Chapter 6
Chapter Six
T he vibration of my phone startled me out of a fantasy I shouldn’t have been having.
I stared down at the computer in front of me, the cursor blinking on an empty cell and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what was supposed to go there.
Numbers swam in front of my face and every time I blinked, Lily’s heavy-lidded eyes, flushed face, and swollen lips flashed through my mind.
Dammit .
I slammed the computer closed and took in the world around me for the first time in hours. The sun dipped behind the building, casting long, stretching shadows that yearned for the Savannah River. I wasted the whole day in a haze of guilt, arousal, and confusion.
I scrubbed my face and then pulled my phone out of my pocket.
anders
how am I supposed to kick your ass if you aren’t even here?
duke
shit I’ll be there soon
anders
tell whatever woman you’re with that you have somewhere to be and get your ass over here Charles has some new toys to play with
I didn’t correct him. My reputation was earned, but not nearly as extensive as I let everyone believe. The playboy trust fund kid mask fit me easily, and I wasn’t ready to give it up yet.
duke
I think you meant to send that to grace I’m not interested in your toy
anders
keep her name out of your mouth and get your ass here
duke
you’re right I can think of better things to do with my mouth
I played a dangerous game riling Anders up like this, especially about Grace, but that’s exactly what I wanted.
I needed a good fight right now, and the fastest way to get that was to piss him off.
Hopefully, by the time I got to Charles’ office, dojo, warehouse, whatever the fuck it was, he would be ready to put up a proper fight.
I changed before I left the office and drove my flashiest motorcycle over to the historic district, weaving through traffic as if it didn’t even exist.
Somehow, Grace and her cousin Jessica had bought an entire row of buildings and opened a bakery, artisan soap shop, and now Charles’ new business, a mix between survival supply store, self-defense classes, and veteran outreach.
Anders had taken the second floor of the building for his ever-growing private security firm.
They held an entire little empire here in this little strip of brick.
What surprised me most, though perhaps it shouldn’t have, was how seamlessly Charles integrated himself into our little group despite not serving with us. Some things were universal.
I slid into a tight space between Anders’ car and a tree and let myself into Grace’s bakery for one of her wonderful cookies before kicking ass, or maybe getting my ass kicked.
Either option would work. Pink battered my poor, overworked eyes when I stepped in, but the smell of sugar and coffee had my shoulders relaxing and my stomach rumbling.
“Duke,” Grace said when I walked in. She had been in the back doing whatever bakers did at night after their bakeries closed, but came out when she heard the door open.
She exuded cheer and warmth, and I knew what had Anders’ balls in a vice when it came to her.
“What are you doing here?”
“Just looking for a beautiful face and a sweet cookie before I kick your boyfriend’s ass for existing.” I winked at her.
“He always looks forward to sparring nights.” She pulled out a box of cookies for me. This had become something of a routine since she opened the place, and by now, she knew to give me one of every kind of cookie left.
I slipped a fifty wrapped inside several ones into her tip jar and then insisted on paying full price for all the cookies and a drink to boot. She always tried to wave payment away from any of the rascals like she didn’t know I had more money than I could spend in my lifetime.
Thankfully, she never protested when she found extra tips on the days I showed up. Anders was my brother by all rights, and that made Grace family by extension. Spending excessively to support my family was one of the perks.
“Tell Anders not to be too late. I have plans for us tonight,” Grace said as she handed me the box of cookies.
“Sexy plans?” I couldn’t help but needle her. She blushed so nicely. I could see what had Anders so obsessed.
“That’s none of your business.”
I took the cookies and a long drink of her coffee. Grace made the best coffee, and I might have moaned, just a little, when the rich, nutty flavor hit my tongue. It was exactly what I needed after a day like today.
“Jessica makes the same face when she drinks the coffee here,” Grace said as she leaned on the counter. “She’s the one who walked me through how to make it just like she likes it. Glad to know other people like it, too.”
“Its great coffee.” I raised the cup and gave her a wave as I walked out of the bakery. My phone vibrated in my pocket, likely Anders demanding to know when I would get there.
Charles’ business, Wild and Free, had already closed for the evening, but when he saw me walking up with my hands full, he came over to let me in.
“Got some cookies from Grace.” I held up the little pink box, waving it like a trophy. Everyone loved Grace’s cookies.
“About time,” Anders said as he grabbed the box from me like they were specifically for him.
Once he’d picked through the cookies muttering about keeping what was his, we’d squared up to each other on the mat. I moved first, aiming an easy punch that he blocked with little thought. Another kick meant more to engage him than to land.
“What’s wrong,” I taunt, “did the cookies fry your few remaining brain cells? You were the one messaging me, begging me to show up.”
“Dick.” He finally got into it and threw a punch to my midsection so fast I hardly saw it coming.
I grunted at the sudden pain, gone as quickly as it came. That was more like it.
“Is that it? Weak.” I gave him only enough to keep him engaged, diving for him, but leaving predictable openings. I probably held back too much. Anders wasn’t an idiot. He knew I could fight better than this. We’d sparred too much for him not to know exactly what I was capable of.
“Long day at work in your pussy job? Spend too long sitting pretty at a desk?” I dodged behind him and pulled him into a rear choke.
He pulled my arm down and elbowed me in the sternum. Hard enough to drive me back and steal my breath, leaving me gasping.
Adrenaline pumped through me now, clearing my head and focusing me on my task. I kicked low, bringing him down to the mat.
“Your woman says she wants you home early for sex, by the way,” I said to Anders when he took too long to get back into the fight. I needed more. More pain. More adrenaline. More clarity.
Just as I hoped, this pushed him over the edge and he flipped me over onto the mat. I bounced back up and he came up behind me.
“Never mention Grace and sex in the same sentence. As far as you are concerned, she’s untouchable. Don’t even look at her,” he said when he pulled me in for a headlock, tightening his arm just to the edge of too much.
I pulled him over me and threw him to the mat.
“And miss such a beautiful view?” He lunged for me, taking me to the mat quickly and aiming a punch to my side.
“I’ll definitely loo— fuck.” His fist came down on the mat inches from my face.
I turned to look at it, still pinned to the mat by his hand on my chest. “Too afraid to mess up this beauty? You’re right, women prefer me to be pretty. ”
“What the fuck is wrong with you Duke? You’re being a bigger ass than usual.” I tried to buck him off, but he didn’t budge from where he boxed me in.
“Just looking for a good fight.”
“Bullshit. You’re my brother. We’ve been through hell. I know something’s wrong. Now, are you going to keep being an ass or are you going to put on your big boy panties and talk about it?”
We were both breathing hard. I felt raw, ripped open and seen in a way I didn’t like.
“Get off me. I’ll talk.” I tried to buck him off again, but he resisted long enough, so I knew he got up willingly and I wasn’t beating him. Always had to be the top dog.
He grabbed his water and downed most of it in one gulp. I laid on the mat, catching my breath, wondering if I could do it, if I could talk about my problems.
I finally got up and joined him on the bench.
“Lily kissed me,” I said with a sigh. I did not want to talk, but Anders was right, making him beat me senseless wouldn’t solve anything.
“Wait, Lily? Lily that you brought to the beach? Lily that is somehow friends with you? You.” He waved vaguely in my general direction, as if it was preposterous that she would want to be my friend.
I didn’t disagree, it was madness. I would never understand why, but I had learned to accept it and now…
now everything was changing, and I felt like my world wasn’t quite right anymore.
“Yeah.” I scrubbed my sweat coated hair and some of the salty drops fell into my eyes.
“She wants—not a word of this leaves this room. If I hear about it from anyone, I will shoot you,” I said flatly.
He nodded, and I took a deep breath before I continued, grounding myself for words I never thought I would say.
“Lily isn’t great with dating, and she wants—fuck—she wants to have sex with me, no strings attached. One month, I blow her mind, and then we go on being friends,” I said in a rush, still not quite believing my own words and what I agreed to.
“That’s a fucking terrible idea,” Anders said without missing a beat.
I snorted. “Yeah.”
“So you said no immediately, right? Look, we can hook her up with someone who will treat her well, if that’s what she wants. She’s sweet and beautiful. Any man would fall at her feet.” My world went white at the thought. Someone else touching Lily, making her breathless, bringing her pleasure?—
Fuck.
“No,” I growled. I took a deep breath, needing more oxygen to slow my racing heart. “I planned to say no immediately, but she demanded I kiss her first.” I drank the rest of my water, my throat dry and rough.
“You said no. Right?” He looked me over. “You didn’t say no. You’re a fucking idiot.”
I scoffed. “I know.”
Even sitting here, exhausted and hurting, I couldn’t get Lily and her damn kiss out of my head. The sight of her when she sat on my lap wouldn’t leave me alone, all soft and sweet, pleasure written on her dazed eyes and cherry red lips.
I was an ass.
Lily was my best friend. Probably even more than these guys.
We played in the mud together as kids, cutting worms in half just to see if they would keep moving. She saw me go through the awkward phase where my feet and ears were too big. She also stayed with me when my mom died and was the only one to come to my graduation from basic.
This was way too fucking complicated, and I didn’t do complicated.
“You know this will end in disaster.” Anders didn’t even know Lily. He didn’t know how her mind worked, how when she latched onto an idea, she had to see it through no matter what.
“I would never do anything to hurt her,” I said vehemently.
I didn’t know why I tried to defend myself. It was a terrible fucking idea, and I should go over there now just to tell her as much and back out.
Anders didn’t know that I was likely only hurting myself. Lily would go on with her life as always. I wasn’t going to enlighten him on it, though.
“Duke, you aren’t exactly known for dating women so much as fucking them and then leaving them high and dry.” He pushed off the counter and sat beside me, like he needed to hold my hand through this. “What will you do if, at the end of this, she wants more?”
More. With Lily.
“She’s been very clear that she doesn’t want anything more. ”
I stood, threw my towel into the small basket, and grabbed my helmet.
I couldn’t be here anymore.
“Grace likes Lily,” he said, stopping me before I got to the door. “I will take her side if you hurt her.”
“Thank you,” I said as I walked out. I should probably be angry that he wouldn’t be on my side, but I could never be angry at the people in Lily’s corner.