by Piper Frost
"Fuck," I moan, bringing myself out to the tip before pushing in again. "God damn, woman."
She pushes back against me to slide me back inside and her forehead lays against her arms that are resting against the wall. As I keep pumping, it's getting harder for her to stay on her toes and when I slip out, I laugh.
"Hold on," I say, pulling out to turn her around and press my lips to hers. "Now I can kiss you," I whisper, gripping her ass and lifting her. She wraps her legs around me and I push her against the wall, sliding back inside her. "Much better," I huff, thrusting my hips to get deeper.
Her hand slaps my back and she gasps as her head hits the wall. Her eyes open and she leans in, softly kissing me. The water runs down our faces but her lips don't relent and she's holding the back of my head.
"I love you, Brandt," she moans into my mouth, but being inside her feels too good to pause because she said it.
"I fucking love you," I grunt, her words sending me over the edge and I come hard. "Fuck!" I groan on her lips. Holy fuck, she loves me! I keep pumping, not losing my hard-on yet, needing her to come.
I clamp my teeth to her perky nipple and flick my tongue, thrusting deep, trying to push as far as I can because she's getting louder and louder. When her nails dig into my flesh and she lets out a cry, her body erupts into those vibrations I swear I can feel against my body hours after we fuck.
Her head drops to my shoulder and I hold her here until I slip out of her. Setting her feet back on the shower floor I press my lips to hers, finishing the shower without words. No words are needed. She fuckin' loves me!
As we dry off and start to get ready for dinner, I glance over at her in the mirror.
"It was in the bathroom when you were pissing, you know," I say, laughing. She glances over at me like I've lost my mind. "When I realized what I was feeling was love. Is that weird?"
"God, it's so fucking weird." She laughs hard and turns to face me. "So now what?"
"Now we get dressed and try not to get found out at dinner time. We’ve made it this long, city girl." I hold my arm out and look at my tattoo in the mirror. "Does this make me look badass?"
Her laughter erupts again. "No. You were badass before that." Picking up the lotion bottle, she carefully wipes it across the fresh ink.
"I'm a branded Brandt now." I grin, unable to wipe the goofy smile from my face. Yanking her against me, she’s grinning. "You love me."
"Fuck I do." She kisses my chin. "It didn't even take me having to watch you pee to figure it out."
I laugh and let her go, attempting to figure out how we're gonna keep hiding this from Donna and my dad.
"I think I knew way before that. The feeling was there, but it's not something I've ever felt before so my head had no clue that my heart had already fallen. I just thought I was really horny." I laugh.
"I think you still are. Sex confuses a lot of things." She glances back at me then turns to the mirror again to put black paint on her eyes.
"Hey," I say, waiting for her attention. She’s still holding the pen to her eyelid, but her gaze finds me in the mirror. "I'm not confused about how I feel about you. The sex is great and all, but so is just being in the same fuckin' room as you." I grab my toothbrush. "Which, by the way, tonight's gonna be real hard keeping my hands off you."
She snorts a laugh and rolls her eyes. "None of this has been easy. That’s why I don’t want to hang out with your friends and I’d rather stay home all the time. It’s not easy watching girls like Fi all over you, Brandt." Her eyes lock on mine in the mirror and we stare silently until she looks away.
I finish brushing and wipe my mouth, then walk over to her and wrap my arms around her, pressing my lips to her neck. "It's worth it though. We’ll figure this out." I smack her ass and head to my closet. "Now, if only I had a shirt to wear tonight..."
She chuckles and starts down the stairs. "I need to get dressed. Hey, I'll just meet you there, okay?" she calls up the stairs. "It's less weird that way, and if I show up on time or early, Donna will definitely know something's up."
I glare at my closet. "Yeah, that's fine," I yell down to her then clench my teeth, actually hating that idea. I should be able to show up somewhere with my girlfriend at the same time. "See ya there," I mutter, trying to pick out a shirt. I have enough of them this shouldn't be too hard, but I really liked the red one she stole from me.
I also really fucking love that she stole it from me.
By the time I head out of the house it’s about to be five on the dot. Good thing I just gotta take a few steps to get to my destination. Jo's door is still closed when I leave and I want to drop in and taste her again, but I need to learn how to distance myself when our family is included. I also need to figure out how to tell our family about us without them freaking out.
"Hey, dad," I say, walking into the kitchen.
"Brandt, happy birthday," he says, smiling as he tosses a beer cap in the trash. "Come on, we got a little surprise for you."
He walks me into the main room and my face falls. Everyone's here. And by everyone, I mean my aunts and uncles from my dad's side. People Donna's talking to that I've never met before. Other people hanging around like they’re waiting on me. The room's packed.
"Jesus, dad. I thought this was a small dinner?" I glance out the window and notice a motorcycle parked beside my truck and my stomach drops. "Whose bike is that?"
"Your brother's here." He nods. "Y’all share a birthday and your mom's not in town anymore, I figured we could include him. And me and Donna figured getting everyone together to meet Jo would be easier this way too."
I groan when I notice Cash on the other side of the room in the nicest fuckin' shirt he probably owns, talking to my uncle Ronnie. My eyes narrow and I clench my jaw to stop myself from saying something I don't mean.
"Great." I sigh. "Perfect."
My dad looks around the full room and lets out a breath of air before chuckling. "It'll only be a few hours. But looks like I'm gonna have to drag Jo over kickin' and screamin'," he says looking around for her.
"She'll be here. She was gettin' ready when I left." I don’t let my gaze leave Cash.
"There she is now," he says with pride, like he's surprised she actually came. I just want to say 'she's my fuckin' girlfriend, she's here for me', but I'm not pissed at my dad. I can bet Cash snaked his way here tonight.
I pull my eyes from my brother to look behind me at Jo and Donna standing in the dining room doorway. My favorite flannel, the one she stole from me, is on her back and she has it tied so it fits, and also shows a peek of her stomach while she wears low-low rise jeans. My eyes trail her longer than I probably should and when my gaze lands on the cowboy boots she's sporting I have to look away before I end up hard.
Holy fuck.
Holy shit, she's wearing cowboy boots! When the fuck did she get those!?
And now I have to act like a fucking brother and not a man in love tonight. I need a fuckin' drink.
"Hey, you two," I say, walking into the kitchen and heading for a Coke. I need something stronger than fucking soda, but with all my family here tonight my dad won't have it.
Donna looks at me like she's so proud that Jo got out of bed. All I can do is try my hardest not to stare at how fuckin' sexy her daughter looks tonight.
"Hey, happy birthday. Didn't know it was your birthday." Apparently that's the lie she's already told Donna, so I gotta play along.
"Yeah. Didn't realize it was gonna be this big of an event." I flick my eyes across the room to Cash who just spotted us. Trying to shift, to block Jo, I briefly squeeze my eyes closed. "All my family's here, apparently."
My dad doesn't know of the troubles I have with Cash. He knows we used to fight, but he always just assumed it was brother problems. I’m not a snitch and I never wanted my dad to hate him because of it so I've never divulged just how bad it's gotten over the past few years. The fact that he invited him here tonight tells me they have more of a relationship than I eve
r thought and it scares me because the only types of relationships Cash has with people are when he's trying to get somethin' out of them.
"Jo, whose shirt is this?" Donna asks and when I look at Jo, I see she's noticed Cash. "Is it Bo's? I heard you two have become an item."
"It's my shirt," Jo blurts and looks at me. "That's your fuckin' brother," she whispers.
"Jo, please watch your language." Donna rubs her arm.
"Donna, do you mind if I take Jo to introduce her to my brother?" I ask, taking Jo's elbow. "We'll be quick."
"You two go mingle," she says giddily. "Jo, this is your family now too."
Jo groans and rolls her eyes but turns toward me.
"We need to get you out of here," I whisper, pulling her out the side door. The party's mixed into the back yard now and there are more people here than I thought. "I don't know why he's fuckin' here right now, but you gotta go home and lock the doors, Jo." I'm panicked, and not because he's here, not even because there's other family around because I know he wouldn't do anything when everyone else is watching, but I know him. He's sneaky and he'll go to dangerous lengths to get her alone.
"Fuck you," she quietly scoffs. "I'm not leaving you here." Just as quickly as she steps toward me and grabs my hand, she backs away and puts distance between us. "Fuck, Brandt, this is hard. This is fucking hard and stupid," she barks at me like it's my fault.
"It'll be fine." I sigh, because it is fucking hard but it's not my fault all these people are here. I assumed it'd be a sit down meal then we’d go on our way. By the looks of it, this party's gonna be going all night. "We just stick by each other then, okay? I'll get Bo and Kinlee and some other people here just to cushion us." I pull out my phone and send a text, letting them know it's a party and not to bring booze. "We'll be fine."
She snickers and looks around. "He's right there," she whispers, her eyes locked behind me.
I turn slowly and see Cash, watching us from about twenty feet away, and narrow my eyes. I walk over to him, smiling at family members and friends as I pass, stopping right in front of him.
"The hell you doing here?" I ask, back rigid and ready to defend myself.
"I was invited, brother." He drapes his arm around my shoulders. "Wasn't sure if I could make it. I needed to get a few stitches this afternoon." His arm tightens around my neck. "But I didn't want to miss your twentieth birthday. Might be your last," he quietly says and I shove his arm off me.
"Yeah, well you're not welcome here. Garrison's oblivious to how much of an ass you turned out to be. I’m trying not to cause more trouble for you, Cash, but you ain’t leaving me many options. I’m gonna have to tell my dad.”
“Tell your dad,” he taunts with a laugh. “You tell anyone, and everyone gets hurt. Starting with your incest girlfriend.”
I step away and glance back at Jo who's standing with my dad and forced into talking to my aunt and cousin, but her eyes keep darting to me.
"You showed your face. It's time for you to leave."
"How about I just go wait at the guesthouse? That's where Jo sleeps, isn't it? You perverts haven't moved her into your room yet. Probably to save your asses. Gonna be a pity when I tell everyone here tonight you're fuckin' your sister."
"Step-fucking-sister, you dipshit. No blood relation," I grunt, cursing. "Is that why you came tonight? Just to boast to people some dumb ass theory you have?"
"Theory." He barks out a laugh and shifts to stand in front of me, his hands landing on my shoulders. "I came for the bitch, and I'm gonna get 'er," he whispers before walking away.
Chills run down my spine as his words register. I glance over at Jo, a horrible feeling sinking into the pit of my stomach before I walk over to her, taking her wrist.
"Sorry, dad, cousin Mary, we gotta go check somethin' out. We'll be right back." I don’t even wait for her to say goodbye as I yank her away and to the side of the house, away from everyone. "He's got that gleam in his goddamned eye that tells me he's about to pull something so fuckin' stupid."
"Let's just tell your dad, Brandt. About him. We can tell him everything. Even that I stabbed Cash this afternoon. If I have to go to the police station, whatever. I don't know your brother or what he's fully capable of, but if he hurts you, or any of these people here because of me..." Her wide eyes peer at me.
"We're not doing that. I'm not getting you in trouble for this shit today.” I pull her into a hug. “Bo and the guys will be here soon. Just stick in the crowd."
"Brandt," she says and I follow her gaze toward Cash who's walking up to us.
"Mother fucker," I growl, storming over to him. "Go the fuck home, Cash. I told you you're not welcome here."
"Hey, you three, party's here," Bo says, walking around the corner of the house. His fists are tight at his sides and I notice he's got a few more people following him.
"Party's here," I say to Cash through grit teeth.
"I'll get you, city girl." He winks at Jo and heads for the backyard.
When I look, she looks like she wants to cry. I glance at Bo, Chase, and the others. "Don't let her leave your sight all night," I tell them then turn toward Jo. "Stay with Bo. He's here for you." I fuckin' hate this, but that’ll be more people looking out for her without others realizing we're an item.
When she walks up to Bo, she pushes her face into his arm and I think she's crying. Bo looks at me worried, but slowly puts his arms around her to comfort her. I look at the guys at Bo's back. They expect her in his arms so I can't pull her to me even though jealousy is raging from the inside.
"Let's get this party over with," I mumble, walking around the corner, not waiting for them to follow.
I didn't mean to break down, but it's my fault this is happening. I've become a target, and in turn, made Brandt a target. The last thing I want to do is cry in front of his fucking friends, but I'm actually scared with no end in sight.
Pulling away from Bo, I wipe my face and notice their friends have spread out and started moving toward the back of the house.
"You okay?" Bo asks.
"Yeah. Can't you guys just kick his ass and make him go away?" I chuckle, though I know that would never happen. I just need to draw attention away from the fact that I was crying.
He lets out a stressed chuckle. "Not until he's ten feet under will he go away." He rubs the back of his neck as we start to make our way to the party. "So how do we play this? Brandt's gonna kick my ass if I go too far, you know."
"No he won't. We're not going to go too far. Also," I lock eyes on Donna who's headed toward us wearing a huge smile, "news somehow already spread because my mom thinks we're dating."
"Bo! I'm so happy you're here." She hugs him. "I heard about you and Jo and I couldn't be happier." Her twang is thick and it's crawling under my skin.
"Thank you, Mrs. Kenshaw. I like her a lot." Bo drapes his hand over my shoulder. "I hope you don't mind we crashed the party."
"Nonsense," Donna coos and waves her hand at him. Christ, I feel bad this is Brandt's step mom. "You're with my baby, you're Brandt's best friend, you're part of the family." She touches his cheek and I glance in time to see his cheeks are bright pink.
"Back off a little, mom," I grouch then notice Brandt sitting on the swinging bench with two girls and watching me. "Bo, you hungry?" I blurt and grab his hand, pulling him away before he can answer. I walk toward Brandt, but Cash steps in front of me and I gasp because I hadn't even seen him.
"You wear that for me, Jo?" His fingers touch my stomach and Bo shoves him back a step.
"Back the hell off, Fayer."
Chase and another friend of Brandt’s are moving closer to us. Cash's eyes flash across the lawn to Brandt whose glaring at him.
I pull Bo the opposite direction and into the house.
"What the fuck are we supposed to do? Dodge him all fucking night?" I bark, annoyed with this fucking game.
When I look at Bo, his glare's locked on something out the back door and I huff, walking into the kitchen
. It takes him several minutes but he darts into the kitchen to my side.
"Maybe we should just call it a night. Lock the doors and wait it out. This place is too big and being joined at the hip is hard as hell." He lets his eyes dance across the room, scanning it for Cash.
"Let me just get some food." I look through eight cupboards before letting out a grunt. "Who the fuck doesn't own Tupperware?" I snarl at Bo like this is his house.
Moving quickly, he crosses the room to what looks like a pantry, but comes back with Tupperware.
"Thanks." Without thought, I start dumping food into the bowl. When I'm nervous, I eat. And I'm fucking nervous right now. Peanut butter isn't going to cut it. "Should we tell Brandt?" I ask as we head toward the doors that close off the guesthouse.
"Let's get you locked in, then I'll tell him. I hate you out here where that asshole can strike at any minute." He pushes the doors open then follows me into the foyer and I open the door to our house. I head for the couch while Bo makes sure every door and window is locked tight on both levels. "Stay. I'll be back as soon as I tell Brandt where we are."
"Turn on the air at least!" I call out and pop open the lid to my bowl of seven mixed foods. I'll eat it anyway.
I head to the kitchen for a fork and the shadow in the corner makes me drop my bowl of food. Gravy splashes up my bare legs and I back against the counter while Cash grins at me from across the room. I dart for the door because he's blocking the kitchen exit, but I don't get far before he grabs me. My legs kick back but he's prepared and he drops us to the ground, kneeling on the backs of my legs.
"I just came to fuck shit up in here. I didn't think it'd be this easy." He chuckles.
"Please don't hurt him, Cash," I beg and try to squirm when he ties my ankles together.
"It's either you or him, Jo." His fist connects with my temple, but I don’t black out until my head hits the counter.
A foreign smell wakes me up and I blink a few times, realizing we're in the barn and I'm tied to a post. I don't know how he got me here, but I suppose that's the point because if I were conscious, him transporting me with all these people around would have been a hell of a lot harder.