Love Brewing (Love Brothers #3) (7 page)

He yelped and glowered at her. “Hey, whatever happened to
not smacking a man when he’s down?”

Diana shoved the small tendril of guilt under a huge pile of
righteous indignation. “Get the fuck out. Bunk in the barn if you must. You can
stay a couple more nights. After that, Jen and Dale are gonna boot you out.
Lord knows there are a blue million breweries now. Go find a new one.”

He opened his mouth. But she spoke, because if he did, Diana
honestly did not know what she might do. She pressed his chest with her
fingertip.

“Two nights, Love. Then you move along. The barn’s getting
some kind of stupid remake anyway. My brother-in-law’s determined to make my
Daddy’s farm into some kinda come see the hillbillies in their natural habitat
freakshow. Or something.” She propped on the wall opposite him, so exhausted
she could hardly move. “Besides.” She glowered at him. “Aren’t you gay now?”

He frowned and crossed his arms. “I think the term you’re
reaching for is
bi
. I won’t ever stop loving these.” His hand shot
across the space between them and cupped her breast, bare under the tank top
she’d fallen asleep in earlier. “I was just messing with….” he gulped, telling
her another story entirely, one that did not square with his words. “Him.”

“Get your fuckin’ paws off me.”

“With pleasure.” He gave her nipple a quick pinch then
stomped away, turning when he got to the bathroom door. “I was a real bad guy
to you, Diana, more than once. I want you to know that I’m truly sorry. I
appreciate you letting me hide out. I’ll be gone tomorrow.” The sound of shower
water hitting the tiles filled her ears.

Diana dropped to the step, willing him back, willing him
gone, willing her own weak self to get a life so she didn’t
want
him
back in it so badly. “Bastard,” she muttered. “Mother-fucking, cheating jerk!”
She screamed before running upstairs and falling face-down onto her bed.

Then

“Dom!” Diana called from the open car window, waving him
over. He barreled up and down the outdoor basketball court, getting harder and
harder to see in the growing twilight. “Hey! Let’s go!” She slapped the car
door, trying to get his attention.

“Hang on,” he shouted after a few minutes. “Almost done.” He
took the pass and headed the other way, maneuvering through the opposing team
and executing a perfect lay-up.

She glanced down at her arm, which still stung like crazy.
She’d been having a devil of a time hiding the strip-mall tattoo from her
parents. Jen had agreed to help her keep it a secret, but only after a serious
blackmailing guilt trip about the young man in question.

Diana slid down in the seat with her book for English class.
Dom’s
almost done
with a basketball game always translated to
thirty
minutes minimum
. She grabbed a hard candy from the container between the
seats and popped it into her mouth, getting lost in
To Kill A Mockingbird
.
When it got too dark to see, she switched on the dome light and grabbed another
candy, content to wait him out. Her chores were done for the day. She and Dom
were supposed to go to a movie. After glancing at the car’s clock and figuring
that unless he got in the car in two seconds they’d never make it, she sighed
and resumed reading.

“Hey, isn’t that Dominic Love?” A female voice floated in
her passenger’s side open window.

“Sure is,” another girl answered. “Let’s go watch. He is
so
fine.”

Diana scrunched farther down in her seat, straining to hear
them.

“You don’t know the half of it.” The first girl giggled.

Diana willed them away from her, but wanted to hear more
somehow, to confirm how stupid she’d been to trust him when he claimed they
were, together, you know ‘like’ boyfriend and girlfriend.

“I thought he was dating that what’s-her-name, from the
tobacco farm? The skinny one with those ridiculous braids?”

“Huh. Well, maybe she thinks so. But she’s just a kid. Dom
told me so last night.”

“Renee Reese, you lying slut,” the second girl squealed.
“What happened? You told me you were staying home ’cause you had cramps.”

“Well, I could hardly tell him ‘no,’ now could I?”

The girls tittered again. Rage expanded in Diana’s chest.
She tugged on her braids before realizing she was doing that and sat on her
hands, heart in her throat.

“He slipped me a note in chemistry class. Asked if we could
meet up. So you know my mama was gone all weekend….”

“Oh, my Lord. You didn’t!”

“I surely did. Twice. And I am here to tell you that he’s
all you think he is…and a bag of chips.”

“So, you….”

“Well, he brought over some of his daddy’s beer and we got
all stupid-drunk, at least I did. I think he made me drink most of it. But I
didn’t care.”

Diana put a palm over her pounding heart, recalling that Dom
had claimed he’d been camping with his brothers the night before. She’d
actually enjoyed the time alone, contemplating her happiness and the soreness
due to the UTI from Dom’s near-constant enthusiasm for screwing since she’d
opened that particular door. Apparently he’d not been satisfied with it,
however.

“Did it…hurt?”

“Well, no actually. Probably because I was stupid-drunk, but
Dom was pretty good…with his mouth, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh my God, ewwww.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. I know I was.” The girls tittered
again. “He is fine, indeed.”

“But what about, you know, that girl. His girlfriend?”

“Oh, her.”

Diana ground her teeth so hard her jaw ached.

“He’s breaking up with her. He told me so. She can’t go to
prom, you know. Her Daddy won’t let her or some such thing. Probably can’t
afford a dress anyway.”

“Yeah, she’d look funny in her overalls, bless her heart.”

Renee laughed. A whoosh-whooshing noise filled Diana’s head.
Her throat closed up.

“Yeah, well, he told me she’s sorta, you know, flat up top
anyways. He likes these.” Her friend burst out laughing, and the sound filled
all the voids in Diana’s soul.

“Well, that’ll make two of you.”

“Now, now, don’t be jealous just ’cause you don’t have a
fine set like I do.”

“Spare me, you bitch.”

“And now you can just line up with all the other jealous
sluts ’cause I got myself the prize: Dominic Sean Love. He’s smitten, I assure
you. Little Miss Flat-Chested Farm Girl will be history soon. I know how to
make my man happy.”

“Did you…you know?”

“Of course. You’da thought I’d given him the keys to the
bank vault when I got down on my knees. Sweet boy.” The tone of Renee’s voice
shifted from teasing to serious.

Diana blinked and touched her face, feeling the tears
flowing, like a braid-wearing, poor, farm-girl loser. She lurched up out of the
ratty driver’s seat of the junker Chevy and cranked the key, forcing a horrible
noise from under the hood. Wincing, she gripped the wheel, threw the thing into
gear and peeled out, hoping to God she’d managed to spray pebbles all over the
skanky whore and her stupid friend.

She screeched to a halt at the street, chest heaving, mind
spinning.

“Hey! Di! Wait up!”

She spotted the cheating jerk in the rearview, waving and
running toward her car. She leaned halfway out the window. “Stay away from me,
you asshole!”

Even from where she sat Diana saw the sweat on his exposed
shoulders and arms. She glared over at the two girls who’d installed themselves
at a nearby picnic table, sipping their sodas. She spotted the one who must be
Renee right away. Perfectly styled dark-blonde hair, a little too much makeup,
but with those tits half hanging out of a silky shirt that probably cost more
than the entire contents of Diana’s closet.

“I know you weren’t camping, Dom. Better tell your new
girlfriend over there to talk less. I’m willing to bet she has better uses for
her stupid mouth.”

Dom’s jaw dropped. The ball he’d been carrying bounced onto
the pebbly parking lot. She waited, willing him to deny it. But he stayed
still, hands on his hips, his gaze focused downward.

“Go to hell,” she yelled so loud it hurt her throat. The
last thing she heard were annoying giggles coming from the vicinity of the
picnic table.

***

“Leave me alone,” she mumbled into her pillow when her
mother knocked for the millionth time. Diana hurt all over, head to toe. She
must be dying, for certain, thanks to him. Her heart would simply bust out of
her chest and explode all over her bedroom. The bedroom where she’d let him…she
squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, just to blot out the sound of her own
inner voice and of the bedroom door opening.

“Get up. Scoot over.”

“Go fuck yourself, Jen. You’re the one who…who…oh crap. I’m
such an idiot.”

“Nice mouth. Now get up and listen to me.”

“Why should I? You screwed him first, remember?”

“I know, and I’m real sorry about that for more reasons than
one.” Jen grabbed her arm and hauled her up to a seated position. “What did he
do now?”

“He…it’s…she….” Diana sucked in a breath and more sobs
exploded out of her, making her mad all over again. She let Jen hold her tight
until she got under control, then she flopped onto the bed. “He spent the night
with…with…Renee Reese.”

“Hmm, no big surprise there. She seems his type.”

“Hey! I’m his type. You are too, last time I checked.” Diana
glowered at her sister. “I don’t wanna talk about him with you. Leave me
alone.”

“Oh, honey.” Jen rubbed her shoulders. “You’re better off
without a guy like Dom. Trust me.”

“You don’t know. You don’t understand. You just…just fucked
him. You don’t love him. I love him and he loves me. He told me so.”

“Di, listen.” Jen crouched down on the floor in front of her
and brushed a lock of damp hair off Diana’s forehead. “He’s not a good guy. Not
at all. I know I shouldn’t have…you know. But I also know that I don’t love him
and can see him for what he is. He’s gonna hurt you, baby sister. I don’t want
that for you.”

“Oh, go to hell, Jen. And get out of my room. I don’t need
you—my sweet sister who seduced my boyfriend right under my dang nose—feeling
sorry for me.”

Jen propped her elbows on the bed, shoving her face closer
to Diana’s. “He is not your boyfriend, Diana.”

“Yes, he is.”

“No, he’s not. When has he actually used the exact words:
‘Diana Brantley, you are my girlfriend. We are together.’”

“He…it’s….”

“Yeah? What is it? Help me understand.”

Furious at her sister’s bossy tone, Diana pushed away, got
up, and flounced over to her window seat overlooking the yard. She touched the
sill, noting the scratches Dom had put there with his boots the last time he’d
scrambled out when her father’s voice had interrupted them.

“He’s a bad guy, Diana. You don’t understand that yet, but
you will.”

Rage rose up from her chest and spilled into her throat,
making her want to puke.

“You’re not letting him get away with not using a rubber,
right?”

“Of course not.” Diana ran her finger down the window pane,
wishing she could see him right now, let him explain, hold her and kiss her.
She had let him get away without a rubber one time, which had netted her the
UTI and two terrified weeks of
could I be pregnant
? which she wasn’t,
thank the Lord in heaven.

“I love him, Jennifer,” she declared, softly at first. “I
love him. I love Dominic Love and there’s nothing you can do about it! Get
out!” she hollered so loud she knew her parents could hear but she didn’t care.

Jen got to her feet and straightened her skirt. She’d been
working at a fancy restaurant in Lexington while she went to community college
and must have just gotten off her shift. Diana dropped her arm and her fingers
located something she could grasp—one of her rodeo trophies, won when her
parents could still afford to enter in such things. It felt solid and
dangerous. Without a second thought, she sent it flying right at her sister.

Jen simply ducked to the right. The trophy thudded against
her dresser and sent a bottle of perfume crashing to the rug. The smell of
knock-off Calvin Klein filled the air.

“Get out! Get out! Get out!” Her throat hurt so badly she
could barely speak but she kept on yelling.

***

She sat, still awake late into the night. When a familiar
sound floated up to her, she scrambled out of bed and raised the window.

“Go away and don’t come here again,” she whispered down to
Dom’s shadowy figure, not meaning a single word.

“Diana, baby, please let me explain.”

“No.” She glared down at him. He stepped into the light shed
by the moon. She gripped the windowsill. “Go to Renee. Let her suck your dick.”
She slammed the window closed and dropped to her butt, sobbing again.

More rocks peppered the window. She counted to twenty,
willing him to go away while wishing for him to never give up. Exhausted, she
crawled into bed, dropping into a strange half-sleep peopled with sexy blonde
girls on their knees interspersed with images of Dominic, his broad shoulders,
the sound of his laugh, the feel of his lips.

“Shhh….” someone insisted in her ear. He tugged her
nightgown up, found her nipples, her sore sex. Even as she cried, she kissed
him, and when he’d teased her into a shivery orgasm she exhaled and let naïve,
immature relief fill her where she’d been so very empty before.

“I’m so, so sorry. baby. So sorry…Diana…I have to….”

She shifted her hips and he slid into her body, stroking
deep, all the while staring at her with the sort of intensity that brought on
yet more annoying tears. She wrapped her legs around him, thankful for the
orgasm for a lot of reasons, not the least of which so she wouldn’t be raw in
the morning.

He buried his face in her neck, shivering as he moved faster
and faster. When he groaned, Diana sensed the warmth inside her, and was
relieved that her mom got her on the pill, knowing she risked all manner of
nastiness letting him go bareback, but not caring. He lay against her sweaty
neck, breathing heavily, then pulled out and flopped onto his side.

She didn’t move, couldn’t speak for the jealous fury still
roiling through her. “Why, Dom?”

He threaded his fingers in hers. “I’m weak. I was weak. It
won’t happen again.”

“You might wanna tell Renee. She’s pretty sure you’re
breaking up with me right now because my daddy won’t let me go to prom with
you.”

He chuckled and flipped up on his side. She tugged her
nightgown down, suddenly embarrassed for some strange reason. The wetness
between her legs and under her butt spurred her up. She grabbed some tissues,
trying to get a good look at them in the darkened room after she’d dragged them
between her legs. They were dark. She switched on the lamp.

“Oh, uh, sorry. That time of the month?” He sat, head
hanging down already seeming to disengage from her.

“No. I think you hurt me.”

He got up and grabbed tissues then zipped up. “Did you grow
your hymen back?” he quipped.

She frowned. “No, jerk. You’re…you know, kinda big. It hurts
still, sometimes.” Pissed at his smug expression at that comment, she wadded
the tissues up, wondering how she could sneak down the hall and do a proper
clean up. She had blood, but not period blood. And she hurt pretty bad.

“Oh, baby.” He pulled her so close she heard his heartbeat.
“I’m sorry.” He kissed her hair. “Forgive me?” He tilted her chin up and gave
her the sad puppy dog eyes again.

“Yeah.” She pressed her nose into his chest. “But if you
take her to prom I’ll lighten your load down there with my daddy’s hatchet.”
She cupped his crotch. He jumped away from her and executed his usual nervous
tick, running his palm around the back of his neck. She hated it, and him, and
her own stupid self at that split second.