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Leaning back in my chair, I watched her walk to her room and give me a flirty grin. I bit my bottom lip while my imagination ran wild. I wanted to do ungodly things to Josie, take off those clothes, and be the first man to touch her. Be the only man to touch her. But, after everything I knew she went through because of me, I wanted her trust more than I wanted her body. And boy did I want her body.
***
It’s hard to say if my counseling brought my nightmares to the surface, but the memories I tried so hard to subdue chased me in my sleep. Haunting me when my mind felt the weakest and unguarded.
He’d been different. Different from the others that came before him. Not the alcoholic, druggie that smoked crack all day and received benefits from the government with made-up disabilities.
He was intelligent. Cultured. My interest went up to ten when my mother introduced us to him. Frankie immediately ran toward him for a hug, while I sat back and watched. Why would someone like him want my mother? She passed out at three in the morning and slept all day. She drank and used drugs. She wasn’t in this person’s social circle, and it showed evidentially by her tattered jean shorts and worn Harley t-shirt.
Not to mention the remains of what we called a home.
“Maverick, aren’t you going to say hi?” Mother asked. This had been before I moved to Zachary, back when we slummed it in Slaughter. I was twelve or thirteen; it was hard to say because all those years blended.
I walked over and took his hand, looking up at his styled hair and perfect smile. “What are you doing here?” I asked boldly.
Mother kicked my foot, but he laughed. “I’m here to say hello. I met your mother last week and wanted to meet her sons.”
Why?
I swallowed the questions, knowing there was no use. This man was a liar. I could read it on his face like an opened book. Not a liar like my mother to CPS or the police, but a liar to everyone. A snake in the grass. Right then I knew we were in more trouble with this man than any of the other addicts she brought home.
Because this man was smart—witty and knew how to manipulate everyone around him, not just my naïve mother.
The people who could help Frankie and I. That scared me more than any of the fists and flying beer bottles in the past.
My alarm brought me from the depths of my nightmare and into the present. Frankie slept beside me, mouth wide, snoring as he’d done his entire life. It wasn’t that I’d forgotten about him, but I’d repressed so many memories that when I did relive them, they all seemed new.
I tried to shake the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach while I got ready for practice. Josie’s door stood cracked, I could hear the rain sound she played at night to sleep, and saw her small body sprawled out over the length of her bed.
After I got ready, Jordan and I rode together to practice. He complained about Waverly the entire ride, while I tried to shake the feeling of my nightmare. Even practice couldn’t shake the emotions rattling in my stomach. I didn’t know why but I felt something bad was going to happen.
Josie was up when I got back from practice, standing in the kitchen in a short dress and wedges. “Good morning,” I whispered.
She smiled, stirring sugar into her coffee and giving me a look over her shoulder. I brushed her long, dark locks from her neck and kissed her there. Goosebumps raised against her skin. “How was practice?” she asked.
I entrapped her against the counter and shrugged, dragging my mouth against her skin, and biting when she giggled. “Fine.”
“You’re playful lately,” she mumbled. “I like it.”
Turning her, I traced the soft lines of her face with my gaze. “Maybe we can have some alone time tonight?” I whispered. “And I can be as playful as you want.”
Josie smirked. “I don’t know. You know I’m getting really into this stripper book. It’s consuming my time. I spent most of the night reading and I don’t think you can live up to it.”
I chucked, running my palm down to cup her bottom in my hand. “Keep teasing me, and I’ll show you right now.”
Josie took a sip of coffee. “Don’t poke the bear, huh?” Slowly, she poked my chest, and I turned her to face the counter, sliding my palm around her waist while the other one traveled up her thigh.
Josie’s breath jolted and her free hand clasped the counter for support.
“I don’t think little Josie knows what she’s getting into,” I whispered.
“You’d be right there,” she chuckled.
I let my finger trail the bottom of her panties until I popped the elastic at the top, and bit her neck. “Now,” I said, pulling her dress back down. “I suggest you get your cute self to class before neither of us makes it.”
“You know,” Jordan said from the doorway.
Josie squeaked and dropped her head in embarrassment. Jordan dried his hair with a towel from his shower and grinned. “If I would have guessed this,” he gestured between the two of us, “would have happened a month ago, I would have lost that bet. Y’all have serious issues.”
