Addicted After All (10 page)

I pull the velvet purple curtains closed, a lie already concocted in my head. “It’s a bad joke about small dicks. It’s not even funny.”

She nods, probably not even believing me, but she lets it go anyway. Her gaze travels to the glass, the broken window already concealed behind the curtain.

“I’ll clean it later,” I say the moment our door blows open without a knock.

“Hey,” Ryke says. “I heard a…” He sees the glass and then the brick in my hand.

“Here.” I step around the shards and hand him the brick and balled note. “Do what you want with this. It’s nothing to me.”

His shoulders tighten, and he unfurls the note, reading it quickly. His voice lowers so Lily can’t hear him. “This is fucking wrong.”

“We’ve heard it all before,” I say. “I can deal with it.” I don’t need Ryke to threaten these guys on my behalf. I have a louder voice than him anyway. I’ve always been capable of lashing out. This is the route I’ve never taken before.

Wait and see. Be calm. Try to put my emotions aside to find the better option.

“Are you sure?” Ryke asks me, his eyes flickering to Lily on the bed and back to me.

“They’re not going to break our fragile hearts into little pieces,” I say dryly. “So no one needs to contact a realtor. We’re not moving.” Everyone’s lives have changed too many times because of outside forces. This house is supposed to be
our
stability, and these teenagers aren’t going to take that away.

We’ve lost way too much already.

“You feel like you need something, and you come to me, okay?” Ryke suddenly says. He means booze.

I play dumb. “Sure. Next time I need a shoulder to cry on, I’ll make sure to blow snot on your shirt.”

He flips me off, but we both end up smiling weakly.

I rub the back of my neck. “Can you just let everyone else know what happened? I want to be alone with Lily right now, and Rose hasn’t learned how to knock either.”

Ryke rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I’ll tell everyone to give you an hour—”

“Longer,” I say.

Lily inhales in surprise and partial arousal.

Both Ryke and I turn to look at Lil, her skin nearly blending into her red onesie. She flings a blanket over her head so Ryke can’t see her embarrassment. I can’t hold back a smile. Goddamn, I love her.

“I already fucking saw you, Lily,” my brother says like she’s being ridiculous.

Lily mumbles out a response that sounds like,
no you didn’t.

I pat Ryke’s shoulder. “See you later.”

He takes the hint and exits the bedroom, shutting the door on his way out. I climb back on the bed, straddle her and yank the blanket off her face, her hair frizzing with the static. Her lips part while her gaze trails my body.

“In my fantasy, you’re naked,” she reminds me.

“Do you want this to last longer than an hour, love?”

She nods with wide, desirous eyes.

I kiss her lips tenderly and then whisper, “Then we’re going to go really, really
slow
.”

She smiles and kisses me back, agreeing to this plan. She pauses for just a second and I sense the hesitation in her body, which is unlike Lily.

“Do you think they’ll stop?” she asks me seriously.

I realize she’s talking about the teenagers. “Maybe,” I say. “I don’t know.” I frown. “Are you scared?”

“Not really. We dealt with worse assholes in prep school, right?”

Me
, I think. I was worse. I poured pig’s blood on a guy’s front door and did countless other things. “Right,” I breathe.

“They can’t come
in
the house…” she says with unease.

“No,” I say forcefully. “They wouldn’t. Plus, we have a security system.”

She nods repeatedly and then
she
kisses me quickly and deeply. I rest her back against the mattress again. I just try to forget about the interruption, the teenagers, and the sharp look of the young guy down the street—the one that simultaneously said
fuck you.

And
kill me.
 

{ 11 }

LILY CALLOWAY

“How could I have slept through a fucking car accident?” Rose says, aghast for the umpteenth time. She sits on a leather bar stool with a winter recipe book cracked open.

“Queen Rose¸ it’s been ten days,” Loren says with little amusement. “You weren’t even
there
, so let us peons reflect on the situation and you can let it go.” He gives her a bitter smile and dusts flour off his hands with a towel. That was one of his nicer comments of the day.

Baking, I have found, makes Loren Hale mean. Almost like smiling,
happy
gingerbread men frustrate him. He already put frowny faces on the second batch of cookies, just to ensure that they all share in his irritated state of being.

“I can’t let it go,” Rose says in a huff. “No one even
called
us.” She angrily flips a page in her recipe book. They found out about the car accident from
Celebrity Crush
before we could tell them. We’ll never live it down.

But I know it’s more than not calling. Rose is scared that she’s now part of the
outer
circle. Connor isn’t happy either. They both like to know everything before everyone—so this stings.

I watch Daisy and Ryke man the blender in our stainless steel kitchen. Measuring cups, cupcake trays, sugar and butter are splayed on the countertops.

I’m not wandering around, but I eat chocolate chips out of the bag next to Rose, which I’d like to think helps in some way. I’m taste-testing the food.

It’s edible. Just in case someone out there is wondering.

“I would’ve liked a text message, at least,” Connor says, opening a carton of eggs. He stands closest to Lo on the other side of the bar counter.

Lo leans against the cupboard. He snaps back, “I’ll send you one right now if it makes you feel better.” He doesn’t even add
love
on the end of it, which he reserves only for me and one of his best friends.

Connor’s eyebrow arches and he stares blankly at him.

I say to Lo, “Baking makes you mean.”

He grips the counter, takes a deep breath, and his narrowed amber eyes flit up to me. “My dad texted me about the meeting.”

The kitchen goes quiet except for the whirling blender.

“And?” I ask, caging a breath.

“And
nothing.
He just keeps saying he’ll explain in person, but now he’s not even saying when that’ll be.” He straightens up as he exhales again. “It’s annoying as shit.”

Ryke says, “He’s just messing with us. It’s what he fucking does.”

Lo shakes his head again in disagreement. “It’s like he’s scared or something…I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it, honestly.”

Rose points to a photo of peppermint cookies. “Whole Foods sells this
exact
cookie.”

 Lo looks grateful for the digression, even if it’s coming from Rose. My older sister is ready to hop off the barstool, grab her keys and go shopping.

Her shopping skills far outrank her cooking skills.

And I agree, this sounds like a brilliant plan. I perk up. I’m about to call quits on our attempt at baking. I’m known to be lazy, so I have a perfect excuse.

But Connor rips the recipe book out of Rose’s hand and skims the ingredients. “You can make this easily, darling.”

Her yellow-green eyes pierce his forehead. “I don’t cook. The smart thing, Richard, would be to save time and buy all of this.” She gestures to the tray of misshapen gingerbread men (Lo’s), burnt snickerdoodles (Daisy’s) and perfectly brown oatmeal raisins (Ryke’s).

“It’s the efficient thing,” Connor says. “But Maria asked for homemade cookies, not store bought ones.” Poppy’s daughter is having some sort of baked goods sale, and my oldest sister enlisted our help.

“Maria also knows that I
loathe
baking.” Rose stretches over the bar to talk to Connor.

Oh this is good. I eat the chocolate chips like popcorn, my lips rising in entertainment. The nerd stars are sparkling. Lo is watching too, and he joins my side and sticks his hand in the chocolate chip bag.

Connor is practically grinning. “Are you really implying that she’s doing this on purpose?”

“Yes.” Rose pulls back her shoulders like a cat ready to pounce.

Connor grins, full-on now. “She’s six.”

Lo whispers to me, “Burn.”

“Rose has this,” I whisper back. “Watch.” I’m Team Nerd Stars, but if I must choose an allegiance, I will go with my sister, every time.

“All kids are devils in disguise,” Rose retorts, her forearms on the bar, “and apparently I’m the
only
one who sees them for what they really are.”

“And what is that?”

“Small, tiny gremlins.”

Lo chokes on a chocolate chip. I pat his back and keep eating mine, my eyes widening with delight. This is better than a summer blockbuster.

Rose’s butt rises off the stool as she continues, “The kind that will suck up all of your time and energy, and before you know it, you’re an old hag with
nothing
but saggy, disgusting cookies.”

“Your hyperboles are nothing new,” he tells her. I think he only likes them when they come from her.

She scoffs. “I speak the truth.”

“If anyone here is a truthteller, it’s me, darling.” He winks.

She glares. “Next time you wink at me, Richard, I’m going to scratch out your eyeball and set it on fire.”

He leans closer to her, their lips a breath apart. “Go ahead and try.”

Her gaze falls to his mouth, the sexual tension heightened, but it doesn’t stir me to bad places. Their intellectual love is always more amusing to me than erotic.  “If you’re a truthteller,” she says, “then what does that make me, Richard?”

“A storyteller. The world needs those, so don’t feel bad.” Ohhhhh.

“Double burn,” Lo says. He looks to me. “You were saying, love?” He’s Team Connor, all the way.

I refuse to concede. My sister will come out on top.

Rose’s cheeks are flushed though—half in anger and half in arousal, her breath shallow. And she glowers. “Don’t smirk at me.” Her eyes flit to his lips again and back to his deep blues.

Connor’s grin only overtakes his face, arrogant and—

“I married an egomaniac,” Rose says. “What is wrong with me?”

Okay, so maybe she’s going to come out on bottom, but I think that’s a place she likes to be in the bedroom. In my book, she won. I nod definitively.

Connor leans forward, his wrists on the counter, fingers skimming her arms. “Rien du tout.”
Nothing at all.

I flinch in surprise with the candy bag in hand, chocolate chips sailing through the air. Everyone turns to me, and I redden. Still I point at Connor. “I understood you! Ha!” My French translation book is
finally
paying off.

And Connor gives me one of the most genuine smiles, and then he claps, not in sarcasm, like real applause for someone who aced a test and deserves an A-plus.

It fills me with more confidence than I think I’ve ever had. I can be on the same level as the two smartest people in the house. It just takes a little work and dedication. Things they excel in—things I’m learning.

Lo kisses my temple, his hands swooping around my waist from behind. My body warms at his touch, and I purposefully avoid his features, not able to stare too long. His gorgeous jawline and amber eyes will send me on a one-way ticket to the bedroom, and I’ve been doing…not so hot these past few days in the sex department.

It’s just difficult being so aroused all the time.

Lo even reads me well, no teasing. He just keeps his one loose arm around me and stays by my side. He says to Rose, “It’s funny how you’re bitching when we’ve done most of the baking.” He gestures from his chest to Ryke to Connor.

“Daisy helped us,” Ryke reminds him, popping the lid off the chocolate icing.

“And Daisy,” Lo amends.

“I’m bitching for Lily too, not just for myself.” She raises her chin to me. “You’re welcome.” And then she folds her hands on the counter and sits straighter. I do love Rose, even when she’s standing on the opposite side from Lo.

He flashes her a half-smile and then walks back to Connor. He pats him on the shoulder. “She’s all yours, love.”

Connor grins a billion-dollar grin, and his eyes never waver from Rose’s and hers never detach from his, like they’re speaking in their brains. Mind reading—a smart person superpower.

I smile and scoop some chocolate chips off the counter while Lo checks the oven. When I look up, I catch Ryke and Daisy flirting,
two
of his fingers dipping into the chocolate icing.

My body actually reacts, my skin warming in places it shouldn’t. I stiffen, remembering a similar icing situation in the past with them. When they weren’t together. But I never heated back then. I definitely didn’t break into an aroused sweat. I wipe my arm over my clammy forehead, cursing myself for feeling
anything
at all.

Daisy faces her older boyfriend, holding onto his belt loops, and then Ryke sucks the chocolate off, his fingers deep in his mouth, and his eyes roll back in a fake orgasm.

Holy shit.

I need to look away. Ryke Meadows
cannot
be arousing me. No, no,
no.
If there is one constant it’s this: Ryke Meadows is my mood killer, my go-to image to make me
dry
. My hormonal body doesn’t realize how annoying Ryke can be.

As soon as Ryke drops his fingers, he kisses Daisy so deeply, with skilled tongue action. Her hands grip his thick brown hair.

I grow wet and force my gaze anywhere else.

That was
not
hot
, I try to fool myself. I would like to crawl beneath the bar stool, hide and disintegrate into the floorboards.

This is too awkward to even talk about, let alone ponder in my dirty, messed up mind. Now my elbows are even red.

Great.

I hear a tray clatter on the stove, and I realize Lo not only saw me squirming but he may have caught the source of my arousal.