Chapter 15 Alex #2
A smirk spread across his face as he stood next to the bed, pulling the condom from his dick.
He dropped it in the trash next to the bed before gripping my burning hot ass cheek, which felt bruised under his hand.
My cock jerked when he pulled me to him.
His lips hovered over mine while his eyes searched my face.
He squeezed my ass, and my dick responded as it had before.
“Someone’s a bit of a masochist.”
“I thought you weren’t kinky.”
“Just because I don’t wear the mantle doesn’t mean I won’t pick up the sword. Now, get showered, then get your ass to the bar. I’ll meet you there once I tame the curls you’ve fucked up yet again.”
He kissed me, and I buried my hands in his hair. “I like your curls like this.”
“The just got fucked look?”
I nodded. “It’s sexy as fuck, but I wouldn’t mind seeing you in that backwards ball cap you rocked at the gym.” I jerked off more times to that image than I would ever admit.
“You liked that?”
I nodded again. He smiled softly, then said, “I’ll remember that.”
He disappeared from the bedroom after another quick kiss. I lay there until I heard the front door open and close, then got up and did as ordered.
Half an hour later, I walked into the Salty Dog, finding the place packed to the gills. Music blared. People danced and yelled lyrics. I felt so out of place; I wanted nothing more than to turn around and head back to the apartment, only the recreation I wanted to partake in wouldn’t be there.
I did a quick perimeter search of the front of the building before heading toward the back, where the bar stood. As I approached, I kept my eyes roving the crowd, looking for the guys or Daniel. Not seeing anyone, I stopped, waiting for the bartender to acknowledge me.
“What can I get you?” The woman asked, wiping the top.
“I’d like a cranberry and Sprite and to set up a tab for my buddies. They might’ve already…”
“You, Alex?”
I nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“They said you were brand spanking new. Good to know they weren’t lying.”
“How’d you know?”
“The ma’am. The only one of the bunch to use it has the EGA tattooed on his forearm.”
EGA? A SEAL with an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor tattoo? She had to be mistaken. “I’m not sure…”
“I am,” she said, snatching my ID and credit card. She turned her back to me and waved toward someone.
“Uh, ma’am, I’m…”
“Alex!”
Turning toward the sound of my name, and there, in the back corner of the bar with a clear line of sight to all the exits, sat my teammates. I picked my way through the crowd to where they were. The fuckers let me fucking flounder because there’s no fucking way they didn’t see my ass arrive.
There were four open seats at the table. All of them in a line, putting whoever sat there with their back to part of the room. Walking up to the table, I said, “You guys suck.”
Everyone burst out laughing, including Josh and Jason when the dropped into the two open seats further away from me. Marcus, drying his eyes from laughing, said, “Have a seat,” kicking the empty chair across the table from him.
I flipped it around and sat, fighting to hide the wince of the pain in my ass.
Parker’s eyes met mine, and he lifted the bottle of beer in his hand to his mouth.
If he thought he was hiding the smirk with it, he was sadly mistaken.
I loved the guy as a mentor and teammate, but I loathed the fucker for knowing what and how that wince felt.
“Alex Madison, meet my brother Foster, the second smartest son of Admiral Holt, and that’s his wife Julie. This beautiful but poor, deceived woman is my sister-in-law, Lillian, who married the stupidest child in our family, my eldest brother, Walker.”
“You’re just pissed I met her first,” Walker said.
“Damn straight,” Parker said. Then turned back to me, “Now, you might wonder who the smartest of Vivian and Matthew Holt’s children is…”
“Piper, hands down,” Julie yelled, banging her fist on the table as Lillian said, “Amen.”
I laughed. This camaraderie was what I’d missed growing up as an only child.
“Okay. You ladies…well…you’re right,” Parker said, while his brothers raised their beers and nodded, but then he continued, “And that leaves me. I might not be the smartest, as our beautiful, intelligent, sassy as fuck sister surpassed me, but of the Admiral’s sons, I am far and away the smartest.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as the Holts disproved the claim with stories of why Parker wasn’t as fucking smart as he said. When everything calmed down, I asked, “So, what makes Walker the stupidest child in the family?”
“They’re jealous.”
“Bullshit!” Parker and Foster yelled. “What else do you call the son of a Navy SEAL turned Admiral who joins the US Marine Corps?”
“OORAH!” Walker yelled out the warcry for the Corps.
Everyone at the table groaned and rolled their eyes. But the entire bar, minus a few answering OORAHs, booed, then responded with a window-rattling Navy HOOYAH. The SEALs at the table joined in. As did Julie.
Lillian shook her head, then looked at me. “So, why did you say they suck?”
“It was a test,” Marcus said before I could answer.
“What sorta test?”
Walker laughed. “It’s a new guy test, Lil.”
The confusion on her face lifted, her eyes rounded. “Well,” she started, her face turning to focus on Marcus, “don’t keep us, and even more importantly, him, in the dark. Did he pass?”
The team and two men who looked nearly identical to Parker all laughed, as did Julie, but none of them answered her question. That came from the man who left me lying in my bed, covered in cum, bruises, and handprints.
“He passed Lillian. If he hadn’t, they woulda razzed his ass for the fuck up.”
“Daniel!”
Cheers and greetings went up around the table, and Lillian stood, rushing around the edge of the table, her face wreathed in smiles. I clocked her movements.
Fuck. He wore the hat. Turned backwards, and everything. And as my eyes ran over him, I realized the man dressed to entice—dark jeans and a snug t-shirt. When she collided with the man, Daniel wrapped his arms around her, but his eyes met mine.
Daniel broke eye contact and turned to greet the team when Lillian released him from the hug. I swallowed, sucking in a deep breath which wasn’t nearly as effective at cleansing the anxiety from my system while I listened to them catch up.
“How have you been?” Lillian asked Daniel, who rested his ass against the chair beside me.
My level of panic intensified. That chair was the only one left open. He would sit right next to me. How the fuck would I be able to keep my hands to myself?
Daniel replied to her question that I’d forgotten she’d asked, “I’m good. Enjoying being in California away from the family.”
“Liar. How are they?”
Wait, so they knew knew each other.
“Good. Fiona is due to have another rug rat soon.”
“And your brothers?”
“Wickedly annoying, every one of them.”
“And you wouldn’t have it any different.”
The more they spoke, the more Daniel’s Boston accent showed itself. Surprisingly, Lillian’s bland newscaster tone shifted, taking on a bit of Boston, too. It was more refined, softer, but still there.
“Nope. I like them just as they are. So, how are your little ones?” Daniel asked.
“Growing like weeds. They’ll be four in February. Foster and Julie have five now,” she said, moving back to where she’d been sitting with her husband, who pulled her into his lap.
“Five,” I said with a gasp, shaking my head at the beer Parker offered.
He took a swig, set it back down, then said, “And that, people, is why I will never procreate. There are three sets of twins between the two of them, plus the single Foster and Jules have, and the ones Piper has. Mama and Daddy have plenty of grandkids.”
“You gotta get someone to stick with you for longer than a couple of dates before you need to worry about procreating, little brother,” Walker said, pulling Lillian into his lap.
“Yet another thing that makes you the stupidest Holt child. You don’t even need a date to procreate. All you need is a quickie with a willing partner.”
A set of tits pressed against the side of my head as a brunette I never met snaked her arm over my shoulder, her hand resting on my chest as she spoke over the table to Parker, “Gorgeous, I’ll be your quickie partner. Any time, any day. Just name the place.”
“Thanks, love. I appreciate it. Get me your number before you leave,” Parker said, giving her a wink, then me a look.
I expected the guys at the table to cheer like the guys I’d known in high school had whenever a girl offered herself up like this one had just done, but they didn’t. Instead, they went silent, waiting.
She blew him a kiss, then went on her way. I knew there were women out there like her who threw themselves at frogmen. I grew up in the area. I did all the research I could before enlisting, but to experience it, even adjacently, was too much.
“You okay there, new guy?” Marcus’s brow lifted.
I nodded, but it was a lie. What the fuck did I get myself into whirled through my brain, dancing a jig and making me question everything. Daniel shifted in his chair, his knee brushing against mine. That small touch provided the answer and the energy. “Tired, that’s all.”
“The rookie left a special someone behind to come hang out with us,” Parker teased.
“Oh! You should’ve brought her with you. Julie and I can help her acclimate.”
Her. It grated that everyone assumed it was a female.
“Yeah. That’s probably never gonna happen, ma’am.”
Her face turned sad. “Oh, no. Was she having a time of it…”
“Lil,” Julie interrupted. “That’s not our business.” Then she turned to me and said, “Better to learn it early on, Alex. This life is not a good fit for everyone, but don’t hesitate to call if there’s anything Lillian and I can help with.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” I said. The offer was sweet.
“And that’s why my sisters-in-law are the best siblings a guy could have.”
“Here! Here!” the men at the table agreed, making the two women blush.
The rest of the night continued the same. Hours filled with teasing, taunts, and found family passed until…
“The Bosstones!” Lillian screamed, jumping up from her chair to run around the table to Daniel. He stood, joining her, as did so many others in the bar. Everyone was screaming lyrics and jumping around with their arms in the air as if they were a bunch of concertgoers.
And I watched every moment.
Lillian was a beautiful woman, but my eyes glued themselves to Daniel—his smiling face, his now damp shirt clinging to his muscular chest, the flushed cheeks, the sweat that beaded on his forehead, upper lip, and forearms. He fucking glowed with happiness and excitement.
I loved the song before today, but now, his laughing and dancing will live in my fucking head forever.
I loved and hated every damn minute. He looked gorgeous, and as nice as Lillian seemed, I hated her.
Fucking loathed her. I wanted to be the one dancing with him, the one he smiled at and laughed with.
Not long after they’d worn themselves out, the bartenders yelled, “Last call.”
“Y’all are all welcome back at the house. There’s plenty of room,” Walker’s offer was interrupted by the bartender from earlier.
She handed over my ID and credit card with the slip for me to sign, but the amount was nowhere near what I expected.
“Ma’am…”
She patted my shoulder. “A thank you from the staff for what y’all have done already, and for what’s coming. Take care of yourselves and come home safe.”
Looking around the table, resignation, worry, and a bit of anticipation filled the faces looking back at me. I signed the slip, and the room filled with ringing cell phones.