Need Us (15 page)

Yeah so sue me, the guy is fucking hot.

“Who beat him up?” Damien asks, raising a brow and looking down at Donovan.

Everyone points to me, even though half these people weren’t out here when that happened. “Royal knocked him out. And spit on him.”

Damien nods his head and looks impressed. “Gotta say, Rach, it’s pretty impressive you beat him up with that kid in the way.”

I forget how hot he is when he opens his mouth. His southern accent is pretty thick considering we live in a huge ass city. We all still have one of course but it’s like he grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. And he always seems to insult me when he talks to me. “Yeah well I could beat him up while holding both my kids. And I could beat you up too, jackass.”

Royal, Channing, and Court hold back laughter as Damien bites his lip and grins at me. “Alright there, princess. No need to get your panties in a wad.”

This time I sneer at him. “Don’t talk to me anymore. I’m pregnant and you’re pissing me off.”

This time Ashley bursts out laughing. “Careful there Rach, he’ll start getting ideas.” Then she walks over to Channing and wraps her arms around him. “How about we get someone to clean this up and go get you married. I’m sorry we’re late.”

“We know,” all of us say at the same time. These two are always late. I don’t want to know the reason even though Royal says they can’t stop fucking. This comment has gotten him backhanded a few times by me. And Channing might have elbowed him in the gut.

Donovan comes to about then and looks up at us all. He doesn’t say anything though. There’s not much he can say. Everyone knows what he did and they now know he’s sorry for it. That doesn’t mean we’ll open our arms and welcome him back. In fact he’s really lucky if his mother doesn’t kill him once she finds out he’s here.

“You gonna live, Van?” Court asks, holding his hand out to help his brother up.

Donovan nods and tentatively accepts his brother’s hand. Court pulls him up and they stand eye to eye. “I’m not going to hit you or yell at you. You didn’t do those things when I fucked up. Plus, you probably have brain damage from the Sanders twins.” Court puts his hands in his pockets and looks at Donovan from under his lashes. “You could have avoided all of this. You just had to talk to me, beat me up or shoot me. Any of those would have done it. Hell, everyone would’ve forgiven you for shooting me.” He steps closer to Donovan and Donovan swallows, hard. “You went after my wife. You made her feel like shit about herself. You made her think it was all her fault. I’ll never forgive you for that. No one will but Rach herself because she’s a good person like that. The rest of us fall short when compared to her. And just know you brought this on yourself. I didn’t make you do any of this; so don’t blame me for it. There’s a time and a place for revenge. And you missed both.” Then my husband turns around and walks back into the courthouse.

The rest of us take his cue and leave Donovan standing alone on the steps. I turn to see him staring down at his feet. Something tugs at my heartstrings but I don’t let it win. He really did bring this on himself. I find I don’t mind it so much after that. He’ll find someone to love him. He’ll find happiness because he finally let all that anger go.

He walks away in one direction and I go in the other. I’ll never see him again, most of us won’t. And just maybe I’ll sleep a little better at night.

***

“You doing okay?” Wesley whispers to me while we stand at the back of the room filled with all the people who love Channing and Paisley.

I smile at her and nod. I wasn’t sure I would be. I spent months trying to get over all of it. Then the second I saw him, the second I knew he was remorseful, I knew there was hope for everything else. You can do something horrible but the only way you can have redemption is by being remorseful. If you feel bad for what you did and who you did it to, you can get back to a normal place in your life. Those who don’t feel remorse and guilt, well I feel bad for them on judgment day.

Paisley and Channing hold hands the whole time. They started when they met up outside and they haven’t let go since. No one says anything about it considering Channing’s probably making sure she doesn’t bolt for the door. From where I stand I don’t think she’s going anywhere. She looks incredibly happy.

And I’m standing here in the middle of their little wedding when my contractions start. I have to clench my teeth together to stop from crying out. Wesley looks at me funny but I give her a strained smile. She knows though, when she takes in how I look. She knows I’m about to go into labor. Well, hopefully after this wedding. I really don’t want to ruin it for them.

Court stands next to Channing holding the rings. Royal probably would have been up there but Court and Channing haven’t gotten to spend their whole lives as brothers. Most of those years were spent as enemies. And that’s funny how life flips on you like that. My husband spent most of his life with one brother as an enemy and the other as his friend. Now his best friend used to be the enemy and his friend is now the enemy.

I start panting because these contractions are killer. My water hasn’t broken so there’s no need to head to the hospital. They wouldn’t admit me anyway. Not until my water breaks or my contractions are closer together. I hope one of those happens soon because this shit hurts.

Lily turns around and looks at me with an eyebrow raised. She moves closer to me, trying not to draw attention to herself. She grabs my hand. “Squeeze my hand. We’ll get you through this. How close together?”

God I love that my father is a doctor and my mother-in-law is a nurse. I leave all the professional shit in their hands and all the worrying. “Every eight minutes.”

I don’t listen to the words going on with the wedding; I just stand there holding Lily’s hand. Finally they kiss and everyone cheers. That’s about the time my water goes. “Oh thank god!” I screech out loud. This startles everyone. “My water broke! Let’s go people!”

“I hate when she gets bossy. It means she’s in a lot of pain,” Court mutters and I glare at him. “What? It’s true G.” He makes his way to me and steers me out of the room while I hang on to his mother’s hand. “Let Ma go, Rach. We gotta get to the hospital. Everyone will meet us there.”

I let Lily’s hand go, only because there’s a door coming up and all three of us aren’t going to fit.

Before we make it out of the building I turn around and spot the newly married couple. “Congrats you two! I knew you’d make it to this day at some point!”

Epilogue

Eighteen years later…

Max

She took it. I can’t believe she actually took it. It’s one of those things that makes you want to punch a fucking hole in the wall. It’s not like I could punch one into her face, considering my entire family would kill me.

Maggie has been a pain in my ass since the day she was born. Not that I remember much from then considering she’s a few weeks younger than me and my twin sister Mari.

We’ve always had this hatred and rivalry between us. It’s always been a game too. We always see who blows first or who tells on the other first. I hate to say that she wins just as much as I do.

“Earth to Max!” I blink my eyes to see Seth snap some fingers in my face. I glare at my first cousin. “Maggie took it didn’t she?”

We have to call Seth and Maggie by their middle names since it gets confusing. Seth is actually Channing Seth Pierce born to my Uncle Pierce and Aunt Rachel. Maggie is actually Ashley Margret Southerland born to Channing and Paisley Southerland.

I nod and slam my locker door shut. Luckily we only have three weeks until graduation. I hate this school but mostly I hate that Maggie goes here. It isn’t bad enough she’s a part of my huge ass family; I also have to see her here. And she messes with me hard core in both places.

It probably doesn’t help she looks just like her MILF momma, Aunt Paisley. Long ass red hair, blue-green eyes full of fucking mischief, and those legs that go on forever. Yeah, I’ve had the hots for Maggie almost as long as I’ve hated her. I won’t ever admit this to anyone out loud but she gets inside my head in the worst way. I have trouble trying to hook up with other girls because it feels…wrong somehow.

“You know you got to go get it. She’ll ride this one for weeks if anyone finds out.” He opens his locker, which is right beside mine and almost smacks me in the face with it.

I glare at it like maybe Seth can see through the damn thing. He looks like a mixture of both his parents. Dirty blonde hair like his dad, brown eyes like his mom, built like his dad but has his mom’s personality. Which is awesome because I love my Aunt Rach to death.

I open my mouth to speak but I see the object of my torment turn the corner and head towards us. She doesn’t notice like she should because she’s probably digging around in her bag for her charcoals. The ones I took while Mari distracted her in fifth period chemistry. My twin sister is the best partner to have in any situation. She’s up for anything and she knows when to get away.

Now I know we’re two different genders but I feel like she’s my identical twin. I always know where she is, it’s a feeling I have. I can map it down to when she’s going to walk around a corner. I just sense her. Mom says it’s because we were so close together while she was pregnant with us. I guess that could be true considering my mom is the size of a Barbie. Plus Mari and I both have blonde hair and brown eyes. While I’m tall like my dad, Mari is short like mom. Though our features mix both of our parents well, we still look almost exactly alike. Except my hair is short and Mari’s is long.

Maggie stops in front of me when I put my foot out. She jerks her face up and she glares daggers at me. “You took my charcoals, didn’t you?” Then she puts her hands on those flared out hips. The ones I have an itch about holding onto while she rides. Yeah so sue me, I’m a horny ass teenage boy. What else is new?

I smile at her and wait the five seconds it takes for Mari to walk around the corner. She stops, looks at us and bursts into a grin. “Maybe,” I tell Maggie, sticking my hands into my pockets.

She sighs and takes out the object she took from me. “I don’t know what this is, but you can have it back. I need those charcoals. I have a project due in my art class tomorrow.”

The object is an old ass copy of an Adele CD. I found it in Dallas a couple of weeks ago. Adele is my mom’s favorite singer and her birthday is coming up. I wrapped it and put it in my locker because I know she can’t look there. I just didn’t expect Maggie to break into my locker and take it.

“No I don’t have your charcoals.” I walk right behind Maggie and make sure I get all up in her personal space. My groin lines up perfectly with her butt. I hear her sharp intake of breath. I lift my hand and point at Mari who’s almost upon us. “Mari has them, bad girl,” I whisper against her ear.

I don’t really remember when it started but I’ve been getting up in her personal space for a really long time. We’ve been screwing since we were sixteen years old. I don’t know how that happened. One day Dad dragged me over to Maggie’s house to hang out with her dad, my Uncle Channing. He and his wife aren’t really related to me, that’s just what Mari and I call them.

Maggie has a little sister named Bethany but she’s twelve and no fun at all. So I ended up messing with Maggie because I got bored hanging out with Dad and Seth. I remember we got seriously pissed off at each other and before I knew it, all our clothes were off and I was inside of her. It’s safe to say I freaked the fuck out and got out of there as fast I possibly could. Though it kept happening. Over and over again and I have no idea how to stop it.

Not that I want to.

Maggie groans, from either the fact I’m pressed up against her or that Mari has her stuff. Mari and Maggie really don’t get along. It’s funny that’s how it worked out. Seth and I are best friends, have been since birth. Maggie and Mari on the other hand? Can’t stand each other. And don’t ask me why, it’s some girly shit I’m sure.

“I’ll make it easy on you,” Mari says and crosses her arms over her chest. Then she smirks and looks between the two of us. “One of you has to tell me the truth.”

I swallow around the lump that has formed in my throat. Never once has Mari asked about what Maggie and I do together. Not that she knows anything to begin with. I’ve never touched Maggie when my sister was around. She knew what was going on before I did.

Maggie raises both her eyebrows. Maggie doesn’t take shit from anybody. And I mean that. Everyone is scared of Mari BUT Maggie. I think that’s why they don’t get along, really. They both think they’re bad bitches. Fucking ridiculous. “And what truth would that be?”

Mari’s smirk grows bigger and she throws her arms out in all her dramatic fashion. “That you’ve been screwing my brother for damn near two years.”

My palms start to get sweaty and I wonder if I ran in the other direction would I make it out of here before my entire life fell apart. Maggie purses her lips and then shrugs her shoulders. “Can’t say that I have. I wouldn’t touch Max if he was the last guy on earth.” Then she walks up to Mari and yanks her bag away. She digs around inside until she brings out the little black box that holds her charcoal. “You should know I have a little dirt on you. So I’d watch your mouth if you don’t want anything sordid spread around the school.” Then she taps Mari on the head and walks away.

“What the fuck just happened?” Mari whispers, looking at me. “I could have sworn the two of you were getting it on. I mean, come on, even Mom can feel the sexual tension between you two.”

I cringe at that one. My mom doesn’t need to know who I have sexual tension with. No one needs to know but Maggie and me.

I ignore her and Seth. I leave the school and head out to my truck. Mari likes to tell people I’m over compensating for something with my supped up truck but that’s simply not true. I just like to have a vehicle that has enough room for me. I’m a big guy; I don’t want to feel cramped in something smaller.

I head home in a bad mood. I can’t believe my sister said that about Maggie and me. I know it’s true but it seems kind of like a betrayal. Like she wants us to get caught or something. I would never rat her out for something like that. Hell, I wouldn’t ever rat her out in the first place, about anything.

My dad is the band director over at Meadows so he’s probably got practice scheduled this afternoon. My mom probably has a board meeting or something to attend. They are hardly ever home before six on the weekdays. Which means we always have to do something together over the weekend. Before we head off to a party or something. Don’t tell them that though.

I’m not going to lie, I about shit my pants when I open my bedroom door and Maggie is laying on my bed. Those blue-green eyes are so full of mischief and secrets. She knows everything about everyone. I think she would have to though, considering how much time she spends drifting through the hallways, unnoticed.

“You here to bitch at me?” I ask, dropping my bag near the door. I look down at my watch and see the time is only three thirty. We have plenty of time for whatever she’s in the mood for. When she shakes her head I take a step closer to her. “You here to fuck?”

“Yeah,” she says, sitting up and taking her shirt off over her head. She’s wearing the black and red bra I love so much. Not that I would ever tell her that. I don’t know what it is about us. I hate that we are like this because the more time I spend with her, the more I want more than this. I want to be with her and that scares the crap out of me.

Not only would my dad kill me, her dad would come after me as well. I think my mom would cry in happiness or something though. She always tells me how lonely I am, that I need to find a nice girl to go out with. I hate to tell her I don’t want to go out, I want to stay in with Maggie. I think that’s just the kind of jerk that I am.

My shirt comes up over my head and before I know it, I’m on top of her. My lips meet hers in a rush and I’m shucking my pants down my legs with my feet and one hand. Her hands go into my hair, pulling at the strands just a little bit. I groan all the same though. When she touches me, I lose my goddamn mind. I can’t explain it in words, not really. Fireworks go off, that’s the closest I can get.

“How do you want it, bad girl?” I whisper against her lips. Then I pull up to look down at her. Sometimes I can’t think and I get distracted because all I can see are blue-green eyes. Sometimes I know in my heart that she’s more than a fuck buddy. Inside this body of mine, I know I’m in love with her and that I always have been. Every good memory I have from my childhood involves her somehow.

She’s panting and moaning because I’m playing with her nipples, which I’ve shoved aside her bra to play with. I can’t tell you when I started calling her bad girl. It seems it’s always been her nickname. It’s always been a part of who we are. “Slow,” she says, taking my hand away from her breasts and moving it down to her jeans.

Maggie has this whole emo/Goth thing going on. She dyes the ends of her hair black, she always has a black band t-shirt on and all this black eyeliner on. I don’t mind it though, because I know how fucking beautiful she really looks, without all that shit.

Our lips meet again as I pull her jeans down to her ankles. Like most days she isn’t wearing panties. I use my hand to glide along my dick once, twice before I push it into her.

We might not always get along but we had the protection talk. We were both virgins before we ended up here. And she’s been on the pill since the third time we fucked.

I do what she asks and take it slow. As slow as I can what with her silky walls clutching at me. Her hands move over my body, like they do every time. She just can’t stop touching me. I like it though; I’ve always liked her hands on me.

I watch her pretty red nipples move with her bouncing breasts, mesmerized by the sight. Her hand comes over my head and down my face. Her finger ends up in my mouth and I suck it in. I thrust my hips to the rhythm of my sucking.

After awhile I’ve had enough of this slow shit. So I sit back on my calves and raise her legs up and on my shoulders. Then I hold her against me while I pound into her. I watch as her eyes roll back into her head while she comes. I join her because I can’t hold it back anymore.

When I come back to reality I’m lying on top of her with her arms around me. She’s still touching me everywhere she can. It spreads tingles up and down my spine. “Why do you think Mari waited until today to say anything?” she asks me.

I lean down and kiss her gently. We have this tender thing going on after we fuck. Like we actually sit here and talk and cuddle. It’s fucking weird. Sometimes Maggie feels more like my secret girlfriend than my enemy. In fact, she hasn’t truly felt like my enemy since the day before we fucked.

“I don’t know. But she is Mari so there is no telling.” I roll off of her and land on my back. I pull her against me and close my eyes. “I’m fucking tired. Let’s go to sleep.”

“What about your parents?” She doesn’t say what about Mari. Mari already knows, she’s just playing with us. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone knows. We try really hard to hide it but there is only so much a person can hide when you spend so much time with these people.

“They won’t be home till six. It’s four now. I’ll set my alarm for an hour.” Then we fall asleep cuddled around each other. I like her like this. All soft against me, smelling like wildflowers. And charcoal, she always smells like charcoal.

Everything goes fine right up until this moment. The moment we have to go from secret to out in public. This happens when my mom walks into my room at four thirty. An hour and half before she is even supposed to be home.

“Maximus Adam Sanders! Please for the love of god tell me that isn’t fucking Maggie Southerland!” My eyes pop open to see my mom standing in the doorway looking horrified.

Fuck.