Feuds and reckless fury, p.20
Feuds and Reckless Fury, page 20
It’s not fair.
It’s not fucking fair.
Dad’s gaze ping-pongs between Alis and me before he nods. “I think we all could use a much-needed nap. I’ll order pizza later for dinner.”
Quinn walks over to Alis, bends over, and kisses the top of his head. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Is he?
Anger simmers in my gut as they walk off. As soon as they’ve gone to their room, I rise to my feet, pulling Alis to his feet. Taking his hand, I guide him up the stairs and into his room. I would have taken him into my shower, but I want him to smell like himself—limes and sweetness—not whatever the fuck I smell like. I need him to wash away the horror of the day and bathe in normalcy.
I shut his bedroom door and lock it. I’m not taking any chances. I strip out of my clothes and find Alis standing beside the shower, dazed. My fingertips graze down his spine, making him shiver. Once I get the water started, and steam begins to fill the bathroom, I tug off all his clothes.
We remain quiet as I lead him under the hot spray. His arms wrap around my middle, and he rests his cheek on my chest. An overwhelming sense of relief washes over me, cleansing away the stress and worry from the day. Having him safe in my grip settles something deep inside me.
It’s fucked up.
The whole situation.
Our dads won’t understand.
Neither will Mom or Carrie or the kids at school.
It makes me want to shove Alis into the passenger seat of my Challenger, fill the tank up, and drive north until we’re somewhere people don’t know us. Where there are no expectations or anyone to disappoint. We could just be two guys who once hated each other but now simply don’t.
He’s my Chibi.
My opponent. My challenger. My counterpart. My conscience. My everything.
As the water rains down on us, I wonder if there was ever a time I thought Nae was my everything. Naomi was there for me, and I loved her and cared for her. But I never saw more with her. Not a future…just a present.
With Alis, I dream. A lot. Of possibilities. Fantasies I want to come true. A life beyond the now. I think of sharing a space with him. Making his brown eyes sparkle to life as I gift him pieces of himself and of me to prove to him home is where he makes it.
I dream of us.
Not boyfriends. Not stepbrothers. Not even friends.
More.
But every time I began traveling down that mental pathway today, I was jolted with horrifying images of loss. When Dad received the call from Quinn at the hospital, I thought I’d be sick. I’d even dry heaved.
Because I thought something happened to him.
I’d heard the words shooter and blood and Alis.
Dad assured me he was okay, but I’d been tainted by the what-ifs.
After living months and months filled with pure anger, stewing over the dissolving of my family, I’d finally found something that brought me joy. Him. And then it felt fragile and temporary.
“You’re trembling,” Alis says. “Is your mom going to be okay?”
I stroke my fingers through his wet hair and then clutch onto it, tugging his head back until he’s peering up at me. Cradling his jaw with one hand while my grip is still on his hair, I slant my mouth over his, desperate to taste the realness of his lips—to feel proof of his existence. To taste the reality that he’s mine.
He whimpers as my tongue dominates his, eager to kiss away all the bullshit we’ve dealt with today and replace it with something that feels good.
“Canyon,” he murmurs, pained brokenness in his voice that cuts me deep. “Why? Why did he want to kill me?”
“Shh.” I nip at his bottom lip hard enough he yelps. “Be quiet, Wonderland.”
His eyes fill with tears, and his body shakes. I grab the soap that smells like limes and coconut and him and begin scrubbing away the crimson evidence of the attempt on his life.
“Canyon…”
“I said quiet.” My voice sounds robotic as I thoroughly wash him from head to toe, focusing on cleaning him so we can forget this ever happened.
“Canny.”
I wince at the way his voice cracks. My eyes sting, and my throat hurts from the emotion clawing up inside me. Gripping his shoulders, I push his back against the tile wall, grinding my hips against his.
“No words,” I whisper before crashing my lips to his.
With just my tongue and teeth and needy moans, I answer all his questions.
Bad people don’t need a reason.
They’re monsters.
Enemies.
But I won’t let it happen again.
I won’t.
Not sure how I’ll make good on that promise, but I swear to fuck I’ll die trying.
He responds to my physical reassurances by submitting to me with a soft, masculine groan that sets my soul on fire. I tear away from his lips and drop kisses along his jaw and down his neck. Sucking the flesh, I mark him with claiming bruises. With each scrape of my teeth along his skin, he quakes as though the ground beneath him is shifting. I keep him held up with my powerful body pinning him to the tile wall. Desperation has me abusing his neck with my mouth, hungry to kiss away all the terror and uncertainty.
This thing between us is anything but uncertain.
It’s a real, breathing beast of passion that aches to be released.
He tilts his head back, exposing his neck even more to me, showing off the proof of who he belongs to. Seeing all the bright red splotches I’ve made with my mouth on his skin calms all the raging parts inside me. Knowing they’ll bruise and turn purple has pride blossoming in my chest. I slick both my hands up with the soap and then toss the bar back on the ledge. Taking both our cocks in my hands, I stroke us at once, loving the fuck out of his ragged breathing. My lips find his again, and I kiss him less brutally than before. He digs his fingers into my shoulders, fucking my fist like it’s the best thing he’s ever felt.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chants, trembling with need. “I, fuck, yes!”
The heat spurting from his body feels hotter than the water raining down on us. It sets me off, drawing my own need from my dick almost effortlessly. Our dicks twitch in my hands until we’re both spent.
Dark, mahogany eyes bore into me like I have all of life’s answers stored deep within me. Words that have no business leaving my lips nearly escape. I chase them back by kissing him with enough force and eagerness that I’m surprised he doesn’t crack his head on the tile wall behind him.
The things I feel for Alister Sommers are too intense. Too fast. Too reckless and wild.
All today managed to do was turn a slow-burning ember into a full-on forest fire.
We’re an inferno now, and there’s no putting us out.
By Monday, life tries to continue on as normal. As though my mom and my secret boyfriend both didn’t almost die the same weekend. Everyone at school laughs and chatters, oblivious to how Alis’s and my lives have been irrevocably altered.
Every time I see a couple taking for granted that they can publicly display their affection, it pisses me off. By lunchtime, I’m ready to punch someone. Being forced to watch Alis eat lunch with his friend Leon and now Nae while I was stuck listening to Cain brag about his weekend conquest had my blood boiling
But it’s Gage who sets me off.
The guy’s been a douchebag for weeks. I can handle his stupid remarks, though I want to knock his head off for any aimed at Alis. Nothing, though, compares to the fury that explodes within me to see him flirting with her.
My fucking sister.
Carrie laughs at whatever he says, but the salacious grin he gives her has me seeing red. I charge for him, shoving him hard against the lockers as soon as I reach him. He slams into them, losing his footing only a second before he shoves me back. People yell and cheer around us. My sister shrieks, calling me a colorful string of insults.
“Stay the fuck away from my sister,” I snap, shoving him again.
“Are you serious right now?” Gage sneers at me. “While you were off sucking your boyfriend’s dick, your ex-best friend’s been fucking your sister.”
His words stun me. I’m too busy trying to understand what the hell he’s talking about to even argue about his barb about Alis and me.
“What?” I growl, taking a menacing step forward.
“Damon. Remember him? That’s right, you dropped him along with everyone else the moment you decided to turn gay and fuck that loser—”
I shove him again. “Get the fuck out of my face.”
Gage laughs and shrugs. “Ask ’em.”
Like heat-seeking missiles, my eyes cut through the crowd to Damon. His entire body is tense, guilt written all over his face.
I’m going to kill him.
I start forward, but a big ass fucker grabs my arm. Snarling, I glower at Leon over my shoulder. Beside him, Nae shakes her head at me.
“Stop, Canyon. You’re going to get in trouble,” she says with a disapproving frown. “Come on. Go to class before a teacher sees.”
Alis appears next to Carrie, whose face is bright red with embarrassment. She shoots me a scathing glare that I ignore. I’m not going to feel guilty about wanting to protect her from those assholes.
Even Damon.
Fucking traitor.
Alis’s dark stare penetrates me. In one simple look, I read him so easily. He’ll talk to her and calm her down. Make sure she’s safe. Get to the bottom of this.
Nae drags me off toward our next class and away from the fuckfaces Gage and Damon. It isn’t until we’re in another hallway, she stops me.
“What’s going on?” she demands. “You’re upset. Talk to me.”
I pull her to me for a hug and then mutter out every horrible thing that happened this weekend. By the end of it, she’s hugging me, and promising things will get better.
She’s wrong.
So far, they only seem to be getting worse.
I mean, what more can fucking happen at this point?
Alister
He’s losing it.
I’d seen it happening all day, little by little. Bit by bit. He finally blew the lid off his anger, going off on Gage in the hallway at school.
I wanted to go to him.
Fuck, how I did.
Luckily, Leon and Naomi were there to pull him back. Besides, I was needed to deal with Carrie. She was pissed and humiliated at what went down. Her brother nearly fought his friends, defending her honor like he was some sort of medieval prince.
When I finally got her alone, she burst into tears and sobbed against my shirt. What Gage said was true. She slept with Damon. They’d kissed and flirted for weeks in secret, but after seeing her mom this weekend, she stayed the night with Damon and had sex with him. Ryan thought she was spending the night with Paige to avoid the police and chaos at our house.
Now that we’re back home, she refuses to speak to her brother and has been hiding in the guest room. Ryan and Dad couldn’t even coax her out for dinner. They’d ended up letting her eat in her room, thinking she was still upset over her mother. Neither of them knows it’s because her sexual encounter was blabbed to the entire school and nearly caused a fight between her brother and his friends.
Canyon is still a wreck.
Broody and edgy and exhausted.
His lips have been perpetually downturned in a vicious pout since the encounter this afternoon. If we didn’t have our dads for an audience, I would’ve kissed away his unhappiness hours ago.
“It’s a great facility. They’re going to move her there tomorrow,” Ryan says, dragging my attention from Canyon, who’s sprawled out on the recliner, to the love seat Ryan’s sitting on with Dad.
“How long will she have to stay there?” I ask, my eyes once again drifting to Canyon.
If I didn’t think it’d get me disowned and kicked out, I’d crawl into his lap, chasing away all the tension in his body with kisses along the side of his neck.
“However long it takes,” Ryan says. “The heroin was something she’d only tried twice, according to her. But she did admit to abusing her prescription medication. The facility she’s going to focuses heavily on the counseling aspect.” He has the sense to look guilty since, technically, he sent her down this path. “She wants to get better for Canyon and Carrie.”
Canyon’s nostrils flare, and his jaw clenches. “I’m going to bed.”
I wish I could follow after him, but that’d be super fucking obvious. Instead, I bring my attention back to Dad and Ryan.
“Did she ever apologize for…” Kicking Canyon out? Treating him like shit? Breaking his heart?
Ryan nods, and he purses his lips. “She did, but Canyon isn’t easily swayed. It’ll take some time. Right now, the focus is on getting her well. Then, she can go back to being the mother they know and love. I’m confident they’ll work it out.”
They both get up, retiring to their room as well, and Ginger and Nutmeg scamper off behind them. My phone buzzes in my pocket, making me wonder if Canyon is texting me.
Unknown Number: Step out back. Alone.
My blood runs cold at the text. The guy who admitted to texting me is dead.
Me: Who the fuck is this?
Unknown Number: You know who it is. I think you’ve always known, Son.
No.
Numbing fear rolls over me like a fog, engulfing me. I gasp for breath as I try to make sense of the text. It can’t be. It’s not him. Not Colin. Not my…real father. My throat aches to yell out for Dad or Ryan or Canyon to help me. All I can do is stare at my phone as the dots begin moving again.
Unknown Number: I’m at the back door. Let me in.
At the back door.
Oh, God.
I’m once again a small boy, overwhelmed by the scent of my mother’s booze and the lingering stink of her cigarettes. The memories are so real I can hear the muted squeaks of the mice within the walls. I can feel the wetness of my piss-soaked pajama pants.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It’s soft enough Ginger and Nutmeg don’t hear from Dad’s bedroom.
He’s here. He’s really here.
Absently, I tug at the silver chain hanging from my neck. Before Mom left me for good with “Uncle Quinn,” she’d unhooked the chain, slipped it on me, and ruffled my hair in one of the rare displays of affection from her I can remember. That was it. The only thing I had to remember her by.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Unknown Number: Let me in, or I’ll force my way in. The choice is yours. Either cause a scene or don’t.
Me: Why? Are you going to hurt me?
Unknown Number: I’ll never forgive her for making you fear me. Open the door, Alister.
“Get me my money, Tammy,” Colin says, staring at me with an angry scowl, “or I’ll take it out on the boy.” He flips out a sharp knife with his other hand, bringing it to my chest. “I could take payment by carving out his fucking heart.”
I rise on shaky legs, trying desperately to shake the memories off, shocked at the fact I’m really going to do this. I’m really going to open the door and face Colin—the man with the same eyes as me but who always scared the shit out of me. He makes it sound as though Mom always filled my head with the fear of him, but that’s not true. The man was terrifying anytime I had to encounter him. Indecision wars through me, my hand frozen on the door handle.
“Open the door.” The muffled voice through the glass has me trembling. It’s the same one as before—the same voice with the same authority I remember.
I flip the lock and twist the handle before taking a step back. Bracing myself, I do my best to prepare for the worst. Colin pushes open the door and steps inside. Looks could be deceiving because, at first glance, he looks like he could be one of Dad’s colleagues. Black slacks, shiny dress shoes, and a dark gray button-up with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He’s perfectly put together, not at all how I remembered as a child. His dark hair matches mine at my roots. It’s the sole reason I started bleaching my hair. I’d woken up one day, having hit puberty, and looked far too like my biological father than I cared to.
“Still not as tall as your old man,” he says, his lips curling into a grin.
“Y-You’re not—”
“I am,” he clips out, his tone all business. His gaze drifts over the living room before landing back on me. “I suppose he took good care of you in my stead.”
“Just go.” My voice is nothing but a whisper. “Please.”
His soulless eyes narrow on me. “Nonsense. You’re my son. I’ve come to retrieve you. Take you back home to St. Louis. Teach you the family business.”
I’m shaking my head as he speaks. “N-No. I don’t want to go with you.”
He clenches his jaw, a brief flash of annoyance flickering over his features. “Don’t act so surprised. I texted you. Tried to prepare you.”
“You were texting me this whole time?” I gape at him. “You threatened me?”
“No,” he growls. “The promises to see you on your birthday were me. The threats must have been Joseph. He was one of my men I’d recruited to find you, get your number and school schedule, and keep watch over you. But, he decided to use you against me in some effort to destroy everything I built.” His eyes narrow, darkness glimmering in his gaze. “I didn’t know he was also texting you and fucking stalking you, but he paid for crossing me.”
“I think you should go.”
He takes a step forward and cocks his head to the side, studying me. “He hurt you. Joseph hurt you to get to me. But I took care of it.”
Quickly, I scramble to piece together what he’s saying. “W-What?”
Is he saying…
The blood from that man—Joseph—feels like it’s hot and sticky on my skin again. Absently, I reach up to wipe it off, but nothing’s there but my own perspiration.
“Look,” Colin says, taking another step closer. “Before you graduated high school, I knew there wasn’t anything I could do. Your uncle has a helluva lot more money than I do. Fighting him for custody would have been a losing battle. But now—”
