Ellie
When Jade invited me back to her house, I jumped at the chance. Not only do I get to see where my best friend has been living this summer, but I also get to check out her hot-as-hell stepfather again.
I couldn’t be happier that she’s so loved up, and he comes across as though he’s addicted to her. Sounds perfect if you ask me. What better way to pop your cherry than to a hot Mafia stepdaddy.
“You’re doing that thing again!” Jade chastises, so I throw a grape at her.
“What thing?”
“That thing where you stare off all dreamy.” She scrunches her nose, and I take a sip of my smoothie while she continues to scan my face as if she will find evidence of what I was thinking about. “Are you thinking about Darryl?”
A splutter of smoothie escapes my lips and trickles down my sundress, making me sigh. “That’s going to stain.”
“It is,” Jade agrees. “Back to Darryl.”
“No.”
She tilts her head, her assessing eyes not leaving mine. “No?”
After taking a deep breath, I exhale loudly and throw another grape at her. “No. I was not thinking about Darryl. I was thinking how lucky you are.”
Her eyebrows shoot up and her mouth falls open. “Lucky?”
I wince. My best friend has been through hell, losing both her parents and having no blood relatives, so lucky probably isn’t the best way to describe her.
“You’re right, I’m sorry.” I shake my head, annoyed with myself, then plaster on a smile to change the mood, and wave out my arm. “I just meant, living here in this mansion with a gorgeous stepdaddy who popped your cherry who’s fallen madly in love with you.” She blushes, and I smile at my friend’s innocence. She may no longer be a virgin, but you wouldn’t have guessed it with how her cheeks still turn red so easily.
“You live in a mansion too,” she counters, and I quickly hide the dreaded shudder that racks through me each time I consider my home.
Instead, I straighten my shoulders, lift my chin, and feign confidence. “You’re right, I do.”
“I think you need to change your dress.” Jade gestures toward the bright-red stain. “I’ll go grab you a T-shirt.” She hops off the kitchen stool and heads toward her bedroom, or maybe it’s Tommy’s, but I’m grateful she can offer me something so I don’t have to leave here looking like a slob, especially with all the hot security detail she has following her around.
While she’s gone, I whip my dress over my head and fill the sink, ready to scrub the stain, leaving me in my cotton panties and bra.
“I only have an old band T-shirt, is that okay?” She dangles the T-shirt from her finger, and I grin, remembering the moment I left the shirt in her room back at boarding school. During a party, I won the T-shirt of a hot guy she was into, so I gifted it to her after the party.
I snatch it from her with a giggle. “This is totally going to be too big for me, isn’t it?” I chuckle back at her, and she smiles sheepishly.
I’m smaller than Jade, tiny compared to her. My mom was tiny too. Where Jade is petite and thin with an impressive set of tits, I barely have hips, or an ass, and my tits are almost nonexistent. You’d think it would bother me, being a teenage girl, but it doesn’t. I shrug it off and fake confidence when I get overlooked for not having an amazing rack like my bestie.
Her brown hair is naturally wavy, whereas mine is straight, her skin is pale compared to my olive tone, and her sparkling green eyes are a contrast to my boring brown ones. It’s the only genuine thing I’m envious of—they’re beautiful, they’re Jade.
“Leave the dress to soak. I’ll have it cleaned for you.” She smiles back at me.
“You’re the best. You know that?”
She rolls her eyes as I tug the T-shirt down, and it hits my knees as the sound of a car door slams shut, causing Jade’s eyes to narrow.
She shakes her head. “It’s too early for Tommy.”
Her shoulders tighten as she chews on her bottom lip.
She’s told me about the women he has around the house, the ones he paid for, who try any tactic to come between him and my best friend—the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet, and it’s clear she’s concerned it’s one of them. Again. She’s hurting, and I refuse to accept it.
Standing to my full height, I broaden my shoulders, preparing for battle. “I got you.” I wink at her and stride toward the door with one purpose in mind.
To take down Tommy Marino’s whores.