Blaze: Men of Inked Heatwave #4

by Bliss, Chelle

  “We’re just making some popcorn and going to settle in with the girls to watch a movie. How about you guys?”

  “Not too much. I was just sitting here talking to Jett.”

  “Hey, Jett baby. I miss you,” Aunt Suzy says in a sugary tone. “When do I get to see your pretty face?”

  “Whenever you want, Auntie.” I stick out my tongue at my mom because victory will be mine.

  “Why don’t you come to Grandma’s for dinner? I’m sure they’d love to see you.”

  I love that Suzy calls Mrs. Gallo my grandma. She’s not, of course. We have no blood in common, but that never stopped them from making me feel like part of the family whenever I was around.

  “Maybe I will,” I tell her, crossing my arms, smiling at my mom.

  “Speaking of family…” Mom clears her throat. “Jett just signed a new lease. He’s moving out already.”

  “Didn’t he just get home?” Suzy asks my mom.

  “He did a few days ago.”

  “Joe said he came by the shop to get…”

  “Will you be my first dinner guest?” I ask Aunt Suzy, doing everything I can to change the subject. I don’t mind talking about Lily, but my dick is still off-limits.

  “Wait,” Mom says, glaring at me. “What did he stop at Inked for?” She holds up her hand as soon as I open my mouth, and her glare turns icy cold. “I want the truth.”

  “Oh. Well.” Aunt Suzy giggles. “Maybe you should ask him.”

  “Jett?” Mom asks, tilting her head, eyes narrowed.

  I shrug, keeping my mouth shut because I know Aunt Suzy, and she’s not going to keep my secret. She always spills.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Uncle Joe yells in the background. “The kid got his dick pierced.”

  My eyes widen, and so do my mother’s.

  Motherfucker.

  I should’ve known Suzy had us on speakerphone and that Uncle Joe would rat me out.

  “Lily did the piercing,” he adds, making things worse.

  My mother covers her face, groaning into her palms. “Lily touched his penis?” Mom whispers.

  Dad gives me a fist to the shoulder, but more as a congratulations than a punishment. “Did you cry?” he asks me, earning him a dirty look from my mother over the top of her hands.

  “Shut up,” she mouths to him. “You’re not helping.”

  “That’s usually how it works, babe,” Uncle Joe tells my mom. “Can’t stick a needle through it without getting your hands dirty.”

  My mother leans back, one hand still in front of her face like she’s mortified and horrified all at once. “Un-fucking-believable. What the hell do you need another hole in your penis for?”

  I shrug. “I always thought they were cool as shit. I’ve wanted one for a long time but never got around to getting it done while I was in the service.”

  “It has nothing to do with women?” Dad asks, hitting my shoulder again, raising an eyebrow. “I hear the ladies love a little jewelry.”

  “You two need to shut your mouths,” Mom growls, and I can tell this conversation isn’t going where she wants.

  I laugh softly, shaking my head. “Anything not to talk about my dick anymore with my parents.”

  “Son, we’ve seen it more times than you can count. Trust me, we’re well acquainted with it,” Dad says like he’s making shit better, but he’s not.

  My mom’s nodding as if the conversation is normal, but it’s fucking not. If I could crawl away and never talk about my dick again in front of my parents, I’d fucking do it, but I have a feeling this won’t be the last time the topic will be discussed.

  “I can’t believe Mike let Lily touch Jett’s penis,” Suzy whispers as if she’s shocked just like my mom. “How did that go down?”

  I lean over the phone, staring down at the screen showing her name. “Hey, Auntie, can we talk about something else other than my junk, please?”

  She giggles louder. “I’ve seen it too, baby. Don’t be embarrassed. Every guy has one.”

  “Fuck me. You’re all wacked out of your head,” I mutter, craning my neck upward and closing my eyes.

  “We babysat you all the time when you were little, Jett. Be proud, boy. You’re not half bad,” Uncle Joe says, and it’s a dig.

  Half bad?

  He’s out of his mind.

  My cock is large.

  I know it.

  He knows it.

  And for sure, my parents know it.

  Hell, most of the city knows it, from the way the women ogle me.

  Even though I’m not embarrassed by the damn thing, I still don’t want to sit around and talk about it all night.

  “Back to Jett moving out,” Mom says, tapping her finger on the table again.

  “How exciting,” Suzy says, always the optimist. “I know how nervous I was when Gigi said she was getting her own place, but honestly, it was the best thing for her.”

  “For us too,” Joe laughs, deep and loud.

  “Stop it,” she chides him. “Anyway, don’t panic, Sophia. He’s grown now. Hell, he served in the Navy and was out to sea for months at a time. I’m sure he can handle living on his own. The man needs space to spread his wings.”

  “He’s moving in with Lily,” Mom blurts out, ripping off that Band-Aid so fucking fast.

  Suzy gasps and then coughs. “He’s what?”

  Mom smirks at me with a total I-told-you-so look while I cross my arms, not caring.

  “I don’t think I heard you right. I thought you said Jett’s moving in with Lily,” Suzy says.

  “You heard me right. They signed the lease together this morning.”

  “Oh fuck,” Uncle Joe mutters in the background, eavesdropping. “Don’t come for dinner tomorrow, Jett. Mike will be there, and if you want to keep breathing, you stay gone.”

  “What’s wrong with Lily and me living together?” I ask Uncle Joe, making him part of the conversation since he’s already put himself in the middle.

  Joe barks out a bitter laugh. “You shittin’ me with that question?”

  “I’m not shitting you. I’d never shit you,” I grumble. “I’m a good guy. Why wouldn’t Mike want Lily to live with me?”

  Joe’s laughter is so loud, he’s almost howling.

  “Ignore him,” Suzy says, but she’s still giggling— softly, but she is. “Jett, you are a good guy, but…”

  “I don’t plan on sleeping with her. Jesus.” I throw up my hands, wishing my family would give me a little credit. “You know the high school version of me, not the man I am today. Maybe I’m not the slut my mom calls me.”

  “Oh, honey. You were and are a slut,” Aunt Suzy says, punching me in the stomach with how easily those words rolled off her tongue.

  “I wouldn’t let Gigi live with you, and I know you’d never touch her. She’s like your sister, but I know exactly how you are. Just like your dad.”

  I eye my father, wondering what I don’t know about him that everyone else seems to. “Dad’s seriously the most boring human being ever.”

  “Man, you got that kid snowed,” Joe replies. “Ask him about the bathroom sink.”

  Dad’s eyes widen immediately. “Just a plumbing accident.”

  “Bullshit,” Joe coughs.

  Dad smiles, trying to hide it behind his hand.

  “Lily will be safe with me. She wanted to move out, and I needed a roommate. We’re killing two birds with one stone. I get a quiet roommate like I want, she gets freedom, and I can watch over her and make sure she’s safe.”

  “But who’s going to watch you to make sure you behave?” Suzy whispers.

  “She could do worse than me, you know, Auntie?” I say to her.

  “Lily’s just so innocent, baby.”

  “So were you when I met you, sugar,” Uncle Joe says. “Look how that turned out.”

  I gag a little, thinking about them having sex. Ick.

  “That’s what I’m saying. I was so pure, sweet, and innocent, and all it to
ok was one bad boy to ruin me forever,” Suzy tells me. “You’ll ruin Lily. This, I know.”

  “First,” Mom laughs, “you were not innocent and pure. Let’s be real here, Suz. You were a dirty girl, looking for a man who’d let you live out your fantasies. But you’re right. He did ruin you and Jett could ruin Lily, but he could also end up breaking her heart.”

  “Lily’s purer than I ever was,” Suzy says. “I mean, she’s never even had sex before.”

  There’s an invisible fist that connects with my stomach, knocking all the wind out of me. A virgin. Lily Gallo, the sweet thing, has never had sex before? I find it hard to believe. I didn’t think that was still possible in this day and age. I knew she’d had a boyfriend or two during high school, and I just assumed they’d done it.

  “Sugar,” Uncle Joe growls. “I don’t think that was public knowledge or to be shared.”

  “Oh damn. You guys didn’t hear that from me,” she says like I can wipe that shit from my memory. “Pretend I never said it.”

  Nothing can wipe that knowledge from my head. Nothing. No amount of alcohol or drugs could make me forget that Lily Gallo has never been touched. Never been made love to. Never felt a man move inside her.

  “Well, this has been enlightening,” my mother says, eyes still narrowed on me. “I’m going to go spend a little time with my son before Mike kills him tomorrow.”

  “You’re cute, Mom,” I laugh, but she isn’t.

  “Good idea. And, Jett,” Suzy says, waiting for me to reply.

  “Yeah, Auntie?”

  “Maybe rethink dinner tomorrow. Although everyone would love to see you, with Lily dropping the news on her folks, maybe it’s not the right day to stop by and say hello.”

  “Yeah. I think you’re right.”

  “Such a dumbass,” Dad whispers. “He’s going to get us both killed.”

  “Both?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

  “I can’t let you get your ass beat by Mike and not at least stick up for you. I’m going to die because of you. I knew it would happen eventually, just never thought it would be at the hands of a Gallo.”

  I laugh, mocking him. But tomorrow, we’ll find out if he’s right.

  8

  Lily

  What the hell was I thinking? Clearly, I wasn’t, or else I wouldn’t have signed the lease agreeing to move in with Jett.

  I wanted out of my parents’ house. That was the only thing running through my mind as I picked up the pen and scribbled my name on the blank line just below Jett’s.

  I’ve always been an overanalyzer, thinking about things for weeks or months before acting. But not with him, and not about becoming roommates.

  “You have to tell them today.” Gigi stares at me, arms crossed over her chest, a bright, happy smile on her face.

  She’s loving this. So’s Tamara. Other than the day I told my parents I was dropping out of college, I’ve always done everything to make them happy and stay under the radar. I was the proverbial “good girl,” which in real English means boring and predictable.

  I clutch my stomach, leaning over my legs to stare at the cement underneath my feet. “It can wait.”

  Tamara’s on the chaise lounge, wearing her favorite white bikini, sunglasses pushed up over her hair. “No, it can’t. You have to tell them today before they hear about it from someone else.”

  “No one else knows,” I groan. “I can’t do this. It was a huge mistake.”

  “Babe, my parents know,” Gigi says. “Jett’s parents called them last night and spilled the beans.”

  “Mothertrucker,” I whisper into my knees, knowing Aunt Suzy can only keep a secret for so long.

  I think about drowning myself in the pool that’s only a few feet away to avoid telling my parents about everything. But I know not even death will keep my secret.

  “You’re such a pussy,” Tamara laughs, shaking her head, judging me. “Your parents will be okay. They were okay about college, and you thought they’d never accept your decision.”

  “But that was about school, and this is about living with a boy.”

  Gigi giggles, covering her face as soon as I glare at her. “He’s not a boy, Lily. He’s all man, and from the looks of him, he has his sights set on you.”

  I wrinkle my nose. “He does not.”

  “Does too,” she argues.

  “Girl, that man is hot for you,” Tamara adds, fanning her face with her hand. “The way he looks at you…” She shakes her head and blows out a breath. “It’s scorchin’.”

  “You’re delusional.”

  I’ve seen the way he looks at me. It’s like I’m a foreign creature, a weirdo he’s not sure how to handle. Sure, sometimes I think there’s a spark, but as soon as the ember starts to glow, it flickers out just as fast.

  Tamara pulls her sunglasses down over her eyes, lying flat to soak up the rays. “I know men, and I know lust. And that man is lusting after you pretty hard.”

  “Are you sure we know the same guy?” I ask, rocking back and forth on the end of Gigi’s chaise lounge.

  “She’s clueless.” Tamara sighs. “How did you hang around us all these years and never learn anything?”

  I curl forward, pressing my chest against my knees, still staring at the same spot on the cement of the patio. “I learned. I just never acted on anything. I know men, too,” I say defensively.

  “Boys in books don’t count,” Tamara mutters. “They’re not real.”

  Gigi sits up and places her hand on my back. “Let’s make this interesting.”

  “Whatcha thinking?” Tamara says without hesitation, loving my misery.

  I glance over my shoulder, shooting daggers at my cousin who used to be my favorite but is quickly losing the title.

  Gigi smiles, winking at me. “If Jett doesn’t kiss her or have him under her in a month, we’ll fund your book habit for a year.”

  “You realize that’s a lot of money,” I tell her with a raised eyebrow. “I read a book a day.”

  “You need to be getting dicked every day instead of just reading about it,” Tamara says like it’s that freaking easy.

  “I don’t need to get dicked every day.” I fake gag because who says things like that…my cousin.

  “You so do,” she adds. “Hard and deep, babe. Then you wouldn’t be so uptight. You need a guy who’s going to fuck the worry right out of you.”

  I shift in the chair, giving them each a middle finger. “You two can fuck right off.”

  Gigi gasps before bursting into a fit of laughter. “She definitely needs some cock.”

  I narrow my eyes at her. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

  Gigi’s smile grows. “Oh, I am. That’s why I agree you need a man.”

  “Men don’t complete women. They’re a complication and nothing more,” I grumble, curling around my legs again. “I don’t need sex either. I’m perfectly fine the way I am.”

  “You’re going to get arthritis in your hands at an early age,” Tamara says with a straight face. “You need a man to touch you so your joints can get a break.”

  “I don’t always use my fingers. So there,” I say, sticking out my tongue and instantly regretting my words.

  Tamara’s smile is immediate and freaking huge. “Finally put that bullet I bought you for your birthday to use, then?” She raises an eyebrow, staring at me over the rim of her sunglasses.

  “I’m not talking about masturbation with you.”

  “You know what’s hot,” Tamara says, ignoring my statement. “Watching a guy pleasure himself. Fuck me. That shit is off the chain.”

  I gape at her, wondering how we’re related when we’re so different. “You seriously have issues,” I mutter, rolling my eyes.

  “No. I have to agree with her. There’s something about the way a man’s hand moves against his cock that turns me on. It’s so erotic, especially when they’re staring at you, knowing you’re watching them.”

  “As opposed to what?” I gape at
Gigi, surprised she’s agreeing with Tamara on this one.

  Both my cousins are freaks. I’m Mother Teresa compared to them. I always knew this, but the way they freely talk about sex now kind of freaks me out. We used to gossip, wondering what it would be like, but now they have real-world experience to back it up. And, me? I’m still the untouched flower with only a few hand jobs and a failed attempt at a blow job under my belt.

  “As opposed to when you’re being sneaky and catch them in the act. I mean, it’s still sexy, though. When they don’t know you’re there, watching through a crack in the door as they stroke their hard cocks,” she says “cock” with extra emphasis like the very thought of a penis drives her wild.

  “You’re a creeper,” I whisper.

  “You’ll see,” Tamara tells me. “You’re going to live with a man now. Things are bound to happen. You’re telling me if you catch Jett in the act, you’ll just walk away and give him privacy?”

  “Of course,” I blurt out.

  “Sure,” Gigi laughs.

  “I would. I wouldn’t invade his privacy that way.”

  “You see him spanking his monkey, and I know you’ll watch. You’re a freak, Lily. You’re hiding within the pages of your books, but you’re our cousin and you’re just as filthy as us. Just as slutty as us, but you’ve never let your freak flag fly. I know once you have a taste, you’ll be hooked like it’s a drug, jumping up on that fuckstick every chance you get.”

  I gape at Tamara, my mouth opening and closing as I wrinkle my forehead. What is wrong with her? No one uses the word fuckstick, and I’m not a freak. Maybe she is. Who am I kidding? I know she is. But I most certainly am not.

  “Kids, dinner’s almost ready!” my mom yells from the sliding glass door in the back of my grandparents’ house.

  I grab my cover-up, pulling the soft material over my head and covering my modest one-piece swimsuit.

  “We need to get you a bikini,” Tamara says as she stands and stretches, showing off her hot body.

  “No bikinis,” I tell her, staring down at the oversized cover-up that hangs to my knees. “I already show enough skin in this.”

  “You should’ve been Amish,” Gigi tells me, pulling at the thin material around my body. “You have a perfect body, and all you do is hide it.”