2. Cruz
CHAPTER 2
cruz
I noticed her the moment she walked into Bean Haven. Her bright blonde hair frames her heart-shaped face, cheeks flushed from the cold weather outside. She’s still bundled in a wool jacket that wraps tightly around her waist with a tie, her long legs looking so sexy covered in tight denim and thigh-high fuck-me boots.
My cock hardens behind my jeans, and I rub my palm hard against it under the table to relieve the ache. Emma is my best friend’s girlfriend, but fuck if I don’t want a piece of her. She’s easily the sexiest girl in this town, almost too young for me, but not young enough for me to run the other way. I push my boundaries by flirting with her, loving how she reacts to it. After Dom made his plan to share her with our best friend, Aidan, and I, it’s been open fucking season to get close to her. I need her to want me. To want us. She hasn’t come close to shutting down my advances. In fact, every interaction tells me that she enjoys it. And hell if I don’t love fucking with her.
I sip on my hot coffee, waiting for her to come to me just like I know she will. It would be almost rude of her not to sit with me when we’re both here alone. While Emma has no problem saying fuck you to the world, she won’t deny an opportunity to be on the receiving end of all my attention.
Her heels click on the hard floor as she leaves Hannah at the counter and walks directly to my table like a lamb heading unknowingly right into the den of the big bad wolf.
“Hello, angel,” I purr.
I don’t miss the way she rolls her eyes at the pet name and it only makes my dick harder. Fuck, I want to rip her apart.
“Want to join me?”
“Only until Lily gets here, if you don’t mind.”
“Now, why would I mind spending time with my favorite girl?”
She smiles as her phone chimes from inside her purse. Taking a seat across from me, she sets her things down and pulls it out, her shoulders dropping and a sigh releasing from her plump pink lips.
“Everything okay?”
She throws her phone back into her bag with a little more force than necessary, answering my question before her words do.
“Wes has stolen Lily away, so it looks like I’m stuck with you until I head to work.”
“Don’t act like you don’t love the idea of having coffee with me, angel. That hurts my feelings.”
I put my hand on my chest and feign heartache.
“Oh, shut up, Cruz. Have you talked to my boyfriend today?”
“Of course I have. We talk every day, perk of living together. Have you?”
“I woke up to a text from him, thank you.” She picks up her latte and brings it to her mouth, my eyes tracking the movement. “Then he stopped by my parents’ house for a kiss before going to Knockout.”
“And then Lily bailed on you. How lucky for me.”
Those perfectly plush lips are colored with a pink gloss that leaves a light stain on the lid of her white to-go cup. I wonder what they taste like. Her throat bobs as she takes another sip of the warm liquid and fuck if my hand doesn’t itch at my side to hold her by the throat and feel the movement against my palm.
“Earth to Cruz. Did you hear anything I just said?”
My eyes slowly work their way back up to meet her gaze. Her blonde hair swishes around her face as she shakes her head in irritation.
“I was imagining what your throat would feel like beneath my hand when you swallow. Repeat what you said for me?”
The crimson flush that moves across her cheeks is so sexy. I love bringing any reaction out of her and can’t wait for the opportunity to take my time to see what others I can force from her.
“You’re ridiculous,” she says as she tries to brush off my words as if they had no effect. Too bad her body betrays her. “I asked what you had going on the rest of the day.”
“Why, want to get out of here? Put my wonder to rest?” I say with a wink.
“No, I don’t want to get out of here with you,” she lies, quickened breathing and a flash of heat that crosses her face telling the truth. “I don’t know how Dom hasn’t thrown you through a wall yet. I’m heading to work in less than an hour.”
Little does she know, her precious prince is actually a truly fucked-in-the-head voyeur who gets off watching other people fuck . . . and dictating the scene in front of him. She’ll find out soon, though.
“Huh. Weird. I’ll be going to the same place. Looks like we’re stuck together for the rest of the day. What a pity.”
“You seem utterly disappointed,” she deadpans.
“Not at all, angel. Complete opposite. Now tell me, how’s the writing going?”
Her face lights up at my interest in something that clearly makes her so happy. The perk of living with Dom and Aidan is that I get to know Emma just by listening to her conversations at the house. I’m not a huge talker, but I observe everything. She may not have told me directly that she’s writing a book, but I’ve overheard her talking to Dom about it on more than one occasion.
“It’s going really well, I’ve felt pretty inspired lately. Just hoping I can break into the dark romance genre. It’s so saturated.”
“Dark romance, huh? What’s that exactly?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“It’s romance, but with darker themes. Usually explicit scenes, violence, power dynamics, obsessions, BDSM . . . those kinds of things,” she educates me without a hint of embarrassment or discomfort.
Well, fuck me. Now I’m really interested. She’s speaking my love language.
“And you’re writing about those themes? Tell me about it.”
“You really want to hear about my book?”
“I do,” I tell her honestly.
She spends the next twenty minutes going into detail about the novel she’s writing while I finish off my coffee and listen to every word. She’s so passionate about it that I can’t help but get sucked into her vortex, enraptured by everything she’s saying. When she briefly skims over the sexual dynamics of the couple in her book, I don’t press for more information, even though I’m fucking dying to know what’s going on in that creative little brain of hers.
“You should be proud of yourself. You sold me. I want to be your first customer, so you better let me purchase a book once it’s published.”
“Thanks for saying that, Cruz. I wish my parents agreed with you,” she says with a sigh.
“Fuck ’em, angel. Do you. You only got one life, you gonna live it trying to make everyone else happy? Living by anyone’s standards but your own is gonna make for a sad life full of disappointment.”
“Damn, aren’t you wise.”
“Not wise. Just determined to live for myself. I was born to a shitty-ass family in a world that doesn’t give a shit whether you drown or not.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. I know Dom is, too.”
“I wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for him,” I whisper the confession, giving her just a little piece of me that I keep locked up tight.
* * *
Walking outside, a devious plan hits me as I stand in front of Emma’s little bug. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her, but when she got a phone call from her mother, I excused myself to give her privacy.
Checking my surroundings to make sure there’s no one around, I open her driver’s-side door and pop the hood, saying a quick thank you that she’s just like everyone else in this God-forsaken town and trusts too easily. I quickly disconnect the battery, slamming the hood shut. I return to the entrance of the shop, pulling a cigarette from the pack in my pocket and lighting up.
A few moments later, Emma walks out and rolls her eyes when she sees me.
“That’s gonna kill you, ya know.”
“Nah, angel. It’ll take something more exciting than cigarettes to take me out. Plus, there’s still so much pleasure I want to experience,” I say, raising my eyebrows suggestively.
Emma’s hand comes hard and fast, but I just happen to be a trained fighter and have dodged hits since I was a toddler. My fingers curl around her dainty wrist before she has the chance to make contact with me with what was going to be a decent smack. One small tug forces her to step closer into my space. Her other hand goes to my chest to push me away, but I don’t release her. My eyes flick down to her pink lips, and I’m desperate to know what they taste like. The only thing holding me back from swiping my tongue across her flesh and devouring her in a kiss that will leave them bruised and puffy, is that Dom is my best friend and we have a plan to stick to. As much as I want to say fuck it, I won’t.
Dom and I met at Knockout as kids. I was nine when he caught me eating a stolen hot dog from Jackson’s Hot Dog Stand in the alley between the gym and the chain link fence that borders the building and the edge of town. He brought me inside and gave me a safe place to hide away from my abusive father and alcoholic mom. Knockout became a sort of safe haven for me.
“Careful, angel. I like the pain,” I warn, applying pressure to her wrist, causing her veins to pulse under my thumb. “This’ll be your only warning. You’re lucky you’re getting that much.”
Those big eyes flutter closed at my words and my lips turn up in an unrestrained smile, something I don’t do often.
“You’re shameless, Cruz. Anyone ever told you that?” she nearly whispers, her breath noticeable in the cold winter air between us. I can feel the internal struggle she’s having between wanting me and her loyalty to Dom. If only she knew that soon, she won’t have to choose.
“No one but you .”
Emma’s gaze drops to the ground in response to my words. “I really need to get going, Cruz.”
“Then why haven’t you?” I ask, my tone dripping with sarcasm.
We both look down at her palm gripping my black shirt in a fist. She’s been free to go for minutes now, yet she’s still standing here, suspended in this moment with me. Fuck, this girl.
She jerks her hand back as if it were burned, stepping away to put much-needed space between us. I miss the close proximity immediately.
Emma moves quickly to get to her car, but I step into her path, stopping her retreat from me, not ready for this little moment to end.
“Move out of my way. Didn’t your parents teach you manners?”
I squint at her, my head cocking to the side, but I don’t flinch from her words. Everyone in town knows that my parents were abusive pieces of shit that died in a house fire. What they don’t know is that I was the one who started it with them inside. They didn’t suffer—at least I don’t think they did, not that I care either way. They were too drugged out to even notice the place going up in flames.
“Shit, Cruz, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Angel, no harm, no foul. My family is at Knockout and that’s all that matters to me. I’ll meet you there.”
I move to walk away, heading toward my 1969 Chevy Nova that my boys and I rebuilt together over several years. It’s still a piece of shit, rusted all over, but it has good bones.
I only care about three things in this shit world. Dom, Aidan, and my car. Everything else be damned. Even if this blonde little minx is starting to chip away at my icy exterior and occupying space in my mind. And has been for months.
I kill some time by lighting up another smoke, pulling a deep drag into my lungs, relishing the instant relief the hit gives me. It takes less than two minutes before Emma slams her car door, the sound reverberating through the air.
“Motherfucks!” she yells and my lips twitch into a satisfied smirk.
I watch as she pops up the hood and leans in, looking everything over as if she’s a mechanic. The thought of her in coveralls with nothing underneath, grease on her face, and hair pulled up stirs up some fantasy in my head. My cock swells against my tight denim jeans, pushing the metal of my piercing painfully against the zipper, only turning me on further.
I take a few measured steps in her direction.
“Problem, miss?”
She jerks upright, her head banging against the hood, hands flying up to clutch the spot she hit.
“Fuck! Cruz! Don’t sneak up on me like that. Jesus!”
Batting her hands away, I grab the sides of her face to pull her close to me.
“What are you doing, dammit?” she says as she struggles to get out of my hold, hands grasping my wrists to pull me away.
“Making sure you aren’t bleeding, you pain in the ass. Hold still.”
She settles after a moment, and I release her face, threading my fingers through her hair to check for a wound, coming up empty, thankfully. I’d feel like shit if I returned her to Dom cut and bleeding.
“You’ll live. Car won’t start?” I ask, playing stupid.
“It won’t turnover at all. Completely dead.”
“I’ll call my guys and get it towed to the shop for you so I can take a look later. We’re not jumping it out here while we freeze our asses off.”
Her shoulders sag in relief.
“Looks like I’m riding with you to work.”
“If you ask nicely.”
My lips twitch as I take in her frustrated features, her hip dips to the side as her hand rests on it with a little attitude. Biting my bottom lip, trying to hold back the toothy smile that wants to consume me, I wait for her to do as she’s told.
“Cruz, can I please get a ride with you to Knockout? It would mean a lot to me.”
“Good girl, angel. Now get your ass in the car,” I say as I slam the hood of her bug closed. I pull her gym bag and purse from the back seat and jog to my Chevy to find Emma already sitting in the passenger seat. Her perfect blonde hair and expensive clothes are such a contrast against the torn leather seats. It’s the first time I’ve had a girl in here, and for a moment, my cold, dead heart beats rapidly in my chest, my lungs seizing. She’s too good for me.
Shaking my head to get my thoughts straight, I fire her up. The engine rumbles to life, vibrations rippling through the seats beneath us.
“Buckle up, angel. Wouldn’t want anything else to happen to you before I return you to Dom.”
I slowly back out of the spot on Main Street, saying a silent prayer that the streets have been cleared. With my right hand on the gearshift and the other on the wheel, I press the gas. The Nova’s rear tires spin for a second before gripping the snow-covered asphalt, kicking up slush as the back end fishtails slightly. Emma’s hand flies to the “oh shit” bar above her door. I chuckle under my breath as I fly down Main Street.