Pretty Reckless, page 16
“Hey there, hot stuff. What’s a guy like you doing in a place like this?”
Apples and mint waft in from behind. I turn, planning my own snarky comeback, but I’m rendered speechless when my gaze falls on the knockout standing before me.
Bronze skin peeks through whisper pink lace draped across Kat’s chest. It hugs her curves, right down to her jewel-encrusted stilettos. “What’s the matter?” she asks, no doubt reading my stunned expression.
“You’re beautiful.”
Shiny nude lips split into a dazzling grin. She twirls to show me the rest. The dress plunges down to the small of her back, a glowing canvas of golden skin and ebony ink popping against the feather-light material. “You’re not so bad yourself.” She curls two manicured fingers around my cigarette and slides it out from my inked ones. The tip glows bright orange in the dim light of dusk. “You’ve been out here a long time.”
“You were watching?”
“Waiting for a moment to make my own escape.” She offers it back, smoke coiling from her nostrils. When I bring the filter to my lips, it tastes like caramel. One of the many flavors Kat has to offer. “We should probably go in, though.”
I snuff the burning cherry on the bottom of my shoe before tossing it into the trash. Kat’s sky-high heels clack along the hardwood floors of the country club. Hand in hand, we weave between relatives single file until we come to the empty banquet hall.
Two men in black tuxedos lift their heads as we enter then go right back to tinkering with the DJ booth. The entire room is bathed in pink. Neon light creeps up each wall from floor to ceiling. Hidden in the corner, a big white box draped in a white curtain awaits. “Can we go in here?” Kat asks.
The tall one with a receding hairline nods. “You can be our test couple.”
He takes a step over and lifts the curtain. Kat and I duck underneath, letting it fall behind us. The second we’re alone, I cup the nape of her neck and pull her to my mouth, feeding her with all the emotion I hide from sight. Caramel, mint, tobacco, and lust drip from her lips. A scorching combination, both tantalizing and teasing. A heady mix of depravity bleeding me dry.
A needy moan rattles in her chest as three quick snaps pop inside the booth; our intimate moment forever captured on film. “That was unexpected.” Her eyes glitter, her voice breathless and wanton.
I run my fingertips down the smooth silk of her exposed back letting my fingers play her vertebra like a keyboard, loving the way she shudders in my hands. “A quick buzz to get us through the night.”
She reaches up, running her thumb over the sticky gloss left on my lips. “I really needed that.”
Music blasts from the DJ stand. The low din of voices grows louder as the people start filing into the room, ruining our single moment of solitude. “Showtime,” she whispers, threading our fingers before joining the rest of the world.
Ours is the table farthest from the bar, a location I’m sure is not by accident. A pink and orange bouquet of lilies sits atop a tall, clear cylinder in the center, surrounded by flickering candles. I pull out Kat’s seat and wait for her sweet ass to fill it before settling in next to her. Athena and Alex join us next, followed by some unfamiliar faces. “Nikos Andropoulos,” the guy says, holding his hand out. “This is my wife, Anna.”
The eyes, the skin, the lips. Of course. Kat’s brother. “Chase. Good to meet you,” I reply, taking his hand.
His gaze shifts between Kat and me, his dark brows furrowing ever so slightly. Kat rises from her seat and throws her arms around the couple. They go back and forth a bit, talking about travel and how Nikos can’t stay long because of work before he chucks a chin at his cousin. “Thene, your brother’s coming, right?”
As if on cue, a short, stocky dude with a thick black goatee claps his hand on Nikos’s shoulder. “Holy shit, the prodigal cousin returns! Talkin’ about me already?”
“Mekky,” Nikos growls, lifting his cousin in a bear hug. “Damn bro, were you always this short?”
Chills crawl up my arms like a clutter of spiders. They gnaw at my skin with their poisonous teeth, devouring me in tiny increments. Maybe they won’t recognize me. I was skinnier then, gaunt and sick, barely lucid as the cops hauled my puke-covered ass to jail.
“Frulla, Mekky. Meet my friend, Chase.”
Kat extends her hand toward me, but the evil grip of regret is a vise squeezing my throat closed. With a tight-lipped grin, I wave like a loser.
“I’m going to the bar. What are you ladies drinking?” Mekky’s voice steals the attention from my awkward moment.
“Chardonnay,” Athena answers.
“Same for me,” adds Frulla.
All eyes land on Kat. “Just water.”
A riotous belly laugh erupts from Mekky. “Good one! What do you want for real?”
Her lips press into a tight pout. “Oh, didn’t you hear? Kat’s on the wagon.” Nikos snorts.
Mekky raises a bushy brow, his smile widening. “Oh, yeah! Figured you’d have given that up by now.”
“Thanks for the support.” Kat crosses her arms over her chest with a scowl.
Mekky rolls his eyes. “You comin’, Nik?”
“Yeah, meet me up there. I gotta piss first.”
Kat reclaims the seat next to me as the two men walk away. She doesn’t say anything, and she doesn’t have to. The discontent is written all over her face. I rest my hand on top of hers, letting my thumb skim across it. She looks up, holding me in that soulful brown gaze that speaks to me even when her mouth can’t form the words. I’m glad you’re here, it says. I’m glad, too.
“So Chase . . .” Frulla sits at the table, plopping a sequined handbag on her plate. “How did you and Kat meet?”
“Don’t start in with the third degree, Frulla,” Kat interjects before I have a chance to reply.
“What? I’m just being polite! It’s not every day you bring a date to these things!”
Kat rolls her eyes in a huff. As annoying as she finds her family to be, she must realize on some small level how lucky she is. Having no one sucks. “It’s okay,” I tell Kat, squeezing her hand. “We met at my job. I work at Morello and Tate on highway forty-six.”
Frulla’s warm smile makes my skin crawl. It’s not that it’s unattractive. Quite the opposite. It lights up her face in a way that makes me feel good inside. Accepted. I don’t deserve to feel that way. I’m a disgusting piece of sidewalk trash littering her family’s event.
The music switches from instrumental to some weird song I don’t know the name of. It’s not generally something I’d listen to, but it serves as a segue to leave the table and clear my head. “Do you wanna dance?” I say, turning my gaze toward Kat.
She nods and takes my hand, allowing me to lead her out onto the empty floor. Once there, I pull her into my arms, letting the sound of the music and the sweet smell of ripened fruit take me away. There’s no past, no present, no future. Time doesn't exist when she’s in my arms.
“I’m sorry about my family.”
“Your family is great, Kat. You need to give them more credit.”
She slides her hands up my chest and threads them behind my neck. “I love them, but,” she starts, snuggling her face into the crook of my neck. Her teeth close around the black plug in my ear, letting it slide out slowly. “I’d rather be alone. With you.”
I feel her heart beating, crashing against mine like waves meeting the shore. She lifts her head off my shoulder and raises her gaze to mine; eyes once filled with sarcasm and doubt now exuding nothing but heat.
Emotion flutters in my chest. This song. I didn’t realize it at first because the version is somewhat different, but it’s from the show; the one Kat dragged me to that night at the Wellmont. I only heard it once, but that was enough. It tells a tale of two people torn in half and thrown away. It’s our song, mine and Kat’s. I knew it from the moment I first laid eyes on her. Yeah, I recognized her, but it had nothing to do with Desiree. It was the expression on her face and the agony in her eyes. The pain that burns deep in her soul—it’s the same pain in mine. We were cut from the same cloth. Children of the moon. One body ripped in two, destined to find each other again.
“Kat! Mom wants you for pictures!” Nikos shouts over the riot thrashing around inside me.
“I’ll be back.” She pushes to her toes to kiss my mouth, bending her knee to reach me better even though she’s wearing skyscraper heels, then walks off, trailing her hand across my body as if she doesn't want to let me go until the very last second. I know the feeling.
The music changes tempo, and the vibe in the room picks up. Veering through the sea of swaying bodies, I meander off, searching my pocket for my Marlboro Lights.
A cigarette dangles between Mekky’s lips, his feet up on the wrought-iron table as he pushes his chair back onto two legs. “Seven and Seven. Want one?” He motions to the set of glasses in front of him.
“No, thanks.” An orange flame illuminates the hand shielding the stiff autumn wind as I light the cherry on my smoke.
“I’ve seen you before.” His voice is low but deep. A warning hidden inside a thick candy-coated shell. Beads of sweat form on the back of my neck. “Where do I know you?” The ice clinks in his glass as he brings it to his lips, and I'm jealous. Maybe the acrid burn of whiskey sliding down my gullet will clear away the infection that lives inside me.
Unable to breathe, I loosen my tie and shrug. The cool air feels much too thin. I can’t seem to get enough into my lungs.
The muffled sound of music blasts through the patio with crystal clarity for the moment it takes Nikos to shove his way out the door to join us. “‘Sup man,” he warbles around the orange filter on a Marlboro Red.
“Wait, I got it.” Mekky stands, crushing his cigarette butt with the tip of his shoe, white smoke spiraling from his nostrils. “It’s you. The fuckin’ tweaker and the porn star.”
Hearing him refer to her that way has my hackles rising like a junkyard dog. “Nah, man. You have me confused with someone else.”
A greasy smile etches his face. “Someone else with a faggy butterfly tattooed on their neck? I don’t think so.” He turns toward Nikos. “I caught this guy shootin’ dope at the diner with Desiree LaMonde a few years back. Fuckin’ drugs, man. What a waste.”
Restraint eludes me. I leap forward, pummeling Mekky to the ground. The glasses fall from his hands, spraying us both with liquor before clattering to the pavement. A split second. That’s all it took. One brief, flickering reminder of a life I’ve tried so hard to forget, and every wall I’ve built comes crashing down around me.
“Whoa, whoa!” Nikos grips my neck in the crook of his elbow, dragging me away from his cousin. “This is what’s gonna happen next, bro,” he starts, holding me firm while I flail in his arms. “You’re gonna say goodbye to Kat and get the fuck out of here.”
When I nod in agreement, he lets me go. “I’m not that guy anymore,” I rasp, gasping for air.
“I don’t give a fuck who you are. My sister’s got enough problems. She doesn’t need another one.”
“You don’t even know her. You disregard her as a flake. A girl only interested in makeup and clothes. What a fucking joke. Her biggest problem is people like you who make her feel shitty for being human. Once you stop judging and start listening, she’s going to shock each one of you.” I throw open the door and race through the country club to the lobby. Adrenaline courses through my veins. I just need something. A fix. A drink. Anything to take the edge off and calm the demons clawing their way out.
The lobby is empty save for a single person standing near the coat check. The only person I want to see right now.
Kat’s glorious back is half concealed by a thick curtain of raven curls. The gnarly tree trunk twisting out from underneath abruptly ends before the scoop of her dress meets just above the crack of her ass. My dress shoes tap on the marble floor. She turns and smiles, but her grin quickly fades when I rush upon her mouth, slamming her back against the wall behind her.
The brute force of my tongue lashes between her lips as my hands grapple for the knob. When the door swings open, I walk her backward, kicking it closed behind us. With eager hands, she pushes the coat off my shoulders. It falls to the floor as she moves onto my belt before slipping her free hand down the front of my pants and pulling a moan from my chest.
With the coat check window tightly closed, I lift her onto the counter, rifling through layers of satin and lace, shocked to find nothing underneath.
“Fuck, Kat. You're gonna be the death of me.”
“Underwear doesn’t really go with this dress,” she mumbles against my mouth, scooting to the edge.
Our groans fill the tiny space as I plummet into her depths, my fingers biting the soft, meaty flesh of her ass. Her legs hang helplessly off my forearms, her upper back pressed against the metal hatch. A crease forms across the bridge of her nose. I’m hurting her, I know it, but I just can’t stop. I’m a selfish fuck. I need this release, this distraction. The wild, raw energy pulls me from the dark corners of my mind, leading me to the place where I can breathe again.
Her body is my drug. I need it to feel normal.
The primal pounding of my hips continues with merciless fervor. The window pane rattles, and her moans grow frantic. Muscles quiver around my throbbing cock. I clamp my palm over her trembling lips, absorbing the sound of her lilting cry as she comes apart, drenching me in liquid heat.
I bite, suck, scratch, and curse, taking my aggression out the only way I can. The sweet sensation of climax slithers down my spine and roils in my gut, tearing me from my own head and bringing me somewhere new. Between Kat’s thighs, I’m not a total fuck-up. I’m not the bastard son of a thief or the strung-out boyfriend of a dead girl. An insignificant blight on the nose of humanity. She makes it all go away. When I’m with her, I feel like my existence matters.
“Fuck,” I grind through clenched teeth, squeezing my eyes closed, allowing the tides of euphoria to wash me away until nothing’s left. An empty, panting shell clinging to Kat like she’s my last hope for survival.
For a brief, glorious moment, I forget. I lift my head, still entrenched between her thighs. Warm brown eyes glance out from lowered lids, her lashes thick black awnings that curve toward her eyebrows. She’s my goddess in every sense of the word. The ruler of my world.
“You okay?”
“No.” I tighten my arms around her, burying my nose in the crook of her neck. “But I will be.”
A quiet sigh floats from her lips. “What’s going on?”
“I’m unwelcome here.”
She shifts her body, holding me at arms’ length. “What do you mean you’re unwelcome?”
“I knew your cousin in a past life. As such, he and your brother aren’t too keen on my presence here.”
“Fuck that. I want you here, and I’m not going to let them treat you this way.”
Black eyes glisten in the dim light of the closet-sized room. I press my palms on either side of her face, cupping her cheeks with colorful fingers. “It’s okay. I don’t care what they think. Your opinion is the only one that matters.”
Her gloss-smeared mouth curves into a frown. I cover it with mine, stealing the anger from her body and pulling it back within me. Where it belongs.
Chapter 24
Kat
The shower beats down on my back as “Roar” blasts through the tiny speaker on my phone. It takes me by surprise. No one’s called me in weeks. Mom’s pissed that I skipped out on her wedding early, Athena and I had a wicked fight over Chase manhandling her brother, Nikos is, well, Nikos. Everybody’s mad at me for one reason or another, but they all boil down to the same singular entity: Chase.
I let my feelings for him get in the way of everything. Being sober hasn’t made me happier. I keep sitting around waiting for the big sense of enlightenment I was promised, but all I get handed is buckets of shit. Well, they’re piling up now, and I no longer know where to store it all. The only thing I’m sure of is that I’m in love with a guy who wants me to change, and I tried. I really tried to be the girl he wants, but I’m not sure I can do it. I'm going to disappoint him, just like I do everyone else. It's inevitable.
I hurry from the shower and wrap myself in a towel toga before running to answer the call. A blast from my past waits on the other end. “Hey Dev, what’s up?”
“Hey, bitch. Me and the girls are going to Lips for my birthday tonight. Wear something fabulous. I’m coming to get you.”
A smile curls the ends of my lips just hearing his voice. I twist the towel tighter above my breasts and pad out into the bedroom. Chase is on his knees, wrestling a chew toy away from Zeus while Aphro quivers in the corner. Another grin rolls across my face. I feel like my heart’s being tugged in two directions. The safe, quiet life I’ve built with Chase and the loud, rowdy one I’ve always loved are both sitting upon my shoulders, each yakking in my ears. Why do I have to choose? Why can’t have it all?
Because you’re an alcoholic who can’t be trusted.
Oh, yeah. That.
“Tonight? I don’t know if I can.”
“Daddy Dom isn’t going to let you out to play?”
An azure gaze shifts my way. I square my shoulders, wandering back into the bathroom. “He’s not my Dom, Dev. It’s just . . .” I don’t know who I am anymore without him.
“Just what? No excuses. I miss my girl, it’s my birthday, and I won’t take no for an answer.”
With a defeated sigh, I accept. Excitement churns in my stomach. It swirls around with the nerves, creating a Mentos and Diet Coke feeling bursting in my gut. This is what I need. A night away from all of it. A chance to live a little. Fuck AA. Girls’ night is exactly what the doctor ordered.
