Mercedes
I WOKE SEVERAL HOURS later to the feel of being dragged out of my bed. Startled, I kicked and flailed my arms out in a desperate attempt to free myself from the clutches of pure evil.
“Omigod, Rourke! What are you gonna do?” a female voice squealed out.
“I’m gonna teach her a lesson,” he shot back as he carried me over his shoulder, “not to touch my shit.” So this was payback for messing with his room?
“If you don’t put me down, I’ll scream,” I warned him as I banged my fists against his lower back in my feeble attempt to free myself.
“Oh, you’re gonna scream, Six,” he promised darkly. “I can guarantee you that.”
“Jesus Christ, Rourke!” I had to close my eyes then; the sensation of being carried down the stairs upside down was too much to handle. “Let me down!”
“What is he doing?” yet another female voice called out. This bitch was laughing though.
“Dude!” a male voice hollered out when we reached the bottom of the stairs. “What the fu–”
“Stay out of it, D,” Rourke snarled, still moving through the house with me tossed over his shoulder.
I felt the cool sting of the night air moments before I was thrown from Rourke’s arms and engulfed in a huge swell of water. Panic stricken, I pushed towards the surface.
“You bastard!” I spluttered when I broke the surface. “You could have drowned me!”
He was standing at the edge of the swimming pool in the back yard with his hands on his hips, glaring down at me with a murderous expression. “You’re still breathing, aren’t you?” Rourke shot back. “Mores the fucking pity. You think that’s funny? Stealing my condoms? Fucking with my stuff?”
“Seeing as you’re all worked up, then I’d say yes!” I snarled as I swam over to where he was standing. From where I was standing, I could see no other way around this. If I didn’t push back, Rourke Owens would bury me, and I refused to go down like that. Springing up out of the water, I knotted my fist in his shirt and dragged him roughly into the water. “No sex for you tonight, Asshole.”
“Damn, Rourke!” the same guy as earlier laughed. He was huge, bigger than Rourke, and he was standing at the edge of the pool beside two stunningly beautiful blonde girls, and grinning like an idiot at the pair of us. “Sissy’s got spunk.”
“She’s not my sister,” Rourke snarled, treading the water, cold blue eyes locked on my eyes. “Ya hear that? You are not my fucking family.”
Here I was; being punished for my mother’s decisions again. Fuck this. “I don’t want to be your family,” I practically screamed, splashing him. “I can’t stand the sight of you!”
“Then leave!” he roared in my face. “Take your whore of a mom and get the fuck out of my town…”
Rourke didn’t finish his sentence; I don’t suppose he could when my fist was crunched into the side of his jaw. “Don’t,” I warned, breathing harshly as I lunged at the big bastard, “call my mom a whore again.”
He shook off my punch like I was a mildly annoying bumble bee buzzing around his face. “You’re a fucking lunatic,” he snarled, getting in my face.
“Yeah,” I shot back, pushing against his chest. “I’d have to be to move into a house with a deranged psychopath like you.”
“You think I’m a psychopath?”
“Oh, I know you’re a psychopath.”
My reaction to Rourke’s cruel words only caused the other guy to laugh harder. “This is priceless,” he chuckled, thoroughly enjoying himself at my expense. “Ash, Britt; you need to film this shit. The guys on the team are gonna piss themselves when they watch Rourke getting schooled by her.”
“Don’t fucking dare, Ashley,” Rourke spat. “Or you, Brittany.” He turned his attention to me once more and hissed, “Stay out of my room, Six. You don’t wanna make an enemy out of me.”
“Really?” Hauling myself out of the water, I glared down at him. “I thought we already were.”
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the other guy said with a chuckle as he sauntered towards me. “I’m Daryl King.” He held his hand out to me. “And I apologize for my friend’s manhandling.”
Good looking guy, I thought to myself seconds before I pushed his ass in the pool to join his friend. “The next time you see someone doing something you know is wrong, do something to stop it instead of apologizing after it’s done,” I hissed before stalking into the house.
Rourke
BLOOD WAS DRIPPING from my knuckles; the punching bag in my best friend’s garage the victim of my latest burst of aggression.
God fucking dammit.
He really did it.
Dad really brought another woman and her brat into our goddamn home.
“You got it out of your system yet?” Daryl asked, wiping the corner of his mouth, as he observed me from a safe distance. He was my best friend, had been since pre-k, and at 6’3” was as tall as me in height, but he knew better than anyone not to try and stop me when I was in this kind of mood. A homicidal mood.
“Not even close,” I growled, continuing to pound my bare fists into the bag.
With intelligent green eyes, Daryl studied me with a concerned frowned etched on his face. “Mind taking care of those hands, buddy?” he tossed out, folding his arms across his chest. “Kinda need you in one piece this season.”
He would say that. Daryl King – or King Daryl, as he was known by his teammates – was our team’s first string quarterback and Ocean Bay Academy’s answer to Tom Brady. We’d been playing together since Daryl was old enough to throw a football and I was fast enough to go long and catch it, and he needed me. I was the number one ranked high school wide receiver in the state and a fucking bullet on the field. But the mood I was in right now, I didn’t give two shits if I fucked my wrists or not. All I could think about was history repeating itself a-fucking-gain.
I guess you could say I’d been in denial since the wedding, hoping and praying this was some sick joke. But when my new Mommy and her spawn showed up on our doorstep yesterday, reality had hit me like a wrecking ball.
“Dude,” Daryl hissed. “I need a wide receiver out there with hands that can actually catch my damn passes.”
“Well, that’s too fucking bad,” I shot back, uncaring. You’d think all the damn double sessions we’d been doing in preparation for the new season would have helped me work my frustrations out, but nope. I was burning with furious energy.
“You’re just all riled up because you’ve got a hard on for those thick hips.” My frown deepened and Daryl’s smile widened. “I’m right, aint I?” He threw his head back and laughed loudly. “Step sissy’s got an ass you wanna tap.”
“Don’t,” I warned “go there.” I was having a hard-enough time trying to block the memory of Six’s body from my mind. She had a figure that was built for cruel intentions. She looked like the sort of girl a guy lost his mind over. A dangerous fucking female with a beautiful face and even more beautiful body. Bad fucking combination…
“Hey, man. I ain’t judging you.” Daryl held his hands up in retreat. “I saw her too; almost naked in the swimming pool, remember? Lord have mercy on that ass!”
He was right about that.
Six had one hell of an ass. Fuck me, the memory of her tits spilling out of her bra, that tiny waist and thick hips, not to mention the long, glossy black hair, still haunted me.
“I don’t need this shit, D!” I snarled, heart hammering against my ribcage. My rage was swallowing me up. “I’m so fucking done this time, man.”
So what if the girl was good looking and so fucking what if she was curved like a dream? I still hated her and all she represented to my family.
“Fuck!” I roared, throwing my head back in pure anger. “He’s no kind of father,” I snarled, biting out the words. “If he gave a shit, he wouldn’t go there again.”
“You don’t really believe that, man,” Daryl shot back calmly. “Hell, I know all about parents being assholes and hating their children, but Gabe not caring about you and Amelia?” Daryl shook his head. “Nah, dude. That’s bull crap and you know it.”
Breathless, I shook my wrists out before walking over to the worn leather couch shoved against the far wall of the garage and sank down. “I’m so fucking done.” With all of it. Every little fucking aspect of my life. “It’s the same bullshit repeating itself over and fucking over.”
“It’s not the same this time,” Daryl offered as he came and sat beside me. “What happened before?” He turned and stared into my eyes. “It’s nothing like that. She’s just a girl, dude.”
“I don’t care,” I replied angrily, accepting the bottle of Gatorade he was offering me. I didn’t care if Six was just a girl. She didn’t need to be in my house. Her mother didn’t need to be there either. “I want them gone.”
Daryl laughed. “That’s gonna be hard now that your step momma’s pregnant.”
“That house is mine, D, mine,” I hissed through clenched teeth before taking another slug from my bottle. “After all the shit last year, Dad thinks he’s gonna pull this crap on me and Millie again?” I shook my head in disgust. “Nah, man. I don’t fucking think so.”
“Focus on the game, Rourke,” Daryl ordered, tone suddenly serious. “Concentrate on getting to state and ignore the girl.”
“Easy for you to say,” I shot back angrily. “You’re not the one that has to sleep in the goddamn room next to hers.”
“What got into you last night anyway?” Daryl asked, curious. “I’ve known you my whole life, man, and I ain’t never seen you lose it with a female like you lost it with her.”
“You know what got into me.” I took another sip of my Gatorade and blocked out the petrified feeling that had consumed me when I realized that Six had been in my room. In my fucking drawer. “Crazy bitch stole my condoms.”
“You sure that’s all it was?”
“Tell me how you’d have reacted if you had Brittany Beckitt buck ass naked on your bed waiting for your dick and some stupid girl stole your stash of rubbers?” I asked, lying through my teeth. I didn’t care about Brittany’s pussy. Not anymore. I cared about my privacy. I cared about my fucking journal. Exhaling a deep breath, I twisted my neck from side to side.
“I would have thanked Jesus and kissed the girl’s feet,” Daryl shot back with a crooked grin. “Britt’s a nasty bitch, man. You know it. I know it. Hell, the whole damn town knows it.”
“You don’t know anything about it, D.” Britt and I weren’t a couple like we’d been in the past, but that didn’t mean I was going to sit around and listen to Daryl talk shit about her. Hell, I was still in her pants most weekends. Way I saw it, I’d be a poor fucking excuse if I sat around bitching about the girl I was sleeping with.
“Girl done you wrong,” Daryl argued. “More than once. You need to cut her loose. For once and for all.”
Yeah, Daryl was probably right about that, but it was easier said than done. Britt was familiar and safe and I’d loved her once. It was hard to walk away from your first everything. That’s what Brittany Beckitt represented to me; my first fucking everything. There’d been a time when I’d genuinely believed she would be my only everything. Of course, that was before she crushed my heart, but still.
“Maybe you should just go on and get it over with.”
“Get what over with?”
“Banging your stepsister,” Daryl shot back with a snicker. “All that pent up sexual frustration ain’t good for a guy’s game, you know.”
“Don’t,” I warned, blocking out the image of that fucking girl’s body. Goddamn Six. She messed with my head. One damn dinner, and I couldn’t get her feisty little attitude out of my head.
“Fine.” Daryl threw his hands up. “If you’re not interested in tapping that ass, then step aside and let the master get to work.” Grinning, he waggled his brows. “I’ve got something between my legs that will help that stepsister of yours work out her anger.”
“Touch her and I’ll fucking kill you.” I didn’t mean to yell. Hell, I didn’t mean to care. I shouldn’t… but I did. “I mean it, D,” I snarled, agitated at the thought of my best friend chasing after Six. “She’s off limits, man.”
“I knew it!” He threw his head back and laughed. “You like her.”
“No.” I shook my head, refutably denying the fucking notion. “I don’t.”
“Then what?” He looked at me in confusion. “You don’t want her, but you don’t want any of the rest of us having her either?”
“Exactly.”
“You’re an asshole, Rourke.”
I was. But no one was touching Six.
“Rourke.” Daryl’s tone was suddenly serious. “All jokes aside, man; I think you should give her a chance. Or at the very least, leave her alone.”
“You cannot be serious.” I gaped at the absolute bullshit that was coming from my best friend’s mouth. “You know what happened the last time I gave someone a chance.”
“History ain’t repeating itself here, Rourke,” he replied, voice pained, eyes full of sympathy. He could fuck his sympathy. I didn’t want it. “She’s just a girl, man, tryna make it in a new town. If you give Sissy a chance, I bet you’ll be surprised with what you find.”
“Quit calling her Sissy.”
“What, and call her Six?” Daryl cocked a brow. “No thanks. I’m not that cold.” Shaking his head, Daryl exhaled heavily. “Come on, man, she doesn’t need the wrath that comes with being on your bad side. You know how it works around here; if you hate her then the whole town’s gonna hate her.”
I knew what Daryl was trying to say. Fuck, I even wanted to listen, but every time I tried to comprehend the notion of accepting my new family, the image of my sister’s face penetrated my mind, shutting down any sort of welcoming thought. “I don’t care,” I hissed finally. “Let ‘em hate her.”