by Cala Riley
“Don’t promise me. Make that promise to yourself. That you’ll always know your worth.”
“I promise myself, then. Thanks, Sage. It’s nice knowing I’m not the only one.”
I smile. “Anytime. Now go to sleep. It’s late.”
“Good night, Sage. I love you.”
“Love you too, Tinsley. Sweet dreams.”
I lie in bed thinking about her words. It hurts my heart that she felt alone or left out because she hasn’t had sex. It’s a terrible feeling to have. And all because her brothers won’t talk to her about it?
The more I think about it, the angrier I become. If they want to take on the parent role, then they need to talk to her about this no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
The pain in my fists flares up before I realize I’ve clenched them. I listen for a moment to Tinsley’s even breaths before climbing out of bed quietly and moving to the door, looking back to be sure she’s still sleeping before slipping out her door. I turn around and almost scream as a hand covers my mouth. I start to struggle, but Reed’s voice stops me.
“It’s me. Calm down.”
I take a couple deep breaths before biting his hand.
“Ow. Fuck! Why did you do that?”
“Because you scared the fuck out of me. How long have you been lurking out here?”
“Long enough. I want this Asher kid’s last name. You stay here with Tins while Keaton and I go take care of business.”
I roll my eyes as I walk past him and make my way toward the kitchen. Once there, I open the freezer and find a bag of frozen corn to place over my knuckles, holding it on my left hand first.
“You didn’t answer my question.” I look up to find him in the archway. He stares down and frowns at my hands. “What happened?” He makes his way towards me and gently takes the bag off to inspect the red marks on each of my hands.
“Dear old Asher had a conversation with my fists. Let’s just say they won.”
He places the corn back on my left hand before going to freezer and grabbing another bag, putting it on my right hand. He pulls a stool over for me to sit before sitting beside me to hold my hand while moving the bags around with the other.
“What did he do to deserve this?” He doesn’t look at me, just moves to my next hand.
Each brush of his hand against mine is gentle and sends sparks through my body. I get chills as he pulls one hand up closer to his face to study it more, causing his breath to blow across my skin.
“He thought he could tell me what to do. I don’t follow direction well.” My cheeks turn red as I realize how breathless I sound.
He chuckles as he finally looks up at me, now holding each of my hands in his. “Poor kid didn’t know what he got himself into, huh? If your hands are this damaged, I can imagine what you did to his face.”
“Don’t forget his balls. They became acquainted with my knee.”
He winces before pulling my hands up to his mouth. I freeze as he slowly caresses each of my knuckles with a brief kiss.
“Thank you, Sage. I know I said it earlier, but thank you. You defended my sister, and that means everything to me.”
I swallow hard, not knowing what to say. He continues to hold my hands as he raises his eyes to meet mine.
“I’m so sorry. All those things we said about you? None of them are even close to the truth, are they? You’re really a virgin?”
I roughly pull my hands from his. I don’t need or want the pity on his face.
“Don’t, Reed. Don’t act like if you had known it would have changed anything. The only reason you feel guilty right now is because of Tinsley. Keep your regret and apologies. I don’t want them.”
I stand and start to leave when I hear him get up. I swing around and point at him. “Don’t you dare follow me. I’m going to go back up and sleep for a couple of hours, and then I’ll leave. Then you can forget you were eavesdropping on our conversation and everything can go back to normal.”
Without waiting for his response, I walk briskly back to Tinsley’s room and lock myself inside.
As I crawl back into bed with her, I try to stop the tears falling down my face.
Chapter Twelve
I didn’t run into any of the Yates siblings when I snuck out this morning.
While I like to think I’m tough, I was a little shaken after the confrontation with Reed last night. I tried to back out of tonight, but Victoria wouldn’t let me.
That’s how I ended up standing here, outside the Yates mansion, nervous as all hell in my burnt orange dress.
See, Ingram? I can look adorbs.
Victoria swats my hand as I go to straighten my dress one more time.
“Stop fidgeting. You look sexy as fuck. Come on. T is waiting for us.”
She grabs my hand, pulling me up the stairs and to the front door. I can feel the bass from the music before the door even opens. Once it does, I’m greeted by a man who’s dressed similar to how Thomas usually is.
“Come in. Miss Yates is in the den.” The man indicates a room on the right.
“Thank you. My name is Sage. Nice to meet you.” I hold out my hand to shake, and the man looks down at it before slowly reaching out to take it.
“You may call me Boswell.” He looks puzzled by me.
“Nice to meet you. Have a good evening, Boswell.”
Victoria laughs as we make our way into the other room.
“I think you broke the butler. They aren’t used to people talking to them unless it’s to bark an order.”
I frown and stop her. “And you think that’s okay?”
She shrugs. “It’s just how it is.”
I shake my head. “That’s the problem with this place. You’ve lost your humanity. Boswell isn’t a human to you. He’s an object. Something that performs a task but is expendable. I bet if he was broken, you would just replace him too.”
She meets my eyes, looking guilty. She opens her mouth to speak, but a voice behind us startles us both.
“Boswell has been with us since I was a child. I can say with confidence that if he were to become ‘broken,’ as you say, we wouldn’t be so quick to replace him. He’s family, even if it’s not by name. Yes, he’s employed by us, but he’s also much more than that. Before you judge, maybe you should get all of the facts.”
Reed doesn’t say another word before pushing between us and heading into the den. We stare at him before Victoria turns to me.
“Sorry, S. You’re right, but you’re wrong. Thomas is important to us, but I know not everyone treats their help that way.”
I give her a half-hearted smile. “I’m sorry too, V. That was judgmental of me to assume everyone treats their employees badly. Here I am thinking everyone is terrible for being typical rich people. I know it’s not much of an excuse, but I’m a little on edge. Sorry for being a bitch.”
“Everything is forgiven.” She reaches in for a hug.
I tense for a moment but then allow my arms to fold around her. It’s still weird to be hugged by someone other than my mom.
“There you are! Come on. I need help with my dress.”
We both turn around to find Tinsley gesturing us the opposite way of the den. We dutifully follow her up to her room. Once there, I smile. She has several people in the room working on different items.
“With all of these people, why didn’t you ask one of them to help with the dress?”
She smiles sheepishly. “Okay, so I don’t actually need help, but I needed someone else to talk to. Keaton and Reed are driving me crazy. Add in Sterling and Finley and I might need to be institutionalized.”
Victoria chuckles. “What are they doing?”
“Every five minutes, one comes in to ‘check’ on me but ends up lecturing me about tonight. ‘Don’t drink a lot. No kissing. Behave.’ You would think I’m thirteen, not fifteen.”
She rolls her eyes as a woman brings her dress over.
I walk around the room, looking at the different picture
s and items throughout. I smile at the photo of her with all four boys at a diner. I can tell they’re all at least a couple of years younger.
The next is a picture of her with Reed at a lacrosse game. He’s obviously sweaty, but she still hugs him, and his arm is wrapped around her shoulders. The smile on their faces is obviously the real deal.
I go to move to the next, but before I can, I hear a throat clear from behind me.
I turn, finding Tinsley standing with her arms slightly out.
“What do you think?” I can see the insecurity in her eyes.
The A-line dress is gorgeous. It hugs every bit of her torso and hips, fanning out to cascade down her legs. The front ends at her knees, but the back falls all the way to the floor. The lace running down her arms adds elegance to the dress. She looks like a princess.
“You look….” I trail off, at a loss for words.
She goes to speak, but I hold up my hand.
“Sorry, I’m speechless. You look that amazing. There are no words to describe it.”
She gives me a big cheesy smile and blushes. I forget sometimes that while Tinsley’s only a couple years younger than me, she’s been much more sheltered. She craves validation.
“You do look gorgeous, T,” Victoria says from next to me.
“Thanks, guys. The boys didn’t want me to have any alcohol before the party, but I had Esmerelda sneak me a small bottle. Let’s take a quick shot.”
I shake my head at the gleam in her eyes.
She’s a whole lot of angel with a little bit of devil.
“I don’t really drink,” I say.
“Come on, Sage,” she whines. “One shot with me?”
I smile at her antics. “Fine. One shot.” I walk over to her as she pours them. When she hands me one we tap them together. “Cheers,” We say in unison.
∞∞∞
“This area is off limits.”
I whip my head up to look down the hall.
My surprise melts to disdain when I realize who’s walking towards me. I don’t bother answering him, choosing to remain silent. Reed stops in front of me, but I don’t meet his eyes. Instead, I pretend to study my nails.
“The silent treatment, huh? You know, I could kick you out for being up here.”
I glare at him. He chuckles before sliding down the wall across from me. His smile remains long after his chuckle fades as he continues to stare at me.
After minutes of silence, I let out a breath before going to stand from the floor.
“Where are you going? This was just getting interesting.” He stands before leaning against the wall.
“So interesting. Thank you for the company.” I go to leave, but he moves quickly, grabbing my arm.
“Wait. Why don’t you stay so we can talk?”
“Why in the world would I want to talk to you?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
I shake my head before trying to walk past him. He stops me again.
“Get your hands off me.”
“Lighten up, Sage. You can’t take life so seriously.”
“You have to be fucking kidding me.” I take a couple of deep breaths to calm my anger. “Move, Reed. I think it’s time for me to leave.”
Instead of moving, he takes a step closer. “What are you doing up here?”
I roll my eyes. “Your sister told the guy blocking the stairs that I could come up here any time I want. Not that I owe you any explanations.”
He crowds me against the wall. “Oh, but I think you do. You see, this is my house. You’re in my world. So I’m going to ask you again. What are you doing up here? Scoping the place for valuables? Sniffing my underwear? Putting Nair in my shampoo?”
I push against him, attempting to get him to move. “Glad you see the best in me. Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m up here to get some quiet time. If you couldn’t tell, parties aren’t really my scene.”
“It was a joke. Take a chill pill.”
“For fuck’s sake, Reed, I’m getting whiplash from your hot-and-cold act. Pick which side you’re on. Do you like me or not? Either way, I thought we agreed to stay out of each other’s way.” This time I shove past him and start to walk down the stairs.
“Don’t involve my sister in whatever bullshit game you’re playing,” he calls after me.
I risk a quick glance over my shoulder to see him standing at the top of the stairs.
“I don’t play games. I leave that to people like you.”
I hurry the rest of the way down the stairs as his footsteps follow and head into the first room that has people.
“Come on, S. Come play a game with us.” Victoria pulls me towards her as soon as I enter the room.
I glance back over my shoulder and see his cocky smirk. I turn back and give her a smile. “Of course. But I need a drink first.”
She squeals loud enough to almost burst my eardrum. “I knew you’d change your mind. Let’s grab you something from Tin’s stash.”
By Tin’s stash, she means a locked cabinet of liquor I didn’t even know existed.
“Do you have anything normal?” I ask.
Tinsley laughs as she walks up behind me. “These are the best spirits in the world, and you want normal?”
“Uh. Yeah?” I look to V, but she just laughs along with her.
“What do normal people drink?” V asks.
“I don’t know. Rum, vodka, tequila?”
“We have all three.” Tinsley pushes me out of the way and takes three bottles out. “Which do you prefer?”
“Vodka with cranberry.”
She pulls out a bottle of Diva vodka and starts mixing me a drink. When she’s done, she hands it to me before putting the other bottles away and locking the cabinet.
“Come on. I’m making you bitches play ‘suck or blow’ with me.” Tinsley grabs us both by the hands and leads us into a large area that I would guess is a living room, but who knows with all these rooms. The couches and tables are all pushed to the side as people sit in a circle.
“Come. You can sit here,” Tinsley continues before going to sit across from me.
I look to one side and find a grinning Keaton. I roll my eyes. “Are you stalking me now?”
He holds his hands up. “I was sitting here first. I should be wondering if you’re stalking me.”
Before I can respond, Tinsley’s voice interrupts me. “Reed, you can sit next to Sage. We need an even number of guys and girls.”
I whip my head to the other side of me and find him already taking a seat. He doesn’t look at me and instead focuses on Tinsley.
“Here’s how it works. We have this piece of paper here.” She shakes the paper for emphasis. “I’ll start. You hold it up to your mouth. One person sucks, then turns to the person to their left. Once the person on the left starts sucking, you blow so they can take it from you. If you drop it, the paper gets torn in half and the two responsible have to drink. We go until the paper is gone. Happy sucking… or blowing!”
She sits down with extra flair, and I can’t help but chuckle at her dramatics. I glance to my right toward Victoria, who’s sitting next to Keaton. She winks at me, but I just shake my head.
What did I get myself into?
“Tinsley, this game is not appropriate,” Reed warns.
“Loosen up, Reed. It’s an innocent game. No babies will be made tonight.”
“Damn right,” he growls and stares down the guy on each side of her. They each scoot a little farther away from her.
“Reed!” Tinsley yells.
“Fine.”
Tinsley picks up the paper and holds it to her mouth, sucking. Then she places her mouth against the boy on the left of her, him sucking the paper to his lips. I glance over and find Reed clenching his fists.
“I don’t know who invited her to play. No one asked for herpes.” Ingram’s grating voice comes from my left.
I roll my eyes at Victoria, which makes Keaton laugh.
“Reed, bro
, want me to change spots with you?” a male voice calls to him.
I glance over to a blond-haired boy a couple people down. I recognize him, but I don’t care to remember his name.
“Shut up and play the game,” he grumbles.
There are a couple of chuckles, but no one else says a word.
Once the paper gets to Victoria, she expertly sucks it, then transfers it to Keaton. Keaton turns to me, but I hesitate. He reaches up and pulls my head to his. At the last minute, he stops sucking and allows the paper to fall, pressing his lips to mine. They meet for a brief second before I jerk back. He lets go immediately.
A growl comes from the other side of me, and Keaton chuckles.
“Seriously, Keaton?” I glare at him.
“You took too long, S. I couldn’t suck any longer.”
“You need to get a tetanus shot, Keaton. Who knows what she has,” some boy yells.
“Speaking from experience, Chet? I know about that nasty illness you contracted on your last ski trip. Wasn’t Tara there with you?” He winks at me before taking a long pull of his drink as the female next to Chet starts smacking him.
“Drink up, S. Then tear the paper in half and keep going,” Tinsley calls to me.
I quickly take a drink and tear the paper in half before putting it up to my mouth. I turn and meet those same green eyes. Reed is staring at me as I begin to suck and lean toward him. I don’t know why, but I’m surprised when he leans in and meets me halfway.
They say one moment changes your life, and when you’re in that moment, time seems to slow. This feels like that. Him leaning in. The warmth of his lips through the paper as they meet mine. Watching hunger pass in his eyes. Feeling him suck in hard, stealing the paper from my lips.
Then the moment is over. He’s turning to Ingram, who’s seated on his other side. I snort as she drops it, acting like she didn’t mean to. Too bad for her, Reed had already pulled away. She glares my way but tears the paper in half, takes a drink, then continues the game.
Several laughs and drinks later, the game is becoming tense. Every time it gets to Tinsley, Reed glares until it passes her. The boys on either side look ready to jump out of their skin. Keaton acts as if nothing is bothering him, but I see the way he gives Victoria more attention when it’s his sister’s turn.