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Home.

That was a joke.

Home was never a safe haven. Not since Gran had started losing her memory. My parents had shipped her off to this place without missing a beat.

‘Home’ was where I got yelled at. Criticized. Ignored.

For most of my life, I’d felt like a ghost, There, but not. Not counting. Not important.

Not loved.

It was sad but I’d almost thought I’d felt a little bit of that with Jace. I was an idiot obviously. Hot guys like that didn’t like girls like me.

Chubby, bookish, quiet girls like me.

But... He had seemed to like me.
 
More than a little bit. A lot.

I sighed, grabbing some lotion to rub on the thin skin on Gran’s hands. She’d always been so proud of her hands. They were beautiful even now, with long tapered fingers and pretty oval shaped nails.
 

“Frannie?”

I turned to see Nevada standing in the doorway. My face crumpled as all the tears I’d been holding back started to fall. She was across the room and pulling me into her arms in two seconds flat.

“Oh honey. I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“Don’t be silly. How is she doing?”

“They said she might pull through. I don’t know. She looks so frail…”

She leaned back, staring at me.
 

“Well,
you
look exhausted. How long have you been in here?”

I shrugged. I hadn’t left the room since I got here late last night.

“And I bet you drove all night.”

She tsk’d when I nodded. Then she hooked her arm into mine.

“Come on, we are getting you something to eat and some fresh air. Gran will be okay for a few minutes alone.”

I followed her meekly out of the nursing home. The sun hurt my eyes and I squinted. Nev handed me a pair of expensive looking sunglasses from her bag. I slid them on gratefully.

This was the town we’d grown up in and I didn’t want to run into anyone.

“Sammies?”

I nodded and Nevada took my arm again, propelling me down the side walk. I felt numb, like a robot. I said a quick thank you to God for my friend.

“I know you’ve been crying but you still look like a movie star.”

I laughed tiredly. It felt weird to laugh. But I knew Gran wouldn’t have wanted me to be sad.

“I do not.”

Nevada gave me her best side eye.
 

“You do. Trust me. Everyone is checking you out.”

We walked toward main street where our favorite deli was. People were looking at us. But I knew it was because I was with Nev.

My best friend was stunning. Not just beautiful. She was BEAUTIFUL.

The kind of girl that made other girls feel insecure. But she was so sweet that I’d never felt that way around her. Plus I’d seen her at her worst more than once.
 

Even sick with the flu though, she was stunning.

Inside and out.

“So….Tell me about the guy.”

“Jace.”

“Hmmm hmmm…. he sounds hot.”

“He is.”

“But?”

“I think I blew it.”

“What? Why?”

I shrugged.

“I may have over reacted to a naked picture on his phone.”

She stared at me.

“I would react to something like that on Clay’s phone. With a frying pan to the head.”

I laughed again.
 

“Yeah but I’m not engaged to the guy! I just met him.”

“But you like him?”

“Oh Nev. I do. I like him a lot.”

She leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“Did he… do things to you?”

I nodded, blushing. She nodded knowingly.

“We are way over due for a sleepover date, don’t you think?”

“Okay. But I’m staying with Gran until later.”

She patted my arm and walked into the deli.

“Of course you are sweetheart. Come on, let’s get you some egg salad on rye.”

I laughed.
 

She knew me so well.

Chapter Twelve

Jace

I stopped drinking long enough to show up for my shift at the city center. I’d already skipped Tuesday but after a week I figured I better get my shit together. I looked like hell but at least I wasn’t drunk. But when I got there, I wished I was.

There was no sign of Frannie.

Fuck, was she avoiding me here too? I’d been hoping to talk to her. Or take her out again.
 

I’d been hoping she would have cooled off enough to let me fuck her.

I sat down with a couple of kids and started working. She had to show up sooner or later. I fucking hoped so anyway.

When one of the other tutors walked by I asked. It was one of the older ladies that worked there full time. She told me that Frannie was gone. A family emergency.

They didn’t know when she’d be back.

It took some digging but within ten minutes I’d found out what had happened.

And I was done tutoring for the day.

I apologized to the kids and left, riding hell for leather to the shop. Frannie had gone home apparently. Her Grandmother was sick. Or worse. Dying maybe.

I had a terrible feeling that she’d driven all the way from Southern California up North where she grew up. I was not fucking amused. I told her over and over that her car wasn’t safe for anything other than toddling around on local streets.

It was not highway ready.

Visions of her mangled on the pavement, trapped in the crumpled car, or stuck on the side of the road flew through my head. The girl might be in trouble. Hurt. Dead.

God Damn it!

I strode into Flannery’s office and grabbed the keys to his best racer. He raised his eyebrows at me. I just shook my head.

“I need to go to Sonoma. Now.”

“Seriously? You are going to miss all the races this weekend.”

“It’s Frannie.”

He lifted his hands.

“Okay man, you got it.”

I turned to leave.

“Oh and Jace?”

“What?”

“Don’t fuck this up. I like that girl.”

I nodded. I liked her too. More than that. What exactly I was feeling wasn’t clear to me. But at the moment whatever it was fucking sucked.

I slid into the car, pulling my phone out to message her.

If you drove that piece of shit all the way to Sonoma I am going to be pissed.

I leaned back in the seat, thinking for a second. Then I tapped out another note.

I’m coming for you Frannie. Get ready.

Then I drove off into the fucking sunset.

Frannie

I stared at my Gran’s face. Her eyes were open for the first time in days. Not only that, but she recognized me.

“She’s going to be okay.”

I nodded at the nurse who was checking Gran’s vitals.

“The infection is under control now. But she’s weak.”

She pulled me into the hallway.

“You need to prepare yourself. This sort of thing might become the norm. She’s not going to live forever.”

“Okay. Thank you for taking such good care of her.”

“You are a sweet girl. I know she wouldn’t want you to put your life on hold next time.

The nurse smiled and touched my shoulder. I sighed and walked back in to sit with Gran. I knew she was right.
 

“Do you want me to read to you?”

Gran shook her head. I could tell she was getting tired again. It was so good to see the old Gran present in her eyes.

“Maybe I’ll let you rest. I’ll come back tomorrow before I drive back.”

I kissed her soft cheek and left, grabbing my bag. It was hard to leave her. Hard knowing that she wouldn’t live forever.

But I was a big girl. I didn’t believe in fairy tale. This was real life after all.

My phone was dinging. It was muffled through my purse, so I hadn’t heard it earlier.

I had a bunch of texts. Nevada. My mom, belatedly asking if Gran was still alive. I shook my head, knowing she would call the nursing home eventually.

Two new texts from Jace.

If you drove that piece of shit all the way to Sonoma I am going to be pissed.

I’m coming for you Frannie. Get ready.

My heart was pounding in my chest. A third text appeared.

You’re mine.

I walked outside and saw him. Jace was leaning on the hood of Flannery’s car.

He drove all the way here?

My mind was spinning about that. Never mind the look on his face. He looked focused. Possessive. And pissed.

Really, really pissed.

He walked towards me, his eyes blazing. I stepped backward in alarm. My instincts were telling me that I was the rabbit and he was the wolf.

 
I wanted to run. I also couldn’t take my eyes off of him and he strode towards me. He was furious. And sexy as hell.

Maybe that’s why my feet seemed to be frozen to the sidewalk.

He came at me, not stopping to say hello. No, he just grabbed me and tipped me slightly backward so I was nearly off my feet. Then he kissed me.

Hard.

Right in the middle of main street.

Oh God!

His arms were around me, his hands sliding over my back to grab my hips. His tongue dove into my mouth again and again. And God help me, I was kissing him back.

He was breathing heavily when he finally lifted his head, staring down at me possessively.

“You drove here in that piece of shit, didn’t you?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

He cursed and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards his car.

“Where are we going?”

He practically lifted me into the car and put my seatbelt on for me like I was a child. He didn’t say anything until he was in the car. He locked the doors. Then he looked at me.

“Somewhere quiet. So I can spank you.”

My mouth opened a little and he grinned. It wasn’t a friendly grin.

No, he looked like a shark.

“Where am I driving to Frannie?”

“My house.”

He shook his head.

“Somewhere quiet I said.”

“The beach?”

He nodded, his eyes raking over me. Then he drove off.

I sat there for the entire ride, totally silent, feeling like a little girl who was in trouble. Guilty almost. Like I’d done something bad.

I guess I had over reacted to the Shannon thing… I mean, I know I had.

“You aren’t with Shannon are you?”

He glanced at me, then shook his head.

“Were you ever?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“She’s not my type.”

He parked the car and turned to me.

“You are.”

My mouth opened. In that second I realized he meant it. Everything he’d said to me from the start was one hundred percent true. He slid across the car and started kissing me again. Within seconds he had me stretched out horizontally on the seat.

He must have unbuckled my seatbelt without me even noticing. He wasn’t trying to undress me though. He was just staring down at me. Then he sat up and got out of the car.

“Fuck. It’s going to have to wait.”

“What?”

“Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“I told you.”

“Jace, you aren’t really going to- to spank me are you?”

He didn’t say anything, just lifted me up over his shoulder and carried me down to the beach like a sack of flour. It was late. No one was around. Still he carried me across the sand until we were far from the parking lot.

He set me down on my feet and then sat, pulling me over his lap.

I squealed and tried to get away but he held me firm. His hand slid over my ass, rubbing it in a circle. Then he lifted it and brought it down.

Hard.

Not hard enough to bruise, but still, it stung.

“This is for taking off without telling me.”

He brought it down again.

“This is for driving that fucking rust bucket.”

His hand landed on my ass, making it jiggle like crazy.

“And this is for making me wait.”

His hand glided over my bottom, soothing the sting. I was annoyed. And I was even more annoyed that I was starting to get turned on by all of this macho bullshit.

He was too, judging from the hardness I felt under my stomach.

“Are you done?”

He didn’t say anything for a minute, just kept stroking me. I stared at the sand, inches from my face.

“Not even close.”

Chapter Thirteen

Jace

The girl laying across my lap was going to drive me insane. Her hair tumbled over my thighs to the sand. Her rounded bottom felt like the softest thing in the world under my hand.
 

Too bad she was wearing clothes.

Time to take care of that. Along with some other things.

I was done waiting.

I picked her up and laid her back onto the sand. I pulled my jacket off and tucked it under her head. It was a shame we didn’t have a blanket but I didn’t care.

I was going to fuck her anyway.

“Don’t move.”

She looked up at me, breathing heavily. It made her breasts rise and fall in a way that make my dick jump in my jeans. I pulled my shirt off and lay on top of her. I spread her legs apart and stared down at her, unbuttoning her blouse.

“I’m going to fuck you now. Twice.”

I looked down at her face.

“Three times maybe.”

Her eyes were wide as I pulled her top open and unbuttoned her jeans. I lifted her just enough to pull her arms free. I unhooked her bra and pulled it off.

“Lift your hips.”

She was panting as I tugged her jeans off and threw them aside. I undid my pants and licked my lips. Then I started.
 

No teasing this time. No going slow. I ground myself into her, my mouth on her tits and my hand in her panties. She was already soaking wet.

Good.

That would make it easier. I didn’t want to hurt her. But it wasn’t going to stop me either.

Nothing would.

Not an army.

Not even an earthquake.

Not the end of the fucking world.

I slid my finger into her sweet little pussy. I wanted to taste her. I lowered myself between her legs and let my tongue slide up and down her plump lips. I slid another finger into her tight little box, opening her up.