Chapter 10
Ryker
One second I'm standing beside my stepdad’s best friend and we’re pumping cum into Starla’s open mouth while she’s bringing herself to climax.
Then next… my stepdad is witnessing something he’ll never understand.
By the time any of us registered that the click came from the front door, it was too late to stop the trainwreck.
I’m certain that I locked it after Cullen carried Starla across the threshold. But there’s my stepdad, the person who taught me to be a man and invited me to be a part of his business.
He just got paid back by witnessing his best friend and his stepson exploring bukkake with his precious daughter. If not for a round of Cards Against Humanity, I wouldn’t even have known there was a word for what we’re doing.
His presence and clear disapproval won’t just impact one portion of my world. It hits everything, even my personal life, which is spent hanging out with him, like our Friday night poker matches. We truly get along, or based on his expression, got along.
Cullen rushes to the couch and grabs a pillow that he hands to Starla. She sort of covers herself as she scampers to her feet and rushes out of the room.
I'm surprised that I don't follow suit. I don't know why I stay. Standing there with my dick out isn’t exactly helping the situation.
Cullen doesn't leave either. Maybe we’re facing the facts.
“Get some fucking clothes on,” her dad says. “Smells like a goddamn whorehouse in here. Is this why you were so gung-ho about her going into prostitution?”
Christ, the man won't let that go. I get dressed while Cullen leaves the room to get different clothes.
Dad yells the direction Starla went. “I’m taking you home right now, young lady, or you can get out of my house forever.”
I can see how he missed the bigger picture that Cullen and I will both be offering her places to live. In fact, that's something we have to talk about, probably consolidate to one place.
“I'll take her home, Dad.”
“You don't trust me to drive her?”
“I don't want you yelling at her the whole time.”
“You and Cullen are the ones I should be yelling at.”
Cullen re-enters the room. “Yelling’s not likely to solve this, Ross. Let’s discuss this as adults and consider the facts.”
Dad lowers his voice. “Then straighten out these facts… Is this why you pretended to be sick at our poker night? Is this some sort of reward for her not going to the auction? You’re corrupting her.”
Cullen squares up with Dad and says calmly. “There’s a lot of confusion here. Let’s regroup at your place when we’ve all had a chance to calm down and we can talk.”
Starla returns in oversized sweats. Her hair’s wet around her face where she had to do cleanup. She sits at a barstool away from her father. Good call.
“Are you coming with me, Starla?” her dad asks.
She shakes her head. “I’ll ride with them.”
“If you don't show up, you can pick her shit up out of the street.”
He leaves without another word.
I slip my shoes on. “This is going to happen sooner than we thought.”
Cullen says, “Are we feeling like making a game plan or winging it?”
We both turn to Starla, who's staring at a piece of paper. Hard paper, like a card. My adrenaline-fueled heart stops pumping.
Cullen strides over to her, but before he can touch her, she throws a hand out to stop him.
“What is this?”
As she holds the card up I’m clear on exactly what it is. My declaration of love that Cullen stole.
Cullen’s head hangs in shame.
She turns to me. “Is this really from you?”
I nod, wanting to call Cullen out, watch him grovel as he explains who sent the gifts. But tension is already high from her father catching us. I don’t want to mar the perfection that I felt between the three of us. Is this the same type of agony Cullen was going through at the auction?
Waving the paper at Cullen, she asks, “Why…”
The note is anything but generic, mentioning the jaggery powder, making it impossible to play off as anything other than what it is.
"I'm sorry I let you believe that gift was from me. I didn’t know how else to stop him from claiming you.”
She turns to me. “Why didn’t you say something?”
Good question. I replay the moment and understand it at a level I couldn’t at the time. “I saw how you looked at Cullen. You believed that it was from him. You wanted it to be from him.”
“But I would have reacted the same if it was from you,” she says gingerly.
I nod, wondering how that reality would have worked out. “Yeah, but I realized I’d never be enough for you. Even if I told you that it was from me, I could never undo the connection I witnessed between the two of you and deny you that happiness.”
The silence sits uncomfortably. I fill it with, “And then your dad walked in and then we saw you in the dress and said things that infuriated you. It’s been a rough week.”
“You were my secret admirer and Cullen remains my bad boy.” She looks into the distance as if reframing what she thought was true. “Thank you.”
“I played by the rules far too long. I’m no more a bad boy than you’re a good girl.” Cullen motions for me to move closer. We both intertwine our hands with Starla’s.
I say, “I couldn't resist telling you I loved you any longer. I don't know why this year or this Christmas. I just know that I had to do it.”
I shift my gaze to Cullen. “And I’d been noticing the way you two looked at each other. I might have been worried I wasn’t the only one aware of how special you are.”
“And he was right. I was reaching a breaking point.”
Starla shifts uncomfortably. “So how will this work? I don’t think Dad will want me there anymore. Which means I have to give up the lovely kitchen suite you made me, Ryker.”
“I—we can build you another one.”
Cullen nods in agreement. “I love you, Starla. We’ll do whatever you need to make this work.”
“I’d hate for my dad to throw his back out moving all of my stuff to the street. What do you say we go talk to him?”
Cullen stretches his neck side to side. “We’re ripping this bandaid off a lot sooner than I expected, but that’s a good thing. I don’t want to hide what I feel for you any longer.”
“Your bad boy side is showing.”
The three of us embrace for a moment, the reality of our commitment sinking in.
Starla says, “When we go back to my house, I’ll pack the essentials, and then I’d rather be away from Dad tonight. Can you two help me with that?”
I piggyback on her plan. “We’ll keep him occupied, talk things through while you pack, then we can hire professional movers to get the rest.”
She gives a coy look. “And where are we going to take my things?”
“My house,” both of us say at once.
Cullen continues, “Seriously, I have plenty of space for both of you here under my roof.”
He’s right, but I don’t give in that easily. “Let’s see if Dad murders either of us, then go from there.”