“You can move fine on the crutches. Go slow, and soak up the sunshine. You look a little pale.” Her lips pursed as she leaned against the door.
“It will take me fucking forever to get there.”
She crossed her arms and shrugged. “You have somewhere to be right now?”
“Good point.” I slid off the table and grabbed my crutches. Maybe I was moving slow as shit, but I was sturdy, or as sturdy as I could be.
“Jack,” she whispered and dropped her hand on my forearm. I stilled and slowly turned my head to meet her gaze.
“This will get better and easier. I have zero doubt about it, and neither should you.” She squeezed my arm before removing her hand, and an odd contentment washed over me. Her confidence in me sparked a strange inkling of hope.
Her no-nonsense attitude gave me comfort. She understood and empathized but wouldn’t let me use it as an excuse. My family meant well with their constant reassurance, but they had no real way of knowing if I’d ever get back to the way I was. Pretty to look at or not—and Danielle most certainly was—she gave me the fuel I needed.
If she believed I could do it, maybe I could.
8
Dylan
“Hello?”
I smiled at PJ’s sleepy groan coming over my car speakers as I drove to the mall.
“Rise and shine, beautiful.”
“Well, someone had me out way too late,” she sighed on a yawn. “And I think I have…beard burn,” she whispered, making me crack up.
PJ never whispered. Her body was small, but her mouth was big and loud—and I fucking loved that about her. Even when she was a kid, she was little but fierce. I’d be visiting her brother and she’d muscle her way into whatever we were doing—and we’d have no choice but to let her. Jack would grumble and never admit that he enjoyed when she was around. I did, too, until she stopped being a kid.
Then, I enjoyed having her around a little too much. From her sixteenth birthday on, the mere sight of Patricia Jane Garcia tortured the shit out of me.
“It’s not lice, babe,” I teased. “I kissed you—a lot. It happens.”
I’d lost track of how long we were in the club’s parking lot last night. She’d felt so damn good against me, on top of me, quivering from my touch. I smiled, remembering all three times she fell apart in my arms. We’d been full of God knows how much pent-up lust and need, but I wouldn’t let us go past a certain point. Our first time wouldn’t be cheap like that, although, after all we’d done last night, sex was only a technicality now. Another reason I hadn’t allowed myself near her until she was eighteen.
“Well,” she huffed, “it’s not on my lips. It’s … lower.”
“Hmm, lower you say? Where?” I teased. My mouth had been all over her body last night, and she could have beard burn almost anywhere. I shifted in my seat, my cock now swelling against the zipper of my jeans at the recent memory.
“The inside of my thighs. And there’s a big bruise there too, you freaking animal.”
A smile curved my lips as my chest swelled. I’d claimed her in every sense of the word and wasn’t the least bit sorry. “I may be an animal, but you love it.”
“I’m … well I’m a little surprised to hear from you so early.” Her words were unsure and tentative, not my PJ at all.
Yes, she was my PJ, and now that I finally had her, I wasn’t letting her go.
“It’s ten a.m., sleepy head,” I teased. “It’s not that early.”
“No,” she groaned. “That’s not what I mean. It still seems a little too surreal. One minute you’re itching to not be in the same room with me; the next, you’re telling me you want me. Last night, it was all wonderful, but today, it’s back to not making any sense.”
I hated how unsure she sounded, but I understood her hesitation. For the past few months, I’d put a ton of distance between us and hurt her. I’d taken a sharp one-eighty last night, and both of our heads were still spinning.
“You’re all I want and all I think about, no matter how I tried to stop. And trust me, I tried.”
“Yeah, I have no idea what that’s like.” I pictured her sour glare and eye roll and held in a laugh.
There was my girl.
“Baby, I’m not changing my mind. After everything last night, you still don’t believe me?”
A long silence dangled between us. She didn’t buy it, and I couldn’t blame her.
“I’ll prove it to you. Starting today. Do you have any plans?”
“Well, we were supposed to see Jack.” I noted the reluctance in her voice, but I wasn’t insulted as I felt the exact same way. I didn’t want to hide us, but once we were out, the sweet bubble we’d enjoyed all last night would be broken without repair.
Even though being with PJ no longer carried the risk of jail time, it still came with a shit ton of repercussions. I hoped in time they’d all accept it, but until “in time” came, we both had a fight ahead of us.
“Well, how about a birthday lunch instead? I mean, he still has a couple of months left there. No need to rile him up so early.”
We shared a laugh. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” PJ said, sounding as relieved as I was. “So, what did you have in mind?”
“Well, since you were celebrating with your friends last night and I …” I trailed off.
“Barged in like a caveman?”
My head fell back on the headrest, nodding at no one. “I don’t regret it.”
“You were cute, after I stopped wanting to punch you. How’s your cheek?” Her small voice was contrite, but she had nothing to be sorry for. My hand scrubbed at the stubble on the offended cheek. I adored that hot little spitfire.
“All right, I guess. You can kiss it and make it better on the way to the Charthouse this afternoon.”
“What?” she gasped. “My parents go there every year for their anniversary. Isn’t it … expensive? And two hours away?”
“You’re only eighteen once. And we need a date, don’t you think? I mean we can’t really count the parking lot—”
“It counts,” she whispered, making me still in my seat. “It so counts.”
“It does,” I croaked. “But, you deserve better. You deserve everything. Everything I can give you. So, get the hell out of bed.”
“Okay, okay. So bossy,” she hissed, but I heard a smile in her voice. “Give me an hour.”
“I can do that. See you soon.”
I’d spent so long trying to somehow will away the affect PJ had on me, but I was done fighting the impossible. Maybe others would think it was wrong, and I probably would make the same ignorant judgment of a twenty-six-year-old man and an eighteen-year-old girl—a girl he’d known since the day she was born—falling for each other. But when I’d kissed her and she sighed into my mouth, as if she’d been waiting for my kiss for her entire life, it was nothing but right.
An hour later, I pulled up in front of the Garcias’ driveway, relieved as fuck it was empty. The annoying thing about hiding something, even if unintentionally, is that you were always on edge. Sneaking her across the street unnoticed would be a challenge, but I’d figure that out later. My only worry at that moment was if PJ would like the birthday present I’d just picked up for her.
When she’d turned sixteen, I’d bought her a sketch pad and charcoal pencils since she was always drawing something, and I still remember her eyes filling with tears as she’d said thank you. When I’d told her “you’re welcome,” my gaze caught hers, lingering a few inappropriate moments too long. That’s when everything had shifted and I’d become very aware of PJ. I’d notice her enter and leave a room, fighting like hell to tear my eyes from the sway of her hips and how fucking beautiful she looked. But she’d been a kid, and what the hell was I doing leering in the first place?
I wasn’t surprised she’d wanted to go away to art school after she graduated.
Away.
I’m ashamed to admit how relieved I’d been when Jack told me. The temptation
to touch her wouldn’t be as strong, or intensify like it was, if she and her petite, curvy body were out of state. Now, the word made my stomach sink. We were doomed to be complicated, weren’t we?
“Hey,” PJ chirped as she climbed into my SUV. “Dad has a double shift, and Mom is out with Aunt Kate. You can breathe out now.” Her auburn hair poured across her bare shoulders as she fastened her seat belt. As usual, my eyes raked down her body, over the pale blue strapless dress that left just enough smooth, olive skin exposed to drive me crazy. She sat straight up and looked toward the road without glancing in my direction.
I cupped her neck and kissed her. Hard. I didn’t care if neighbors saw us or if they reported back to her parents. PJ stiffened at first and then melted into my arms, her fingers sifting through my hair as she whimpered into my mouth.
“Someone could see. Are you sure you’re okay with that?” she murmured, breathless, against my lips, trying to pull back from the kiss, but I wouldn’t let her.
“That people think you belong to me? Very fucking okay.” I nibbled down her neck and dragged open-mouthed kisses across her collar bone. “Because that’s what you are, Patricia. Mine.” I bit her earlobe and smiled at the chuckle vibrating against my lips.
I covered her mouth with mine again, stopping before I pulled her back onto my lap and had a repeat of last night’s activities in broad daylight.
“This is nuts, right?” She panted against my neck when we pulled apart. “For it to be this intense, this fast?”
“Maybe it is fast, but not for us, baby.” I took her face into my hands. “For us, it’s time.”
When we arrived at the restaurant, I grabbed her hand to help her out of my truck and didn’t let go until the hostess led us to a table. I caught a raised brow from PJ from behind her menu.
“What’s wrong?” I nudged her foot under the table. “Why are you eyeballing me?” I winked.
“You’re a little…clingy today.” She held my gaze as she took a sip of water, and her lips on the ridge of the glass was enough to put me into a trance.
“Well, I need to make sure all the turned heads in this place know that you’re with someone.” My lips curved until her smile faded.
“I missed you. After I opened my big stupid mouth and you cut me off, I hated you and missed you like crazy at the same time. Well, I didn’t hate you. I could never hate you,” she whispered as her voice dropped. “But I was really mad at you.” She gave me a half smile that squeezed my chest.
“I know,” I whispered. “I hated me, too. But … at the time, I thought it was the only way.” I reached across the table to take her hand. “I thought if I let you down easy and lied, what I felt for you would go away. But it didn’t.”
She nodded, not meeting my eyes, as she perused the menu.
“Do you know how hard it was? The torture of keeping my eyes off you every time we were in the same room? Every day, you became more beautiful, and every fucking day, I had to remind myself of all the reasons why I couldn’t have you.”
She dropped the menu, her glossy gaze finally on me.
“That day you told me how you felt, I wanted you all the more. You had guts, fire. You were braver than I ever could be. I wanted to grab you, kiss the hell out of you, and claim you right there. You … you’re gorgeous and tough, and I love that. Why I couldn’t let anyone else take you. And I won’t.”
She dropped her gaze back to the menu, a beautiful blush creeping up her cheeks. “They’re going to kill us.”
“Well, kill me.” I shrugged. “It’s … not going to be easy for a while.”
Or ever. I blinked away the intrusive thought.
Her eyes darted from mine as she nodded. All the obstacles paraded through my mind: her father, her brother, our mothers were best friends. With our lives already so tangled together, being together made it all a thousand times more complicated.
“Do you want your birthday present?” I lifted an eyebrow.
“This isn’t it?” She motioned around the room with her hand.
“Nope.” I slid the box across the table.
Her mouth stretched into a wide grin as her eyes lit up. She tore the paper off and gaped at me.
“It’s a digital sketch pad,” I explained as she turned the box over. “I was going to get you new pencils, but if you still draw as much as you used to, that goes straight to your computer. It will help when you … go away to school.”
Saying that without clenching my jaw was difficult. I’d just gotten her; how long before I’d have to give her up? Her father beating the crap out of me was the very least of my concerns. He could have at it as long as she stayed mine.
“I’m not going away. I’m going to School of Visual Arts and staying here.”
My jaw went slack as I prayed I didn’t hear her wrong.
“Why? I thought you couldn’t wait to go.”
She let out a frustrated groan before meeting my gaze.
“Why I wanted to go, honestly, was to get away from you. You’re everywhere. Jack moved out, but you’re still around because you live across the street. I thought moving to San Diego would maybe be the magical cure to make me forget you.”
“And now?” I asked on a shaky breath, so tempted to get on my knees and beg her to stay.
“I don’t want to leave. I never did, to be honest. The School of Visual Arts has almost the same program and are offering me the same scholarship. I kept talking about it because I thought if I pretended hard enough I’d eventually want to go, but it didn’t work. If I go to San Diego, I’d probably still be just as miserable and homesick. Running away from you wouldn’t make me get over you. Whatever happens between us, I want to stay here.”
I exhaled and fell back against my chair.
“This is where I pretend I’m not relieved as fuck you’re staying.”
Her lips curved into a shy smile as she nodded. “I’m relieved as fuck, too. I haven’t been sleeping that well the past few weeks. However … we end up. I won’t run away. I owe that to myself.”
She still thought this was temporary, but every nerve ending in my body screamed permanent whenever I looked at her.
“I want us to have a real shot. I want you here, with me.” I reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “I want us to end up together, Patricia. I’ll promise you one thing. However they react, whatever happens, I’m not going anywhere.”
“You say that now.” She let out a sad laugh. “When my father goes nuts and my brother won’t speak to you anymore and our mothers—”
“I’ll still be right here. Fighting for you. Fighting for us.”
She squinted her eyes at me, regarding me as if I weren’t real. I didn’t blame her. The past not even twenty-four hours were unexpected—for both of us. I never thought I’d be here tonight, across the table from PJ, vowing to never let her go.
But at the same time, I couldn’t fathom being anywhere else.
“You mean that?” she whispered.
“Every single word. Again, why I ruined your birthday last night.” I smiled before I noticed the quiver in her bottom lip. “It’s all you and me, now,” I whispered.
“Thank you for my gift.” She grinned and pulled it out of the box. “I can’t wait to dig into this later.” Her mouth curved into a small smile before she reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of plastic with a paper inside. “I have a gift, too. Well, I had it for a while, but I thought you’d like it.”
She lifted a brow until I grabbed the paper and slipped it out of the cover. It was … me. I recognized the deck in her yard in the background. I was leaning forward, my elbows on the table laughing, probably at something stupid Jack said while we were hanging out back there one day. The air whooshed out of my lungs as I sat back in fucking awe. Her parents always plastered their walls with her paintings, but when she’d became more than just my best friend’s sister, I couldn’t look for more than a second when they’d point out her latest creation. Her art was an extens
ion of her, and taking in the details of one of her paintings was too intimate for me to handle. I stayed far away from anything that would make me want her even more. As I took in the drawing in my hands, I discovered I’d been right. Her talent knocked the wind out of me.
“I may have had a little … staring problem when it came to you. I tried to keep it quiet and stealthy, but I always loved your laugh.” She shrugged with a wistful sigh. “I drew it, so I could save it.” She leaned over the table and grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together. “I was hoping you’d find it sweet, not creepy. Although, even to my own ears, that sounded like the confession of a stalker.”
I laughed at the crinkle in her adorable nose. “You …” I trailed off, speechless. “You’re fucking amazing. Brilliant.”
“Brilliant?” She scoffed. “You don’t have to lay it on so thick—”
“It’s the truth …” I clammed up, glancing at her and then the paper in my hand. I’d never felt so much for anyone else, and even though we’d only started whatever this was between us, I was certain I never would. This little lady knocked me on my ass, and I’d never be able to get up. “This is … this is great. Thank you.”
She lifted our joined hands and pressed a kiss to the edge of my palm. Her lips were soft and warm, sending a live current through my body and right to my dick, now tenting my pants. A grin split her mouth, and fuck she was breathtaking.
“Seriously, they’re going to kill us.”
“They don’t scare me.” I winked. “Not being with you, going back to denying everything, that’s terrifying.”
She looked away until I tapped her chin with my knuckle.
“I’ll never let that happen.”
9
Danielle
“I am so beat,” my friend and fellow therapist, Leanne, whined from my doorway. “Is it just me, or do the days get longer here?” She ambled into my office, plopping into the seat at the edge of my desk and raised an eyebrow. “You coming tonight?”
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