Hard Rules

My nature is to press for answers, and I want to know Emily inside and out, but I read people well, and if I push her too hard, she will run again. I settle for holding her, listening to her breathing slow, reveling in the feel of holding her close, this woman who has taken me by storm and managed to be the cool breeze in the midst of my personal hell. Only when I am certain she’s asleep do I shut my eyes and let my mind go to the place it resists. I can only assume that Derek is watching me as I am him, and he’ll know Emily was here. The question is, how will he handle that information? My mind starts chasing the possibilities, and I lose myself in my thoughts. They fade into the sound of her breathing and the darkness that transforms into the past.

It’s only one week before college entrance exams and I get the flipping flu and then manage to lose my house key. Feeling like absolute hell is not the time to do this shit. I walk around the back of the house where I hope the door is unlocked. It might not be, considering my brother is off at college, my mother is off on some girls’ weekend trip, and my father is never home. I reach for the knob, and hell yes! It’s open. I enter the house, and head straight to the kitchen for something to drink, stopping dead in my tracks. I blink, not sure I’m seeing what is in front of me. But I am. Our neighbor, and my friend’s mother, is naked on our counter while my father’s pants are around his ankles while he bangs her.

“You sorry son of a bitch,” I growl, turning away before I beat the shit out of him, and leave the house. Fighting the urge to turn back around and pound him, I take off running, and I don’t stop until the nausea hits me a good few blocks away. I turn the corner and enter a park. I find a tree to collapse underneath before dialing Derek and hoping like hell he’s not in class.

“What’s up, brother?” he answers.

“I just walked in on Dad fucking our neighbor.”

“Oh shit man. Congrats.”

“Congrats? What the fuck is that, Derek?”

“You just scored hush money, or that Mustang Cobra you wanted.”

“Hush money?”

“How do you think I got my Porsche? I know something he doesn’t want me to tell.”

“You think this is okay?”

“It is what it is, Shane. You’ll figure that out in time. When something goes wrong, find a way to get something out of it. Take the Mustang and keep your mouth shut.”

I come back to the present in a rush of sunlight and the sound of my cell phone ringing. I inhale Emily’s sweet scent, and feel the knot of guilt lodged in my chest for never telling my mother about that day. I wonder if she’d have really cared any more than she does today. The ringing stops and I glance at my watch. Seven A.M. That, and Emily’s naked body pressed to mine, inspire me to close my eyes and attempt to go back to sleep. The ringing starts again, the persistence upping the chances it’s Seth and thus important. Reluctantly, I ease Emily off me, her naked breasts brushing my hand. Her soft moan is pure sex that has my body thickening in uncomfortable demand.

“It’s daylight,” Emily murmurs groggily, rolling into my spot as I stand. “How did it get to be daylight?”

“Good question,” I say, grabbing my phone off the end table, checking my screen to find my caller is indeed Seth, and I’ve missed him again.

“Waking up to your naked ass is quite possibly the best thing ever,” Emily declares, sounding much more awake now.

Smiling, I step into my pants, turning to face her. “You can prove it in a few minutes. I need to make a call.” I don’t wait for a reply, hitting the redial button and heading for the stairs, only to have the line go direct to voice mail. “Call me back,” I say at the beep, stuffing my cell back into my pocket and walking into the bathroom.

Once I’m there, I shut the door, take care of the necessities, including brushing my teeth, and then dial Seth again, and just like before, his voice mail picks up. Intending to return to Emily, I turn and open the door to find her standing just outside in my T-shirt.

“You have to leave, because I have to pee like a Russian racehorse and I already committed to this bathroom.”

Laughing, I step past her to enter the bedroom. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a woman say anything remotely close to that.”

“My father used to say it,” she calls over her shoulder, before turning to face me. “I forgot it’s not really ladylike, but…” Shadows cloud her blue eyes. “It was my father’s thing.” She shuts the door.

Unmoving, I stare at the place she was moments before, remembering her nightmare. With her father on her mind, it seems a good guess that he might have been at its core. And while that might or might not be true, I do believe her claim that she understands what I feel with my father more than anyone, besides perhaps Derek. She gets me in a way I’ve never allowed anyone to get me, and I don’t remember when I ever decided to let her. Holy hell, what am I doing with this woman, and why can’t I stop? My cell phone starts ringing and I shake off the thought, digging it from my pocket and heading back down the stairs.

“Talk to me,” I order.

“The equipment’s installed and I’ve targeted several employees I think can be bought. I should have answers later today.”

I enter the kitchen and make a beeline to the coffeepot and flip the switch I had set to go off in an hour. “I need answers today.”

“I know it’s urgent.”