“Should we give our friends a show?” I teased.
She held up her hand in front of her face to block the sun. “Ooh, I like shows.”
I kissed her belly. “You wouldn’t mind people watching?”
She sat up, squeezing water out of her hair. “That would be hot.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised. One thing I’d learned about Montana—she loved attention.
I helped her up, then I grabbed her butt, tugging her to me. “You’re something else, and I can’t get enough of you.”
She flattened her palms on the sides of my face. “Are you falling for me, Train Everly?” she asked in a Southern drawl.
My pulse raced as I locked eyes with the gorgeous girl. “Something is happening, but I couldn’t say what.” I honestly couldn’t. When I wasn’t with her, I thought about her constantly. When I was with her, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She made me laugh. She made me do things I wouldn’t even have dreamed about doing, like stripping and dancing. And most of all, sex was off the charts with her.
She ran her tongue along my bottom lip. “You just want my body.”
It was more than her body, but I wasn’t willing to say that out loud, not until I knew for sure that my lust wasn’t clouding my true feelings.
I stuck my tongue in her mouth, exploring, tasting, and taking. She purred liked a kitty cat as my dick grew in size.
“Train,” Austin called. “Burgers are ready.”
“Fuck,” I said.
“No, that’s for later,” she replied as she darted up to the house.
“You’re so funny.” Chicks had it easy. When they got aroused, no one could tell. But a dude? We were screwed.
I dove into the surf to let my body deflate, then I grabbed my board and joined the group.
Montana was downing a bottle of water. Reagan and Elvira were sitting in lounge chairs, clad in shorts and swim tops. Austin was flipping burgers onto a plate. And Lou was inside, glued to Sunday afternoon football.
I toweled off, snagged a soda out of the cooler, then sat down at the patio table, which had all the fixings for burgers.
Austin stuck his blond head inside the sliding door. “Lou, get your butt out here. Food’s ready.”
Everyone found a seat around the table. Lou removed his ball cap as he sat next to Elvira then pecked her on the lips. I’d learned recently that Lou and Elvira had thing for each other. Reagan and Austin were hot and heavy in their relationship. And I had my girl. I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten so lucky, especially when I hadn’t been sure if I would ever take a chance again on dating. And here I was, falling for a girl that gave relationships a whole new meaning—the kind that made my body sing and my life so much richer.
We dove into the food, talking about football. We had two games left in the season, and the team was enjoying a perfect record. Coach Holmes was happy. On the other hand, I couldn’t say my old man was happy. My performance on the field had been good but not great. I had been sacked in the last game, and I’d thrown an interception in the last game. I had thought my dad would’ve nagged me about those two plays, but he hadn’t said a word. I wondered if he hadn’t because of the conversation we’d had on the football field a few weeks back when I told him how he fucked with my head.
“Montana,” Austin said. “Has your mom heard from Joey Dennison?”
Coach had filled the team in on Joey Dennison and told them he hoped the former Naval Academy player would show up to give us some pointers.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” she said in between bites of her burger. “I’ll have to check.”
The sliding door whooshed open at my back.
“Hey, Mr. Everly,” Reagan said.
Dad was decked out in shorts, a golf shirt, and a ball cap. “Guys. Gals.”
I got that my dad owned the house, but he was rarely there. “What are you doing here?”
“I need a minute. Let’s take a walk down the beach,” he said to me.
Maybe he was ready to give me his two cents or complain about my performance on the field. Whatever the case, my pulse raced. I didn’t want to fight with him in front of my friends. “Be right back,” I said to the group.
They whispered as my dad and I ambled down to the water’s edge. The afternoon breeze was picking up as high tide rolled in.
“Dad, if you’re here to fight—”
He held up his hand. “The coach at USC called me today. You’re in. You got your scholarship.”
I would’ve smiled or even hugged him, but his tight features gave me reason to pause. “Then what’s up? Are you mad at me for speaking my mind the other day?”
“I heard you. I didn’t say a word when you threw that interception. I wanted to, but someone reminded me that I was once in your shoes. But you don’t see me happy because I’m still concerned about your off-field performance.”
I walked away from him then back. “I messed up one time, and you’re still hanging that incident over my head?”
He moved his hands around as though he was conducting an orchestra. “Train. You broke someone’s collarbone. And let’s not forget he was the starting quarterback for Clemson. That kind of shit makes the news. That is also the kind of shit you don’t need. Otherwise, they’ll pull your scholarship.”
“Is this about Montana? Have you moved on from football to tell me who I can fuck, date, or marry?” I balled my hands into fists. He came here to give me good news. Yet all he was doing was driving a wedge further into our father-son relationship.
He scratched his unshaven jaw. “Are things serious with her?”
I seriously wanted to punch my old man at that moment. “What’s this about?”
“Are you also seeing Nina?”
“Fuck no.”
“Then why was Nina in the neighborhood?”
“Come again? You mean outside this house?” I pointed up toward the street.
He nodded. “When I drove up, she and a red-haired boy were getting into a white truck that was parked in front of our house.”
I paced. The last I’d seen Nina other than in the halls at school was when she caused trouble at my beach party weeks ago. “I’ve had nothing to do with Nina. She swears we’re getting back together. She’s jealous of Montana. She threatens trouble. But she hasn’t followed through on any of her threats.”
“Well, let’s make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble for you again. Or Montana, either.”
I pinched my eyebrows. “Wait. Don’t bring Montana into this.”
“Train, did you or did you not get into a fight with a guy because you were jealous?”
“Montana is not Nina.” Although I’d wanted to cream Ferris when he touched my girl, but that was before we were dating. She wouldn’t cheat on me. I knew in my gut that Montana wasn’t that type of girl.
My dad rubbed his temples. “Watch your back. And if Nina is as jealous as you say, then watch Montana’s back. Jealousy wears many hats, and the worst is the one that threatens your safety. And I mean your safety and Montana’s.”
I glanced out at the whitecaps in the distance. My old man was talking out of both sides of his mouth. “I thought you were worried about my scholarship. Now it’s my safety?”
“Son, I know we’ve had a strained relationship. I know I ride your ass about football. But I don’t want anything happening to you, and not because of the scholarship. You’re my son. I love you.”
I was a little tongue-tied. That was the first time he’d put me before football.
I lowered my shoulders. “I’ll be careful. I should get back.”
On our way to my friends, I racked my brain, trying to figure out what the fuck Nina had been doing outside my house. It figured that she was ruining a perfectly good moment, and she wasn’t even there.
When we reached the patio, my dad swung his arm around my shoulders as though he was a proud father. “Everyone, you’re looking at the starting quarterback for USC.”
“Shut up.” Austin
vaulted out of his chair and threw his arms around me. “Congrats, man.”
Then the line hugs and congrats followed, starting with Lou, Elvira, Reagan, and finally, my girl.
Montana jumped into my arms, peppering kisses all over my face. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I got to run,” my dad said. “I’ll talk to you later, son.” Then he was gone.
Montana slid down my body until she was standing. “You two looked like you were in a heated discussion. Like not happy talking, either. What’s going on?”
I didn’t want to go into every detail, but they should know about Nina. “When my dad drove up, he saw Nina and Drew getting into a white truck.”
Montana stiffened in my arms.
Austin dropped into a chair. “Maybe they were visiting someone else in the neighborhood.”
Reagan sat in Austin’s lap. “Jan has a house down the street, but she’s not friends with Nina.”
“They always say you have to watch out for the quiet ones,” Lou said.
“Nina’s not quiet,” Elvira added.
Montana sighed. “No, but her actions have been as of late. She’s made idle threats. But maybe she’s calculating her time or planning something big.”
“What could she possibly do?” Elvira asked. “I mean without physically hurting us?”
“The woman is evil,” Reagan said.
Lou chomped on a chip. “That might be true, but she’s not the type to physically harm anyone. Come on. With the exception of Montana, we’ve all known her for years.”
“Let’s just keep our eyes and ears open more,” I said.
While Lou was right, he was talking about the old Nina. The new Nina was not nice at all.
Montana planted a hand on my stomach. “She wants Train back, which means she wants me out of the picture.”
I squeezed Montana to me. “No one is breaking us up.” I would do whatever it took not to let that happen.
Chapter Twenty-One
MONTANA
Elvira, Reagan, and I were hanging on the front lawn before school. The weather for October had been mild, a little humid, and definitely better than the cold winters of New York. Students mingled with their friends as the three of us found a spot near one of the shade trees that dotted the area around the school. Since yesterday, I’d been trying to wrap my head around Nina and her appearance at Train’s beach house. Up until then, I’d assumed she was all talk with her threats. Even though she hadn’t done anything, I was creeped out by knowing that she could’ve been spying on us. I did like to put on a show. I didn’t like people who spied on that show.
“So, what are we going to do about Nina?” Reagan asked, leaning against the tree.
I flicked my chin at Drew, who I’d just noticed was talking to a group of guys by the cement benches in front of the school. “Maybe we can ask Drew.”
Reagan darted over to Drew and pulled him back to our circle. “Tell us what you were doing outside Train’s beach house yesterday.” Reagan was feistier than me. Her tone could have quieted a forest of animals.
Fear coated Drew’s freckled face. “How do you know that?”
“Answer us.” I sounded as if I was ready to bite off his head, and I was.
“Drew.” Elvira said his name in a motherly tone. “We just want to make sure that Nina doesn’t get you into trouble. Because, you know, stalking can get you in trouble with the law.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “If you must know, I wanted to ask a girl to the debutante ball. She has a house next to Train’s. Nina went with me for moral support.”
I hadn’t seen Nina with any friends other than her little interaction with Ferris that first week of school. Speaking of Ferris, I had fired him the previous week. I wasn’t comfortable around him. I didn’t think he would do anything bad to me, but he was nosy about Train and about me. My mom had always said to follow my intuition. I hadn’t taken on another tutor, either. If I needed help, I would ask Train. He would help me work through my math problems.
“Who’s the girl?” Reagan asked.
A hand settled on my lower back. His ocean scent gave him away before I could react. Train kissed me on the ear. “Morning, baby.”
I lifted up on my toes and gave him a chaste kiss on his lips. “Hi. We were just asking Drew why he was at your house yesterday.”
Train skirted around Elvira and me to stand next to Drew. “I’m all ears, dude.”
Drew looked even more frightened with Train beside him. “I was visiting a girl.”
“Who? Melanie Schneider? Is that the cheerleader you want to take to the ball?”
Drew nodded.
Elvira and I exchanged a surprised look. I was shocked that Train knew Drew wanted to ask a girl out. If he’d been talking to Drew, then he could’ve been talking to Nina. Maybe he had after I left last night. A shiver rolled through my spine. I shouldn’t have been jealous. I knew he wasn’t into her anymore. He would freeze into an ice sculpture whenever she was near. Regardless, doubt niggled in the back of my brain.
“Melanie?” Reagan parroted with a hitch in her voice as though Melanie would never go out with Drew.
“She lives two houses down from my beach house,” Train said.
Elvira sighed loudly. “I guess we were worried for nothing.”
I didn’t know if I agreed with her. Still, if Drew had been there to ask a girl out, then I would relax too.
“Drew, did Melanie say yes?” I asked.
He gripped the straps of his backpack. “She said she would think about it. Can I go now?”
We’d all been so engrossed with Drew that no one saw Nina coming. She slid closer to Train, wearing a miniskirt and a tight-fitting blouse. “Leave my cousin alone.”
Train went ramrod straight.
I shot daggers at Nina. If she so much as touched Train, I would use my fists. I’d never punched anyone before, but I was willing to today.
Train casually loped to my side. “Come on, baby,” he said to me.
“Train, I thought we could talk.” Nina’s drawn-in eyebrows belied the sweetness in her tone.
Drew scurried away.
Elvira, Reagan, Train, and I headed for the school’s entrance.
“I so want to punch her lights out,” Reagan said.
“It’s best not to engage her,” Train added.
Nina giggled loudly behind us, but the sound was downright eerie.
Once inside the school, we were about to bank left, when I spied two boys admiring something on the wall in the hall that led to the admin wing. I untangled my hand from Train’s and hurried over to the wall. My jaw slammed to the floor.
Train sidled up to me. “What the fuck?”
Elvira and Reagan both said, “Cool design.”
I hadn’t shown them my tagging signature. I’d only shown one person my Spunk design, and that person was standing next to me. Train would have never done something as crazy and stupid as painting my signature on the school’s wall.
“You said that you painted the wall of the gym in your last school. Right, Montana?” Elvira asked.
“I didn’t do this.” My voice cracked. Principal Flynn would automatically think I was the one who did, though.
“Does anyone else know that this is your signature?” Train asked.
“Wait,” Reagan said. “This is your signature?”
“No one,” I said to Train. “And yes, Reagan, taggers always leave their signature on any graffiti they do. It’s a way for us to brag without anyone other than taggers really knowing who did the cool artwork.”
“If you ask me,” Elvira said, “seems whoever did this sucks.”
I was too shocked to see past the horrible way the person hadn’t stayed in the lines when coloring in the block letters. Then my vision blurred for a second. The color was green. I’d lost my green paint can. I still hadn’t found it.
I clenched my fists. “Someone is setting me up.”
“You can’t go to jail for this
,” Reagan said.
“This is vandalism,” I said. “And if the school presses charges, then yes, I can.”
Train kissed my head. “They don’t have proof it was you.”
He was right. I didn’t see this on Friday when we were in school. And I was with Train all weekend except Saturday night when I was working.
“Let’s go,” Elvira said. “We need to get to class.”
My stomach hurt as we ventured down to computer class. “The only person who doesn’t want me here is Nina.”
“True,” Train said. “But maybe Ferris is mad at you for dropping him as your tutor. He asked you out. You said no. Then you fired him.”
All of a sudden, it hit me. “Ferris saw my artwork in my notebook when I was working on a math problem.”
Train let out a low growl. “I’ll kill the fucker if he is trying to get you kicked out of school.”
I might have to help him.
The four of us walked into computer class just as the bell rang. No sooner had I sat down than the speaker crackled. “Montana Smith, please report to the principal’s office immediately,” a female voice said.
I swallowed hard as I clutched my bag then gave Train an I’m screwed look. His pissed-off expression didn’t help untie the knot in my stomach. I didn’t have time to check on Reagan and Elvira as I hurried out. Once in the hall, I inhaled some deep breaths to calm my pulse. Before I made a move, Train came out.
“I’m going with,” he said.
I smiled at my handsome boyfriend. “That’s sweet. But I can handle myself. Go back to class. You’re my partner, so you need to take notes.”
He bit his lip, seemingly struggling with what to do. “I swear, if Ferris is behind this…”
“Train, you have your scholarship to think about. Don’t do something stupid. Besides, we don’t have the facts. The principal probably wants to see me for something else.” I highly doubted that. I pushed him. “Go.”
“Montana, you need support, baby.”
I wanted to cry at how caring and protective he was. “Thank you, but I got this. I’ll text you when I know something.”
Breaking Rules Page 17