"Anything else you need?"
"No." The sharp denial sent him on his way.
"I hope you're leaving a big tip for that guy," she whispered before shoving a big spoonful of potato soup into her mouth.
"Twenty percent," I said and then revised it immediately at her glare. "Thirty, I meant thirty percent."
"I'm surprised you didn't palm my boob when he took our order."
"Oh, you knew about that, did you?" I laughed.
"You were a little obvious. I'm pretty sure he was being nice, and there wasn't any need for you to exert your dominance."
"I could have peed on you. You should be admiring my restraint," I replied cutting into my steak.
She rolled her eyes. "If you ever pee on me, that's probably the last time we'll see each other."
"Noted. No golden showers for Winter."
She shuddered and then held up an index finger. "I forgot to tell you that I'm going to be apprenticing full time with Tucker now."
"Is that because of Ivy's situation?" I asked carefully.
She started to immediately deny it but then pushed her bowl away and turned toward me. "At first, I suppose it was, but I think it's something I've wanted to do for a while, and Ivy's situation just gave me the kick in the butt. And you, of course," she added as an afterthought.
"Of course," I replied dryly.
She was smiling as she started dipping torn pieces of bread into her soup. "Even though I should go home tonight, I guess it doesn't mean I can't fool around for an hour or so."
I lifted my arm. "Check, please."
•••
"You're beautiful, sweetness," I said. I'd managed to get us to the house in the Woodlands without getting pulled over, which was a good thing because Winter had her head in my lap and had done things with her mouth that were illegal in all fifty states and not just because we were in a vehicle.
I withdrew to the very tip and dug my right knee into the mattress so I could thrust into her harder. She arched her back and released a long, mewling cry of pleasure, letting me know I was hitting exactly the right spot.
"Oh, Finn. Right there."
My cock swelled in response. I shoved forward, trying to hit the exact spot while at the same time staving off my own desperate orgasm. The tight clutch of her pussy was making it hard to breathe or think or do anything but mindlessly pound into her.
"Come with me," I begged her. I slid a hand between the two of us and began to rub.
"Yes, yes," she chanted.
Sweat and desire clouded my vision as my whole body strained against the effort to explode inside her. She dragged her nails down my back, and that was it. Her abandon in bed drove me wild. What little control I had was shredded, and I let go.
I couldn't stop myself from coming. I shoved forward so hard her head nearly banged against the headboard, but she slammed her hands against the wooden frame and met each plunge of my cock with a thrust of her own hips. Hot seed flooded the condom, but I kept thrusting and rubbing her until her own body shook beneath mine.
We slammed against each other, gasping out rough promises, until our bodies gave out. I collapsed on top of her and allowed myself to wallow in her for a couple of seconds before rolling off.
I pressed a kiss into her sweaty forehead and pulled her small body against mine. She allowed herself to be cuddled for a few minutes before sighing heavily in regret and pushing away.
"Already?" I winced at the whiny little boy tone that had crept in.
She looked over her shoulder and brushed her hair away from her face. "Yeah. It's close to ten."
"All right, I'll drive you. Give me a second." I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Behind me I heard a gasp.
"Oh God, did I do that to you?" she exclaimed. I felt her fingers skim over my shoulder blades. I peered over my shoulder.
"What? The scratches?"
She sucked in the side of her lip. "Sorry."
"You'll have to make it up to me," I said and strode to my dresser, where I found a pair of sweatpants. I don't bother with underwear.
"Yeah, and how will I do that?" she asked, voice suspicious.
I threw on a T-shirt and came over to help her with her clothes, which consisted of skinny jeans and a loose fitting T-shirt. No bra. I noticed she rarely wore one, which I loved. I just needed her to wear skirts more often. "By putting the marks where people can see them." I leaned down and sucked lightly on her neck, not hard or long enough to leave a visible bruise but to give her an idea what I was talking about. "That way you can scare all the other girls away."
"You're supposed to do that for me, especially when I'm not around."
"I do. When I'm not with you, I don't shower or shave. I scratch my balls and fart." I tickled her. "Is that scary enough?"
"Terrifying," she agreed and smiled.
My heart flipped.
Her braless state wasn't the only thing I loved about her.
16
WINTER
"How about I come up with you? Just to see if you two need anything," Finn offered when he drove into the parking lot.
Uncertainly, I looked up at the apartment Ivy and I shared. If Finn and I were going to be something then I had to have the two most important people in my life be in the same room at the same time. And if he was going to fall back in love with Ivy, better I knew it now—like ripping off the bandage instead of toying with the ends while the wound underneath festered and got infected.
"Sure."
"I'll leave if there’s any tension. No questions."
I had to give him props. He was trying hard. I reached over the console and kissed him softly on the cheek, his stubble slightly abrasive on my lips. I tingled from the contact, and it must have shown on my face because he made a low, rough sound—one that I was beginning to associate with activities that involved very little clothes and a lot of sweat.
"We should go inside," I suggested and drew away before I took him up on his very obvious invitation.
He merely smiled and hopped out. I waited for him to open the door for me. The first time I’d tried to open my own door, he’d flipped out. It was something he enjoyed doing, and honestly I loved the gesture so I sat in the seat and watched him lope around the front of the truck and then come to my side. I had my seatbelt off with the door open so he could reach inside and help me out.
"If you drove a car, I would be able to get out of the vehicle myself."
"Sure, but where would the fun be in that?" He winked and held me tightly against him as he slowly lowered me to the ground. There was no mistaking the hard steel that I slid against.
"I don't know whether to be impressed by your quick recovery time or worried I didn't satisfy you."
"How about chuffed because you can always make me hard?" He planted a soft kiss on the crown of my head but made no attempt to move away.
At this rate, we'd never get into the apartment. I firmed up my spine and took his hand. "That's a good alternative."
I led the way up the stairs and let us in.
Ivy heard the door open. "Is that you, Winter?" she called from the bedroom. Her voice was faint and weak.
"Yes. Do you need something?" I quickly ditched my purse. "Stay here," I murmured quietly. Finn obliged and walked over to the sofa while I hurried to the bedroom.
Her bedroom was dim. She had pulled the shades, and the streetlight peeking around the sides of the too-small window covering was the only illumination.
"Jimmy let me go." Ivy was lying on her back with a book covering her chest. What to Expect When You're Expecting. It was last year's edition. She noticed me looking at the cover. "I'm only in the third chapter, and already I know we're screwed."
"Maybe you shouldn't read it."
"Then we'll be unprepared and screwed. At least now we'll know why we're screwing up."
"Why can't you wait tables?" I sat next to her on the bed, keenly aware Finn was sitting by himself in our living room.
"He sai
d no one wants to see a pregnant belly. Reminded them of home."
"We can buy a webcam, and you can strip at home. There's a fetish for everything. Remember the knitting guy?" I'd come across a guy in a full body suit knitted out of gray—and what looked like really itchy—yarn. One of the strippers told us that it was fetish gear. If someone liked to look at men or women in a full knitted sweater, then there was probably a crew who loved the pregnant belly.
"You need to get off the Internet, Winter. That shit'll scar you." She thumbed the edge of the book. "Did you happen to mention to Tucker that I could be a great shop bitch?"
"Things are tight there. Rent is expensive in the East Village."
"Bullshit. He doesn't want to hire a felon." She sighed and pressed her head against her hand. "Which is ironic since half his clientele must be criminals. Every chick inside had at least one tattoo." She shook her head and laughed humorlessly. "I took the car and applied at some restaurants, but I'm guessing if I have to handle money then I won't be hired. I called a cleaning agency, and they said no as well because all their cleaners had to be licensed and bonded and someone with a felony record wouldn't pass." She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it. Fidgeting with the book, she didn't look up when she asked me, "Winter, do you think I should have an abortion?"
My heart turned over. "I don't know."
Initially, I was convinced I would have gotten the abortion, but now…I didn’t know. I was the unwanted child of some woman in China. Maybe if I'd been born a boy, my biological family would have kept me. But I wasn't. I was a girl and therefore expendable, or worse, just trash, given that I was left on the side of the road. Mom had said that my bio mom must have cared deeply because I'd been left near a police station, sure to be found and then fostered out.
It was the best possible light to place on anyone abandoned. It hurt to hear Ivy talk about her baby in such unhappy terms, but she was right. It wasn't my body or my future at stake.
"I'll support you in whatever decision you make," I said and gave her the best smile I could. "I took the apprenticeship job, and I know that once I start inking fulltime I can make enough to support us both."
"And the baby?"
"All of us."
She raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "I'm going to find a job. Even if I have to work construction, I'll find something. As long as you're in this with me." She held out her pinkie. When we were kids we used to hook our pinkies together and call it the Donovan sister promise—unbreakable. I didn't hesitate but hooked mine with hers.
"Donovan pinkie promise," we both said and then shook.
"You need anything?"
She hesitated and then gave me a wry grimace. "I think I'm getting those pregnancy cravings. Now that I'm not puking all the time, I'm constantly hungry. I'd kill for McDonald’s fries and a Coke."
"I'll get it." Finn appeared at the doorway. "Hey, Ivy, how you doing?"
Ivy didn't even look surprised or interested. "Oh, hey, you're here. I'm fine," she said uncharitably.
"But hungry." He was unperturbed. "Want to make a McDonald's run, Winter?"
"Sure." I turned back to Ivy, whose normally open face was inscrutable. "Medium? Large?"
"Large, but do you have to go, Winter? Finn's perfectly capable of driving a half mile by himself, right, Finn?"
"Nope. I'm pretty worthless without Winter."
"I'm sick and pregnant," she snapped.
"You said you weren't sick, only hungry."
My head bobbed between the two of them in confusion. Was Ivy mad that I was leaving her or going with Finn?
"Ready, baby?" he asked me and held out his hand.
I looked back at Ivy, who was glaring openly at both of us. It was five minutes, ten at tops, and it seemed that since Finn was doing the favor, I should go with him. Or that's how I justified it to myself.
"We'll be back soon," I assured Ivy.
"Fine," she muttered. "Leave me then."
Mystified at Ivy's tantrum, I took Finn's hand and went back to his truck.
"What was that all about?" he asked when he climbed into the driver's seat.
"I don't know. I thought maybe you would."
He started the engine. "No idea, but she really didn't want you to go with me."
I had no answers, so I asked what he was doing tomorrow. He winced. "Paperwork. Small flip jobs like mine require a few bills to about four subcontractors. A project like Riverside requires a mountain of paperwork, which I hate."
"Not my thing either," I admitted. While I liked things orderly, I couldn’t imagine a worse job than sifting through papers and bills all day. I resented even having to work the front desk and filling out the commission forms that Tucker required us to keep. He was a paperwork fiend. I blamed that on his law school training as well.
The McDonald’s was barely far enough for us to justify the drive. Finn put the order in for the largest Coke and fries they had. "Want anything?"
I nodded, because who didn't love the greasy french fries hot from the fryer and loaded with salt. "Make mine a small. I don't have the eating-for-two thing going for me."
On the way back, Finn was clearly thinking of something. He tapped the steering wheel absently and ate half my french fries. I made a mental note to order a large next time so I could actually get more than five fries.
"What would you think if I offered Ivy a job?"
"Doing what?"
"The paperwork. I could get Mal to come in and set up some firewalls so she'd only have access to non-essential things. No bank accounts or credit cards. But she could file, fill out permits, follow-up on stuff. Do secretarial work. I could put her on the payroll, and she'd be covered under the group health plan. She did that shit for your dad before he died."
He was right. Dad was an insurance agent, and Ivy had worked in his office every summer. Me? I followed after my mom, who taught elementary art. I’d thought for the longest time that was what I wanted to do, but then I only went to community college and instead found a place for my art at Tucker's. I think Mom would have been okay with that.
"Would that bother you?" he asked quietly. I realized then we'd returned to the parking lot of the apartment complex.
"I don't know." I sat back and reflected on it. There didn't seem to be any love vibes between them. Ivy had acted weird, but not because it seemed like she was peeved Finn and I were together but more that I was abandoning her. She didn't suggest I make the fast food run and Finn stay at home, like a girl would've done if she was crushing on a guy and wanted to get the extra girl out of the way. No, she wanted Finn to go and me to stay.
Finn showed no interest in Ivy either. He was polite to her, but I suspected he was treating her in that manner because of me, not because of any burning love. And I had to trust them. Finn didn't have a history of cheating. He didn't seem like the type to cheat, especially after the story he'd told about his dad.
And Ivy? I couldn't see her doing that to her own sister. Maybe she'd have done something crappy like that to Finn when she was drinking, but she was clean, sober, and loved me. No, I couldn't imagine that. And Finn's solution was genius. Even Tucker didn't offer health benefits, which Ivy sorely needed now.
"I don't think it would bother me." I shifted in the truck seat so I could look him directly in the eyes, as if somehow if I could see the truth. "Do I have anything to be worried about?"
"No, never," he said. His gaze never wavered. He never blinked. "I'd never do that to you. If it gets to be a problem, tell me, and I'll see if I can't find her a different job with another construction outfit. Besides," he leaned forward and tucked some of my hair back behind my ear, "you're first wife."
I met him more than halfway, plastering my mouth against his in a fierce, joyous kiss. Drawing back, we were both a little breathless. "We better get these fries in before they turn cold."
"Yup."
He didn't move.
I didn't want to either, but I did.
17
FINN
"Hope you know what you're doing, man," Mal said, shoving away from the desk and patting the back of the chair he'd just hopped out of. I took my place and clicked on the green plant icon Mal had picked for Ivy.
"Why does everyone but Winter and me think this is a bad idea?" When we'd gone in to deliver the fries and job offer, Ivy's reception had been chilly. She wouldn't have taken the job if Winter hadn't declared it the answer to all their problems.
Winter kicked me out shortly after, probably to make the hard sell, and I went home. I found all but one of my roommates chilling in front of the television watching Will Smith kill aliens. I laid out the business proposition and was met with silence. Noah had muttered "poor schmuck," and Adam looked at me and said, "Dead man walking." Confused, I looked to Grace for an explanation. "If Noah dated Lana before me, I wouldn't have wanted him within five feet of her ever, let alone working with him for eight hours a day," she'd said.
"I'm not going to cheat on Winter," I replied steely. I'd never cheated on anyone in the past, not even Ivy when I knew she was sleeping around to score extra drugs.
"I believe you. It's Winter you have to convince," Grace replied.
And then everyone else nodded, looking at me with disbelief mixed with sympathy.
Mal pressed a sticky note with Ivy's password on it to the side of the monitor. "Adam said she was a shitty girlfriend. Can't imagine she'd be a good employee either."
"She knows the alphabet and can count. That's about all I need her to do in here. And it's not going to be forever. I've only got eight months left on this build, and then I can be done."
"Sure." I could tell by the tone of his voice he didn't believe it. "I set it up so she can't touch any of the programs dealing with your accounting software. She can't issue checks or even go to micropayment sites on the internet. And I've blocked most sites’ access anyway but still put on a key logger so you can trace whatever action she's conducting on your laptop."
"Adam talked to you?" I hadn't said a word about Ivy's past to anyone, other than to say I'd dated her in high school and college and we broke up.
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