by J. A. Little
“You want me to walk into the women’s room?”
Emily turns her head with her lips pursed. “Knock on the door, smartass.”
I glance at Aiden, but he’s deliberately avoiding my gaze. He’s looking at his phone as if it’s the most interesting fucking thing in the world.
“Fine,” I huff. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to do this. I don’t want to look like a total pervert. I guess I could just hang outside the women’s room until she comes out, but that might be worse than knocking. I turn the corner to the hallway that leads back to the bathrooms. I’m still trying to figure out the best thing to do when I hear voices. They aren’t shouting, but they’re loud enough for me to hear.
“Don’t touch me.” It’s Kayla, I know that much, but she’s not anywhere in the hallway that I can see. I stop walking, hoping to follow her voice.
“Come on, Kay. I said I was sorry. How many times do I have to apologize?” a male voice asks. It sounds like they’re farther down the hallway. There are chairs back there, and it’s really dim, but I’m sure that’s where they are. I walk forward, listening.
“None, Brody. I don’t care anymore.”
“Good. Then let me take you out. We can go dancing, get drunk, go back to your place. Like old times.”
“Are you serious?”
There’s a bang, and I can hear the chairs rattle.
“Yes, I’m fucking serious.”
“I said don’t touch me. Get off.”
That’s my cue. “Hey,” I say, making my presence known. “Everything okay?”
“Mind your own fucking business,” the asshole snaps. “Everything’s fine.”
I look over at Kayla. I don’t know if she wants me to do what I’m doing or not. Her expression tells me that she doesn’t need me, but she wants me. At least, that’s how I choose to interpret it.
“Baby, what’s going on?”
Kayla’s eyes go wide, but she recovers quickly. “Nothing. Brody was just leaving.”
“Baby?” the Brody dude scoffs, looking between the two of us.
“Who the hell is this guy, Kayla?” I growl. I approach them with an overconfident swagger, pushing up my sleeves. It’s a punk move, but it always works. My mother’s right; I look like a hoodlum.
Slipping my arm around Kayla’s shoulders, I let my hand dangle over her collarbone. I wait for her to tense or pull away. She doesn’t. She plays along, leaning into my side as if she belongs there. I watch Brody scanning my ink and the way I’m draped over Kayla, his eyes darting around, trying to figure out if I’m really a threat. If he pisses me off, I will be. Suddenly he laughs.
“Nice try, but I know Kayla. You’re not her type.”
“Oh yeah? And what is her type? You?” I snort. Brody pulls himself up to what I assume is his full height, although he’s still a good four or five inches shorter than me. He can’t be that sure of himself. My forearm’s probably bigger than his bicep.
“Yeah, actually. Didn’t you know? Kayla’s a society girl, wealthy and privileged.” He glances at her. “At least she used to be. Last time I checked, anyway, she wasn’t into slumming it.” Brody reaches forward, putting his hand on Kayla’s wrist. I’m not sure who he insulted more with that comment, me or Kayla, but the way he’s gripping her is out of line. I lurch forward, shoving him into the opposite wall. He grunts as the wind is knocked out of him.
“Dean!” Kayla yelps. She jumps in front of me, and I feel her hands against my chest, trying to push me back. I know I could get in trouble for this, but right now I’m acting on instinct. He put his hands on what’s mine. Sort of. Not really, but he doesn’t know that.
“Touch her again, and you and me are gonna have a problem. Got that?”
“Dean.” Her voice is calm now, and her fingertips curl up and around my neck. “Babe, you have to let go.”
I like hearing her call me babe. It rolls off her tongue as though she means it. I release Brody, but don’t take my eyes off him. Reaching up, I take Kayla’s hand and bring it to my lips. Her skin is soft and smells of soap. I know this is only a show, but I need to make it convincing, right? I press a kiss against her palm. And then another. And then another. I hear her let out a small whimper.
Brody is glaring at me, but I don’t think he’s stupid enough to push it. Just in case, though, I put my hand on Kayla’s hip and pull her into me, watching her face to make sure it’s okay. I can hear her breathe, feel the warmth of her body against mine. My own body reacts. My dick is not in a comfortable position to get hard, and I hide my wince by pressing my face into the side of her head. I’m going to have to shift it really fucking soon.
I’ve almost forgotten that we have company when Douchebag Brody huffs and starts to leave. I throw my free arm out, blocking his path without letting go of Kayla.
“Do we have an understanding, Bro-dy?” I enunciate his name condescendingly. His jaw is set, his eyes blazing. He’s pissed. Good.
“Yeah, we do.” He glances at Kayla, who is tucked up so comfortably against me that he can’t question us again. “See you later, Kayla.” He walks away and I drop Kayla’s hand, making a move to go after him. I’m going to beat the little shit’s ass. But Kayla stops me.
“Don’t.”
“Why?” I ask, looking down at her. Big mistake. Her cheeks are tinged pink, her lips full. She swipes her tongue over the bottom one, and I’m mesmerized. It’s her eyes that get me, though. I’m afraid if I look into them too long, I’ll get lost. Just thinking that makes me feel like a pussy. Without answering my question, she pulls me back so that we’re chest-to-chest. Once again, I’m aware that my dick feels like it’s being bent in half. I wince.
“What’s the matter?” she whispers.
I’m not shy. I’ve never had an issue letting a girl know when she turns me on, but I’m warring with myself right now. I have no idea where I stand with her. I have no idea where I want to stand with her. I feel her hand slip slightly under my shirt, brushing my bare skin. My cock twitches, hardening into a crooked, painful position, and my decision is made. I move my hand to the crotch of my pants and adjust. Kayla watches me.
“Problem?” she teases.
“Depends on how you look at it.” I smirk.
“There are so many places I could go with that,” she laughs quietly. I have no idea how we got in this position, but she’s pressed against the wall, one of my hands caging her in. Our mouths are so close, I can taste the Jack on her breath. There are people less than ten feet away, and yet we’re hidden from view, so it feels like we’re the only ones here. I have to stop this. It takes everything I have to pull away, but I do.
“Who was that guy?” I ask.
Kayla sighs. Her expression stumps me. She looks confused—and kinda angry. I can’t pinpoint all the other things I see. Her eyes shift, her mouth twitches. If I could bring myself to stare at her, I could probably figure them out, but I need to put some distance between us, so I focus on a spot on the wall.
“He’s a guy I used to know.”
“You dated?”
She’s quiet, and I glance at her briefly. Her eyes are narrowed. “Look. I appreciate you coming to my rescue, but you didn’t really need to. I could have handled Brody all on my own.”
“Yeah, sure looked like it,” I scoff. “Next time I see a guy you ‘used to know’ putting his hands on you like that, I’ll leave him to it.” I instantly regret my words, knowing it was a fucked-up thing to say. Kayla’s shooting daggers at me. I should apologize, but I don’t.
“You know what, Dean?” she seethes. “…Never mind. Forget it.” She pushes past me, careful to avoid any more physical contact. Goddammit. This is not one of those pissed-off-Kayla moments that turns me on. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. I’m now completely deflated.
“Fuck,” I grumble, leaving the hidden nook and heading back into the hallway toward the bathrooms.
When I get back to the table after taking a piss, Emily is fuming.
“Why do you automatically assume it’s my fault?” I look at my brother for support, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he takes a sip of his beer. His hand strokes his wife’s shoulder soothingly. She must really be pissed at me.
“We had a wonderful day just hanging out together. God! Now I’m sorry I even tried to make you look good to her.”
I sit down and drink down half my beer in two gulps. “You shouldn’t be doing that anyway,” I mumble. “I can’t get involved with her.”
“Did I say anything about getting involved with her? No. I just didn’t want her to think you were an emotionally crippled asshole.”
“Emily,” Aiden groans.
“I’m done,” she says with finality.
We eat dinner in relative silence. Emily has Kayla’s meal wrapped up.
“I’m going to drop this off at Kayla’s and apologize.” When she fails to get a response out of me, she huffs. “I’ll see you at home,” she says, grabbing her coat and kissing Aiden good-bye.
“You know,” he starts, looking at me with an agitated expression. “Every time you piss off my wife, I don’t get laid. Her parents have the kids tonight, D. That’s a big fucking deal.”
“I didn’t mean to piss anyone off,” I say seriously.
“I know,” he sighs. “Sometimes you can’t help yourself. Let’s just pay the bill and get out of here.”
Chapter 14
Dean
Since I caught a ride with him, Aiden drives me back to the house. We pull up in front, and I hear him breathe out loudly.
“Wow.”
I look in the direction of his gaze and am a little floored. Matty is standing on the front porch, leaning over the railing, a cigarette in hand. He makes no move to stub it out or hide it even though he can clearly see us.
“Ha. Never expected that one to fuck the rules. Good luck with that.”
“Thanks,” I reply sarcastically, climbing out and slamming the door shut. Damn. I don’t want to have to scold Matty. Not yet. Not before he trusts me.
Matty still makes no move to hide the fact that he’s blatantly breaking the rules, which tells me that he either doesn’t care, or he wants me to confront him about it. He’s not the first kid to smoke on the property, but most of them at least attempt to be discreet.
“Hey,” I say, standing next to him and putting my forearms on the railing.
“Hi,” he mumbles, taking another drag from the cigarette. I hold my hand out for it, and he sighs before handing it to me.
“These things will kill you.” I stub the cigarette out and set it in a flowerpot. “You know the rules about drugs on the property?” Matty glances up at me.
“That’s not a drug,” he protests.
“Yeah, it is. Nicotine. It’s a nasty one, too. Those things’ll give you cancer.”
“One cigarette’s not going to give me cancer.”
“No, probably not, but is this your first one?”
Matty looks down at his hands and shifts. “No.”
“Does Kayla know?” I almost stumble over her name. What happened at the restaurant is still fresh in my head.
“You’re not gonna tell her, are you? She’ll kick my ass.” His voice sounds slightly panicked. It’s clear he never thought about this part of his rebellion.
“I’ll have to if I catch you doing it again. Where’d you get the cig?” I ask.
He lets out a relieved breath. “School. I bummed a few off another kid.”
“Still got ‘em?”
“No.”
“Good. Breaking the rules is not a good idea, Matty. Don’t let me catch you again.” We stand in silence for a few more minutes. The night is cold and absolutely silent. My breath is swirling around me every time I exhale and my hands are frozen, but I don’t move. “Your brother back yet?” Matty shakes his head. “You know this girl he’s out with?”
He shakes his head again. “No. She doesn’t go to our school.”
I frown. I know that Caitlynn goes to school with Brayden. I had assumed her friend did, too. “She doesn’t? Has he met her before?”
“Don’t know,” Matty shrugs. “He doesn’t tell me anything anymore.” I can hear the hurt hidden behind his words. He’s talking, though, and that’s good. This is my chance to show him that I’m not his enemy.
“Why not?”
“He just doesn’t. Guess he’s got better things to do.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. You’re his brother. He loves you.”
“How do you know?” he snaps, turning his head. “You’ve only known us for ten days.”
“How do I know?” I suck air through my teeth. “I guess because I’ve seen a lot of kids come and go. A lot of them are as close as brothers.”
“It’s not the same.”
“Okay, fine. It’s not. But I do get it. You know Aiden’s my older brother, right?” I say. He nods. “Well, when we were little, he was my best friend. I followed him everywhere, wanted to be just like him. He once punched a kid for making me cry.” Matty’s mouth twitches into a slight smile. “And then he discovered girls and got his driver’s license and didn’t want me to tag along anymore. I was fifteen when he left for college. For months beforehand, he completely ignored me. The entire summer, he wanted nothing to do with me. It hurt because I knew he was going away. I didn’t find out until a year later that he was just trying to make the separation easier on both of us.” This is where I have to stop, because it was a year later that my whole world fell apart. Time stopped and every single one of my relationships changed. “Your brother cares more about you than anything else in the world. Trust me.” I push back from the railing. “Don’t stay out here too long. It’s cold.”
“I won’t,” he assures. “Um, thanks for not telling Kayla about the, uh…”
“Yeah, well, I’m not going to tell her if I catch you again, either.”
He wrinkles up his face in confusion. “You’re not?”
“Nope.” I shake my head. “I’m gonna make you do it.”
Matty swallows. I swear I can hear the nervous gulp. I want to laugh, but he needs to know I’m serious, so I just turn around and go inside.
Tracey’s sitting in the front room, reading. I sit down across from her and she gives me the rundown on the evening. Curtis is sick with a fever and is already fast asleep. Edgar and Eric got into another fight and spent an hour in their rooms. She busted Jax and Tia getting a little too hot and heavy in the den and sent Tia home. Now Jax is all pissy and full of attitude. Matty spent most of his time on the computer. She knew he’d gone outside, but didn’t realize what he was doing.
“I’m sorry, Dean. I didn’t know he was a smoker.”
“I don’t think he is. I think he’s testing the boundaries.”
She nods in understanding. We both look up when the front door opens and Matty comes back in, heading straight upstairs.
Tracey turns back to me. “How was your night? You’re home kind of early,” she says.
I scowl. Not at Tracey, but at the memory of the disastrous dinner.
“Wow. What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Tracey cups my chin like I’m a little boy. “You know you can talk to me, right?”
I nod and smile at her. “Thanks, T. I’m okay.”
“All right then, sweetie. I’m going to head home. I’ve left Bill in charge of a sleepover. Hopefully I’ll find him still alive and sane when I get there.”
Once she’s left, I join Edgar, Eric, and Jax in the den. They’re watching one of the Transformers movies. Jax is still brooding, but Edgar and Eric appear to have dealt with their issue. Matty eventually joins us. He even trades the occasional p
layful insult with Edgar. I send them to bed around eleven o’clock and stay up watching reruns until I hear the front door.
Logan and Brayden are laughing when I meet them at the door. It’s just before their midnight curfew. I look them over, making sure they’re not drunk or high. I send them up before heading to bed myself, hoping to God I won’t have any dreams tonight.
* * *
Emily refuses to talk to me for the next couple days. I stay out of her way, and she stays out of mine. But eventually we have to communicate.
“Em, I need you to do something,” I say, walking into her office after lunch. She raises her eyes at me like I’m crazy, but waits for me to continue. I’m still her boss, after all. “When Logan comes home from school, I need you to sit down with him and talk jobs. I told Kayla you’d help him with that.”
“Okay. Anything else?” she asks when I don’t move. I sort of want to apologize, but I’m stubborn, so I don’t.
I shake my head. “No.”
I spend the rest of the afternoon calling applicants and setting up interviews. I’ve got six scheduled for later this week and seven so far for next. The other two I wasn’t able to get ahold of. When the boys get home, I’m at the front door.
“Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“Emily’s office,” I order.
He looks a little worried. “What’d I do?”
“Nothing that I know of,” I chuckle. “You got a guilty conscience about something?”
Logan grins, but doesn’t answer. I follow him in and shut the door.
“I thought you wanted me to do this,” Emily says as we sit down.
“I do. I don’t plan on staying the whole time.” That’s about all the explanation she’s getting from me. She knows it, too, so she focuses her attention on Logan.
“I hear you want to get a job,” she starts. He looks momentarily surprised, but then nods.
“Yeah. I do.”
“Why?”
Logan looks stumped for a minute. “‘Cause, uh, Kayla said I have to grow up?”
“That’s it?”
“‘Cause I wanna make some cash?”