Chapter 16 #2
“We had another bed when we first moved to the cabin. We broke it.” I chuckled, staring at a painting on the wall across the room.
“Not doing what you’re probably thinking, but we got drunk one night and decided the bed was a trampoline.
I’ve never heard her laugh so hard in all my life when the frame snapped and we went tumbling to the floor.
It was a hysterical laugh where she couldn’t catch her breath and kept snorting.
I couldn’t stop laughing because of it.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t throw up if you were drunk.”
“We definitely did by the end of the night. With our trampoline broken, we ended up dancing in the kitchen and doing other things I won’t discuss with you.
” A small smile tugged at my mouth at the memory of ending up on the floor together in a tangle of naked limbs.
“Is it like that with you and the guys?”
She snorted with amusement, grinning at me.
“One night at Ty’s, we were cooking dinner together and ended up doing other things while we waited.
I’m a terrible cook and Ty’s oven is fancy.
I accidentally turned the stovetop on instead of the oven for the vegetables, and we’d put the bag of steaks on top.
Slash walked in on us half naked in the kitchen, the fire alarm blaring, and me jumping up and down waving a dishtowel at the alarm to try and silence it. ”
“What was Slash like with you? I’ve never really seen him with a girl he cares about. He’s usually detached when it comes to sex. It was obvious he was into you though, even before I heard his love confession in the van.”
The amusement fell from her face, and I wanted to kick myself for bringing him up, but she finally shrugged.
“He could be sweet. We didn’t get a lot of time alone, but it was nice when he’d come to Ty’s and hang out.
We’d just watch TV on the couch, eat together, and he was surprisingly snuggly.
He let his scary crew leader mask fall when it was just us,” she said softly, her brow creasing slightly.
“He felt so guilty for keeping it from Skeet, but he knew the second we told him, he’d flip out.
So waiting for midterms to end was the plan, and then we’d tell him.
We were going to when we left the Shed, but the Soldiers showed up before we could. ”
“Have you gone to see him yet?”
“No. I wanted to, but now I just can’t.”
“If you change your mind but don’t want to go alone, I can come with you. He’s near Sasha, so we can take a beer and hang out with them for a little bit,” I offered, releasing her hand when I realized I was still holding it.
She was easy to talk to, and I liked that I could talk to her about anything without a second thought, but I wasn’t used to having a girl as a friend.
Was I touching her too much? I didn’t want to throw off the wrong signal and ruin our friendship, but at the same time, her touch calmed something inside me.
I didn’t know what to make of it.
“You can take me to the gun range for some shooting practice soon,” she stated, getting to her feet and grabbing the bottle of whiskey to refill our glasses. “I want to be prepared.”
“I can do that.”
“Are you coming to Thanksgiving? I’d like you to come,” she said carefully, and I winced.
“No offense, Donovan, but I really don’t want to be here. I’m a bit of an asshole on Thanksgiving, and it’s best if I stay home.”
“I understand. If you want to be an asshole around company, the invitation is still there. You’re always welcome here.”
I watched her as she put the bottle back on the shelf, and I took the second to study her. She was always a little prickly, but she’d mostly been nice to me from the beginning.
When had I started relaxing when she was in the same room as me? It was a sense of peace that I hadn’t had for a long time.
Her company was important to me, and I loved how she checked in with me often and asked for stories about Sasha from time to time.
She was looking healthier now too. Her skin seemed brighter and her figure less boney. She hadn’t packed on a lot of weight, but it was enough to make her look more filled out in a good way.
I was surprised that Skeeter hadn’t broken her though, she was still too skinny to be thrown around like how I knew he was doing to her.
Then again, I hadn’t always been gentle with Sasha, and she was a lot smaller than me too.
When I realized I was thinking about Rory’s sex life, I jerked so hard I almost dropped my drink. Where had that even come from? I couldn’t care less about getting laid, let alone the sexual patterns of other people.
“Are you okay?” Rory asked as she dropped down beside me again.
“I’ll be back, I need the bathroom,” I said quickly, putting my glass on the small table and getting to my feet.
“End of the hall,” she directed, pulling her phone out to text and not seeming to notice my inner battle as I practically fled the room.
Locking myself in the bathroom, I took a moment to get my shit together.
Guys talked about their sex lives all the time, but it was weird for me to talk about things like that with Rory, right? We might have been friends, but she was still a girl.
It had only been a small part of the conversation, barely even a mention, but it was still wrong.
Having a girl as a friend was fucking hard.
Skeeter
“Where’s Diesel?” Claire asked as she appeared in the office doorway, my jaw clenching with annoyance. I had to constantly remind myself that her rich parents would definitely notice her missing and make a big deal out of it, so I couldn’t kill her.
“He’s with Rory. Get out,” I said tightly, trying to access one of the files that Slash had put behind a code, but I couldn’t without Diesel unlocking it for me.
“Is he fucking her too? I’m not surprised,” she scoffed, completely ignoring my request to get out. I stood, moving around the desk and shoving her so hard she flailed backwards and landed on her ass. “Hey!”
“I won’t tell you again. You need to leave my guys the fuck alone.
You talk shit about Aurora, but you’re the one here begging for any scraps of cock that someone could give you.
I don’t know what’s worse, begging for cock, or the fact that no one’s desperate enough to take you up on your offer.
What’s that telling you? Your pussy’s trash and you’re not as hot as you think you are,” I snapped, standing over her as she glared up at me.
The bravery was an act, she was terrified, and I hoped she’d get the picture and leave.
Harassing me was one thing, but if she didn’t leave Diesel the fuck alone, I was going to lose my shit.
He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested, but she seemed to think he was harmless and harassing him would just make him cave. That wouldn’t happen. The only girl he liked was Rory, and that was because she didn’t want anything like that from him.
He liked the company of a woman, they had a softer side that he’d always been drawn to, so I was glad he had Rory to give him what he needed without her expecting anything else from him.
“I miss Slash. He wasn’t such a prick to me. You weren’t either until Rory came along,” she huffed, getting to her feet but taking a step back from me.
“He wasn’t a prick to you because he avoided you, not because he liked you.
Do you think if he was here he’d bend you over the desk and fix all your problems?
He was dating Aurora too, you dumb bitch.
You had no chance. Get the fuck out, I don’t want you here.
You’re not on anyone’s cock, so you have zero protection from me.
” I grabbed her arm and hauled her towards the door, but then Matteo stepped in front of me to block me. “Move.”
“She’s here with me. She stays,” he bit out, and I shoved Claire at him.
“She’s not even on your dick, man.”
“So?”
“She’s not your girl. Mandy can stay, but I can kick Claire out.”
“So if I was fucking her, she could stay?” he asked dryly, and it annoyed me, but I nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then I’m fucking her.”
“Prove it, asshole,” I answered bluntly, crossing my arms and staring at Claire. “Go on, now’s your chance. Someone’s finally pitied you enough.”
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, some of her fake bravery vanishing. She wasn’t interested in Matteo, that much I knew. Apart from being seventeen years older than her, he didn’t seem her type.
Mandy was eyeing us from where she sat at the bar, and when she caught me watching her, she straightened her spine.
“They’re sleeping together. Right, Claire?
You were with us the other night,” Mandy said, apparently okay with her fuck buddy also sleeping with her best friend.
I had no idea why they wanted to be around here so badly, Matteo wasn’t exactly nice to them, and he was only with Mandy to fuck her and piss me off.
“She looks repulsed by him,” I deadpanned, motioning to the door. “Claire, just go.”
“You just want to see her naked. Donovan not doing it for you anymore?” Matteo chuckled, tugging Claire’s academy blazer from her. “Strip for him, babe. Let him watch.”
There was no way she was going to get naked in the middle of this room where all the guys were hanging out.
He kissed her, and I rolled my eyes at how tense she was, but then she relaxed a little and leaned into him, deciding to go along with it.
She had no idea what she was getting herself into.
Her body tensed as he started unbuttoning her blouse, backing her towards the bar.
The last thing I wanted to see was Claire get railed, but I wasn’t backing down. If she was here, she was on someone’s cock.
Her eyes kept flicking to me, probably in hopes that I’d leave and she could pretend they’d done it, but I stared back at her until Matteo had stripped her completely naked.
“You too, babe,” Matteo said to Mandy, who happily stripped naked like a good girl.
She was stupid, I knew where this was going before they did. I’d known Matteo my whole life, the man was a monster when let loose.