large banquet facility that they rent out, and it’s always been popular because the catering is excellent and the room is large and beautifully decorated, as you’d expect from an art center. We parked in the adjacent lot and made our way to the front entrance, Mikey adjusting his tie again.

  “If you touch that tie one more time, I’m going to call Jimmy C and tell him you set the freaking fire,” I hissed. Mikey looked like a little boy who’d been scolded, and I immediately felt awful. “Sorry,” I said, taking his hand, “I’m nervous. Act like we’re a couple, okay, and try to let as many people as possible see us together before we run into Brian.” I figured the more people who saw us, the bigger the scandal would be in Brian’s strangely twisted mind. This had the potential to be even bigger news than one of the Murphy boys driving a Japanese pickup.

  “Okey-dokey.” He let go of my hand and slipped his arm around my waist.

  “Invitation?” The tuxedo-clad doorman took my invitation an
d made a check mark by my name on his ledger, then motioned us inside. I did a quick scan. I didn’t see Brian, but my parents were across the room, talking to Mr. and Mrs. Beauchamp from around the corner. My mom looked in my direction, and I ducked away before she could be sure it was me. I took Mikey’s arm and started making the rounds, keeping an eye out for Brian all the while. I would introduce myself as Alexis Jordan, Brian’s sister, shake the person’s hand, and then introduce my date, Michael Salazar, Jr. From what Mikey’d said about they way people treat ex-cons, I expected people to faint or run away, shrieking. But no one did, and most of the guests were downright friendly. It was an older crowd, mostly my parents’ age, and I didn’t recognize anyone. No one seemed to recognize me either, although one lady did congratulate me on my recent nuptials, which garnered raised eyebrows from Mikey. The fact that I was parading around with a guy who wasn’t my purported husband didn’t seem to faze her.

  We’d been at it for about twenty minutes when I spotted Brian out of the corner of my eye. He was near the bar, holding court before Melody and a gaggle of supporters, and he stopped talking mid-sentence, staring in our direction. I excused myself from the couple we’d been talking to and grabbed Mikey by the lapels, ad libbing.

  “Kiss me. Now.”

  “What?”

  “Like you mean it,” I hissed.

  He lowered his mouth to mine, and his hand ran down my back, resting on my sacrum, pressing me to him. Damn. He convinced me, anyway.

  Brian was beside us faster than you can say beyond reproach. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

  I detached myself from Mikey, licked my lips to be sure they were still there, and turned to my brother. He had a stranglehold on his scotch. His face was crimson, and there was a pulsating vein running vertically through his forehead. Lovely. The sick feeling in my gut returned. “You left an invitation yesterday, remember? It said it was a fundraiser, so I figured, the more, the merrier.” I clapped my hand to my forehead. “God, excuse me, I’ve forgotten my manners. Brian, this is Junior Salazar. Junior, honey, this is my brother Brian.”