Fire & Ice (The Locklaine Boys #1)

by Jessica Prince

  “Oh, it’s not just me she hates. She’s an equal opportunity hater of our entire species.”

  I wrapped my arms around her fat belly and held her out. “Here. Pet her.”

  “No,” Griffin answered as he took a step back.

  “Come on,” I coaxed as I tried my hardest not to laugh. “Just pet her. I swear, she’s not going to hurt you.”

  I spoke to soon. Obviously trusting me at my word, Griffin slowly extended his hand in the cat’s direction. He was just inches away when she let out the most feral sound I’d ever heard from a housecat before hissing and rapidly batting at him like she hoped to take a few fingers off.

  “Holy shit!” I shouted, dropping the pissed-off feline on the floor. She took off to parts of the house unknown as I stared after her in shock. “What a bitch!”

  “Told you so!” Griffin declared.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered. “Why do you keep her?”

  He simply shrugged like it was nothing. “Honestly, I’m scared if I tried to get rid of her I’d wake up in the middle of the night and find her there, ready to kill me in my sleep. I’ve had her about a year and I think we’ve finally come to an understanding. I feed her and clean her litter box and she doesn’t slit my throat with her wolverine claws.”

  I snorted at the hilarity of the entire situation. Griffin Locklaine was a big ‘ole softy who rescued a cat that hated him and couldn’t bring himself to get rid of her. That. Was. Awesome. “So what’s her name?”

  Griffin’s discomfort suddenly returned as he answered, “PJ.”

  “PJ?” I asked, my brows furrowing. “What’s that stand for?”

  “Pepper Julianne,” he admitted sheepishly.

  Once I picked my jaw up off the floor I was able to ask—well, screech, really, “You named your bitch cat after me?!”

  His arms came up in exasperation again. “Well, can you really blame me? You’re both redheads who hate my guts and thrive on torturing me! It seemed fitting at the time!”

  “I don’t hate you,” I told him, feeling some of my anger deflate just a little bit. “At least not all the time.” I gave him a small smile.

  He smiled back and stepped closer, brushing a piece of my disheveled hair behind my ear. It wasn’t until that very moment I realized just how little clothing I was wearing and how haggard I must have looked. My cheeks heated with embarrassment as I tried to break eye contact. He had other plans, taking light hold of my chin so I couldn’t look away.

  He stared at me reverently. “How are you so beautiful all the fucking time?” I didn’t have an answer, but he wasn’t expecting one. “We still need to talk, sweetness. But you should know the only outcome from that talk is you spending the rest of the day in my bed with my cock buried deep inside you.”

  My entire body heated, my nipples growing hard beneath my shirt. “You seem awfully confident,” I blustered.

  “One thing you have to learn about me, Pepper. When I want something there’s nothing I won’t do to get it.”

  MY ATTEMPT AT GETTING space by claiming I needed to go home to shower and brush my teeth was derailed when Griffin pulled a spare, packaged toothbrush out of his medicine cabinet and gave me a pair of his boxers and an oversized t-shirt to wear.

  He was adamant that we talk. Of course I’d be attracted to the only man in earth who didn’t break out in hives at the very idea. It was just my luck that the man I desperately wanted to sleep with wanted to discuss our ugly past before putting out.

  I lost track of how long I stood beneath the spray in Griffin’s shower, letting the water wash away the last remnants of my hangover. After that, I stayed under the water in an effort to avoid the uncomfortable talk I knew was coming. It wasn’t until the water ran cold that I was forced to climb out or risk freezing to death.

  I pulled on the too-big clothes, having to roll the boxers at the waist to keep them up, and tossed my damp hair into a loose bun on the crown of my head. “You don’t have a hair dryer,” I stated as I walked into the living room where he was sprawled out on the couch, eyes on the TV.

  “Seeing as this is my place, I’m already aware I don’t have a hair dryer,” he replied with a cheeky smirk, his eyes on the television the entire time.

  “What normal person doesn’t own a friggin’ hair dryer?” I argued for the sake of arguing. As he sat up, his abs bunched in a way that made goose bumps break out across my skin. I silently counted the ridges of his abdomen and my eyes grew wide when I counted eight. Eight! Apparently a six-pack wasn’t good enough for Griffin Locklaine. Oh no, the man needed a freaking eight-pack.

  His baritone voice snapped me from my haze and pulled my attention back to his face. “A person who doesn’t have enough hair on his head to warrant spending money on a useless appliance. Why spare the cash on a dryer when I take exactly enough time in the mornings to towel dry my hair before heading out the door?”

  Son of a bitch, I thought. Of course he just walks out the door looking that good every day! It made me want to hate him just a little bit. That was, until he continued.

  “But seeing as it seems important to you, and I don’t want you to have another excuse not to come over, I’ll pick one up during work tomorrow.” Shit. That was really sweet. I didn’t want to think about just how sweet that was. He propped his crossed ankles onto the coffee table and crossed his arms. “Now, are you done finding pointless things to argue about in the hopes of distracting me from our talk, or are you ready to get it over with so we can go back to my room and fuck each other stupid?”

  Ignoring the burn his lewd words ignited inside of me, I glared at him as I took a seat in the chair across from him. “Fine. Talk,” I told him petulantly. “But I’ve got news for you. Nothing’s changed since I told you I needed space. I was drunk last night, Griffin.”

  “My mom always told me a drunk mouth speaks sober truths,” he replied.

  “Yeah, well here’s another age old adage for you. A horny woman who imbibes too much will get naked for just about anyone.”

  He stared at me for just a second before moving. In the blink of an eye he shot forward, wrapping his strong hands around my waist and hauling me out of the chair and into his lap faster than I could let out a startled gasp. “What the hell, Griffin?!”

  He ignored me and settled back, relaxing into the sofa. “And who were you horny for, sweetness?” Damn it! The son of a bitch knew me too well. His deep chuckle resonated through my body when I refused to answer or make eye contact. “Thought so.”

  My head snapped his way at that. “You don’t have to be an asshole, you know.” As I straddled the massive hunk of man, I had no doubt I looked like a bratty child, sitting with my arms crossed and a sour expression.

  Griffin heaved a heavy sigh, lifting his hands and scrubbing at his face before dropping them to my waist in a soft hold. “Look, I don’t want to argue with you, okay? All we’ve been doing for the past four years is arguing—”

  “And whose fault is that?” I asked indignantly.

  “You think I don’t know it’s my fault?” he asked sharply as his fingers dug into my skin. “I know it’s my fucking fault, okay? And if you’d just quit arguing for one goddamned second maybe I’d have a chance to explain that when I left your apartment that morning, I did it with every intention of coming back.”

  “That’s such—wait, what?” I tripped over my words, having geared up to shoot down his bullshit excuses. I most certainly hadn’t imagined he would say something like that.

  “I got called out to work and didn’t want to wake you, so I left a note. I planned on coming back.”

  My brows tipped as my face fell into a frown. “But you didn’t,” I whispered, unable to mask the hurt in my soft voice.

  “I know,” he responded just as softly.

  “You didn’t even call,” I continued, my voice growing stronger along with my indignation. “You left a shitty note and I never heard a word from you. Then a week later I see you on a date with som
e woman like I meant less than nothing.” I tried my hardest to keep the tears from brimming over my eyes, but it was pointless. One fell anyway.

  Griffin reached up to brush it away, his lips parting to speak, but I wasn’t finished. “I get that you didn’t want to be with me. Believe me, after that morning, I got it loud and clear, but did you have so little respect for me that you couldn’t even be bothered to shoot me a fucking text? For Christ’s sake, I’ve known you since I was twelve! I know we hardly ever talked, but I thought the fact that my brother was your best friend would mean something!”

  By the time I finished my rant, my chest was heaving with each breath. I hadn’t even realized I’d been so worked up. Griffin’s entire body was frozen solid as he stared up at me in his lap, his expression a mask of guilt and regret. “I did want you,” he said adamantly.

  “Bullshit!”

  “I did! I swear to God, I did!” His hands flexed, his fingers pressing even harder into my hips.

  “Then what happened, huh? Why’d you turn into a total fucking prick and blow me off?” My tone was angry and full of incredulity.

  “I got called out that morning. The whole way there I was trying to come up with a way to tell Dex about us. I didn’t have a fucking clue what I was doing, but I knew that whatever was happening between us was something I wanted to explore further. And I couldn’t do that without talking to your brother.”

  “Was he against it?”

  He paused, the war waging inside of him written all over his face. “I didn’t even get the chance to tell him. Somehow, the conversation turned to setting you up with someone he knew and he all but laughed in my face at the suggestion. He basically said none of his friends were worthy of being with you and he’d shoot any one of them who tried. After that I just… I couldn’t do it.”

  I felt the anger swelling inside of me, swirling around in my belly like a toxic poison. Prying myself out of his grip, I shot to my feet, hands propped on my hips as I glowered at him. “You fucking chickened out! You’re a coward!”

  He stood from the couch and reached for me, but the look I shot him was enough to stop him. Good thing, too. “Pepper—”

  “No!” I slashed my hand through the air. “It’s bad enough that you chose my own brother over me, but then you didn’t even have the balls to tell me!”

  “Baby—”

  “Don’t call me that!” I shouted, completely lost in my fury.

  “Just calm down.” Griffin’s strong hands clamped around my forearms and held tight as I tried jerk away. “Please,” he pleaded. “Just calm down.”

  I pulled against his hold. “Don’t touch me, you asshole!” The more I fought, the tighter he held on until he finally drew me into his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around me, pinning my arms at my side.

  “I’m sorry,” he said in a genuine voice. “I’m so fucking sorry, Pepper. You’re right. I was a coward.” Against my will, my body stopped struggling at his apology. “You have to believe me, I’ll regret hurting you as long as I live, sweetness. I’m so goddamned sorry.”

  I had no clue what to think… or feel. There was one half of me who believed everything he was saying, that he was really and truly sorry. Then the other half was angry with myself for being weak enough to cave so easily. “What are we doing here?” I asked against his chest. I had to battle against the threat of his scent trying to suck me under the longer I stayed in his embrace.

  “I don’t know.”

  That answer just wasn’t good enough for me. I stepped out of his hold and looked up into his concerned blue eyes. I didn’t know what we were doing either. We agreed it was just sex, but I felt myself spiraling further down every time we were together. I couldn’t be there. As long as he was looking at me how he was right then, I’d never clear my head enough to figure out what the hell I was doing. All I knew was that it was a struggle to breathe whenever he was around. It was like being weighed down my rocks, unable to reach the surface no matter how hard I tried.

  “I have to go.”

  Something flashed over his expression that I couldn’t get a read on. “No. Pepper, you’re not leaving. Just stay. We can figure this out.”

  God, I wanted to believe him, I really did. I just couldn’t. “No,” I whispered.

  I watched as his face morphed into a determined frown. “I’m not letting you leave,” he insisted stubbornly. “We can work this out.” His voice was almost desperate as he reached for me again and I felt my heart crack in my chest. “You aren’t leaving.”

  “I am,” I answered, tugging my hands from his. “I just need—”

  “Don’t say time,” he growled. “I swear to fucking God, Pepper. Don’t say it.”

  “I’ll call you, okay? Just… give me a few days.” I didn’t wait for him to say anything else. Walking down the hall to his bedroom, I ignored the photo he had of me on graduation, refusing to think that maybe it was there because I was in it. PJ was laying sprawled out on the bed without a care in the world. I changed my clothes and grabbed my purse, calling for a cab before leaving the bedroom. I didn’t want to go home, but one thing was for sure. I needed to get out of there.

  I left Griffin’s house without a backward glance, because I knew if I did I wouldn’t make it out the door.

  WHAT THE FUCK WAS I doing? I’d been sitting on my ass all day long, waiting for my phone to ring like a goddamned idiot. I’d let her walk out the door without putting up any kind of fight. “Son of a bitch,” I cursed at myself, running my fingers through my hair in agitation for probably the millionth time.

  Even PJ, having sensed my mood was darker and far more dire than ever before, was smart enough to keep her distance. I was granted a reprieve from her claws for the evening. That was something, I guess.

  I stood and began to pace, moving from the living room to the kitchen. Back and forth. Back and forth. Just remembering the pain shining from her jade eyes as she looked at me was like a straight punch to the throat. “Christ, I’m a fucking idiot.” I couldn’t stay cooped up in my apartment, waiting, doing nothing in an attempt to get her back. She said she’d call me, but I wasn’t going to bet everything I had on that. I’d screwed up one too many times. The longer we were apart, the more likely she was to realize she deserved so much better than me. I was a selfish bastard. I couldn’t let that happen. I knew what I had to do. I had to go after her.

  “YOU SURE YOU DON’T want to stay, puddin’ pop?” Tomas asked as he gently ran his soft fingers from my scalp to the very tips of my hair. His off-the-wall endearments would normally make me laugh or cringe, depending on how bad they were, but as I lay there with my head in his lap, I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.

  “You have a date tonight,” I reminded him. “I’ve already taken up enough time, crashing in on you earlier. I’m not gonna play third wheel to whatever gay love-fest you have going on here tonight.”

  After climbing into the cab outside of Griffin’s house, I wasn’t sure where to go. I could have gone to Navie, but I wanted to pull as few mutual friends into our mess as possible. I could have called or FaceTimed Harlow, but that would have required going home for such a personal conversation over the phone. I wasn’t ready for that. Luckily, when I scrolled through my contacts, Tomas answered and just happened to be at home.

  I’d been at his place most of the day; wallowing, crying, venting, you name it. I’d run the emotional gamut. The only downfall to him being my go-to in this particular crisis was the fact that Tomas went through men like water. Always the dumper, never the dumpee. He’d been a fantastically-dressed shoulder to lean on, but not much for advice, seeing as he lacked the experience.

  “Oh, sweetiekins. You’re always welcome here, you know that.”

  “I know,” I muttered, “But I’ve had the pleasure of walking in on something that only ever belonged on the Discovery Channel once before. I don’t think I could handle it a second time.”

  “Jealous,” he shot back with a grin.

&n
bsp; “Terrified,” I replied, finally smiling for the first time since leaving Griffin’s house.

  I sat up and brushed a few loose strands of hair from my eyes, knowing it was time to call it a night. When I’d arrived at Tomas’s apartment, I’d been thrilled to discover he still had a pair of my lounge pants and a t-shirt from one of the drunken slumber parties we’d had in the past. I quickly traded out my day-old clothes from the comfy outfit before diving in and telling him everything that had happened, starting from twelve years old to just a few hours ago.

  “Thanks so much for letting me dump all my shit on you today.” I leaned in and wrapped him in a hug. “It means a lot that you let me snot all over your Gucci shirt.”

  “Don’t you worry you’re pretty little head about it. Dry cleaners work miracles, honey,” he told me as he stood from the couch, taking me with him.

  I stood on my tip-toes and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Love you.”

  He kissed me back. “Love you too. You sure you’re all right to get home?”

  “Positive,” I answered as I grabbed the bag he’d leant me to carry my discarded clothes and heels in. I slipped on the flip flops he let me borrow and turned back to him as I opened the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

  “All right, sweetheart. You call me if you need anything. I’m always here. Chicks before dicks, always. Present dick excluded.”

  I giggled as I stepped over the threshold. “Always. Now go pretty yourself up. We wouldn’t want you looking anything less that the best for your flavor of the week, would we?”

  My giggle turned into full-blown laughter when he flipped me off and shut the door in my face. As I left the apartment building and entered the muggy night air, I felt a tad bit better. Tomas had been the right choice. The man always had been able to make me laugh without much effort.

  The weather was comfortable enough, and despite the sandals being too big, they weren’t too uncomfortable, so I decided to walk the blocks between my apartment and Tomas’s, hoping that maybe the walk would do me some good. My mind grew a little clearer with each passing block, and by the time I slid my key into the deadbolt, I was feeling a lot better.