“You what?” I yelled.
“Let me keep explaining!” After Kennedy gave me a quick rundown on some kid named Matthew, and the hours she, Kira, and Rhys had all spent at the police station giving statements, she sighed heavily and held her hands up to emphasize her uncertainty. “We don’t know if there are any more people working for Juarez yet, but I have a feeling that Matthew was it. All that said, I don’t know when Kira and I will be allowed to move back to Florida, and that used to upset me, but not so much anymore. Even though there are so many things I hate about California, moving here was the best thing that could have happened because it brought me back to you.”
“Aw,” I drawled sarcastically. “You must like me or something.”
“You like that last little cheesy part?” she asked with a wink.
“Love it. Best part of everything you just told me.” Kennedy kicked at my stomach, but I caught her foot and started rubbing it again. “Now tell me why the hell didn’t I know about all this Juarez bullshit before?”
The teasing look that had briefly crossed her face quickly left at my question. “I didn’t want you to worry when Kira and I weren’t really worried. Mom and Dad said the threats increased for a while when some of the members started being released, but they’ve had the police watching them. Besides, like I told you before, my dad made sure we knew how to escape bad situations if they happened, and Matthew definitely wasn’t a bad situation. It scared me when he first showed up and started talking, but as soon as he started sobbing it was pretty funny.”
“How can you talk about this like it’s not that big a deal?”
“Because it’s not to us,” she said on a laugh. “I wasn’t scared when my parents told us about the threats, and I’m not scared now.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand how your mind works,” I mumbled.
“Who said I wanted you to?”
Grabbing her ankles, I pulled her closer until I could wrap my arm around her waist to haul her onto my lap. “I like when you act like you don’t care,” I said against her throat before placing a kiss there.
“Oh, you like it now?” she teased as she turned so she was straddling me. “I don’t remember you liking it about six months ago.”
I made a confirming sound in my throat. “You were always so bad at lying to me anyway, it was funny to watch you try to make me believe you didn’t want me. But now I’ve gotten you to admit your feelings, so your attempts at not caring are adorable.”
“Adorable?” she said, deadpan.
“Fucking adorable, Moon.”
I slowly inched her shirt off her body, and let it fall to the floor before reaching for the back of her bra, but my hands stilled when I looked down. Her black lace bra looked like it was barely able to hold her in, and was filmy enough that I was able to catch a glimpse of something I knew hadn’t been there before.
“Kennedy . . .” I began; my voice had dropped low and was barely audible.
“If you say they’re adorable, I will castrate you.”
“Still not nice,” I mumbled, and finished taking her bra off. Two somethings. “Holy shit. Not adorable.” I gently traced around the small barbells set just beneath her nipples, and fucking loved the needy noise she made when I did. “When?”
“The day you walked out of my condo.”
My eyes went up to find her looking down at me. “Really?”
Her eyes were filled with need as she breathily explained, “Rhys wasn’t leaving, you’d left, and I didn’t know what to do. I went to talk to Brian since you’d told me about all the times you went to him. I really had no one else I could talk to even though I’d only met him the day before. He wasn’t in yet, but the woman at the parlor started talking to me about my tattoos and somehow I ended up back in her room getting new piercings after I’d told her about my other ones. We were done and I left before Brian ever showed up.” She sucked in a quick breath when I traced around the piercings again, and moaned. “I’ve been waiting for you to do that.”
“Has it been long enough for me to—”
“Close enough,” she said, cutting me off, and a choked whimper left her throat when I leaned forward to suck one nipple into my mouth. “Oh God.”
“You okay?” I asked, and gently bit down, eliciting another whimper from her.
“Yes, just don’t stop.”
I unbuttoned her pants and started pulling them down, but with the way we were sitting, they weren’t going far. As soon as I released her breast, she was scooting off of me to lie down on the couch, and yanking at her pants while trying to pull me down with her.
I focused my attention on Kennedy’s other breast and slid my hand inside her underwear before she’d even gotten her jeans off. Her back arched off the couch and a breathy whimper filled the room when I teased her clit, and it took a few seconds for her to go back to trying to rid herself of her pants. By the time she was tightening her thighs around my hand, her jeans were still on her ankles. With another gentle bite against her nipple as I teased her clit, her body started vibrating and her mouth opened in a soundless moan.
“Oh my God,” she whispered when the vibrating in her body had slowed.
“I’m pretty sure that’s a new record, and that’s saying something for you.”
“Shut up,” she said on a laugh, and threaded her fingers through my hair.
Looking up into her bright eyes, I glanced down for a second and said, “These are gonna be fun.”
Kennedy smiled playfully and lifted her eyebrows once. “I can see that.”
Pressing her mouth to mine, she kissed me long and slow as I grabbed at her jeans and pulled them off of her one leg at a time.
“Is that all you have for me tonight?” she asked against my lips.
I smiled as I stood from the couch with her wrapped in my arms. “Not even close, Moon.”
19
December 6
Kennedy
“MOON, IT’S TIME to go eat pancakes.”
I was having a nightmare—a horrible one. There were pancakes everywhere and someone was telling me to eat them. No. No, no, no. Pancakes mean secret looks between my parents that make me want to throw up. Pancakes are the food devil.
“Wake up.”
Yes, I want to fucking wake up from this pancake nightmare!
“Moon,” Liam yelled, and my eyes flew open.
“Jesus Christ! You scared the shit out of me.”
He smirked proudly. “You were impossible to wake up, not my fault I had to yell.”
I groaned and slapped at his chest before burying myself under his comforter. “It is your fault because you’re the one who had me up until almost four this morning.”
“Are you complaining about that?”
My cheeks heated, and I shook my head quickly even though he probably couldn’t see what I was doing.
Liam lifted the comforter away from me and passed his lips across my nose. “It’s Sunday.”
“Mm-hmm.”
“You know what that means . . .”
No, I didn’t. I didn’t really care about what anything meant because I’d just realized that Liam still didn’t have any clothes on.
“Pancakes with my family.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered, horrified. “That was supposed to be a nightmare!”
Liam’s eyebrows drew together in confusion.
“I was having a nightmare that someone was making me eat pancakes and I was surrounded by them! It was awful!”
He burst into loud laughter and pulled me into his arms. “These won’t be bad, you want to know why?”
“No,” I mumbled against his chest.
“They won’t be bad because you’ll be eating them with me. You won’t even be able to see your parents, so whatever it is with them that ruined pancakes for you and your sister will be nowhere near you.”
“Still doesn’t sound good.”
“My mom makes banana pancakes.”
I lifted my
head and widened my eyes. “I love bananas.”
Liam smiled. “I already know that, which is why I was using it to lure you in. So what do you say?”
“To banana pancakes, or to brunch with your family . . . including your sister, who I’m pretty sure hates me.”
“All of the above. And Kristi doesn’t hate you. She only knew that you had been married and that I was miserable, and she didn’t wait to hear the rest of the story before she reacted. I don’t know what she did to you, but I know how she was to me. But she knows now . . . the whole thing—even Vegas. My entire family does. So I can assure you no one there will hate you.”
“Oh my God, they know about Vegas? What the hell, Liam? I can’t go there now!”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, you can. So are you coming with me?”
“No,” I said stubbornly.
“Banana pancakes?” He waited a few seconds before repeating with exaggeration, “Banana pancakes.”
I sighed dramatically and mumbled, “Well, I guess I know why Kristi stopped giving me the death stare every time she walked by me.”
“Still waiting.”
“Yes, Liam. Yes, I will go with you to brunch with your family and eat banana pancakes. As long as we get something straight, first.”
He’d started pulling me out of bed when I agreed, but abruptly stopped. “Like what?”
“What am I?”
Liam watched me for a few seconds before saying, “A woman?” I shook my head and started to clarify, but he spoke again. “Not a woman? Uh . . . a unicorn?”
Hard laughs burst from my chest, and it took me awhile to calm down enough to speak. “No! What am I to you? What is your family going to think I am? I think we need to get that figured out before you toss me into a house with them.”
“My girl, mine, girlfriend . . . whatever you prefer, as long as it’s clear that you are mine.”
“All of the above?” I offered.
With a nod, he agreed, “All of the above, then. Let’s get ready and go.”
THIRTY MINUTES LATER, we were walking up to his parents’ door. I was wearing my clothes from the night before. I had no makeup on because it looked better than the half-smeared-off look I’d been sporting when Liam woke me up. And I was wearing Liam’s deodorant. I. Felt. Fabulous.
“You do realize this is my first Sunday with your family, and I look like I spent the night in your bed.”
“You did.”
I smacked Liam’s stomach as we continued walking. “Yeah, but they don’t need to know that.” I groaned and rubbed at my eyes. “Oh well, they probably already figured it out when you told them I was coming.”
Liam glanced at me with a confused look. “I didn’t tell them you were coming.”
“Fuck this, I’m not going.” I turned to go back to his car, but he caught me around the waist and started carrying me toward the door. Ass first. My hips were against his forearm, my arms and head were hanging down next to his butt, and the tips of my toes were just barely scraping along the cement so it was giving me a tease of being able to regain control if I could just put my feet down. I looked like a damn rag doll.
“Put me down!” I hissed when he rang the doorbell.
“Hell no. If I do, you’ll leave.”
“Since when do you ring—” Brandon’s deep voice cut off as he started laughing. “Never mind. Understood.”
“I’m starving,” Liam mumbled as he walked us inside.
“Well, you came to the right place,” Brandon said, his tone still light with the hint of laughter. “Is she misbehaving again?” he asked his son.
“I hate you both,” I grumbled, but the defeat was clear in my tone. I knew this was about to be the worst day. Never mind that I looked like I’d been fucking their son all night, I was also being dragged into the house like some kind of object.
“I’m so glad—” A woman, who I was almost positive was Liam’s mom by the sound of her voice, began saying, but cut off as she started laughing just like Brandon had done.
Within seconds there were numerous other people laughing too.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
“Well then, back to what I was saying. I am glad you showed up today, and I love that you came with him, Kennedy!”
“It wasn’t voluntarily!” I called out.
“I can see that.” Liam’s mom sighed, and I listened to her light footfalls as she approached us. From the way Liam bent, I assumed she was giving him a hug, but then I heard a smack and Liam cringed. “Put the poor girl down! Gently! Gently put her down.”
As soon as I was on my feet, I straightened and blew out a frustrated breath, then turned to see everyone watching me with amused expressions. “Hi,” I said awkwardly. But no one said anything back; they just kept smiling as they looked between Liam and me. “Um . . . huh. So . . . the pancakes smell good.”
“So you’re in love with this loser, huh?” Liam’s aunt Bree asked.
A startled laugh bubbled past my lips, and my eyes darted over to Kristi and then Brandon, who were both smiling patiently, and I could only assume from their looks that they’d told the rest of the family about my decision. “Uh yeah. Yeah, I am.”
“And the ex?”
“Bree,” everyone said at once, and gave her a look.
Konrad, her husband, pulled her back and put a hand over her mouth as he shrugged. “Don’t listen to her.”
There were mumbled words coming from Bree, but all I could catch were the words dog bed when Konrad dropped his hand.
“Don’t you shush me,” she bit out at him, then looked back at me. “Well, I still want to know.”
I looked at Liam’s parents and sister, and both sets of his aunts and uncles, and tried to find the right words. I knew Liam was close with his family, so I wouldn’t have doubted that they all knew what had been going on between us over the past month. But he’d also told me about last weekend and the huge blowup over Thanksgiving and me on our way over here, so I felt like I owed them some explanation. I just couldn’t figure out how much of an explanation I wanted to give them—not to mention that this was an incredibly awkward situation.
“You don’t have to answer that,” Liam leaned down to whisper.
Grabbing his hand, I held on to it as tight as I could. “There’s nothing between Rhys and me anymore, and there’s no chance of any relationship ever again. I told him last night that I’d chosen Liam, and he was surprisingly okay with it.”
Bree still looked like she was hoping for more, but the rest of Liam’s family was either glaring at her or giving me sympathetic looks.
“Well, now that you’re done being rude,” Liam’s mom said to Bree, then looked back toward us, “I think it’s time for pancakes. Everyone hungry?”
Liam must have felt the way I tightened, because he whispered, “Banana pancakes.”
“I can do this,” I said to myself, and Liam failed at holding back a laugh.
“Yes, you can. It won’t be that bad, I promise.”
He was right. They weren’t that bad. Actually, the pancakes were to die for, and if Liam hadn’t cleaned the rest of them out, I would have gone back for thirds. Liam and I were curled up on an oversized chair together, and everyone else in the family was spread throughout the living room and kitchen as they talked and finished eating.
“How many did you eat?” Liam asked when he set his plate on top of mine on the end table.
“Six,” I boasted proudly. “My stomach is so happy and fat right now.”
“Look at you eating pancakes. I’m proud of you. I should give you a medal or something.”
“Don’t ruin this moment. This aftereffect of the pancakes is better than the ones from the orgasms you give me.”
Liam hooked an arm around my neck and pulled me close so he could whisper, “I somehow doubt that. But if you still think so in five minutes, I’ll have to remind you how much better the latter is.”
“Five minutes?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “Ar
e we leaving already?”
“Why would we have to leave? There are a lot of bathrooms and bedrooms in this house.”
“Liam Taylor,” I harshly whispered. “We are not doing anything in your parents’ house.”
“We are if I feel like you need to remember how easily I can start making you scream.”
My eyes widened, and I glanced around to make sure no one in his family was close enough to overhear us. “I cannot believe you just said that here.”
“When was it?” he asked in my ear, and nipped on it. “After your second orgasm last night? Yeah . . . after the second. And we both know just how fast it is to get you there.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t. You love me, and I fucking love those piercings and what they do to you.”
My breathing had deepened, and I was now beyond mortified that I was getting turned on in front of his family. “Liam, you have to shut up.”
“Are the five minutes up?” he asked teasingly. “Your choice. We can find a room, or you can tell me that you were wrong.”
“You guys are so cute, it’s kind of disgusting,” Kristi said as she walked past us.
Her sudden presence had me jolting back into the arm of the chair, and I wanted nothing more than to smack that triumphant smile off of Liam’s face.
“Not disgusting,” Liam’s mom said from just a few feet behind Kristi. “I love seeing my son this happy.” She grabbed my hand briefly as she walked past us, and murmured Brandon’s words from last night. “Thank you.”