Insta Holiday, page 3
“But it’s not your responsibility.”
“It’s not yours either, Rory.” That’s where he’s wrong.
“They're my brothers.”
“And I want to be your man so your shit would be my shit.” Now he’s full-on smiling.
It’s one of the things I’ve admired about Tyson. He always has that smile even when things are going to hell. His outlook is always positive. He’d even been that way on the football field. They’d be losing, and everyone else was pissed off, but he’d smile and get them through it. In the end he always won.
A knock sounds at the door. “Let me go talk to the cops. You tuck the boys in.” Before I can answer him, he’s dropping a kiss on my mouth and heading for the front door. I reach up and touch my lips, which are still tingling.
Damn, was that kiss good. My body is still screaming for more. I can’t remember the last time I’ve enjoyed something as much as I did that minute of getting lost in Tyson. It’s only going to make it harder now to push him away.
The man really is wearing me down. I think part of me keeps waiting to see when he’s going to give up. I know it will crush me. Not that I’d ever let anyone else know that. There is something in him showing up every day that gives me this trace of reassurance that I’m not always alone.
I busy myself, making sure the boys are set in bed. I don’t want to deal with the cops. They always give me these sad looks and remind me of the local food pantry. When I come back out, Tyson is standing in the living room, clicking away on his phone.
“Taking Jessica up on her offer?”
“Jessica?” He gives me a confused look, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
“About being your girl. She’s pretty.”
“You wound me.” He puts his hand over his heart. “I belong to a sexy, smart blond with green eyes and a killer ass. Whether she wants me or not, I’m all hers. “He clears the space between us. “No reason to be jealous.”
“I’m not.” I roll my eyes. “Everything okay with the police?” I ask, changing the subject, knowing I already showed my ass.
“About that.”
“What?” I glance to the closed front door, which I can see is locked.
“He took off before they got here.”
“Okay, does it matter really?” I try to hide the trace of fear that spikes through me.
“To me it does. He said some fucked-up shit, and he could come back, so that means I’m staying.”
“Staying as in, here?” I point to the ground. “You can’t stay here.” Temptation would be way too close then.
“I can stay in my car out front all night, or you can let me crash on the sofa.” He folds his arms over his chest. I know that look in his eyes. It’s the one he always gets when his mind is set on something.
“All right.” I give. I’m too tired to fight him at this point.
Tyson Carter wins this round.
CHAPTER 7
TYSON
Falling asleep on the sofa is a no-go in part because it’s too short and too lumpy but mostly because my hard-on will not abate. I can’t even go into the bathroom to fap because there’s only one, and it’s right next to Rory’s bedroom, so I just lie on my back, my eyes pinned to the popcorn ceiling and my hand at the base of my dick, squeezing the life out of it in hopes of strangling my erection.
It doesn’t help that sometime in the middle of the night or early morning, I grow so tired that I start having hallucinations of Rory coming out of her bedroom wearing one of those cotton jersey G-strings and a thin T-shirt she’s cut off right below her tits. She straddles me, and magically we both fit on this skinny stretch of a cushion.
“Ty-ty, I’ve wanted you for so long,” she says. “Let me show you how much.” She reaches her hands behind her head and slips her hair into a ponytail. The action raises the T-shirt enough that the lower part of her tits are exposed. My breath catches in my throat. I keep my hands at my sides because I’m uncertain if this apparition will disappear if I move.
She shimmies down my legs until her face is even with my crotch. My dick springs from my boxers, waving its ruddy head eagerly in the direction of her mouth.
“I’ve never given a guy a blow job before,” she whispers, her hot breath sweeping across my sensitive skin like wind on a fire.
“That’s okay,” I croak out. “Never had one before either.”
She arches her eyebrows. “The cheer squad didn’t help you out?”
“Didn’t want them to.” I allow myself to slide my hands up her back, under her shirt, reveling in the skin-to-skin contact. My thumbs stroke the sides of her breasts. She shivers lightly under the caress.
“Were you waiting for me?” she teases with a coquettish tilt of her chin. With each word, my dick grows thicker and harder.
“Damn straight.” I’m torn between wanting to pull her up to my mouth and wanting to shove my dick down her throat.
“I feel like making you wait longer.” She purses her lips and blows gently on my cock. I think I let out a whimper. “Nah, I’m not that cruel.”
Her tongue darts out to lick up my shaft when a piercing whistle penetrates my skull. I bolt upright to see Logan about two inches from my face, a yellow play whistle snug between his teeth. Hurriedly, I glance down at my lap and find that the blanket, while twisted, still covers me. The loud noise deflated my erection like a pin in a balloon. I guess be grateful for small favors.
“What’s up, little man?” I ask as if I wasn’t having the horniest dream about his sister.
“We got school. Can you drive us?”
“Sure. Sure.” I rub my eyes and peer at my watch. The dial on my Audemars Piguet says it’s seven. “Where’s your sister?”
“She went to work already. She starts delivering at six for the grocery store.”
I glance down at my lap again. Did she...come over while I was sleeping? Was I jerking off? Shit. I wish I could remember, but it’s hard to figure out what was real and what was my overactive imagination. I mean, I’m sure she wasn’t straddling my cock while I was sleeping. Right?
“Let me get dressed and we’ll take off.”
“Cool! Can we go through McDonald’s and have McMuffins for breakfast?”
“Logan, shut up. I told you not to ask him,” calls Dean. His mouth is muffled by the toothbrush hanging out of the side. There’s a drip of paste on his chin. I brush my face with my thumb to let him know that he’s got a minty guest hanging around and then pat Logan’s head.
“It’s all good. McMuffins, juice, and whatever else you want, but you’ve got to be ready in ten minutes.”
The boys rush to get dressed while I pull on my discarded jeans and T-shirt, which smell faintly of booze. I guess I got too close to the dealer last night. The boys scarf down two meals each and then wave merrily to me when I drop them off. A few of the moms in the school line give me some weird looks, which I ignore.
I drive by the grocery store, but Rory’s Jeep isn’t there, so I run home, shower, change, and then head down to City Hall to see my uncle. Mavis, his admin, waves me off. “You can’t go in there. He’s having a budget meeting.”
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong? Is your mama hurt?” She rushes to my side.
“No.” When I left the house, she was elbow deep in her flower garden. “I wanted to see if Uncle Phillip knew anything about some meth dealers in the area.”
Mavis frowns. “Child, why’re you asking about that? That’s grown person’s business. Go make your funny videos and leave all of that to the authorities.”
My funny videos? Is that all I’m known for? “I’m a grown person, Mavis.”
“Sure you are.” She pats my cheek. “How’s that romance with the Carlson girl going? From your last post, it looks like she’s still playing hard to get. You need to give us all an update.”
I scrub my face and bite back a retort that would likely hurt Mavis’ feelings. “It’s still going. If anything positive happens, y’all will be the first to know.”
“Oh, honey, no one wants anything positive to happen. We like the yearning.” She winks and shoos me to the door. “I’ll let Mayor know that you stopped by. Bye bye, now!”
I find myself on the other side of the office door before I can blink. I’ll admit I wasn’t the best student in the classroom but I didn’t realize that the town thought of me as some kid who didn’t—no, couldn’t—do anything worthwhile but post little videos that made people laugh. I’m doing that because it’s low effort and gives me an opportunity to follow Rory around.
Is that why Rory won’t go out with me? Because she thinks I’m a useless human? Getting a regular job does not appeal to me, but maybe I can prove my worth to her by cleaning up this business with her mom and the meth dealer. Can’t be too hard. I know everyone in this town.
CHAPTER 8
RORY
I know my mom is actually ignoring my phone calls at this point. She accidentally answered at one point only to hang up on me. I text her, letting her know what happened last night. That some man is looking for her. But she hasn’t even bothered to respond to my messages.
I was happy when Tyson had pushed to stay the night with me and my brothers. What if that man had tried to come back? I like to think I can take care of myself and the boys, but I don’t want my own ego to get in the way of their safety.
Now I can’t stop thinking about him showing up again this evening while I’m working and only the boys are home. I swear my mom is always trying to make my life harder. This isn’t the first time someone has come looking for her. And I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last, unfortunately.
If it was only so easy for me to pick up and move. But there’s no way I could leave my little brothers behind. Mom might not be around, but she does have final say when it comes to them, and she knows she can use that against me at the end of the day. She’d throw a fit if I up and left and not for the reason she should. Nope, she’d be pissed that she wouldn't have a place to crash when she decided to come back.
Dean texts me when he and Logan make it home from school. He does the same when they get to school each morning. I hate how much I put on his shoulders for such a young age, but there aren't a ton of choices.
I have to be at work to keep the bills paid. He told me that he got Tyson to take them this morning instead of taking the bus. He sent me a picture of Logan shoving a giant breakfast sandwich into his mouth. I know it’s ridiculous, but each time Tyson does something for them, it chips away at the walls I’ve built to protect myself.
I text Tyson to see what he’s up to. The second I send the text, my phone rings. His name appears on the screen. I can always count on him. Time and time again.
“Babe, you okay?” are the first words out of his mouth. I should tell him not to call me that, but I find myself liking it a little more each time he says it.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He lets out a long breath.
“You scared me. You never text.”
“Oh.” Guilt fills me. Right, the one time I text him it’s because I’m about to ask a favor.
“You need something? You know I got you.” He fills the silence that I let hang for too long.
“I’m worried about the boys after last night. I’m at the diner working now, and then I’ve got some deliveries. Is there any way you’d be able to check in on them for me?”
“I’m with them now.”
“Oh,” I say again.
“I picked them up from the bus stop. You cool with me getting a tree? Logan keeps talking about it. I might have promised them already. Sorry. Next time I’ll ask you first.”
“I suppose that would be fine.” I give. The thought of Tyson trying to give them some sort of normalcy has another little crack forming in that wall of mine.
“We’ll wait for you to get home to decorate it.” Relief fills me that Tyson is planning on staying with them until I get home.
“Then who is going to follow me around when I make deliveries?” I tease.
“I’ve got that handled,” he teases right back. At least I think he is.
“Ty! We have some decorations in the basement!” I hear Logan shout in the background.
“I’ll leave you to it. You sound busy,” I say, smiling. Tyson has no idea how much weight he’s taken off my shoulders. I tell myself not to get used to it.
“Never too busy for you, babe.”
“Ty.” I sigh, enjoying his words far too much. I hear the boys calling him again in the background.
“I’ll let you get back to your tables. Love you, babe,” he says before ending the call. I stand there shocked for a minute. Tyson has been telling his followers online he’s in love with me. Hell, he’s even told me he’ll always love me and only me, but he’s never flat-out said the words to me before.
I tuck my phone away before I get back to work. Whenever I get a few seconds, I check my emails to see what deliveries I have lined up after work. I’m kind of hoping I don’t have a ton. I want to get home and maybe help with the tree. It’s the first time I’ve been excited for something in a while.
“What the hell?” I say when I see I have triple the amount than normal. The program is supposed to cap them at so many. It must be broken or something. I groan, knowing I can never do all these without working through the night. How did this happen? It even lets some people book at the same time, making it all but impossible.
“I sat someone in your section. It’s your last table for tonight,” Carol says, walking past me to drop some dishes into the sink.
“Thanks.” I head back out into the diner to see my brothers and Tyson all sitting at one of my booths. All of them smile when they see me. I don’t miss the thick winter coats they both have behind them.
“Hey.” I walk over to the table. I lean down and drop a kiss on Logan’s head. Dean is far too cool for me to do that in public, so I withhold from doing it.
“We came for burgers and milkshakes,” Dean informs me. “I kicked Tyson’s ass in Elite Showdown, so he had to buy us dinner.” I’d bet my tips that Tyson lost on purpose.
“Mouth,” Tyson and I say at the same time. Dean rolls his eyes.
“Dean is the best. Told you not to take the bet,” Logan tells Tyson.
“He is the best,” Tyson agrees, making Dean smile even more.
“You all want your normals?” I ask. The boys both nod.
“I’ll have whatever they are,” Tyson says.
“When are you going to be home? We got a tree. We should all decorate it together!” Logan asks, staring up at me. The excitement rolls off him.
“I think I might be late. I’m sorry, bubs.” I run my fingers through his hair. Logan’s smile drops from his face, breaking my heart.
“Can I talk to you outside?” Tyson asks, standing from the booth.
“Sure.” I rip the sheet off my notepad. “Let me drop this in the kitchen so they can get it started.” I step into the back, putting their order in. Carol tells me she’ll get the milkshakes for me.
When I step outside, I see Tyson standing with three other boys. They are all in high school letterman jackets.
“What’s going on?” I ask as I head over to them. Tyson pulls his coat off, draping it over me. He leans down and brushes a quick kiss against my mouth. It’s so fast I can’t try to get away from it. Though I’m not sure I really want to. He’s becoming far too tempting lately. I’d actually stolen a kiss from him this morning when he was passed out on the sofa. I don’t know what came over me, but I’d done it.
“Don’t get mad” are the first words out of his mouth.
“Oh gosh. What?”
“You might have noticed that you have more than a normal amount of deliveries tonight.” I narrow my eyes on him.
“How do you even know that?”
“I just do. And because I’m the one who allowed them to be placed,” he admits, shocking me.
“The hell, Tyson!”
“I’ve got you. I’ve subbed it all out. I’ve taken all the orders and split them all up between Mark, Jacob, and Ryan.” They each raise their hand when Tyson says their names.
“What are you doing?” I growl.
“Why don’t you guys head out? Remember what I said,” he warns them.
“We swear. We got this, Carter,” Ryan says. The other two nod eagerly, happy to be pleasing the legend, Tyson Carter.
“Then get to it,” he orders, and they all take off toward their cars. “You’re going to end up making a third more than normal after you give them their cuts.”
“Tyson.”
“We’ll see how this goes, and we can end up hiring more people if we need to. You’re the only person who will deliver in some of these rural areas out here in the country. You can turn this into something bigger and end up working less and making more. You have to turn down orders all the time because it’s not possible to get to them all. I even added some rush fees on some of these people.”
“I don’t know about this.” I worry my bottom lip between my teeth.
“These kids are looking for part-time after-school work. Especially during the holidays, and that’s when you have way more orders than you can handle yourself. This is a win all around.” I stare at him, not sure what to say. “Now you can decorate the tree tonight.”
“This is doing too much now.”
“When it comes to you, I’ll do anything.”
“But I have nothing to give in return, Tyson. You know that.”
“All I want is you.”
“There isn’t any of me to give.” I’m already stretched so thin.
“Right now, all I want is a kiss and to decorate a Christmas tree with my girl and her kickass little brothers who I love and adore almost as much as her.” He goes straight for my weakness. My brothers. Also, his kisses that I’m enjoying way too much.
“Shut up and kiss me, Tyson.”
Of course he does as I ask, making another crack in the wall I’ve been trying to build around my heart. The one I’m pretty sure already belongs to him.
