The Broken (11 page)

He grins back
at me and shakes his head. “You lucky fucker.”

I feel sick
talking about her like this. I love her. Fuck no, I don’t!

“What was with
the secretive shit downstairs about Mom?”

Jasper
grimaces. “That’s what I came up here for. She left, taking a
duffle bag, and saying she isn’t coming back.”

I’m stunned. I
never thought she would leave here, it’s free fucking living for
her. “Good riddance. Come on.”

I nod towards
the door.

Jase meets us
at the bottom of the stairs with a grin. “Can we have tacos?”

“Sure,
buddy.”

I grab my
wallet and phone, and notice I have missed texts. I scan through.
When River’s name comes up, I feel nervous, like a high school girl
with a crush. I click it open.

Sammy, I
didn’t like how we left things. I think you misunderstood me just
now. I just meant I don’t want you to think I need the cuddle
stuff. I like what we did. I understand that this sort of thing is
normal for you but it isn’t for me. You gave me something today, a
gift that was taken from me a long time ago, so… thank you.

What does that
even mean? I check the delivery time. Shit, she sent this last
night after I left. I hit reply:

Twink, I don’t
understand what you’re trying to say. Do you fancy tacos?

I hit send and
throw my keys towards Jasper. “You can drive.”

We load into
the car and my phone chirps. Jasper gives me a knowing smile

“She going to
let you heal before she tears you up again or what?”

I ignore him
and open her reply.

SAMMY! Is that
you asking me if I like women? Because I won’t be indulging in the
things you, Chelsea and Jasper got up to. No way!

I re-read the
message with confusion and type:

WTF? I was
asking if you want to have tacos for lunch with us?

A second later
I receive her reply:

Oh my God! I
thought you were being crude! Lunch sounds good.


I slip the
phone into my pocket “We need to swing by and pick River up.”

We pull up on
the forecourt and I’m surprised to see Blaydon working. He was so
wasted last night, how does he manage to go to work like
normal?

“Did I mention
you’re a lucky fucker?”

I follow
Jasper’s eyes to see River walking towards the car. She’s wearing
tight jeans and her work polo that stops above her belly button,
showing off her tight, flat, tanned stomach. My jeans get tight
around the groin area and I have to shift in my seat to hide the
obvious arousal. Her blonde hair blows across her face from the
slight breeze. She’s pure fantasy. Every eye that’s not Blaydon’s
watches her as she strides towards us. She grins and waves at
Jase.

“Hey, I was
wondering if I should take my car. I’m finished for today so it
saves you having to drop me back here.”

I shake my
head. “Get in, Twink. Dropping you off isn’t a problem.”

She shrugs and
slips in next to Jase.

“You must be
starving,” Jasper says, gaining him a death glare from me.

“Why?” she
asks, innocently curious.

“Well, you
never came back for your Chinese last night and I saw you dancing.
That shit must burn calories, huh?”

If my eyes
could set people on fire, Jasper would be charcoal right now. I
look around and notice a blush creeping over her skin. She offers
me a nervous smile.

“I definitely
worked up an appetite, Jasper. It wasn’t appeased with food,
though.” Her voice is small, but her words speak loud and clear.
She knows he knows and she’s letting him know she doesn’t care. A
shit eating grin spreads across my face and Jasper eyeballs her in
the rear view mirror.

“I love you,
woman. Marry me?” he tells her, making us all laugh except Jase
who’s looking at us like we’re crazy.

“So, what did
you think I meant when I said tacos?” I ask.

Jasper cocks an
eyebrow as River blushes again. “Erm, well I thought you were
asking if I like “taco” as in… a woman’s parts.”

My eyes almost
pop from my skull. I look at Jasper and we both crack up
laughing.

“I don’t get
it,” Jase says, making me cough and compose myself.

“So who fancies
going to the pier and riding the rides?” I ask.

“Cool!” Jase
cheers.

We go to the
pier and ride the rides. Jase insists River ride with him, so I get
lumbered with a queasy Jasper who, despite our warning, insisted on
eating chilli dogs for lunch instead of tacos with us. I’m fine
with this arrangement as I get to sit behind River and listen to
her laugh, and watch her face light up with amusement as the rides
twist and spin us on questionable tracks. We have an easy,
fun-filled day until Jasper starts retching and we’re left standing
outside a public bathroom while he empties his stomach inside the
germ-filled hole. River insists I buy him some water from a vending
machine outside, and let him lie in the back on the way home, his
head on her legs while she strokes his hair like a mother would a
child. He’s moaning like a dying man when we finally got him home.
River brings over some shit to settle his stomach and we put Jase
to bed. We leave a sleeping Jasper, and go out to sit on the
porch.

There’s no
breeze in the air, it’s stifling hot. River has changed into a knee
length summer dress; her bare, toned legs are driving me crazy.

“Remember when
we used to sneak into the pool of the big house out back?” she
asks.

I smile at her
excitement and nod my head. Of course I remember, it was one of the
best times in my life. River, Blaydon and I, sneaking in and
messing around for hours, not worrying about what awaited us when
we got home. She shuffles closer to me, her thigh brushing against
mine.

“Well, the old
man who owned the house died, and his nephew inherited the whole
lot.”

We never knew
who owned the house that’s just visible from our back windows. It’s
a huge mansion with a pool house. In the hot summer nights, it was
a Godsend to sneak into to cool off.

“So how’d you
find that out?” I ask. A little glint in her eye then a blush has
me curious of her answer.

“His car broke
down outside. I managed to use the car knowledge I’ve picked up
from you and Blay over the years to get his car going again.”

I’m impressed,
and I bet he was too.

“Anyway, we got
talking and I kind of mentioned that we used to use the pool.”

I raise an
eyebrow at her and she bites her lip, making my dick stir to
life.

“He said I can
use the pool anytime I want.” Her voice has dropped in tone, her
knees swaying, knocking against mine.

“He probably
meant just you, Twink, not you and a guy.”

I nudge her
shoulder, and she drops her eyes to her lap. I dip my head to look
up into her face. “But I’m all for sneaking in with you.”

Her head shoots
up, the carefree look on her face is so good to see. I jump to my
feet, holding my hands out to her and she gladly takes them. I pull
her up and drag her to my car.

“Will Jase be
okay with dying Jasper?” she asks, as I push her head down and
force her into the passenger seat. I fold myself into my seat and
offer her a grin. “He’s in bed anyway, he’ll be fine.”

I turn the
ignition and pull away. I follow the winding road up to the
mansion; it’s dark out and the trees surrounding the estate offer
enough cover to hide my car, so I park up and we continue on foot.
I feel like I’m a teenager again, sneaking through the trees. I
remember the last time we were here, River was fifteen, and Blaydon
had brought Danny along with us. I caught Danny staring at River
when she slipped out of her clothes. I couldn’t blame him, she was
wearing a red bikini, and even at fifteen, she filled the bikini
out in all the right places. Her blonde hair sat over one shoulder,
and I couldn’t help sneaking up behind her and whispering, “Forty
three days,” into her ear. I was counting down the days to her
birthday, and her little gasp had me leaping into the cool water to
stop myself from exposing the effect she had on me.

We breach the
clearing leading to the lawn. “Okay, so they have security lights
now, so we need to sprint across and hide behind that tree,” she
whispers, and I laugh.

“Okay, on
three. One, two, three!”

She breaks into
a run and I follow close behind her. Light floods the lawn, making
me pick up my pace. I reach out and pick River up with one hand
around her waist. She screeches, then holds her hand over her own
mouth to silence herself. I pin her to the tree, my breathing
ragged. Her eyes are wide as she silently giggles, her body shaking
against mine. Within a few seconds the lawn falls back into
darkness.

“Okay, there
are cameras up there,” she points to the house, “but if we stick
flat against the house they can’t see us.”

I raise an
eyebrow. “You seem pretty confident.”

She looks up at
me. “Well I’ve never been caught. Let’s go!”

I watch her
sneak against the house, flattening her body against the exterior
wall. She gestures for me to follow, which I do, amused at how
young and carefree she seems. When we reach the pool house, River
tries the door which opens easily and her face lights up. “Never
locked.”

I follow her
inside. The outlay is exactly how I remember it. The rectangle pool
dominates the centre of the room, and lounge chairs are positioned
to border the pool. There’s a shower room to the left. I watch
River as she slips off her clothes, her eyes never leaving
mine.

I
watch Sammy watching me as I slip out of my clothes.
His eyes devour me once I’m standing in front of him in just my
underwear.

“You’re
stunning,” he tells me, and I smile.

“Come get me,
Sammy,” I murmur, unhooking my bra and sliding it to the floor.

He steps
towards me so I turn and dive into the water. The liquid swallows
my body; the water is like ice and I immediately regret not
checking the temperature. I surface, my whole body shuddering from
the cold. My eyes find Sammy’s, but he’s not alone.

“Hello, River.
Nice to see you again. When I said you’re welcome to use the pool,
this,” he gestures around, “wasn’t what I had in mind.”

I swim to the
edge of the pool where they’re standing, both sets of eyes fixed on
me.

“Mr Jefferson,
I’m sorry,” I stutter, the cold taking over me. He rushes to a
shelf holding towels. He pulls one free opening it out, and handing
it over to me. I pull myself up, fully aware that I’m only wearing
black lace panties. Sammy grabs the towel and wraps it around
me.

“Please, call
me Derek. As I told you before, you’re welcome to use the pool, I
just assumed you would use the front door.”

I scoot my body
closer to Sammy, trying to use his body for heat. My eyes look at
Derek nervously; he has a very commanding presence, an air of
authority despite him only being in his late twenty’s.

“We didn’t want
to disturb you,” I say, lamely.

He smiles.
“This must be Danny?” he asks, offering his hand to Sammy. Sammy’s
eyes narrow before he reaches and shakes the offered hand.
“Actually, I’m Sam.”

Derek’s light
brown eyes flash to me.

“Danny’s out of
town, Sammy’s my neighbour,” I tell him. I feel Sammy stiffen at my
description of who he is to me. My face heats further at the
thought of Derek knowing I was swimming topless with someone who
isn’t my boyfriend.

Derek nods his
head. “Right, this must be a hard time of year for Danny,” He says,
thoughtfully.

My eyebrows
pinch together and Derek notices my confusion. “I’m sorry. I’m
inquisitive, it’s part of my job. I tend to look into my neighbours
and the people who sneak into my pool.” He winks.

I’m still
completely taken aback, and now nervous that he’s been looking into
us.

“I can see I’ve
totally lost you. Come on River, you look freezing. That’s why I
came out here, to let you know the pool heater is broken.”

I wrap the
towel tighter to my body as I bend to scoop my clothes from the
floor. “How did you know we were here?” I ask.

His eyes roam
the length of my body then look upwards towards the ceiling. I
follow his gaze. “There are cameras in here.”

I flick my eyes
to Sammy, who nods his head forward gesturing for me to follow
Derek. He leads us to the attached guesthouse and pulls out a set
of keys, unlocking the door and gesturing for me to enter. He flips
a light switch, bathing the room in light. The neutral colours give
the room an airy feel, and Derek immediately leads me over to a
fire place, turning it on. The plush carpet feels soft under my
feet.