Chapter 52
I keep expecting Phoebe to kick me out of the kitchen while helping her with dinner, but her patience is limitless, and thankfully, she lets me stay the whole time, gently walking me through the steps to make fried flounder.
“So…Ever. What do you like to do?”
“Um. In what way?”
“Just in general. What are you passionate about?”
That’s a first. If people aren’t grilling me about Munreaux Motorcycles, they’re talking about school. School and work are the Northeast’s idea of small talk. After names are exchanged, they don’t even touch on weather before jumping right into “What do you do?” and “Where’d you go to school?” Nobody’s ever asked me what I’m passionate about before.
“I… Well…”
Despite having hobbies, I find myself struggling to answer right away. It’s just such an unusual question.
It shouldn’t be.
I start with the biggest one, telling her, “I was a cheerleader.”
“Were? What happened?”
“Family obligations.”
“That sounds complicated.”
“Very.”
“Mm.”
She gives me time to expand on that but I don’t want to, so we sit in an awkward silence until Crue calls from the living room, “Ever draws, too,” making me blush. I didn’t realize he could hear us. That means his father can, too. I don’t have anything against Reid personally, but fathers are…not people I’m used to being open with.
“Do you really?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you like to draw?”
“Me!” Crue yells.
Phoebe raises her eyebrows but gives a soft smile.
Not sensing any judgement, I nod. “Your egomaniac son is my favorite subject, yes.”
Crue’s and Reid’s chuckles from the other room float into this one. They sound very similar, but I have Crue’s memorized.
“I draw other things, too. Flowers, butterflies, bats…”
“Is that why Crue calls you little bat?”
That blush turns into an inferno.
“Um, I’m not sure why he calls me that,” I try to say quietly.
“It’s because she likes things dark and cold!”
I shake my head. “Not cold.”
“Just dark?”
“I guess so.” That’s how my house has always been decorated. It used to scare me, but eventually, I adapted to it.
My father was right. He’s been preparing me all along to adapt to daunting conditions. I just didn’t realize it.
Phoebe’s laugh interrupts my thoughts.
“Um, I also like collecting crystals, tarot cards, anything metaphysical really,” I say out loud for the first time ever. Nobody in my life has ever cared to hear about the real me. Phoebe seems like she does.
“Ah, so you’re a witch.”
“No, not really.”
“Well, you’ve certainly bewitched my son. We’ve never seen him so…happy.”
I hear Crue say, “She enchanted me, all right.”
Accustomed to her own environment, Phoebe simply rolls her eyes at her family’s constant eavesdropping.
Meanwhile, I have to study the bubbling oil to keep from crying.
I can still make Crue happy. He will be. He will.
Crue’s smile drops the second he sees me walk through his bedroom door.
“What’s he doing here?” he asks from his bed, one hand behind his head, the other pointed to what’s by my feet.
“Oh him?” I ask innocently before looking down. I don’t know if dogs can smile, but I swear Zeus is grinning so smugly right now.
“He can’t come in here.”
I prop both hands on my hips. “You said he sleeps wherever he wants. He wants to sleep in here.”
“Am I just supposed to let everybody sleep with my girlfriend that wants to?”
“He’s your dog,” I deadpan.
“He’s a cock-block.”
“He’ll sleep on the floor and look at the wall,” I say, despite knowing nothing about dogs’ sleeping habits.
“He won’t.” Crue laughs. “He’ll be on the bed, right between us…”
That’s perfect actually.
“…snoring and farting and—”
“Sorry, Zeus,” I say.
“Find Mom,” Crue tells Zeus, causing the dog to forget all about me to go in search of Phoebe.
“I thought he loved me,” I say morosely, watching his luscious tail disappear around the corner, not even getting a single look back.
“Don’t take it personally. He loves anyone that gives him attention. Or treats.”
Hm.
“What kind of treats does he like? Cookies?”
He chuckles. “No, dog treats.”
“Do you have any?” I ask with as little interest in my voice as possible while closing the door behind me.
If Crue suspects anything, he doesn’t let on.
“Yeah, we keep a bunch in the kitchen. As soon as Zeus hears the cabinet open, he comes running.”
That’ll be helpful.
“Come to bed so I can finish what you started earlier.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“You seduced me in the backyard.”
“I kissed you,” I say as I slowly approach the end of the bed.
“It was a hell of a kiss.”
Not as patient as his mother, Crue hinges forward, grabs a wrist, and yanks me on to the mattress.
We wrestle around for a few minutes, each of us fighting for control, before eventually Crue lets me mount him.
“That’s a pin,” I say, pressing both his shoulders down.
Through heavy lids, he says, “Good girl,” the praise going straight to my core.
“I think you should. Go to college.”
“I’m done with wrestling. I don’t have the same passion for it that I used to.”
“You can go for anything.”
“Will you go with me?”
That’s…an idea. Not a realistic one, but it’s an idea.
“Not to Littoral,” I say, humoring him.
“Fuck Littoral. Your strengths weren’t being utilized there.”
“Like wrestling?” I taunt with an eyebrow jump.
I’m suddenly on my back, looking up at Crue, my stomach following a moment later apparently, giving me a brief bout of nausea. Um…
“How did you…”
The brow lift he gives me is all arrogance. “ That’s a pin.”
“Good boy,” I croon with a proud smile.
Those words like a blow horn in a race, Crue pushes to his knees, removing his shirt and shorts as quick as he can. Since I’m competitive, I do the same, kicking my panties down my legs just before Crue wedges himself between them, aligning our centers so his rigid length is nestled against my pussy.
I reach between us and guide him in one-handed, making both of us groan.
Needing him closer than what’s physically possible, I cling to him, and plead, “Finish me.”
“Finish…what you started?”
“No. Finish me. Make sure you’re the only one I’ll ever think about like this.”
Crue gives me a questioning look. “If you’re worried about fantasizing about someone else with me, tell me who it is and I’ll be him for you. I want to be your everything, but I can be your everyone, too. If you’re worried about doing this with someone else, don’t bother because you won’t. I’m the only one you’re ever going to do this with, period. I wasn’t just talking shit earlier, Ever. I’m going to marry you and make you mine forever. There will never be someone else. Not for me. And not for you. On my life, ’til death.”
Two steady streams of hot tears flow from the corners of my eyes into my hairline.
“‘Do us part’?” I quote with a shallow laugh.
Crue doesn’t so much as crack a smile, only shakes his head once.
“No, butterfly. Not even death can part us.”
He starts moving, slow and easy, dragging himself upward with each thrust to rub my clit.
“I love you,” I tell him, repeatedly, empathetically. I tell him all the things I love about him, barely getting them out between ragged breaths.
When he comes, he doesn’t just stop and hop off, he lets me roll my hips from below, grinding my clit while he professes his own reasons for loving me. I come hard and long, biting his pec to keep from screaming out.
His body shakes over mine as he breathes, “Jesus, Ever. If you hadn’t already ruined me, that would’ve done it.”
I release his skin from between my teeth and kiss the imprint. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right, little bat. You didn’t hurt me.”
No…
But I’m about to.