It’s gentle. Sweet. No passion, no tongue, just pure emotion pouring from his lips to mine. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispers. “I don’t deserve any of this.”
“You do,” I reaffirm, my free hand sliding into the hair at his nape. “I’ll help you. We’ll all help you.”
“It could get ugly.” He pulls away a little. “My mom will say whatever makes herself look good. She’s a liar.”
“Just stand by your truth.” I release my hold on his hair and take a step backward, letting go of his other hand. “You are telling me the truth, right?”
His pitch-dark gaze never leaves mine as he nods slowly. “Yeah. I am.”
“Then that’s all that matters.” I take his hand once more. “Let’s go talk to my parents.”
Thirty-Three
Ash
Autumn sat beside me when I told my sordid tale to her parents. Her dad, my coach, my idol, appeared completely blown away when I talked about dealing pills, his eyes wide and unblinking, his lips parted in shock. Her mom’s gaze was full of sympathy, but also understanding. That woman just gets me, which is sort of scary.
We were in Drew’s office for little over an hour as we tried to strategize my next move. We still plan on meeting with Adney, but that’s not scheduled until nine tomorrow morning. Before that, we’re going to the county deputy’s office.
That’s going to suck. But I have to come clean and tell them the truth. I have proof. Shit, I have a prescription bottle of Oxycontin with my mom’s name on it in my backpack because yes, I’m that idiot who’s still wandering around with pills. At least they aren’t in baggies—that would get me an automatic arrest.
“We’ll get you through this,” Drew says, Fable nodding in agreement. “As long as you tell the truth, you should be okay.”
I want to believe them. But what I’m doing is illegal. I could end up in big trouble.
Huge.
Once the meeting is over, we all exit his office, Drew and Fable heading to the kitchen so they can start dinner together like it’s just another normal night for the Callahan family. I guess Drew’s going to grill hamburgers and Fable’s going to make a salad and frozen french fries. Nothing fancy, but at least it’s a semi-homecooked meal. More than my mom’s ever given me these last few years since Dad died.
“Let’s go talk outside,” Autumn tells me as she takes my hand and leads me through the back door on the other side of the house, the one closest to my room. I’ve never snuck out of this house, though it would be so easy with that door nearby.
But I don’t want to. I want to stay here. I like it here.
I don’t want to fuck things up.
Autumn takes me to an area that’s on the far side of the house, close to the front yard. There’s a giant tree providing plenty of shade, with various flowers planted along the pathway, their heads bobbing and weaving with the gentle breeze. There’s a bench beneath the tree and Autumn sits on it, pulling me down beside her, and I stare at her in wonderment for a while, until she laughs uncomfortably.
“Is there something on my face?” She touches her nose, her cheek.
“No,” I murmur, wishing I could kiss her, but I’m going to use restraint. “Why are you so nice to me?”
Autumn frowns, her delicate brows furrowing. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been a complete asshole to you since the first day we met.” I think back to that day. Me lighting matches, telling her that jackass only wanted to get a pussy shot from her. I rocked her world by talking so bluntly, I saw it in the way her eyes widened, her perfect pink lips parting in surprise when I said those words. I bet no one had ever talked to precious Autumn Callahan like that before.
Felt kind of good, shocking her. Made me want to do it again. Made me addicted to her. The fact that she’s beautiful didn’t hurt. Only made it worse, really. I like how short she is, all cute and compact while I tower over her. Her body is amazing. Her tits look great in just about everything she wears, though I could tell those first couple of years in high school she always tried to hide them. She came into herself by junior year. She was a lot stronger, a lot braver. Even more beautiful.
And she belonged to someone else. A wimp who had no idea what to do with her. I always knew what to do with her, knew just what to do to make her feel. I said all the right words, told her how I felt, and she still rejected me.
Repeatedly.
I did the same thing to her, I suppose. When I was younger, I wasn’t serious. Not about Autumn, not about anything. I just wanted to toy with her. Kiss her, fuck her, be done with her. That had been my plan the night of the homecoming dance, and I thought I had her there for a minute.
As usual, she ran away.
Proving she’s smarter than I first gave her credit for.
“You were a complete asshole,” she agrees, her sweet voice pulling me from my thoughts. “I think I’m attracted to assholes.”
“What about Ben?” I torture myself when I ask about him. I hate thinking of him with his hands on her. Kissing her. I didn’t believe her when she told me they never did it, because come on. Why wouldn’t Ben Murray fuck her as fast as possible?
But she was telling me the truth. I still can’t believe that she is all mine. Completely mine. If I have my way, I’ll be inside her at least once by the end of next week. I know I shouldn’t be plotting and planning ways to sneak into her room, when my entire life could go up in flames tomorrow morning, but threats never really worked on me. Meaning I’m the stupid one who’s willing to risk it all for a piece of ass.
But it’s not just a piece of ass when it comes to Autumn. She’s so much more than that.
I think I’m falling in love with her. If I even know what love actually is…
“Ben was who I thought I should be with. He’s kind, he’s polite. He was a good boyfriend to me. Supportive. Comes from a good family.” She turns to look at me, her green eyes glittering. “He bored me. There was no spark.”
Reaching out, I play with a strand of her hair, twisting it around my finger again and again. “We got spark.”
“We have lots of spark,” she agrees with a faint smile.
“I wish we could spark it up right now,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. It’s been nothing but heavy bullshit for the entire weekend. I’m over it.
“I wish we could too.” I start to say something, but she presses her fingers against my mouth, silencing me. “But not yet. We need to get through the next few days first.”
She’s right, and I hate that. I’d drag her back to my room right now if she’d let me. Strip her naked and kiss her everywhere. Use one of those condoms I stole from her brother—who the hell is he fucking anyway? God, who knows? Who really cares?
Not me.
I think back to the last time I had Autumn naked, when I licked her pussy and drove her wild. Her thighs clamped so tight around my head when she was coming, it was like getting squeezed by a vise.
It was hot as fuck.
I kiss her fingers and she smiles. Doesn’t pull away when I lightly grab hold of her wrist and continue to kiss her there. Her eyes darken when I flick my tongue out and lick her index finger, then her middle finger. By the time I get to her ring finger, she’s squirming and I’m pulling her in closer so I can drop a kiss on her puffy mouth. I know there are cameras out here, so I need to watch myself, but damn I can’t get enough of her taste. The way her tongue tangles with mine, the little moans and whimpers that sound in her throat. She gets off on me so easily. I bet if I slipped my hand beneath her shorts, under her panties, I’d find her soaking wet.
All for me.
“Okay.” She tears her lips away from mine, both of us breathing heavily. “We need to stop.”
I pull her in for one last kiss, on her neck, just behind her ear. She shivers. “I never want to stop when I’m with you.”
She clutches my shoulders, tilting her head back so I can kiss her there again, forgetting all about my one last kiss promise. “I don’t either. But we have to.”