Unsocial (60 page)

She smiles, "That's all I ask. I do agree punishment is appropriate,
though, and you shouldn’t back down from that.”

She slips from the bed and starts looking for the clothes that we
were in such a hurry to shed. This is the part I hate the most, and it’s also
the reason I want all this guardianship crap over with, I hate having sex with
her just to watch her have to slide out of bed and immediately get dressed.  I
want to hold her all night, every night. I don’t want to fit in stolen moments
with the worry of getting caught or having to rush back to work. I can’t wait
for the nights that she can just come here and be in this space with my family
that she fits in so fucking well with.

She slips
her skirt and bra on and
begins looking for her blouse. I stand up and pull on my jeans before laying
back and wait for her to finish so I can walk her out.  What I want to do is
pull her back in my bed and handcuff her to it. I don’t want her to go, ever. I
reach for a pillow to fluff it behind my back, and my hand falls on something
silky, so I hold it up, “Looking for this?"

She grins and crawls across the bed to me. After a heated kiss she
grabs her top and starts pulling it on, putting on a reverse strip tease for me
if her sexy, languid movements and naughty grin are anything to go by. “You
like watching me dress, Dylan?” She asks seductively. She lowers the garment
just enough to play a little peek-a-boo with the white lace bra that does
nothing to hide her hard, rosy nipples.

“Baby, are you looking for me to get you naked again, because
you’re about three seconds from finding yourself under me again,” I warn her.

She giggles playfully and crooks her finger in an invitation to
come closer, which naturally I accept. I roll up quickly on my knees and start scooting
slowly across the bed toward her giving her time to escape. Neither of us breaks
eye contact, daring each other to be the first to make a move.

"What the hell?"

Brooke screams and jumps covering herself with her shirt. My head
jerks to the open bedroom door to find Luke staring angrily at us.

Our secret is officially out.

Brooke

Oh my, God, this is so bad.
I
clutch the slippery silk of my top to my chest so tightly my knuckles are white
from my grip and shaking with the shock, adrenaline, and fear that’s coursing
coldly through my veins.  I’m frozen to the spot knowing there is absolutely no
way to explain this away. Luke’s angry gaze shifts from Dylan to me and morphs
to disappointment and disgust.  He then looks at the disheveled bed where Dylan
and I had just spent that last couple of hours making love and relishing in our
stolen time with each other, but the beauty of those moments are not what this
pissed off 17-year-old sees.

Oh my God, what’s going to happen to Dylan and his family if Luke
tells? Would he tell?

Dylan finally snaps out of his shock and stands up, "Luke
what the hell are you doing here, why aren't you in you in school?"

"Really,” he sneers, “You're gonna bitch at me for cutting
class when you are screwing our social worker? Yeah, bro, you do that, and then
ask yourself who the fuck up is now."

I turn away from Luke and slip my blouse on, then turn back to
him, "Luke, this isn't what it looks like."

He looks at me like I'm a total idiot.

Okay, I shouldn’t have said that.

 
"No? You mean it
doesn’t look like you and my holier-than-thou brother have been fucking? So,
tell me, Brooke, is it actually part of the social worker’s service to fuck her
client? Do you just pick and choose who gets this special treatment? Because
damn.” He barks out a harsh laugh and watches us both carefully. “You two may
think I’ve been fucking up, but what you two are doing makes me look like a
goddamn angel.”

"Watch it, Luke," Dylan growls.

He turns to Dylan, "All that guilt you laid on me this week
about messing up your guardianship and the younger kids winding up in foster care
and you are sleeping with our case worker. You are the biggest fucking
hypocrite I've ever met."

Oh,
that had to have hurt
Dylan. He remains stone-faced beside me, and surprisingly his voice is calm and
even, "Go to your room. We will talk about this later."

"You're damn right we will. We’re going to have a long talk
about this." There’s no way to escape the ominous tone.

Dylan doesn't take the bait of that clear threat, "Go,” he
orders.

Luke walks away, and I sit on Dylan's bed running my fingers
through my hair with clenched fingers, "This is bad."

Dylan pulls me up into his arms to hold him and me together. I
don’t miss the slight shakiness in his arms and legs as he wraps me up tightly
to settle us both down. "It’s gonna be okay, baby.”

I fight back tears. I can’t believe this has happened. Maybe we
were too comfortable with our secret. Now so much could go so wrong because
we’ve been so relaxed with the sneaking around, not to mention just plain
irresponsible. Dylan could lose this custody battle. I could lose my job, no I
will lose my job. It doesn’t escape my notice that both times my worries begin
with Dylan and the kids. I can’t believe as a professional woman that I’ve
allowed this to happen. I’ve put not only this family in danger but my career
as well. "How? With everything else that has happened this week, the judge
is not going to let this slide. We both know how he is, and he’s going to throw
the book at both of us. I’ll be fired, and then what will happen to you and the
kids?”

He grips my cold fingers in his strong hands and tries to reassure
me, "Brooke, Luke is mad at me, not you."

"It doesn't matter. You saw his face, Dylan. He's angry with
you, and he may want to hurt you."

"Luke is pissed off, but I really don't think he will go to
your boss. He won’t be that stupid.”

"He's angry." Tears burn the backs of my eyes as I
remember the disgust on his face when he looked at me. “He hates me now, Dylan.
He was finally opening up, and now he’s not even going to be able to see me
without seeing the social worker who’s supposed to be helping his family and
ended up sleeping with his brother.”

"Brooke, stop it.  None of that’s true, and you know it. 
He’s been easy going and almost happy up until this last week.  He’s just angry
at me for punishing him. I’ll talk to him.  I’ll be honest with him. I swear,
I’ll make him understand how we feel about each other."

The doorbell rings, and we both look towards the living room,
Dylan releases my hands, "Who the hell could that be?"

I stand behind him while he looks through the window beside the
door. He looks back at me confused before opening it.  Jax and Alex stand
together on the porch looking nearly as pissed off as Luke.

Dylan asks, "What are you two doing here, and why are you
ringing the doorbell? Where’s your key?"

Jax answers, "Because I feel like I’m at a stranger’s house
right now. Just so that you know, Luke called. Now move the fuck out of the way
and let us in.”

An angry Jackson is a fucking scary Jackson.

Just looking at him and hearing his anger causes me to take a step
back and behind Dylan.

Dylan's tone is riddled with sarcasm when he says, "Well
hell, by all means let’s take this showdown inside.  I can’t wait for this.” I’m
equally terrified of the emotions radiating off Dylan right now. There’s no way
this is going to be pretty.

They walk in, and I pull Alex's arm, "What are you doing
here?"

She jerks her arm from my hand and uses her best snarky voice,
"I’d actually like to know the answer to that question myself, Brooke.
What the hell kind of emergency are you helping Dylan,
your client,
with
now? I sure as hell don’t see any of the kids here. But I do see an emergency.”

Before I can answer Jax speaks up, "Luke said he caught you
two fucking."

Dylan looks like he’s going to lose it, but I can also see that how
defeated he’s feeling. There is no reason to lie to these two anymore, and I
have to try to salvage something here, "Let's go in the living room and
talk."

They reluctantly follow me with Dylan and Jax shooting daggers at
each other and Alex doing the same to me, though, I also see hurt and worry in
her eyes.

Jax and Alex take one end of the sectional while I sit on the
other.  Dylan remains standing beside me, and I know he’s trying to display
what remains of his authority.

I look over at Alex and Jax, not sure where to start. Jax, however,
has it figured out, "How long has this shit been going on?"

I answer, "New Year’s Eve." Short, simple, and honest
answers.

Alex and Jax's heads snap in my direction. Her jaw nearly drops to
the floor in astonishment at this news. "Since New Year’s? You've been
lying to me since New Year's Fucking Eve?"

Jax looks squarely at Dylan, "You told me you got it out of
your system after that night?"

Now Alex turns to Jax, "You knew?"

He keeps his eyes on the two of us, but he answers her question,
“I knew it was supposed to be that one night?”

“What the hell?” She shoots her gaze to Dylan. “Obviously you
shared with your best friend, but mine couldn’t bother to tell me she had
already planned to fuck her client after she swore over and over she wasn’t.”

I heave a sigh, “This is why I didn’t tell you, Alex. You would
have talked me out of it. And yes, Jax knew because he kept you distracted so
Dylan and I could leave together.”

“Oh! My! Fucking! God!” she screams at, basically, all of us. But
then aims her anger, and hurt, at Jax, “You fucked me to distract me from our
friends making this colossal mistake.” She nods her head, “Great job, Jax. Look
where we are now.” She says snidely while sweeping her arms out toward Dylan
and me, clearly pointing out the real problem.

He doesn’t even bother to look guilty, “No, Alex. You’re hot. We
had a good time. My mistake that night is thinking that this was going to be a
one-time hit so he could get over this attraction he had has, for Brooke. We’ll
talk about us later.” He obviously doesn’t think now is the time to clear up
the other elephant in the room.

Dylan sits down next to me and puts his hand on my thigh, and I
know he’s pointing out our solidarity in this, and also probably to keep me
calm.

Jax notices Dylan’s move and scoffs, "You said it worked.
What about the chicks in the bars when we went out or the night you got drunk,
and Luke picked you up smelling like cheap perfume and the night you went home
with the girl a few months ago.” He looks over at me to see if I show surprise,
which I don’t, even though I am.  I do remember Dylan telling me he tried, and
now I wish we would have talked about that some more.

“I didn’t do anything either night. When I went back to get my
truck the night after Luke picked me up, I saw the bartender who told me I was
too drunk to do that bar’s easiest piece of ass. The night you and I went out,
I put her in her car and cabbed it home.”

“So you two have just been lying to everyone now, and for what
goddammit?”

Alex nods at Jax’s questioning like she would like to know the
answer to the questions as well, but I don’t miss the hurt on her face. Lying
to my best friend all this time, has been so difficult, and I hate how
devastated she looks now knowing I’ve been lying to her and probably thinking
that she was just a pawn for Jax to play with so Dylan and I could have what
was supposed to be our one night.
Guilt is a bitch.

 Finally, she speaks, and her broken voice nearly kills me, “I
can't believe you. I tell you everything, always have, and you've been lying to
me for almost five months. So, was it okay with you that I was getting fucked
so that you could sneak off and get fucked?”

"Alex, I'm sorry. But that’s not how it was.  Neither of us
had any idea that you and Jax would….."

Jax interrupts, “Alex, that’s not how that night happened. What
happened between us was entirely separate from these two.  I just took you to
the dance floor so they could sneak out. What happened afterwards was something
we
both
wanted that night.”

"Save it." She sneers at Jax. Then she stands quickly
heading for the front door, "I've gotta get out of here."

Jax turns to Dylan, "You two need to get your shit together.
When Luke called I talked him out of reporting this to anyone, but he's pissed,
and you need to deal with it quickly. I fucking told you to stay away from her,
or it would all blow up in your face, and it sure as shit looks like it
has."

With that caustic speech he leaves, and I feel like I'm going to
hyperventilate. I sink further into the couch next to Dylan at a total loss on
how to fix this. "This is so bad. They didn’t even give us a chance to
explain anything. Jax is pissed at you and Alex is pissed at us all.  I have to
do something. Maybe if I explain things to Janice, she can help us. Or I can
resign as your social worker, and she can assign someone else."

He shakes his head vigorously, "No, I'm not letting you do
that. Luke isn't going to tell your boss. There's no reason to tell her. Once
he’s cooled down enough to talk, I will fix this."

"How? What if he holds this over our heads to get out of
trouble? You can't just give in and UN-punish him because he found out or
secret."

"Brooke, that never crossed my mind, you don’t have to worry
about that. I'm just going to talk to him about us. I’ll make him understand
how important our relationship is and how important it is that he keep his
mouth shut. I just need you to please trust me."

"I do trust you, but you are asking me to trust Luke too, and
though I do for the most part, right now he’s really angry, even more than he
was before he found us.”

I look at the clock noticing the time and remember a client coming
in at 4:30. Actually, I’m thankful for the escape so that I can think. "I
have to get back to work."

Dylan and I stand together, and he cups my face gently in his
hands bending at the knees to bring us eye level. "Trust me, I'm not going
to let anything happen to you. Promise me you won't run and you won't talk to
your boss or do anything until you and I can figure out how to fix this
ourselves. We’re together in this, baby.”

I see the worry in his eyes that I’m going to run, and I can’t let
him think that.  He’s right, we are in this together, and we will have to work
this out together. “I promise. I shouldn't have to work too late tonight, so
I'll call you when I get home okay?"

He kisses me, and I leave to go back to my office. Inside I’m
shaking with worry and hurting with guilt. At six, my reprieve is over, and I
have to go home and face my emotionally devastated best friend.

Inside my apartment, Alex is waiting for me on the couch just
staring into space lost in thought. I don't want to get into a screaming match
with her, but I do owe her an explanation and an apology. I sit next to her on
the couch and wait.

She turns to me and speaks more calmly than expect, "Since
New Year’s?"

"Well officially a couple of weeks after that, but I did go
home with him New Year’s Eve. That night I honestly thought I could just be
with him one night. I thought, no, we
both
thought if we just got past
the attraction we could move on professionally."