Chapter Nine #2
I look around and note that no one is too terribly close to us. It’s as if we have the place to ourselves nearly.
“So why Halloween?” I ask when she settles next to me.
She shrugs. “I also liked the idea of being able to dress up as someone else for a day. Forget your problems for a night. Then I fell in love with everything fall. I love carving pumpkins, going for hayrides, bobbing for apples. You name it, I’m there for it. The fall just feels…refreshing.”
“Where do the scary movies fit in?” I ask, holding out the popcorn I bought at the stand to her.
She takes a few pieces as she thinks about her answer.
“I don’t know, really. I guess when you grow up like I did, there isn’t much that scares me anymore.”
I tense. “Did someone hurt you?”
I’ll kill them. I don’t care who they are. I will find them, and I will end their life.
“No. Not like you’re thinking. It’s more that they weren’t interested in me.
They wanted the check that came for me. Did you know most babies get adopted quickly?
I didn’t because my mother was addicted to drugs, so I was coming down from a high when I was born.
I cried a lot, and people didn’t want me.
I had some behavioral issues growing up that made foster families deem me as unruly.
By the time I hit my teens, I learned to control myself, but it was too late.
So I guess scary movies became an escape for me.
I survived my life up to that point, so what would a scary monster really be able to do to me? ”
I move closer to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “No one will hurt you now. I’ll make sure of it.”
She gives me a small smile. “Thank you.”
“So which is your favorite scary movie then?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Scream. It’s so funny because it’s making fun of the other scary movies, but like it’s also supposed to be scary. I don’t know. I just love it.”
“Well, it’s a good thing it’s the third movie tonight.”
She looks at me so excited. “Really?”
I nod.
She jumps into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck.
“This is the best date ever.”
I smile, hugging her back to me. When she goes to move away, I pull her back.
“Why don’t you lie here on my chest? If you wanted, I mean.”
She must want to because she settles on my chest as the lights start to dim. Then the first movie is playing.
I couldn’t even tell you which movie it is. I focus all of my attention on the beautiful girl in my arms. I stroke her hair, her arms, whatever part of her body I can reach. She doesn’t seem to mind. She watches the movie with rapt attention.
When the movie ends, she sits up and stretches.
“I’m going to the bathroom,” she tells me.
“Want me to walk with you?”
She shakes her head. “I’ll be right back.”
As soon as she’s out of sight, I open my phone.
There’s the group chat we have with Esme and the one without her. I open the one without her.
Me: Any updates?
It takes a good thirty seconds for a response.
Levi: Focus on our girl. The run is going fine.
I let out a relieved breath. When Esme is here in my arms, I can forget that I left my brothers to handle the drop for the cartel by themselves, but as soon as she left, I knew I should check in.
I pocket my phone, focusing back on the date. I smile when I see Esme heading back over.
I figured she would distance herself again, but she doesn’t. She settles back into my side.
As the next movie starts, she turns to me, whispering, “I never asked. How did you guys meet?”
I smile. “We all grew up together. Levi and I connected first. Walker came later. We just sorta adopted him.” I swallow hard. “We had another friend too, but that didn’t work out.”
I hate thinking about Zade anymore. He forced us to let him into our group and made us do the poly thing.
It worked out for us in the end because we found it’s what we really wanted, but he went from a friend to a cruel leader we couldn’t bear to be around.
The day he died was both a blessing and a curse.
She looks up at me, not that she can see much in the dark. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It is what it is,” I tell her.
She settles back on my chest, her leg thrown over mine. The longer we lie here, the more comfortable she gets. I keep her close to me as she finally whispers again.
“Was it a girl?”
“Hmm?” I mumble, not following.
“The friend that didn’t work out.”
I turn her face, cupping it. “No. It wasn’t a girl. We’ve never had anyone with all of us the way we want. You would be our first.”
Sure, we’ve slept with girls as a group before when Zade was alive, but it never felt right. It felt forced.
She sucks in a breath as she stares up at me. Then she cranes her neck until she can reach my lips. I meet her halfway, letting her lead the kiss.
It starts off slow, almost as if she’s testing the waters. Then she readjusts, straddling my hips to give herself better access.
I keep my hands on her hips as she kisses me deeper. Slowly her hips start to grind on me, making my dick impossibly hard. I don’t stop her. I only help guide her, chasing that high.
She moans into my mouth. I swallow the sound, not willing to share it with anyone but my brothers.
She continues to gyrate on me until she comes, her body growing tense in my arms before she collapses onto my chest. She lies there several minutes before she slides off to the side. I wrap her back up in my arms as I kiss her hair. She is stiff now, though. Not as relaxed as she should be.
Pulling back, I look at her face. She has tears in her eyes.
I fucked up.
I don’t know how, but I did.
“What’s wrong, darling?” I ask her.
“I don’t do that. Please don’t think of me like that,” she whispers back.
“Like what?” I need to know what she means.
“A slut.” She looks away, ashamed.
I pull her face back to mine before gripping her neck and pulling her close so I can whisper in her ear.
“I never want to hear you call yourself that again. You are not a slut. You’re a beautiful woman who was feeling some sort of way while making out with a man who is going to be in your life for a long time, so don’t let shame bleed into what we did here. It was pleasure.”
She turns her cheek to mine, rubbing against it lightly before I hear her words spoken in my ear. “I didn’t even kiss Troy until the seventh date. This isn’t like me. I don’t know what came over me. What if I don’t choose you?”
“Whether you choose me or them or all of us or, hell, none of us, I will still be here for you. This doesn’t have to affect anything. It felt good, didn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then stop letting society tell you how to feel. How do you feel right now? You, Esme. Not the Esme you think you should be,” I growl.
“I feel good. I could nap.” She leans her head against mine.
“Then nap on my chest. I’ll wake you for Scream.”
Pulling back, I let her lie on my chest. I feel when she drifts off, her body relaxing completely.
I think Esme wants what we do, but she needs to get out of her head.
We have our work cut out for us, but it will be worth it.
Esme is worth it.