by Ashley Hall
I stalked out of the room, hoping I was too loud and distracting for him to read, and looked for Jacqueline. She was in the living room, talking to the sister wives. Jacqueline looked a little uncomfortable. Maybe she felt a little out of place, being the newest wife. Actually, April’s mom looked a little uneasy too. Only Yvonne seemed happy. Whatever. Didn’t care what their deals were. Each time I saw them all together, I wanted to gag.
But I put on a smile. Jacqueline glanced up, noticed me first, and asked if the other two wouldn’t mind giving us a minute. April’s mom smiled at me as she walked by, but Yvonne didn’t even look at me. She and Walter were definitely a match, that was for sure.
After they left, Jacqueline beamed at me. “Wesley. How was school?”
Shitty. No, actually, it hadn’t been that bad.
“Could’ve been worse.” I shrugged.
“Oh. Could’ve been better too, huh?” She patted beside her on the couch, inviting me to sit there.
I claimed the armchair across the couch instead. Wasn’t here to spill my guts. “I… ah…”
“What is it?” She tilted her head, her long necklaces clanging together. “You can ask me anything.”
I never wanted to ever ask her anything, but I was desperate. It kind of bothered me that she assumed I wanted something from her, but that was the truth. Before I could think twice, the words came tumbling out. “I need some money. Borrow some money. Just enough to get myself a vehicle to look for a job.”
Her smile looked frozen on her face, and she straightened from her slightly slouched position. “I don’t know…”
Probably didn’t want to go behind Walter’s back. I couldn’t risk letting her talk to him first, because then no way was I getting a penny. What would be the best angle to work?
“Walter wants me to get a job,” I said slowly, trying my best to sound reasonable and not desperate. “I think one might be good for me. You know. Keep me busy. Out of trouble.”
“And out of the house.” She frowned, almost pouting.
Ah. Guilt. That was my ticket.
“We can still spend some time together,” I promised, even though it was a lie. “Try and get to know each other.” I shrugged and shoved my hands into my jeans. “I… I…”
But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t say I wanted to build a relationship. Even though I knew that would nail me some greenbacks, I couldn’t bring myself to be that manipulative. And I wasn’t ready to call her mom yet either. So I said nothing. Either she would help me, or she wouldn’t.
After a moment, Jacqueline tilted her head, obviously considering, and then nodded. “Stay here.”
She stood and hurried out of the room. Hardly any time passed before she returned, and she shoved some money into my hands, glancing around like she was a thief.
“Here’s some money from my private stash. Go on down to the used car dealer. Tell him your Walter’s son. They’re friends. Just buy something safe, all right?”
She moved like she was going to hug me, but I backed up with a smile. “Thanks. I’ll head out now.”
I darted out of the room to avoid any kind of bonding she thought we just had and walked past the kitchen. April was inside, cleaning, so I backtracked and stared at her from the doorway. She’d changed out of her school clothes into a t-shirt and boxer shorts. When she turned around, it was so obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra. The shirt wasn’t super tight, but I could still see her nipples.
April glanced up and met my gaze. Her cheeks reddened, and she scowled.
Before she could say anything, I gave her a wide smile. “You wanna know something? You’re pretty.”
Still not letting her say anything, I walked out and left the house. I almost felt like whistling, and I wasn’t normally a whistler.
It didn’t take me long to reach the dealership. I asked one of the workers for the owner. When the owner came out, he eyed me up and down. Probably thought I was going to waste his time. It irked me, but I guessed I couldn’t blame him. In his shoes, I’d be wondering who this kid was too.
“Hi. I’m Wesley.” I thought about holding out my hand, but there was grease on his fingers, so I didn’t bother. “Walter’s my step-father.”
“Oh, yeah?” The owner rubbed his chin. None of the grease smeared onto his stubble. Must be dried on. He was built like a bull with a huge beer gut. “Name’s Mickey. Me and Walter go way back. That guy’s got more kids than a mutt has fleas. Whatcha in the market for?”
We talked and negotiated—although he was a good guy, and I didn’t have to haggle much at all, obviously because of my connection to Walter—and I end up with an old but reliable motorbike. It felt amazing to ride it home. Like I was the king of the road.
As soon as I got to the house, I hid my bike behind some bushes on the edge of the property, beyond April’s garden. No one could find it there.
It was late now, so I sneaked into the place and headed upstairs. If Walter caught me, he’d never let me leave the house again, maybe not even for a job.
April appeared at the top of the stairs. She looked a little floored. I was about to ask her what was up, when she crossed her arms, glanced around—no one else was near—and leaned in close. “I saw you ride up from my window.”
Just what I needed. A spy.
I had no reason to think she wouldn’t run off and tattle. She was too much of a good girl for that. Something inside me snapped. “I didn’t take you for being weak-willed. Gonna run off tell daddy what I did?”
Her expression relaxed slightly. “I never planned on it.”
I blinked. Oh. My opinion of her rose a notch. “Good.”
“But I am worried about you.” She stared at me. Considering how many times she’d ducked me earlier, this was refreshing. “I want you to take care of yourself.”
I narrowed the distance between us and tucked some of her blond hair behind her ear, moving in very close as if to kiss her, our hips touching. It was almost electric being this close to her. I’d been turned on by other girls before, of course, so I had plenty to compare her to, and the attraction between us was pretty incredible.
Since she didn’t move away, I brought my lips even closer. “You should be more worried about yourself,” I warned.
Without looking back, I walked around her and entered my room.
Chapter Six
April
I couldn’t concentrate on my homework. Every thought was poisoned by Wes and how he looked at me, how he touched me, how amazing he smelled, and how dangerous he was. More than anything, he was a danger. To my grades. To my virginity.
Not to my heart though. I could never fall in love with someone like him.
The minutes ticked by slowly, but finally, it was time for me to help fix dinner. I started to peel the potatoes, even though we always left the skin on when making mashed with red-skinned potatoes. I used the wrong knife to chop up vegetables, and I killed the salad with dressing. Every piece of lettuce was drenched, disgustingly so.
No one made a comment, though, but my mom did keep glancing at me, both throughout meal prep and while we were eating. If she had asked me what was going on, I would’ve been hard pressed to lie to her. I always told the truth, but how could I tell her about my feelings toward Wes? I shouldn’t have any. Not like this.
Cheeks heated, I kept my head down, unable to look at him or anyone else, and choked down some food. As soon as I was done eating, I rushed back upstairs to finish my homework.
For once, I rushed through it. Grades were important to me, because grades meant college, and college meant the future. Tonight, though, I just couldn’t be bothered. After I completed the last bit of work and snapped shut my last textbook, I flopped onto my bed.
After a moment, I heard a soft, strange sound. I darted to the window and watched Wes hide a motorbike. How did he get that? And riding without a helmet? He was far too reckless. He was going to get himself killed.
So I left my room, intent on telling him this,
but he somehow managed to worm his way under my skin again. And it wasn’t in a bad way. Not at all. A way that left me staring at his backside as he left me at the top of the stairs and went into his room right next to mine.
Don’t think about him. Don’t think about Wes. I tried to blot him out of my mind as I returned to my room and lay back down on my bed. But, of course, my thoughts returned to him. Traitorous mind. The images conjured from the lunch table didn’t help any. I so wanted to resist, but I can’t help myself. It was late. No one else was awake. No one ever had to know.
My hand slipped between my legs, feeling myself, my wetness. If he had kept touching me like he had near the stairs…if he had led me back to my room…then my fingers might have been his fingers.
Imagining his hands all over me, his hot mouth, those sexy eyes, my fingers worked their magic like never before. I could imagine kissing his full lips, running my hands down his muscular body—because I already knew it was hard from earlier by the water fountain. I could just picture how he would look when he was turned on. His eyes would be half lidded, and the curve of his lips would be so wild and sexy. And if those lips were to kiss me everywhere, including between my legs…
My thoughts, my fingers…it was more than I could handle. I was shocked when I unexpectedly let out a loud mewl as I climaxed. My hand clamped over my mouth, my fingers wet and sticky. Everything was quiet. No one heard.
But then there was a bump from the other side of my wall.
Oh no. Somehow, I’d forgotten that Wes slept in the room next to mine.
My heart raced. Was he awake? Did he hear me? The thought was forbiddingly hot. After that conversation on the ride home from school, he’d easily know who I had been fantasizing about while I’d masturbated.
I had masturbated before but never quite like this. I had never climaxed quite so hard before. I was still shaking from it.
I held my breath. Nothing followed the bump. He must have just turned in his sleep.
That was a good thing…right?
***
At school the next day, I did everything humanly possible to avoid Wes, even sat at desks I didn’t normally sit in if the surrounding seats were already claimed so he couldn’t sit near me even if he wanted to.
Every time someone looked my way, I couldn’t help feeling that my thoughts and my desire were visible, that everyone knew I masturbated last night, that they might suspected who I’d masturbated while daydreaming about. It was ridiculous. No one knew anything. No one, not even Wes. I’d been paranoid thinking I’d heard a bump.
At lunch, my girlfriends talked on and on about Wes again. I didn’t say a thing. It took everything in me to make sure I wasn’t blushing at all, from what they were saying to my own thoughts. I would not give Wes the satisfaction of knowing that we—they—were talking about him again.
To make matters worse—or maybe better, I wasn’t sure—Adam, my crush, casually sauntered over to me after my last period as I was grabbing my books from my locker.
“Hey, April.” His dark eyes were always so expressive. Some girls liked abs. Others liked facial hair. I was all about eyes.
Wes had unbelievably blue eyes.
Enough!
“Hi, Adam,” I said. For some reason, I didn’t feel as nervous around him like I normally did.
“I was wondering if—”
An arm came out of nowhere and landed around my shoulders. I glanced over to see Wes. He saluted Adam, turned me around, and walked off with me in tow, all in the matter of seconds. Before I knew it, we’d left the building.
“Who was he?” Wes asked casually.
I was reeling—stunned, flustered, and angry. I jerked away to try to dislodge his arm, but he kept it in place. What did he have, suction grip? “Get off of me,” I muttered.
Wes smirked. “Oh? Is that what you want me to do?”
What? Oh…oh no. I swallowed hard, trying to ignore my rising panic. Maybe he had heard me last night! No. No, no, no. This wasn’t good. Not at all. Don’t look at him. Don’t talk to him. Don’t think about him. Ignore.
He walked me to my car, looking all smug and hot and damn him!
“Did you manage to get to all of your classes today?” I asked, desperate to talk about anything else, anything but me getting off or him getting me off. So wrong and inappropriate on so many levels.
“Maybe.” He shrugged.
“You fitting in okay?” A stupid question. Everyone seemed to know him already. All the girls were in love with him, and all the guys, instead of hating him, wanted to be friends with him. He was suave and charming.
There I went again.
Dangerous. That was what he was. There was an alluring edge to him, that little unexplainable aspect that made bad boys irresistible.
“You could say so.” Another shrug.
Vague responses. Deliberately trying to be mysterious? Or just trying to get under my skin? Funny how he had nothing much to say when the subject was school. Only when the topic of discussion was something sexual could he talk for hours. He probably had a ton of experience. Kissed a hundred girls. A player. Normally, that wasn’t the kind of guy I had a crush on, let alone wanted to actually engage in my fantasies in real life, but in this case, I almost liked the idea of being with someone experienced. At least it meant he knew what he was doing, that one of us did.
But this kind of thinking was wrong and pointless. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I unlocked the car, and he opened the door for me, even helped me in. I wanted to yell at him, to tell him I could take care of myself, but I didn’t. It would be best to ignore him. Yes. A solid plan.
If I could follow through with it.
I reached to shut the door, but he held it open. “See you tonight, sis,” he said in a teasing tone that started an itch between my legs that only masturbating could alleviate. It was so wrong to want him.
But I did.
With a wink, he shut my car door and sauntered over to his bike. His backside was just as gawk-able as his front. He straddled his bike—still not wearing a helmet—and took off.
Sighing, I started up my car and drove away. “See you tonight,” I mumbled.
God help me.
Chapter Seven
I parked my car in front of the garage—there wasn’t room for mine in there. Walter had three cars, and his wives each had one too. The garage only held four cars, so each week, a different wife’s car claimed the last spot. Kind of excessive. Wondered what Wes thought about all of this. Probably that we wasted money and spent too freely and didn’t realize how good we had it.
Or maybe he didn’t bother to think about us much at all.
After I climbed out of my car, I couldn’t help glancing over to where I’d seen him stash his bike yesterday, but I didn’t actually go over to see if it was there. It was obvious from his mother’s face when I walked into the house that Wes wasn’t home. If my dad found out about that, it would not be good. Not at all. Not that I cared. It didn’t bother me. Wes would have to learn and accept the rules sooner or later. It might do him some good to have some discipline, to realize his actions had consequences.
The mental image of him lying in a pool of his blood in the middle of the highway proved that I did care. Okay, yeah, so I was worried about him. Wouldn’t any good sister be? Step-sister. No blood relation.
Gah, I had never been so caught up in a guy before, not even Adam. I needed a distraction and badly. Cleaning. Yes. Hardcore cleaning. Whenever I got into a fight with friends or needed to relieve stress, I cleaned. It helped take my mind off of things, and, boy, did I need to take my mind off of Wes.
So I got out the cleaning solutions and set about wiping down the wooden floors. I even waxed them for good measure, all the while going over each and every one of the bad aspects of Wes—the trouble he’d gotten in over the years with his foster parents and the state, his lack of respect, his selfish desire to use people. No way did he have the money to get himself that bike, and I’d
bet my savings he conned the money for it out of his mom. Plus we’d both be graduating and leaving soon, although who knew if he would be going to college. He so didn’t seem to be the student type. Instead of finding the hypotenuse of a triangle, he was busying adding up the number of his conquests. Wes was a player, and he thought he could get any girl he set his sights on. He was obviously just teasing me for fun. Pressing up against me, warning me to be worried about myself.
Then there was Adam. I’d had a crush on him for years now. He was so much more my speed. Good-looking, smart, kind…he’d never push the envelope like Wes did. Wes was a bad boy, and I didn’t need a bad boy in my life. He was way out of my league, untouchable, my step-brother.