by L. P. Maxa
“I think if you let me, I’d live in this bed with you for the next decade.” His forehead was against my shoulder, his words slightly muffled. “But. It’s almost time to meet up with Crue and Avory.”
“Should I go back to the Conners’ house and change?” I was still in my tattoo outfit and I was sure the little bit of makeup I’d put on that morning was long gone. Especially after crying at the shop when I found out about Waylon’s connection with my past.
“Do you want to go change?”
“Not really.” I figured cut-off shorts and a vintage concern tee were acceptable pasture party attire, but what the hell do I know? “Is what I’m wearing okay?”
“You look hot as hell, Katie Baby.” He sat up, peering down at me. “On second thought, maybe you should change. Otherwise I’ll be spending the whole night glaring at the guys who hit on you.” He shook his head. “I don’t need the competition.”
I reached out and put my hand on his cheek. “No one could possibly compare to you.” I pursed my lips. “Other than maybe Benson. He’s the one who taught you all the cool music and he’s the one with the cows.”
Cash jumped on me, tickling my ribs and making me squirm. “Benson’s got nothin’ on me, baby.”
“Okay, okay, mercy.” I held my hands up. “No one can compare to you.” My face hurt from smiling so much. We’d been playing, but what I said was true. I was almost positive that there would never be another guy that meant as much to me as Cash. There’d never be another guy that could make me feel the way he made me feel.
Now that he was no longer tickling me and I was no longer laughing, we were two people in a compromising position. I reached up, toying with the hair on the back of his head. My eyes kept darting to his lips. I wanted him, but my body wanted him more.
He put his hand on my cheek and dipped down, kissing me senseless. I pulled off his shirt and then gasped, covering my mouth. “I took off your shirt.”
Cash looked down at his now bare chest. “Yeah?” He met my wide eyes. “Did you not mean to?” I could see the smile dancing on his lips.
“I don’t know, it was like my body had a mind of its own or something.” I reached out and put my palm over his heart. “You make me bold.”
He dipped down and kissed my lips then whispered against my ear. “No, baby, I make you want.” He placed a kiss under my ear. “Like you make me want.”
“You want me?” I knew he did; I could feel it when he kissed me, when he touched me. But I was afraid that part of me would always be nervous, would always wonder if I wasn’t enough for him. Cash had a hell of a lot more experience than me, but it was more than that. He was good and kind, he was handsome, and his body was insane. He could have anyone he wanted. Why would he want me?
“Are you serious right now?” Cash rolled over onto his back and brought me with him, sitting me up, astride his body. “Let’s put aside that your ass is literally resting against my rock-hard dick.” He put his hands on my thighs, rubbing his palms up and down my skin. “I want you. I want all of you, every single part. I want your random questions and your hilarious assumptions. I want your laughs, I want your sexy little dance moves. I want to hold your hand and kiss your lips. I want to touch every single inch of the skin on your body.”
I could feel the flush rise on my cheeks.
“The thought of you leaving to join back up with your dad’s tour this weekend is killing me. I want to lock you in my bedroom and demand that you stay with me the rest of the summer.” He sighed with a sweet smile on his face. “I want you, Katie. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life.”
I swallowed, and then cleared my throat. No one had ever said anything like that to me. It was a speech I’d remember for the rest of my life. It everything I needed to hear and more. “I want you too.” I leaned forward, kissing him, taking charge. I fisted my hands in his blond hair and moaned against his lips. He rolled us over again, coming to rest between my thighs. I could feel him at my core, and I arched against him, needed more.
“Baby, I—”
“Yo. You two ready for dinner or what?” Crue was banging on my door. “I’m fucking starving, C.”
Cash closed his eyes tight, like he was barely resisting the urge to murder his twin. “So this is what it feels like to be interrupted at the worst possible time.” When he opened them, he caught me seconds away from laughing.
“You find this funny?” He tickled my ribs and I barrel rolled off the bed and onto my feet like a mother-effin ninja.
“No.” I looked pointedly at his crotchal region. “But the fact that you have to walk out of this room, sporting that is pretty amusing.”
He shot out of bed, grabbing his shirt and then chasing me out of the room.
***
We drove in separate trucks, which seemed like a waste of gas to me. But Cash assured me that we weren’t staying at the party long. He said we had “parking” to cross off our list. I was more than okay with that plan. Part of me was glad Crue interrupted us earlier, and part of me hated it. I’d wanted Cash in that moment, I’d wanted him so badly it made all logic leave my brain.
We were seated right away when we got to the diner. The waitress threw a wink at Crue after she handed us our menus, shaking her ass as she walked away. The place was small, but clean and homey. It seemed like the whole staff knew the twins, and we were treated like royalty.
“Katie, where is your first stop when you join the tour?” Avory was sipping a sweet tea, fidgeting in her seat every now and then for no apparent reason.
I wanted to ask her if she had ants in her pants, but then I started to wonder if she had some kind of tick I hadn’t been aware of before. I also didn’t want to talk about leaving the compound at the end of the week, but ignoring her question would have been rude. “London. My mom and I will fly out of Austin into Heathrow.” I glanced at Cash. He was looking at his burger.
“I would love to travel.” Avory sighed. “Our parents never let us go anywhere either.” She used her fork to push her salad around her plate.
I guess I was pretty lucky that my parents were taking me to see other countries. It had been all I’d ever wanted, but now all I wanted was sitting next to me sucking down a vanilla milkshake. “Yeah, it’ll be pretty cool.” I reached for my drink, accidentally knocking my fork on the ground. When I reached down to pick it up, I saw the real reason Avory was jumping around like a crazy person.
I jerked back upright. Cash reached over and took my hand. He was biting his lips together to keep from laughing, and I felt traumatized. We left shortly after that, thank God. I was having a hard time keeping up with the conversation and looking either Crue or Avory in the eye.
When we were safely in the truck, I turned to Cash, my nose wrinkled. “Is that a thing? Like do people typically do that on dates? Under the table where anyone can see?” This time I didn’t even care if I sounded like a prude.
“No. It’s not a thing.” Cash was still close to laughing at me, but I forgave him because he was holding my hand so sweetly. “It’s a Crue and Avory thing. I tried to grab you before you went to get the fork, but I missed.”
“I want to bleach my eyes.” I pouted.
“Aw, baby. I’m sorry.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you? Because it seems like you’ve been about three seconds from busting out laughing since it happened.” He chuckled. “See? Not sorry.”
“I’ll make it up to you, okay?” He kissed the back of my hand; it was something that he did often and I didn’t think I’d ever tire of it.
“You’ll make it up to me by making me a sandwich when we get back to the compound tonight. I lost my appetite and couldn’t finish my dinner.” And it’d been good too. Chicken-fried steak burger and fries, a thousand calories and I didn’t care.
“Deal.” He turned down an old dirt road that I recognized from the night we attempted cow tipping. “We’ll have a beer, say hi, and then bail.”
Wou
ld he want to finish what I’d started back at his house? Did I want to? I knew that being the girl that asked where the relationship was going was something I didn’t want. But it was something I was going to need before we took things any further. The reality was that I was leaving in a few days. We had both put the future out of our minds, which was fine when we were simply new friends that made out. But after the pool, and then this evening in Cash’s bedroom, it was clear that we needed to have the talk.
He parked and I took a look around. There were trucks all backed up to a bonfire, tailgates down. “It’s exactly like the lake party I went to the first night I was here.”
“Yes, but here, there is always the possibility you’ll step in cow shit.”
I nodded, eyes narrowed. “Ah, yes, that does make it more interesting.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Cash
Crue was parked right next to me, our trucks identical except for the color. Mine was black and his was white. My first car was a Jeep, but after driving Crue’s vehicle so often when I was pretending to be him, I got used to being in something larger. I climbed out, and then walked around the hood to help Katie down. I was a little surprised when Crue did the same for Avory. He typically did his best to make sure no one saw him doing anything chivalrous when it came to her, at least not at parties like this.
Eyes were always on us. Always.
“Hey, y’all.” Benson sauntered up, a tray of plastic cups in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other. “Who’s ready for a drink?”
I took two of the cups, and gave one to Katie. I looped my arm around her neck and pulled her close. “One beer and we’re gone?” She nodded her head and I kissed her temple. I wanted her alone. I wanted her all to myself. If I had only a few more days with her, I sure as hell wasn’t going to share her with everyone else.
I dropped my tailgate and set my beer on the edge. When Katie made like she was going to sit, Avory grabbed her hand. “Oh no, ma’am. We’re going to dance.” Avory put her fingers under Katie’s beer, moving it up to her lips. “Drink. Then dance.”
Katie rolled her eyes, but she downed most of her beer and then followed Avory to the designated dance area. I’d been right earlier—all male eyes were on her. Not only was she gorgeous, she was new and mysterious. Everyone at this party saw her how I saw her. Wild, sexy, and happy.
“You keep staring at her like that and her clothes are gonna catch fire.” Benson winked at me and then sauntered off, playing the host part well and handing out more alcohol.
I leaned against my tailgate and Crue joined me. “What are you going to do when she’s gone?”
Leave it to my twin to bring my mood down. “I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it.” I knew we needed to. And if I was being honest, I wanted to. I wanted to know how she felt; it was important to me.
“You guys hooked up yet?”
I glanced over at Crue. He wasn’t smiling, and he wasn’t smirking. In that moment he was simply a concerned brother. And that was the only reason I answered him. “We messed around at the pool house after everyone left, but that’s about it.” He didn’t need details, and I wouldn’t have given them to him even if he’d asked.
“I’m assuming she’s a virgin.” When I sent him a what-the-hell look he held his hands up. “I’m not trying to be a dick, man, I’m trying to figure out where you’re at.” He took a sip of his beer. “It’s obvious that you’re into her, we can all see it. But she’s leaving and she’s…her. You’ve been so damn happy the last few days, and I don’t want to see you crash the second she’s gone.”
I didn’t want to crash the second she was gone either. I didn’t want her to ever be gone. I wanted her with me, always. I had no idea how I was supposed to make that happen though. She wanted to see the world this summer, and we were both starting school in the fall. Hell, she didn’t even know what college she was going to yet. “We’ll figure it out.”
“I really hope you do, C.”
Me fucking too. I drank my beer, watching Katie dance with my cousin. She was laughing and twirling Avory around in circles. They were both singing along to an old Garth Brooks tune. I was pretty sure Benson didn’t know any music made after 2015. After the song ended the girls headed back to us. I took Katie in my arms, kissing her loudly before letting her go.
“Gimme a boost?” She had her palms flat on the tailgate and a sexy little smile on her face. I put my hands on her hips, helping her up. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure.” I winked and handed over her forgotten beer. I glanced down at my watch. We were staying for thirty more minutes. Tops. I leaned back against the tailgate, this time with my body positioned between Katie’s thighs.
“I need another beer.” Avory turned her cup upside down, a frown on her face. I rolled my eyes and handed her mine. It was mostly still full and I didn’t want it anyway. She took it, blowing me a kiss.
Crue was sitting on the tailgate next to Katie, and he shocked me when he reached out and grabbed Avory’s hand. Crue and Avory rarely touched in public. He drew her toward him and gave her a little twirl. “One more drink and then let’s go.” It seemed like none of us were in the party mood tonight. Why the hell did we even come? We should have done dinner and then gone home.
“Well if it isn’t the wonder twins.” Melanie Wilcox. Yep, her last name had the word cox in it. “How’s it hanging, Crue?” She used the straw in her cup to take a sip from her drink. And then she bit down on it, like she was trying to flirt. Fortunately I’d never had to hook up with her for my brother. Unfortunately he’d done it himself our sophomore year.
Crue’s tone was flat and bored when he answered her. “Same shit, different day.” Girls came up to Crue all the time at parties, looking for a good time. Sometimes we blew them off completely, sometimes we traded shirts and I took them home.
“Oh yeah?” She narrowed her eyes. “Because it looks to me like you four are on a double date, not typically part of your MO.” She pointed her finger at Avory. “Which one of you is here with your cousin though?”
I cleared my throat, making sure to add the same amount of bored to my voice as Crue had. “Is there something we can do for you?” Melanie had always been a bit of a bitch. She liked drama, and she liked to cause trouble. But she’d never seemed all that interested in going another round with my twin before.
She put a hand on her hip, jutting it out to the side. “As a matter of a fact, I need a little favor from the infamous Crue Matthews.” Her skirt was so short that if she moved the wrong way we’d all be able to tell if she was wearing panties.
“And why the fuck would I do a favor for you?” Crue griped the edge of the tailgate, and leaned forward. He was trying to intimidate her, trying to make her lose her nerve and go the hell away.
“I need you to take me to this dinner party my dad is throwing for all his big clients.” Apparently it wasn’t working. “He’s trying to set me up with a stuffy Harvard pre-law carbon copy. And I need the ultimate player on my arm to prove a point.” She cocked her head to the side, studying Crue like he was a piece of meat.
Crue snorted, like she was a moron and he was amused by her ignorance. “And again, why would I do you a favor?” He held his hand up. “You know what, never mind.” He shook his head. “The answer is no. Now, leave.” He shooed her away.
And she stood her ground with an evil smile on her face. “If you don’t help me out, I’ll tell the world you’re fucking your cousin.”
Crue’s grip on my tailgate tightened. I could see his knuckles turning white. Crue had been accused of being with Avory before and he never let it get to him. But right now, I could tell he was about to lose his shit. I sighed loudly, standing up straight. “Look, Melody.”
“We both know you know its Melanie.”
“Doesn’t matter.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stepped closer to her. “All that matters is that you’re ruining a perfectly good party. My brother told you to leave, so you need
to leave.”
“Your brother will give me what I want or his dirty little secret will be public knowledge.” She walked away, but with her smile firmly intact.
I turned to Crue. “She have anything on you? Why are you acting like you’re about to Hulk out?”
Avory looked at him too, her frown concerned. “Crue?”
He shook his head. “Nah, she’s bluffing.” He hopped down from the tailgate. “You’ll take Avory home? I’ve got plans.”
“Yeah, I’ll get the girls home.” Katie opened her mouth, and I put my hand against it. “No questions until we get in the truck, yeah?” She nodded and I helped her down. We all loaded into mine and Crue got in his alone. When we got to the entrance of the ranch, he took a left and I took a right.
“What’s happening?” Katie looked from me to Avory. “What was with that skanky chick? Is that why we’re leaving?”
“No one can see Crue and I leave the party together,” Avory explained. “It’s another way we keep people in the dark.” She drained the beer she’d brought with her and shoved the cup under the seat. I needed to remember to throw that away when I got home. “We’ll meet up with him down this road and then you guys can be alone.”
I shot her a look in the rearview mirror and she wagged her eyebrows. Leave it to Avory to act like nothing had fucking happened. A nasty skank ho acted like she wanted to blackmail my brother, and his girlfriend was making jokes in the backseat. They didn’t have me to fall back on anymore. They’d have to figure out a different way to deal with Melanie.
And as much as I loved them, I refused to make their mess, my mess.
I had three more days with Katie and I sure as hell wasn’t going to spend it doing anything but having fun with her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Katie