Back to Life (20 page)

I
laughed again. “Are you seriously afraid of Rory? The girl is maybe one hundred
and fifteen pounds soaking wet!”

“Yeah,
but I also know she took down a full grown man in a bar for grabbing her ass!
What do you think she’ll do when she hears about this?”

I
put my hand on his arm, still laughing. “Nick, don’t stress. As long as you
treat Samantha right and you don’t use her or lead her on, then Rory will be
okay. I’m sure of it.”

“I
hope so. I don’t want to come between you two. You seem like you have a good
thing going with her.”

“We
do. I love her, man,” I admitted, and his eyes widened.

“Whoa,
dude, I’ve never ever heard you say that before.”

“Well,
it’s true. She’s so incredible, and I feel like the luckiest son of a bitch
alive because she’s mine.”

“Wow,
that’s awesome man. I’m happy for you two.” We both stood there for an awkward
few moments, and then I cleared my throat.

“Well,
listen, I’d better let you go. You don’t want to keep your date waiting.”

He
smiled. “Yeah, you look like you got your hands full too. I’ll catch up with
you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.
Let me know how it goes with Samantha,” I said, winking.

He
sighed and shook his head. “And let me know if I need to wear a protective cup
the next time I’m around Rory, okay?”

“Okay,”
I laughed. “Have a good night,” I said, with a final wave.  I shook my head and
laughed to myself as I made the short trek back to Rory’s apartment with the
food. I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when I tell her I caught Samantha
feeding Nick a wonton with chopsticks.

Rory

Three
Weeks Later

“Come
on, you guys, are you ready yet? Liam will be here any minute!” I shouted,
running into the kitchen and opening the fridge. It was now the Fourth of July
and Liam had asked me, Marissa, Brody, Nick, and Samantha to go to his parent’s
barbecue in the Hamptons. I was so nervous, but I didn’t want to let it show,
especially since Liam didn’t really want to go. I wasn’t afraid of the tight
assed people that would be there, but I wanted to make a good impression on them
for Grayson and Vivian’s sake. They are the only two people in my life that I
seemed to want to please.

I
grabbed my tote bag and placed the two bottles of wine I had purchased as gifts
for The Tanners inside it. I placed the bag on the counter, and then ran down
the hall to look one more time at myself in the full length mirror. I decided
to dress up and wear a baby blue sundress that was fitted at the top and it
flared out at the waist and paired it with a pair of white espadrille sandals.
I wore my hair in a teased up ponytail, and I changed my gauges from my
favorite black and pink ones to the nude colored ones. There was no covering my
tattoos, so the stuffy assed people would just have to deal with it. Hell, if
Grayson and Vivian Tanner can look past them that was all that mattered to me.

Marissa
came sashaying down the hallway, looking like a freaking runway model in her
red sundress and tan sandals. I had done her hair in a side braid, and she
looked so beautiful. “I’m ready, Rory. Just breathe,” she said, giving me a
smile.

“I
will. I just don’t want to be late for this thing,” I admitted.

Marissa
stifled a laugh. “Calm down, girl. We won’t be late. It’s only noon, and it
starts at two. We have plenty of time to make it there. Besides, some people
will usually show up late anyway, so even if we are running behind we will look
like we’re right on time next to them.”

“Where’s
Brody?” I asked impatiently, smoothing my dress in the mirror.

“He’s
on the phone with the hospital. He shouldn’t be long.”

I
arched an eyebrow. “I thought he wasn’t on call today.”

She
shook her head as she opened her compact mirror and dabbed on some lip gloss.
“He’s not, but Dr. Jansen called about a patient that Brody saw last week. He
should be off the phone soon and we can go.” She lightly smacked her lips in
the mirror, and put the lid back on her lip gloss. After she put her makeup
back in her handbag, she walked to me and placed her hands on my shoulders.
“Relax, Rory. You don’t need to be nervous. You already know Liam’s parents and
they adore you, so just take a deep breath and try and enjoy today, okay?”

I
nodded. “I will. I just…I don’t know why I am being like this.” I shook my head
and smiled at her. “Today’s going to be great,” I said, smiling.

“There
you go,” she replied, still smiling.

Just
then, Brody came walking out of the room he and Marissa shared and was putting
his phone in his pocket. As soon as he looked up at Marissa, he smiled. “Hey
gorgeous,” he said, and immediately walked toward her and pulled her into a
sweet kiss. “Sorry about that.”

Marissa
pulled back, a dreamy look on her face. “It’s okay,” she breathed. I shook my
head again and smiled at them. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes,
everything is perfect. You look beautiful, Minnie,” he said, and he wrapped his
arms around her waist with his hands resting right above her ass. She smiled
brightly at him, her cheeks flushing a soft shade of pink. She barely muttered
out a thank you before his lips were on hers and she rested her hands on his
biceps, most likely to steady herself. I walked back down the hallway toward
the living room to grab my clutch purse, leaving the two of them to their make
out session. Thankfully the door buzzer sounded and it momentarily drowned out
the heavy breathing and lip smacking coming from my brother and my best friend.
I walked to the intercom and pushed the button. “Yeah?” I called.

“Hey,
angel, it’s me,” I heard Liam say.

“Okay,
babe, come on up,” I said, and buzzed him in. A few minutes later I heard a
knock on the front door, and I rushed to answer it. I opened the door and saw
my handsome Liam standing before me, his hair gelled and spiked up in front,
and dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a…polo shirt? I grinned widely at him.

His
eyes widened and traveled down my body appreciatively before looking back up at
me. “Wow, Rory, you look absolutely perfect,” he said, stepping toward me. I
was about to tease him about wearing a polo shirt, but all thoughts of that
were gone when he snaked a strong arm around my waist and pulled me to him. “I
love this dress,” he murmured in my ear, lightly squeezing my ass. I
involuntarily moaned.

“Thanks,”
I whispered, and he began to trail feather light kisses along my jaw line. I
leaned my head back and he moved his lips along my neck. His free hand found
its way up my arm and rested on my cheek. “Babe,” I panted, “what are you
doing?”

“Just
letting you know how you make me feel,” he said, and his tongue traced along
the strong vein in my neck. I moaned as tingles shot through me like fire, and
his sinful mouth finally moved up and claimed mine, his tongue parting my lips.
My calm resolve was all but forgotten as I wrapped my arms around his neck and
grabbed fistfuls of his hair. I opened my mouth wide to his and I felt his
tongue clash with mine…oh god he tasted like heaven. All thoughts of the trip
to his parent’s place in the Hamptons were banished and I completely forgot why
the hell I wanted to go. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to be naked
underneath him in my bed.

“Ahem,”
Brody said, “sorry to, uh,
interrupt
, but we should probably get on the
road if we want to avoid traffic.” I broke apart from Liam and shot Brody a
dirty look, which made him grin. “Nice shirt, man,” Brody teased, and Liam
chuckled and flipped Brody off before releasing me.

“You’re
one to talk, dick head,” he said, noticing Brody’s polo shirt as well. “Jesus,
we look like a couple of douche bags,” he laughed.

Brody
laughed. “I know, we look like we’re one popped collar away from crashing a
frat party,” he said, and we all laughed.

I
walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed the tote back with the wine in
it. “All right, are we ready to go?” I said, still giggling.

Everyone
nodded in agreement, and I grabbed my clutch purse and rejoined Liam by the
door. “Can you guys lock up? My keys won’t fit in this thing,” I said, holding
up the clutch.

“Sure
thing,” Marissa said. “We’ll meet you both there.”

“Bye,”
I called out, and Liam waved to them as we left the apartment and headed to the
elevators. “You know, you really do look hot in a weird way,” I admitted, and
he laughed.

“Gee,
thanks,” he said, and we pressed the button for the elevator to take us down.
Once we got to Elvira (I still found it comical and a little cute that he named
his car), I was about to open the passenger door when he stopped me. He pressed
me against the car, his front to my back.

“Liam,
wha…” I said, and I suddenly lost all ability to speak when I felt his cock
twitch against my bottom.

“You
look so damn sexy in this dress, Rory,” he moaned in my ear. His hand roamed
down my thigh and my breath caught in my throat. “I can’t wait to get you out
of it.”

“Later,”
I breathed, “we need to get on the road. You’ve got to stop doing this to me
today.”

I
felt him smile against my neck as he lightly kissed me. “Come on, it’s my
parent’s house. We can be a little bit late.”

I
shook my head, both in protest and to try and get my thoughts back. “No, Liam.
I am going to their house for the first time, and I want to make a good
impression. It will look bad if we show up an hour late and we both have messed
up hair and reek of sex.” I shoved back from the car and turned around to face
him. “Come on, this is important to me. There will be plenty of time for this
when we get home tonight, okay?”

“You
promise?” he asked, sticking his bottom lip out. God damn it, I wanted to suck
on his lip so bad.

I
decided to turn the tables on him, and I ran my hand down his toned stomach and
ran my pinky inside the waist of his jeans, making his abs contract. I leaned
up until my lips were almost touching his, and I said, “Promise.” I quickly
pulled away and placed my hand on the door handle, but he stopped me.

He
opened the door for me and asked, “You really play dirty, don’t you?”

I
winked at him and said, “You know it, baby,” before I slid into his car. He
smiled and groaned as he shut the door and ran over to the driver’s side of
Elvira and climbed in. I giggled loudly as he adjusted his erection before he
put the key in the ignition and started the car.

“Keep
laughing and I’ll shut off the engine and fuck you right in this car,” he
laughed, his tone laced with seriousness.

I
shivered at his words, and the feeling went straight down to my core. If I
wasn’t wet before, I was damn near soaking now. As hot as car sex with Liam
sounded right now, it was important that we make it to Water Mill on time so I
put my fingers to my lips and pretended to lock them shut with a key. He
shifted in his seat again and I stifled another laugh as we pulled out onto the
street and began our drive.

Two
hours later, we had arrived at Liam’s parent’s home in Water Mill…and I was in
awe. The house was absolutely exquisite. There was a fountain in the middle of
the round driveway that circled in front of the house, and there were beautiful
vines that climbed up the columns at the front of the house. For a home in the
Hamptons, it looked a lot less “east coast” and a lot more “southern
plantation”. It was so beautiful and elegant that I suddenly felt very out of
place being here. However, Liam didn’t really want to come to this thing in the
first place, but he did it for me. It was the least I could do for him to try
and get over my nerves and enjoy myself. Liam parked his car and shut off the
engine. He took my hand in his and said, “So, are you ready to go into the
shark tank?” he asked, a smile on his face. I nodded and smiled, trying to seem
confident. My nervousness showed obviously, because he said, “Angel, relax,
okay? It’s going to be fine. If you can win over someone like Grayson Tanner
and have him eating out of the palm of your hand, then these other old bastards
don’t stand a chance.”

I
giggled and sighed. “That’s sweet of you to say, Liam, and you know I don’t
care what those people think of me. I only wanted to come for your parents
because I love them both so much. I just don’t want to cause any problems for
them, having to explain the crazy looking tattooed girl clinging to their only
heir’s arm,” I admitted, and he snapped his head back. His face wore an
expression like he’d just eaten something sour.

“Rory,
how can you say something like that? You should know you don’t have to worry
about what people might say to my parents about us. If my mother is anything,
she’s crazy protective of those she loves, and she loves you, Rory. Besides,
with all of the ink I have on me we look like we’re a match made in tattoo
heaven,” he said, and I giggled. “You are going to charm everyone just like you
charmed my parents. And me.” He guided my hand to his lips and he kissed my
knuckles.