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by Kylie Scott
The corner of his lips twitched. “Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
“Shit,” he admitted, lacing his fingers behind his neck.
“Yeah? How deep?”
“Broke, out of work, probably about to lose this place.”
“Wow.” I slumped in my chair. “Aren’t we a pair?”
“Aren’t we?” His self-deprecating smile grew. “No money. No hope. No nothing.”
“Basically.”
His head fell back and he gazed up at the ceiling. The strong lines in his neck were way pronounced in this pose. I couldn’t quite see the tattoo peeking out beneath the collar of his tee. Words, but I’m not sure what. He raised his head enough to look at me from beneath his brows. “They have booze back over the fence at your fancy party?”
“Heaps. Really good stuff too. Lots of craft beer.”
“Nice. We should go steal some.”
I nodded instantly. Crazy ideas deserved support. “We should. It’s half my wedding, it wouldn’t really be stealing. You’re going to have to help me get back over the fence again, though. I think I pulled every muscle from the waist down getting over it the first time.”
“I can help you get back over the fence.”
“Done, then,” I said. “Tomorrow, we figure our lives out. Tonight we’ll toast to our crappy situations and drown our sorrows.”
We smiled at each other in kinship.
“How serious are you about this?” I asked, more curious than afraid. Mostly.
A shrug. “You got to go back there sometime. Might as well make it worth the trip.”
“I guess so.” My forehead furrowed. “Alcohol would be good.”
“I definitely need a drink to deal with being back here.” He slowly shook his head, lips curved downward. “Shit is fucked, babe. Like you wouldn’t believe.”
I didn’t mean to laugh. Not at his misfortunes, nor mine. Lord knows, nothing about it felt funny. Vaughan frowned at me. Only, then he started laughing too. First a little, then a lot. Soon the noise filled the room, startling the old house from its silence. He laughed until his wide shoulders shook and all that bright hair fell in his face, obscuring the cut of his cheeks. I in turn cackled my ass off until tears streamed down my face.
None of it should have been funny, but it was hilarious. And we, our lives, were the joke.
I guess sometimes there’s no right response but to laugh. So we did. Strangely enough, it really did help.
Sitting in a stranger’s kitchen, confessing all, was the last damn place I expected to find myself on this day of all days. Yet here we were. I’d spilled a stack of doubts and deep, dark secrets while the man opposite remained a mystery.
Just then he combed back his wild hair with long fingers, looking my way. A smile still lingered about his lips. A warm one. Perhaps even a suggestive one?
I don’t know.
It was certainly starting to heat me up inside. He didn’t break eye contact, just kept giving me his friendly, easy, sexy-as-sin smile. So gorgeous. Though this guy would be dazzling peeling potatoes or putting out the garbage. Look up “hot” in the dictionary and there’ll be Vaughan, making eyes at you from on the page.
Chris had always held my hand or put his arm around my waist when we were out. I’d taken these moves as him being proud to be seen with me, of him liking my body even if he wished I’d work on it a little. Instead he’d been clinging like a limpet to ward off rumors regarding his sexuality. I wasn’t his life partner, just his patsy.
Vaughan admired my breasts, but how he felt about the rest of me I had no idea.
Uptight capitalists such as myself may not be his thing. His clothes were comfortable, old blue jeans and a faded tee. I couldn’t see any jewelry on him, just all the ink. His body wasn’t bulky, but athletic. Fit and strong if the way he’d lifted me out of the bathtub without pulling his back was any indication. Around my age, maybe a little older.
And as for the house, someone had loved this place once. Taken care of it. There was dust but not dirt, if that makes sense. Photos and personal mementos were missing, the house stripped bare apart from the furniture. A collection of cool vintage from the fifties and cheap pine shit. Crackling white paint on the ceiling, but the cream on the walls seemed almost new. Unmarked. It was as if the place was waiting, but for what?
Curiosity over him owned me. I wanted to wander around inside his mind, fondle his hot body. Things along those lines.
Also, he was still looking at me that way.
“Least you finally made a friend,” he said.
“Ha.” I squirmed in my seat. “I guess I have. How about that.”
Intended or not the man had my body in the palm of his hand. In and out my lungs pumped, gaining speed with every breath. Even my blood was rushing faster. As for my sex … god help him. Everything between my legs had started tingling in awareness of him and all the good things he could no doubt deliver. My vagina was waking up and roaring, ready for action. The man should have been afraid, not still giving me sexy looks. He didn’t understand the ravenous sex-starved animal he was dealing with. No control. Zip. Zero.
Casual no-strings sex between new friends. It was needed. Now. No big deal. I was here. He was here. Let’s do this.
Just before I could jump him, he looked at me anew. “Wait. You said this guy’s name was Chris?”
“What?” I blinked repeatedly.
“Your groom’s name. It was Chris, right?”
“Um, yes.” Cold water. Icy cold freezing water poured all over my lust. “Chris Delaney.”
“Delaney?” He slapped his thigh, shaking his head. “Oh, yeah. He likes dick. Thought everyone knew that.”
“What?” I hissed.
The man just shrugged, blasé as fuck. “Dude used to date the captain of the football team back in high school. Can’t remember the guy’s name. They were on the sly, but everyone knew.”
“Everyone knew.” My jaw hit the floor, literally. Well okay, not literally. Close to it, however. “Everyone.”
“Probably. I’d say so, family like that in a place like this.”
My mouth worked, but nothing came out. So much nothing it nearly choked me. I wanted to bang my head against a wall. Rant and rage. Climb back over the fence and set the house on fire. I wanted to lose my shit, big-time.
“O-kay,” he said. “You should probably take a breath.”
I shook my head, quietly hyperventilating. My whole life might not have flashed before my eyes, but the last four months came through loud and clear. Stupid, stupid girl. Vindictive, scheming asshole.
“C’mon, Lydia.”
Everyone knew. My fingers gripped the edges of the seat, nails digging deep into the wood. It was like I’d been on a roller coaster this whole time and here came the ultimate, dizzying, final fall. White spots danced before my eyes.
“Babe? Hey. Breathe.”
“I hate this town,” I babbled first, then took the breath because no one was telling me what to do. Sensible advice or not, I was done with being handled. Managed. Maneuvered. My lungs worked hard, pulling in air as fast as they could. “That duplicitous manipulative little piece of shit.”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“I want to hurt him. Bad.”
“Understandable.” Vaughan’s tongue worked behind his cheek as if he was deep in thought. “Looks like he’s sure as hell given you reason. Tell me, are his parents still trying to be the Kennedys of Coeur d’Alene?”
“You just described them perfectly.”
“How long you been in town?”
“Four months. It was a whirlwind romance.” I blinked back hot tears. No more. Not a single fucking one. “I thought I finally had it all figured out, but I was clueless. No one told me.”
“No, well … you’re new, they wouldn’t. At heart, this place is still a small town.”
“Right.”
“So,” he said with a sigh. “There you go.”
“The
re I go.” Everyone knew. My humiliation was complete. I stared off into space, visions of Chris’s bloody severed penis dancing through my head. Violent tendencies weren’t my natural setting. Chris, however, had all but walked me to the edge of reason and pushed me over. Garden shears would be wonderful. Also an ax. I bet axes were awesome for working out aggression. Probably fantastic for building upper body strength too. Hooray for multitasking. You’d have to imagine it’d make a godawful mess of his junk but never mind. Chris’s dick was dead.
“Babe?”
“That’s not my name,” I said, mouth on automatic pilot.
“Whatever. You’re looking a bit homicidal over there. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Figuring out the best method for separating him from his manhood.”
Vaughan winced.
“Can you blame me?”
“No, no.” He set his clasped hands on the table. “Dude worked you over big-time. But before you start washing the streets with his blood, think about it from his perspective.”
“You’re defending him? Seriously?” I gaped.
“Fuck no, of course not. But you jilting him, how do you think that’ll go down with the pack of uptight assholes he calls family and friends, huh?”
I stopped. “They never thought I was good enough for him. Me rejecting him so publicly … he’ll be completely humiliated.”
“Yeah.” His vicious grin was glorious. It put the sun to shame.
“They’ll be talking about this for years.”
“Longer. Places like this never forget this sort of shit.”
“I also left the cell phone. Unless he somehow got to it first, they’re going to see him and Paul in action.” My smile was equally all sharp teeth. “Everyone will know why I did it.”
Vaughan clicked his fingers. “Paul. That was the guy’s name.”
“What guy?”
“You know. The football captain in high school. Fancy them sticking together all these years.”
“Yeah. Wow,” I said drily, rising to pace the room. There was too much anger in me to sit still. Too much manic energy. “It’s beautiful. True romance.”
“Sorry.” He not so successfully hid a smile behind his hand.
“I wonder who sent the home porn?”
“Number was blocked?”
“Yes.”
“If Chris is anything like the prick he was back in school, it’s not like he’d have a shortage of enemies.” His eyes narrowed on me in scrutiny. “You seem nice. Why’d you want to marry him anyway? Money?”
“No.” I bristled, shoulders squaring. “I told you, he was really good to me.”
“Right. He called you and shit.”
“He wooed me. Almost every night he’d take me out to restaurants and shows in Spokane, all sorts of things. We had a lot of fun.”
“Public things where you’d be seen.”
“Yes.” My lips flattened in anger. “Public things where we’d be seen so people wouldn’t think he was gay. Nothing about us was real. I get it, okay? And what the hell is wrong with being gay, anyway?”
He reared back like I was dangerous. Smart man.
“Well?” I demanded.
“I got no problem with it. Not my thing, but whatever.”
Then someone tapped on the kitchen door, opened it (without invitation), and stepped inside. Someone dressed in a sharp black tuxedo. Rage got me in a stranglehold and I jumped to my feet.
“I’m going to fucking kill you!”
CHAPTER FIVE
“You,” I roared, charging at him.
Chris’s handsome face instantly hardened.
A strong arm wrapped around my middle, lifting me off my feet. I was pulled back against a rock-hard body, my feet flailing in midair for the second time that day.
“You lied to me, you bastard. All along, you lied.” I struggled, pushing at Vaughan’s arms and kicking at his legs. All he did was grunt and tighten his hold around my waist. Damn, he was strong. I was getting nowhere. But did I let that stop me? Hell no. Reason and I had long since parted ways. “You like dick, not pussy. You used me!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Chris sneered. “Get yourself under control, Lydia.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
“Babe, calm down,” Vaughan whispered in my ear.
“Let me go.”
“Don’t think that’s a good idea. You wanted to stay out of jail, remember?”
“I want to kill him more,” I panted. “Much, much more.”
“No, you’re a nice girl. You follow the rules.”
“Fuck nice. I want to dance on his grave!”
“Are you drunk?” With sharp movements, Chris tore at his bow tie, removing the scrap of silk from around his neck. His gaze raked over me, clearly unimpressed. “You are, aren’t you? God knows, you look ridiculous. What the hell happened to you, Lydia? We’ve been searching everywhere for you. Do you realize how many people are waiting over at the house?”
“They’ll be waiting a hell of a long time. I saw you and Paul together.”
Fear flashed in his eyes. But he covered it quickly, raising his chin sky high. “So? I told you we’d be having a few drinks last night. That can hardly be the cause for all this.”
“You were making out.”
All expression left his face. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Having sex.”
“Stop it.”
“Screwing.”
His hands curled into fists. “Shut your mouth, Lydia!”
“You don’t talk to her that way,” said Vaughan, voice low and deadly. Still holding me back, however.
Loud banging came from the front door. Next thing we knew, Chris’s demonic platinum-blond excuse for a mother came marching inside, glowering all the while. His father came a step behind her, expression equally thunderous. Awesome. Now the party could really begin.
“Fuck’s sake.” Vaughan hefted me up, holding me closer. “No one in this town respect property rights anymore?”
“You should really lock your doors,” I mumbled, giving up the struggle. For the moment, at least.
“Windows too.” He grunted, unamused.
“Samantha. Ray.” I stood tall. Or as tall as Vaughan’s grip would allow. The woman’s laser-like eyes cut through me, not even bothering with the guy who owned the place. Next my cell phone was thrust in my face. The all too familiar moaning and groaning of Chris and Paul’s porn filled the room.
“This is your phone,” she hissed. “What the hell is this?”
“Why, it’s your son and his bestie having sex.”
Behind me, Chris made a strangled sound. It warmed my cold hard soul.
“Impossible.” The woman swept into the house, her husband hot on her heels. It was almost impressive the way she could constantly look down her nose at everything. You’d think it would give her a headache eventually. Paul came skulking behind them, sticking to the wall, ready to bolt at any moment. As well he might, smarmy bastard. Were it not for Vaughan’s hold, I’d have been tempted to attack him too.
My blood, it boiled. “No, it’s not impossible. You see, Samantha, when two men really love each other and have some lubrica—”
“Lies!” The woman bared her pearlescent teeth. “How dare you.”
“Me? It’s your son that’s been lying, not me. And considering half the damn town apparently knows about him playing for the other team, I highly doubt you were caught completely unaware.”
“Those are nothing but malicious rumors!” One bloodred talon pointed straight at my heart. “You did this somehow.”
“Me?” I scoffed. “Right. So what … I bought a strap-on, dressed up as Paul, and somehow convinced Chris to let me peg him on camera?”
Vaughan huffed out a laugh, his grip on me loosening.
“You’re right. I can totally see that happening. It’s all my fault.” Save me from the woman’s stupidity.
“If y
ou’d only made more of an effort to be attractive for him,” she said. “Done something with your unsightly fat ass, then this never would have happened!”
I lunged, Vaughan again hefting me back, holding on tight. Red colored my world. I was so damn mad I couldn’t even think of a decent comeback. “Oh yeah? Come over here and say that.”
Thin lips strained, the she-demon advanced, taking up the invitation. Only, her son had other priorities. Chris snatched the cell from his mother’s hand, the outburst of violence as far from his usual cool-and-in-control as possible. Face red and eyes bright, he threw it on the ground and proceeded stomping. Once. Twice. Three times. Screen cracked and innards lying bare, the phone had been smashed to smithereens. The homemade porn moaned and groaned no more.
“Good, it’s gone,” said Samantha. “It was obviously a fake anyway. I mean, who could have recorded such a thing?”
“Ooh, good question.” I didn’t even have it in me to be mad about the phone. My ex-fiancé’s furious demented expression was reward enough. Ray’s mouth gaped. Even Samantha seemed mildly stunned. Only Paul remained unmoved. Unsurprised, even.
“You sent it,” I said, realization dawning.
Paul did an awesome deer-in-headlights impersonation. “No, I didn’t.”
“You did. God.” I slowly shook my head, amazed. “You wanted me to know. Why?”
His mouth moved, but he said nothing.
“Were you jealous? Tired of hiding? What?”
“Paul,” Chris fumed. “You wouldn’t.”
The big guy flattened himself against the wall even further. If he could have melded with it, he would have. “I…”
“Tell me you didn’t.”
“Fuck.” Vaughan wiped a hand across his face. “This is unbelievable.”
“Christopher, you told us you outgrew this nonsense,” said Ray, visibly shaking with anger. “That it was just a phase.”
“Oh, god.” Samantha collapsed onto the nearest worn leather lounge chair. “This is an absolute catastrophe. What will everyone think?”
The half-a-head and superior body mass Paul had on Chris didn’t matter. Not even a little. Chris grabbed him by his lapels, shaking him roughly, making his head whip back and forth. “You betrayed me! You fucking betrayed me!”