Fractured Affections (The Affections Series Book 1) (17 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Striker

Walking into Riley’s house, I can’t help but think of the times she brought me back here. My recollection of those nights is patchy, at best; due to the amount of shots I consumed trying to forget my present situation. The fact that I pick the only woman that Reagan has a relationship with to take home and fuck just proves how terrible my luck is.

Riley has been over to the house, on a couple occasions, to help out Rea. We are cordial to one another but never friendly. I can still remember the look of utter shock when she saw me standing in Reagan’s kitchen, feeding the boy’s dinner. Needless to say, the feeling was mutual. My stomach dropped to the floor when she showed up that day. I’m consumed with guilt for treating Reagan’s best friend so shamefully. I took out all of my anger and aggression on her, and while she took it willingly, my stomach still twists at the thought of how rough I was with her.

“Ki, stop. You keep touching me,” Max says, while scooting away from Kiley on the floor. All the kids are sitting around the coffee table playing Battleship as teams. Dylan is paired up with Colt, since Kiley jumped at the opportunity to be Max’s partner.

Max is a complete mix of Dalton and Reagan, but his personality favors his mother. From what Rea has told me, Max and Kiley are the best of friends, but it’s obvious someone has a little crush going.

“Sorry, Max, I’m going to get a drink. Do you want something?” she asks. While there are three other people in the room, the offer is only made to him. I laugh to myself. Boys are so out of touch with these types of feelings at this age. Give them a good video game, outdoor activity, or mention sports and now you’ve caught their interest.

Max looks up to me with irritation. “She is up my butt. What is her problem?”

I sit back on the couch bringing my ankle up to the other knee. “She’s hardly bothering you. Don’t be mean.”

“Bothering me, she keeps trying to hold my hand, and when I move it she places hers on my leg. I don’t like it.” He looks back down to his game board as Colt calls out his next guess.

“G 8”

“Man that’s another hit. Are you cheating? You looked at my board when you walked to the bathroom,” Max slams his game board shut and leaves the room.

Max is more easily aggravated than the other boys but his behavior is still out of character. “Colt, did you look at his board?” I ask.

Colt burst out in laughter. “Yeah, I wanna win.”

I can only shake my head at the kid because he is definitely the tormentor of the bunch. Maybe it’s an earned right, being the youngest. As long as you are not the one in his sights, then he is pretty funny. I can hear movement coming down the hall and my eyes land on Max again, with Reagan’s arm wrapped around his shoulders.

Her hair is styled perfectly in loose curls and it only makes her outfit even sexier. It’s tight in all the right places with the smooth skin of her shoulder exposed, causing my blood to pump harder through my veins. She is sexy as hell. I can’t help but think about running my lips over the length of her neck until I reach her collarbone, grazing my teeth across her skin. After seeing her bare body through that wet t-shirt earlier, my thoughts have been running wild.

Trying to distract myself, I jump up from the couch to find Riley standing behind Reagan in the hall. “Could we talk for a minute in the kitchen?” I ask and she follows me after giving a short nod.

“I just wanted to apologize for the way I treated you. I hope we can move on from it. I will probably be around more, and it’s obvious how important you are to Reagan.”

“Look, we both made a mistake. I get it. I’m just trying to move forward, Striker. I’m starting to learn more about myself lately, and I realize how wrong I acted with you,” Riley says with her arms crossed over her chest, while leaning back on the counter.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I was disrespectful, so again I’m sorry for treating you that way.” I reach out and place my hand on her shoulder, dipping my head low to catch her eye.

I watch her as a slight smile appears on her lips. “Thank you for your apology. I hope we can be friends one day, too. Dalton and Reagan are like family to me and I don’t want anything to interfere with that.”

“Good.” I give her shoulder a little squeeze and turn to get Rea. “I guess we will head out.” Coming to a sudden stop I mention, “Oh, Max and Kiley seem to be in a disagreement about something, just thought you should know, in case he seems a bit grumpy.”

Riley chuckles before responding, “God, Striker that’s typical, might as well get used to it. They are like an old married couple. I would be surprised if they didn’t spend the rest of their lives together.”

We are both smiling when we enter the living room. Reagan is playing with the kids when she looks up, “Everything okay?” she asks.

I look over to Riley and she is smiling up at me. There’s a sense of peace shining through her and I can’t help but feel relief with the realization that she has truly forgiven me. “Yeah we’re okay.” I turn to Rea. “You ready to head out?”

“Yup.”

*****

We have been sitting at the bar, nursing our beers, and talking about the boys for the last hour. Things feel forced and tense, but I’m trying to work through it. I can tell her guilt for keeping Dylan from me is still eating at her. I don’t want her to live that way. I know we are just starting to work things out, but I genuinely want to move forward. It’s hard to watch the person you love feel bad about herself, even if they’ve broken every piece of you, but I guess that’s what real love is.

Real love is something that wraps itself around that muscle, beating deep within your chest, and feeds life to every part of your body. You can’t escape it, even if you try, because once it's taken root, you will die without it. The proof is in the pain that I have felt since I left her almost eleven years ago. What’s even worse, I know she feels the same pain and that I’m the cause. Unfortunately for us, we will never live without it, because our love for one another is unattainable. We can’t tap into those feelings because we also share a love for Dalton and would never hurt him.

So here we sit, trying to ignore things from our past and move on to something that we will never be. Friends: such a simple word to say but a difficult thing to become. Turning on my stool to face Reagan, I grab her hand, causing her to snap out of our strained conversation.

“Stop. Okay? Let’s just try and be ourselves, and stop this bullshit of trying to fill every second with stupid conversation.”

Reagan stands up and leans over the bar, yelling toward the bartender, “Two shots of tequila, please.”

“Much better, let’s get drunk, have fun, and not think about all the fucked up shit waiting for us at home. Sound good?”

“Better than you think.” Reaching forward, she grabs our shots and slice of lime, placing mine in front of me. We both reach out for the salt at the same time but I let her grab it.

“Go ahead, I was getting it for you anyway. I don’t need that shit.”

Rea lifts her hand to lick it and pours salt over the wetness. “Ready?”

I lift my shot and her movement mimics mine before I speak. “To leaving our fucked up past behind us!”

I watch as she licks her hand, then we both tip back our shots. I swallow mine in one large swig. It takes her seconds longer to finish, before sucking on her lime. I turn away because watching her is sparking those dirty thoughts again, and I just want to have fun tonight.

“Two more!” Reagan yells across the bar again.

We polish off two more shots apiece, and I’m starting to feel the alcohol spread through my veins, causing a slight buzz.

“Okay, enough shots for now, let’s order a round of beers and play pool or something.”

“Nah, no pool, how about we find a booth and play a little game of Bar Truth or Dare,” she says with excitement, like it’s the best idea she’s ever had.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Are we twelve?”

“Oh, come on, we always had a good laugh playing as kids. Maybe that’s what we need to remember all the good times together. Hopefully, they will overshadow the bad.”

We have had a lot of good moments together with tons of laughter. “Okay, if it sounds fun to you, then I’m game. You go first.” I grab her hand and we head to a quieter location in the back of the bar, so no one can hear us.

Reagan slides into the booth across from me. “Alright,” she says and takes a long swig of her beer. I can tell the alcohol is having more of an effect on her than me. “Truth or Dare?”

“Let’s go with…. Truth.”

“Hmmm, let’s see what to ask.” She looks up to the ceiling, tapping her finger to her chin. “What is the weirdest or funniest dream you’ve ever had?”

I don’t take my eyes off of hers as I take a drink from my beer. “You had to ask that? Thanks. But you have to promise this stays between us,” I say, as I point at her sternly.

“Come on, it can’t be that bad. It was just a dream; it doesn’t mean anything. Spill.”

I’m giving her a cold stare, unsure if I want to share this with her, but decide to give her a good laugh. “A while back I had a dream that Dalton was dressed as a girl, and he was in love with me. I can’t remember all the details because I’ve tried to forget it, but it stills haunts me. The things he tried to do to me are scary.”

Reagan is laughing her ass off, as I continue to hold my annoyed expression, so she can’t tell that I’m enjoying watching her laughter. “Shut up, Rea. It still keeps me up at night sometimes.”

“Dalton dressed as a woman is pretty creepy, but the fact that he wanted you, and he’s your cousin is even fucking weirder.”

“Keep laughing. I’m glad you’re having fun at my expense but you better not tell him. Truth or Dare, Rea?”

“Truth.”

“What’s the worst part of being a girl?” Her nose crinkles and she tilts her head like she’s thinking hard about her answer.

“Having a vagina,” she answers with a straight face.

I’m mid swallow and almost spit my beer in her face at her answer. “Why?”

“It just does some gross stuff and causes major mood swings. Not to mention the fact that it takes us longer, only to leave us hanging during a quickie. Plus, we can’t stand to pee, and then sometimes it tries to get you in trouble.”

“Huh, what do mean, it gets you in trouble? What, does it speak out of turn?” I ask with my bottle in front of my lips.

Reagan begins to laugh again. “It just desires things that it shouldn’t sometimes.”

At first I think she’s talking about her wanting me, because she looks away. I can’t help but get excited at the thought, but then she continues, “Take Riley, for instance, her vagina gets her in all kinds of trouble. It’s a weapon that we can use against men, but if used incorrectly it only hurts us in the long run.” Reagan’s head snaps back around and she looks at me with shock, like she can’t believe what she just said. “Nevermind, TMI. Truth or Dare? Or hold that thought, I’ll be back.”

She slides from the booth and walks back toward the bar. I can’t help but stare at her pert little ass as it sways with each step. Those tight pants let me know that she either has on a thong, or no panties at all, and I become curious at the thought. I watch as she steps up and leans over the bar, causing her sweater to rise up and give me a full view of it. My cock twitches at the thought of bending her over and sliding deep into her hot wet channel.

She stands and turns, holding two more shots, and I decide to look away from her. I need to find some other potential conquest. I have to get my thoughts off Rea. I can’t drink this much and make good decisions, I know better. “Rea, this is my last shot,” I say to her, as she slides into the booth.

“Okay, but I thought we were out to have fun and get wasted.” She slides one of the small glasses in my direction, causing some of the potent liquid to spill onto the table.

“I want to have fun, but I do bad things if I drink too many of these,” I say, as I raise my glass. Reagan raises her glass also and catches my eye for a moment, before tilting her head again in deep concentration. The alcohol must be making it harder for her to think. Finally, after what seems like forever, she makes a toast.

“To becoming best friends, like before.” We both tap our glasses on the table before lifting them back up to our lips. She must not be feeling any pain because she is swallowing them down without a struggle now.

“Dare.” I need to change things up, because I can’t take anymore talk about her vagina.

“Go up to that girl over there and pretend that you hooked up in the past, and ask her if she remembers you.”

I look over to where she’s pointing and the young blonde can’t be older than twenty-one. She’s pretty, in a classic kind of way, but not as beautiful as Rea. “Is she even old enough to be in here?”

“God, Strike, who cares? You’re not really fucking her. Just pretending you did.”

“Right, cause everyone else will know it’s a joke too, if they hear, and I won’t sound like a perv at all.” Slowly I slide off my seat and stand, suddenly regretting the decision to play such a stupid game. I approach the girl, she is looking down at her phone, so I place my hand on the small of her back and lean in close to her ear. “Hey, darling, remember me?”

She looks up from her phone and takes me in. I watch as her eyes roam over my body then back to my face, like she’s trying to remember who I am. “I’m sorry but where do we know each other from?”

Even though this girl is way too young for me, I can still appreciate how beautiful her eyes are. The vibrant green that stares back at me has me transfixed. I almost forgot why I’m standing here with her. “Please don’t tell me you forgot. I knew you had some to drink that night, but not enough to forget the time we spent together.”

The young blonde stands up straighter and turns toward me, placing her hand on my chest. “While I think you are mistaken and have the wrong girl; I can’t help but want to make what you’re saying a reality. You are hot as hell, and I would love to take you home tonight.”