Show Me How (It's Kind Of Personal Book 2) (17 page)

Only a few steps away, I lay her on the kitchen island and frantically work on the button of her jeans. She helps me get them and her thong off and spreads her legs, setting each foot on a stool.

“Hell, yeah. Spread those thighs for me. Let me see you. How wet are you for me?”

She has a sassy mouth and a hot temper, but when she’s turned on and writhing underneath me, the only noise that leaves her throat are cries of ecstasy . . . and I fucking love it.

I run my fingers between her folds and circle her tight little opening. She slams her palms on the countertop, knocking over the dish that holds my keys.

“You like that?” I circle it again and her hips fly off the counter.

I continue playing with her, teasing her, running my index finger all the way down between her ass cheeks and applying gentle pressure to the tight bud I’ve been dying to touch. She squeezes her legs together, and I nudge them back open with my shoulders.

“No. Keep them open.” She lets them fall. “Has anyone ever touched you here?” I press in a little further so just the tip rests inside the tight pucker.

“No. God.” She twists her head and unsuccessfully tries to grip the tile.

I leave my finger where it is and insert my thumb into her pussy, growling at how wet and tight she is.

“Damn, baby. You really fucking like this, don’t you?” I press my finger farther in.

“Yes! Oh, shit!” Her walls start to get tighter, and I can’t take anymore, so I use my other hand and pull down my track pants to grab my rock hard dick.

“Sit up,” I command. “Touch yourself. Rub your clit and make yourself come.”

She doesn’t sit up but twists her torso and hesitantly rubs small circles while she watches me stroke my dick. Pre-cum is already leaking out, and I twist my hand to gather it before increasing the pace.

“I’m close, baby. Rub it faster.”

Her eyes close and she starts rocking her hips into my hand, making my finger and thumb go inside her a little more with each thrust.

“That’s it. Work yourself . . . God, that’s so hot. You’re fucking beautiful.”

She clamps around my fingers and arches her back, her cum coating my fingers even more. I explode in my hand and rest my head on her stomach, letting both of us come down.

“Wow,” she whispers.

I sit up, kissing up her stomach until I reach her mouth. “Yeah. Wow. You good?”

“I’m more than good. That was . . . I have no words.”

“Imagine that.” I chuckle and give her one more kiss before I wash my hands and bring the towel back to wipe between her legs.

She hops down and pulls her pants on when there’s a knock at the door. Her panicked face meets mine.

“I’m sure it’s just Kelsey. She was going to stop by tonight.”

Her eyes widen and she frantically grabs the rest of her clothes and runs in the bathroom.

“Hold on a minute!” I yell and get dressed before splashing some water on my face and opening the door.

“Hey. Is now a good time?” Kelsey asks.

“Yeah, come in. Mary will be right out.”

“Cool.”

“You feeling better?”

“Huh?”

“Earlier you were sick.”

“Oh, yeah. That. I’m fine. What’s that smell?”

I sniff the air and curse then run to the oven. “I forgot about the pizza.” Smoke billows out of the oven and I throw the burned pie on the counter. “Well. There goes supper.”

“Oh no, it’s burned?” Mary laughs, emerging from the bathroom.

“Hi. I’m Kelsey.” She sticks her hand out and Mary takes it.

“Mary. Nice to meet you.”

“You, too.”

“Do you still feel like pizza? I can order one,” I ask Mary.

“That sounds good.”

“Yeah, pizza’s great!” Kelsey chimes in. “You order and Mary and I will go chitchat.”

She walks to the couch and Mary shrugs, following her. I order some more food and join them, sitting next to Mary and wrapping my arm around her.

“So, how do you know Brandon?” Kelsey asks.

“We grew up together.”

“Really? I bet you’ve got some good stories then.”

“Oh, yeah.” Mary smiles and taps her finger to her lips. “I could tell you about the time he got caught by his parents with a stack of his mom’s lingerie catalogs.”

“No, you couldn’t.” I pull her into me and tickle her side.

“Okay, okay. I won’t.” She gives me a peck on the cheek before returning her attention to Kelsey. “Has he ever told you about how good of a baseball player he was in high school?”

“No.”

I really don’t talk about it to anyone. After Mary had left, my life kind of fell apart, and that included baseball.

“He was. Even had a full-ride scholarship to state.”

“You never told me that. What position were you?”

“Pitcher.”

“Wow. That’s awesome. So what happened? Did you play in college?”

Mary tenses beside me. She asked about college the other day and I told her the truth. When she ran away, I didn’t want to move in case she ever came back, so I ended up going to the community college and got my degree in Criminal Justice. I rub her back and whisper, “It’s okay,” so only she can hear me, then address Kelsey. “Sometimes you have to sacrifice something you want for someone you love.”

Chapter 16

Mary

Brandon fell asleep a while ago with his arms around me so tight I could hardly breathe. I love it. He makes me feel like nothing in the world can touch me. If I could just lie here with him for the rest of my life, I would. I’d make up for the years apart, loving him every second of every day. Prove to him that I never stopped.

Since I’ve been staring at the ceiling for the past two hours, I decide to carefully peel myself from Brandon and get a drink of water. Maybe walking around will help to tire me.

The cat stands and stretches, arching her back, then hops off the bed and follows me to the kitchen. She rubs around my ankles and I use my toes to play with her for a minute. Then, I open a bottle of water and go to the window. Movement catches my eye, and when I squint between all the cars in the parking lot, I see a woman and a man in the shadows.

Stepping back so my body is hidden, I continue to watch for no other reason than I’m curious. I witnessed many things I shouldn’t have at Pay-By-Day, and one thing I learned the hard way, by being punched in the face, was to stay out of other people’s shit. The man raises his arm, and I cover my mouth. He strikes the woman, and she runs away as the man walks to his car. I watch until he drives away, finally releasing the breath I didn’t know I was holding. If he hadn’t left, I would have woken Brandon up and called the cops. But he appears to be gone now and the woman ran away.

Faint pinkish-purple tinges the sky, and I yawn, finally tired. I set the bottle on the nightstand and crawl back in bed next to Brandon. His eyes pop open, and he reaches for me.

“What’s wrong?” His voice is sleepy sexy.

I contemplate for a brief second telling him about what I saw, but the guy is gone and there is nothing he can do, so there’s no sense in worrying him. My now tired brain decides I’ll mention it later to him. “Nothing. I just couldn’t sleep.”

The pads of his thumbs apply small circles to my back, and I close my eyes. His fingertips trail up and down my spine, allowing me to relax enough to drift off to sleep.

* * *

I wake with a start when Kat jumps on my head. “What the . . .” I roll over to find the bed empty, with a piece of paper where Brandon was sleeping.

Didn’t want to wake you.

Call me when you get up.

Love—B

I roll over to grab the cell phone Brandon bought me last month and dial his number.

“Hey, babe,” he answers on the first ring.

“Hi.”

Papers shuffle and a squeak sounds, like he rocked back in a chair. “Loved waking up with you in my bed.” His voice is low and quiet; he obviously doesn’t want the guys he works with to hear him.

“I didn’t like waking up with you gone. I wish you would have woken me.”

“You were tired. I didn’t want to.”

I push the covers off and walk to the kitchen to pour a glass of juice. “I wouldn’t have minded.”

“I know, but you needed your sleep. I felt you tossing and turning all night.”

“You did? I thought you were knocked out.”

“I did. Hey, I’ve gotta go. But do you want to meet me for lunch later?”

“Umm, actually. I wanted to finish unpacking and stuff. Can I take a rain check?”

“Of course. I’ll call you later. Love you.”

He hangs up. I eat a banana real quick, then after a shower I work on moving my stuff off the table and finding a place for everything to go.

By the time Brandon gets home for the night, I’ve cleaned the apartment from top to bottom and have dinner made. He walks in, all hot with his uniform of black on black, and grabs my ponytail then kisses me. Not a quick peck, but a long, slow, hot kiss that makes my legs feel like Jell-O.

“Hi,” he whispers against my mouth.

“Hey.”

“You have no idea how bad I wanted to leave early today knowing you were waiting for me here.” His head turns toward the kitchen, and he squints back at me. “I thought you said you didn’t cook.”

“I don’t. It’s salad from a bag and a frozen lasagna.”

“Where did you get it from?”

“I walked to the store. I wanted to do something nice for you for letting me stay here.”

His grip on my hair tightens, and he leans closer, forcing my back to arch as his blue eyes bore into mine.

“First, I’m not
letting
you do anything. You’re here with me because it’s where you belong. Second, I don’t need thank-you dinners from you. The only thing I need is to know you’re gonna be here when I get home from work, and you’ll be in my bed every night when I go to sleep.”

I swallow and try to regain the composure he so easily made me lose. He always does that. With a look, or a freaking word, he unravels me.

“Okay.”

“Good. Now feed me, woman. I’m starving.” He pats me on the butt and sits on the stool at the kitchen island, waiting for me to serve him.

And I do. Happily. I’ve never done this for anyone else before. During the entire meal, we laugh about old times and argue about the party he had while his parents were away.

“It wasn’t my fault they found out!” I yell.

“Bull. Shit.” He crosses his arms and leans back. “All they had to do was look at you and you caved. You couldn’t tell them the sky was green without laughing.”

“I swear. By the time they asked me, they already knew. I told you that like a hundred times already, but you can’t get it through your head that I did. Not. Tell them.”

His answering laugh makes me giggle. “Who the hell was it then? I swear, when Mom cornered me with that damn bottle cap, I almost shit myself.”

“Oh, my God. Me, too. She walked up and opened her hand then looked directly into my eyes and said . . .” I remember it like it was yesterday. My heart races just thinking about it. If there were ever people I didn’t want to lie to or be disappointed in me, it was the Parkers. I turn to Brandon and take a deep breath, schooling my features. I hold out my hand just like Elizabeth did. “Mary? Do you have any idea why I found this beer bottle cap in the basement?”

We both burst out laughing, and I wipe the tears from my eyes. “I swear she could see right through me when I shook my head.”

“I’m sure it was all part of her plan. Corner you and guilt you into confessing.” He grabs our plates and takes them to the dishwasher. “I mean, if anybody told her the truth, it would have been you.”

“Yeah, and I felt so bad for lying to her, but I didn’t want you to get into trouble.”

He turns and crosses his arms. “You don’t have to worry about protecting me, Mary. Never did.”

The sharpness in his voice causes a sinking feeling in my gut. I’ve managed to avoid too much talk about the reasons I left by changing the subject or blowing him off completely. I was hoping we could just forget about it and move on, but apparently, he has other ideas.

“I know.”

“Then why did you? Why lie and run away? I’m supposed to be the one who protects you, not the other way around.”

We’re not talking about the party anymore. “Brandon, I told you the truth. I was scared and I didn’t want my parents’ fucked-up life to affect you. I thought Scott would follow through with his threat.”

“I get that. I do. But what about all the times I asked you what was going on at your house? When you slept over? Lying by omission is still lying, babe.”

I close my eyes and contemplate what to do. I’ve never told him the real reason. It’s in the past now, shouldn’t I just leave it there? He thinks I just couldn’t sleep because of the noise. I came up with that lame excuse.

“Mary!”

“People tried to sneak in my room, okay!” I cover my mouth and watch as his face becomes hard as stone. I never wanted him to find out the real reason.

“Who?” he grits out, cracking his knuckles.

“I don’t know.”

He walks over to me and squats down, holding my hands. “Did somebody touch you?” He cringes and rolls his neck. “Hurt you?”

I shake my head. “No. I always got away before they did. I always went to you when I got scared.”

His shoulders fall and he tilts his head. “Why didn’t you tell me?” The malice in his voice from finding out the truth is surprisingly controlled. “Fuck. I should have known better. Should have figured it out.”

“I was embarrassed.”

“Why the fuck would you be embarrassed? It’s not your fault your parents were fucking pieces of shit.”

My eyes widen, and I rip my hands away, but he grabs them again, “I’m not sorry for saying that. They were, babe. I mean Jesus, they named you Mary Jane.”

I know they were, but it still hurts to have it thrown in my face. “Don’t call me that!” I yell and push him away. “Don’t ever call me that again.” It wasn’t until I was in high school that I figured out the true definition of my name. I always thought it was because of those cute black and white shoes. To say I was ashamed is a huge understatement. Just another embarrassment to add on to the list.

“I didn’t call you that.”

“Just please, can we move the hell on already? I was a fool and made a huge mistake by running away. I ruined your life, and somehow, by the grace of God, you’ve decided to give me another chance. Can we not rehash everything? Please. Let’s just move on. I can’t go forward knowing that you still hold onto the past.”