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“Get on. Don’t touch that pipe,” he ordered.
I snickered as I shoved another punch straw into my mouth.
There was about two inches hanging out of my mouth, so when I got onto the bike, and he turned his head, it was touching his lips.
That’s when he shocked the holy hell out of me.
He leaned backwards, caught the straw in his mouth, and like Lady and the fucking Tramp, he ate it all until he was barely brushing my lips with his.
He bit it off, then licked his lips free of the sugar. Which in turn caused his tongue to touch my lips.
Then, like he wasn’t affected in the slightest, he turned around, started the bike, and started back toward his nephew again. All the while, I was sitting there in total shock, wondering what in the hell just happened.
• • •
We arrived at a mansion an hour later.
It reminded me of home.
It instantly made me sick, and I wanted to turn around and leave.
However, the large teen that all but ran out of the house had my instant regret upon saying yes retreating.
The look on his face as he stared at his uncle? That was worth whatever was about to happen.
My attention was split the moment that Etienne caught his nephew and slapped his back like he hadn’t seen him in forever. I also looked up to see a female version of Etienne—dressed perfectly and making me feel uncomfortable as well—standing at the doorway with whom I assumed was her husband.
The moment they saw me, though, their eyes narrowed and they started down toward the reunion going on in front of us.
“Jesus Christ, Conrad,” I heard the man say. “Act like we taught you manners. And stop touching!”
I looked over at Conrad to see him touching Etienne’s shirt the same way I’d done earlier, though he was rubbing it against his face and not chewing on it like I’d done.
“If you just let him do it,” I said, “he’ll be done, and then it’ll be easy peasy again.”
The boy finally pulled away from his uncle, and stared at me.
All that attention made me want to take a step back and disappear behind the massive oak tree I’d seen when we pulled in.
Instead, I stayed, and continued to quiver inside.
“Who are you?” Conrad asked bluntly.
I could see the intelligence in his hazel eyes.
I could also see that he must’ve taken after his mom much more than his dad, because he was practically the younger version of Etienne.
“Matilda, this is Conrad, my nephew, and my sister, Jenna. This is Jenna’s husband, Jeffery.”
“Conrad,” then Etienne reluctantly jerked his head at Jeffery and his sister. “I’d like you to meet Matilda.”
“And who is this Matilda that knows how to handle my son better than I do?” Jeffrey asked condescendingly. “Your girlfriend?”
“She understands Conrad because she has a lot in common with him,” Etienne said simply.
“You fuckin’ a re—” Jeffery was cut off sharply.
“If you finish that sentence, I think I just might go to jail again,” Etienne replied softly.
Conrad held his hand out to me, and I took it.
“It’s nice to meet you formally, Conrad,” I said softly. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“None of it good,” he guessed.
I shrugged. “None of it is ever good. But he definitely loves you a lot.”
Conrad smiled.
“She understands better than I think even I do,” Etienne said softly, talking to his sister now.
I looked up in time to catch the look on all of their faces.
Jeffery looked upon me in disgust. Then turned that look to his brother-in-law.
“If you have sex with her, you’ll be taking advantage.”
I blinked furiously at those words. “Um, what?”
The brother-in-law looked over at me. “You’re mentally handicapped if you’re anything like Conrad. That would be wrong to have sex with you. It’d be taking advantage of someone that can’t say no.”
I shook my head. “You think I can’t say no?”
“I don’t know what to think. That’s the problem. I don’t understand my son. Which is what we’re talking about, isn’t it?” he asked.
This fool.
“We’re not mentally handicapped,” I said. “We’re different. And, just sayin’, but I can say no just as easily as I can say ‘fuck you.’”
That had his mouth dropping open, while at the same time it had Etienne laughing his ass off.
“Come on,” he said as he urged me toward the door. “Let’s go hang out with Conrad.”
He caught Conrad’s arm as he turned us around and herded us away from their big house.
I only understood where we were going when he led us down to what looked like a river with a dock attached to it.
“Now, let’s fish.”
CHAPTER 9
Ladies, don’t be a replacement for his mother. Be a replacement for the thing under his bed he was afraid of as a child—mysterious, elusive, and probably from hell.
-Overheard conversations between women
