Chapter 21

Van

I start to come awake, but I’m so groggy I give in to the urge to fall back asleep. I’m vaguely aware that Simone is lying partially on top of me, her cheek pressed to the lower part of my stomach. The rest of her body is curled up into a ball near my ribs and hip. It’s where she collapsed and fell dead asleep after she sucked my cock while I fucked her with my fingers.

Our day in bed to “watch movies” didn’t quite end up that way. We found pretty quickly that if we were in bed and we were touching, that we were going to pleasure each other. So we gave into it for a while, and well…we pleasured each other.

This was followed by going out to lunch, after which we stopped by the grocery store and picked up some steaks to grill for dinner later that evening. We attempted to watch movies in the afternoon on the couch, but that also led to touching, which led to more fucking.

We finally just gave up and sat out on the deck until dinnertime, thereafter drinking beers well into the late evening hours.

Not once did she ask me about Arco, nor did I offer anything else. The subject was closed for now, and I was grateful she was giving me a rest from it. She has my secret, and I know she’ll take it to her grave if I ask her to.

Now, what we are to each other still remains to be seen. There’s no doubt something’s changed. I’m just not sure what to do with it. I’d be a fool not to admit that I care for her. Clearly the feelings are deep, as is my apparent trust in her.

But can I trust it? Can I trust myself to push forward?

I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I do know Simone told me yesterday that we could just keep on as we were if that’s all I could do. So at the least, I can still have her. At a minimum, she’d still give herself to me and accept what I could give in return.

Fuck…just the thought of how that would hurt her causes my gut to churn with guilt. That also starts to bring me back out of my sleep again.

As does a noise.

I yawn and then slowly open my eyes. The ceiling stares back at me. Lifting my head, I look down my naked body and see Simone curled up there, her face turned away from me. Long, silky hair spilling over my ribs.

Movement near my door sends a jolt of shock throughout my body and my eyes clear immediately as they focus in on Lucas standing there.

Arms by his side, hands curled into fists, and the most pissed off look I’d ever seen on his face.

My eyes sweep the room as I take in what he sees. Clothes strewn all around, a few empty beer cans, condom wrappers from night before last and maybe the night before that. Let’s just say, a lot of condom wrappers and a fucking bottle of lube at the bottom of the mattress and a butt plug. Simone gave me her ass again last night.

“Just fucking great,” I mutter under my breath, and then Lucas is charging the bed like a bull.

I’m barely able to sit up and push Simone off me before Lucas’s fist is flying straight at my face. It connects solidly to the bridge of my nose and I’m seeing stars.

“What the hell?” Simone grumbles as she she’s very rudely awakened.

Lucas pulls his fist back and growls, “Going to fucking kill you.”

“Lucas,” Simone screams, but his arm is flying.

I’m able to deflect most of the punch, but his knuckles catch my temple. Because I can’t fight Simone’s brother—and well, my teammate—I do the next best thing and try to tie him up. I’m at a great disadvantage because I was only barely able to sit up in bed before Lucas was on me.

I grab both his wrists and we grapple. I’m vaguely aware of Simone on her knees in the middle of the mattress, fully naked and screaming at us to stop. I want to yell at her to get some fucking clothes on, but I’ve got to get her enraged brother under control.

Lucas is cursing—a stream of obscenities that would make your ears bleed—as he tries to wrestle free of my grip. This is where my brawn would normally give me a slight advantage, but given the fact I just came out of a deep sleep, slightly hungover from beer and wild sex, and a little emotionally depleted, I’m really struggling.

Unfortunately, Lucas manages to tear free the arm that’s closest to Simone and it flies wildly outward, catching her in the side of the neck. She gives a tiny cry of surprise, maybe pain, and rolls away from us.

All I think about is the potential pain Lucas just caused her through his dumbassery and that enrages me and fills me with strength. Possessed of a burning need now to make that fucker pay for hitting Simone, I come flying off the bed. My shoulder catches Lucas in the chest and my arms go around his waist. My momentum has me practically lifting him off the ground and pushing back until I slam him into my long dresser. The mirror attached to it hits the wall and spider-webs with dozens of running cracks, but luckily no shards fall out.

I pull Lucas away, spin him from the dresser, and shove him so hard he goes careening toward my bedroom door, arms windmilling to get some balance. He goes down to his knees but pops right back up, spinning on me with no less fury on his face.

Advancing toward me, he throws his head left and right, popping his neck. “I’m so going to enjoy kicking your ass.”

“For what, dude?” I say with my arms thrown wide. I shoot a glance to Simone and see her rounding the bed. I forget about her brother and bark at her, “Simone…for God’s sake, get some clothes on.”

She ignores me. Before Lucas can take another step, Simone is there slapping her hands into her brother’s chest. She looks up at him, but he’s staring daggers at me over her head. All I can think about is the fact she’s freaking naked in front of her brother, and that’s not cool. I turn to the bed and whip the sheet off. I wince, as that causes the lube and butt plug to fall to the floor at Lucas’s feet. As he looks down at the evidence of my kink with his sister, I throw the sheet around her shoulders.

“Lucas, what the fuck are you doing?” Simone asks as she grabs the sheet to her front so she’s covered.

His eyes come up to lock with mine and he doesn’t spare Simone a glance as he growls, “That fucker took advantage of you. He’s a fucking manwhore. Bangs anything that moves. And apparently that includes my little sister.”

Simone gives a frustrated grunt and gives him a hard push back. He doesn’t budge, but he does look down at her.

“Van did not take advantage of me,” she snarls at Lucas.

“What the fuck ever,” Lucas snarls back. “I know how he operates. He doesn’t do relationships. It’s just sex, Simone. Whatever he promised you, it was just to get in your pants.”

“He promised me nothing,” Simone yells at her brother, and he jerks backward. She advances on him, backing him right up to the door. “In fact, he was really damn clear to me that he had nothing to give other than sex. And I was fine with that. On top of that, I pursued him relentlessly, Lucas. He tried to push me away but I kept at him. So if anyone did the seducing, it was me.”

All of that was flat-out true, and yet I find myself not liking that Simone is doing the protecting of me. Totally dents my man card.

So I chime in, “I knew what I was doing. I gave in to her because I wanted to.”

“Shut up, Van.” Simone glares at me over her shoulder before turning back to her brother. My lips press tight together and I decide to let Simone have her glory.

Leaning over, I pick up my shorts and slip them on as Simone continues. “I’m an adult, Lucas. I make my own decisions. I’m also pretty damn smart, and I make pretty good decisions.”

Here she pauses, only to pull a hand free from under the sheet where she’s grasping it to her body, and jabs her index finger into his chest. He takes another step out through the doorway and into the hallway. “So whatever I decide to get myself into with Van, you need to trust I know what the fuck I’m doing.”

“Says the girl that dropped out of college,” Lucas mutters, and that was a low blow. Also completely irrelevant to this conversation.

“Asshole,” Simone says softly, and then shuts the bedroom door in his face, flipping the lock. I was just able to see the shock on Lucas’s face before the latch clicked.

Simone’s shoulders sag as she lets out a sigh. When she turns to me, sheet wrapped around her shoulders and clutched to her front like a safety cloak or something, she attempts a slightly sheepish, apologetic smile. “Sorry about that.”

“What the fuck do you have to be sorry for?” I ask her as I nab my T-shirt from the floor and pull it on. “Your brother’s being a dick.”

Simone walks to the edge of the bed and sits down. Her gaze goes to her lap, where she fiddles with the sheet pooled there. “I get where he’s coming from. Lucas, Max, and Malik grew up being older brothers to me. Protecting me. Once they all left home and I went to college…they sort of forgot that I grew up. That I’m an adult now.”

“Still doesn’t excuse him being a dick to you,” I mutter as I reach into my closet and pull out my tennis shoes. I sit down on the end of the bed to put them on.

“What about being a dick to you?” Simone asks incredulously. “Lucas just yelled at me, but he punched you.”

Her hand comes up to touch my cheekbone, which was totally unmolested in that fray. “Are you hurt?”

“Just my pride,” I tell her, but then my hand goes to her jaw and I twist her head gently so I can see her neck. “Figured he deserved to get a few licks in, but when he hit you, I wanted to kill that fucker.”

“I’m fine,” she says, but I’m not happy there’s a slight red mark on her neck. It was an accident, so I decide to let it go. Dropping my hand, I bend over to lace my tennis shoes.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Going to go talk to your brother,” I tell her. “He’s not left the house and I can hear him rooting around in his bedroom. Hope like fuck he doesn’t have a gun in there.”

Simone’s hand comes to my thigh. “You don’t have to. It’s not any of his business.”

I straighten up and place my hand over Simone’s, squeezing it quickly. “It’s not any of his business, but now that he knows, I’ve got to smooth things over with him. He’s my teammate; we start the first round of the finals in four days. We can’t have anything fucking our mojo up.”

Simone’s face blanches to a pasty white and her eyes widen in horror. “Oh God…please tell me that this isn’t going to fuck the team up?”

Giving her a tight smile, I tell her, “I’m sure it’s fine. I just need to reassure him.”

“Of what?” she asks. “You and I are just having sex. That’s all there is to it.”

My smile goes from tense to amused. Leaning in, I kiss her. When I pull back, I say, “You and I both know that after last night it’s not just about sex.”

Color blooms back over her face, and her eyes go so soft on me that my chest gets tight. Her voice a hesitant whisper, she says, “I didn’t want to assume anything.”

“That’s right. Don’t assume,” I tell her. “Ask if you’re confused. But Simone…you know the worst about me. You took my cock bare. I’m man enough to admit that I’ve got my feelings tied up now too. I sure as fuck don’t know what any of it means, and I’m totally out of my element here. I don’t know what we are, but you are anything but a lay to me.”

To my horror, Simone’s eyes get misty, and I immediately shoot off the bed. Pointing an accusing finger at her, I give her a mock glare. “Stop that shit right now. I can’t handle tears.”

She grins at me and blinks her eyes, clearing the moisture away. “Fine. No crying. Except if we watch Old Yeller together. There’s no stopping the tears.”

I chuckle as I walk to the door. I’m never watching Old Yeller with her because that fucking movie chokes me up big time. No way I’m letting her see that side of me just yet.

When I get to the door, I turn back to look at her. “Get dressed. Give me about fifteen minutes, though. If you don’t hear gunshots or one of us screaming in pain, it should be good.”

Simone nods at me with a grateful smile that I’m going to make it right with her brother.

“And Simone?” I say softly.

“Yes?”

“It’s still a secret.” I don’t need to spell it out to her. She understands what I’m asking.

“Always,” she says with conviction, and that’s all I need to know. I open the door and step out to go talk to Lucas.

This should be fun.

His bedroom door is open, and I find him pulling out the last of his clothes from his closet. This is not unexpected. He’s obviously been staying at Stephanie’s apartment each night, and I figured it was a matter of time before they moved in together officially.

“Need some help?” I ask him, and his head snaps to look at me.

His voice is curt and stiff when he says, “No, thanks.”

“We good?” I ask, cutting to the chase.

Lucas’s eyes shoot past my shoulder to the door, and then he steps closer to me. Lowering his voice, he says, “Fuck no, we’re not good. You’re doing kinky shit with my sister and I don’t like that one bit.”

“Saw the butt plug, huh?” I ask him, deciding to slap him in the face with this so we can get to the root of his concerns.

Lucas’s face flames red and a vein pops on his temple. “No brother wants to know that shit about their sister.”

“Then forget about it, dude,” I advise him. “Keep the fuck out of my bedroom when you come over and we should be good. But don’t think for one minute I’m backing away from your sister because it makes you uncomfortable.”

All of the fury drains from Lucas’s expression. He scrubs his hand over his face and sighs as he looks to me. “That’s not it. I know she’s independent and stubborn and strong, but she’s also sweet and caring. She’s got the biggest heart out of all us Fourniers. I just don’t want her to get hurt.”

“I don’t intend to hurt her,” I promise him.

“No, I don’t suppose you do,” he says glumly. “But while I can’t say I know you all that great, Van, I can say what I do know I don’t like. Not for my sister. You’re closed off and emotionally withdrawn. I want her to have love and marriage and babies.”

Christ, those words give me the willies, but I put that aside. “Simone told you I promised her nothing. You heard that, right?”

Lucas nods.

“That was how it started. But, man, I’m telling you straight up…that’s not how it is now. It’s changed for both of us. You can’t possibly know this, but your sister breached whatever fucking walls I had up, and she’s inside now. I don’t know what to do with it, but I promise you, I don’t want to hurt her and I have no intention of doing so. I think I could really have something with her.”

And just like that, Lucas’s entire body relaxes. He lets out a long gust of relief, and his eyes are filled with hope. “You swear it?”

“I swear it,” I tell him, but I feel the need to add a caveat. “I’m going to move slow, though, dude. I have my reasons, and Simone knows what they are. As long as she’s secure and not getting hurt, it’s just going to take time for me to figure some shit out. If she’s on board with that, you need to be too.”

“Yeah…okay,” Lucas says with a nod of his head. He stares at me a moment more, and adds, “I guess that means you’re coming to the cookout today?”

“Cookout?” I ask, not sure what he’s talking about.

“Yeah…it’s Memorial Day. Max and Jules are doing a family cookout. Didn’t Simone tell you?”

I shake my head and mutter. “We tend to make our plans day by day.”

“Well, I know she’s going, so I expect you are now, so—”

“I’m not going,” I say curtly, and then immediately regret it.

Lucas’s eyes narrow on me and I can tell I’ve lost all brownie points. “If you are going to have more with my sister, you’ve got to act like you want that. You can’t just keep her locked in your bedroom.”

I suck in a breath and let it out, forming my words a little more carefully. “All I meant was that Simone hasn’t mentioned it to me, and therefore I don’t want to presuppose that I’d be invited.”

“Simone,” Lucas yells, and it catches me so off guard I actually cringe.

She opens the door to my bedroom, still wrapped in a sheet, and steps across the hall. Coming to stand beside me, she asks, “What’s up?”

“You’re bringing Van to the cookout tonight, right?” Lucas asks.

Simone blushes, and I can tell that she hadn’t really intended to ask me. But I get it…things changed really fast in the last twenty-four hours. She’s got to be as unsure of my feelings as I am.

“Um…yeah, well…if he wants,” she stammers, looking up to me with uncertainty.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” I tell her gruffly, and then I just bask in the happiness that overtakes her expression. It feels fucking great.

So yeah…hanging out with Simone and her family tonight. Either I’ll be able to smooth things over completely with her brothers, or we’ll end up killing each other.

Good times.