I swallowed hard, my mouth now dry and feeling like someone stuffed cotton in it.
“Hold on,” I said, trying to steady the spinning room long enough to put my hands on her shoulders and get her to stop.
A warmth spread through my body, and I looked down to see her mouth over my dick.
“What the fuck?” I said, pushing her back. “Wait! Madison, you need to slow down.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. I have a condom. I’m going to crawl onto you and fuck you until you scream out my name.”
What in the hell? Okay, so Madison was far from innocent.
I jumped when I felt her manhandling my dick. My head was now pounding, and I was regretting the fucking whiskey.
“Madison, I don’t want you to fuck me.”
She was straddling me. Her hot pussy up against my dick. Any other guy would grab her hips and pull her down onto him. But I was pushing her away.
“But you said . . .” Her eyes were filled with hurt and rejection.
“You’re practically attacking me in a goddamn men’s bathroom. I’m drunk but not drunk enough to know if we were going to be together, this is not how I would want it.”
Madison nodded. “So you’ll take me back to my place and fuck me?”
What in the living fuck?
I glanced down and saw the condom on my dick. When did she put that there?
Christ almighty. I need to sober up and fast.
I pulled the condom off and tossed it in the toilet, then got my shit back into my pants and got us both out of the men’s restroom.
We walked past the table where Josh and Jen were. Josh stood, looking at me with a worried face.
“We’re just going for some fresh air.” I said.
Once we were outside, I stood in front of Madison, who was now leaning against the building, her face buried in her hands. Moaning over and over how embarrassed she was.
“Hey,” I softly said, pulling her hands down and using my finger to tip her chin up. “I led you on, I know that.”
Her eyes squeezed shut. “Oh gosh. Gunner, I was practically raping you in the bathroom. Throwing myself at you when I knew you were drunk.”
I certainly wasn’t drunk now.
“Do you not think I’m pretty?” she asked, her eyes building with tears.
My mouth dropped open. “What? Of course I do. It’s just . . . well, I’m not. I don’t.”
Thrusting my fingers through my hair, I took in a deep breath.
“Madison, I’m going to be really honest with you, and you’re probably going to want to either slap me in the face or kick me in the balls when I’m finished.” I drug in a deep breath. “I’m going to say it anyway. I’m not looking for a hookup or for a girl who throws herself at me in the middle of the men’s restroom because she thinks she wants to fuck me. Yes, we’d have a bit of fun for a bit and it would feel fucking amazing, but then what? What happens after I zip up my pants and you fix your dress? We would most likely go our separate ways.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I’m not trying to be a dick, but I also don’t want to be a Josh.”
“A Josh?” she asked, sniffling and wiping under her nose with her arm.
“Yes. Josh is like a brother to me, but he is the biggest manwhore I know. I wouldn’t be surprised if him and Jen haven’t snuck off by now.”
She looked down. “Jen’s that way also. I think she’s addicted to sex, to be honest with you. She’s always hooking up with these guys and talking about how amazing the sex is. I guess I wanted to see what the hype was all about by having a random hookup.”
I shook my head. “Madison, you are a beautiful woman, and you deserve to be with a guy who doesn’t want the hookup but wants the girl he can go on dates with and talk to. Enjoy his time with, and it not just be about sex. I want that for me . . . and I’ll be honest, I haven’t found that girl yet.”
Madison’s mouth turned up into a grin. “When you do find her, Gunner, she’s going to be one lucky lady.”
The door to Fado’s opened, and Josh and Jen walked out.
“Everything okay?” Josh asked.
I nodded.
“Listen, I’m pretty beat and ready to head on home. You about ready to leave, Gunner?”
My eyes widened in shock as I bounced my gaze from Josh to Jen. She was clearly not happy about Josh wanting to leave, and it showed by the expression on her face.
I glanced back over to Madison, who saw it also. She shrugged.
“Um, yeah, I feel like I need an Advil and a large bottle of water,” I said.
Josh laughed before turning to Jen. “I had a great time; it was nice meeting you, Jen.”
“Um, yeah, you as well,” she huffed.
“Was good seeing you again, Madison,” I said with a grin.
She returned it with one of her own. Walking up to me, she reached up, kissed my cheek, and whispered, “Thank you for not letting me make more a fool of myself than I already had.”
“It takes two to tango. I’m sorry I let it get that far.”
Returning the kiss on the cheek, I pulled back.
“Where are y’all parked? We’ll walk you to your car,” Josh stated.
The girls told us they were parked in the same parking lot as us. We walked in silence the entire way to their car before saying our goodbyes once more. After they were both safely in the car, Josh hit me on the arm. “Tell me you didn’t fuck her.”
“I didn’t.”
He let out a sigh of relief. “Good, because you were toasted.”
“Did you? With Jen?”
Josh shook his head. “No. I mean, the girl was trying her best to jack me off under the table, but I wasn’t into it. I’ve never pushed a girl’s hand away from junk like that before. I actually started to get a cramp in my bicep from swatting her away.”
I stopped walking. Maybe I really was two sheets to the wind. “You weren’t into it? As in you passed up sex?”
“Yep,” he said, walking toward my truck.
“You willingly gave up the chance to have sex? Madison said Jen was loose.”
Josh let out a roar of laughter. “That was evident the first two minutes she had her paws all over me.”
We stopped at my truck, and I handed him the keys.
“Are you giving up your manwhoring ways?”
He jerked his head back. “Dude, let me take baby steps. Don’t take the whole jar of candy away all at once.”
I laughed and got into the truck. More like, fell into the truck. My drunkenness was back again.
As Josh started up my truck, I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes. “I’m never drinking like that again.”
I heard Josh laugh and mumble something like, “Yeah, right.”
It didn’t take long before the motion of the driving truck put me to sleep and blue eyes invaded my dreams.
Chapter Sixteen – Jeff
She stood at the door, her hands on her hips, a pissed-off look covering her face. The old Jeff and Ari were back. Gone were the two civil people who shared coffee together.
“Just let me in, Ari. I need to talk to Ellie.”
“She’s not here, dickhead. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
I knew damn well my sister wasn’t at Ari’s. So why was I standing at her door arguing with her about it?
Because I was sick in the damn head. Because it thrilled me. Gave me a high I’d never experienced before. And because I was dying to see her smile. Her hazel eyes. Her soft, wavy, light-brown hair.
“Ari?” Sue called out. “Who’s here?”
Shooting me daggers, Ari called back, “A salesman trying to sell a bunch of shi—”
“Jeff Johnson! My word, I haven’t seen you in months! Get on in here and give me a hug.”
As I walked by Ari, I shot her a smile that would have any normal girl blushing. But not Ari. Hell no. It just pissed her off and made her cheeks flush with anger, not lust.
r /> “How are you, Sue?” I asked, letting Ari’s mother lead me into the house and straight to the kitchen.
“I’m wonderful! Wait until Mark sees you. How is your mother, darling?”
I huffed. “The same.”
She gave me a knowing look. “We’ve been begging Ellie to move in here. Why, she spends most of her time here as it is.”
I smiled. “Thank you for always taking such good care of her.”
Sue gave me a knowing grin. One that said she knew what went on in our house but wasn’t about to pry unless asked to.
“Mark, look who stopped by.”
Glancing up from his newspaper, most likely the sports section, Mark flashed me a wide, toothy smile.
“Well, if it isn’t Jefferson Johnson. How in the hell are you, son?”
Mark had always liked me, but there was always something that told me that could all change if he knew how I really felt about his daughter. His only daughter. The same girl I had laid in bed and jacked off to since she was fifteen years old.
Jesus, what is wrong with me? My dick was getting hard thinking about jacking off to an image of Ari. With her father standing in front of me.
“I’m doing well. Just looking for Ellie.”
“Like I said, she isn’t here. She’s with that loser of a boyfriend of hers.”
“Arianna, that’s not nice,” Sue said.
Ari and I exchanged looks. “I wish you would talk to your sister about what pigs guys are.”
“Not all of us are pigs, Ari,” I said, with a wink.
Snarling her lip up at me, she scoffed.
I decided to let that part of the conversation go. I was more curious as to why Ari didn’t like Ryan. “Why don’t you like him?”
“He seems like a nice boy,” Sue added, handing me a glass of iced tea.
“Thank you, Sue.”
She nodded and asked, “Piece of chocolate cake, Jeff?”
“No!” Ari shouted.
“Yes, I’d love a piece.” I didn’t really want a piece, but it was an excuse to stay longer.
Rolling her eyes, Ari dropped into the chair next to her father. His eyes looked from me to Ari.
“When did you two start not liking each other?”
“Oh, Mark! Don’t be silly; Ari’s just being Ari.”
It took everything out of me not to laugh when Ari’s mouth dropped open and she stared at her mother.
“What?” she shouted.
“It’s a love-hate relationship, sir,” I replied.
His brows raised.
“Love as in brotherly,” I added.
When I peeked back over to Ari, her eyes looked like they were filled with hurt. Tears quickly filled them up before she jumped up and left the room.
What in the hell was that all about?
“Is she okay?” I asked, taking a bite of the piece of heavenly chocolate cake that had just been placed in front of me.
Sue frowned and answered, “I think she’s upset; her date for the prom canceled on her.”
I sat up a little straighter. I wanted to know who in the fuck Ari had been planning on going to the prom with. Everyone knew what guys had in mind on prom night.
“Who was she going with?”
Mark huffed. “Some idiot named Parker.”
I growled internally. I had no fucking clue who Parker was, but I hated him already.
“Want me to talk to her?” I asked.
Sue gave me a smile. “I think it’s more of a feelings being hurt type thing. She’ll be fine. Her and a few of her other friends, Heather and Amanda, are all going stag.”
“They’ll have more fun. Everyone knows what those little bastards have on their minds during prom,” I bit out.
Mark looked at me, and we exchanged a knowing look. Then I thought about Ellie.
Ryan.
I was going to have to have a little talk with that little bastard.
After finishing my cake, I stood. “Thank you so much for the tea and cake, but I need to go track down Ellie.”
“She’s not answering her cell phone?”
“I thought she said she was coming over here; I haven’t even tried to call her yet.”
Sue gave me a sweet grin. I instantly felt guilty for lying to them. Here I was trying to sneak a moment with Sue and Mark’s daughter, and they were none the wiser.
I’m an asshole with a capital A.
“No need to show me out; I know the way.”
“Okay, sweetheart, you have a good day,” Sue said.
“Keep up the good work on the football, Johnson!” Mark called out, never looking away from his paper.
“Yes, sir,” I replied. “Thank you again, Sue.”
“Tell your mother we said hello!” Sue called out as I made my way through the house and to the front door.
When I walked outside, I saw Ari sitting on the tire swing. Her back was faced toward me so she wouldn’t see if I just left. But I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to talk to her, make sure she was all right.
Dragging in a deep breath, I made my way over to her. “Everything okay?”
“Go away, Johnson. I’m not in the mood to do battle with you today.”
My heart ached at the sadness in her voice.
“Your mom told me about your date for prom.”
Ari groaned and buried her face in her hands.
“Fuck him, Ari. If he doesn’t want to go to prom with you, then you’re better off.”
Her arms dropped in her lap. “He did want to go with me, Jeff. It’s what he wanted to do after prom that I wasn’t down for.”
Anger pulsed through my veins.
“Which was?”
She spun around and stared at me. “Fuck. He wanted to rent a hotel room and fuck like rabbits the whole night. His words. Not mine.”
I was ready to explode. “That motherfucker. I’ll kill him.”
For a brief moment, Ari looked like she was going to smile, then her expression changed.
“I don’t need you and your brotherly love fighting my battles.”
My owns words thrown back at me caused me to stumble a step or two back.
“Ari . . . I didn’t . . .”
“Please go. Just go, Jeff. I can’t do this with you today. Not today.”
The tears filling her eyes had me dropping down to my knees and cupping her face within my hands.
“He’s not worth it, Ari. Don’t cry over him.”
Her voice shook as she said, “I know that. I’m not crying about him.”
She closed her eyes, and that gave me the courage to blurt out my next sentence.
“I’ll go with you. To prom.”
Snapping her eyes open, she went to say something, then stopped herself.
I wasn’t sure how long we stared at each other before she pulled her head out of my embrace and laughed.
“Sure. How great would it be to show up to prom with my best friend’s brother, who thinks of me like his little sister? I’m sure every girl who has ever hated me at one point in my life would love that.”
The way she stressed little sister made my stomach lurch.
“Ari,” I whispered.
She spun around and faced away from me. “Go, Jeff. Will you just go? Please.”
Standing, I took a few steps back, waiting to see if she would change her mind and spin around with a huge smile on her face, in love with the idea of me taking her to prom.
Instead, she sat there. Silently pleading with me to leave. It tore my heart into a million fucking pieces.
I turned and walked away. When I got to my truck, I glanced back in time to see Ari watching me . . . and wiping a tear from her cheek.
Everything inside of me yelled to go back to her. Tell her how I really felt about her. But I didn’t. I was too afraid of the unknown.
I got in my truck. Started it and drove off.
Dropping the weights, I let them bang against the floor. Everyone turned and glared at me.
&n
bsp; “Sorry,” I said, holding my hands up in defense. “I know . . . don’t drop the weights.”
Gunner eyed me with suspicion. “What’s going on with you? You act like you want to tear someone’s head off.”
I shook my head. “It’s nothing. I think I’m going to head to Hyde Park gym, go a couple of rounds with Billy.”
“Now I know something’s wrong.”
“It’s been a long week, and I need to let out some steam. I’m ready for this school year to be over.”
With a nod, Gunner continued to stare at me.
“You’re creeping me out, dude. Stop staring at me.”
“I will when you tell me what’s bothering you.”
With a frustrated groan, I pushed my hands through my hair.
“Tonight is Ellie’s prom, and I’m just worried about the dick she’s dating. I caught up with him yesterday and threatened his fucking life if he tried anything with her.”
Gunner laughed. “Did he believe you?”
“He sure as fuck better. I told him I’ll be waiting for him with a few of my friends when he drops Ellie off after prom. So I’m going to need you to go with me later tonight so he knows I wasn’t bluffing.”
His jaw fell open. “You’re serious?”
I nodded. “Yep. I already asked Josh and Brad. They’ll be at the house around ten.”
“How do you think your sister is going to feel when she knows what you did?”
“She won’t. I told him if he tells her, I’ll break both his legs and make it look like an accident.”
Gunner swallowed hard. “Christ almighty, dude.” He reached for a weight to do biceps but stopped.
“So if you think he believes you, why are you so angry?”
There was no way I could tell him it was because Ari ended up going to prom with another jerk who was most likely going to try something with her.
“I guess I’m just stressed.”
“Then maybe a few rounds in the ring will help work that out.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m gonna head that way. I’ll catch up with you later at the house.”
Gunner slapped my back. “Have a good workout, and don’t worry. Ellie will be fine.”
I huffed. It wasn’t Ellie I was worried about. I had put the fear of God in Ryan. There was no way he would even lay a finger on her after I threatened him. If he did, he was a stupid ass.