Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
SINCLAIR
I t’s November and we’re about three weeks into our nonstop sex fest when August drops a bomb.
“I want you to come home with me.” His tone is casual, as is his body language, but I see the flicker of something unfamiliar in his gaze just before he jerks it away from me.
It looked like nerves. As in he’s nervous.
Well, that’s just great. I’m now anxious too.
We’re in bed in his room at the frat house. I sort of hate coming here, but it’s guaranteed privacy since he has his own room and we can’t hook up all over campus all the time, though we have. In one of the study rooms at the library. In an unused classroom in the science building. August is rather creative and when he wants me, he wants me. He won’t take no for an answer, not that I tell him no much.
Have I uttered the words no to him lately? I don’t believe so. He tells me where to meet him and I do it. Tells me to take off my clothes and they’re flying off my body. Demands I get on birth control so he won’t get me pregnant and I willingly go to the on-campus clinic. The last thing I want is a baby. Right now, all I want to do is practice making them. With August. All the time.
“Did you hear what I said?” His deep voice bleeds through my sex-filled thoughts and I blink at him, confused at first.
Then I remember what he said.
I want you to come home with me.
Oh shit. This sounds serious.
“Come home?” I sound like an idiot, repeating his words, but I need more clarity. “As in to your apartment in New York?”
That’s what I’m hoping he’s referring to.
He slowly shakes his head. “I want you to spend time with my parents. Meet my father.”
I swallow hard, unable to find words. This is—momentous. Important. I know enough now about the Lancaster family to know they believe in instant true love, just like August explained to me. If he wants to take me to meet his parents? I think this means he’s…what?
Falling in love with me?
Noooo.
The tiny voice inside my brain screeches, hell yes, bitch! Open your eyes!
That tiny voice can go to hell.
“Um…when?” My voice is shaky and I hate myself for being so obvious.
“This weekend.”
I sit up in bed so I can look into his eyes. It may be dark but I can still see him. “August. It’s Thursday.”
“So?”
“Thursday night,” I stress, scratching my bare shoulder. Yes, I’m naked and yes, we just had sex and it was amazing as per usual. “When do you want to leave?”
“Tomorrow morning. You don’t have class and neither do I and we can beat traffic if we leave early enough,” he explains, sounding completely logical .
Me on the other hand? I am feeling completely irrational at the thought of leaving tomorrow to go meet his freaking parents. “You haven’t given me enough time to prepare.”
“What is there to prepare for? Pack some clothes and whatever essentials you need to bring and we’ll leave.”
“How are we getting there?”
“My car.”
“You have a car here?” I had no idea.
“Not recently. But I just received my new car Monday night.” He smiles. I swear his teeth shine in the darkness. “Had it delivered and everything. I upgraded to a new Porsche.”
Oh God. My dad would love to get his hands on that, I’m sure. “You didn’t tell me about this.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Your car? Or going to your parents for me to meet them?”
“Both.” He sits up, grabbing hold of me so I have no choice but to sit in his lap. “They’re going to love you.”
“Maybe,” I hedge, nerves eating me up inside. What if they don’t? What if they don’t approve? I am the daughter of the inventor of Jock Rot. That’s not prestigious at all. And these Lancasters tend to pair up with people who are on the same level, and I am not even close to their level.
“They are. My mother already does.” He says it with such finality I can’t help but get caught up in believing him. He slips his arms around my waist and tugs me closer so that I’m sitting directly on top of his now erect dick. “Why do you look worried?”
“I am…me.” I tap my fingers against my bare chest and his gaze drops to the spot, lingering on my naked breasts. “And you are—” I tap the center of his chest. “You.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
He sounds offended and that’s cute. It really is. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get it.
“My dad invented jock anti-itch cream. Your parents?— ”
“Fell in love despite the fact that my mother’s mother had an affair with my father’s…father.” He grimaces. “It’s a complicated story.”
My jaw drops. “You made that up.”
“No. I didn’t.” He dips his head, his mouth on my neck, leaving a trail of hot kisses across my skin. “My dead grandmother despised my mother. Hated her guts because she represented the woman her husband had an affair with. My family is fucked up. Just like yours.”
I close my eyes, sucking in a breath when his hand settles on my breast and gives it a gentle squeeze. “But they’re rich.”
“So are yours.”
“Old money is better than new money.” I’m shaking at the way he thumbs my nipple, toying with it.
“Old money is—different than new. It’s not necessarily better.” He removes his hand from my breast to cup my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “Come home with me. I’m dying for them to get to know you.”
“Why? Is this some sort of trick?”
An irritated noise leaves him and he gives my face the slightest shake. “What do I have to do to make you believe me when I say that I’m serious about this. About you.”
I blink at him, overcome. My throat is thick with emotion and I don’t know why. It’s not like he’s declared his undying love for me, but this is close. August isn’t great with emotion and neither am I so that makes us quite the pair. But for whatever reason, it works. I care about him.
I’m falling in love with him, and it’s scary.
“I want you to meet my mother.” He leans in and kisses me, his lips still on mine when he continues to speak. “My father. My brother and my sister and that bumbling idiot she might be married to. Oh and their monster baby.”
“I know Iris. And I did meet your mother.” Far too briefly and just remembering how we met is still embarrassing .
“That’s right.” He kisses me again. “I want you to get closer to my mother and sister. And the monster baby and my father. He’s the biggest monster out of all of us, but I know he’ll love you.”
I am flat-out terrified at him calling his father a monster. “What if he doesn’t like me?”
August kisses me again, his tongue darting out for the lightest lick. Right at the center of my mouth. “If he doesn’t like you, then fuck him. That’s what he said about his mother. He’ll understand.”
I very much doubt that but I don’t bother arguing with him. “Okay.”
He pulls away slightly so he can stare into my eyes and when our gazes meet, his is filled with so much happiness my heart threatens to burst out of my chest. “You’ll come home with me?”
I nod, surprised at how enthused he sounds. August isn’t enthused with much of anything unless it involves the two of us naked and wrapped around each other like connected pretzels. “Yes. It’ll be—fun.”
“It will be.” He kisses me yet again. “You’ve told your parents about me, right?”
I freeze and he senses it, leaning back to look into my eyes yet again. “Um…”
“Sin.” His voice is firm and I keep my head bent, ashamed. “Tell them about me.”
“I told my mom. Sort of.” And that feels like a long time ago. She kept harassing me after I did mention August’s name, constantly asking if things had become serious between us, but I either ignored her texts or avoided her questions. Eventually she stopped asking and I haven’t brought him up since.
“What about your dad?”
I shake my head, fighting the humiliation that wants to spill all over me. Once my father finds out I’m dating a Lancaster, he’ll become insufferable. For all I know, he could drive August away completely.
I don’t want to risk it.
“We should invite them to dinner.”
I jerk my gaze up to his. “What? No. No way. That sounds like a nightmare.”
“We have to get this moment over with eventually, don’t you think? Our families coming together and getting to know one another.”
“Your parents don’t want to know mine. They aren’t the same kind of people,” I protest, but August is shaking his head.
“You don’t know that. They might get along great.”
Oh look at the always negative August, being upbeat and positive about something once in his life—and I cannot get on board. “My father will be like a bull in a China shop. He’ll say something embarrassing, or worse, he’ll try and show off and end up sounding like a complete jackass.”
“My father is a jackass too. They’ll probably get along perfectly.” His mouth is on mine before I can protest, his tongue doing a thorough sweep that has me losing all cohesive thought. “It’s happening, Sin. Whether you like it or not, we need everyone to meet.”
“Why?” I sound near hysterics and I swallow down my fear. Take a deep breath and remind myself that nothing can go wrong as long as I have August by my side. Right?
“Because I have serious intentions when it comes to you. Us.” He drags his mouth across my cheek, settling right at my ear so he can whisper, “I think about making you my wife.”
“What?” My voice is a thin whisper, and I’m not even sure he heard me.
“We make a great team, you and me. Can’t you envision it? I can.”
My heart sinks. A great team. Well-matched. I don’t hear anything about love or affection or any of that sort of thing. He’s not what I would call a romantic—unless eating my ass is romantic then yes. He’s an incurable romantic in that sense.
I wonder if I’m fooling myself. Getting caught up in the fantasy of it all. Being with August on campus is one thing. He’s pretty low-key and doesn’t necessarily flaunt his wealth and privilege.
Being with him outside of school is different. He’s powerful. His name alone opens doors for him that are permanently closed for most other people. As his girlfriend—and even potential wife—that would send me into a completely different stratosphere than I’ve ever been involved with before in my life. I am woefully unprepared for anything that might come my way.
Plus, him not saying he’s falling in love with me or that he cares about me is telling. August likes me, I don’t doubt that. Obsessed with me? Yes, I can even agree to that. But is he in love with me or is this a proper business merger to him?
I’m not sure.