Doing Taboo Things (Itty Bitty Delights Book 5), page 1
Doing Taboo Things
Copyright © 2022 by Alex Grayson.
All rights reserved.
Cover Design by Cover Me Darling.
Interior Formatting by Alex Grayson.
Editing by Edits by Erin.
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All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Epilogue
Also by Alex Grayson
About the Author
To anyone with a little bit of taboo in their life…
Chapter 1
RAYN
Picking up my drink that the new bartender, Jasper, set down in front of me, I bring it to my lips as I turn on my stool to face the rest of the room. I drag my eyes around the crowded space, taking in all the people sitting at booths and high top tables. I know most of them, just like everyone else knows most people in Silver Falls. Living in such a small town is both a blessing and a curse.
The vodka and cranberry juice slides down my throat easily as I take hefty swallows. Normally, I savor my drinks. I drink because I like the taste, not the mindless effects it causes. Not tonight though. Tonight I want to feel oblivious. I need the numbing effect to take away all the crap that’s happened today.
Shifting in my seat, I swivel it toward the dance floor, watching as everyone gyrates against their partners. Whiskey Blue’s has a very relaxed atmosphere. It’s the one place people can go to let loose without fear of being judged.
My eyes stop on Jamison as Marisa, the woman he’s dancing with, grinds her ass against his crotch. He has one arm around her waist, his hand resting on her midriff just below her breasts. His other hand grips her hip, holding her in place as their hips sensually sway back and forth. He dips his head and runs his nose along the column of her neck. Of course, she helps out by tilting her head to the side.
Watching the pair sends a shot of adrenaline through me at the same time it sours my stomach. I refuse to think about why seeing my step-brother dancing with another woman bothers me so much. I’ve gotten really good at ignoring my irrational feelings.
I lift my glass to my lips, then scowl down at the cubes of ice when they hit my lips. How in the hell is it gone already?
Spinning around, I catch Jasper’s attention and hold up my glass. His chin jerks up in acknowledgement. A moment later, he appears in front of me with another full glass, setting it down within my reach.
“That’s your third in fifteen minutes,” he comments unnecessarily. “Where in the hell are you putting them?”
I tap the side of my head with a white tipped fingernail. “Right here, hopefully.” I chug back a big mouthful.
“One of those days, huh?” he asks as he flips over a mug and begins filling it with beer.
“You have no clue,” I mutter.
After he slides the mug to a guy a couple of stools down from me and takes his money, he comes back to stand in front of me. “You wanna talk about it?”
I take a long look at Jasper. He’s been working at Whiskey’s for about a month, and he’s only been in Silver Falls for a year. He’s a good looking guy with short, light-brown hair, a nice swimmer’s body, kind green eyes, and a great personality to boot. I barely remember him, but he told me last week that he spent a few years in Silver Falls in his younger teen years.
He’s asked me out several times, but I always say no. Don’t ask me why, because I’ll lie and say he’s not my type, when in fact, he’s exactly my type. I just don’t want to admit the real reason.
I smile at him. “Thanks, but I’m still trying to mentally process it. I’m not ready to talk about it yet. Besides,” I look down to the other end of the bar after a feminine voice calls Jasper’s name, “you’re being summoned.”
He taps the bar. “Holler if you change your mind.” With a wink and a grin that causes a dimple to pop out on one of his cheeks, he adds, “I’d tell them all to fuck off if you wanted me to.”
My light-hearted laugh only lasts as long as it takes him to walk away. After that, my mood once again sours. I should have asked Jasper to leave the vodka and cranberry juice with me, because I’m pretty sure with the way I’m going, my drink will be gone in another minute or two.
The stool beside me is suddenly taken and there’s a wave of cologne so strong it nearly has me gagging. I thought girls were the ones known to go overboard with their perfume, but Jesus, it’s like this guy actually bathed in his cologne. My eyes water, and I have to hold still for a moment to make sure I’m not going to throw up.
“Hey, sugar.” A deep masculine voice fills my ear only a second before the smell gets stronger.
Ordinarily, I’m a nice person. I have manners, I don’t put my elbows on the table, and I truly believe if you don’t have something nice to say then you shouldn’t say anything at all. But I’m pretty sure it would be meaner to not tell this guy to lay off the cologne. Even so, I still keep my opinion to myself.
Holding my breath, I force a smile on my lips and look at the guy. “Hi.”
I turn back to face the bar again, hoping he’ll catch the hint and leave me alone.
But, of course. Apparently, my day hasn’t been shitty enough.
The guy leans closer to me, which makes the smell even stronger, and asks, “You here by yourself?”
This time, I don’t smile when I look at him. “Yep. And I plan to stay that way.”
The guy smiles, and I have to admit, it’s a good smile. But even if I were in the mood for a little hanky panky between the sheets, I definitely wouldn’t with this guy. I’d probably die from alcohol poisoning, and not from the kind in my drink.
“I bet I could change your mind.”
I roll my eyes heavenward, barely holding back a snort. “Sorry, but that’s a bet you’ll lose. Now,” I turn in my seat, giving him my shoulder, “if you don’t mind, I’m going back to my drink.”
“Ahh… come on, sweetheart,” he whines–which is not attractive by the way, guys–then proceeds to put his hand on my knee. My naked knee, because my skirt rides up when I sit with my legs crossed. “You’ve got to at least let me try.”
I stiffen. “I don’t have to do any such thing. And I’d appreciate it if you’d remove your hand.”
He moves his hand alright, but not off my leg like he should if he were smart. Instead, he moves it up my leg until the tips of his fingers graze just under the hem of my skirt.
I’m just about to unsheathe my claws and dig them into the guy’s hand until I draw blood when I feel a body move in behind me. The soothing scent of this new smell envelopes me, and I relax, tempted to melt against what I know is a firm male chest. Unfortunately, I can’t.
A tanned, muscular arm drapes over my shoulder and his hand appears in front of me, his fingers dangling inches away from my breast. If I jut my chest out just a few inches….
“I believe the lady asked you to remove your hand.” The deep baritone has shivers racing down my spine. “I suggest you do so, or I’ll break your fingers when I remove them.”
The guy looks like he wants to argue, but wisely, he does as Reed says. The skin on my knee feels icky, and I want to scrub the spot with alcohol.
“No harm done,” Mr. Handsy says. “We were just talking.”
“Didn’t look that way to me. It looked as though my girl was barely staying polite by not telling you to fuck off.” Reed leans further into my back. “I don’t have the same manners as her, so I don’t mind telling you to get lost.”
The guy opens his mouth to say something, but Reed cuts him off.
“You don’t like it? Too bad. Swallow it and move the fuck on, because whatever you thought was going to happen, isn’t.”
I almost laugh at the harassed look on the guy’s face. His eyes shoot lasers over my shoulder. “The bitch wasn’t that good looking anyway,” he grumbles under his breath as he grabs his drink and gets up from the stool.
“What was that?” Reed growls, leaving my back to move toward the guy.
I grab Reed’s arm to stop him. “Just let him go,” I tell him.
He tracks the guy’s movements, his eyes narrowed into slits, until he’s across the room. Once he’s satisfied Mr. Handsy is far enough away, Reed takes the now vacant seat. Picking up my drink, I suck down the rest of it. I sway on my seat a little when the alcohol finally starts to hit my system.
“When did you get here?” I ask after I signal Jasper for another drink.
“A few minutes ago . Why? Were you looking for me?”
I look over at Reed, finding his signature grin with dimples in both cheeks in place.
“No,” I grumble. A flush heats my cheeks, because yes, I was totally looking for him, but I don’t want him to know that. “I just didn’t think I’d see you here since you weren’t working tonight.”
Jasper sets down my drink, along with one for Reed. Reed picks up his and downs half of it in one go.
“Jamison and I decided to hit the bar tonight. Mom needed me to fix a busted pipe, so I was late.”
In other words, Jamison and Reed are out fishing for hook-ups. The thought has all the alcohol I consumed tonight threatening to come back up.
Instead of saying anything, because really, there’s nothing for me to say, I pick at the napkin that’s under my drink. I’ve always had the bad habit of shredding paper when I’m feeling down or nervous.
“What’s up with you?” Reed asks a few minutes later. “I don’t like the look on your face. Something’s bothering you.”
Having best friends is great. They’re there when you need them. You can tell them anything without fear of judgement. They have shoulders to cry on, and they generally give good advice. But there are times when they can be a nuisance. I take that back. Jamison and Reed are never a nuisance. It can just be irritating sometimes because they know me so well. They know when somethings bothering me, even when I don’t want them to know. And both are bloodhounds when it comes to something that’s upsetting me. They don’t like to see me sad any more than I like to see them sad.
I huff out a long breath. There’s no way I can hide this from either of them, so I don’t even try.
“I’m newly unemployed, and I’m two weeks away from being homeless.”
I look over at Reed when he stays quiet. A frown creases his eyes. “How in the hell did this come about?”
I take another sip of my drink before I explain. “Max is down-sizing at the dealership because of the computer chip shortage. Apparently, he plans to let one of the salesmen take over the secretarial work to cut back on employee costs.”
“That’s bullshit,” he grates.
I jerk my head up and down. “I agree.”
“And what about your house?”
“Leanne and Jeffery are moving to Colorado to be closer to their grandkids. They’re selling the house.”
“Why don’t you buy it?”
“Because I just dumped seven grand on a down payment for my car. I’ve already spoken to the bank about a loan, but they want at least ten thousand down before they’ll even talk to me. I’ve known for a couple of months Leanne and Jeffery wanted to sell, and I thought I had another place lined up. The owners decided yesterday, which happened to be the day I was supposed to sign the lease papers, to rent to their daughter and her family.”
“Shit, Ray.” He scrubs a hand down his face. “Do you know what you’re going to do?”
I shrug and my shoulders stay drooped when I say, “Stay with Mom and Baxter until I figure something out, I guess.”
I swore when I left home I wouldn’t go back. Not because I didn’t love Mom or Baxter, but because I didn’t want to be one of those kids who moved back into their parents’ house when things got tough. Looks like I’m going to be one after all.
“Jamison and I have a spare room. Why don’t you take it until you get back on your feet?”
I swivel on my stool to face Reed. His offer is generous and exactly something he would do. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t give it any thought and accept his offer. I’m not worried about finding a job. There aren’t many openings here in Silver Falls, but I should be able to find something in one of the surrounding towns pretty quickly. It would only take me a few months to save enough money to rent a place.
The problem isn’t feeling like a leech to my two best friends; it’s being around them so much. In a place where they’re comfortable. In a place where they would bring girls home and I’d hear and see them with those girls. That’s the part that will suck.
Because you see, I’m in love with my two best friends, one of whom is my step-brother.
Chapter 2
REED
I met Rayn Ledger and Jamison Hart in high school. I remember the day like it was yesterday.
It was the middle of freshman year, and my parents and I had just moved from Arizona to Silver Falls, Florida. I had a chip on my shoulder and was pissed because they uprooted me from my life and the friends I’d had since kindergarten, not to mention the girl I had started dating six months prior.
I had just left English class and was heading toward Algebra when someone knocked into me. The girl bounced off my chest, skittered back on her feet, then landed on her ass. She was pretty. Long, red hair, cheeks lightly covered in freckles, and a pair of rectangular glasses perched on her dainty nose.
I felt like a jerk and bent down to help her gather the books that had fallen from her arms. Of course, being asshole teenagers, none of the guys or girls passing by cared enough to stop and help. Instead, they just kicked the books out of their way. I felt even worse when one of them stepped on the girl’s hand and she let out a little yelp.
I was getting ready to stand up and deck the guy who stepped on her hand when a fist landed in my face. Stars danced in my vision and it was my turn to fall back on my ass. Luckily, the hit wasn’t bad enough to draw blood. My eyes shot up to the guy to find him glaring down at me while he helped the pretty girl to her feet.
“What in the hell was that for?” I growled the question, rubbing my sore chin. “I was helping her pick up her things.”
The guy snatched one of the books up and growled back, “Yeah, after you pushed her.”
“I didn’t push her,” I denied, because I damn well didn’t. I got to my feet and faced him.
He stepped closer, balling his hand into a fist like he was waiting to deck me again. “It sure looked that way to me.”
“Then you need to get your eyes checked.”
“All right, you two stop it.” The girl stepped between us, her head swinging back and forth. Her eyes finally stayed locked on the guy. “He didn’t push me, Jamison. It was my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
Some of the anger left Jamison’s face as he looked down at the girl. He and I were about the same height, which put her several inches shorter than both of us. He lifted her hand to inspect it. Thankfully, it was only slightly red.
“Does it hurt?” he asked, running a finger over her knuckles.
She lifted one shoulder. “Only a little. It’ll be fine.”
His head lifted and he glared at me. “You shouldn’t have been hurt in the first place.”
“Stop it, okay?” She wiggled her fingers in his face. “See, I’m okay. The pain is already fading.” Her head swung my way, and her freckled cheeks puffed out with her grin. “Besides, his face is too pretty to mess up.”
That was the beginning of our friendship. Or rather, I should say, it was the beginning of mine and Rayn’s friendship. It took a couple of weeks before Jamison and I stopped glaring at each other, and that was only because Rayn threatened to unfriend us both if we didn’t learn how to get along. The three of us have been friends ever since.
That was also the moment I fell in love with Rayn. That bit I’ve kept to myself over the years. It just never felt like the right time to tell her. First, it was me solidifying my friendship with her and Jamison. Then, halfway through sophomore year, Rayn’s dad and Jamison’s mom died during a robbery gone wrong while both families were vacationing. Then it was the stress of becoming an adult and figuring out what we were going to do with our futures. After that, Rayn’s mom and Jamison’s dad shocked us all when they decided to spontaneously elope. None of us even knew they were dating.
I’ve kept my feelings for Rayn on lockdown for eighteen years. I’ve had moments where I’ve almost told her, but something always holds me back. If I’m honest with myself, it’s out of fear. Fear that she doesn’t or can’t return my feelings. And fear that it’ll ruin the close bond we have if she doesn’t.
