by Ali Parker
“Where are you? Or better yet, why aren’t you at Merskys?” It was Lucas.
I turned and sighed softly. “I’m at my mom’s with Jayce. She’s working hard to remind me that I suck, while kissing his ass. It’s a great time in the making.”
“Ouch. Sounds like my house, only it’s my dad who works overtime reminding me that I’m not nearly as great as my older brother.” The sound of his voice alone had the power to calm me down and pull me into a different state of mind.
“I haven’t met your brother, though I’ve seen pictures of him in the athletics building. Are you guys close?” I pressed my butt to the sink and closed my eyes so that I could focus solely on him.
“We were. He died when I was fourteen. I guess I’ve been trying to replace the loss my family suffered by being everything they need me to be.”
The sound of cheering burst through the phone, and I jerked it from my ear as my heart ached for Lucas. It was so much clearer now.
“I’m sorry Lucas. I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, no one does. Hey, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Ignore your mother. If she’s anything like my dad, she’s just jealous. Suffer through it and get back up here to the people that truly appreciate you.”
“You being one of them?” I smiled and opened the bathroom door. I’d been gone too long and would catch heat for it for sure.
“Me being at the front of the line. Later, Queen Bee.”
Chapter 14
Lucas
I tugged at the laces on my shoes before standing up and starting to jog around the outdoor track at Providence. It was chilly as hell that morning, but I had on a T-shirt and a long-sleeved shirt, shorts, and wind pants. I needed to get some air and try to think through things.
Had I really told Aubrey about Bret the night before? And on the damn phone? How tacky.
Pushing myself, I picked up the pace and ran as my thoughts carried me far from the rocky path before me and onto the various choices I needed to make in the near future. Coach was good enough to tell me about the Washington Caps calling. It was a big deal, and anyone in my position would have been falling over themselves to have such an opportunity, but it left me cold inside.
Hockey had been my father’s passion, and then Bret’s. Whether my older brother had simply followed in my dad’s footsteps or not was a question I would never get the answer to. He was gone and the rest of the story had died with him that cold October night.
A shiver ran through me. Don’t go there. Don’t.
I couldn’t help it. I never could seem to stop myself from diving back into the heart of the trauma. It’d almost been nine years and it still felt like yesterday.
Flashes of him lying on the floor, bleeding from the nose and mouth burst through my vision, and my breath caught in my chest as I moved over to the side of the track and placed my hands on my knees. A sob rose up inside of me like a violent wind. I choked it back down and shot up as a hand touched my back.
“Hey, you okay?” Aubrey asked.
“Hey. What are you doing here?” I glanced around. It was just the two of us.
“I come out here all the time in the morning before class. It’s one of the ways they say to condition your feet to be stronger. Run.” She tilted her head a little to the side and studied me. “You don’t look so good. You want me to take you to the clinic?”
“And here I thought you quite enjoyed the way I looked.” I let out a long sigh and ran my hands over my head.
“Stop it.” She reached up and touched the side of my face. “You’re warm.”
“You’re hot, but don’t tell your brother I told you that.” I winked at her and moved back. “I’m good. You wanna jog a little with me?”
“I guess.” She moved up beside me, jogging slowly as she continued to study me.
I had to keep my eyes on the track in front of us. I didn’t trust myself not to focus on her chest as it bounced due to the exertion of her feet hitting the pavement. Being a dick to her was the last thing on my list of things to accomplish in the short time I had left at Pro-U.
“You sure you don’t need to—”
“No. I was just having a flashback of the night my brother died. I think talking about it last night left me a little more raw than I expected.” I shrugged.
“Can I ask how he died?” Her voice was small, as if she didn’t want to dig but couldn’t seem to help herself.
“Yeah. Doesn’t mean I’ll tell.” I gave her a cheeky grin and glanced over at her. Mistake. She was so far beyond beautiful with her long brown hair in a high ponytail and her face clear of makeup. The tight black pants and top she wore outlined every delicious curve of her perfect body and left me trying to think through how to skip the car wash and get her to come back to my place for a long romp in the sheets.
“No, it’s okay. I just—”
“I was kidding, Aubrey. Race me to the bleachers and I’ll tell you the story if you win.” I smirked as she took off. I’d let her win just because of the pure fact that I had the best view in the world with her in front of me.
She turned, breathless as she reached the bleachers. “You—you let me—win.”
I laughed and sat down beside her. “Of course I did. You’re a hot girl with a tight pair of pants on. Run in front of me all day. Please?”
“Ass.” She popped me in the chest and smiled. The soft pants coming from her woke me up and left me wanting to drag her down into the wet grass with me.
“Yes. It’s beautiful.” I winked and turned to look out at the field. “Man, I haven’t talked about Bret to anyone. Not ever.”
“Not even with Jayce?” She scooted closer, pressing her shoulder against mine. Her nearness was a comfort I wanted to covet.
“He knows a little, but I don’t know. Bret was everything to me. He was my hero, my older brother, you know?” I glanced over at her and smiled. “You sure you want to hear this? It’s fucking depressing.”
She turned and pressed her lips to my shoulder, not kissing me, but it was just as intimate. She nodded and lifted her warm brown eyes up to lock on mine. I wanted to fall into her, to let her rescue me from the pain I kept locked up, but it was far too scary to consider such a love. One that could heal me. I wasn’t sure I was ready to be healed.
I turned back toward the field, not able to look at her as she moved back. “It was almost nine years ago. Mom and Dad were out of town on a business trip, and Bret was in charge of keeping up the house and watching me. As per usual, the idiot had a party that Friday. I was fourteen at the time and he was twenty-one. Everyone loved my brother. He had this old-soul calmness about him, a lot like Jayce. He was so fucking smart and yet knew how to have a great time. The ladies thought he was it, and you’ve seen all the trophies here at school that belonged to him. He was just that guy, you know?”
She nodded and turned to face me.
“He dated all through high school, and even more in college, always bringing home another girl, but there was this one that seemed to have his heart. Lisa.” I paused and pressed my teeth to my bottom lip.
“Lucas, we don’t have to—”
“Nah, I want to.” I glanced over at her. “Just give me a minute here and there to pull myself back. It seems so damn real all over again when I think about it.”
She ran her hand over my back in large circles, lulling me into a comfortable place where it was just me and her.
“So this Lisa chick was in and out of Bret’s life from the time I could remember him bringing a girl home to the night he died. She was his heart, I guess, for lack of a better way of putting it. He just didn’t know that she was sleeping with the whole damn hockey team. The Ice Queens started because of her.” I glanced over at Aubrey and gave her a weak smile. “Anyway, my brother found out about her fucking around on him, and he got toked up and fucked a whole horde of girls. He was horrible for a while there, and I couldn’t stand to be around him.”
I paused and tried to shake the idea that I
could easily be that guy as well. No fucking way. Never.
“He and I had a long talk about women.” I snorted. “My being fourteen and knowing so much, right. Anyway, he told me to steer clear of love. Lust was all right, but love would fuck me up. I hate to say that he was right. I’ve only loved a few times since then, but damn if I didn’t end up back at the same spot I started at.”
“What happened to Bret?” Aubrey’s voice was so soft that I had to glance over to make sure she’d spoken.
“He got into heavier drugs to escape the pain, I guess. That night at the party, some of the guys were dicking around upstairs and taking turns sniffing heroin. I didn’t know what it was then, just that I was going to be in deep shit with my dad when he found out we had a party while they were gone. I can remember it like it was yesterday.”
I exhaled slowly as she moved in closer and wrapped me in a hug. The realization that I could so easily fall in love with someone like her slammed into me. Shit. Maybe I already was in love with her. Three years of watching her grow into the sexy, confident woman that she was now and never having said more than a handful of words to her.
“They all came running down the stairs, screaming as they raced out of the house. I took off up the stairs toward my brother’s room, honestly because the terror on their faces left me with no other choice. Something was wrong, you know?” My voice caught.
“Lucas. No more, okay?” She pressed a kiss to my shoulder and stood up. “Come on. I don’t want you to relive this.”
I looked up at her, memorizing the soft curve of her lips.
“He was on the floor, curled up in a ball, seizing.” Tears filled my eyes. “I scooped him up as best I could and tried to get him to respond, but he wouldn’t. He was bleeding from every orifice on his face. I was only fourteen.”
“Fuck.” She moved down to her knees in front of me and wedged herself between my thighs, pulling me into another hug.
I sunk into her and pressed my face to the side of her neck. “I should have called the ambulance, Aubrey. He would still be here if I did.”
“No. You don’t know that.” She brushed her hand over the back of my head as I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around her. When was the last time I’d let anyone hold me? Never.
“Yeah, I do. My dad reminds me all the time. Both of us can’t be wrong.”
Chapter 15
Aubrey
I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to recover from watching Lucas break down at the track an hour before, but he seemed like a different man now.
“Hey. Grab the hose. The water hose, not like the hoes.” Jayce tossed a soapy sponge at me.
Water and soap went everywhere as I caught it. “You ass!”
“You love it. You were the only one who wasn’t wet.” My brother smirked and jogged toward a group of oncoming cars.
“You’re supposed to be in a bikini if I recall.” Lucas moved up beside me and lifted his eyebrow.
“And you’re supposed to be shirtless so we get more paying customers.” I turned and tossed the sponge to Layla before giving the handsome captain of the hockey boys my attention. Seeing a softer side of him had me doubled over inside where he was concerned. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to push whatever was happening between us. I was going to get a lot of opposition from my brother, and perhaps some from Lucas as well, but I was going to try. I had to.
“Ladies first.” He glanced down at my breasts as a couple of the hockey guys moved in behind him.
“No fucking way you’re going to get Aubrey to undress for us.” Jessie laughed loudly as Lucas turned and popped him in the chest.
“Get the fuck outta here. This is a private show,” he growled and my insides liquefied. He turned back to me and licked his lips. “Take it off. Slowly.”
“Right here?” Worry drove through me as I glanced around to see my brother waving his arms wildly, trying to get anyone and everyone’s attention.
“Aubrey.” Lucas’s tone commanded my attention.
“Yeah, okay.” I reached down and pulled at my T-shirt.
“Beautiful.” He smiled sensually and pulled at his shirt, leaving his strong chest and abs on full display for me. The dark dusting of hair that ran into his swim trunks left me needy as hell for him. I wanted to see more. All of him.
“Get busy and stop fucking with me.” I locked gazes with him.
He smirked. “So bossy. I hope you know I only put up with so much of that.”
“Before what?” We were moving toward a dangerous game. This wasn’t just about lust. It couldn’t be between us. I’d wanted him for far too long, and he was too broken to use me and move on. I could feel his desire for a deeper friendship or maybe a love affair as he let me hold him at the track.
“Before I take ownership and teach you a few lessons about alpha males.” He winked and slipped his finger into the string that held my top up, tugging it a little. “This doesn’t show nearly enough skin for me.”
I glanced around as a soft pulse ticked between my legs and danced along my nerve endings. “Something tells me that you’d be the first to throw a blanket over me if I were to wear anything more revealing.”
“This is true. Do good and behave today.” He turned and walked back toward the group of guys washing cars.
“Damn, that is a fine-ass man right there.” Layla wrapped an arm around my shoulders and let out a girlie sigh. “When are we sleeping with him?”
“We?” I laughed and worked on the button at the top of my shorts. “We’re not doing anything.”
“By we, I mean you, of course. I get the details though.” She moved back and wagged her eyebrows.
“I’m not sleeping with him.” I tugged off my shorts and glanced over to find him watching me intently. “Okay, maybe I am. You think he would?”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? He totally would.” She laughed and walked toward the street. “Get over there and boss everyone around. He likes dominant women.”
“How do you know?” I looked back at her with curiosity.
“He’s captain of the most aggressive, dominant alpha males on campus. He likes dominant women. He has to like that type, right?” She wagged her eyebrows.
“Not necessarily. Everything I know about Lucas says he wants a submissive woman in his life.” I shrugged.
“Put on a good show then?” She laughed and pointed to the road. “I’m going out here to show some tit. Make us some money. You know.”
“Get to it.” I winked and picked up a few water hoses before joining the group.
Everyone was hard at work, which was a good thing. The sooner we got done, the quicker we could get back to the Ice House and pile up on the couch for a lazy Saturday afternoon.
“We need water over here. Come squirt us, Ice Queen.” William’s smile was contagious as I moved over to blast the car they were working on with water. “Man, you’re so hot you could melt ice, Aubrey.”
I rolled my eyes. “What are you, ten years old?”
He laughed and snatched the water hose from me. “Most days, yes.”
I screamed and ran toward another group as he blasted me with freezing cold water. I ducked behind one of the cars and glanced up to find myself next to Lucas.
“You need me to get him for you?” He reached over and brushed my hair out of my face.
I stood up and smiled. “Hell yes. Get him good.”
We all laughed as William screamed like a girl the minute Lucas came jogging around the corner of the car we were working on.
It was nice to have the attention of the scariest guy in sight. Funnily enough, he was probably the most sensitive too. I was glad it was only me that knew it.
“Great job today, guys. Let’s do this strip tease and get the hell out of here.” I stood on a stack of buckets with Jayce holding me around the waist in case they toppled over and took me with them. “Line up and get ready for some fun.”
Someone hit the music, and I moved out of
the way as Jayce and Lucas organized the rowdy group of guys they were in charge of leading most days of the week. Much to my surprise, the routine was completely choreographed.
I laughed until my sides hurt as I stood in the center of the Ice Queens. Half the school was there for the final show, and the whole damn parking lot erupted when Lucas walked from the center of the show and slowly worked his shirt and shorts off his sexy body.
Layla reached out and wrapped her arms around me, having far too much fun, but I was lost in the moment. I needed this strip tease to just be for me.
His eyes met mine as he rolled his hips and teased every woman with a pulse. He lifted his hand and crooked his finger, beckoning me to come out there with them.
“Me? What? No.” I glanced around as the girls started whooping and hollering. “No!”
“Everyone give a big round of applause to the woman that makes our world stay spinning.” He gripped my hips and turned me toward the crowd as the music grew louder. All the boys moved out and started to hip thrust around me as I covered my eyes and screamed through my laughter. “Eww stop it! Gross. Stop.”
“You’re so damn cute.” Lucas gripped me and pulled me over to the side as the crowd rushed the half-naked soapy hockey team. It was a party we wouldn’t soon forget. None of us.
“Cute? This was not part of the show.” I pressed my hands to his soft skin and slid them up to cup his neck as desire wrapped itself around me. “Damn, you look good.”
“Yeah?” He ran his strong hands up my arms and massaged my shoulders. “Let’s get the fuck outta here. Come back to my place with me?”
“Don’t you think we’ll be missed at the Ice House?” Worry drove me to want to tuck tail and run. I needed to find out what he was after before I let my guard down completely.
“Yeah, we will. But I don’t care.” He moved back and gripped my hand in his. “Come on. Jayce and Layla will clean up. Let’s get out of here.”
I stopped to pick up my clothes as he gathered his. The party might never make it back to the Ice House, seeing that it was spilling out into the streets around the front of campus. I had no doubt that the cops would be called in soon, but they were used to us. No harm, no foul.