3. Dylan
Well, shit, this is a disaster.
If Lara and Camille can”t control themselves, the party will go downhill fast, and the way Amanda”s lower lip trembles, it”s tentative—poor kid.
She”s been through enough.
Her friends break apart as Camille carries Amanda to the pool house to get changed, still offering soothing words under her breath.
Staring after them, I push to sit and dangle my legs over the side of the pool, dripping everywhere.
I jumped into action without a thought, and only now does the fear become known. The adrenaline trickles through my system bit by bit.
If I don”t piss, I”ll burst.
The bathroom in the pool house is busy now. The rest of the guests at the party apparently have the exact needs as I do. The bathroom inside the house on the first floor, specially marked for guests, also has a line, and the man at the end of it shoots me a dirty look as though he thinks I”m about to cut ahead.
The bushes outside might be a decent place to relieve myself where no one will see. My bladder agrees, pressing against me, urgently needing to hurry the hell up.
Then it hits me. Upstairs.
No one will bat an eye at me being on the second floor, and there”s no time left to debate, either. Wrapping a towel around the back of my neck, I hustle, leaving droplets of water behind me on my way up the stairs. Whether Lara needs breathing room or not, I”ve got to use the toilet.
Which door is it?
The last door on the left? Down the east wing? A left at the top of the stairs and down the hallway? The opposite end of the master suite, which might as well be an entire world away from the bedrooms.
Ordinary houses don”t have wings.
The flash of golden skin grabs my attention and refuses to let go. The door is open, only a crack, but the opening is all I need to witness Lara naked as she changes out of her bikini. She”s got her back to the door. The tan swells of her ass peep out at me, and I note the slight dimple near her tailbone. Her waist pinches in above her hips in a perfect flair. I bite my tongue when she hooks her fingers underneath the ties of her bottoms.
Fuck me.
It”s wrong to watch, but I can”t look away. Not even to save my own life. I”m rooted to the spot as Lara pushes the bikini bottoms lower until they pool around her heels before she bends, stepping out of them, exposing herself to me?—
My breath catches in my chest with enough force to make me dizzy under darker urges at first sight of her sweet pussy. There and gone in a blink before she moves slightly, and my gaze drops to her breasts.
Beautiful tits, her dusky rose nipples already hard from the chill after being outside and with what happened.
With my dick twitching, I watch her. Her head tilts up, and her silent scream on her mouth speaks to her frustration about what happened outside just now.
I”d love to watch her from the bed, propped up. What would she do if I whipped my dick out and stroked myself? Would she join me?
I stare at the small thatch of hair at the apex of her legs, just as dark as the color on her head.
At Lara”s gasp, my eyes snap up to her face. It”s already melting into a furious grimace as she locks gazes with me, and I hurry my ass to the bathroom with my erection pressing painfully against the inside of my trunks.
I slam the door behind me, grip the sides of the sink, and stare at my reflection in the mirror. I”m a damn madman.
Lara will never understand there”s no one else for me besides her, and there never will be. She”ll only see a creep who gets his kicks off watching her change.
What shall I say for myself?
No excuses. She”ll see through them all. And I can”t admit my emotions about her because of her boyfriend?—
I grab my hair, tugging like it will open my brain for common sense to land home. I watched her change, and she caught me gawking.
There”s no good way to spin it.
I relieve myself and head back to the party. There”s less commotion around the pool, as though what happened with Amanda left a bad taste in everyone”s mouths.
There”s no sign of Lara, but her friends are scattered around the pool. Not knowing what to do, I stare at them, then at Sloan, who makes eye contact and flashes me a grin. She crooks a finger for me to join her. A little unstable, I head in her direction.
”Why do you look like you”re about to puke, sexy?” she asks.
”You saw what happened at the pool,” I say, which isn”t an answer. Sloan saw the near drowning, but I saw everything my eyes have ever wanted to see, and I”m shaken. And it was better than my wildest fantasies.
”Don”t let it spoil the party.” Sloan inches closer. ”Everyone will be fine once they cool down.”
There”s no slam to announce the open and closed glass door, but Lara is behind me. The skin on the back of my neck prickles. Her attention is searing me with enough heat to burn. I have a feeling if I turn around, and if looks could kill…
Baiting the mountain lion, that”s what this is. I”m asking for trouble on top of a mess I already created.
Should I get ahead of the problem and apologize?
Am I willing to risk Lara tearing me to shreds in front of her friends?
Yes. The resounding answer is yes. If I don”t make amends, then?—
I turn on my heel to get to her before she disappears. ”Lara,” I start.
She holds up a hand to stop me in my tracks, back in her dress from earlier. ”I don”t want to hear it,” she mutters. ”Now isn”t the time.”
”I”m sorry. I”m really sorry.”
”Keep your apologies.” She flashes her teeth at me. ”Did you enjoy the view, Dylan?”
My gut churns with embarrassment.
”I”m not sure what you want me to say. I”ve apologized,” I reply. ”I never meant to?—”
”What?” Lara interrupts. She leans closer to keep the conversation between us. ”You didn”t mean to eye fuck me when you thought I didn”t see you looking?”
Something about those words captures my attention. ”You knew I was there?”
Once again, her tongue darts to wet her lower lip. This time, in a deliberate and slow gesture, she knows will catch my attention. Heat pools in my abdomen as awareness climbs. There”s anger in her. But there”s also something else. A darker emotion I”m too fucking scared to name.
”I”ll ask you again. Did. You. Like. The. View?”
This girl is going to be my death.
The familiar sound of a sports car”s revving engine resounds from the driveway. ”You called Parker back?”
Lara shakes her head, pushing past and purposely shoulder-checking me. ”Of course I did. He”s my boyfriend,” she calls, emphasizing the word boyfriend. ”Who else will I call when I”m having a moment?”
I”m caught in her wake and torn between the desperate desire to follow her and deal with Parker or disappear. Or… eat something. There”s still plenty of cake and food, and my stomach gives an ominous growl, reminding me I haven”t eaten all afternoon.
There goes Lara, though…
Space. She”ll need space. And I could use some of the stuff myself to puzzle over what she meant by her earlier statement. She”s known I was there at the doorway, and what? Decided to do the slow strip of her panties for me? Bent low to give me a glimpse of heaven and take it away?
Lara only does things for a reason.
Amanda is back, changed into her party dress, and surrounded by her friends with the mountain of presents at her back.
I try to keep my distance. To focus on the food. I grab a plate filled with all kinds of things, mostly made of cheese, and grab a secluded corner of the patio. Each bite is mechanical, with my thoughts a million miles away as I sit on the stone wall.
The voices of Lara and Parker arguing come from my right side.
This time, I”m an eavesdropper by accident, their voices loud enough that anyone can hear them.
”How the hell can you agree to a kiss, Lara? Get real.”
Oh, Parker sounds livid.
”You think I called you back here to rag on me about the bet?” she barks out. ”I”m upset, Parker. I called you for comfort.”
”And there are a few things I didn”t get to say because we had a damn audience earlier,” he hisses. ”You can”t go through with it.”
I shift closer to hear more. I”m curious but also tense up at the thin layer of threat in Parker”s voice.
Prick.
He knows who”ll win if it comes down to it. It doesn”t matter who gets to the gym. And if he yells at Lara, or says anything that gives indication he”ll hurt her, then I”m going to punch his nose into his brain and deal with the damn consequences later.
I grit my teeth.
”I don”t want to hear any more shit about a bet being a bet because the terms are bullshit. You did it to piss me off. Or he did it because he knows it”s the only way he”d ever get to have you.”
The stillness in the wake of his grunted statement tells me how pissed Lara is without seeing her face.
”Don”t tell me what to do, Parker. The deal is done,” she snaps with enough venom to have any man backing down. ”My sister almost drowned tonight. And she might have if Dylan hadn”t been there. I don”t want to hear another word about him. Do you understand?”
My chest puffs in pride as I wait for his answer.
Finally, Parker caves. ”I”m sorry, baby. Okay? Is that what you want me to say? I”m sorry.”
Back to the simpering playboy. It”s an act, one he uses like a weapon.
”I”m sorry,” Parker pushes.
”Listening to you is giving me a headache.”
I resist the urge to fist-pump the empty air. Sometimes, Lara might be moody, but Parker deserves whatever pissed-off mood she throws in his face.
”Crawl home, Parker,” she finishes, and she must be walking in my direction because she sounds closer. ”I know this isn”t your scene, and you”d rather not deal with children. Like I”d rather not deal with you right now.”
I”m too far away from the patio stairs for her to see me right when she comes up on that side, so
Lara focuses on Amanda, pasting a bright smile so you wouldn”t see the strain around her eyes unless you look for it. She stands beside her dad, the older man throwing an arm around her in pure joy.
Looking at them from here, I see they”re the perfect happy family.
Poor Parker. He might”ve brought Lara”s bite on himself, but being on the receiving end of a tongue-lashing like hers is no picnic. Lara knows where to hit to cause the most damage, and now Parker”s ego must be reeling.
Also… the angrier she is with him, the more likely she is to see his true colors. I stab my fork through a thick bite of vanilla cake and buttercream frosting and chew. His true colors might be an angle for me to explore.
Not now.
Not anytime soon, because the upcoming rodeo will require my complete attention once we finish the party tonight. But one day.
I still go over the possibilities. Parker is going to dig his own grave with his shit attitude. The best way to prove he”s not worth her time is to focus on me. Uncle Malcolm always says hard work is the only way to get ahead.
If there”s one thing I”m good at, it”s working hard.
The rodeo will be the first step.
”Hey, McClintock. Why don”t we have our own bet?” Parker hauls himself onto the patio to sit at my side on the stone wall. ”Since you heard the entire fucking conversation.”
I hurry to swallow the sweet frosting suddenly stuck to the roof of my mouth. ”Weren”t you told to crawl home like a good boy? Or do you want a kick in the nuts as a follow-up?”
He flashes me a grin that”s all pearly-white teeth, followed by a dry bark of laughter. There”s still a hint of the pretty boy in his face, the golden boy who always gets what he wants.
”You heard me, Dylan. How about you place a bet with me? The bronc–busting is coming up, and if you”re so sure you”re coming out the victor, then you won”t mind us making a wager on the outcome.”
I furrow my brow. ”What”s your deal?”
A round of cheers comes from the crowd gathered in a circle by the birthday girl at whatever gift she”s just unwrapped.
Parker stares at me. Unrelenting. ”Prove yourself.”
”I don”t have to prove shit to you.” I shake my head. ”Or anyone like you.”
”It”s something you”ve fought against your entire life, though, McClintock,” Parker pushes. ”Ever since Mommy and Daddy abandoned you with the aunt.”
He”s pushing the right buttons, and I”m emotionally raw enough to retaliate. I”m having a hard time holding back. My fingers curl into a fist at my side, hidden by the plate of food in the other.
”I”m not making a bet with you,” I say slowly.
”Because you”re chicken shit. You only want to see what you can get from Lara. The one girl who”ll never give you the time of day.” Parker”s face twists into a sneer. ”You know that, right? The reason why you”re so gone for her? It”s because you”re looking to prove you”re worth anything.”
I”m on my feet. ”My suggestion… if you”re smart enough to take it, would be to do what Lara said and disappear. Making trouble isn”t going to endear you to her, dude.” I flash him the same smile he gave me, but neither of us backs down—not when nerves are hot, and logic is so distant that I barely remember to keep my composure.
A second round of clapping and a shrill yelp from Amanda reach us. Maybe she”s gotten the gift she wanted after all.
”No bet,” I tell Parker.
”Chicken shit.”
”Call me whatever you want.” I leave my plate, head in the opposite direction, and grab my shirt. I tug it over my now dry torso.
I won”t let Parker get away with his taunts.
Although the things he said?—
I growl, shoving those thoughts aside. My past is my business. I shouldn”t care what Parker thinks or anyone else. Nothing else matters as long as my sister Juliet and I are safe.
It”s a party—a kid”s birthday party. And if I don”t behave here, I”m no better than Parker. We”ll have our moment. When it comes… I”ll make it count.