Trey
I blinked. Fuck! Every nerve and cell in me cried out for release. I hadn’t been this horny in months, and I couldn’t believe Angel was pulling away. She’d wanted it just as much as I had. A few seconds ago, she’d been on my lap, letting me play with her perfect, round tits. I shuddered as I imagined the taste of her stiff nipples in my mouth. Her skin would be sweet, like sugar, but musky. She was the hottest little animal I’d ever seen, and I knew I had to make her mine. Just thinking about the way she’d writhed and twisted in my arms made me so hot. My cock was chafing against my jeans and I shuddered. Angel’s liquid green eyes were begging me for more.
I exhaled deeply and finished the rest of my beer. “Okay,” I said. “Got it. Where do you live?” I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t believe she’d broken apart from me and mumbled something about having to get home to her son. Suddenly, her phone call from earlier made sense. She wasn’t calling another guy to cancel on them; she was calling her babysitter. I slapped my head to my forehead and groaned. Way to go, Trey. Hope you enjoyed your one-way ticket to the Land of Blue Balls.
“I can go get my car. It’s at the library,” Angel said softly. She peeked up at me through her long red bangs and blushed.
Instinctively, I knew she was remembering our steamy encounter and turning it over and over in her mind. I chuckled. She was hot, that was something all right. She was the hottest little minx I’d seen lately and, yet, there was something so familiar about her. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but her blend of demure and ferocious reminded me of someone I’d known a long, long time ago.
“I don’t think you can drive, princess,” I said wryly. Pink spots appeared on Angel’s cheeks and she stood up, drawing herself up to her full height. I was impressed; she was tall, but I was over six feet. Still, for a woman, she might have been the tallest I’d seen, especially lately. She looked adorable and ruffled, but also a little drunk.
“I can drive,” Angel said. Her head lolled back like a child’s and when she reached towards the bar to steady herself, she grabbed her glass. Instantly, it slipped off the counter and broke into a million tiny pieces on the floor. Angel barely caught her balance and I had to grab her arm to keep her from going down with the glass. From behind the bar, the bartender glared at us.
I held up my hands. “All right, all right, we’re going,” I said loudly, digging through my pockets and throwing a wad of cash on the bar. “I get it.”
As I supported Angel and helped her outside, I chuckled to myself. No wonder they wanted me gone — first I bring in a chick and get her sauced, then pull her on my lap and grope her tits in front of everyone. Then she breaks a glass. I shook my head and laughed under my breath. Just another fuckin’ average day for Trey Minter! “Where do you live, sweetheart?” I asked, holding Angel at arm’s length and staring into her beautiful, sleepy green eyes. “You feel like tellin’ me?”
“I can drive,” Angel insisted. She tried to put one foot in front of the other and almost fell over. I laughed, but reached out and grabbed her so she wouldn’t actually hit the ground. “I swear,” she added, her face pink with the effort. “I’m fine.”
I chuckled. “I don’t think you are, honey,” I said, supporting her over to my bike. “How about tellin’ me where you live?”
Angel looked up at me with such clarity that it was hard to believe she’d been falling over just a few seconds ago. She bit her lower lip, managing to look both sexy and innocent. “I live on West Street,” she said softly.
I frowned. “That ain’t such a good area,” I said, whistling under my breath. “You sure about that, honey?”
Angel gave me a withering look and I burst out laughing. Even drunk, she had her wits about her. I couldn’t help but find her even sexier for that.
“I know where I live,” she said softly, but I could tell there was a backbone of steel under her demure sweetness. “You taking me home or not?”
“Of course,” I said sarcastically, grinning at Angel. I handed her my extra helmet and helped her climb on my bike. “Hold on tightly,” I warned. “I don’t want you falling off.”
Angel nodded. Suddenly, she looked almost like a little girl. I knew she’d had a hard day, but damn if I couldn’t get her sweet body out of my mind. She was one of the sexiest women I’d ever seen. Maybe I could get her to agree to go out with me again.
As I drove towards the bad part of town, Angel snuggled against me. She wrapped her arms tightly around my waist and clung on for dear life. I whistled when I crossed the train tracks and looked around. We were at one end of West Street, and I couldn’t imagine the other end was any nicer. I couldn’t believe a dame like this was living here. She should have been put up with a husband and a couple of kids, living in a nice place, closer to the river.
We pulled up in front of Angel’s little house. I could tell it had been painted recently. Someone had planted flowers in the yard and trimmed the hedges, but it was still pretty ramshackle. One of the shutters was hanging off the side of the house and it was small, probably two tiny bedrooms and one bathroom. It didn’t even look like there was enough space for an attic.
“You sure this is you?”
Angel gave me a rueful smile. She seemed to have sobered up over the course of the ride. As she pulled my helmet off and handed it back to me, she tossed her red hair and I caught a glimpse of something shiny and golden at her throat.
My mouth went dry. Suddenly, my head was filled with another girl. A girl who looked very much like Angel. I shook my head. No, there was no way it could be her. Even though Angel bore a strong resemblance to this girl, she’d disappeared years ago. They couldn’t possibly be the same person!
Before I knew what I was doing, I reached into her sweater and pulled out the necklace. It was a gold chain with a tiny pendant in the shape of a four-leaf clover. My stomach did flip-flops and I stared into Angel’s green eyes. The pendant she was wearing around her neck was tarnished with age. I remembered buying it years ago, saving up for weeks and then sneaking into the jewelry store during a trip to town.
“You sure about this?” The old guy behind the counter was holding up a shiny, new necklace: a four-leaf clover on a delicate chain. He gave me a look like he wasn’t sure that I was holding legitimate money. “This is a lot of money, boy.”
“It ain’t that much,” I snarled back. I dropped thirty dollars on the counter. “And that money is good. I didn’t steal it.”
The old man shook his head, then wrapped up the pendant in a cotton pad and a white box. “She’s a lucky girl,” he said softly under his breath as he handed me the little package. “I hope she knows how lucky she is.”
I blinked, feeling dazed. The pendant around Angel’s neck was the same one I’d bought for Angel Carringer all those years ago.
Angel’s soft voice brought me back to reality. “Are you okay?” I realized she was looking at me strangely. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I stared at her. “Where did you get that necklace, Angel?”
Her face changed. Angel’s high blush disappeared and she swallowed a lump in her throat. Tears filled her eyes and she sniffed, looking down at the ground.
“A boy gave it to me,” she said softly. “A boy I knew a long time ago.”
My jaw clenched and I set my lips in a thin line. “That’s what I thought,” I muttered. “Come on. Let’s get you inside.”
Angel didn’t resist as I took her elbow and escorted her up the front walkway. It had been made from tiles of concrete but most of them were broken and shattered by now. A rage was filling me, my whole body. Angel. Angel Carringer. They were the same girl.
I closed my eyes and remembered the last time I’d seen Angel. It was the night I’d taken her home on her eighteenth birthday. We’d fought — she wanted to stay out, but I was worried about facing the wrath of her parents. They’d always hated me, but now that she was an adult, I wanted to make a good impression. After all, I loved their daughter more than anything. I loved Angel Carringer more than life itself. But I never got the chance to make amends.
“Angel! Angel!” Angel’s mother ran down the driveway and wrapped her in a bony hug, holding her at arm’s length and looking over her thin, lithe frame.
Her father followed close behind. “Just where the hell do you think you’ve been?”
“Daddy, I’m fine!” Angel protested. She twisted out of her mother’s arms and looked at me. “Trey’s been taking care of me.”
“I bet he has,” Angel’s mother simpered in a nasal tone. “Trey, thank you. Kindly leave my family alone now.”
“No!” Angel cried. “I’m an adult! Mom, Daddy, Trey is my boyfriend! We love each other!”
“Angel, stop,” Angel’s father said. He pressed a hand against his forehead and I guessed he was struggling with a hangover. “Enough of this nonsense,” he said. “Young man, thank you for bringing my daughter home. I assume we won’t be seeing you again.”
“No!” Angel cried again. She twisted away from her parents’ grip and ran over to me. “Trey is my love!” she cried loudly. “Why don’t you see that?”
I blinked, coming back to reality. The memories were too painful. Angel was silent as I guided her inside. There was a pretty young woman, who I assumed was the babysitter, and a young boy with brown hair and blue eyes. I blinked.
It was just like seeing a ghost.