CHAPTER 26 ALEXIS
Well.
It was my first time getting high.
It won’t be my last.
I feel mostly fine this morning if a little foggy, and my pussy is aching from the absolutely glorious pounding she took last night.
Apparently marijuana causes Danny to go longer.
And it causes Alexis to revel in that fact.
I felt everything in a different way—stronger, I think. Like everything around me was somehow enhanced. Like the resolution of my eyes was stronger when I was high than it is in my normal, day-to-day life. It was in HD, and I’m not.
I went through a slight period of time last night where I got nervous I’d be high forever, but it came, well, a short while after I came, and Danny was right there by my side coaching me through it.
He put on an episode of Spongebob Squarepants, we giggled and drank water, and then we fell asleep.
What a night.
I hope I was quiet while he was pounding into me. I think I was quiet. His bedroom is far enough away from everyone else’s, but God, I needed that sweet, sweet, loving only he can give me.
He’s still asleep, so I sneak quietly to his bathroom then head downstairs. It’s early, but I feel like I got the sleep I needed.
And imagine my surprise when I walk down the stairs and see Anna closing the door before she leaps around, guilt in her eyes.
She looks a lot like the female version of her brother. Dark hair, blue eyes, a tall and lean frame. But where her brother exudes confidence bordering cockiness, Anna is a little quieter. A little more grounded.
“Oh! You scared me!” she says, her hand moving to her chest.
“Good morning,” I say quietly. “What was that?”
I think I know what it was, but I’m still a little foggy after that gummy thing.
She clears her throat, and her eyes dart around a little until they land back on me. “Can you, um…can you keep a secret?”
I press my lips together and close my eyes. “I’m already keeping secrets from everyone around me. I really don’t want to add Danny to that list.”
She nods. “Okay. I understand. I respect it, actually.”
“So are you going to tell me what you’re doing?” I press.
She glances at the door then back at me. “You’re all going to put it together eventually, I guess…” She sucks in a breath. “Rush and I are seeing each other.”
“You’re seeing each other? Like…he stayed over?”
“He did,” she says, but she’s hedging a little—like there’s more to the story.
I hold up my hand for a high five. “Nice score, Anna.”
She giggles, and she touches her forehead after she high fives me. “Here’s the thing. I didn’t just score him last night after the weed. We’ve been, you know…seeing each other.”
“For how long?” I ask.
She glances down at the ground before looking back up at me. “Since April.”
“Since April?” I repeat.
She nods. “We exchanged numbers when we met, and we’ve been talking. He’s come out to see me a couple times.”
“And you didn’t tell Danny?”
“We weren’t sure how to, and we were kind of enjoying getting to know each other without the pressure of everyone knowing.”
“Do the boys know?” I ask, nodding upstairs toward their bedroom.
She shakes her head. “No. Not even my mom knows. I’d randomly beg for a sleepover night when he was in town, and we just…I don’t know. Made it work.”
“Wow. You’re pretty serious already?”
She snags her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Yes. Rush has been dropping hints to Danny for a little while now, testing the waters. He said Danny seemed to mellow out a little when he met you. Almost as if he found something, and now he wants everyone around him to find that, too.” She shrugs a little at the end.
My chest warms. “Well, he did find something.”
She smiles. “I know he did. And honestly, Alexis, I’ve never seen him happier. Now let’s go get some coffee and chat about these baseball players, shall we?”
I laugh. “I don’t drink coffee.”
“You don’t drink coffee?” Her tone is one of complete and utter disbelief. “I don’t trust anybody who can get through the day without coffee.”
“Well, to be fair, I don’t have children.”
She laughs and turns to head toward Danny’s kitchen. “Is there a reason you don’t drink it?”
I follow her. “Caffeine can be hard on the voice, so I tend to avoid it. But to be honest, I’m kind of curious about it. Everyone goes bananas for coffee, and sometimes I feel like I’m missing out.”
“It’ll help with the gummy haze,” she says. “I’m happy to whip you up a cup Anna-style if you’d like.”
“What’s Anna-style?”
“Oh, you’ll see.” She sets to work on Danny’s Keurig and brews me a cup before setting another pod in the holder and starting up her own.
She heads to Danny’s fridge and finds what she’s looking for, and she tips the bottle over the Vegas Heat coffee mug she chose for me.
She pushes the very full cup carefully across the counter, where I’m perched as I watch her.
“There you go. I made you decaf to avoid the caffeine, and Anna-style means an actual metric ton of this stuff.” She taps the bottle of salted caramel creamer then turns to doctor up her cup, too.
I giggle. I don’t try it yet, but it does smell delicious.
I wait for her to come over with her cup.
She holds hers up and clinks it to mine. “To coffee.”
“To coffee,” I repeat. “And to this new friendship.”
Her smile is so bright and wide that it’s contagious.
I take my first sip of coffee, and I have to admit…if not for the salted caramel cream, it might be kind of gross and bitter. But with the cream, well…what a freaking delight.
“Well?” she presses.
I shrug. “I can see how people get addicted to the stuff.”
“What’s going on in here?” a groggy voice asks, and I turn as I spot Danny rubbing his eyes.
Why is he always so damn adorable?
“Good morning, Sunshine,” Anna says to her brother. “We’re just sharing some coffee.”
“What?” he demands, all sleep now gone from his rather angry tone. “You’re drinking coffee? But I was going to corrupt you with a coffee date!”
I laugh. “Since we can’t just, you know, head out for a coffee date, I figured we could have one right here.”
“Yes, but you’re having one with my sister.” He walks over and wraps his arms around me from behind.
I lean back into him and take another sip. “You only missed the first sip, and now you’re here.” I twist around and press my lips to his.
“You two are so cute it’s actually a little sickening,” Anna mutters. “You want a cup, DJ?”
“Please.”
I twist back around, and he peppers kisses along my neck.
“Can I tell him?” I beg Anna.
“Tell me what?” he demands.
She shoots me a glare. I think she might’ve thought she had more time, but I was serious when I said I wasn’t going to keep secrets from her brother. “Go for it.”
“Tell me what?” he says again, this time a little whinier, and I laugh.
“Your sister has been seeing somebody,” I say.
His eyes move to her. “You have?” He sounds surprised.
“I have,” she admits.
“Oh. Well…I guess I’ll have to let a buddy of mine down easily then. He’s pretty interested in you.”
“A buddy of yours?” she echoes.
“Rush. He’s been begging me for a chance to see you again, and I thought you two were getting along well last night. I guess I was mistaken.”
The Keurig whirls as it finishes brewing Danny’s cup, and Anna pauses while she waits for it.
“You weren’t mistaken,” she says when she passes the cup across the counter.
It takes him a few beats to put together what she’s implying, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s in the same morning after the gummy haze I find myself in.
The coffee seems to be helping even though it’s decaf. It’s probably all in my head, but the mind is a powerful trickster sometimes.
“Wait. What? You and Rush?” he finally asks.
She closes her eyes as she nods for a beat. “Me and Rush.”
“What? For how long?” he demands.
“Since April,” she murmurs.
“Since April?” he roars.
I watch them back and forth like a tennis match.
“And neither of you said anything?” he asks.
She lifts a shoulder. “We’ve kept it a secret from…well, from everyone. Including Mom and the kids, so please don’t say anything yet.”
“Holy shit, Anna,” he says. He walks around the counter and pulls his sister in for a hug. “What is this thing? Is he treating you right? Because I will not hesitate to kick his ass if you need me to.”
She laughs. “You think you could take him? Think again, bro. He’s a freaking beast.”
“Jesus, Anna. Please chart that under things your brother doesn’t need to know.”
She hides behind her coffee cup. “I meant because he’s tall, but there’s that, too…”
I giggle. Good for her. That’s about all I can say about that because the man standing beside me right now is a freaking beast himself, and I’m the lucky recipient of all he has to offer.