Chapter Thirty-Two #2
“Looks fun. Maybe I should try it some time. What do you think, babe, would I be any good at it?” Baxter turns to me and cracks his knuckles. That’s when I notice that they’re split and scabbed. Wait, did he do this to the boys? Why?
“I’m not sure you can handle the discipline. There are rules,” Kalen mutters.
“I’ve never been good at playing by the rules, have I, Sir?” Baxter smirks at Monty.
“Oh please, call us Monty and Laura,” Laura continues to gush. Why? She’s desperate to save face and keep up appearances, I guess. Why else would you completely blank a whole conversation about how much of a slut your daughter is?
I risk a quick glance at the twins; murderous. I wink at them, wriggling forward in my seat a little so that Baxter’s hand is forced a little higher. If I were wearing underwear, his fingers would be skimming them.
“Excuse me, I need a drink,” Sawyer snaps, getting to his feet. Huh. Interesting. Didn’t think he'd be the first to snap.
“Get your hands off her,” Slate growls in a dangerously low tone. He’s sitting opposite Sawyer, next to Baxter at the end of the table. He looks equally appalled and livid.
“A drink would be great!” Baxter calls after Sawyer, who pauses for a moment. His back is to us, but I can see from the tension in his shoulders how rattled he is. Baxter ignores Slate, but Kalen is less subtle.
“That’s my little sister, you've got your filthy paws all over. Get your hands off her. You make me sick, you’re practically finger fucking her at the dinner table!”
“Not practically,” Baxter winks, pushing his hand even higher.
He brushes places I didn’t expect and a girly squeal of surprise escapes my lips, which seems to corroborate Baxter’s brag.
“I know how much you love having your sister...” Baxter taunts.
Kalen’s mouth snaps shut and he glares daggers at us.
“Enough!” Monty barks. I just smile sweetly and tuck in.
Over dinner Laura engages Monty and Baxter into a three-way conversation, although I bet she’s wishing she was having more than just a chat with them both.
She’s practically salivating, fucking Baxter with her eyes every opportunity she gets.
Kalen takes advantage of their distracted state to hiss at me.
“Whore!” I fake a yawn right in his face.
“World’s best sister whore,” I remind him cheerfully.
“Why him?” He actually looks wounded. Like a kicked puppy.
“What happened to your hair?” I counter. I hate it. He looks away and won’t meet my gaze. “Tit for tat, Kalen. You want answers? So do I!”
I’m vaguely aware of Monty’s eyes on us and I drop my voice to the lowest whisper I can manage.
“Were you really just going to sit there and let your brothers hurt me? You know what they had planned for me. What I don’t understand is why? Haven’t I been through enough? What on earth did I do to deserve that?”
Kalen swallows and looks away again, full of guilt. Good. He should feel guilty. I want him to choke on it, to drown in it.
“What’s your major?” I hear Laura ask Baxter whilst the twins bicker in a low, heated tone.
“Business.”
“What do you plan to do with that? You’re in the twins’ year, right? You have another year left?”
“Yes, Ma’am, I will be taking over my grandfather's company when I get my degree.”
I tune out and try to eavesdrop on the twins but Monty interrupts their fight.
“Why are you boys being so hostile to Amelie? She’s your sister now. You need to look out for her.”
Ugh, kill me now. Why is he pushing this issue after our conversation?
“Drop it, dad.”
“I will not. Family is everything,” he says in a weird, pointed tone. At that point, Baxter joins in.
“You’re so right. Family is everything...until it’s not.” He scowls. “Amelie, would you believe I used to have four ‘brothers’, but when I really needed them, they ditched me?”
“Enough. Everyone! We are going to enjoy this lovely meal that Laura has prepared for us, without any bickering or fighting. If you can’t manage that, I suggest you stay silent."
Everyone falls into a miserable, angry, awkward silence, with Baxter feeding me bits from his plate; a picture of true love.
Snort. Occasionally he ‘accidentally’ drops pieces down my dress and uses his napkin to ‘clean’ me up whilst copping a feel right in front of everyone.
Laura doesn’t have enough backbone to say anything and Monty is refusing to make eye contact.
I can hear the twin’s gnashing their teeth together from down the table.
Everything Baxter does sets them on edge. They loathe him. Even Monty, though he tries to hide it. And yet Laura is oblivious somehow. Maybe all the pills and booze addled what little brains she had in the first place. We continue to eat in silence.
When the mains are over, all four sons race to their feet to clear the table. Raised voices can be heard from the kitchen shortly after.
“Laura, you’ve made such an amazing meal for us all. Why don’t you let us serve pudding? I made some brownies earlier on.”
“Thank you, Amelie, that would be lovely.”
“Darling, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea…” Monty begins, clearly remembering the reason why I was brought here in the first place.
“Relax, Monty,” I tell him. “Laura and I baked them together, didn’t we? A little mother daughter baking bonding time is good for the soul.”
He doesn’t look happy, but he let’s it go.
“Baxter, will you help me scoop the ice cream please?”
“Absolutely, babe, you know I love your cream. Ice cream.”
We stumble into the kitchen like stereotypical teenagers that can’t keep their hands off one another.
As soon as I’m through the door, Baxter removes his hands from my ass and slams me up against the kitchen wall.
He kisses me, knowing full well that the brothers are all watching, and when I sneak a peek at Sawyer, I grasp Baxter’s hand and bring it up to my throat.
He gets the message and squeezes, and I moan.
“Get off her!” Kalen roars.
Baxter is wrenched away from me by the twins who hold him whilst Kalen throws a fairly decent punch to his jawline. Baxter just laughs, a maniacal sound that thrills and terrorises me.
“Enough,” Sawyer snaps, sounding just like Monty. All three brothers immediately obey. Without a word they leave the kitchen and head back into the dining room. Baxter grins at me. I grab my special brownies whilst he picks up the ice cream.
“Don’t eat them,” I warn him. He snorts.
“Wasn’t planning to.”
We rejoin the others around the table and I can see how close to snapping everyone is. I serve and pass around the brownies, giving Baxter just ice cream. It would be too suspicious if I didn’t eat them, but I had planned for that too. I take the end piece which should be safe.
“These are delicious, Amelie,” Laura smiles at me.
“I remember how much I used to love baking with you when I was small,” I tell her softly.
“We can do it again. It could be a regular thing; us providing Sunday dessert.”
“I’d like that,” I lie.
“What’s wrong, Monty? Don’t you like our dessert?” Laura pouts. Now he has to eat them. He knows how volatile she can be, he won’t want to cause a scene.
Reluctantly, Monty and his sons tuck into their dessert. Kalen seems shocked that it’s not poisoned, but Onyx flares at me knowingly. All too soon the fun comes to an end.
“Well, thank you for dinner, Laura,” Baxter schmoozes and she beams. “But Amelie and I really should be going, with it being a school night and all.” I snort. He really plays the part of the perfect son-in-law a little too well. Laura, of course, has been lapping it up all evening.
“Thank you for having us. This was way more fun than your average Sunday night!” I say with a fake smile.
“I thought it was going to be awkward, Amelie, meeting your exes,” Baxter winks at me.
“Excuse me?” Laura blinks.
“It must be weird, with you guys getting engaged and all, knowing that she dated - what was it, babe? - three of your sons? Oh, no, wait, silly me. You have four sons.”
Silence settles on the room like the split second of absolute peace before a bomb detonates.
“What?” Laura is whiter than a sheet.
“Oh, babe, was it a secret?” Baxter turns to me and pretends to look horrified. Sawyer looks ready to kill. I shrug with forced nonchalance.
“I wouldn’t call what we did ‘dating’ but I guess I should save my mother all the dirty details.” I grin.
“Monty!” Laura screeches. She looks about to pass out. “What are they on about?” There’s genuine panic and fear in her voice.
“Nothing, darling. They’re just messing around. Baxter likes to joke.”
“Is it true?” she begs him, desperate to remain in denial.
We get to our feet and survey the carnage of the room.
“I think our work here is done,” I tell Baxter.
“Almost,” he replies.
He turns to me and captures me into his arms, one hand planted firmly between my shoulder blades, the other curling under my thigh to lift it high on his hip.
He dips me back dramatically, kissing me passionately and probably giving one half of the room an eyeful of my chest, and the other half a flash of the panties I forgot to put on.
His kiss is demanding, intense. Everything I would expect from him.
I bet lesser girls would melt under his expert touch.
It does nothing for me. But when I see Onyx jumping to his feet out of the corner of my eye, I wrap my arms around Baxter’s neck and give a good moan.
We pull apart and grin, then take our leave.
As we walk out, the last thing I hear is Kalen say to Laura: “It’s true. Every word. Your daughter’s an even bigger whore than you are, step mummy dearest.”
Laura screams like a banshee before all hell breaks loose and the sound of breaking glass reaches our ears.
Best. Sunday. Ever.