“You ready, darlin’?” Dylan asked, lying on my bed with his arm behind his head. He was watching some fishing show that bored the absolute hell out of me.
A few months had passed since the incident from the beach. The one that I cared to forget about, and to my surprise, Dylan never brought it up again.
All our birthdays had come and gone. The boys were seventeen, Austin and I sixteen, and Half-Pint fifteen. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I was part of a family again, and I loved that more than anything. Summer was in full swing and the boys surfed now more than ever, but I didn’t mind because I got to spend time with Half-Pint. She began working at her parents’ restaurant a few weeks ago. She said she wanted something to do, and that it looked good on college applications. She was starting high school with us and was already thinking about college.
It was a lie.
I knew why she really wanted to work.
“Almost,” I replied, trying to figure out what I was going to wear.
“Jesus Christ, suga’, fucking put anything on, you’ll look gorgeous regardless.”
I smiled, placing my hands on my hips. “Say that again, except this time add a please.”
“Kiss my ass.” He grinned. “Please.”
I laughed, rolling my eyes. I looked back in my closet, sliding hangers back and forth, with nothing special catching my eye.
“Is Alex working today?” I turned my head to ask him.
“Yeah.”
“Remind me to ask her if she wants to go shopping with me. I could use some new clothes.”
Dylan rolled his eyes and shook his head at my overflowing closet. “I’m not going to say one fucking word to that. The boys are meeting us there in a bit. If you would hurry your pretty little ass up, we may get there today.”
“I’m sure Lucas is already there,” I commented, ignoring his impatience.
That was just Dylan. Patience was not his middle name. I ignored most of the stuff that left his mouth. He was still an asshole. Except now, he was my asshole.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he snapped in a tone I didn’t appreciate, which made me turn to look at him.
I cocked my head to the side and arched an eyebrow in a questioning gesture.
“I believe I asked you a question, darlin’.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it, McGraw.” I hesitated a few seconds, debating if I really wanted to go there. I did. “But what if I do?” I challenged.
“Don’t talk about things you don’t know, baby.”
“I’m not the one that doesn’t know,” I muttered under my breath, turning back to look in my closet.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“Yeah… that’s what I thought.”
I took a deep breath, annoyed. “You know, sometimes things happen in life that you can’t control, Dylan. All that’s left is to accept them, whether you like them or not.”
I heard the bed dip, and I knew he was sitting up.
“Well, sweetheart, you best be puttin’ on your big girl panties if you’re going to be throwin’ out vague theories like that.”
“It’s not vague.” I shrugged. “You just want to assume it is, and you know what they say about people who assume shit, Dylan McGraw.”
“Well, fuck me runnin’. That went over about as smooth as sandpaper.”
“Now, that’s a vague assumption,” I mocked in the same condescending tone.
“Hot damn, darlin’.”
He stood, walking over to me all confident, a predatory look in his eyes like he was going in for the kill. I didn’t cower when his large, muscular frame overshadowed mine as he pressed me up against the wall, closing me in with his arms on the sides of my face. A bit of my resolve shattered when he leaned forward, kissing my cheek, slowly moving over to my ear, which sent tingles down my spine. His hot breath radiated off my skin, causing all sorts of other sensations. He had me right where he wanted me.
Vulnerable.
My heart fluttered, my stomach dropped, and my mouth parted. I hated this.
No, I didn’t.
He knew exactly what he was doing when he rasped, “If you’re looking for a fight, little girl, then I’m your man.”
He cocked his head to the side and stepped in toward me, it didn’t take much for his mouth to be close to mine. Although, he pulled me closer to him by the nook of my neck and I didn’t flinch, if anything I stood taller.
I cleared my throat, trying to steady my voice. “All I was trying to say was for someone who’s so observant, you’re ignoring what’s blatantly in front of your face.”
He looked me up and down. “You’re the only one that’s in my face,” he groaned, inches away from my lips. “What do you want to do about that, huh?” he added for good measure.
I shoved his chest as hard as I could, but he didn't move an inch. It didn't faze him one bit.
Asshole.
He suddenly grabbed my wrists and brought them above my head. Holding them in his tight grasp. I had nowhere to go now. I could barely move. I was at his mercy and as much as it pissed me off, it also turned me on in ways that I never experienced before.
What the hell?
“Because I could think of plenty of things to do with that sweet little mouth of yours that knows how to push every single one of my goddamn buttons.”
“I—”
“Did I say you could talk?”
My eyes widened and mouth dropped. “Who the hell do you think you are? This is not how it’s going to go, McGraw.”
His eyes dilated, dark and daunting. “Or what? What are you going to do, suga’? Because I’m not the one that’s backed up into a wall, am I?”
I jerked my body around, trying to break out of his hold, but the second I felt his fingers tug on the ends of my hair I froze.
“Sweetheart, you’re not going anywhere unless I want you to.”
He softly gripped the front of my neck, his thumb and index finger clutching my pulse that only heightened with his touch. He cockily smiled when he realized how much he was affecting me. He moved his hand from my neck down to my inner thigh and slowly caressed the soft skin of my bare thighs.
Dylan had never touched me like this before. We barely made out. I didn’t recognize the guy before me, and that thrilled me more than it should. I swallowed the saliva that had pooled in my mouth. My breathing elevated, showing him just how much he was getting to me.
“Does it excite you to be at my mercy, darlin’?”
I clenched my thighs. Even the way he was talking to me was new and unfamiliar. This wasn’t my Dylan, this was the Dylan that all the girls were talking about, lusting after. He moved closer to my core, and I resisted the urge to moan.
“What’s wrong, baby girl? No witty comeback? No sexy banter? No smartass mouth? Where’s my tough girl? Huh? Not so tough when I have my hands near her pussy, is she?”
I sucked in air, startled by what he just said.
He continued his gentle torture for a few seconds, enjoying the feel of my skin against his calloused fingers. Moving closer to where I wanted him to touch me the most. The exact same place his filthy mouth just called it. I hated that word, but you wouldn’t think that by the way I desperately wanted him to say it to me again.
As if reading my mind, he tilted his head to the side, tempting me with whatever he wanted to do. I could see, feel his internal struggle. He was fighting something deeper than I could ever truly understand.
“I know where you want me to touch you, baby,” he paused to let his words sink in. “But what I’m fixin’ to do and what I want to do are two very different fucking things.”
He backed away and took his warmth with him. It was like a bucket of freezing cold water washed over me. He turned around to leave but stopped at the last second to look over his shoulder.
“But just so we’re clear… I’m not ignoring shit. Alex is too good for Lucas, she deserves better.”
I opened my mouth to say something.
“Yes, darlin’, I’m fully fucking aware that you’re too good for me and deserve better, too.”
You couldn’t fault me for who I was.
For who I am.
I wanted to touch her so fucking bad. It physically pained me to restrain myself. My cock throbbed and my balls ached to sink into her sweet pussy. I wasn’t trying to play mind games or go from hot to cold, but damn I couldn’t help myself. Her sassy mouth had been my initial draw to her in the first place. That didn’t change just because she was mine now. I hadn’t so much as touched more than a hair on her pretty blonde head.
It had been nine months since we met.
Six months since I last fucked someone.
Five months since we started dating.
Trust me… I wanted her. I wanted her so damn bad I couldn’t see straight. It took everything inside me to not claim every inch of her creamy white skin right then and there. To get lost in her body for hours at a time, until I couldn’t tell where I ended and she began.
Except, I never tempted myself.
I never gave myself the chance to get inside her panties. We barely made out. Even then, I never allowed it to get too out of hand either. I endured the worst case of blue balls every time I was with her.
That’s dedication.
And trust me, I knew about Lucas and Alex’s feelings for each other since we could all walk. Just like I knew that Aubrey was very much a virgin. She was also inexperienced with everything that happened in between, but that wasn’t the reason that I held back. If anything her inexperience was what drove me fucking mad. The mere thought of making her mine, being the first man to claim her, drove me insane to the point of no return.
Alex was right.
I respected her.
That shocked me to the core.
It wasn’t as hard as I imagined it would be to keep my dick in my pants, but when she talked back to me… fuck it did things to my cock that I couldn’t control.
I am only human.
A man used to getting what he wants and never holding back.
I had to walk out of her room and into the bathroom before I did something I knew I would regret. She wasn’t ready. That much I knew. Splashing cold water on my face, I gazed into the mirror.
“Jesus Christ, McGraw, get your shit together.”
The whole ride to the restaurant Aubrey didn’t say one word to me. When I reached for her hand, she immediately tore it away from my grasp. I swore to everything that was holy I almost pulled the goddamn Jeep over on the side of the road and had it out with her right then and there. But, I continued driving. She was out of my Jeep before I even had it in park, slamming the door behind her, and rushing into Alex’s parents’ restaurant. Not bothering to wait one damn second for me.
Half-Pint peered from Aubrey then back to me as soon as I walked in, a knowing expression written clear across her face. She stepped toward me, and I instantly shook my head no. I was going to let my anger go on the wrong fucking girl if she came near me, and Alex didn’t deserve that.
I’m not quite sure Aubrey did either.
I did the only thing I could before I flipped my shit. I grabbed my board and took out my frustration on the water.