Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
“I’ll take Cassie home,”Pres said once they’d finished loading Marley’s van. He’d driven here separately from the rest of them, thanks to having to drop off Delilah at his mom’s.
“It’s fine, I got it.” Marley shrugged, clearly not getting the message. “Her house is on the way.”
Pres gritted his teeth. “Seriously. I want to talk to her about a song.”
“What song?” Marley asked him.
This was the problem with brothers. They knew you too well to let anything slide. “Just something I want us to work on.”
“Then we all need to work on it,” Marley said slowly. From the corner of his eye he could see Alex talking to Cassie again. She laughed at something he said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
And that pissed him off even more.
“I’m. Taking. Her. Home.” There. Could it be any fucking clearer?
Marley blinked at the edge in Pres’ voice. For a moment he said nothing. Just stared at his twin, as though trying to work him out.
“Okay?” Pres prompted.
Marley turned his head to look at Cassie before turning back to look at Pres. “What’s going on?”
Well great. Now he’d laid it on too much. Cassie was right, he was a damn weirdo.
He couldn’t get it right if he tried.
He let out a long breath. “There’s nothing going on.”
“There’s definitely something going on,” Marley said. “But I get it, you don’t want to talk about it.” He looked over at Cassie. “Just promise me something.”
“What?” Pres kicked at a stone with the tip of his sneaker. He had a feeling whatever his brother wanted, he wasn’t going to like it.
“Just don’t hurt her. Or yourself.” Marley looked him in the eye. “Definitely not yourself. You’ve been through a lot.”
“I’m fine.”
“Sure you are. That’s why you’re sneaking around behind your twin brother’s back with a girl.”
“That’s your move, not mine,” Pres pointed out.
“Only because the girls always preferred you.”
“That’s when we were younger. Not true anymore, my friend. I’ve seen your Instagram likes.”
“You’re not even on Instagram, you idiot.” Marley laughed, and the atmosphere between them lightened. Pres felt his muscles relax. This was how they were meant to be.
Easy. Fun. Brothers who loved each other fiercely.
He wasn’t planning to let Cassie come between them. Just the opposite.
In a weird way she was bringing them all together.
“Take her home,” Marley said, shaking his head, a wry smile pulling at his lips. “I’ll deal with Alex.”
“What are you gonna tell him?” Pres asked.
“Leave it to me.” Marley pulled the keys from his pocket. “Alex, get your butt over here and help me finish loading the truck. We’ve got some things to do.”
Pres was silent as she climbed into the Beast. He closed the door softly behind her before walking around to the driver’s side of the cab. She buckled herself in, wondering what he and Marley had been talking about.
By the way they kept looking over, it was either her or Alex, and she was pretty sure neither of them were that interested in the bassist.
The parking lot was dark, almost empty of cars and trucks now. The lights to the bar had been switched off, only the owner and a couple of staff members were inside the locked building, cleaning up after tonight’s full house.
Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out and saw Alex’s name on the screen.
Is he kidnapping you? – Alex
“What’s got you smiling?” Presley asked as he pulled the driver’s door shut. He started the engine up.
Pink Floyd blasted out of the speakers.
“Alex thinks you’re kidnapping me,” she said, tapping out a reply.
Yes. He’s asking for a reward of one bass guitar and two Big Macs. Leave them by the trash can in the town square. – Cassie
“You messaging him now?” Presley asked. He didn’t sound too pleased about it.
“Yes. Are you jealous?” she replied. Part of her hoped he’d say yes.
“Nope.”
“That’s good. Because we have a little wager. If we get famous I’ve promised to go on a date with him.”
Presley frowned. “Why the hell would you do that?”
To get a rise out of you.
“Because I can’t resist a gamble. And because he’s going to lose.” She smiled. “But don’t worry, my lips won’t be going anywhere near his.”
“Glad to hear it,” he muttered. “You deserve better than Alex.”
Well this was going somewhere unexpected. “Do I?”
His lips twitched at the teasing tone of her voice. “Yes.”
“Who would be better,” she said, touching her fingertip to her mouth. “Hmm, let’s see. There’s one guy in the band who’s completely hot and every time I look at him I blush at the things he could do to me.”
Presley pulled onto the road, shaking his head.
“Don’t you want to know his name?” she asked.
“Surprise me.”
“Marley.” She grinned. “The guy is hot as hell.”
“He’s my identical fucking twin.”
She started to laugh because teasing Presley was way more enjoyable than she’d ever expected. He actually looked grumpy as he took a left and headed back to Hartson’s Creek.
“But can you play the drums like him?” she asked.
“Actually, I can. We both learned, much to my mom’s distress.”
“You did? Why didn’t I know that?” It gave her a weird thrill that he’d volunteered something to her. He wasn’t always this talkative.
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know.” They’d reached a stoplight. The red reflected through the windshield, onto his face.
“Like what?” She shifted in her seat to look at him. His eyes were still on the light, his hands tight on the wheel.
“Like I love the way you growl my name when you come.”
She took in a sharp breath. Well that was unexpected. “I don’t growl.”
“Yeah, you do.”
“Prove it.” She was grinning now.
“That’s the plan.”
She liked Dirty Presley so much more than Angry Presley. The light turned green and he started to accelerate, and she put her hand on his denim clad thigh, her fingers dangerously close to her favorite part of him.
“So you’re driving me home to fuck me?” she asked.
“I’m driving you home because I want to make sure you get there safely. The rest is up to you. Obviously, I’d like to come in.”
“In more ways than one.” She moved her hand up further. Cupping the thick ridge of him. Damn, he was hard. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d like you inside of me, too.”
His neck undulated as he swallowed. “Keep touching me like this and I’ll be pulling over long before we get you home.”
“Keep making promises like that and I’m never going to stop touching you,” she teased. But she released him anyway, sliding her hand back down to his thigh. Keeping one hand on the wheel, he placed the other over hers, sliding their fingers together in a clasp.
She tried not to smile too hard.
Presley Hartson was holding her hand and it made her giddy. Damn, she was an idiot for this man.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, her cheeks pink as he moved her up and down on him. “Presley…”
She was going to come. He could tell by the way she’d tightened around him. The way her nipples were taut and she couldn’t keep a rhythm so he was having to help.
Christ, she was beautiful. Her hair was down and a little damp with perspiration, her makeup smeared, but he’d never seen her looking better than she did right now, riding his cock like it was her favorite sport.
“Do it…” he rasped. He wasn’t going to be far behind her at this rate. Not with the way she felt so tight and so good. He pulled her down for a kiss, their mouths moving together as he rolled his hips underneath her.
And then he reached for her nipple, pinching it until she called his name out again.
“That was a growl.”
She started to laugh against his mouth. But it turned into another groan as her orgasm overtook her, her pussy fluttering around his cock, her fingers pawing at his hair.
And then he was following her into the sweetest damn oblivion he’d ever experienced. Surging inside of her as she collapsed onto him, her body still in the throes of her own delight.
He was breathing so fast he wasn’t sure his heart could take it. Could feel the thud of his pulse against his ears. He pushed the damp hair away from Cassie’s face and smiled at her.
“You’re fucking beautiful.”
“Am I also beautiful when I’m not fucking?” she managed to rasp out.
“You know you are.”
She was laying on his chest, her body splayed out over his. They’d have to move soon. But right now he couldn’t shift a damn muscle even if you paid him to. He was spent and he liked it here too much.
Holding her tight.
“It’s funny,” she said. “But I grew up thinking about everything that was wrong with me. I wasn’t thin enough. I wasn’t pretty enough. I couldn’t do the right kind of bun with my hair.”
“You thought that?” He frowned. “Why?”
“Mostly because that’s what my mom told me.” She traced the tattoo on his bicep. He liked the way her fingers felt on his skin.
Like an anchor. Keeping him right where he needed to be.
“Your mom told you that? Seriously?”
“She said it was for my own good. That I needed to be realistic about who I was. And realistic about the things I put into my mouth, if I wanted to be a dancer.”
“That’s messed up.”
“I know.” She lifted a brow. “Years of therapy taught me that.”
“You’ve had therapy?” he asked.
“Yes. Have you?”
“I took Delilah to therapy after her mom…” He trailed off. He didn’t want to talk about another woman when Cassie was lying naked on top of him. “Kind of. Not really.”
“I’d highly recommend it. It helped me love who I am.”
He kissed her bare shoulder. “I’m glad. And your mom was wrong, by the way.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“What’s wrong with some parents?” he asked. “I can’t ever imagine saying something like that to my kid. I want her to be confident. To be happy.”
“That’s because you’re a good dad.”
“What happened to yours?”
“He left my mom when I was a baby. For another dancer.”
“Ouch.” He wrinkled his nose.
“Yeah. I suspect her wanting me to be perfect came from that. She wanted to show him that she could bring me up without him.”
“He wasn’t around?”
“Not much. I hear from him at Christmas and that’s about it.”
“And your mom?” he asked.
“She travels a lot. She used to come see me if I was in a show, but there haven’t been any of those for some time.”
He swallowed. “She sounds like a bit of a bitch.”
Cassie laughed again. Damn he liked the way it sounded. “Yeah, well lucky for you, you won the parent lottery.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty good parents.”
“And Delilah won too.”
His heart clenched at that. But he wasn’t going to follow the thought that kept poking at his mind.
Wasn’t going to think about his past at all.
“Can I ask you something?” he said.
“Sure.”
“You said I was being weird because I was carrying your bag. Do you not want me to do that?”
She lifted her head, their gazes connecting. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“But you meant it, so I’m wondering what the non-weird thing to do is.”
“To treat me like you treat anybody else, I guess. But I do like the little gestures. Most girls do, I think. It’s nice that you have this kind of protective thing about you.”
“I have a protective thing?”
“I think so.” She nodded, looking thoughtful. “How have you been with other women after…”
“After sex?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know,” he said, honestly. “You’re the first woman I’ve slept with since…” Since Jade died. He still couldn’t bring himself to say it.
From the shock in her eyes, Cassie understood it anyway.
“But it’s been what… three years?”
“Yeah,” he replied gruffly.
“And you haven’t had sex with anybody at all?”
“I’ve had a lot of sex with myself.”
Her mouth twitched. “I’d like to see that sometime.” Her cheeks flushed, like she was imagining it.
“I’d like to see you touch yourself, too,” he told her. “But maybe we should shower first. I’m still sweaty from the gig, and then from you.”
She grinned at him. “That sounds good to me.”
“It does, doesn’t it?”