Finding Us (14 page)

“T
he fence kiss? That was nothing. Marie Jackson was my first
real
kiss. What? Don’t get mad! I can’t help it!” I kept laughing which just made her even madder.

She let out a huff and crossed
her arms over her chest, scowling at me until I saw her perk up when she remembered something. “Okay. Then Thad Moore was
my
first
real
kiss!”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Now just wait a minute. “Thad Moore? When did this happen?” I asked,
sobering and narrowing my eyes at her, feeling myself getting a little angry. Thad had been a year ahead of me, so he was three years older than El, which I totally didn’t like or agree with.

“Freshman year. Bec and I went to Hilary Dalmach’s birthday party, she was a year older than us
, and Thad was there,” she informed me.

I could’ve swo
rn she added a “Hmph!” after it.

“So when did you end up kissing him?” I frowned at her, not believing that I was actually getting jealous over something that’d happened
over eight years ago. I’d only been teasing her about Marie and now she’d gone and thrown Thad right in my face. Didn’t help that he was a huge football stud who’d gone on to play for the Patriots.

She smiled smugly at me knowing she’d gotten to me. “End of the party. I was waiting for Dad to come pick me up. Bec’s dad had already gotten her, so I was waiting outside Hilary’s house when Thad came out. He told me he’d give me a ride home if I needed one. I called Dad, and since Thad’s dad worked in the same firm
with him, he agreed to let Thad give me a ride.”

I just stared at her. Thad had made the same damned move on her that I had. Fuck!

“Continue,” I said through clenched teeth crossing my own arms over my chest.

She was getting way too much enjoyment out of this, which was really pissing me off.
There I was, almost twenty-six at the time, and an over eight-year-old memory was making me behave like a three year old. Nice.

“So, he drove me home.” She shrugged.

“And then?” I said curtly.

“He kissed me, I got out and went inside.”

“El,” I growled.

She giggled then mocked me by growling
back, “Jag.”

“What happened with the kiss?”

“Oh, that?”

“Yeah. That.”

“Wait, we haven’t opened our fortune cookies yet!” She handed me mine, pretty friggin’ gleeful that she was making me wait to hear about this kiss with Thad Moore. Upon opening her cookie, she read what was on the little slip of paper as she shoved bits of cookie in her mouth. “A kiss can beautify souls, hearts and thoughts.” Annnnd she cracked up laughing.

“Ha. Funny, El. Hilarious. No, really,” I said balefully which only made her laugh more.

“What’s yours say?” she asked with a snort.

I pulled it out of the stupid, little cookie and read, “Love
, because it is the only true adventure.”

“Aw. That’s
so sweet!” she said, a mischievous gleam in her eye.

“Now, tell me.”

“About?”

“You know what about.
”

She
sighed as if she’d been much put upon. “Okay.” She rolled her eyes before going on. “So, Thad took me home. We sat in my driveway talking for a few minutes about this and that. And then he figured out that Robbie was my brother. They’d hung out a little after Robbie graduated, and I could tell he was shocked that I was his sister. Anyway, I told him I had to go in, so he leaned over to me…” She took a drink of her root beer float.

Christ. Such a tease. “Yeah?”

“He leaned in… and kissed me… on the nose telling me he didn’t realize I was Robbie’s pipsqueak little sister.” She snickered at the look on my face, which was pretty much one of,
I’m going to make you pay for this.

When I scooted my chair back to get up, she squealed as she did the same and ran for the door, knowing I was coming for her. I caught her easily enough, throwing her over my shoulder
and carrying her to her bedroom, throwing her on the bed where she bounced a couple times.

I
stood at the foot of her bed and unbuckled my belt, pulling it out of the loops on my jeans.

“Wh-what are you going to do?” she asked, her eyes big.

“Little girls who tease get punished,” I said, folding the belt in two and snapping it in my hands, smirking down at her.

“You wouldn’t,” she said as she scooted
back on the bed to the wall, laughing.

I
knew we’d gotten to this point because of my jealousy, but this little thing we had going was strangely erotic, and I could see she was a bit turned on by it too, so I decided to go with it. I reached out and grabbed her by an ankle, pulling her to the end of the bed as she screamed and kicked, grabbing onto the comforter, pulling it with her.

She turned over to face me
, looking a little pissed off and a lot aroused. “I swear to God, Jag. You use that on me, and I’ll… I’ll kick your fucking ass!”

I smirked again at her and slammed the
belt down on the bed next to her. “You won’t.”

Her chin jutted out as she said, “I will. You just try it and see what happens!”

“Unbutton your jeans and take them off.”

S
he huffed out a chuckle, getting up on her knees on the bed, hands on her hips, leaning into me. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Jag, or what this game is or who the hell you think you are, but I’m not going to be spanked! And I swear to God, if you try to make me call you Daddy, you can just leave right now!” She made to get off the bed but I caught her, pushing her to lie back against it, throwing my belt to the side and landing on top of her. It was all I could do to keep from laughing at her last pronouncement.

“If I think your ass needs spanking, it’ll be spanked,” I growled at her, reaching down to unbutton her jeans.

“Stop!” she shrieked with a laugh as she semi-fought back until I yanked her pants down, my hand moving in to cup her, circling my thumb against her which made her gasp. “Oh, God, yes,” she whispered, her back arching up off the bed.

“Tell me
you like my hands on you,” I ordered, pushing a finger inside her as she moaned.

“
Love
your hands on me, Jag,” she purred breathily.

“Good,” I murmure
d, moving my finger in her faster as she clutched the bed covers. When she was all hot and bothered, I stopped what I was doing to her and moved away, sitting up on the end of the bed, my back to her. “Now, let’s talk about this first kiss thing again.”

She sat up suddenly and said, “What?” She laughed and
crawled toward me, shoving me in the back. “You’re such a jerk!”

I put my elbows on my knees and clasped my hands in front of me, shaking my head. “And here I thought I was your first kiss, but all along, you’ve had the
hots for Thad Moore. Isn’t that just great.”

I heard her scooting back on the bed.
“Jag… c’mere,” she said. I turned to see her pushing her jeans and panties down, kicking them off with her feet then she threw them at my face where they slipped down to land on the bed behind me.

I
turned facing the other way again, shaking my head. “You’ve been in love with Thad Moore the entire time. My whole life has been a sham. A lie.”

Her shirt landed on my head
next followed by her bra. I pulled them off, turning to look at her lying there naked, looking so sexy as she crooked her finger at me, beckoning me to come to her.

“I said, c
ome here.”

“I don’t know. Maybe you should call Thad.”

“If you don’t get naked and get up here now, I
will
call him!” she said with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

I stood then and grabbed my hoodie and
t-shirt from the back of my neck, jerking them over my head. Next, I kicked my shoes off, unbuttoning my jeans, pulling them and my boxer briefs off, along with my socks. Standing there looking at her, I saw that her pupils were big, showing that she was highly aroused as she stared at my erection then up at my face. She was so beautiful in that moment, that all I could do was stand and stare back at her. I guess I stood looking at her too long because next thing I knew, a pillow slammed into my face.

“Jag! Come. Here. Now!”

I chuckled then crawled up to her, kissing my way up her thighs, her stomach, stopping to give some careful attention to her breasts, before moving up and looking at her.

“Luckiest son of a bitch ever, El.
Even though I’m only your second choice.”

She laughed
, grabbing me by the hair at the sides of my head. “Whatever. I’m the lucky one. It’s always been you and you know it. Now, do your job and fuck me.”

I smiled
down at her, pushing her hair off her forehead. “Stunning.” Taking her lips with mine, I proceeded to do her bidding so well that we ended up on the floor, and I had to say that although the whole thing had started off with my hurt ego, by the end, I felt like the world’s best lover.

And for
the record, she did get a spanking, but I used my hand, and she loved every minute of it, especially the part where I kissed it all better.

Chapter 13

El and I walked hand in hand
through Daley Plaza stopping to admire some of the products that the various vendors had on display, the snow falling quietly around us. I was nursing a beer and she was sipping on Gluehwein, a hot, spiced German wine. We were at what was called Christkindlmarket, the German festival that was held in downtown Chicago every Christmas season.

She’d bought Rebecca a necklace from one of the booths and I’d gotten Mom
a German cookbook that I knew she’d love because El and I had sampled some of the strudel a woman had made from it, and it was delicious.

We
left the Plaza and walked to Millennium Park because El wanted to go ice skating. We rented some skates and after putting them on, made our way out to the rink.

“Whoa!”
she screamed with a snicker as she wobbled on her skates.

I grabbed her hands,
skating backward, pulling her with me. “How’s that?” I asked.

“I forgot you were so good! Forgot you played hockey when you were little,” she said, beaming up at me as we made our way around the rink.

I chuckled. “Yeah, for a while I couldn’t decide if I wanted to play hockey or baseball. Guess I made the right choice, huh?”

She nodded, letting out a little shriek as she
lost her balance again.

“I’ve got you, baby,” I said, holding her hands more tightly,
winking at her. She was so adorable in her cream-colored wool coat, navy beret, scarf and gloves.

“Help me put the tree up when we get home?”
she asked.

“Of course.”

She smiled up at me, her cheeks pink from the cold.

On the next turn, I said, “Okay, gonna just hold your
right hand now. You try it by yourself.” I let go of her left hand as I executed a move back to her right side. She let out a little shriek as she teetered a bit before finally getting her balance, holding not only my hand but hanging onto my left arm with her other hand as well.

I laughed as she faltered a couple times before finally, almost, getting the hang of it. “You’re a regular Michelle Kwan,” I said with a chuckle.

“Ha! Yep, that’s me, all right,” she retorted, just before she reeled backward, almost falling, but I caught her in my arms keeping her from landing on her ass.

I looked down at her, my lips twitching,
as I held her in what looked like a dip we’d done while dancing. “Think they might be ready to sign us up for
Dancing with the Stars
?” I said with a chuckle, kissing her deeply before pulling her up to stand.

She adjusted the cap on her head. “Wow,” she said, glancing up at me dreamy-eyed.

“Yeah. Wow,” I agreed, smiling down at her. “Ready?” I asked as I pushed off with my skate, moving us to go around the rink again.

“Whoa!” she said with a laugh, losing her balance a little again. “I guess so!”

We skated a few feet before she snarked, “And who would be the star we’d be getting to go on the show with us?”

I looked down at her out of the side of my eye and mumbled, “Smartass,” as we continued cruising over the ice as snowflakes fell softly around us.

“Bec’s coming over in a sec,”
El said, hanging an ornament on the tree.

Oh, boy. It’d be the first time I
’d see her since we’d left last Christmas for LA. Well, I’d seen her at the Cubs game but didn’t get to talk to her. So, yeah, this would be the first time we’d actually be interacting.

El and I’d
gotten home from skating, and I’d pulled her artificial tree out of the storage closet that was on her veranda. We’d gotten it put together, I’d strung the lights on it, and I was now having a beer while she hung the ornaments, listening to her explain where each one had come from. I particularly liked the Popsicle stick (cherry, of course) reindeer that she’d made in the first grade that had brown pipe cleaner antlers and a red puff as its nose.

“Sure that’s a good thing?” I asked, eyebrows raised.

She let out a
pfffttt.
“Of course it’s a good thing. Why wouldn’t it be?” she asked, looking over at me where I sat at the bar.

“I don’t know. Maybe something to do with her calling me a fuckstick. Or the voicemail she left on your phone?” I tilted my head at her, eyebrows still raised.

“Rebecca loves you. She was just a little pissed at… at what happened.”

I huffed out a chuckle. “A little, huh?”

She came over to me, turning my barstool toward her, stepping between my legs. “Honey, it’s gonna be okay. I promise. She’s a good friend. In a weird way, you should be glad I had her standing up for me.” She leaned in, touching her lips to mine.

I put my hands on her waist, pulling her in for another kiss then sighed. “Yeah, I know I should, but when I’m the one she was standing up against, well, it makes things different.”

She put her hands on either side of my face. “Jag, I love you. And that’s all that really matters, right?” She kissed me again. “And I think,”
kiss
, “you’re the,”
kiss
, “best thing,”
kiss
, “that’s ever,”
kiss
, “happened,”
kiss
, “to,”
kiss
, “me.” She pulled back and smiled.

“
Mmph,” I answered, looking doubtful. Having Rebecca coming over had brought back all the shit El and I’d had to deal with. Not good memories to say the least.

“You are,” she said, turning back to put more decorations on the tree.

And then Rebecca barged in the front door.

“Hey! Oh, my gosh, th
at looks great!” she said, looking at the tree then going to El to hug her.

“You think? I think it needs some tinsel or something,” El replied as they released their hug, both stepping back to look at the tree, El with an
arm crossed over her chest, the elbow of her other arm resting on it and the other hand going to her chin in thought, Rebecca, hands on hips and head tilted to the side.

Rebecca nodded. “Yeah, tinsel or something to make it sparkle a little more.”

“Tinsel it is!” El agreed then started digging in a box to find some.

Rebecca turned and saw me then, a smirk forming on her face. “Oh, hey, Jag.”

I cleared my throat. “Hey, Rebecca.”

“So, screwed any underwear models lately?” she asked.

Jesus.

“Bec!” El stood up from the box, arms full of silver tinsel.

“What?” Rebecca asked innocently. “It’s a valid question, isn’t it?” She looked at me as if challenging me.

I took a pull on my beer then stood and looked at her. “No, wouldn’t say it’s valid at all since it never happened to begin with. El and I have our shit squared, Rebecca. Are you and I gonna have a problem, or are we good?”

She stood staring at me for a few seconds, hands still on her hips. Then it was as if she did a one-eighty. “Nope! We’re good!”

She came over and hugged me, making me flinch a little when she put her arms around my waist, worried that she might be carrying a weapon with which to stab me in the kidney. I cautiously hugged her back then she stepped away and looked up at me.

“You know, I kinda missed you, fuckstick.” She barked out a laugh.

“Bec! God! That’s enough,” El said, but I saw that she was trying to keep from laughing along with her best friend.

I chuckled. “Okay, I deserved that one. Anything else you got?”

Rebecca narrowed her eyes at me as if sizing me up. “No, I think I’m good,” she said with a wink.

Well, thank God for that. I sat back down at the bar, bringing the bottle to my mouth as I listened to them chattering on about a girl at work, Amberly something or other, who’d gotten pregnant by one of her professors and now he was getting fired and “Wasn’t that so horrible?” but he’d asked her to marry him and “Just how romantic was that?” while they finished up on the tree, and I had to chuckle thinking that I wasn’t the only bastard to screw up lately.

Ross came over after he got
off work at the sporting goods store his aunt and uncle owned, where he’d been moonlighting evenings after interning during the day. We’d rented a movie to watch later, and the girls had made spaghetti, so we all sat at the table eating once he got there.

“Remember when you guys got busted by Mr. Vining for standing in the hallway making fun of Coach Hendricks?” El said with a giggle.

I laughed. “Funny thing about it was part of our punishment was having to drive his car to the carwash and clean it up for him because he had, in his words, ‘A hot date that night.’”

Ross cringed. “Dude, remember finding those condoms in his console?” He shuddered.

I scrunched my face up having forgotten that fabulous detail. “Yeah, and they were Magnum Gold. Extra large.” My turn to shudder.

“Sickest day ever. Who wants to think about their principal’s junk?” Ross asked, a look of disgust on his face.

“Uh, who wants to think of
any
guy’s junk,” I added with a laugh.

“That’s not as bad as El and I fin
ding a used condom in his trashcan when we snuck into his office after school one day,” Rebecca said which made both her and El utter an
Ew
.

“That was so gross!” El stated. “We were mad because he’d assigned us detention for putting Vaseline under the door handle of Coach Miller’s truck,
so we were gonna fill his trashcan with confetti and put it over his door so when he walked into his office, it’d spill all over him. You know how his bald head always sweated so much? We just knew the confetti would stick to it and he’d walk around all day not knowing he had any on it. But when we went to empty the trashcan… ugh.”

“We kept an eye on him after that,” Rebecca said. “And one day we saw who we assumed was his girlfriend come in the school and go in his office for a really loooooong time.” She looked at El. “We even skipped home-ec waiting for her to come out, remember?”

“Yes! And that day, we snuck into his office again and there was another condom. Used,” El explained further, screwing up her face at the memory.

At that, there was a united
Ew
that went around the table.

After
dinner Ross and I cleaned the table and did the dishes then met the girls in the living room to watch the movie we’d rented.

“This isn’t some mushy chick flick, is it?” he asked
from where he and Rebecca lay on the floor amidst a plethora of pillows.

“No, man, I made sure to get something we’d all like,” I said
, sitting down next to El on the couch. It was a psychological thriller starring Denzel and you could never go wrong with renting a psychological thriller that starred Denzel, I made sure to explain to him.

El used the remote to turn
on the TV and when I felt her body get stiff beside me, I looked to see that the second installment of the mermaid commercial was on. Christ.

The first commercial had depicted me reuniting with Alessandra as a mermaid in a barely-there bikini and rolling around in bed with her. This second one had had more
of our rolling around, her still wearing a tiny bikini, but this time we rolled on the beach, and the last part had us swimming underwater together, holding hands.

I clenched my teeth and grabbed the remote out of her hands, turning the channel.

“Holy fuck, she’s hot,” Ross murmured, which got him a punch in the arm from Rebecca who’d sat up when she’d seen what’d been on, making him whine out an
Ouch
.

I looked down at El. “You okay? I’m really sorry,” I said.

She looked up at me, taking a deep breath then rolled her eyes at herself. “No, I’m fine. It’s okay. I just hate that skank.”

“I know. It’s over, though, okay?” I reached down and held her chin with my thumb and finger, leaning in to give her a deep and, hopefully, meaningful kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” she said, giving me a small smile.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Ross said, clapping his hands then rubbing them together.
“We fall asleep, just leave us. We’ll go home when we wake up.” This earned him another punch from Rebecca.

We watched the movie, well kind of. El lay on the couch in front of me, and I couldn’t resist running my hand up under her hoodie and t-shirt to c
up her breast, tugging at her nipple under her bra, getting a quiet moan out of her, not to mention making her push her ass back into me, which gave me a semi.

“
Like that, baby?” I whispered in her ear, making her shiver.

“
Be good,” she whispered back, which made me grin.

Ross and Rebecca ended up falling asleep on the floor before the movie ended, so we left them there and went to bed, where I proceeded to show El just how good I could be.