Baby Girl: Bad Boys of Summer Series, page 3
Her voice is so clear and close, my eyes sting.
“Whitiker.”
My name pulls me out through, and I drag my sleeve over my eyes before turning in its direction. Snake has spotted me, and he’s halfway over before I can get to my feet. “I didn’t think you’d show.”
“I almost didn’t,” I say, brushing the sand off the seat of my jeans. The way he’s looking at me, I almost wish I hadn’t.
“You made it home okay the other night?”
“Thanks to you.” I smile.
“Your old man didn’t give you any grief?”
“No,” I say, leaving out that other than quick hello over breakfast, I haven’t talked to my father in weeks. He won’t know about the new tires until the end of the month with the credit card bill comes in, and even then, he probably won’t ask. That would require him to be around me long enough to hold actual conversations.
“Great,” Snake says, and I snap back at him.
Snake is an attractive guy once you get past the steel piercings in his face and ears. The nose ring is different for me, but the two piercings in each ear with silver studs are kind of a turn-on.
Then there are the black nails. As Snake reaches a hand to brush sand from the front of my leg, I pull back. I don’t mean too. The look of rejection in his eyes punctures my chest. He only wanted to help.
“I’m sorry,” I stammer and look down at the same, not sure where to look or what to do with my hands.
“Don’t be.” he smiles. “It happens. You coming to the fire?”
“I’m thinking about it.” Even if I just that second talked myself out of it.
“Good.” He reaches for my hand and takes it in his much bigger one. A chill runs down my spine. “I’ll introduce you to the crew. Rocky and Tate and Pam will be here soon, and Joel usually stops by after he closes down the bar.”
“Joel,” I repeat without meaning too.
Snake looks back at me as he guides me over to his van. “Yeah, Joel. You know him?”
“The guy Cole lives with?”
I watch Snake’s face drop. He nods slowly, and there is nothing warm or friendly about the smile he gives me. “Yeah. the guy Cole lives with.” His hand drops from mine, and I’m left standing in one of the last rays of sunlight before the orange glow dips behind the shoreline. Even in the sweatshirt and jeans, I’m cold as hell.
This was a mistake. Coming here. Hoping I’d run into Cole. Hoping there’d been some mutual feeling in the sparks I felt the week before.
As I’m forming the words to tell Snake I’ve changed my mind a car pulls up to the edge of the sand and a dark-haired girl dressed in a black tank and skirt with black fishnet stockings and heavy boots escapes the passenger side. Her eyes are as dark as Snake’s, and I’m sure now they both have on enough eyeliner to make a drag queen jealous.
Behind her, two men step from the car, both similar to Snake except one is bulky and shorter, and the other looks like he’s in training for the Iron Man competition.
My skin prickles and chills as I remember where I’ve seen this girl before. She was always in the bathroom between classes lighting up. She’s either my age or a year younger, though we’ve never shared a class.
She bounds through the sand, kicking it up with her boots as she skips to the back of the van and runs her hands along the exterior of a large metal canister. “Hands came through after all,” she blurts to Snake.
“You doubted?” His grin makes her grin. The two guys reach us a high five Snake before they even seem to notice me.
“She new?” one says through a throat that sounds like he’s swallowed every cigarette he ever smoked.
“No.” Pam grabs my hands and twirls around me like a goth ballerina. “She’s Ash Whitiker. Kate’s little sister.”
The bigger guy makes a slight noise in his throat and walks off toward the pile of wood.
“Don’t mind him. He had a thing for your sister once. She wouldn’t give poor Tate the time of day.”
My sister knew these people? I glance at Pam. She moves as if her body were made of feathers drifting over the sand from the back of Snake’s van to the wood. She’s so at peace with herself, it’s unsettling. And somehow she knew my sister.
I glance at the guy left standing near me, Rocky, I can only guess. He’s short, but still at least an inch taller than me, and round. He’s wearing shorts like Snake’s and no shirt, but I can’t see the waste of his shorts from the gut that spills out. It’s covered with ink, as is the rest of his upper body. I don’t see an inch not decorated in dragons and tigers and birds wrapped in flames. His jaw is set hard, and his eyes narrow on me. “You don’t belong here. Why don’t you go back to the Southside where girls like you are safe from people like us.”
My skin crawls with invisible ants made of ice. I shiver, and when I see it reflected in his eyes, my face heats and my stomach turns. I am about to pivot to Snake and tell him I’m leaving when a shadow steps onto the sand, and a familiar voice comes to my rescue.
“Doesn’t Tate need help with the fire? You remember what happened last time he was left in charge.”
Cole steps beside me. His words are aimed at Rocky, but I feel their persuasive impact.
He’s wearing a black tee with The Trap in block letters across the front and black jeans. He blends into the darkening night sky, but I can still read his face, and it isn’t sending me the warm and fuzzies.
“Cole.” Rocky gives Cole a sideways glance that could cut human flesh with its sharpness before he steps off toward the fire.
We stand in silence for several long painful seconds before I can make words.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” I finally managed to maneuver out of my mouth. I’m shaking. It’s not the cold, but the adrenaline running through my veins, and I’m not sure if it’s leftover from Rocky’s comment or Cole’s closeness, but it almost hurts I’m shivering so hard. I wrap my arms around me to control it.
“I wasn’t,” he answers. “I saw your car from the bar and I--” He cuts off and shoves his hands in his pockets. “I know Snake texted you to come tonight, but he shouldn’t have. This isn’t your kind of place, Baby Girl.”
I’m about to correct him when the words he called me hit my ears, and I go still. I can’t breathe or think as they repeat in my head.
Baby girl. He doesn’t seem fazed by what he said. It probably meant nothing to him. A common name for all the girls who throw themselves stupidly at him. But to me, those two words shatter something deep inside. Something that I’ve been hiding behind for so long I’d forgotten it was there.
“Ashley. Did you hear me?”
I glance at him and realize he must have been speaking to me before, and it didn’t register past the walls shattering in my head.
“I did hear you.” I drop my arms from around me and suck in a deep breath. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
Where the bravado in my voice came from, I’m not sure, but it’s got Cole’s attention. He’s scowling at me, and I think I like the attention. I’ve never had someone’s focus so intently on me before, and it’s intoxicating.
I can’t help but wonder what he’ll do if I defy his order. “I’m staying,” I announce and turn for the fire.
I feel his following me. The sand crunches under our footsteps, and his shadow wraps around mine on the ground. By the time I reach the driftwood logs, Snake sat out for seats, Cole is at my back. He’s hovering worse than a nosey parent, and I feel his heat soaking into my back.
“Hands,” Pam shouts. She jumps from her spot on a log and wraps her arms around Cole’s neck while her legs circle his waist. She’s pressed against him, her boots locked at his back. And even though he turns from her, she still manages to kill his cheek.
I look away at the fire. The moment too intimate to watch. I feel like a peeping tom watching someone’s private moments.
Snake doesn’t seem to feel the same. He steps up to Cole and slaps him on the back. “Didn’t think you’d skip out if she came.” His head nods back to me, and for the second time in seconds, I look away to the fire.
Cole grabs Pam under the arms and lowers her before Rocky and Tate slap hands with Cole and mutter greetings. They both have cups in their hands and already smell of fermented beer. It’s not until Pam hits the ground that I notice he’s holding one as well, and half of it is now down the back of Cole’s shirt.
Somehow he stays cool about it and doesn’t show an ounce of anger. He finishes with Tate and Rocky and turns back to me.
“Come on, Ash. I’ll walk you back to your car.”
He has his hand out for me to take. I glance at it and back up to his face. “I want to stay.”
“You don’t,” he juts his hand out further. “Trust me. This isn’t your kind of party.”
“Really.” I pull my hand away. I don’t know why, but his words sting. They call me out as something different. Something not like him. It hurts. “What is my kind of party then?”
His eyes darken. “Not this. Don’t make this hard. Just come.”
“Get off it, Man. She wants to stay.” Snake steps up and offers me a cup. The smell hits my nose. I know it well. Kate always smelled of beer when she came home. She’s rush to shower before mom checked on her, but I could still smell it on her clothes.
I look at Cole. He’s challenging me to leave, but I want to stay. Experiencing new things is my summer goal, and a bonfire on the north end with a crowd that would scare me if I ran into them at the mall is about as new an experience as I can have. I take the cup and down a huge sip. Some of the froth tickles my nose and runs down my chin. I wipe it away with the sleeve of my sweatshirt and take a seat next to Pam on the driftwood.
“I’m not going anywhere, but don’t let that keep you from the bar.”
A chorus of oohs rings out from behind me as Tate and Rocky laugh at my bravado. They have no idea how hard it is to say no to Cole. Or how afraid I am that he will take me up on the offer and walk away.
Cole stands for a second, his hands still shoved in his pockets, his gaze looking out over the water with his hard jaw set like steel. I can see him grind his teeth before he takes a cup from Snake and slams it back. He glances at me, and there is a darkness in his eyes that makes my eyes sting again. He’s pissed. He’s pissed at me. I don’t know why he is, but the way he looks at me jabs at my heart like thousands of tiny broken shells under bare feet.
I toss back another long sip, hoping to dull the sudden ache I feel at his displeasure. I wanted to come tonight for him. I tried to get to know the guy who saved me last week. The kind one who called in a favor from a buddy and texted to make sure I made it home.
Where is that guy? He’s not the Cole I thought he was. He’s someone else. Something else. A monster.
The whole time he stands behind me, chatting with Snake and the guys, I feel butterflies fluttering in my chest. They aren’t happy butterflies. They make my stomach twist in knots and my chest tight. The longer I sit and the harder I try to make my breathing slow, the more I realize how big of a mistake I’ve made.
When Pam stands to refill her beer, I drop my cup to the sand and start to walk away. Then I run. The sand grabs at my feet, but I only run faster and harder, lifting my knees higher and thrusting myself forward until I reach my car. My eyes blur, and my fingers fumble through my bag for keys. I can’t find them.
I’m a shaking, crying, sobbing, frantic mess, and I’m making a fool of myself. What the hell was I thinking?
In a rage, I start to throw things from my bag. I need the keys, and I need them right now. I thrust my hands in once again only to feel the warmth of fingers wrapping around my arm.
I’m pulled into a solid wall of hard warmth and muscle. Confusion pulses through me, and I fight. I drop my bag and attempt a punch that lands with a thud onto the wall, but something grips my wrist, and I’m pulled back into the smell of beer and soap, and something that, to me, has become Cole’s scent.
I can’t fight him. I don’t even want to. So I stop. And throw my arms around his neck. And sink until I feel his arms under my legs and I’m squeezed into his chest.
I don’t know where he’s taking me or what he’ll do next, but for the time I have, I soak in every ounce of him.
This is the experience I’ve been looking for.
Chapter 3
Cole
Touching Ashley is a big ass mistake. I know it the second her soft curves collide with my chest. I didn’t mean to upset her. Hell, I was trying to keep Snake from fucking with her head all night. He’s an okay guy if you know what to expect, but he’s too hardcore for someone as innocent as Ash.
I’m too hardcore for someone like Ash, too...so I pushed her away instead of acting on the impulse to pull her behind Snake’s van and kiss her.
I’d meant to protect her from me, yet, here we are in the parking lot sitting in a heap on the pavement. I cradle her body close to my chest while I sank down to the ground and cradled her body into mine. Her head lowers to my shoulder, the sound of her sobs are buffered by my neck. Hearing those soft whimpers and knowing I caused them breaks something deep inside me. I can’t say it’s my heart because I learned how to ignore that pain a long time ago.
How fucked up am I?
This is why I didn’t want to get involved. Why I told Snake no about inviting Ash to the bonfire tonight. Why I never acknowledged Ashley’s last text. I’ve never treated anyone right in my life.
I don’t know how to. No one ever taught me.
But when I saw Ashley turn and run, my chest tightened so hard it knocked the breath from me at the same time it ignited a fire of anger. I knew I had to go. I had to confront this problem head-on. I had to tell Ash she and I...we could never be a thing.
Those words crawled their way back down my throat when she turned from the car door with tear-stained cheeks. Stopped in my tracks, I did what my body commanded, and I reached for Ashely.
She’s quieting down, so I run a hand through her hair. It’s dark brown with streaks of auburn from the summer sun that shimmers in the moonlight. I thread the stands through my fingers and breathe in her sweet, floral scent. The strands are so soft and smooth. So much like her.
She’s sitting between my legs, curled up to my chest with her head on my shoulder and her face near my ear. I whisper her name and she lifts her head and wipes at her tears. As soon as her gaze meets mine, she pushes away and slides across the payment, putting distance between us.
“I don’t know why I did that,” she whispers, her voice still weak and thick with emotion.
“It’s no big deal.” I stand, wipe the sand from my jeans, and offer her my hand to pull her up.
Ashley takes it, but as soon as she’s on her feet, she pulls free and turns back to her car. “It’s so stupid. I don’t even know why I came here tonight.” She reaches for the door handle but pauses. Slowly, she turns back to face me and the same, breathless agony consumes my body. “That’s a lie. I do know. I came here tonight to see you.”
My heart thuds so hard against my ribs, I’m sure she can hear it. I want to reach for her. Pull her back into the warmth of my embrace. I want nothing more than to assure Ash I’m the last person who’d ever hurt her. But, I don’t because it’s a lie. I stand with my eyes clamped on hers, and I don’t make a single move that would show the sadness swimming in her gaze is slicing holes in my chest.
No matter how she looks at me or what she stirs in my chest, I’m not going to back down. I’m not going to allow Ashley to think being with me is a good idea. It’s not. I’ll fuck up every good thing she has going in her life. Screw her life up so bad she’ll never straighten it all out again.
Some girls might be okay with that, but not Ashley. She’s too much of a good girl. She won’t survive the fall.
I bend down and pick up the things she’d thrown from her bag and open her driver’s side door.
“You’re a great girl, Ash. You’re pretty. You’re rich.” I bite the inside of my cheek and spit out the rest through my clenched teeth. “But I’m not the right guy for you.”
The words burn my tongue, their acid drips into my stomach. I hate myself the second they are out of my mouth, and the reaction crosses her face. I can only hope she’s cried out all of her tears because if those eyes well up again, I’m going to shatter.
“You don’t even know me,” she counters.
“I don’t have to,” I answer. “I know me, and that’s enough of a reason for you to get in this car and leave. You don’t belong here. Go back to your side of the beach.” Go back to where you are safe.
She doesn’t make a move to get in the car. Her eyes are locked on mine. She holds on like letting go would end her, and I realize if she doesn’t soon, she’ll end me, so I break the connection first and turn my back, headed down to the sand and the fire. I need a drink, and I need Ash to drive away.
Behind, I hear the door slam and the engine roar. Sand flies as she takes the turn out of the lot too short and spins her new wheels.
It’s for the best, Baby Girl. I grab a drink from the back of Snake’s van as I walk by, and I sit by the fire. It isn’t long before Pam has her arms on my neck and is staring at me like she’d mount me right here on the beach. I’m sure she would. Maybe that’s what I need. An emotionless fuck to clear my head. Ashley’s wedged herself in there, and I need her out.
I lift my beer to my lips, and I drain the cup before tossing it on the beach and pulling Pam into my lap. Her lips are warm on mine, her hands soft on my hard curves and edges. She grinds into my hip, and I hear the moan build in her throat.
I thread my hands in her hair and pull her head back until she’s facing me. Her eyes are dark and lost, her mouth blood red from my scruff rubbing it raw.
I stare at her, my cock rock hard under her growing warmth. I’m ready to take her inside Snake’s van and work out my frustration on her willing body. I’m ready to take advantage until I blink, and it’s Ash’s face I see behind my closed lids. Pam can’t quench that need. Trying will only make me worse of a guy than I already am.
