by H. J. Bellus
***
Lacey
I was hoping that I could get up to my room without everyone witnessing my walk of shame. No such luck. We walked through the back door to find everyone in the kitchen staring at us. Milly was sitting at the bar nursing baby Mac, and Annie was perched on the counter cracking eggs while Cree fried bacon, shirtless. Willow was flipping pancakes and Tripp’s parents were at the table on their laptops. Just my fucking luck!
“Good morning, everyone,” I squeaked out.
“Aunt Lacey, where you been?” squealed Annie.
Oh dear god, how do I answer her in front of everyone? All the adults in the room knew exactly where I had been and who I had been doing.
“Um…she was helping me fix my bathtub. Uh, yeah—it had a leak,” Tripp said.
“Is it fixed, Unky?”
“Yeah, we got it all fixed up.”
“Did you get all wet?”
Holy shit! I was ready to stuff a sock in Annie.
“Nope. No more questions, squirt,” Tripp said in a rush as he turned about sixty shades of red.
Oh my hell! Did he just tell the whole room I was helping fix his bathtub? I shot daggers his direction and he just shrugged his shoulders. Cree was trying to control a major fit of laughter at the lame excuse pouring from Tripp.
“I was just trying to help you,” he whispered into my ear, cupping my ass at the same time.
My body loved his touch way too much for its own good. The dickhead was a major turn-on, but it was time to put him back in his place.
“Real smooth, dumbass,” I hissed back as I punched him in the groin, barely missing his junk.
The only man I loved with all of my heart saved my ass from all the stares and Tripp’s retaliation, Mac. Mac started wailing from underneath Milly’s shirt and diverted all the attention from us. I’d supply this boy with all the candy in the world when he grew in his little chompers.
“Give me my boy! It’s okay, Mac. Your favorite aunt is here,” I cooed to him as I grabbed him from Milly and started to burp the little bugger.
***
Tripp
Breakfast was hell. I felt my parents’ disapproving stares boring holes through me the whole time. My dad actually kept his fucking mouth shut for once. He believed I was a screw up and nothing but trash, and that is exactly how he always treated me. My mother just tried to keep the peace and never stood up for herself, or for what was right. She was a spineless fool.
I was thankful they were leaving today and would be all the way across the country. I needed to be away from my father’s poison. He was a cancer that sucked every last piece of joy out of me. I would never live up to his expectations like my brother Grant had.
My mother started to rattle on about their travel plans while we cleaned up breakfast. The girls had escaped to somewhere in the house. Milly didn’t want a honeymoon until this summer, so Cree insisted on cooking and cleaning for her while she tended to Mac and Annie. He was fucking pussy whipped and I ribbed him about it every chance I got.
I went upstairs to help my dad carry their luggage down to their rental car. I had my hands full and was ready to retreat downstairs when he grabbed my arm to stop me. Here it comes, the shit storm…
“Listen up! I put on the happy face this week for Cree’s sake. You better not fuck up your life here. Looks like you already fucked that thing of a friend Milly has. You need to stop being such a piece of shit and get a life. You’ve been nothing but a fuck up your whole life. Try to straighten up.”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Don’t be a smartass, Tripp. You live a worthless life while Grant was going somewhere and he lost his life. Why a piece of shit like you wasn’t taken that day is beyond me!”
Lacey walked around the corner. “Hey, Tripp. Let me give you a hand so we can get this raging fucktard out of the house ASAP.”
She bent down, grabbed two suitcases, and trotted down the stairs without hesitation. My dad’s jaw dropped. I had never stood up to him or talked back to him. Lacey just put him in his place and bounced down the stairs with no fucking care or fear. That type of encounter with my father would typically be followed up by a cocaine fueled night laced with lots of sex and women. I could feel that urge nipping at me to go search it out.
I sat out on the front porch after my parents left. My father didn’t speak another word to me. I still felt the need to get fucked-up after his brutal verbal beating. Lacey’s words helped fill the empty cavity. She stood up for me when I didn’t have the goddamn balls to stand up for myself. Lacey came sauntering out of the house, pulling me from my downward spiral.
“Hey!”
Lacey carelessly plopped down on the porch swing next to me, elbowing me slightly in the junk. The girl didn’t give a fuck. She curled her legs up underneath her and twisted to face me. Lacey was quite a little thing compared to me. She was wearing a hot pink hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and tight black yoga pants that were hugging the curves of her ass. I seriously couldn’t believe I didn’t remember a fucking thing from last night. This girl was smoking hot, and I guarantee she was a freak in the sheets.
“Hey. Sorry about my dad. He can be a dick.”
“Ya think? Why does he treat you like that?”
“He’s always treated me like that. We’ve never been on the same page.”
“Why do you let him talk to you like that?”
“What am I supposed to do? He’s my dad.”
“For starters, tell him to fuck off. You need to stand up for yourself, dumbass.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Really? Last time I checked all you had to do was open your mouth and say the words. Pretty simple, if you ask me.”
“Are you always so straight forward?”
“Yep. Life taught me to be tough at a young age. Nobody is allowed to hurt me.”
“I see.”
Dead silence surrounded us for the next several minutes.
“You are such a beast,” Lacey finally blurted out carelessly, and if I am not mistaken, her cheeks turned a nice shade of pink.
I craned my head to peer down at her. “What?”
“You’re seriously a freak. You’re huge and all muscly and shit. You’re a beast,” Lacey said as she finally nestled down safely into my chest.
“I guess that’s what happens when you play ball all your life. But now I’m just a used up has-been. I’ll never see the pros again.” I stopped myself because it was just too easy to talk to Lacey.
“It’s all right, Tripp. Like my Milly always says, ‘don’t let anyone dull your sparkle.’ And you, my friend, are quite sparkly with all that muscle and sex appeal, not to mention your package.”
Lacey’s cheeks were now a full on neon pink. I caught the twinkle in her eye when she was complimenting me. That twinkle faded fast as the embarrassing realization of her words hit her. Not wanting Lacey to regret a word she just confessed, I trumped her.
“Be my Beauty, Lacey.” It wasn’t a question or request, but rather a simple demand.
Lacey’s body immediately went rigid in my arms and her blonde hair flew up off my chest. That wild, crazed look was back in her eye as if I had just damaged her with my caring words.
I changed the subject to subdue her crazed-ass mood, “Seriously, this is the first time I haven’t exploded at his words and went in search of drugs and sex, and it’s all because of you.”
Lacey’s taut body eased up a bit with my words of gratitude towards her. I took hold of her hand that had the power to electrocute my heart. Lacey climbed up into my lap, wrapped her arms around my neck, and buried her face in my chest.
“Sometimes fucked-up people need to be there for each other. It could be a beautiful train wreck between us, you know,” Lacey whispered in a barely audible voice.
Then in a strong, pissed-off, ‘I am woman, hear me roar’ voice, she said, “I will never be anyone’s princess.”
Something magical, and once in a lifeti
me, happened on the swing that chilly February morning. Our broken souls connected and formed an undeniable bond that I didn’t want to ever let go of.
Chapter 3
Rocky Road Ice Cream
Tripp
The next month was the most intense time of my life. It didn’t even start to compare to the days of training camp back in Florida. Between the farm work and fighting my urge to get a fix of cocaine, I thought I might break. Cree pushed me hard on the farm, taking the edge off of my cravings. I was working sun up ’til sun down, just like a good ol’ farm boy does. I would eat dinner with the family and then hit the gym for a couple of hours to work out my pent up energy and anger.
The refreshing highlight of my day was always the tough, rough and always gorgeous Lacey. Since the afternoon on the porch swing we hadn’t touched or snuggled again. She had kept her distance, but maintained a friendly, carefree relationship with me. By god, I wasn’t going to let this turn into a big brother little sister relationship. I wanted her so fucking bad. The need to be inside her was all consuming. The only problem was I didn’t know if it was my sex addiction as the driving force for her or if I could really be falling for her as her lover. Dreaming of Lacey’s legs wrapped around me while I thrust deep inside her gnawed at me every day, causing such pent up want that I had to take care of it a couple times a day. I didn’t need random hook-ups with her in my life. I just needed to taste her.
***
Lacey
The man had weaseled his way into my life with his dickhead attitude and foul mouth. He was a pro at carrying on the asshole persona, but I saw past it. He would do anything for anyone in his circle. Hell, he even signed up to be a fucking room mother (father) with Cree at Annie’s school.
I still had trouble comprehending the words I heard his father speak to him over a month ago. The image of Tripp standing there taking the verbal lashing from his own father had haunted me ever since. In that moment…my heart ached for Tripp. My heart had only ached for two people in my life, and that was my momma and Milly. Tripp was slowly weakening—no, make that tearing down—my iron-clad wall of defense.
Relationships with men had not been an option in my life. Yeah, I had sex and left, but a relationship was different. There were some pretty serious commitment issues spanning back to my childhood that would haunt me for the rest of my life. I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t let another man break me. Damn it! Tripp was threatening to bust into my secure place of solace and raid it. He had become my new best friend, since my old best friend was too busy banging her hot farmer husband and tending to her two adorable critters.
Like a crazed, horned-up teenager, I waited in the kitchen for Tripp to show up for dinner. It was my turn to cook, so I made Tripp’s favorite food. He was a wing king! I made Buffalo wings, baked potatoes and salad. During one of our many mindless conversations over dinner, Tripp informed me that cucumbers were the secret to eating Buffalo wings. Most people ate celery with Buffalo wings, but not Tripp. I made sure I had plenty of sliced cucumbers and blue cheese dressing for the idiot.
It was time to eat and no sign of Tripp. Everyone else was around the table beginning to eat. I couldn’t focus on anything else but the absence of my new, charming, douchebag friend. This was getting fucking ridiculous. I was getting way too attached to the gomer. Two fireballs like us could only lead to disaster, and I’m certainly the pro at fucking good things up. I finally decide to ask Cree where in the hell the Beast was.
“Hey, Cree, where’s Tripp?”
“I don’t know. He headed home when the rest of us did.”
My fucking heart quit beating. I was frozen with fear. My mind thought the worst…what if he went to find a fix? What if he was with another girl? He couldn’t. He just couldn’t. He was too damn good of a guy to fix his life with drugs and sex. In just the little time that I knew Tripp, he was slowly bringing out some of the finer points in me that I had hidden so far away. He made me feel alive for the first time in years. If I’m being honest…he also made me feel oh so motherfucking tingly down south.
Everyone was eating, but I was glued to the kitchen sink with a hopeful eye on the door. My brain was willing the man to walk through that white kitchen door. I needed to see Tripp and have my nightly conversation with the damn goon. Why did I let myself get so attached to him?
“Hey! Sorry, I’m late,” Tripp said as he walked in wearing his black gym shorts and his tight white t-shirt with his ball cap on backwards. The man was sex on a fucking stick and didn’t even know it.
“Where the hell have ya been, cuz?” Cree questioned.
“Dad called me.”
With that, nobody asked any questions of the poor man.
“Hey, Beast. I made ya wings with a side of cucumbers.”
He walked over to the sink with his head hung in defeat. My arms instantly grabbed him without thinking and wrapped around his hard middle, pulling myself in to him. I needed to cocoon him and try to fend off the unimaginable things his father said to him.
“I’m sorry, Tripp. I’m so sorry,” I repeated into his hard chest.
He kissed the top of my head and said, “It’s okay. I finally told him off. I opened my mouth and it magically came out just like some foul-mouthed princess told me it would.”
“Asshole! Don’t call me a princess. Bitch yes, princess no,” I said as I landed a punch to his chest.
He started to chuckle at my feeble attempt of a punch and then hugged me tighter. I could feel his whole body tremble. I didn’t know what was said between him and his father, but I knew it could have only been classified as terrible.
“Go sit down and eat. Annie is dying to tell you the latest joke she heard today at school.”
We enjoyed a great dinner together. Cree even busted out the sprinkles for Tripp. It was evident he’d had a bad day and we were his family system here to support him. Annie saw the sprinkles coming and jumped into Tripp’s lap; she loved being showered in her daddy’s sprinkles.
Tripp whispered into my ear before Cree started his dance. “One day I want you to sprinkle me.” I felt a rush of heat hit my cheeks.
“Naked, I meant,” he finished.
If only he knew how many times I had fantasized about ripping his clothes off. I wanted to sprinkle him with my whole body. I would never admit it to him, but I daydreamed about dancing naked for him all the goddamn time. “Creeper,” is all I mouthed to him.
Milly grabbed her phone to snap some pictures. She loved watching Cree dance as he sprinkled. And I could only sit back and smile at the whole scene. My heart was happy just knowing that Tripp was being loved just for being him.
Everyone went to the living room to watch some reality shit on the tube, which left the two of us in the kitchen. Tripp helped clean up the mess and now I had my chunky ass perched on the counter while he leaned next to me with his arms crossed.
“Go to the gym with me tonight,” Tripp begged.
“I told you I’m allergic to fucking places like that.”
“Please. I need you tonight.”
“Really? You want to ruin this chubby ass of mine? You’re such a heartless monster.”
Tripp asked me to go with him every night. I had used all my strength to say no every time, but I couldn’t resist him tonight. He needed me and I wanted to be there. I knew I was making a big mistake getting tangled up in him, but I couldn’t help it. Our broken souls were being drawn together for some mysterious reason.
“I can’t believe you are going to make my ass go to the gym. You really are a mean asshole.”
“You are not chubby, just plump in all the right areas.”
“You son of a fucking…”
Tripp grabbed me around the waist and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of spuds.
“You know I’m only kidding, Lacey. You’re perfect. I just want to spend time with you tonight,” he said as he slapped my ass.
“Nice save, Beast!”
“Your tit
s are chubby, though. I just wished I remembered them naked and the feel of them in my mouth. I wonder if I titty fucked you.”
Holy motherlovin’ shit! The man just soaked my panties without knowing it. My nipples were hard pebbles hanging upside down against his back. I was ready to pounce and maul the ever loving piss out of him. Instead, I just reached down and gripped his waist as he packed me out of the kitchen and into the living room.
“Lacey is going to the gym with me. See ya, guys!”
We climbed up into Tripp’s brand new jacked up black truck and headed to the gym. The gym, oh I really fucking hated the gym and places where “typical” people went. I put on a superb act of being pissed off and put out of place because, let’s face it, I didn’t want to go the gym. But I did want to be with Tripp.
Tripp checked us in while the blonde at the counter was all but flopping her boobs onto the counter for him to suckle. Flirting wasn’t even a strong enough word for what the bimbo was doing. The worst part of this horror scene playing out in front of me was Tripp flinging it right back to her. Jealousy bubbled up the back of my throat and I was ready to throw down with the twat. He was just a douchebag friend and…friends don’t get jealous, right? Wrong! This friend got very jealous and was ready to claw some fucking eyeballs out.
“So how many times have you titty fucked her?” I spat out as I dug my heels in, refusing to go any further into the gym.
Tripp whirled around with a shocked and almost hurt look on his face.
“Where the hell did that come from?”
“How many times, Don Juan?”
“Zero! Haven’t been with anyone since you. Why are you being such a bitch?”
“Whatever. I’m being a bitch because I just had to watch you eye fuck the shit out of that bimbo.”
“I haven’t done shit with anyone! I swear.”