“A hickey? You gave me a damn hickey?”
“I marked my territory. You’re now bound to me by bloodlust,” I giggled.
“Your territory, huh?” he mumbled against my lips. “I think I like the sound of that.” He pinned my hands over my head in a surprise move. “Prepare yourself. Paybacks are a bitch, baby.”
**
The warm shower soothed my sun parched skin. Every muscle in my body ached and my stomach felt queasy from all the junk food I consumed. Hot dogs turned out to be a side dish.
I wrapped the towel around my moist skin and wiped the steam off the mirror. Streamlets of water trickled over my shoulders from my wet hair and puddled against the rim of terry cloth across my chest. When I raised my arms to comb through my hair, the bright purple bruise peaked over the edge. The quarter size mark proved more painful than all the muscles in my leg. I peeled the towel down and Riley’s payback on my breast glowed like a beacon.
Damn you Riley! Yeah . . . damn.
“Good Lord Taylor! Is that a hickey on your boob?
Apparently, I forgot to shut the door again.
Fifteen
A TRULY “RELIGIOUS” EXPERIENCE
Riley
“I’m serious, Riley, don’t come over today.”
The clock said 7:15 A.M. Sunday morning. Taylor had to be insane calling me this early. I eased against the headboard and slapped my face to wake up so I could understand her because she whispered so close to the phone receiver. The room came into focus after a couple thousand blinks.
“Why are you whispering? And what do mean I can’t come over?”
Not seeing Taylor would never be an option in my life anymore. I needed her worse than food and water to survive. She was my oxygen supply.
Her hissing in my ear continued. “Because I’m not supposed to be talking to you. Riley, we’re in deep trouble. Grams saw your brand on my, um, chest, and she’s pissed. She thinks I’m a slut, and well, I can’t repeat what she said about you.”
“What? How the hell did she see your boob? I didn’t even get to see your boob.”
Jaxson slapped the wall on the other side of my bed. Waking “the dead” could bring on my demise. I tossed my pillow to the foot of the bed and leaned on my stomach.
Taylor started crying, putting me at a loss. “Babe, calm down. You’re eighteen. She can’t ground you.”
“It’s worse. She told me if this is how I behaved with boys, she wanted no part of it. Riley, she wants to send me back to Boston.”
Okay, that would not happen. Taylor and I didn’t do anything worth sending her back home and taking her away from me. We still a month of summer left and I wouldn’t let old lady Daniels screw things up.
“Hell no!” I yelled out, surely waking the entire upstairs. Jaxson slammed the wall hard enough I expected to see his fist on my side. I walked into my closet, lowering my voice and searching for something to throw on. “I’m coming over to talk to her. We didn’t do anything.”
“No! I told you I can’t see you today. Maybe after church and a good dose of preaching she’ll mellow.”
Hmm. Taylor home alone. “How long do we have the house to ourselves?”
“What?”
“Grandma at church equals Riley and Taylor together. Alone.”
“Not unless you’re coming to church. Today, apparently I need the preaching. I’ll be thinking of you the whole time ‘hellfire and brimstone’ is being shoved down my throat.”
Taylor grew quiet. “Riley, it will kill me to go a whole day without seeing you, but if I do everything Grammy wants today, maybe I can suck your lips off tomorrow? I’ve got to do some major groveling to get her to let me stay.”
“What am I going to do without you, today?” I sagged against the wall in my closet. “Taylor, I think I’m in love with you.”
Where the hell did that come from? And who tells a girl they love them over the phone, let alone from inside a closet piled with dirty socks and underwear? Someone desperate and scared of losing the first person who really mattered. Me.
“What?” Her voice calmed, her question sounding of childlike innocence.
“I love you.” I said it quieter, believing the words for the first time. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“I love you, too,” she announced over me. “I wanted to tell you yesterday, but I thought you’d run away.”
“I’m not going anywhere, babe. Except maybe to church. Grams can’t kick me out of God’s house, so save me a seat. If you’re going to Hell, you’re taking me with you.”
**
Mom dropped the spatula when I asked for help knotting my tie. “You’re going to church? I hope the roof doesn’t come crashing in.”
“Funny Mom. Can’t a guy get a little religion without it being national news?”
Jaxson looked up from his breakfast, visually inspecting my attire. “Well, whoever she is, she’s got your nuts in a vise if you’re going to church.”
“Jaxson!” Mom scowled. “Wouldn’t hurt you to get your ‘nuts’ tweaked if it got you inside a chapel.”
“MOM!” Jax and I cried out, shocked. She never called body parts by proper names, let alone by slang references. If Mom had her way, we’d never know we had a penis.
She held her hands up and talked to the kitchen ceiling. “Why couldn’t you have given me one girl?”
Dad and Dirk bounded into the kitchen dressed in their finery, making Jaxson sitting in his boxers, appear severely underdressed. Dad poured a cup of coffee while Dirk gave me a once over.
“Who died?” Dad quipped.
“His manhood,” Jaxson retorted. “It appears Riley’s got a noose around his neck with a leash attached to someone with boobs. Dad smacked Jax’s shoulder, pointing to Dirk.
“Well, I’m going to thank her. Maybe adopt her,” Mom said.
“It’s Taylor, huh Riley?” Dirk spilled the beans along with half his cereal on the floor. “She’s nice. If we adopt her, can we sell Jax?”
We all lost it with that one. Even Jax.
“One for the oops child,” Jaxson laughed.
“What’s an ‘oops child’?” Dirk asked.
I didn’t want to even look at Mom or Dad, let alone stick around to hear the explanation. I followed Jax back upstairs to grab my truck keys. He stopped in the hallway, dropping his voice to barely a whisper.
“Did you know Mom and Dad were champion ‘humpers’ in high school?”
“No way!”
“Yep. Their little secret was revealed by Dad’s old chum and my new drill sergeant.”
I smirked, raising a brow, “Maybe you’re the ‘oops child’?”
“Maybe.”
**
Sweat moistened my palms and my collar felt too tight. I hadn’t been near a church since the fiasco with Lydia Daniels after Jaxson’s escapade, when Mom insisted and Dad threatened, we go to the church picnic as a family to show a united front. That turned out to be disastrous so why shouldn’t I worry that this time with Mrs. Daniels would be different? Before that lovely incident, the last time I’d set a foot in someplace holy was Grandpa’s funeral, four years ago.
I purposely waited in my truck until the preacher finished greeting everyone at the door. Before Mom went inside, she scanned the parking lot, undoubtedly looking for me. I purposely parked behind the Henderson’s monster van that transported their tribe of six kids.
Her shoulders slumped, probably thinking I’d lied or changed my mind. I could have waved, but then she would have trapped the minister until I got to the door. After an embarrassing explanation as to why I never came to church, Mom would undoubtedly latch on my arm and force me to sit beside her. Nothing would make her happier than to have the congregation see her as the “model mom” with her offspring joining her on the pew for church services. Except if one of us happened to be a girl.
Once I saw the arched wooden door slowly shut, I booked it across the parking lot. I had to get inside before the service
s started, drawing attention to my late entrance. I didn’t want to embarrass my mom…or tick off Lydia Daniels.
However, it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d appeared with a host of heavenly angels flanking my sides. When I dropped on the pew beside Taylor, her grandmother’s eyes “sliced and diced.” She even looked upon my feeble attempt at a polite smile with disdain. After all, she only saw me as the boy who sucked her granddaughter’s boob last night. There weren’t enough flowers growing in the world to erase the picture she’d formed in her mind.
I took Taylor’s hand and held it tight, suddenly needing her strength to supplement my insecurity. Her fingers curved over mine and the gentle squeeze confirmed that whatever happened after today, we were committed to seeing it through together. We were irrevocably in love and there would be no turning back.
The sermon drummed on, but in my head I kept playing yesterday over and over. The feel of her naked breasts against my chest. The sensual sensation her sucking caused on my neck, and the grand finale . . . the delicious taste of her tender skin against my own lips when I indulged in hickey payback.
I lied to Taylor. When I searched for her blood supply, her breaths were rough, causing her swimsuit top to gape just enough I got a perfect view of her chest. Every succulent detail. The same details I sampled in her bedroom on her bed, when my body went wild as I touched…
Taylor’s shoulder shook against mine, whirling my dirty thoughts back to present. I glanced sideways to see her lips pursed in a tight smile. She stifled a giggle. My brows knitted, confused. I felt her finger move ever so slightly. I looked down and realized my church pants were about to rip at the seams!
Grabbing a hymn book as discreetly as possible, I covered my lap. Here I sat in a spiritual setting, listening to the words of God being preached from the pulpit with a hard-on. I was going to Hell for sure.
**
Taylor never pulled her hand from mine, even when we walked into the cultural hall for punch and cookies after the sermon. Her fingers felt like they belonged between mine and when I looked down, I swore I couldn’t see where hers ended and mine began.
As we approached the table covered in trays of cookies and brownies, I noticed my mother, followed tightly by Dad and Dirk, practically shoving people out the way to get to me. I couldn’t avoid the inevitable and brought Taylor’s knuckles to my lips for a quick kiss.
“Prepare yourself to meet the family,” I warned.
When our personal space vanished with the invasion of my parents and little brother, I slipped my arm around Taylor’s tiny waist and pulled her close. “Taylor Wilson, this is my mom, Beverly Martin, and you already know Dirk and my dad.”
“You’re the lady who owns that cute boutique downtown,” Taylor acknowledged.
My mom studied Taylor, then her eyes widened in recognition. “You’re Lydia’s granddaughter!”
Damn. I was in deep trouble.
“Riley, why didn’t you tell me? And how come your father and Dirk know Taylor, but your own mother has been kept in the dark?”
“Mom, don’t get hysterical. We’re in a church. Dad met Taylor unexpectedly, and she and I took Dirk to the Star Wars marathon at the drive-in last week when you were doing inventory.”
“You two had Dirk out all night?”
Taylor squirmed and I stroked her arm to settle her back against me. “Mom, lower your voice,” I murmured. “I only kept Dirk out until midnight. I had to have Taylor home by then. That’s her curfew.”
“And apparently, that’s too late for some teenagers to be left alone.”
Lydia Daniel’s snarl from behind me brought my neck hairs to attention. Taylor’s body yanked out of my arm and my mother’s expression turned guarded, noticing the not so subtle action.
“Come on Taylor. It’s time to leave.”
My mother touched Mrs. Daniel’s sleeve, stopping the retreat. “Lydia? Is something wrong?”
Taylor’s fingers reached for mine and I held my hand back until I felt them securely interlaced between. Her free arm wrapped mine and she clung to me. I wanted nothing more than to wrap her in my arms and protect her from whatever was about to go down.
“Ask your son.”
“Grandma, not here,” Taylor pled quietly. Several congregational members ceased munching and obviously eavesdropped at this point.
“Riley?” Mom asked, her eyes begging for it not to be anything bad or embarrassing. Something I couldn’t give her. Luckily, my dad’s intuitive training brought his intervention.
“Ladies, I think we have an audience.” He glanced at Dirk. “Children have big ears. Can we take this somewhere more private?”
The smile Lydia Daniels contrived was this side of evil. “Of course. Bev, might I invite you and Riley to join me and Taylor for lunch? I have a small ham cooking which would feed the four of us nicely.”
Shit! Mom don’t agree! Please! I begged with my eyes, which only made her more suspicious.
She straightened the lapel on my dad’s jacket. “Stan, maybe you and Dirk could get a burger and spend some time together? I’ll have Riley bring me home. We shouldn’t be too long.”
My arm went numb from Taylor’s fingers clenching so tight. Dad gave me a look that meant we would talk after Lydia Daniels chewed me up and spat me out.
**
Lunch proved horrible, except for the ham. It tasted delicious, at least the three bites I got in before Taylor’s grandmother filled the glass bowl in the center of the table with small multi-colored wrapped packages. I saw her make a detour into the drug store on the way home, leaving Taylor in the car. I figured she probably needed denture cream. Never would I have guessed these were what she purchased.
“What are those?” my mother asked with sincere innocence.
“Well they’re not throat lozenges,” Mrs. Daniels smirked.
I intently studied the floral pattern on the table cloth when my mother removed a lime green packet and brought it closer for inspection. Taylor’s toe tentatively touched my foot and I stretched out my legs to hold her feet between mine.
“They’re sure colorful.”
I winced with each crinkle between my mother’s fingers.
“Oh for crying out loud, Bev. You can’ tell me you’re that naïve.”
I, too, struggled with my mother’s seemingly innocent attitude, especially given the noteworthy intel Jaxson revealed earlier.
“They’re rubbers, Beverly!”
“I know perfectly well what they are, Lydia. What concerns me is why you have such an assortment.”
Way to go Mom.
“Because I want to make sure your son has plenty at his disposal if he’s going to date Taylor. Did you know Riley helped himself to a sucking frenzy on my granddaughter’s breast? She doesn’t need to be tending to babies at her age!”
Lydia Daniels stared me down with eyes of cold steel. “Taylor’s been accepted to Harvard. Did she tell you that when you were stripping her clothes off?”
No she hadn’t.
Taylor reeled back when her grandmother’s finger pointed dangerously close to her eyes. “And what about Michael, Taylor? Does he know you’re hiding in this tiny town, swapping spit with one of the locals?
Nor had she mentioned anyone named Michael.
“Are you seriously throwing away a life with a young man who has a promising career in a prestigious law firm, for the son of the local sheriff? Come on, Taylor the sex can’t be that good.”
Something snapped inside me, probably fueled by the gigantic jealous monster rearing its ugly head. My fists slammed the table.
“Enough! For your information Grammy, your precious granddaughter is still a virgin so Michael has nothing to worry about.” I looked at my mother, who no longer had eyebrows. “And so am I. Nobody’s been compromised!”
I leaned over Lydia Daniels who cowered in her chair. “The damn blood blister that’s got your old lady panties in a wad was payback for this!” I ripped the band aid off my neck, po
inting to my own bruised brand. “I doubt Taylor is pregnant from sucking my neck, unless she managed to extract my sperm through the skin!”
“Riley!” Mom shrieked.
Crazed, I reached into the bowl, glaring at Taylor when I grabbed a hand full of lozenges. “Mrs. Daniels, thank you for providing these. Next time I’m out with Taylor I’ll have her snap one on me to see if you got the right size. I hear country boys’ dicks are bigger than city boys’. I tossed the colored packets onto the table, landing a few among the sliced ham and inside the cheesy potato casserole.
“I’m so out of here. Coming Mom?” I yelled over my shoulder as I marched out the front door. Taylor chased after me, yelling my name. Mom and Lydia Daniels argued loudly on the porch behind her.
“Riley!” Taylor screamed again, but I ignored her, unable to trust my actions at the moment. I’d never been so enraged. Not even when I found out Kaylee went with Jaxson…or boinked my best friend, Cade. I didn’t love Kaylee. She could do whatever the hell she wanted. But not Taylor. She couldn’t. Not now. Not after telling me she loved me.
Taylor grabbed my shirt and I spun around, clenching my fists to my side. Her eyes shimmered. My heart sank and I wanted to fold my arms around her.
I would not touch her.
“I-I’m s-so sorry! I didn’t purposely keep things from you, honest. W-We’ve just been having so much f-fun, I didn’t w-want to spoil it.” When I wouldn’t embrace her, she stepped back and wrapped her arms around her body, holding the remaining pieces from falling apart. She spoke softly, plaintively. “I meant what I said this morning. I do love you, Riley.”
“Better check that word out in the dictionary, Taylor. I’m quite sure love doesn’t include secrets like guys named ‘Michael’,” I charged in an icy tone.
“Get in the truck, Riley,” my mother ordered.
I obeyed without comment, feeling the vein in my jaw pulse. Taylor’s beautiful face puckered and tears trickled over her wrinkled, reddened cheeks. I rolled up my window and sped off, leaving a cloud of dust hanging at the end of the driveway. Halfway home my mother finally spoke.
“Lydia had no right saying those things about you, Riley. She doesn’t know you.”
Riley's Pond (New Adult Romance) Page 10