Lag (The Boys of RDA Book 2)

by MEGAN MATTHEWS

  Honestly the man’s more upset about it than I am, and I was the one wearing a martini. A double from the amount I soaked up. I give the shirt one last tug and turn the corner to find Trey leaning over his kitchen sink with both hands submerged in the tub of bubbly water.

  I lean on the entryway to the room, a little hesitant to enter for some reason. “Do you own anything besides button down shirts?”

  “Yes, but button downs are practical. They have the look of casual professional expected of me with investors but can easily be made more laid back when I’m done for the day.”

  My face scrunches up at his technical answer, but since Trey never turned to look at me he doesn’t notice. I guess he’s still a little upset about the Mari business.

  His hands come out of the sink and he wipes off the bubbles flicking them back in the tub. I’ve never seen stain remover bubble so much, and my curiosity has me step a few feet closer until I’m looking down at the shirt as it soaks.

  “Why is it so … sudsy?”

  He sticks his hands back in and pushes the blue sweater down into the water from where it floated to the top. “Maybe I used too much soap.” His hand reaches to the back of the sink where a bottle of green dish soap rests on the counter.

  Across the bottle big bold letters advertise it as “Concentrated grease fighting formula with EXTRA suds.” I smash my lips together so I don’t laugh and ruin all his hard work on saving the now questionable piece of clothing.

  “Do you think ‘ol blue is going to make it?” I look over the sink again and a few bubbles pop on the counter edge.

  “Well I have her on life support, but it’s still touch and go.” Trey walks toward me as I turn to face him. My back presses up against the counter as he wraps his strong hands around my midsection. He steps closer until I’m surrounded by Trey and the smell of his heady cologne — the fate of my sweater lost and forgotten between his comforting arms.

  His hands move in opposite directions. One rests on my lower back and the other higher over the strap of my bra pulling my shirt up with it. One finger stretches out and he runs the digit under my bra strap leaving goosebumps in his wake. “Your pants are in the washer. Should I throw your bra in as well?”

  I laugh at his seriousness and place a hand on his chest until he tightens his grip. “No, I think the sweater took all the damage.”

  “What a shame.” He raises his hands to grip the balls of my shoulders and steps back until I’m an arm’s length away. His dark brown eyes travel up and down my body until I flush and drop my head. My heart rate picks up from his perusal and anticipation of what he’ll do next.

  His attention flows through me and I cross my arms to still some of my nerves, but it only causes his lips to stretch closer to his ears as his eyes darken. The moment becomes more intense and my head moves to the cupboard beyond his head.

  It’s open a crack and behind the door a sliver of neon green catches in my gaze. My eyes narrow at the piece and I squint to get a better look. Then my eyes widen in surprise. Inside Trey’s kitchen cupboard sits the neon green party cup from our first night at the tiki bar. I have a matching one in my own kitchen, but I never thought Trey kept his.

  It’s a silly plastic souvenir cup, but the significance behind what it means to me is more than any words Trey could speak. Not wanting him to know he’s been caught being sentimental I whip my head back to his and wrap my hands around his back, pulling him close.

  He squeezes me harder. “I hate that Mari was able to ruin our night, but I must say I like you wearing my clothes.”

  His words cause a rush of heat to flow to my core, but I answer back playfully despite how his eyes make me feel naked. “Yeah? You think you look good on me?”

  “In more ways than one, Simone.” He pushes on me so I’m forced to take a step back and am stopped by the counter again.

  I’m caught in his advances. Trey braces himself on the counter by gripping the edge and I’m boxed in, not that I want to escape. I shiver when he trails his flat palms down my sides stopping at my hips. His head lowers to rest in the crevice of my neck, and he kisses a line at my collarbone.

  “Oh, Simone. I do enjoy playing with you.” One hand sneaks up and he undoes a top button of my shirt before pulling the material back to expose more of my neck and collarbone. His lips raise on one side in a half haphazard smile I've learned means he’s up to no good.

  Trey lowers his head and his tongue travels a line up from my neck until he stops at my jaw line for a quick bite. Then he finishes at the skin right below my ear. This time he sucks on a soft patch of skin we’ve recently discovered does things to me.

  My body relaxes against his and I sigh as my shoulders sag. He laughs and I notice his hand travel down the front of my shirt with opened buttons left behind. He pops the one level with my bra and a single finger stretches out to trail the exposed skin on the top of my chest. My back arches out reaching for more contact.

  His body tenses against mine until he steps back a fraction and both hands lower to my upper thighs. The boxers pull on my skin as his hands grab my legs under the fabric. He picks me up a few inches placing me on his counter. It’s cold against my legs where he pushed up the boxer shorts. My legs dangle over the edge and he steps between my knees widening them more.

  Trey’s eyes no longer meet mine as he stares at the small portion of my exposed chest. His tongue wets his lips and I push out my chest to entice him more. He grins and then pushes his face between my breasts. His tongue trails the same area above my bra his finger did moments earlier. My hands fall to the counter behind me and I wrap my legs around his middle to keep him in place.

  A few more buttons are released and then his hand snakes in the fabric opening at my stomach. The cold pushes through and chills my skin, but not enough to cool my body from the heat Trey’s created in me. He rubs my skin higher until he cups my left breast. A rogue thumb circles over my nipple and my head falls back smacking against the white cabinets. He kisses his way up until our mouths connect where his tongue traces the seam of my lips. I open at his silent command.

  The buzz of a doorbell bounces off the walls of his kitchen and we both go stock still. Our mouths tear apart and my eyes widen at Trey as if we’ve already been caught in the act like school children.

  Trey leans his forehead against mine and the raggedness of his breathing matches mine. “You’re fucking kidding me,” he says no one in particular.

  I push him away with a light hand, and expectantly he takes a step back as I reach up to fix the buttons on my shirt.

  “Stay here. I’ll get rid of whoever it is.” Trey places one quick kiss to my lips and turns away while I jump off the counter but don't leave the kitchen.

  I lean back against the sink to wait for Trey’s return. He reaches the first interior door in the living room and pulls it back in agitation.

  “What the fuck?”

  There’s someone right on the other side of the door, and the unexpected guest forces Trey to take a step back in surprise. I drop down to the kitchen floor and try not to make a sound, hoping they didn’t see me through the opening to the kitchen.

  “How did you get in my house?” The question echoes in the space.

  You have to go through Trey’s garage on the street level to reach the living area of the home, and as that thought sets in, I breathe a sigh of relief. Who else but Finn would have a key to the first floor?

  “Your door was unlocked,” a voice I never want to hear again answers. Mari.

  I can’t see anything and the hard tile floor bites into my knees, so I crawl to the side of the kitchen covered by a large column and slowly stand again. There is no way I want to be caught sitting down by Mari. Not twice in one night. But I’m also not going out there. I'll stand behind this column as long as I need to.

  “So you opened it and came in? We are not together, Mari. You can’t do this shit.” Trey’s voice is loud, but I’m too scared to look and see if it’s because he�
�s closer or angrier.

  “I don’t understand why you’re so mad. I’ve always followed your stupid rules, but don’t you understand? I realize now it was a bad idea. You want me to commit myself like your willing secretary. Trey, I only dated other people because you were, but I’m ready to commit to you and make this work."

  Heels click on the hardwood floor and I flinch with each step as they get closer to my hiding spot.

  “I came here to apologize about tonight. I was wrong, but I miss you. We belong together, Trey. We deserve another chance.”

  Trey’s loud sigh settles over the room. “Mari, I told you it was over months ago. Whatever fucked up arrangement we had is done.”

  “But we’re expected to get married.”

  There’s a scraping sound, but I’m not sure where it comes from. A stool being pulled out? Is she planning to sit and chat about this?

  “We are never going to get married. Get that through your head.”

  Trey’s words are low and harsh, but with a pitch of pity. I don’t want to be around for the rest of this conversation between whatever these two now are. I trust Trey and this is private and should stay that way. I turn to my left to dash to the hallway and hide out in his bedroom, but there’s a hidden trash can on the other side of the column and it falls to the side with a crash when I hit it with my foot.

  I freeze. The toppled over can wobbles back and forth on the ground. As the sound dies down, another picks up. The sound of heels as they edge nearer.

  “You have someone here?”

  With nowhere else to go and knowing I’m caught, I straighten to my full height and brace for Mari’s wrath head on. It doesn’t take long. Her red hair is the first thing I register as she stands on the other side of Trey’s breakfast bar, mere feet from me. She sees me as well and lunges in my direction like she’s freaking Superman, but Trey steps in front of her taking the brunt of her attack.

  “We were together for years and you never invited me over, but your fucking secretary is here and wearing your clothes?” Her voice screeches in the open space and I swear some of the glasses in the cabinets shake.

  “You’re a whore!” The final blow said in my direction not Trey’s.

  She tries to side step him again, but Trey moves with her. All my muscles tense and ready to run from her if needed. I’m not a fighter if she gets past Trey. I’m more of the runner variety.

  “If this is what you need, then have your fun, Trey.” She whips her head around to glare at me. “And you. He’ll make you all the promises in the world, but he’ll come back to me eventually and I’ll make sure you have nothing.”

  Trey’s hands ball into fists at his sides. “I will never have anything to do with you and you will never talk about my girlfriend again.” His steady and hard words are ungiving.

  His use of the word girlfriend brings a small smile to my face and my heart lightens for a minute. How wrong. I shouldn’t get so excited over it when we’re in the middle of a showdown, Hatfield and McCoy style.

  Mari screams and I’m ripped from my happy thoughts and thrown back into battle mode. I take two steps back and get a little upset at myself for never asking Trey the extent of Mari’s crazies. Is she normally like this?

  “Girlfriend. Your girlfriend!” she screams the words with distaste.

  Still calm and collected, Trey stares her down from the outburst. “You have two minutes to get the fuck out of my house or I’ll call the cops and have you removed.”

  She narrows her eyes at him. “You will regret this, Trey. I will make you hurt like you’ve made me. I will cut you where it matters the most.” Then as if nothing's wrong in the world, Mari sweeps her hand down the same black pencil skirt she was wearing earlier, turns on a heel, and walks out of the room. Trey turns to me and his eyes look worried. I wave a hand out to him silently telling him to make sure she gets out. He follows Mari out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

  My first large breath since Mari stormed in releases in a noisy fashion, and on still coiled feet I walk to the couch and plop down on the side. A door not far away slams and I assume Mari’s left the building. I lean back and put my eyes to the ceiling resting the back of my head on the couch.

  Less than a minute later, the interior door closes much softer and the couch dips beside me. “I’m so sorry, Simone.”

  His hand rests on my knee and I worry he’s scared to touch me more, waiting for my reaction to this whole ordeal. “No, this wasn’t your fault. It was all over me. I'm sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about.” The hand on my knee travels up my covered arm and rests on my jaw. He turns my head toward his and places a lingering closed mouth kiss to my lips.

  “Mari was a dumb time in my life. I’ve known it was a mistake for a while now, but I didn’t know what to do about it. And I wasn't motivated to deal with the fallout… at least until now.”

  His arms wrap around me and he pulls me closer to him. “I’ve learned a lot since you tried to guillotine my balls.”

  I laugh and it releases some of the tension from the room.

  “Life is made by the people we live it with. You’ve made my days worth living and I want you in every one. For so long I’ve worked to make RDA what it is, but meeting you on that beach showed me another way. I’m working hard to be a better man.”

  “Why?”

  “So I’m worthy of you.”

  I suck in a breath, full of emotion from his words. Tears well up in the corner of my eyes. I tell myself it’s the release of adrenaline from Mari, but it’s not. Trey, this gruff and sometimes stern non-emotional guy, twists my world every time he lays it on the line for me.

  I can’t handle the feelings and I refuse to cry in front of him again, so I try for a subject change. “So I’m your girlfriend, huh?"

  He laughs at my obvious tactic and his body relaxes. “I thought we’d already established that. You’re mine now and I’m not giving you back.”

  So much for my subject change being less emotional.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  I step on the sidewalk and turn back to wave good-bye to Jake as he pulls away from the curb. Aspen’s already reached the door with Cosmo’s Comics and Café stenciled on the glass, and the bell chimes as she walks through.

  Inside Marissa and Amanda are already waiting for us on the orange-ish couches in the back corner. The rest of the store is empty of customers. Sundays at nine must not be a prime time for comic buying, but the smell of coffee as I walk farther into the store continues to pull me in until I reach an empty space on the couch.

  Aspen stops beside me but walks around the large coffee table and sits on the couch opposite.

  Marissa drops her tennis shoes from where they were propped on the table. “Tell me again why we’re at a comic shop for girls’ brunch?"

  “Many reasons, Rissa.” Aspen stops to take off her coat and throws it in the empty space beside her.

  “Rissa?” Marissa asks with one eyebrow raised.

  “You don’t like it?” Aspen waits for Marissa’s quick head shake. "No? I was testing it out, but fine.” She holds up a hand with all her fingers raised. “We’re here because it's locally owned by a friend of Finn’s.” She checks off one finger.

  “His most underappreciated friend,” the balding man known as Jason wearing his black store polo approaches us and stops by the coffee table. He pushes some napkins out of the way and places a large white bag in the now empty space. "This arrived for Aspen Adams a few minutes ago.”

  “Ah thanks, Jason.” She reaches into the bag and pulls out the familiar white Styrofoam containers, our Sunday staple. French toast topped with bananas and syrup. “It's breakfast.”

  “Don’t touch the merchandise with your syrupy fingers.” Jason looks to the group as a whole with his directions and then returns to his counter.

  Marissa turns her head in a slow circle taking in the store. “Um, don’t worry. I don’t think
that will be a problem.”

  “Next week we’ll get an order for him.” Aspen passes me a container and then goes back to her earlier points, fingers raised again. "So one, it’s owned by Jason who rocks. Two, it’s warm.” Another finger is placed down. "Three, we can sit on furniture. All of the guys who shop here will be too intimidated by a group of woman to hit on us.” Her last two fingers go down and her smug expression is proof she thinks her reasons are enough.

  I’m the only one in our group not here with some form of coat, my thick sweater being more than enough, but her reasons make sense to me. I like indoors and furniture.

  A series of three beeps sounds in our small group and Aspen reaches into her folded over coat to bring out a phone. “Oh look. They put Sadie in one of the baseball outfits Finn and I bought her.” She holds the phone out and circles the group so we can all see the picture of her baby niece.

  “She’s so cute, Aspen. Have you gotten to babysit yet?”

  Her face falls and she puts the phone back in her jacket. “No.”

  “Aspen, she’s six months old already. I told you threatening to turn her into a gamer would come back to bite you.”

  She scrunches up her face at Marissa. “That is not why. They’re new parents so they haven’t left her anywhere, but he’s going to ask any day now. I’m first on the list.”

  “Uh-huh.” Amanda gives Aspen the platitude all while shaking her head in the negative at us.

  Aspen catches the movement but only laughs at the lack of faith in her abilities. “Anyway, enough about me, the real news here is what happened Wednesday.”

  I rest my fork on the side of the breakfast container since I know where this conversation is headed.

  “You finally agreed to move in with Finn?” Amanda asks from her side of the circle.

  Aspen finishes chewing the bite she just put in her mouth. “No. My word, you guys are way too in my life. We’re not moving in together permanently. This one is about Trey, Simone, and Mari.”