Devil May Care: Boxed Set (130 page)

“I like it fast too.” He laughed, the sound filling the room and making me want to squirm. “So which one couldn’t stop talking about me? The strawberry blond?”

“She has a name,” I said through gritted teeth.

“I would like to know it,” he countered.

I almost snorted. “Then ask her yourself.”

“Oh, I plan on it.” He was staring at me. It was a little unnerving. Very unnerving actually. “I know you were talking about me. Your friend with the short hair pointed at me. You lowered her arm. Didn’t want me to know that you all were talking about me, was that it? You were blushing a lot, I noticed.”

“Are you a spy?” I grumbled, taking a right turn a little sharply. I knew he would see. It didn’t surprise me that he’d noticed. Had he been looking over because of my friends and their attention, or because of me? It shouldn’t matter.

But it did.

“Not a spy. Observant,” he corrected. “So we’ve established that you were talking about me—”

“I never confirmed that!” Okay, now he was being cocky. Couldn’t decide if I liked that or not. I knew I shouldn’t, but…

“And the topic concerning me had you blushing,” he continued as if I hadn’t interrupted him. “Can I assume then that your friends were talking about me in a way that embarrassed you?”

I didn’t say anything. Let him assume what he wanted. I was too unnerved to be able to say something that wouldn’t give my thoughts, both then and now, away.

“Now what would embarrass you?” He tapped a long finger against his chin a few times. “Hm…oh, I know! You had that same blush after we were so close by the water fountain. I could feel—”

“I don’t want to know what you could feel,” I snapped. We had been so close. His body had felt so hard and strong, and so had something else, something below the belt.

“Ah, there’s that blush again!” He pumped his fist into the air. “So it’s something intimate that makes you blush, is that it?”

“You don’t know the first thing about being intimate.” I braked a little too hard at a yellow light.

“You could’ve made it. I’m surprised you didn’t go for it. Take a risk. Dare to live a little on the wild side.”

I risked glancing at him. His grin was lopsided, irritating…and irresistible.

“And I beg to differ,” he continued. “I know all about intimacy.”

“That…” I fumble for words, “…whatever it was in the hallway, that wasn’t intimate.” It had been surprising. Invasive. And kind of a turn-on.

“Did you want it to be intimate?” He whispered the last word and leaned closer to me.

I was so glad I insisted he wore a seat belt. This car was feeling way too small as it was. I didn’t need him to be any closer to me. Concentrating on driving was proving almost impossible.

“Intimacy is about a connection,” he added. “Do you know anything about a connection of bodies, April?”

I hated, and loved, the way my name sounded on his tongue. But I was done feeding into him. My side of this conversation was over. Yes, ignoring him was the way to go. Forget about him and his smile and his teasing and his sexiness.

This was lust, pure and simple. Nothing substantial. Nothing meaningful. So maybe I’d daydream about him. It was harmless. Nothing would ever happen between us, so what did it matter if he replaced Adam in my daydreams? If my daydreams just happened to be a little sexier than normal?

Mom would be so disappointed in me right now. Not just for thinking about Wesley this way, but for thinking about any guy this way. Like an object. She always wanted me to be a strong female who was willing to stand up for myself and not be reduced to a piece of meat, and here I was, doing exactly that to Wesley.

No more dirty thoughts about him. And for the rest of this car ride, no more talking to him either.

“I think I might be able to make a connection with any of your three pretty friends,” he said. “What do you think? Think they want a piece of this?” He gestured from his head down to his toes.

I rolled my eyes and tried to concentrate more on the road and less on him, the sexy but frustrating step-brother.

“Your friends did an awful lot of talking, thinking about me sexually. You, I noticed, stopped after a while. Were you fantasizing too?”

Without thinking, I nodded as I cleared the intersection.

“I knew it!”

I glanced at him, trying to feign surprise. Why had I nodded? I was distracted by the road. That, and I grew up with strict parents who taught that lying was wrong. By default, I almost always tell the truth.

In this case, a little white lie wouldn’t have hurt.

“Knew what?” I blinked innocently.

“Knew you all were thinking about all the hot lovin’ you want with me. Admit it.”

“I will not—”

“Admit it!”

My face had to be bright red. My entire body felt way too hot. “You know what, Wesley? Why don’t you confess? Why weren’t you at school in the morning?”

“You know what, April? It’s none of
your
business.”

Him parroting my words back to me felt like a slap in the face.

The rest of the car ride was silent. Funny. I had wanted to stop talking to him, but now that he wasn’t talking or teasing me, the silence felt suffocating.

I just couldn’t win.

Wes

I didn’t know what got into me, but once I started to tease April, I couldn’t stop. It was just too much fun watching her squirm. Seeing her bent over the water fountain, her ass sticking out…I just had to approach her, and when I got close, I had to get even closer until we were touching. It was a good thing she jerked away when she did or else she would’ve realized just how much I enjoyed our proximity. Just from feeling her ass against me for a little bit had gotten me so hard.

But even I knew I went too far for too long in the car. Now that we were back at the house, her eyes would widen and she’d make an excuse and jump out of every room that I entered. I confused her. Not necessarily the reaction I wanted out of her.

No one else really talked to me, not that it bothered me, but the atmosphere at this house—it sure wasn’t home—was weighing on me. It was far too suffocating.

Whenever things felt this way at a foster home, I jetted out of there. Went for a walk or a ride, got into trouble. It was my thing. Had to keep myself on edge. It was the only way to feel alive, like I was living my life instead of living the life someone else wanted for me. Too much of the foster life thing was about others trying to control and enforce their will on me. Nothing grated me more than being told I couldn’t do something. With the way I was feeling, especially after I screwed things up with April, I knew I needed more than just a walk to feel better. I needed to have the wind blasting in my face. I needed a ride. And not in a car either. A bike would be wicked. Yes, I knew how to ride one. A kid I fostered with for a while had one. We hung out a lot until he got busted for possession and I got sent back to the system.

So I swallowed my pride and sought out the man of the house. Walter was in the parlor, reading the newspaper. All he needed were slippers and a pipe, with smoke circling around his head. I snorted at the image, and he glanced up at me over the top of his newspaper.

“Wesley.” He lowered the paper an inch. At least he didn’t look annoyed to see me. “Is there something you need?”

“I was wondering if I could borrow your car to go job hunting.” I held my breath. After all, he was the one who wanted me to get a job in the first place. Although, if I had access to a set of wheels, would I actually try to find a job? Nope. And I had a feeling Walter figured that was the case too.

Walter flicked his paper, and his gaze lowered to it. “No.”

Didn’t surprise me, but it still aggravated me.

“No? Why not?” I demanded, crossing my arms. “You said—”

“It’s a school night.”

“So give me a curfew,” I said. Like I’d follow it. “I’m just trying to—”

“I already said no. The decision is final.” I hated that he was talking to me over the newspaper, like I was interrupting something far more important than I was.

“I would like to know why,” I spit out through ground teeth. The man was too much of a tight ass.

“You’re too irresponsible and young.”

What the hell?

“You don’t even know me,” I started, doing my best to hide my growing frustration and anger.

“I know enough,” he said calmly.

Great. I could imagine the horror stories he’d been told. Made me wonder why he agreed to let me live here these five months. I doubted Jacqueline wore the pants, considering Walter definitely saw himself as man of the house. But if he knew about even just a quarter of the stuff I pulled in the past, he’d never agree to me having wheels. Heck, I was kind of surprised he was so set on me having a job, considering it would’ve made more sense for him to want me at home at all times to make sure I wasn’t getting into trouble.

“And too young? April has a car!” I pointed out.

“She’s responsible. Unlike you.” He flicked his newspaper. “Now if there’s nothing else…”

An obvious dismissal. I wanted to yank the newspaper out of his hands and swipe his car keys. How the hell could I even try to follow the guy’s stupid rules if he was breathing down my neck, not trusting me? How else was I going to be able to get a job? I hadn’t wanted one at first, but now I was dying for any excuse to get out of here.

Never should’ve gone to him in the first place.

I stalked out of the room, hoping I was too loud and distracting for him to read, and looked for Jacqueline. She was in the living room, talking to the sister wives. Jacqueline looked a little uncomfortable. Maybe she felt a little out of place, being the newest wife. Actually, April’s mom looked a little uneasy too. Only Yvonne seemed happy. Whatever. Didn’t care what their deals were. Each time I saw them all together, I wanted to gag.

But I put on a smile. Jacqueline glanced up, noticed me first, and asked if the other two wouldn’t mind giving us a minute. April’s mom smiled at me as she walked by, but Yvonne didn’t even look at me. She and Walter were definitely a match, that was for sure.

After they left, Jacqueline beamed at me. “Wesley. How was school?”

Shitty. No, actually, it hadn’t been that bad.

“Could’ve been worse.” I shrugged.

“Oh. Could’ve been better too, huh?” She patted beside her on the couch, inviting me to sit there.

I claimed the armchair across the couch instead. Wasn’t here to spill my guts. “I… ah…”

“What is it?” She tilted her head, her long necklaces clanging together. “You can ask me anything.”

I never wanted to ever ask her anything, but I was desperate. It kind of bothered me that she assumed I wanted something from her, but that was the truth. Before I could think twice, the words came tumbling out. “I need some money. Borrow some money. Just enough to get myself a vehicle to look for a job.”

Her smile looked frozen on her face, and she straightened from her slightly slouched position. “I don’t know…”

Probably didn’t want to go behind Walter’s back. I couldn’t risk letting her talk to him first, because then no way was I getting a penny. What would be the best angle to work?

“Walter wants me to get a job,” I said slowly, trying my best to sound reasonable and not desperate. “I think one might be good for me. You know. Keep me busy. Out of trouble.”

“And out of the house.” She frowned, almost pouting.

Ah. Guilt. That was my ticket.

“We can still spend some time together,” I promised, even though it was a lie. “Try and get to know each other.” I shrugged and shoved my hands into my jeans. “I… I…”

But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t say I wanted to build a relationship. Even though I knew that would nail me some greenbacks, I couldn’t bring myself to be that manipulative. And I wasn’t ready to call her mom yet either. So I said nothing. Either she would help me, or she wouldn’t.

After a moment, Jacqueline tilted her head, obviously considering, and then nodded. “Stay here.”

She stood and hurried out of the room. Hardly any time passed before she returned, and she shoved some money into my hands, glancing around like she was a thief.

“Here’s some money from my private stash. Go on down to the used car dealer. Tell him your Walter’s son. They’re friends. Just buy something safe, all right?”

She moved like she was going to hug me, but I backed up with a smile. “Thanks. I’ll head out now.”

I darted out of the room to avoid any kind of bonding she thought we just had and walked past the kitchen. April was inside, cleaning, so I backtracked and stared at her from the doorway. She’d changed out of her school clothes into a t-shirt and boxer shorts. When she turned around, it was so obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra. The shirt wasn’t super tight, but I could still see her nipples.

April glanced up and met my gaze. Her cheeks reddened, and she scowled.

Before she could say anything, I gave her a wide smile. “You wanna know something? You’re pretty.”

Still not letting her say anything, I walked out and left the house. I almost felt like whistling, and I wasn’t normally a whistler.

It didn’t take me long to reach the dealership. I asked one of the workers for the owner. When the owner came out, he eyed me up and down. Probably thought I was going to waste his time. It irked me, but I guessed I couldn’t blame him. In his shoes, I’d be wondering who this kid was too.

“Hi. I’m Wesley.” I thought about holding out my hand, but there was grease on his fingers, so I didn’t bother. “Walter’s my step-father.”

“Oh, yeah?” The owner rubbed his chin. None of the grease smeared onto his stubble. Must be dried on. He was built like a bull with a huge beer gut. “Name’s Mickey. Me and Walter go way back. That guy’s got more kids than a mutt has fleas. Whatcha in the market for?”

We talked and negotiated—although he was a good guy, and I didn’t have to haggle much at all, obviously because of my connection to Walter—and I end up with an old but reliable motorbike. It felt amazing to ride it home. Like I was the king of the road.

As soon as I got to the house, I hid my bike behind some bushes on the edge of the property, beyond April’s garden. No one could find it there.

It was late now, so I sneaked into the place and headed upstairs. If Walter caught me, he’d never let me leave the house again, maybe not even for a job.

April appeared at the top of the stairs. She looked a little floored. I was about to ask her what was up, when she crossed her arms, glanced around—no one else was near—and leaned in close. “I saw you ride up from my window.”

Just what I needed. A spy.

I had no reason to think she wouldn’t run off and tattle. She was too much of a good girl for that. Something inside me snapped. “I didn’t take you for being weak-willed. Gonna run off tell daddy what I did?”

Her expression relaxed slightly. “I never planned on it.”

I blinked. Oh. My opinion of her rose a notch. “Good.”

“But I am worried about you.” She stared at me. Considering how many times she’d ducked me earlier, this was refreshing. “I want you to take care of yourself.”

I narrowed the distance between us and tucked some of her blond hair behind her ear, moving in very close as if to kiss her, our hips touching. It was almost electric being this close to her. I’d been turned on by other girls before, of course, so I had plenty to compare her to, and the attraction between us was pretty incredible.

Since she didn’t move away, I brought my lips even closer. “You should be more worried about yourself,” I warned.

Without looking back, I walked around her and entered my room.