14. Drake
Chapter 14
Drake
I ’ve never experienced sex like that with anyone. I knew our first time together was filled with sparks, but this time? We lit the room on fire. I felt out of control, not knowing what I wanted and how much I needed. I just knew I needed her.
I lay back against the headboard and she rests her head on my chest, her arm draped over my stomach and mine in her hair. The sheets are over us, but her naked form against mine is calming.
“Tell me about Lily,” she asks quietly as she traces the tattoo on my arm.
“She was my best friend.” My chest gets tight but I continue to talk. “Even if she called me an annoying younger bother .” I laugh then sigh when January places a kiss on my chest. “We really enjoyed being together and doing things, mostly to make our parents mad, but isn’t that the bond of all siblings? See how far you can push Mom and Dad?” I chuckle again.
“Oh, it is. The four of us used to love to cause chaos in the house. Nothing bad, just enough to get them shaking their heads.”
“I know how it was with two of us, so I can only imagine four.” I smile and continue running my hand through her hair. “She used to sneak me into high school parties. Her senior year was a blast for me too. I remember homecoming weekend, there was a big dance. Everyone was going, but my parents said I was too young. That a house party wasn’t the place for a freshman, let alone a Ford freshman.”
“What does that mean?”
“My Dad had a certain image to uphold. And if his kids were running wild in the neighborhood and talk got back about it, it would make him look like he had no control at home.” I sigh. “He shouldn’t have worried; he had threats and a loud voice that made us fall into line most of the time. Except for that weekend.”
She turns her head and rests her chin on her hand on my chest and watches me with a smile. “What did you do?”
“They were having a dinner party, so it made it easy for us to leave. Dad was so engrossed in charming the stuck-up neighbors, he barely noticed when I said I was going to my room. He was probably just happy to have me out of his hair. Lily was already at the football game, so when it hit the fourth quarter, she sent me a text and told me to walk to the end of the driveway. I ran tree to tree, glancing back at the house, and when I saw lights coming down the road, I ran to it and jumped in the car.” I grin. “I’ll never forget her saying, ‘Hey, little bro, nice of you to join us tonight. Ready to have the time of your life?’ Her friends all laughed and whistled as we took off into the night.”
“Was it the time of your life?”
“It was. The entire school was there. The music was amazing, people were jumping naked in the pool. There was food, beer, and girls upon girls everywhere I turned.”
She laughs at me and pokes my ribs. “Every teenage boy's dream huh?”
“It really was. I was seeing things I had only seen in the movies.” I waggle my brows so she gets my drift, but then we fall silent. “That was the last party I’d ever go to with her.” I bite my bottom lip. No amount of talking about her ever makes it easier. I love to remember, but it’s so damn hard at the same time.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers out and sits up, wrapping herself around me.
“It was a great night, and I’ll always hold onto that memory.”
“Thank you for telling me.” She kisses my chest again and curls back into my side. “How did she die?”
Her voice is almost inaudible, but I was waiting for that question. “She was in a car accident a month before graduation.”
“Oh, Drake.”
I bite my bottom lip, trying to maintain my composure. “It was the hardest day of my life. Until the funeral beat it. But graduation? That day was the worst. My parents insisted we go. We needed to show up as a solid family in front of the town. I remember staring at the empty chair in the middle of her friends and classmates. And then they called her name and the silence that fell over the crowd was so incredibly loud.” I swallow hard. “I know that makes absolutely no sense, but it's the only way to describe it.”
She nods. “I understand perfectly. When my dad died, I remember standing in the funeral home wishing for silence. The cries, the talking, the constant tapping of someone's foot on the floor had me screaming inside. But when I went home and laid in bed that night, the house was so eerily quiet I couldn’t sleep. I was waiting for a noise that never came.”
“Do you want to tell me about Lily’s dad?” Her body stiffens against me, but I just wait for her to answer. I’ve a feeling she’s never really opened up about any of this, and I want to be the one she does it for.
“There’s nothing to really tell. I met him when I was in New York. He showed me a flashy lifestyle that I’d never seen before. It was fast and exciting but would never lead to anything good. Of course, at the time, I didn’t think that, but looking back now, it was a disaster.”
I hear such a difference in her voice. Speaking of her dad, it’s solemn but is loaded with sorrow. When she talks about Lily’s dad, it almost sounds like relief. “Do you miss him?”
She pulls back from me. “Why would you ask me that?”
“Because I need to know who I’m competing with here, January. If he’s got a place in here,” I tap her chest over heart, “I need to know there’s room for me too.”
She drops her eyes from me and shakes her head before lifting them again, shiny and red. “I don’t miss him.” She whispers it so softly I almost miss it. “I don’t miss him,” she says a bit stronger this time, “and that makes me a terrible person.”
“Hey, no it doesn’t.” I pull her close, my anger beginning to rise because, without knowing a single thing about him, I can just tell this guy clearly was not good to her.
“He made life… hard.” She finishes the sentence and I know not to push. That wall I brought down earlier is beginning to go back up.
I cradle her into my side, pulling her sheets up around us again. “Then let me make it easy.”
“I’m anything but easy.”
“The bathroom at the Range Bar and Grill says differently.” I squeeze her, letting her know I’m joking but also hoping to break the tension.
“I’m serious, Drake. Our family is broken, and life with a daughter is going to only get harder.”
“Nothing is broken, January. But I think rebuilding a life with someone, learning how good it can be, how it should be, would be pretty amazing.”
“How do you know that at twenty-six years old?”
“How don’t you know it at thirty?” I counter her, and she watches me so intently. “I know what you’re thinking. You're thinking I’m too good to be true, and you know what? You’d be right.” I snicker as she smacks my chest. “I didn't know I wanted any of this, I just saw a gorgeous blonde and had to know more. And so far, I’m really liking what I know.”