by Ava O'Shay
“My mom…” Jolin said randomly.
Her hands froze briefly, then slid under the waist band of his underwear and over his butt. Ren lowered herself to her knees.
“Oh God,” escaped in a whisper.
Her lips brushed along the thin line of hair leading into his pants. With a tug, Ren got his pants down far enough to get her hand around him before her mouth took him in. He couldn’t hold back the moan forming deep in his throat and the shutter that cursed through him. He wanted this but somewhere deep in his mind a voice was telling him it shouldn’t be happening. He couldn’t remember why this was a bad idea. His better judgment was hidden behind a cloud of smoke. Her hands ran down the back of his thighs while her mouth teased him. The stud on her tongue sent shivers through his body each time it touched the sensitive skin. He wasn’t a virgin. He’d had a girl go down on him before, but this random blow job by a girl he hadn’t spoken to since elementary school was out of control.
“God, Ren.” Jolin groaned then grabbed her shoulders, pushing her away. “Stop. We can’t do this.”
She fell back onto her butt. With a frown, she stood and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then grabbed his chin and kissed him hard. Jolin could smell his sweat on her. He wanted to grab her and throw her on his bed. But that wasn’t the Jolin everyone knew. He was the guy next door that no one would think twice about letting their daughter date. He never missed a curfew, he opened doors for women. He was the perfect guy. But today he was the guy who was high, getting a blow job in his bedroom by a girl that scared the crap out of him. And he kind of liked it.
He grabbed his pants and zipped them up. “I can’t do this. I’m with Elizabeth.”
“I was under the impression she dumped you.”
“Not exactly,” he muttered. “We’re working on things.” He didn’t know what he wanted. Elizabeth held his status in her hands, but Ren was…he wasn’t sure what Ren was.
Ren’s eyes narrowed. “You can probably get her to finish that off for you.” She grabbed her backpack and walked out of his room.
Jolin didn’t move until he heard the dead bolt unlock and Ren shut the door behind her. Then he stripped down, went into the bathroom and got in the shower. He tried to cool the fire she put in him, but finally conceded and put out the fire himself.
Serenity
Wednesday, October 16
12:05a.m.
She’d chastised herself for the duration of her work day and was heading to the second round of belittling comments to herself on the way home. Brock was going to track her down and ask for the money back. Not to mention the blow job he was itching for. He probably figured Jolin wouldn’t let it happen and the whole deal would turn on her.
“He’s such a dick,” she muttered to herself. “Why couldn’t I have just finished what I went there to do? Maybe because golden boy had threw her off her game. Or maybe because he told her to stop. “Aargh!” she yelled. “What guy turns down a blow job?” Apparently Jolin Daniel did.
Ren just about convinced herself Brock would never have to know things didn’t end as expected when a truck parked in the driveway made her stop.
“Shit.”
Readjusting her bag, she took a deep breath and headed into the house. She hadn’t talked to her mom since the funeral.
“Mom?” Ren stepped in, waiting for whatever disaster awaited. Her inquiry was met by the sound of giggles coming from the kitchen. She leaned against the door and banged her head a few times against it while repeating her earlier word. “Shit.”
A mass of arms and legs came tumbling out the entryway. Some big hairy dude was tickling her squirming mom. Not the boyfriend Ren remembered from the funeral.
“Stop. Stop.” She slapped at his hands stuffed up her shirt. “Serenity?”
She’d moved in almost a month ago, and she still acted surprised when Ren walked in.
“I’m home.” Ren’s voice dripped with sarcasm. She walked past her mom to head up the stairs to her room.
“Hey, babe, always room for one more.” Hairy man slapped Ren’s butt.
She bit her lip, trying to restrain from telling him to go fuck himself. She’d met a few of her mom’s men already and smarting off hadn’t done much more than earn Ren the wrath of her mother and a hard slap across the face. Somewhere along the line, her mom came under the impression they were competing for men. As if her taste in losers was the same as Ren’s. Ren kept walking without a backward glance.
She slid the cheap lock across the door of her room and leaned back taking a deep breath. This had been a horrible day, and she hadn’t even started her homework.
“Ren open up.” Quill’s fist pounded against the door.
“Go away I’m busy.” She threw her backpack onto the mattress sitting on the floor. She tried not to think about Jolin’s neat and matchy room.
“God dammit, Ren, open the fucking door.” He banged some more.
With a sigh, she pulled the lock and stepped back. Quill tumbled through, profanity flying.
They were twins, but other than being born minutes apart they had little in common. At some point she was sure Quill tried not to be a complete screw up but the effort must have been too much and he took the easier path. He played football, and he was pretty good but bad grades and being caught drinking and smoking affected his eligibility and got him fired from his most recent attempt at employment. He ran his hand through his long hair. The athletic code stated hair needed to be above the collar. The bottom of his hair was, Ren helped him trim it at the beginning of the season, but his bangs hung into his eyes. Quill was handsome. Really handsome. The dark skin of their anonymous father and the paleness of their mom left them both with a year round glow of a tan. But where Ren had pale hair his was almost black. His eyes mimicked the strange jewel tone of hers. The girls fell all over themselves to get at him, but he wasn’t into relationships and had the same rep as his sister. However the guys thought he was a God and the girls dropped their panties for him. The boys envied him while Ren carried the somewhat undeserved title of slut.
Quill straightened. “What the hell Ren? You took my stash.”
She flopped back on her bed. “I needed something.” Absently she picked at her nails. A habit she couldn’t kick and one that left her with bloody cuticles most of the time.
Quill dropped down next to her, pulling her into his arms and rubbing her back. “Tell Papa what made the righteous Nety smoke a doobie.”
She started to laugh. Nety was Gram’s nickname for her. Ren ran her hands over Quill’s tattooed forearm. A pair of dice signifying the crap shoot he said we got for a life. God she loved him but he drove her insane worrying about his antics.
Quill buried his nose in her hair. “You smell like a tall mocha latte.”
She punched him lightly in the ribs. “Some of us work.” She worked at the local coffee shop and smelled like she bathed in a tall cup of joe after work.
He released his hold and Ren leaned back against the wall. “So spill it, Sis. What’s so bad you had to steal my weed?”
Ren rubbed her face. “I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it, and I barely took any.”
“But the question hanging over us is…what possibly could be worse than this place and you never smoke here.” He’d found the bag in her backpack and tossed it from one hand to another.
“I went to Jolin’s house to study.”
“Jolin Daniel?”
She shot him a ‘is there another Jolin Daniel?’ look.
“Why?”
“We’re lab partners.”
He rubbed his head. “Why would you need to smoke to study? Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose?”
There was no way she was getting into this with him. “Look it’s a long story.” She rolled off her bed and kicked Quill in the leg. “Get out. Some of us have to study.”
“Do I need to kick his ass?”
“Leave it alone, Q.”
“Are you sleeping with him?”
Ren narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t really want me to answer that.”
A thoughtful expression crossed over Quill’s face. “No. Not really.”
“I have work to do,” she repeated.
“But you aren’t doing anything except studying with him.” Quill pushed.
“Jesus Christ Quill. Whatever I am doing it isn’t your business but to ease your perverted mind…he is my lab partner.”
“Why won’t you just say no? You do know if word gets out his posse will kick your ass.”
“Get out.”
Quill rolled off the bed and grabbed her in a quick hug. “I’m only asking because I care about you.”
“I know you do and I only do what I do because I care about you.” She squeezed him back. He drove her crazy, but he was all she had.
“Yeah that doesn’t make me feel any better about this lab partner situation.” Quill punched her lightly in the arm before heading to his own room.
Jolin
Wednesday, October 16
12:05 a.m.
By the time Jolin’s mom got home, he’d finished his shower, eaten everything edible he could find in the cupboards and taken a nap. Jolin hoped he didn’t look stoned. He wasn’t sure who he was more irritated at, himself or Ren. They were lab partners. What the hell was the pot and the blow job about? And why the hell did he attack her like that? God! He wanted Elizabeth back. Messing with Ren was going to screw the whole thing up. Elizabeth wouldn’t take him back if she found out about this afternoon. He’d need to talk to Ren and make sure this stayed between them.He’d spent the last few hours replaying the afternoon over and over, which didn’t take long seeing as, if his calculations were correct and he included the time in the car driving to his house, they’d only spent an hour together. Everything about the afternoon made him question what he really wanted while at the same time thinking of Ren’s mouth made him lose all common sense.
“Christ,” he muttered and ran a hand through his wet hair. The kiss was crazy. He felt the need he’d taken care of in the shower start to tingle through him again. “Shit.” He rolled to his side and tried to clear his head. He couldn’t get a hard on every time he thought about her. His phone vibrated on the table next to him. Jolin grabbed it and ran a finger over the screen.
Hey JT, whatcha doin?
“Shit.” It was Elizabeth. Had she already heard about Ren?
Biology
Her response was immediate. It wasn’t me.
Yeah, he knew it was Brock’s evil doings. It’s okay. He texted back.
And that was the last thing about Ren that irritated him. She was right…he was a kiss ass, and Elizabeth was the preacher’s daughter. What she didn’t know was Elizabeth wasn’t a nun and just because you don’t break curfew doesn’t mean you were a goody-two shoes. It just meant they had their clothes back on before midnight.
Jolin didn’t text Elizabeth back. He didn’t want drama and that’s where this was going. She kicked him to the curb and that’s where he’d stay today. By tomorrow high school gossip would turn their study date into Jolin fathering Ren’s baby. He’d wait to see how she liked hearing about him with another girl.
Thursday, October 17
6:45 a.m.
“Dude, how’d bio go?” Akeo slid up beside Jolin, leaning against the lockers.
“Good.” He couldn’t look at him. Every time he thought about Ren he either got a stupid look on his face or some other part of him started to get happy.
Akeo turned on him, leaning in way too close. “Dude what did you do?”
Jolin shoved him out of his personal space. “I d-d-didn’t d-d-do anything. We were working on b-b-bio.”
“That’s not what I hear.”
Jolin shot him a warning glance and headed down the hall.
“Tell me you didn’t do anything with Ren.” Akeo followed him down the hall talking in his ear.
Jolin stopped and stared at him. “We st-t-tudied. Get your mind out of the g-g-utter.” Jolin shook him off.
“Dude.”Akeo shook his head.
Jolin held up a hand to stop him. “What are they s-s-saying?”
“That you and her…you know.” He raised his eyebrows.
“God dammit! What is wrong with people? Nothing h-h-happened.We st-st-studied. Let it go.”
Akeo ran his hand over his hair. “You suck. You know that right. You had two hot girls as lab partners…okay one major bitch, but she isn’t bad to look at, and I’m stuck with Jeremy. I can tell you I will not be sporting that smile on my face after working with him.”
“Let it r-r-rest. We’re p-p-partners.”
“Holy shit.” Akeo did an impromptu hundred and eighty turn around and ran smack into Jolin. “Red alert. Red alert. Abort the mission.” Akeo stepped into him trying to reverse their direction but really only tangled them up. “She’s coming. The eagle has landed. Retreat.”
“What?” Jolin stumbled doing a weird back and forth dance with Akeo while he tried to escape the oncoming on-slaught of cheerleaders. Elizabeth was in the lead. Jolin swore they had their own soundtrack marching down the hall like a bad teen movie. “G-g-get off me.” Jolin shoved Akeo behind him.
“Every man for himself,” Akeo said dramatically leaving Jolin on his own. Akeo wasn’t a fan of Elizabeth’s and since he didn’t play sports…he wasn’t her favorite person either. He was, however, Jolin’s semi-geeky friend who stood by him whether he was the star of the school or not.
Elizabeth heard the rumor. Daggers glimmered in her eyes.Her high black pony tail, tied up with a bow making her look like she was Minnie Mouse, swished when she dismissed her entourage. “Hey, Joli.” He cringed at the nickname she used.
“Hey.” He hesitated.
She reached up and ran her hand through his hair. “I hear you had a study date.” Her eyelashes fluttered. She had a rocking body. One he’d explored on many an occasion. Jolin moved away from her, leaving her hand hanging in the air.
“We aren’t t-t-together.” He looked down the hall after Akeo. He should have run when he had the chance.
“I told you…”
Jolin cut her off. “Stop.” He looked at her gigantic bow, avoiding her eyes. She was like Medusa. If he made eye contact with her, he wasn’t sure what would happen. It sucked being frozen out, and if she believed the rumor, she could destroy him. She was the key to the door back to popularity.
“Is it true?” She ran her hand under his letterman jacket and petted his chest.
He grabbed her hand. Hewasn’t sure he could do it. The taste of Ren’s lips, the feel of his hands around her hips made him question whether he could sell his soul to the devil for empty popularity. She’d dumped him in his time of need. “Lizzie. You br-b-broke up with m-m-me. It’s not your concern anymore.”
She stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. “I explained why we had to break up,” she whined. “Why do you want to hurt me?”
Jolin rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling. “Hurt you? Shit Liz. I g-g-got to go.” He let the crowd engulf him even though he was heading in the wrong direction down the hall.
In the past, students would have moved to the side when they saw his arm draped around Elizabeth’s shoulder making their way to class. He’d always thought she was tagging along on his popularity, but now he wondered if all along he was tagging along on hers. With the rip of a tendon and a brain bruise, he’d become one of the masses. He bounced from one person to the other as he was pushed and shoved down the too crowded halls. Diverted from his intended route, he had to loop around the office and back track.
He’d broken free of the crowd and had a glimmer of hope he wasn’t going to be late when he heard his name.
“Daniel! Hey Daniel! Wait up!”
Jolin stopped. His shoulders fell when he realized there was no way he was making it to class in time.
“Daniel, I want to talk to you.”
Jolin didn’t turn around, but he also didn’t walk away
.
Quill came around to face him. “What’s the deal with you and my sister? You banging her.” His body came in close, their chests almost touching.
Jolin knew Quill from football, but he was second string so didn’t share in the teams popularity and special privileges.
“Depends. Who your sist-t-ter is?” Jolin wanted to step away but didn’t want to give the impression Quill intimidated him. However with his new stutter, intimidation wasn’t his strong suit.
Luckily, Quill stepped back first after Jolin’s question seemed to take him by surprise. He shook his head and let out a sarcastic laugh. “You’re such a fucking asshole.”
“Seriously. I d-d-don’t know who your sist-t-ter is.” Jolin tried to brush him off.
“Dude. Ren? Ren is my sister.” He put a hand on Jolin’s chest stopping him.
Jolin stiffened. Why was everyone touching him?
Jolin remembered Akeo saying something about Ren having a twin but he hadn’t really been listening. Akeo was right. He had his head so far up Elizabeth’s ass he’d ignored anything that didn’t flow through his circle. Namely Ren.
He let his gaze trailed over Quill. Other than identical green eyes the only indication he was Ren’s twin was his like of body art…a few tattoos peaked out from the edges of his t-shirt and a piercing sparkled below his lower lip. Jolin’s stare lingered on the black stud before he met Quill’s stare again. He drew his eyebrows together trying to decide if Quill looked like the kind of guy who would knock his sister around. Finally he decided it was best if he didn’t get invovled…but he wasn’t in the mood to make this conversation easy either.
“Why don’t you ask her?”
“Why don’t I ask you?” Quill moved into him again.
“We’re lab p-p-partners.” Jolin held up his hands, tired of defending his study date.
“That’s not the word on the street.” Quill pushed against him. “I don’t want you messing with her.”
“We’re lab p-p-partners,” he repeated for what seemed like the millionth time. “I g-g-got to g-g-et to class. You know better than to b-b-believe rumors.”