by L. P. Maxa
“You two look so much alike.” Emmie reminded me a lot of the younger Evie I’d first met.
“I know. We get that a lot.” She put her phone away, and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Takeoff is over.” She stood, and a wicked grin spread across her face that made my dick twitch.
“Shouldn’t we find a room with a door? What if they come back in here?”
Evie threw her head back, giggling. “Are you kidding? Those two men have been flying the Devil’s Share and their chicks for decades. They know not to come back into this area after takeoff.”
I looked around the large space. “Your parents have sex on this plane?”
“Stop.” She leaned forward, putting her hand over my mouth. “It’s best to not ask those kinds of questions, okay?”
I nodded and she moved her hands down to my lap, unbuttoning my pants and pulling them out of the way. I slipped my hands up her thighs, dragging her panties off under her dress, helping her step out of them. I watched her every move as she placed her hands on my shoulders, climbing on top of me, her knees on either side of my thighs. “Are you okay? Your knee…”
“Stop.” She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
Her face told me not to ask again; she didn’t want anything from her attack being part of us coming together now. I fisted my dick, lining my head up with her center. Her hair was like a curtain about us as she slowly sank down, burying me inside her. “Fuck, baby.”
I put my hands on her smooth ass, guiding her movements. She was biting her lips, her gaze hooded. “Nicky…”
“I know, you feel so fucking perfect.” Her nails were digging into my shoulders, her hips grinding against me. “Just like that, Evie. Fuck, don’t stop.” She was in control, and I wasn’t going to last.
She let her head fall back, my name on her lips as her pussy fisted my dick. She clenched around me, wave after wave milking out my release. I clenched my jaw as I fucked her through it. I didn’t pull out, not this time. I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay inside my girl for hours. I didn’t want the plane to land. I wanted it to circle the globe for the next three days. We’d fuck on every surface.
Evie rested her forehead against mine, her breathing still not under control. “We have another thirty minutes until landing.”
I picked her up, laying her down on the couch as my dick started to harden again inside her. “Good.”
Chapter Forty
Evie
It’s not like I hadn’t been home in decades or anything. I was home at Christmas, which was only like five months ago. But I hadn’t been home, completely sober and myself, since I left for SMU two years ago.
I inhaled deeply, breathing in the smells of the compound. The sweet scent of the hay that grew wild in the fields. The honeysuckle that clung to the game fencing that lined the road. Tears pricked the back of my eyes. I’d hidden myself from my family, and in turn, I hadn’t let myself feel at home here in a long time.
Nicky walked up beside me, taking my hand in his and kissing my wrist. “You happy to be back, little bird?”
“I’m happy to be here, be myself, and be with you.” I felt high, in a natural and healthy way. “You ready to meet everyone?”
His eyes took in the home I’d grown up in, the smoke coming from my dad’s pit in the backyard. “Ready as I’ll ever be to meet about twenty people of my girlfriend’s family less than thirty minutes after I fucked her three times on their private jet.”
“They’re going to love you, Nicky.” And they would, simply because he was him. The fact that he’d been saving me from myself, and all my demons, for the better part of a month was icing on the cake. “Maybe leave out the mile-high club part of our story though.”
***
I’d been hugged at least five hundred times, passed around from family member to family member. No one brought up my attack, or my pill problem. But everyone was super clingy, wanting their turn to see for themselves that I was okay. My baby sister had cried when I’d walked in. I left Nicky to the wolves and spent a good thirty minutes alone with her in my old room. I answered her questions, and I assured her that I was going to be okay. And then we caught up. We talked about her dance workshop and the cute boys at school. I sat with her and for a while I was simply her big sister. It was something that I think we both really needed.
“Come here, Crue.” I made a big gesture with my hand, calling him over to me. He came, reluctantly. He’d been standing by Avory. The two of them existed separate from each other, but glued together at the same time. Like Beau and Halen, they couldn’t act like they were anything other than the best of friends in front of our parents. And like with her older sister, I could see the sadness and despair in Avory’s eyes. Pretending, any kind of pretending was truly draining.
I hadn’t talked to Nicky in over an hour, but when I caught his attention, he always winked. He understood that there were some things I needed to take care of. Plus, my uncles had him cornered, showering him with beer and praise. I wouldn’t doubt if they started going to Dallas to get inked by Nick now to show their gratitude.
“What’s up, cuz?” Crue had a red Solo cup full of coke that I knew for a fact was also hiding some whiskey.
I looped my arm through his, leading him back inside the house. “I wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I’m fine.”
I raised one eyebrow. “I said the same thing, but I was cracked out on speed and dating the world’s biggest prick.”
“I’m not you.” He took another sip of his drink.
So I reached out and stole it, pouring it down the drain in the kitchen sink. “No. You aren’t me. You’re you. And you don’t take pills or date the wrong people. But like it or not, you and I do have a few things in common, Crue.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, clenching his jaw but remaining silent.
“We both tend to self-medicate.” I gestured to the pile of whiskey-scented ice left behind from his drink. “And we both do our damnedest to keep up with the version of ourselves we’ve crafted.” I pointed to myself. “Holier-than-thou rock princess everyone wants to either fuck, kill, or be besties with.” I poked him in the chest. “Male whore who can’t be bothered with things like love and feelings.” He kept quiet, sending that same defiant look in his eye I’d seen a hundred times. “Am I wrong? Or did you not ask your twin to hook up with girls pretending to be you in order to keep up with your and Avory’s charade?”
“It’s not the same.”
I shook my head sadly. “It’s exactly the same, Crue. You didn’t want the parents to find out the things you were hiding, so you went to insane extremes to keep your secrets.” I put my hands on his broad shoulders. “I’m not judging, I’m simply asking you how you’re doing.”
“How do you think I’m doing, Evs? I’m fucking heartbroken. I’m devastated. I destroyed the one good thing in my life. I hurt the only girl I’ve ever loved. I betrayed her trust. I cheated. I fucked up so bad that I don’t think she’s ever going to forgive me.” He wasn’t yelling, but his voice was raised and full of emotion. “We were inseparable, so now, even though she can’t stand the sight of me, we still have to hang out all the damn time. Usually we lock ourselves in the media room and she sits in one corner and I sit in the other. She cries and I drink to keep from punching a hole through the fucking wall.”
“Why don’t you tell them the truth? I know it seems crazy, I do. But I promise you, the second you let it all out you’ll both feel so much better. You won’t have to pretend or hide. You can be miserable out in the open.”
“That’s what Cash and I have been trying to tell him.” Beau came into the room, a sad smile on his face.
Crue threw his hands in the air. “Right, so I run and tell Uncle Dash that I broke his under-aged daughter’s heart by cheating on her. And then what? He fucking hates me. If Uncle Dash and Aunt Lex don’t want me around Avory, she’ll never give me a second chance.” He shook his head. “I won’t do that.”
He shook his head, wrapping his arms around me and giving me a long squeeze. “I’m so fucking glad you’re okay, Evs. And Nick seems really great. I’m happy for you. I swear I am. But I can’t talk about this anymore.” He let me go and then walked out the back door without another word.
“He smokes more than he drinks lately.” Beau tossed the cup Crue left behind into the trashcan. “We all take turns keeping an eye on him though.”
I nodded. “And Avory?”
“She’s Avory. She’s hurting, but she’s smiling and she recently got voted head cheerleader for her senior year.” Beau did a funny little cheer move that I was sure he learned from years of watching Halen like a hawk. “She’ll bounce back long before he does.”
“When my dad came to see me in the hospital he asked, ‘Why didn’t you come to me? It’s us against the world, baby girl.’” I bit at my lower lip, taking a deep breath. “You were right, Beau, us keeping things from them all the time…it’s not fair. It’s not the way it’s supposed to be.”
He nodded, his face thoughtful. “I think the older we get, the larger our problems become, you know? Like when it was covering for Landry missing curfew or because Jett and Marely set fire to that old tractor, it was cute. But all of a sudden it’s heartbreaks and pregnancies and addictions.” Beau glanced to the left, looking out the large window to our ever-growing family outside. “These aren’t small things anymore. These are things that our parents need to know.” He hopped up on the counter. “Before Cash left he said, ‘We forget that our parents lived whole lives before we ever came along.’ And I felt like that kind of sums it up, you know?”
“They’ve been through more than we know. And if we’d let them in, they could help.” I nodded.
“It’s more than that.” Beau and I turned, shocked to see my dad standing a few feet away. “We want to help. We were put on this earth to help.” He bit his lips together, closing his eyes for a moment. “Maybe we trusted you too much, maybe we should have held on tighter. Maybe we were wrong in thinking that we’d raised you right, that you would come to us when it was time.” He stepped further into the kitchen. “We’re only human. We’re learning right along with you guys. And we’re going to make mistakes, just like you are.” He put his arm around me, and one hand on Beau’s shoulder. “We love you kids. We love all of you so wholly and so completely…You’ll never understand the depth of what we feel for you, until you have kids of your own.” His voice cracked. “You’ve got to let us in.”
Chapter Forty-One
Nick
“Um, I’m pretty sure your room is two doors down, little bird.” I was sitting up in bed, returning some emails from Bleu in regard to Revival Ink. He was actually doing a stellar job taking care of things in my absence.
Now, it was after midnight, and Evie and I had said goodnight thirty minutes ago. And yet here she was, wearing one of my stolen t-shirts with her hair piled on top of her head, her legs bare.
“Shhh.” She put her finger to her lips then turned off my light and climbed into bed beside me. “I’m tired of sleeping without you next to me.”
I set my phone on the nightstand, wrapping her in my arms and inhaling the mouthwatering orange scent of her hair. “I’m over it too.” I pulled the blankets over us, resting my chin on top of her head. “Your family is great, by the way.”
“I’m sorry I was MIA for so long.” She kissed my chest, making my dick stir to life.
“Don’t apologize for that. You haven’t seen them in a long time.” She’d disappeared almost as soon as we’d arrived at the compound. I knew she wanted to talk to her sister, and then I’d seen her take Crue inside for a while. When she came back out she was with Beau and her dad. Right now, here, was really the first time we’d been alone since we’d arrived at the compound. “Is everything okay? With your cousins and stuff?”
“Crue is in a bad place. Beau and I tried to convince him to come clean to his parents. That way, he wouldn’t have to pretend anymore.”
“He didn’t want to?” By the tone of her voice, almost defeated, I was assuming he hadn’t heeded her advice.
“No.” Her hand trailed up my chest, resting over my heart. “And then my dad overheard Beau and I discussing how we need to start letting our parents into the loop.”
I winced. “What did he say?”
“He basically started to cry, begging us to let them in.” She sighed. “Our parents, I don’t think they’re necessarily as clueless as we think they are. It’s more that they trusted us, and they don’t want to believe that we would betray them. That we’d all betray them.”
“Can you blame them?” I let my palm land on her ass, smacking her lightly. “Who wants to think their kids are capable of all the things you guys have done?”
She nipped at my flesh. “We aren’t that bad.”
“There are ten of you, Evie.” I chuckled quietly so we didn’t wake up her parents. This type of lie, the one that let me sleep next to the girl I loved? It was okay. Call me a hypocrite. I didn’t care. “Between the stories you’ve told me, what I’ve seen you go through, and the little tidbits I overhead from Jett and Marley? I think you guys have covered a lot of ground in your short years as the Devil’s Spawn.”
“Are we scaring you off?” I could hear the smile in her voice, like she was challenging me.
“Not a chance, little bird.” I rolled us over, coming to rest between her fucking perfect thighs. “But I can tell you right now, we’re only have one kid. Two at the most. We don’t need to be outnumbered.”
Her smile grew, the light from the moon slanting across her face. “We’re having kids?”
“Of course.” I kissed her, tangling my tongue with hers.
She pulled back, humor in her dark eyes. “I think you’re missing a few steps there, Nicky.”
I pursed my lips, wrinkling my forehead like I was thinking about her statement. “We met, we fell in love, you moved in, I saved your life, and you gave mine meaning. I think that pretty much—”
“I didn’t move in.” She shook her head.
“Oh you didn’t?” I dipped down, trailing wet kisses down her neck, sucking lightly at her collarbone. “Move in with me, little bird.” I couldn’t even wrap my mind around any other outcome. I’d lost her, more than once if we were being honest. I didn’t want to spend any more time apart than absolutely necessary. “What do you say?”
“I say…yes.”
I grinned so big, I felt like my face was going to crack in half. “I love you, Evie James.”
“I love you, Nick Barrens.”
I captured her lips with mine, swallowing her whimpers.
***
I opened my eyes then closed them immediately. The sun was streaming in through the sheer curtains in Evie’s parents’ guest room. It was bright. I rolled over, throwing my arm out but coming up empty. You’d think I’d be used to waking up to find my girl gone, but each time disappointment flooded my system. I knew this time she couldn’t have gone far, but still, a completely silent morning quickie would have been nice.
I sat up, smiling when I noticed the note on her pillow.
Nicky,
Woke up early to go on a run with my mom and I didn’t want to wake you.
I’ll be back soon.
All my love, in a completely obsessed way
Evie
I lay back down, resting my hands behind my head, thinking about my girl.
Fate brought Evie to me, twice. The first time I’d let her go without a fight. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. I wanted her with me, always.
Last night she’d agreed to move in with me, and that was enough for now. I’d stand beside her, and I’d help her heal. I’d be a shoulder to cry on, and a hand to hold. I’d tattoo her skin when she was feeling restless, and I’d make her moan beneath me when she was feeling raw.
She could fill me with green smoothies and I’d fill her with laughter.
E
vie James was my little bird, and I was her safe place.
We could survive anything as long as we were together.
Epilogue
Smith
“When is the last time we sat around like this? Drinking whiskey while the chicks are in bed.” Jacks passed me the now-half-empty bottle, a nostalgic grin on his face. “It had to be before all the kids were born.”
We were sitting in the large music studio, the one that we’d built by the shared pool house. We’d come here tonight after dinner, fiddling around with our instruments and playing some old tunes. Now we were sitting, sharing a bottle of whiskey Luke had found under the couch.
I took the bottle, took a pull, and sent it on down the line to Luke. “Speaking of the kids, I wanted to talk to y’all about something.”
“Man, we’re really sorry about what Evie went through.” Dash shook his head sadly. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like for all of you.”
It was the worst day of my life so far, and I’d had some bad shit go down over the years. Nothing compared to seeing Evie in that hospital bed. It was gut wrenching. Hearing what happened to her was beyond heartbreaking. I wanted to hold my daughter and murder that asshole that dared to touch her.
“Have you heard anything back from the detectives on her case?” Dash was right with me; we wanted Collin to pay to the fullest for what he’d done.
“He’s been arrested, but he made bail. He’s father is an attorney in Dallas, so the cops are making sure they are doing everything exactly by the book.” The detectives on Evie’s case said they last thing they wanted was for Collin to get off on a technicality. “Evie is a strong girl, stronger than she thinks she is. She’ll make it through this.” Not only was my kid tough in her own right, she had Nick in her corner, who I trusted wholeheartedly. I was trying really hard not to blame myself for her addiction problems. Genetics and all that.