Chapter 15
Damon
I’m barely awake when I hear something. I’m not even sure what. Evan is sprawled naked on top of me. Having her close to me, warm from our shower with her words hanging in the air, I stayed awake waiting for sleep to come. But all I could think about was her warm body against mine.
When she rocked her hips against mine, maybe in her sleep, I don’t fucking know, but I stopped resisting. I rolled her onto her back and made sure she knew how much I loved her. She was definitely awake by then.
We clung to each other as we came, and I shifted her to sleep on top of me. Now, her hand curls into my side like she heard something too, or maybe she felt me move beneath her. It’s dark out the window, and nothing stands out. I fade back into sleep.
“Damon!” My dad’s voice. “We can’t find—”
The lights turn on, blinding me.
“What?” Evan lifts her head.
“EvanAnn?” Dad’s voice is questioning as realization floods him.
Fuck. I blink, but it’s too late. I draw the covers up a little higher to cover Evan. There’s no way to explain away any of this, except with the truth. I put my arm over my eyes and make sure Evan doesn’t move. My dad does not need to see her breasts which are pressed up against my chest.
“Downstairs. Five minutes,” Dad says sternly. The door closes, and his footsteps fade.
“Fuck.” I drop my head on my pillow. Five minutes isn’t long.
When I start to move, Evan clings to me. “Sleep,” she mutters into my chest, oblivious to the shitshow awaiting us downstairs. It’s Friday morning and way before we need to be up for school. We probably only got a few hours of sleep at best.
I scrub my hand over my face. “Little devil, the jig is up.”
She rubs her nose against my bare chest and blows out her breath across my skin. “What jig?”
“Our parents know.” I sit up, forcing her to sit up with me. She straddles my lap. “Or at least my dad knows.”
“Shit.” Evan pushes her hair out of her face and looks around like a shirt is going to magically appear.
I get out of bed, leaving her dazed and confused, and go into her bedroom, grabbing a pair of pajamas appropriate for being in front of our parents and some panties. I toss them to her as she’s still sitting on the bed, frozen.
“I know you wanted to control the narrative, but we knew it would happen at some point.” I pull on a pair of athletic pants and a t-shirt and then sit down next to her on the bed to help her dress.
Her eyes are wide as she tries to figure out how to fix this. I pull her top on over her head, and she finally pulls on the pants. I doubt she’s ever been in trouble before. Always the good girl until we ruined her.
I run my hand over her hair brushing it away from her face.
“What are we going to do?” she asks in a small voice. Her eyes are wide.
I tip her chin up. “We’re going to own up to it. We’re eighteen years old. Yes, it’s a little odd since our parents are dating, but teenagers have sex.” I search her frightened eyes. “I’m not giving you up, little devil.”
When I kiss her softly, she caves to the kiss like it’s the last one she’ll get. I pull away and reiterate, “You, Hawk, Cam, and me. I love you. You belong to us and with us. We’ll get through this.”
EvanAnn
When Damon offers me his hand, I look at it.
Taking his hand means going downstairs to face whatever consequences are waiting.
It’s still dark outside. This just isn’t my week.
Dads finding me in compromising situations was not on my bingo card.
I don’t want to face this, but at least I have Damon to face it with me.
I take his hand and climb off the bed. He pulls me into his arms and hugs me tight against him. For a second, I cling to him, resting my head on his heart. Will this be my last opportunity to be with him this way? Will they try to separate us?
Before we head down, I go to the bathroom to clean up as best as I can. I hadn’t planned on falling asleep right after sex, but that’s what happened. We also hadn’t planned on having sex though. Again. I wash my hands and meet my gaze in the mirror.
Fuck, this isn’t going to go over well. Adam saw me in bed, naked on his son. My breath settles like a lump in my stomach. My face is pale. Damon leans against the doorframe.
“It’ll be okay.”
But he can’t know that. I walk over to him and put my head on his chest. “I’m scared.”
“I’ve got you, little devil.” He takes my hand and leads me out of the room and down the stairs. The lights are on in the living room. My heart hurts and my fingers tremble in Damon’s.
We pause when we hear voices.
“In bed? Together? Naked?” My mom’s voice sounds near hysterics. “What—? How—? This can’t—but...”
“Keep it down, love. They’re on their way down here.” Adam’s voice is calm.
My heart slams in my chest as Damon pulls me to a stop so we can listen.
“This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have moved in this year.
We should have waited. I thought she’d be safer.
This is my fault. I did this. We should have moved to the apartments.
” Mom sounds like she’s pacing, but every word out of her mouth ratchets my anxiety higher.
My heart is going to explode. “But the apartments—”
She cuts off.
“Heather.” Adam’s voice is soothing. “It’ll be okay. You did what was best for your family. We don’t know what this is yet. Maybe they found something in each other the way we did.”
“But sleeping together? What kind of mother would I be if I just let them...” She drags in a breath. “I should stop this. Move out? We could live somewhere else.” She doesn’t seem sure, but it’s all I can hear. It’s why I hid this from her. “But go where?”
Damon slides his hand beneath my hair along my nape and tucks his head to kiss the top of mine.
“You’re not leaving, Heather. Not an option.
We need to talk about this. With them. They’re eighteen.
Nothing illegal is happening here. She didn’t look like she was forced to be there.
They were sleeping. She hasn’t been acting strange, like she’s being taken advantage of.
We’ll figure this out.” Adam must have stood.
“Would you go make some coffee for us please? I think this talk is going to take clear minds.”
“But—”
“She’s safe here, Heather. You’re safe here.”
What does that mean? That I’m safe with Damon?
“You’re right. I just...”
“Coffee, love.” The sound of a kiss precedes her footsteps walking away.
Damon gives it a minute before leading me in.
I don’t want to do this, but there really isn’t a choice, unless we want to get on his bike and just ride away.
Not really an option. We have futures to work towards. School to finish.
Adam sits in a chair with his head in his hands. He looks up as we walk in. His face is resigned, but there’s a little relief when he focuses on our hands.
Damon and I sit on the couch, our thighs touching, still holding each other’s hand. I don’t think I can release his. I’m probably crushing it, but he doesn’t wince, just holds me.
What do I say? What can I say? We’ve been caught. All we can do is stick with the truth. Or you know, some version of it that doesn’t make my mom move us out.
Adam sits up and puts his hand over his mouth.
His hair sticks up oddly, like he just got out of bed himself.
Apparently he doesn’t know what to say either.
He walked in on me in bed, obviously naked, on top of his son, also naked.
So much worse than morning coffee with Hawk’s dad when I was wearing a t-shirt and panties.
The only bright spot of this is that I’ll truly understand humiliation. Helpful for acting and directing. I could list it on my resume. Personal experience of mortification: check.
Mom comes in from the kitchen with a tray of coffee cups. The tray shakes slightly, rattling the cups.
Her gaze locks on my hand in Damon’s resting on his thigh. Her lips pinch, but she doesn’t say anything. Her hair is up in a messy bun, like an afterthought. She has a robe on over her pajamas.
She thought about taking me away, but Adam talked her out of it. Would she have done it to protect me or because she doesn’t want me with Damon? Why move us out at all?
She hands me a cup of coffee and then gives one to Damon. Her smile is tight. I take a sip, finding she’s added a little creamer and sugar for me. The way I like it. She settles in the chair next to Adam and sighs.
It feels like no one wants to start this conversation. Everyone holds their coffee and sips at the hot beverage. I don’t think there’s enough caffeine to make this conversation any easier.
Adam and Mom don’t make eye contact with us, but I’m not looking at them either. He knows I was naked on his son, and he told my mom.
“Was there a reason you came into my locked room?” Damon asks Adam casually, taking a sip of his coffee. Trying to be on the offensive, nice. But I don’t think our privacy is going to get us out of this one.
Adam winces and runs a hand through his hair. He glances at Heather. “Heather got a text about EvanAnn. She went to her room and didn’t find her. Her bed was made. I came to your room to get you to help look for her.”
My cheeks burn, but I can’t help being curious. “What text?”
“It was an unknown number.” Mom is paler than normal. “It was an old advertisement from the eighties. Do you know where your children are?”
“Have you received a lot of texts from unknown numbers?” Damon asks. Maybe he’s thinking the same thing I am. That maybe my stalker is reaching out to Mom too.
Mom’s cheeks pinken, and she glances at Adam. “Not many.”
I look at Damon. We should tell them about the texts I’ve been getting. Right? I never told Mom about Jackson. Maybe I didn’t want her to worry. But after the thorns on Sunday, maybe it’s time to bring her in. Especially with her getting texts too.
What if there’s something she hasn’t been able to make sense of? Some clue that would tell us for sure who my stalker is?