Sabrina offers up a flick of the wrist. “I suggest we make a game of finding Scar Scar her very own Mr. Right.” She gives a hard wink to her baby sis. “And as for you, big boy, I have a feeling those estrogen floodgates never stop surging. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you had somebody new by your side later this very night.” Her foot rides over my leg once again, and I widen my knees, allowing her to fall to the floor with a thud. Sabrina nearly lands her face in the table in an attempt to keep her balance.
The food comes, and Bradley offers up a special blessing for his growing brood. It’s so heartfelt and kind I almost feel bad for contesting their union so soon in the game. Almost. The truth is, unless my mother comes clean, this coupling will fracture long before it ever adheres in the name of all that is legal.
Dinner wears on, and an entire procession of Bradley’s country club friends strut by with their tall, blonde, orange-stained trophy wives, all of which look as if they could be attending Whitney Briggs with me. It makes me wonder why Brad here didn’t trade up and become a platinum blonde silicone rewards member like his buddies. I watch as he holds my mother’s hand. The way he brings it to his lips for a casual kiss, the way he looks lovingly into her eyes as if she’s the only woman he sees. That, right there, is the way I wish to God my father had treated her all those years she sat faithfully by his side.
The waitress comes by to clear the dishes, and we watch as couples migrate to the dance floor. An entire new slew of the wealthiest couples of Hollow Brook stroll on by, and to each and every one I make it painfully clear that I very much find my new sister hotter than a kitchen fire. In fact, I’d heat things up significantly if I weren’t sitting so damn close to Lawson. I’m convinced if Scarlett and I turn up the furnace he’ll stab his fork through my balls with my next move.
Mom clears her throat while glancing lovingly up at Bradley. “So we’ve had a change of heart concerning the venue for the wedding.” Mom pinches her smile as if she’s unable to contain her joy, and my heart breaks a little for my father. Not once have I ever seen her brim with happiness around him the way she is now. “We’ve decided to host it right here at the country club!” she sputters as if announcing the fact they’re having a bouncing bundle of joy, and in a way they are, each other.
Sabrina wiggles in her seat. “I’ve always dreamed of a country club wedding!” She nudges Duncan hard in the ribs. “Of course, we can’t have one now that the two of you will be here. We’ll go with the marina instead. A sunset wedding with a twilight cruise around the harbor.” She brays like a hyena. “Scar Scar will be my matronly of honor, of course.”
“Scarlett’s not matronly.” It comes out stern like a warning. I don’t mind piping up to defend her. I’m sick of Sabrina’s blank check to destroy her sister any way she pleases. “Scarlett is anything but. She may not cover her face with war paint the way some people choose to or wear loud clothing that sirens out look at my most beloved assets, but she doesn’t have to.” My brows rise as I look to Sabrina because she’s the war paint princess with the dress that’s showcasing her tits. “Scarlett is a natural beauty.” I pull her hand to my lips and hold it there a moment. “Not to mention the fact she has a big heart.” It’s true. She only wants the best for her father, and right now, she’s not convinced that my mother is it. “Besides, you’re marrying her ex. It wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t want anything to do with the wedding.”
Sabrina gives a few blinks of disbelief at the audacity that anyone actually spoke up against her lunacy. “Scar Scar loves both Duncky and me. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s—right.” Scarlett deflates as if there were about a dozen other answers, but she wasn’t able to give them. “I’ve moved on to much greener pastures.” She rubs a small circle in the palm of my hand with her thumb, and my heart gives a few violent kicks because it just so happened to be a private gesture she gifted me.
Does Scarlett want this? My heat index spikes at her touch, at the thought of Scarlett having a change of heart toward me. God knows I’ve done a one-eighty when it comes to her. I try to plaster on a smile in an effort to keep the charade going, but there’s something in me that wants to stay right here in this sober moment and not cloud it up with any false pretenses. The feelings Scarlett Kent evokes in me are very much real.
Her thigh rubs over mine, and my dick perks to life.
Crap. If she keeps this up, the only one acting around here will be her. Scarlett is pulling me in, reeling me into her heart with those crimson locks and that pirate smile. I’m glad she seems genuinely happy for Duncan even if he is ending up with her batshit sister. I’m glad she’s over her ex because I don’t want her pining over him. Deep down, I want her pining over me.
The idea hits me like a bus.
Holy shit.
My gaze drifts to hers, and I swallow hard at this Irish princess that’s swooped in and stolen my heart.
“I’ve really fallen for you.” My face lights up with heat when I say it. I’m not sure why I said it out loud, despite the fact this is exactly what I promised I would do tonight.
“What?” Her chest rises and falls as a slight look of panic takes over.
The music relaxes to an easier pace, and an entire herd of couples drift to the dance floor.
“Batter Bits”—Bradley stands and plucks his daughter out of her seat—“why don’t you and I indulge in a little father-daughter dance? I’d like to have a few words with you.”
“Same,” Mom strums the word out without the slightest bit of amusement over my most recent confession. I’m betting her newfound rage has to do with the fact she realizes how heartfelt my last sentiment was. I had always suspected my mother would see through our act, but now that there’s no acting involved, at least on my end, she’s in full panic mode.
I hold my mother at an arm’s length as we follow Scarlett and her father to the dance floor.
“Why do you insist on doing this to me?” Her eyes beg me to stop whatever the hell I’m up to. And, in the mother of all ironies, I could have never predicted, there’s no way I can get off this redheaded crazy train.
“I’m not doing anything to you.” I glance to Scarlett, who seems to be having an equally animated discussion with her father, and I want nothing more than to head over, take her in my arms, and make her mine in every single way. For whatever reason, the girl I couldn’t quite stand months ago has come to make me feel like I’m on top of the world when I’m with her. “Can I ask you something? How does Bradley make you feel?”
“Excuse me?” Her entire body shakes with irritation. The lines around her eyes struggle to cut into her delicate skin, fighting the Botox, the army of expensive serums she and my father once argued over. My parents had the power to make even the most insignificant detail the most newsworthy, war-worthy event. But that was after their fall. Prior to that, there was no wrong, no fault, no error they could find in one another. I suppose that’s where the real heartache lies, in the abrupt betrayal of it all.
“You heard me right. How does he make you feel?” I glance over to Bradley. He’s tall and stately, dapper, too, all of which I suppose captured my mother’s eye. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, he seems like a pretty decent person.
“I don’t know—great, free, and easy. I feel lighter, younger, happier in general around him. I can’t stop thinking about him when we’re not together, and, when we are, it never feels like enough. Honestly, half of the time I can’t breathe when he’s not close by.”
My gaze drifts to Scarlett, and I meet up with her lighter than air spring-green eyes, that whiskey smile twisting on her lips that begs to tell of the secret the two of us hold. But something is shifting in me. I’m not playing games anymore. I’m done. I’m all in. Whatever this is between Scarlett and me has tilted on its axis, and all of the things we’re pretending to have, I want the chance to make them real. I excuse myself and drift from my mother, stepping over to Scarlett just as she lands in my arms.
“
Did you mean what you said back there?” Her lips quiver as she asks the question. The lights from above enwreathe her, and Scarlett glows like an otherworldly being, far too beautiful to ever be human.
The words narrow in my throat, and I can’t seem to get out exactly how I feel, so I offer up a silent nod instead.
“I—” Words struggle to dislodge from her as well, and she shakes her head, unable to get a single one out.
My finger lands over her lips, our eyes never breaking our stare. A part of me is afraid I won’t want to hear what she’s about to say. I’ve never been big on rejection. Instead, I offer a peaceable smile as I bow down closer. My lids hood over as the room melts away in a blur.
Scarlett jumps up on her toes, her red lips part like candy, and I can’t hold back another fucking minute. I do the only thing I can do—close my eyes and crash my mouth to hers.
A hard moan emits from her throat, and I swallow it down. Scarlett Kent’s lips adhere to mine. Her mouth opens just enough as she feeds me her tongue.
I pull her in with a marked aggression, and she hikes up, wrapping her legs around my waist. Scarlett and I go at it, kissing one another as if an all-out war broke out in our mouths—as if this were the very last kiss humankind would ever experience. I’m loving her with my tongue, fucking her with it. I’ve never been so far gone, so pulled out of reality than I am now, and I’m not interested in going back. Her moans increase as she claws at my chest, at my arms in an effort to climb me. I press her body to mine as whatever this is between us blossoms into something animalistic in nature.
A strong tug pulls me back from behind, and I open my eyes to find Scarlett being pried away by her father. Someone spins me around, and I catch Lawson Kent’s fist in my jaw as the world around me begins to wobble in and out of existence. Lawson backs up and ramps up that baseball mitt of a fist once again, this time aiming for my eye.
Nope, reality isn’t at all where I want to be right now.
Mad About You
Scarlett
There are very few moments in life that have the power to capture and freeze time, to impress themselves as both the best experience and best memory at the very same time. For me, that kiss Rex and I shared was it. I will never forget how alive I felt when he touched me with his lips. And when his tongue mingled with mine, my entire body shook as if a nuclear explosion went off in every single cell in my body. Nope, I will never forget that blessed-by-God magic. I will also never forget the fact my father is currently holding me back as if breaking up a street fight.
“Lawson!” I scream at my brother as he throws his fist into Rex’s poor face, time and time again.
Knox jumps my brother from behind, and soon my father is caught up in the brawl. Bodies fly, limbs flail, and just as quick as it started, it ends in a quiet hush as all parties cease at once.
Security shows up in droves, escorting Rex and Lawson to the exit, and the rest of our party follows them out.
“Good Lord!” Lynette cries into the warm night as she delicately presses her palm to Rex’s face. “He’s bruising!” she barks it out with enough enthusiastic fervor for one to assume she meant hemorrhaging. She looks to Lawson and snarls a moment before regaining her stoic composure. “But I don’t blame you, sweetheart. Rex and Scarlett have been asking for trouble all night long.”
“What?” I hop to Rex’s side now that his own mother is siding with the enemy, even if the enemy is my own brother. “Rex and I are in love.” I wince when I say it, considering we’ve hardly rounded first base, both emotionally and physically. “You can’t just freak out whenever we decide to show a public display of affection.”
“Yes,” Rex agrees, interlacing our fingers once again. “I’m going to hold her hand. We’re bound to kiss again.” Rex offers a quick squeeze as if reassuring me privately of this fact, and my insides explode with heat. I’d be more than happy to offer Rex Toberman’s tongue a home for the night—for display purposes, of course.
My body slaps with heat from head to toe, because let’s face it, I’m in this for far more than just public displays of affection. Rex has made me feel things no other boy has even come close to. And now, there’s a nagging ache deep in my gut that says what started as an act is about to blossom into the real deal, at least on my part.
“Don’t fucking kiss her around me.” Lawson’s chest heaves as if he were ready to initiate World War Three again.
“Or me.” Dad offers an apologetic shrug to Rex. “I get it. You’re smitten, but for the sake of the family, would the two of you mind toning it down a bit? You went off like a dog in heat, Rex. This is the country club for cripes’ sake.” He takes a step toward me. “Batter Bits, are you okay? Did he leave bite wounds?”
“Bite wounds? Dog in heat?” Lynette’s eyebrow does its best to wriggle free from the Botox prison she’s imprisoned her flesh in. “I beg to differ. I saw the whole thing. Your little Batter Bits practically threw herself on Rexy, and he simply did what he does best—caught a falling object. She’s the one who jumped his bones, as the kids would say. It was her legs wrapped around my poor, sweet son. And no thanks to your wild brood, he’s nursing a black eye.” Her hands float to Rex’s cheek once again.
“Lynette!” Dad balks, and just like that, the two of them go at it.
Rex and I exchange guilt-riddled grins.
“Excuse me.” Sabrina shuttles me off all the way to valet parking. “I knew this was all a ruse!” she snipes in my face so fast her spittle lands in my eye.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I touch the corner of my lid with my pinkie in an effort to blink away my sister’s physical disdain. She always was a spitter. I’m sure Duncan has long since discovered this little bit of salivary trivia. I hope he’s geared up for a lifetime of verbal sprayings. Not only will he have to listen to her bullshit, he’ll have to wipe it from his face.
“You and Rex.” She shakes her head as if pitying me, and that alone is the single greatest dislike of mine in the world. Sabrina has made feeling sorry for me a sport, and I loathe that more than I loathe that boob-baring dress she’s wearing. “You’re faking this to drive Dad and Lynette apart.” She glances over her shoulder as the two of them continue to riot in one another’s faces. “And I hope you’re satisfied. It looks as if you’ve gotten your wish.” She clucks her tongue. “And to think that man actually had a modicum of happiness in his life for a moment. Face it, Scar Scar. You just aren’t happy unless everyone is as miserable as you. I thought you were better than that. Honestly, I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
“What?” I shriek so loud all faces turn in our direction. “I’m afraid that’s you, Sabrina. You’re the one who tries to control everything and everyone.” Rex comes over and stands shoulder to shoulder with me, and I like it. I like the camaraderie. I simply like Rex. “What were you thinking when you swooped in and began hitting on Duncan while we were still dating? Yes, that’s right. He outted you before you ever made him yours. He wondered why my airheaded sister was always touching him under the table, sending him inappropriate suggestive texts, and accidentally on purpose landing her lips over his! Yes, he called you an airhead among other things that I’m too much of a lady to repeat. I bet he’s uttered those things to your face, and you just misinterpreted them as dirty talk. You had no regard for me at the time, just like you have no regard accusing me of doing such a vile thing to our father. You pretended to be more than my sister. You pretended to be my friend. You had me confide in you all of the things Duncan liked, and then you altered your world to make them his reality. You were a snake in the grass, and I didn’t realize it until you took a fatal bite out of my relationship! Well, you can have him because I have someone a million times better. Someone who would never leave me for my untrustworthy sister or fall for her ridiculous schemes. What Rex and I have is real. We are in love, and we, unlike you or Duncan, will last forever.”
I snatch Rex up by the hand, dragging him off to the parking
lot as we make a break for it.
My mind spins, just trying to keep tally of all the half-truths I just spewed. When did I become this person who lies to my family? The person who tries to hack down my father’s happiness like a six-year-old because I’m not getting my way?
Rex and I navigate over to his truck, and he pulls me in by the waist. The country club is thankfully out of sight so we don’t have to worry about Lawson putting Rex in a chokehold from behind.
“Are you okay?” he says it so sweetly, so genuinely I want to cry.
“I’m fine. Are you?” I wince at his swollen jaw.
“Better than ever.” We share a laugh at the irony. “What I said was true.” His Adam’s apple rises and dips. “I’m falling for you.”
“So my evil plan worked.” I meant for it to come across as comical, but it sounded a bit desperate in nature, swollen from all the feelings I’m genuinely having for him.
“You up for coming over?” He hitches his head toward the open road.
“There’s no where else I’d rather be.”
Rex Toberman’s rental house might be small by some standards, but it’s a castle in comparison to the thimble I’m forced to share with Daisy.
“Has anyone told you lately that you live in a palace?” I marvel as we step inside. There’s a slight hint of lemon cleaner, and the floors gleam as if they’ve just been swept. As much as I’d love to give Rex credit for the polish that’s taken over this place, I’m betting there’s a housekeeping fairy at the other end of this glistening shine.
“A palace of persuasion maybe.”
“That sounds about right. I’m sure it’s the truth.” My face heats at the thought of Rex propositioning girls by the dozens. At least he left the bedroom out of it. “You want to watch something?” I clear my throat, nodding to the giant beast of a television. I mean, he did invite me over, and really? What else is there to do? That kiss comes back to me, and I’m melting all over again.