Sweet Ride (23 page)

The hairs all over my
body stand on end.
Oh God, I can tell this story’s not going to
have a happy ending.

“… from the library
and surprised whoever it was. The intruder stabbed her sixteen times
in the chest. Jack came home and found her dead on their living room
floor,” she continues, trying to hold back her own tears. “A
neighbor heard Jack’s pleas for help and called 911. When the
police arrived at the scene, they had to pry him away from her body.
He refused to believe that she was gone.”

“Oh my God,” I
croak out, tears streaming down my face.

“Thinking he had
something to do with her death, investigators brought him down to the
station still covered in Julie’s blood and interrogated him for
hours. Eventually, he was cleared of any wrongdoing. He was so
devastated and distraught over her death that he ended up dropping
out of school. You have to understand, for a full year, he wasn’t
our Jack anymore. He became a man withdrawn from life. We finally
convinced him to seek help and slowly the old Jack started to
resurface. He eventually went back to school and got his degree. His
goal was to always become a policeman like our father, but Julie’s
murder pushed him toward it even more. He then focused his obsession
on finding Julie’s killer, but the case eventually went cold, and
no one was ever charged with her death.”

“Please, stop. I
can’t take anymore,” I plead with her, gasping for air between
sobs. I place my forehead on my lap and cry for the love that Jack
lost.

“No, you need to hear
this. Jack loved Julie. I think that’s why I’m so angry, because
seeing you at the house the other night told me that he cares for you
deeply. Other than Julie, you’re the only woman he’s ever brought
home. I know you’ve only known each other for a short time, but I
can already tell that what he’s feeling for you is way beyond
anything he ever felt for her. If something were to happen to you, he
wouldn’t survive it this time. You have the power to completely
destroy him. I refuse to sit back and watch my brother get dragged
down again when he can’t save the woman he loves,” she says,
tears falling down her face.

Did she just say
Jack loves me?
Holy shit, I think she did.

“I don’t know what
to say to that, Isabelle. Do you just expect Jack to be alone forever
and never have a chance at happiness because you’re afraid
something will happen? That’s some seriously fucked up logic.”

That’s when Jack
storms through the door.

“Izzy! What the fuck
are you doing?” he asks, anger evident in his voice.

“Jack, I was just …”

“What the fuck did
she tell you?” he directs at me, his angry eyes unblinking.

“She told me about
Julie,” I admit. His jaw clenches, as he turns back toward his
sister in pure rage.

“Get. The. Fuck.
Out!” he yells at his sister, grabbing her roughly by the elbow and
dragging her toward the door.

“I was just trying to ...”

“Don’t give a fuck
what you were trying to do!” he cuts her off. “My relationship
with Payton’s none of your fucking business!” he roars at her
before slamming the door in her face. He presses his forehead against
the door and takes a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself
down.

“Jack,” I softly
say, cautiously walking toward him.

“Don’t,” he
breathes out, lifting a hand up, warding me off—his body still
shaking with anger.

“It doesn’t change
things between us, Jack. You shared a love with someone so deeply
that you were going to spend the rest of your life with her. That’s
beautiful. Then someone ripped that dream away, and it broke you.
There’s no shame in that. It makes you human. I only wish I was
strong eno—”

“Just stop,” he
interrupts, stopping me from confessing about my past. “You don’t
get it, do you? I’m not angry because she told you about Julie.”

“You’re not? Then
why did you just throw your sister out of your apartment?” I ask,
confused.

“I’m fucking pissed
because after what I confided to you about my father, my sister
decided to take it upon herself to explain to you how I let another
fucking person in my life down. I can’t seem to keep anyone I love
safe. I’m a fucking failure, Payton!” he shouts, his fist
punching the solid wood. It breaks my heart to see him like this.
Twice now, I’ve seen Jack at his most vulnerable and I’m starting
to realize that maybe I’m not the only one that’s been damaged by
my past.

Approaching him from
behind, I wrap my arms around his chest, locking him in my embrace.
“Shh. How could you ever think you failed her? You loved her and
wanted to spend the rest of your life with her. I only wish I could
be so lucky,” I soothingly say in his ear. Shit! Did I just say
that? I feel the tense muscles in his body relax. “Loving someone
so deeply that you feel helpless when something horrible happens to
them does
not
make you a failure, Jack. Bad things happen to
good people all the time. That’s life. It sucks, but there’s
nothing you can do about it. You need to let the blame go, Jack.”

Turning around to face
me, he locks his arms around my waist and squeezes me tightly. His
forehead presses firmly against mine. “What did I do?” he mumbles
against my lips. I’m not sure what he means by that.

“What’s that?” I
ask him.

“What did I do to get
you in my life?” he elaborates, kissing down my neck to my
collarbone. His tongue darts out, licking the hollow area at the base
of my throat. This is getting deep, time to lighten the mood.

“Oh, you know what
you did that first night. Do you need me to remind you?” I say
teasingly.

“Payton, that night
and every other moment I’ve had with you are forever burned into my
fucking memory. I don’t need reminders,” he mutters against my
throat, sending chills through my whole body.

He proceeds to take me
up to his bedroom where he recreates some of my favorite memories.

One month later…

I can’t believe it!
Not one of my so-called friends or boyfriend has wished me a happy
fucking birthday today! I’m fuming as I think back through the day
to see if I missed anything.

I woke up this morning
in Jack’s bedroom wanting to give myself a
big
birthday
present. I slipped under the sheets and pleasured myself with giving
Jack a Grade A blow job, to which he returned the favor and then
fucked me senseless.

Then we got up and had
breakfast where I kept checking my phone making sure I never missed
any calls.

“You expecting a
call?” Jack asked.

“Just waiting for
Ella to call,” I returned.

“What’ve you got
planned for today?”

“Think I might make a
trip to the mall and then do some house cleaning at my place, since
it’s my turn this week.”

“What’re you
shopping for?”

“I don’t know, just
a few little things.”

“Okay, I probably
won’t get off until about eight or so. Are you staying here tonight
or your place?”

“Doesn’t matter to
me, just as long as your hunky self and cock are staying with me. We
can do a little repeat of what we did this morning,” I said,
knowing how riled up I’d made him for the rest of the day.

“Don’t start
something we can’t finish, Payton,” he warned, stood up, and
walked toward me.

“Who said anything
about not being able to finish? You’re the one who has to work, not
me. I have the full day to do whatever I want. Even take care of this
ache between my legs,” I whispered, as I rubbed my hands down over
my breasts and farther down toward that very ache.

“Jesus, you’ve got
me ruined for the day now. I’m going to be hard as fuck thinking
about you touching yourself,” he said with his husky, sexy voice.
He fisted his hands in my hair and pulled me up to him as he smashed
his hungry mouth down on mine. “I’ll see you when I get off,”
he said as his lips broke contact.

“Oh, baby. I’ll see
you
when
I
get off,” I muttered against his mouth.
His only reaction was a growl as he reluctantly turned, walked away,
and left for the day. What the hell? I guess I really will have to
take care of it myself. Shit, my vibrator is at home. Oh well, I
guess my hands can get the job done.

The rest of the morning
turned out to be shitty. No one called me other than my parents. And
even that was just a short conversation where they wished me a happy
birthday, and told me to have a good day, and that they wanted to
come out soon for a visit so they could see me, Ella, Ryder, and the
babies. Oh, and Jack, of course. My sister even forgot; which has
NEVER happened. What the hell?

I drove to the mall and
purchased a few sexy things at Victoria’s Secret that I could wear
later on tonight for Jack. My next stop at the mall was the store,
Annabel’s, which sold expensive designer dresses. I’d been
cleaning up on tips this past week, so I decided to splurge and
bought another birthday present for myself, something to wear next
time Jack takes me out. It’s a hot pink, tight-as-sin halter dress.
I looked smoking hot in it, if I do say so myself. After I finished
shopping I went home and did the bare minimum cleaning, which brings
me to now.

I’m sitting at the
island flicking through my phone checking for messages again. I
decide to call Jack. There’s no answer, so I let it go to voicemail
and leave a message asking him if he has anything planned for tonight
and to let me know.

Like seriously, Edward
didn’t forget Bella’s birthday!

The front door opens,
and my roommates walk in looking pretty excited and start yelling
‘Happy Birthdays’ to me and plant a bottle of liquor on the
island in front of me. “Go get dressed girl, we’re going to
celebrate,” Molly says, bouncing up and down so much that her tits
look like they’re going to fall out of her top. She finally settles
down and pours a shot for each of us.

“What do you mean?”
I ask, downing the liquid fire.

“We’re going to
Climax to party it up,” Amber says excitedly.

“I can’t. Jack and
I are going to do something later tonight, and I have to wait to hear
from Ella. I don’t know if she wants to do something or not.”

“Call them. Ella can
join us, and Jack can meet you there and then you guys can do
whatever after,” Molly tries to convince me.

“Okay, I’ll call
them now and then I’ll get ready,” I say, going to my bedroom to
make the calls.

I try calling Jack, but
again, there’s no answer. I leave another message telling him where
I’m planning to go and that he should meet up with me there later
on tonight. When I call Ella, Ryder picks up and tells me she’s
sleeping. That’s strange. Apparently, she’s been really sick and
hasn’t been out of bed all day. Now I feel like shit because here I
thought my best friend forgot today is my birthday, when in reality,
she’s been too sick to think about anything or anybody. I ask him
if they need anything, but Ryder tells me to go and have fun, and
he’ll tell her that I called.

Well, fuck it! I’m
going to go out and enjoy my birthday. It’s not every day you turn
twenty-five. I go to the bathroom, grab a quick shower and spend a
little too much time primping myself so I can look extra sexy for
tonight. I’m going to enjoy the shit out of this. My make-up’s
applied heavily, my hair’s styled in big, loose curls, and I decide
to wear the pink dress I bought earlier today. I pull on a pair of
silver glitter stilettos that have heels that match the color of my
dress. Scanning myself in the mirror, I add some silver chandelier
earrings and bangles. I can’t help but notice I’m one hot bitch.
Too bad Jack’s not here to enjoy it.

I try calling him
before I leave, but it goes straight to voicemail.
Again!
He
must be busy, I guess. I hope he doesn’t have to work too late
tonight.

* * *

We get a taxi from our
place to Climax, and when we arrive it looks pretty deserted, which
is really odd. It’s usually busier this time of night. Oh well,
this will be a good thing because we’ll be able to enjoy it much
more without a bunch of dirty old men hanging around. And because the
girls’ boss likes me so much, we’ll probably be able to use the
VIP room for the night so that we won’t be bothered.

As soon as we walk
through the doors, I can’t help but notice how quiet it is. There’s
a low buzz of music playing, but not like it usually is when the
dancers are performing. Speaking of which, I don’t see anyone
dancing on stage and there’s no one around either; looks like we
have the place to ourselves. Bonus!

Amber, Molly, and I
walk to the bar on the bottom floor and order our drinks. They order
some girly drinks, but not me. I love a cold beer. “Wow, this place
is deserted tonight,” I say.

“Yeah, it is. That
means we can use the VIP tonight! Yay!” Molly yells and starts
toward the stairs with Amber and me following closely behind. As we
are ascending the stairs I can’t help but notice the shitload of
multi-colored balloons floating on the ceiling.
What the hell?

“SURPRISE!” is
yelled out by a group of people as soon as we reach the top of the
landing. I’m so startled by it that I almost topple over, but a big
hand snakes out and grabs my arm to steady me. I can’t move because
I’m in complete and utter shock, as I wasn’t expecting anything
like this tonight. No one’s ever done something like this for me,
except my parents, and they’re nowhere to be seen.

“What the fuck?” I
yell back in a shaky voice.

“Happy Birthday,
beautiful. Did you really think I didn’t know?” Jack whispers in
my ear. I turn to look at him and realize that this man will always
be able to undo me. This beautiful, sexy, badass undercover cop did
all this for me.