CHAPTER FOUR
Better Brands and Advertising was my home away from home. I felt as comfortable in my office as I did in my kitchen. I smashed the charity meeting I had and presented them with several media blitz packages to choose from, all of which I designed personally.
I wanted to take myself out for a celebratory lunch. I waltzed out to Lauren’s desk and sat on the edge. “I’m a goddamn marketing genius, baby and to celebrate that genius, we’re going to go to lunch. You ready?” Lauren gave me a brilliant smile. It was that smile that pushed me to ask her out six months ago when she started working in my office.
“Yeah, let’s go.” She shut off her computer and grabbed my hand. Lauren always looked at me like I was the world. I wanted to be the world for her. I also wanted to help her unwind a little. She was so uptight sometimes. It made her an amazing secretary but an annoying girlfriend.
We had lunch and a few celebratory drinks at a nearby spot with amazing seafood. Lauren sat across from me, her sharp bob sweeping her shoulders and her cappuccino skin glowing from the sun filtering through the window. She was beautiful. Not in the same way as Lucy but that’s why I picked her.
Lauren was pulled together and on top of everything. She was as far away from Lucy as I could possibly get with a woman. Those two were day and night.
“I don’t know about this dinner tonight, Abel,” Lauren sighed as we left the restaurant. I held her hand while we walked back to work.
“What do you mean?” I knew exactly what she meant. She could sense the tornado in Lucy and she didn’t like it. Nobody did. That’s why I stuck in my sister’s corner so staunchly. I’d never seen someone so hated just for existing the way Lucy was.
“She’s…” Lauren searched her mind for the right words but there were none. How do you describe a tornado with gentle, pretty words? How do you compliment a hellraiser?
“She’s Lucy,” I said with more bite than I meant to have. Lauren forced a smile and rubbed the back of my hand.
“Right. She’s Lucy.”
“Listen, you’ve got to understand that you’re not the first or the only person Lucy has rubbed the wrong way. Be patient and let me deal with her.”
“Okay, I will. I don’t take disrespect from anyone though, Abel. Lucy included.”
“Like I said, let me handle my sister.” My eyes were stern and Lauren held her hands up in surrender right before we stepped back inside the office. Tonight would be interesting and I wondered if Lucy would behave or would she start to churn and spin and darken the sky?
**
Lucy was late as usual but this time it was only fifteen minutes. She breezed into the house wearing a shredded black shirt and ripped jeans with fishnets underneath. Lauren shot me a wide-eyed look and took a long sip from her glass of wine.
I smiled when I saw my sister though. She looked amazing. Before I could even open my arms for her she crashed into me. “You’d be so proud of me. I got like twenty boxes packed.” She spoke against my Adam’s apple like she always did and Lauren eyed the display.
“Not you. Not Lazy Lucy,” I chuckled.
“Fuck you. I did it. Now I need twenty more boxes and I’ll be done. I still don’t know where I’m staying though.” She released her grip on me but I still held her waist. We got so close to fucking last night and my dick remembered. I had to talk it down a few times before I let go of her.
The look in her brown eyes let me know she was well aware that I was using her to hide my erection. “Later?” She asked.
“Later,” I told her with a nod.
“Hi, Carmen,” Lucy sighed.
“Lauren,” I corrected her.
“Oh, I thought we decided Carmen was a better fit?”
“I thought you were supposed to behave,” I growled in her ear.
“I am. She knows I’m just fucking with her, right…Lauren?” She flashed a fake smile and Lauren rolled her eyes.
“Let’s cook dinner.” I clapped my hands together hoping that somehow the sound would erase the tension mounting in the kitchen. We were having meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and summer squash. Lucy was busy cutting the potatoes while Lauren seasoned the meat.
“This is more like it. My favorite girls hanging out in the kitchen, cooking.” After I finished peeling the squash, I tossed an arm around both of them.
“So, Lucy, what did you go to school for?” Lauren asked, trying her best to lighten the mood. Lucy had been pretty tight-lipped the entire time and she chopped through the potatoes like she was decapitating someone.
“Visual and performing arts.”
“Oh, that’s…nice. What is it that you do for a living?”
“I’m a bartender at On the Rocks.” Lucy stopped quartering the potatoes to look at Lauren. She was waiting for the judgment and I cringed, wondering if she’d find it.
“Oh…well, are you planning to go back to school for another degree since your art degree isn’t cutting it?” Bingo. There it was. I sighed heavily and interjected before Lucy could.
“Lucy is doing fine. She’s the most popular bartender there and I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing since it seems to draw all sorts of attention.” I glared at her playfully and she crinkled her nose up at me.
“All my attention is for you, Abel,” she gushed and made sure to pour extra sugar on her words.
“Better be.” The possessive grunt slipped out before I could snatch it back and I cleared my throat nervously. I sure as hell hoped Lauren didn’t pick up on anything between Lucy and me.
“So, how much older than you is Abel?” Lauren washed her hands in the sink and grabbed a pan for the meatloaf.
“Eight years,” Lucy’s tone was back to being icy.
“He seems very protective. You must have had a ball growing up.”
“Oh…we did.” She looked over her shoulder at me and I shot her a warning glance. Those fiery copper eyes held so many secrets. They were dark and deep and never needed to see the light of day.
“Why didn’t we order food, Abel? Look at all the dishes we made. Now, who do you think is going to have to put them in the dishwasher later tonight?” I looked around the messy kitchen and shrugged.
“Not you, lazy bones.” I shoved her and she laughed, hitting my chest.
“I’ll clean up,” Lauren offered. She was helpful. That’s what she did at work and at home. She was safe and comfortable like worn jeans.
“No, you won’t because you won’t be here tonight.” A bottle of whiskey materialized in Lucy’s hand as she trailed out of the kitchen.
“And why is that?” Lauren demanded, right in step with my sister.
“Because I’m staying the night again. We need some brother-sister time.” Lucy flopped on the couch and I sat beside her. Lauren sat beside me. Perfect. A sandwich.
“Yeah, it’s okay Lauren. I’m helping Luce through a situation right now. Just me and her tonight.” Lauren looked at me like she could throw daggers from her pupils.
“She really has you wrapped around her little finger, wow.”
“Always has, always will,” Lucy sang and took a long drink from the Jack Daniels bottle in her hand.
“Lucy, did you talk to Mom and Dad about your situation?” I asked; trying to use anything to get out of the uncomfortable moment I was stuck in.
“No. All they’re going to do is sigh and act like I’m a huge fucking disappointment. Then they’ll call you to round me up. Which is why you should let me stay here until I get things settled. We can just skip the middleman.” She smiled up at me and I shook my head.
“No. You know you can’t stay here. If I let you stay here every time you got evicted, we’d be roommates.” Lauren let out a short laugh at my statement and muttered something into her wine glass.
“Something funny, Carmen?” Lucy cocked an arched brow at my girlfriend and Lauren looked at me.
“I’m gonna go check the food,” she said, standing to her feet. Once she was out of earshot, Lucy leveled me with a glare.
“Your girlfriend is about to get her ass beat.”
“No, you’re about to get your ass beat if you don’t calm the fuck down, Lucy,” I grumbled.
“Beat my ass then, Abel. You’ll have to fight tooth and nail to bend me over though.” She was challenging me. I hated being challenged but I knew she was baiting me into a compromising position.
“I know what you’re doing,” I warned her. “It’s not going to work.”
“Whatever. I wonder what little Carmen would do if she came in here and saw me on my knees, blowing you.”
“Lucy…”
“I mean…spit running down my chin while the tip of your big dick knocks my tonsils out. That kind of blowjob.”
“Lucy,” I growled.
“The kind you used to love when we were younger.”
“Lucy!” I snapped and yanked her over to me, my fist in her hair. “Cut. It. Out.” I let her go with a shove and she giggled. She was such a little shit.
“Everything okay in here?” Lauren sat down beside me. Her spine was stiff as she stole a glance at Lucy.
“Fine now, Carmen.” Lucy winked and downed more whiskey. It would prove to be an interesting night.
“So, how is it being a bartender, Lucy? I imagine you meet some wild characters.” Lauren did her fake laugh. I hated it. She sounded like a talk show host. I liked it much better when she moaned.
“I do. The crazier the guy the better the dick. At least that’s what I’ve learned.” The muscles in my neck tightened. I hated when Lucy talked like that.
“Wow. You’re colorful, aren’t you?” Lauren must have noticed how tense I was because she started rubbing my neck to smooth me back out. “Abel, what are these scratches on your neck?” She rubbed her fingertips over them and I remembered Lucy scratching me last night. I didn’t care at the moment but while my neck was being studied and examined, I wish I hadn’t got caught up in that damn tornado.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged at Lauren.
“I did it,” Lucy spoke up with a crooked grin. Color inched up my neck but not from embarrassment, from anger. Lucy was getting shitfaced and letting things slip. Things she knew needed to stay private.
“What?” Lauren laughed.
“We play around and fight a lot. I scratched him.” She flashed her long nails and tipped the bottle of Jack up. I snatched it from her and marched into the kitchen. I knew she’d follow.
“Lucy, what the fuck is your problem? You’re drinking before you go to work, and you’re being a brat when you promised you’d behave.”
“I hate her, Abel. Tell her to go home. I want to have dinner with you, not you and your uptight bitch of a girlfriend. Plus she’s judging me. I hate when people judge me.”
“You’re giving her a hell of a lot to judge.” I seasoned the mashed potatoes and Lucy helped.
“Fuck her. Fuck everyone.” She grabbed for the whiskey again but I put it out of her reach and watched her pout.
“Come here, Luce,” I dropped my guard and hugged her tightly.
“What am I going to do, Abel? You won’t let me stay here and Mom and Dad won’t let me stay there. I don’t have any money in savings and I make decent money but I need time to save.” Her slender body shook with sobs and I felt my chest squeeze. I hated seeing her cry.
There was nothing I wanted more than to offer her my house but I couldn’t. “Look at me,” I said through gritted teeth. “We are Waters kids. We don’t let things like this get us down. You have to call Nora. You’re twins. You two love each other more than anyone else in the world.”
“Not more than I love you,” she pouted.
“Even more than you love me.” The way Lucy and Nora interacted was magical when they were on speaking terms.
“Nope,” she insisted but I knew the truth. Nothing was stronger than the bond twins shared. The bond Lucy had with me was different. It was beautiful but I didn’t want it to run as deep as it did. I wanted us to be brother and sister but God, she was tempting.
“Yeah, sure.” I gripped her jaw in my strong fingers and watched her full lips turn down. “Do me a favor? Drink some water. Eat some bread. Sober the fuck up, and be nice to Lauren. I know she’s uptight but I’m working on her.”
“Can you make me cum again tonight?” She whispered, her breath sweet with whiskey.
“Yes. I’ll make you cum so fucking hard, Luce. Just behave.” I bit her earlobe and a small squeal escaped her.
**
I sat at the head of the table to avoid being caught in the middle of the two women I liked fucking the most. Lucy had ice water, Lauren was on her fifth glass of white wine and I was praying to the Gods that a pitcher of beer would fall from the ceiling. It never happened.
“Honey, do you ever let Lucy have a boyfriend? You’re so…”
“Protective?” I filled in the blank for Lauren and raised an eyebrow in her direction.
“Yeah, let’s go with that.”
“I don’t do boyfriends. I like to fuck. I like to get fucked. I do not do relationships. Abel doesn’t let me do anything. Just like I don’t let him do anything and that’s clear since he decided to hook up with you and not tell me.” Lucy gave a curt smirk that made her look cuter than she sounded.
“You know, besides the fact that Lucy has the same face as Nora, I would have never guessed they were sisters. She’s so sweet and well-mannered and Lucy is just…” I cringed when the words left Lauren’s mouth. I braced myself for the tornado. It was coming.
Lucy stopped eating her food and let the fork fall to the plate with a clatter. Her eyes blazed to life and she ignored Lauren altogether to glare at me. “Nora met her? You let Nora meet your little fuck toy before me? Seriously, Abel!” She pushed to her feet and it was like wind began to circulate around her.
“Excuse me?” Lauren scoffed.
“Lucy,” I begged with my tone for her to calm down but it wasn’t working.
“Is that why you won’t let me move in with you? Is it because you want this uppity stick in the mud bougie bitch to move in? She probably isn’t even fucking you right.”
“Lucy!” I boomed, crashing my fist onto the table, making everything tremble.
“Fuck you, Abel! How could you let Nora meet her and not even tell me about her existence? Evidently, I can’t trust you or her because you’re both pieces of shit that don’t think I’m worth any consideration.”
“Abel, you need to control your sister,” Lauren frowned.
“I control my goddamn self.” I stood and moved closer to Lucy but I wasn’t moving fast enough. She picked up her glass of water and hurled it across the table at Lauren. It made a thunk when it hit her forehead. I grabbed Lucy’s wrist before she could launch her plate. It clattered to the table and broke in half.
“Stop it, Lucy!” I roared, slamming her against the wall.
“Get off of me, Abel. I hate you! I hate your ugly girlfriend and I hate Nora! All of you motherfuckers can choke on a dick and die.”
“Abel, I’m bleeding,” Lauren sobbed from the floor.
Fuck!
Everything was spinning out of control and I didn’t have enough arms to contain it all. “I swear to God, if you go to her I’m never speaking to you again, Abel.” It wasn’t the first time Lucy threatened to never speak to me. It was her go to punishment.
The moment I let my sister go, she flew around the table to Lauren. We raced to her but Lucy got there first and the outcome was not good. I managed to pry my scrappy hell raiser off Lauren but not after Lucy laid into her face like a goddamn punching bag.
“I’m leaving. Fuck you.” Lucy spat before kicking me as she stepped over both Lauren and me on the floor.
The living room was a mess of spilled food, broken glass, and China. The Lucy tornado had blown through and fucked shit up per usual. Now I had a bloody, scared girlfriend and a huge mess to clean up.
Lucy, Lucy, Lucy…
**