Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
JESSICA
“You’re back together?” Rain asks as Summer and I enter her trailer.
I shush her, craning my neck to check for Malice. If he overhears, he’ll tell my brother, and that’s a nightmare I’m not ready to face yet.
Rain closes the door. “Don’t worry, he’s not here.”
I take a seat at the table with Summer, whose cheeks turn red as she glances down the small hallway leading to the bedrooms. Subtlety has never been her strong point.
Rain checks the cupboards for something to drink, then slams down a bottle of whiskey. Glasses follow, and she fills them to the top.
“I want to know everything,” she says, sitting down beside me.
“Everything?” That doesn’t sound good.
Rain holds her drink up for a cheer. We clink glasses and liquid spills over the sides. Rain downs hers like she’s drinking soda instead of neat whiskey, and we stare at her like she’s lost the plot.
“You’re back together then?” she asks again, setting her drink down.
“I guess so,” I reply.
She shakes her head. “You are, or you’re not? Which is it?”
I squirm. “Okay, yes. We are.”
“Girl…” Rain refills her glass and then goes to do the same to mine, only to realize I haven’t drunk it yet. The look she gives me has me downing as much of it as I can without gagging.
“There you go,” she says, refilling the half-empty glass. “Now, if you want my opinion, you should have made him grovel.”
Summer sips her whiskey and pulls a face. “Isn’t it too early for alcohol?” she all but wheezes, changing the subject.
“Nonsense. It’s always wine o’clock somewhere,” Rain answers.
“But this is whiskey.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers.” She turns her attention to me. “Back to what I was saying. You should have made him work for it.”
I trace the edge of the whiskey glass. “I know, but—”
“No buts. He hurt you, Jess. Listen, you can’t let him off the hook that easily.”
My chest tightens. She’s right—he hurt me—but there was something in his eyes last night I couldn’t ignore. When he asked me to trust him, I did.
“I think she should talk to him,” Summer says. “Let him explain. There’s probably a really good reason—”
“Talk? Let him explain?” Rain shakes her head. “He humiliated her in front of everyone. Made her think he was fucking someone else. No, homeboy needs to do more than explain.”
“I don’t know, Rain. You didn’t see him last night.” I swallow around a lump and bring the whiskey to my lips.
Rain watches me drink and then says, “I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume he made you come after he broke into your bedroom, that he clouded your judgment with mind-blowing orgasms. You see, guys like him can be very persuasive when they want to.”
I hate that she’s right. I can’t be sure of his motives, but I also don’t want to hurt anymore. I missed Kane. Missed him more than I’ll ever admit to anyone, and maybe I’m tired of fighting it.
Rain’s expression drops as I blink back tears.
She refills our glasses, sets down the bottle, and taps her drink to mine.
“I know you love him, but be careful. That’s all I’m asking.
If he hurts you again, I’ll have no choice but to cut off his balls.
Have you seen this face? I’m too pretty to go to jail—”
The door opens, and Malice and Sam enter in a cloud of fresh air, cologne, and weed.
Malice glances at us, and with a final drag, he flicks the joint outside before shutting the door and walking past our little table.
Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s angry the way he glares at my sister and cracks his knuckles on his way past.
Sam snatches the whiskey bottle with a cheeky grin, and when Rain hurls profanities at him, he chuckles.
“Fucking asshole,” she shouts, but he’s already stepping into Malice’s bedroom.
Rain is too angry to notice that my sister has turned red like a tomato, but I don’t miss it.
When we lock eyes and she catches my knowing look, her blush deepens.
Yeah, we have a lot to talk about soon.
For starters, how involved are they really?
Rain grumbles as she gets up to root through the cupboards for something to drink. She mutters about her shithead brother and then comes back with a half-full bottle of brandy.
Oh god. She’s determined to get us drunk.
As she sits down and unscrews the lid, the liquid sloshes inside and she pours some into her glass. When she offers it to me, I shake my head. “No, I can’t mix whiskey and brandy.”
“Why not? It’s just alcohol.”
“It tastes bad enough on its own. Mix them together, and I’ll get hospitalized.”
Rain snorts as Malice exits the bedroom. Walking past us to the fridge, he takes off his cap and runs a hand through his messy hair. Summer tries to hide that she’s watching him put it back on and swing the beak around, but as I mentioned earlier, subtlety isn’t her strong suit.
Damn Malice for fucking with my sister’s head like that.
She doesn’t even realize she could do way better than a womanizing pig like him.
Throwing back the last of my whiskey, I decide that the best way to figure out what’s really going on between them is to shake things up a bit, especially since she still owes me for standing by with Rain while Kane dragged me into his car.
“Guess who asked about you today?” I say, keeping an eye on Malice in my peripheral vision.
Summer looks at me, but her focus soon drifts back to the wall of muscles just five feet away.
“Who?” she asks, not really listening.
“Daniel Weston.”
Rain turns her head to look at me, and I can see the confusion as clear as day.
Daniel is on the football team and very popular with the female students.
He’s never looked twice at my sister, but I doubt Summer cares even if he did.
She’s watching Malice like he hung the fucking moon, and we all know that’s not true, but that’s beside the point, because Malice grows still.
Interesting.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen him turn to stone before, but now the muscles in his back tense up right before my eyes.
“He did?” Summer sounds uncertain, flicking her eyes between Malice and me.
She even swallows.
I gesture for Rain to refill my glass. The liquid sloshes against the sides. “Yeah, he wanted to know if you’re seeing someone.”
“What did you say?”
“Told him the truth. That you’re single.” I take a long sip, watching my sister’s expression shift from disbelief to curiosity to panic.
Rain gives me a look that says she knows I’m up to something, but she still plays along. “You’ve been into him for a while.”
Summer laughs nervously, and I almost feel bad.
“I hope it’s okay that I gave him your number,” I ask.
My sister gulps. “I doubt he’ll contact me.”
“Trust me…” Rain swirls her drink with a look that spells trouble.
“He’ll phone you. And why wouldn’t he? You’ve got that whole innocent virgin vibe going on.
” She takes a sip, then puts her glass down.
There’s a look of dread on my sister’s face.
I doubt Malice is even breathing. Rain pours brandy into Summer’s glass.
“Rumor is that he’s got an eight-inch cock. ”
The fridge slams shut, making us all jump. Malice takes deep breaths for a moment, and Rain raises her eyebrows as if to say, What’s his problem?
Little does she know that her brother is playing too close to home. Summer looks at me from beneath her lashes as I settle into my seat and rest my elbow on the back of my chair. Words aren’t needed. She knows I’ve figured it out, and when I tilt my head to the side, she blushes again.
“What’s your problem?” Rain asks Malice with a frown as he stomps out of the kitchen. “Who pissed in your cereal?” she calls after him. The door to his room slams shut. Framed photographs shake on the walls. Something crashes to the floor inside his room.
“Okay,” Rain says slowly. “Now that his weird temper tantrum is over, can someone tell me what that was about? I mean, Daniel Weston? Really?”
When neither of us responds, Rain looks between us questioningly. Her eyes then widen, and she shifts her gaze to the fridge. She lets out a disbelieving laugh, but it quickly dies out. She jumps up from the chair. “You and my brother?”
Summer’s bottom lip starts to quiver. “It’s not like that.”
“It’s always like that with him. I’m gonna fucking castrate that horn dog.” Rain steps forward, but I catch her arm. “Don’t.”
Her mouth opens and closes. “He’ll hurt her. You realize that, right?”
“I’ll talk to her.”
Rain looks between us then reluctantly sinks into her chair and reaches for the bottle. “Did he force himself on you?” she asks my sister.
Summer shakes her head. “No, never. He’s not like that… He would never—”
“Spare me the details.” She unscrews the lid. “This requires more alcohol.” And then, “A lot more.”