Rourke
THE MIDMORNING SUN POURED through my bedroom window, casting Six in a halo of light. Fuck me, she was beautiful, laying naked on my bed, all tangled up in my sheets.
Her dark hair fanned over my pillow as she snuggled her body against mine and my chest tightened at the sight of her sleeping frame. She looked so small, so unbelievably fragile, all five feet nothing of her, as she clung to my side.
Last night blew my mind. This girl was making me question everything. My past, my present, and scary as hell to admit, my future, too.
The handle of my door jangled and my eyes flew open just as Amelia peeked her blonde head around the door. Her gaze landed on me before moving to Six, her expression disgusted. The scowl on Amelia’s face was quickly replaced with recognition when she realized it wasn’t Britt in my bed. Her mouth formed a silent O before transforming into a huge smile. Her eyes landed on mine again, this time excited and inquisitive. I shook my head slightly, warning her off. I loved my baby sister, but if she woke Six up now and broke my perfect fucking moment, I was going to be pissed.
Amelia’s gaze landed on me once more and she gave me a huge smile and an emphatic thumbs up before retreating from my room and closing the door quietly.
I tightened the arm I had wrapped around Six’s back and exhaled a contented sigh. That move earned me a small protest.
“Stay, Rourke,” she mumbled in her sleep, tossing her thigh over mine, pressing herself closer to me. “Stay with me.”
Fuck me.
I was ruined.
This girl was destroying me.
“I am,” I whispered, holding her so tightly I was surprised she could still breathe, because I sure as hell couldn’t. “I will.”
MY PHONE RANG loudly several hours later, waking us both. Six was still wrapped around me, but quickly sprang up to a sitting position; the intrusive fucking ringtone startling her. I wanted to squash the motherfucking piece of plastic she was reaching for.
I watched through hooded eyes as Six leaned over me and grabbed my cell from the nightstand before swiping her finger across the screen and pressing it to her ear.
“Um, hello?” she asked, rubbing her forehead.
I smirked to myself. I didn’t even care that she was answering my phone. I was enjoying the view of her tits too much. Besides, I had nothing to hide.
“Gabe?” Six frowned. “Why are you calling?” Her eyes widened then. “Um, Rourke? He’s…uh…” Her gaze flashed to me and her entire face flamed. “He’s out,” she lied, wincing. “Yeah, um, he left his phone at home.”
I smothered a laugh.
She was a fucking horrible liar.
“Is my Mom okay?” Six’s body stiffened as she listened to whatever was being said on the other side of the line. “But she said –” Another pause. “Four more weeks?” She gnawed on her fingernails. “Okay, I guess. It doesn’t sound like my opinion matters either way.”
Curious to know what was being said, I pulled myself up to a sitting position and rested my chin on her bare shoulder. Six shivered under my touch, her gaze flickering to me. “Yeah, Gabe, fine. Bye – yeah, tell my Mom I love her, too.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked after she hung up the phone.
“They’ve extended their trip for another four weeks.” Her voice was so sad when she spoke, and I was instantly annoyed at our parents for upsetting her.
Six had been convinced our parents were coming back next week. I had known better. Her mother might have been good at keeping her word, but I knew my father and his word meant shit.
I pressed a kiss to her shoulder and whispered, “Is that a bad thing?”
She chewed on her lip and thought about it for a moment before saying, “I guess not.”
“You’re not her keeper, Six,” I said then. “Your mother?” I clarified. “She’s not your responsibility.”
“I just worry about her,” she replied quietly. “It’s a force of habit.” She shrugged helplessly. “I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
Those words alone pissed me off to epic proportions.
She wasn’t loved. That was it. She never felt loved by her mother. Fuck. She was lonely and uncertain. I wasn’t blind. I’d been paying attention for the past two months. I was fully aware of the dynamics of Six and Cassidy’s relationship and it drove me batshit crazy. As I grew closer to Six, my anger and resentment for her mother grew. She was so fucking selfish. I wondered how long Six had been left alone to deal with everything. A part of me didn’t want to know, because deep down inside, I already did and it infuriated me.
“Get dressed,” I announced, dragging myself from my dark thoughts.
Six turned and gaped at me. “Why?”
“Because I’m taking you out.”
“You don’t have to,” she was quick to point out, cheeks flushed. “I know the score between us, Rourke.”
Knew the score?
Oh, she had no fucking clue.
“I want to,” I replied. “I’ll buy you breakfast down at the pier or something.”
“It’s 3:30 in the afternoon, Rourke.”
I shrugged. “Fine. I’ll buy you lunch and dinner – whatever you want.”
“How is this even happening?” she surprised me by saying instead.
I frowned. “What?”
“You and me,” she replied, turning her face to giving me her full attention. “Having a civilized conversation. Being… nice to each other? Don’t you think it’s, I don’t know, a little weird?”
I would never live it down.
I’d been a complete dick to her. She wasn’t going to forget it easily. I didn’t blame her.
“Six, I’m gonna make it up to you.”
“Just keep being like this,” she said with a contented sigh. “Be my friend, Rourke. That’s enough for me.”
I fucking hated myself for the way I had treated Six.
She never deserved the shit I’d thrown at her.
Six was the opposite of everything I’d ever known. She didn’t hang on my every word. She fought me, challenged me, never took my shit. I liked that. It was crazy refreshing.
I’d been in love before, I had experienced it, and I knew full well the emotions Six was pulling from me were drawing me closer. Hell, screw closer, I was teetering on the edge. If I let myself fall, I had a feeling there would be no way back up for me. Problem was, every time I looked at this girl, everything inside of me screamed permanent.
Mercedes
LAST NIGHT WAS A MISTAKE, I decided. One huge, gigantic, colossal mistake. It just so happened that I was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck beside the boy who had played the leading role in said mistake, and right about now, he was looking like the best damn decision I would ever make.
I couldn’t believe I’d gotten myself into this. I was supposed to be smart and make good decisions and yet, here I was, getting in way over my head with this boy. Rourke Owens set me on fire every time he put his hands on me and I needed to do something to douse the flames.
He wasn’t making it easy for me though. Not when he was being so…nice. Damn, nice was a word I never could’ve seen myself using to describe Rourke, but there it was. Rourke was nice, and kind, and funny, and beautiful, and a million other amazing things besides that.
Most surprising of all; I enjoyed being with him. I craved that feeling I got every time he turned his face to look at me. And when he flashed me that megawatt smile, the one when both his dimples popped in his cheeks? God, I melted every single time.
Walk the Moon’s ‘Shut up and Dance’ came on the radio just as the server handed Rourke our bag of goodies from the drive thru and I squealed in delight. “Leave it on,” I begged when I noticed him reaching for the stereo. “Please. I love this song.”
“You’re such a girl,” he said with a snort, but he indulged me by turning up the volume while he pulled out of line and drove around, looking for a spot to park in the already crammed parking lot.
Grinning, I immersed myself in the lyrics, singing along animatedly to every verse.
“You’re a fucking horrible singer,” Rourke managed to choke out through fits of laughter when I was mid-song. He looked mildly horrified and thoroughly amused.
Flipping Rourke the bird, I ignored his comment and continued to sing along at the top of my lungs, throwing some serious moves as I sang.
“If Coach or any of the guys ask, you didn’t see me eating this,” Rourke said when we were parked in a spot at the end of the lot. He unwrapped his double cheeseburger and took a huge bite. “Mmmm,” he moaned. “So fucking good.”
“What?” I looked at him in curiosity. “Are you not allowed burgers or something?”
He looked over at me and grinned. “I’m on a strict diet during football season.”
I looked him up and down; taking in his huge, muscular frame and asked, “Why?” I shook my head and took another appraisal of his firm, toned body. “Rourke, you look like a fitness instructor’s wet dream.”
“Cute, Six,” Rourke chuckled as he continued to hound down the remainder of his burger before moving onto his fries. “But there’s always room for improvement.”
I stared at him. “Again, where?”
That comment earned me a kiss; one that made my toes curl and belly to rumble with hunger for something other than chicken nuggets. Damn him!
The sound of a car door slamming close by caused Rourke to break the kiss. He winked at me and I sagged against my seat, breathing hard.
“Cheap date, Owens?” a male voice called out tauntingly, and Rourke stiffened.
My gaze flew in the direction the voice had come from and I glowered at the two guys standing outside the driver’s side of Rourke’s truck.
“You sharing this one, too?” one of them asked, tapping on the window.
The other guy laughed. “Yeah, he’s just breaking her in for you first, man.”
“Who are these jerks?” I whispered, keeping my eyes locked on Rourke. Whoever these guys were, they were seriously pissing him off.
“Some assholes from Jefferson,” he replied tightly, his fists curled around the steering wheel.
Awareness dawned on me. “One of the guys Britt slept with?”
He nodded stiffly.
I looked out the window to where the two morons were standing, clearing trying their best to torment Rourke. “Are they trying to goad you into a fight or something?”
“Yeah,” Rourke growled, jaw clenched, nostrils flaring. “If I get caught fighting again this year, I’m off the team. Permanently.” His jaw ticked again. “And they would fucking love that.”
God, he looked so enraged. I had a feeling he was two seconds away from exploding. It was that very notion that caused me to do what I did next.
Reaching across the console, I grabbed his neck, and tugged his face towards mine. He came willingly, surprise etched on his beautiful face. “Don’t even think about letting those bastards get to you,” I told him, my lips inches from his; a huge swell of possessiveness flooding my body, the urge to defend Rourke overwhelmingly strong.
“They just insulted you,” he bit out, breathing hard.
“So?” Forcing him to look at my face, I locked my eyes on his. “Stick and stones, Rourke.” Reaching up, I stroked his cheeks with my hands. “I don’t give a crap about those guys and neither should you.”
“I’m not fucking letting them…” His voice broke off and he growled. “Goddammit, I’m gonna fucking kill them.” He was shaking with restrained violence. I knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to get out of this car and kick their asses. Part of me wanted him to do that, too, but the other part, the sensible side, knew that these creeps didn’t deserve his time.
“No, you’re not,” I announced, climbing onto his lap. For the first time in my life, I was happy of my size; it made straddling Rourke so much easier. “You’re going to kiss me instead.”
His brows shot up in confusion. “What?”
“You heard me,” I whispered, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “You need a distraction.” And I need you safe. “Kiss me.”
He hands moved to my thighs, clamping down on my flesh possessively. “Six…”
“Just shut up and kiss me, Rourke,” I ordered before covering his mouth with mine.
And he did just that.
God, I felt powerful.