Off The Cards: Faking it #2 Read online

  I was helpless beneath him, his to take, to do with what he wanted. The vein in his neck bulged, the muscles in his arms were coiled and bunched. He never once took his eyes off me as he moved.

  I could feel every inch of him inside of my body, spearing me, spreading me open, branding me, making me feel like I was levitating off this seat. The things he could do to me; the way he could make me feel… it was indescribable.

  "Christ," he groaned, pressing further inside me. "I can't fucking cope with you, Andi baby." Upping his pace, he moved faster, fucked harder, held me tighter. "You're ruining me."

  I knew the feeling well. Nathan had been ruining me since Pre-K. I thought it only fair that now I was returning the favor.

  "Good," I whispered, tilting my hips upwards, wanting to suck him into me. "I want you broken."

  He half chuckled half groaned in pleasure. "You turning into a sadist, sweetheart?"

  "You're mine," I breathed, scrawling his broad back with my nails. "And now you know it."

  "I know," he hissed. Dipping his head, he pressed a harsh kiss to my lips and exhaled a heavy sigh. "Fuck me, I know."

  ****

  Chapter Nine

  DAWN WAS BREAKING when I finally went home. I'd stayed with Nate in his truck for most of the night. After having sex, we talked and talked. I couldn’t even remember the half of what we had discussed. I'd been too focused on memorizing the plains of Nate's face when he smiled at me, or the way he laughed freely around me now – much different to before when he spent most of his time trying to avoid me.

  Surprisingly, I wasn’t even a little bit tired. Even though I had been awake since yesterday, my body was still on high alert. I guess that's the affect Nate had on me. Collapsing onto my bed, I attempted – and failed – to get some sleep. Excitement thrummed through my body, making it impossible to stay still. Feeling overly-energetic and newly exhilarated, I threw my covers off and jumped out of bed, set on taking a shower. My phone was still on the charger on my desk, and it wasn’t until I went to unplug it that I realized there was a text from Nathan. My stomach fluttered like crazy as I unlocked the screen and opened the message.

  To: Andi

  From: Nate

  Time: 04:58

  10-15-2016

  Message: Thanks for last night. See you at school.

  A sigh of contentment escaped me and I sank down on my chair.

  To: Nate

  From: Andi

  Time: 05:25

  10-15-2016

  Message: I wish I was still with you. Does that make me crazy?

  To: Andi

  From: Nate

  Time: 05.29

  10-15-2016

  Message: Not sure, but it makes me hard.

  My clit throbbed when I read the words on the screen. Good Lord… Biting down on my lip, I tapped away on the screen.

  To: Nate

  From: Andi

  Time: 05:31

  10-15-2016

  Message: Now I really wish I was still with you…

  Who was I?

  I didn’t recognize myself anymore, and I was okay with it. I was okay with who I was becoming because this version of me was happy. I was making my own decisions and I felt as free as a bird. I had a feeling the boy on the other side of these messages was responsible for my newfound spirit.

  Seconds later, my phone started to ring…

  Scrambling to answer it before I woke up Jackson, I slid my finger across the screen and put the phone to my ear.

  "Hello."

  "Tell me more." His voice was deep and raspy and thick from sleep. "Why you wishing you were with me now, Andi baby, instead of that big ole cozy bed of yours."

  "Because I can't touch you in that big ole bed." Oh god… "And I can in your truck. And if I were with you right now, I would. Um…touch you, that is," I added lamely before dropping my head in shame.

  I was so not good at this…

  If Nate had been disappointed in my lack of experience, then he hid his disappointment well. "Damn, girl," he muttered under his breath. "You drive me fucking crazy. You know that, right? What am I saying? Of course you do." Nate was trying to make me feel confident and it was working.

  "And that thing you do with your hips," I added, hearing the purr in my own voice. "When you're deep inside of me…" I exhaled a breathy moan. "I love how it feels when you fill me up."

  "Jesus Christ," Nate strangled out. "I can't fucking hear those naughty words coming out of your pretty little mouth."

  "I'm sorry," I teased. I wasn’t sorry. Not in the slightest. It felt incredibly empowering to make a boy like Nathan Cole groan and I was on a high from the feeling.

  "No, you're not," he shot back and I could hear the amusement in his voice. "Tease."

  "Promise you'll be at school later?"

  "I'll be there."

  "What about clothes?" When I left him earlier, Nate still had his work clothes on.

  "I'll be there, Andi," he repeated softly. "Don’t worry."

  "I'm not," I whispered. "I'm just nervous, I guess."

  "About Jackson?"

  I nodded. "Yeah." And everyone else at school who had given me grief yesterday…"He's not going to go for this, is he?"

  Nate sighed heavily. "I don’t think so, baby."

  "And my parents." I cringed at the thought. "They'll send me away if they find out about us." My father would. I knew that for sure. He had a zero tolerance policy on me dating. He was forever holding the boarding school card over my head.

  "I'm not gonna ignore you, Andi," Nate grumbled, repeating the same words he'd spoken last night when I'd suggested we keep our relationship a secret. "No goddamn way, baby. You're not walking around that school, taking shit because of me." His tone was heated when he said, "I'm gonna stand right with you, baby."

  "But my father, Nate." I pressed my hand to my forehead and groaned. "He'll send me away if he finds out, and if we don’t keep us a secret, he will find out."

  "Then we'll deal with him when it happens, Andi. But I can promise you now, baby, you're going nowhere," Nate growled. "I won't let them take you. As for Jackson and the rest of the school? If any damn one has something to say to you, they're gonna have to go through me first."

  I believed him.

  I knew that sounded crazy and incredibly naïve, but I believed Nathan Cole when he said he would protect me. I put my complete faith in the boy and his word in which he had given me.

  ****

  "WHERE ARE MOM AND DAD?"

  That was the first question that came out of my mouth when I walked downstairs later that morning, dressed for school, and peered around our parentless house. I wasn’t sure how I was going to cope being around my mother now. Knowing what she had done; it made my skin crawl.

  Jackson, who was dutifully ignoring me in the kitchen, cocked his head up from some last minute homework he was completing and grunted, "St. Barts."

  I hadn't actually expected an answer from Jackson, so I was grateful when he replied.

  "Again?" This was the third time since January that our parents had jetted off to the Caribbean. "For how long this time?"

  "Who knows," Jackson drawled in a bored tone as he rolled a pencil between his fingers, eyes still focused on his homework. "Dad's working on the DeFrantz case," he added, turning a page of his textbook. "Could be a while."

  "Last time he got a divorce, Dad was out of town for six weeks," I whispered and suddenly, the fact that Paulo and Augustine DeFrantz three-year marriage had recently gone down the drain thrilled me.

  Paulo DeFrantz was one of Dad's most valued clients. He'd settled four of his previous marriages and was always in a fantastic mood afterwards. DeFrantz was awkward and demanding and required more attention than a toddler, but he was filthy rich. And my daddy liked em with big, fat bank accounts. This was perfect.

  "And Mom?" I squeezed out. "Is she gone with him?" I hoped Jackson didn’t notice how absolutely thrilled I was at another person's misfortune. />
  "Flew out last night," he confirmed with a flick of his wrist, tone bored and clearly uninterested. Our parents' absence was nothing new for us. We spent most of our lives without them. Most of the time, I never even bothered to ask about their whereabouts; I never had reason to. But I did now.

  Nathan…

  My heart flipped around excitedly.

  Reaching inside my jean skirt pocket, I pulled my phone out and immediately typed out a message to Nate before clicking send.

  To: Nate

  From: Andi

  Time: 07:02

  10-15-2016

  Message: My parents are in the Caribbean!!!!

  To: Andi

  From: Nate

  Time: 07:03

  10-15-2016

  Message: You're shitting me?

  To: Nate

  From: Andi

  Time: 07:03

  10-15-2016

  Message: I'm deadly serious here.

  To: Andi

  From: Nate

  Time: 07:04

  10-15-2016

  Message: I'm on the way to school now. I'll wait for you in the parking lot.

  To: Nate

  From: Andi

  Time: 07:05

  10-15-2016

  Message: Okay. I'm nervous.

  To: Andi

  From: Nate

  Time: 07:07

  10-15-2016

  Message: Don’t be. I love you.

  "Who are you texting?" Jackson asked, drawing me out of my text induced trance.

  "Huh?" Red faced, I guiltily slung my phone back in my pocket and forced a smile. "No one. I was checking to see if Mom or Dad messaged me." I shrugged sheepishly. "They haven't."

  "And they won’t." Closing his textbook, Jacks stood up and began to pile everything back into his bag. "You know they don’t give two shits about us, Andi. Stop getting your hopes up." Suddenly, his bored looking expression transformed into a disapproving frown.

  "What?" I asked, uncomfortably, as my brother glared at me.

  "You're wearing that to school?" He inclined his head towards me and tutted.

  "There's nothing wrong with my clothes, Jackson," I shot back. I had on a light denim jean skirt that rested an inch or two above my knees, flat pumps and a plain black tee shirt; it was hardly the outfit of a stripper.

  "At least clean that shit off your face," he shot back cruelly.

  Immediately, my hands moved to my cheeks. All I had put on was some mascara and red lipstick. "Stop making me feel bad," I whispered, red-faced.

  "Whatever." Sliding his bag onto his shoulder, Jackson ran a hand through his hair and added, "I'm going now if you want a ride to school."

  "Yes, please," I replied, reaching for my bag.

  "This doesn’t mean I'm cool with you," Jackson announced when we were sitting in his car a few minutes later. "Driving you to school?" he added grimly. "I'm doing it because I'm your brother. Nothing else. I'm still mad as hell with you." Letting out a heavy sigh, Jackson cranked the engine and tore off down our driveway, causing stones and chippings to scatter everything. "Don’t think I don’t know where you were last night," he added as he pulled out onto the empty street. "I made that goddamn trail, Andi."

  "Jackson," I whispered sadly. "You're my brother, not my father." Clasping my hands together, I turned to face him. "You don’t have the right to be mad at me for this. You need to stop trying to control me. Dad already does enough of that."

  "You lied to me, Andi," he shot back, hurt laced in his voice. "Again." The Range Rover picked up speed; evidence of Jackson's frustration with me. "Last night, you told me it was finished between you two."

  "At the time, it was," I offered lamely, feeling horrible.

  "He's my best friend, Andi," he shot back gruffly. "I'm not fucking having it."

  "I know and I'm sorry," I conceded. "But I love him, Jackson. I know that's hard for you to hear right now, but it's the truth."

  "Yeah, well you're delusional if you think it's gonna work out between you two," Jackson announced when we pulled into the student parking lot at school. Immediately, I sought out Nate's truck and when I found it, a warm feeling settled over me. "You need to end it."

  I didn’t care what Jackson said. I didn’t care about any of it. I wasn't listening to him anymore. My entire focus was on the boy leaning against the beaten down Chevy, with his eyes locked on mine.

  The moment Jackson pulled his car into a parking space and killed the engine, I had my belt unfastened and was halfway out the door, only to have my arm yanked back by my brother.

  "Jackson," I cried out, cradling my arm with my hand. "You almost pulled my arm out of its socket."

  "He is dead to me, Andi." My brother's eyes were blazing with anger. "I mean it. He is nothing to me and if you walk out of this car and go to him, then you're dead to me, too."

  "Jackson." My voice was barely more than a whisper. "You are completely overreacting here –"

  "Overreacting?" he snapped, interrupting me. "I didn’t spend my whole damn life taking care of you just so you could go and screw yourself up by getting involved with a guy like him."

  "A guy like him?" I shot back in disgust. "Nathan's your best friend."

  "Was," Jackson corrected in a heated tone. "And if you don’t start using your brain, you'll be past tense too."

  "I'm with Nathan now," I shot back shakily, forcing myself to be brave. "And if you don’t want him in your life, then you don’t want me either."

  "Fine," Jackson shot back coldly. "I don’t want you in my life."

  I paled, taken aback by his cruelness. "You don’t mean that."

  "You keep fucking around with him?" Disgust laced his tone. "And I'm done with you." Shrugging, he sniffed. "Your choice."

  My choice?

  This wasn’t a choice.

  It was bullying.

  If I got out of this car, I would lose my brother. I knew the risks, the consequences, and the repercussions my decision would cause, so why wasn’t I more upset?

  I reached for my bag.

  "Andi," Jackson called out, clearly appalled, as I climbed out of his car.

  I didn’t respond.

  I didn’t even look in his direction.

  I was done being treated like an object.

  With my head held high, I kept moving, my feet directing me towards where my heart wanted to be.

  To where I belonged.

  With him.

  My fear fell away with every step I took, bringing me closer to Nate.

  I had crossed a line, I knew it, but there was no turning back now.

  A line had been drawn in the sand, and I'd made my choice.

  Nate was my choice.

  When I reached Nate, the concern on his face was evident. He knew full well something had gone down between Jackson and me. It was obvious from the tears in my eyes. With a pained expression on his face, Nate opened his arms to me.

  Without a word, I walked straight into his arms, not caring who saw me. Burying my face in the fabric of his shirt, I clenched my eyes shut and forced myself to get ahold of myself. Nate's arms came around my body; warm, strong, and protective.

  "I'll take care of you," he whispered, lowering his face to my temple, and I knew he was being one hundred percent sincere. "I promise."

  I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on for dear life. "I know."

  He's safe, my body screamed. He's home, pounded my heart. My brain, for once, didn’t protest.

  He was a trailer park boy from Riverside and I was a girl from the upper side of Spring Hill. We were so very wrong for each other and yet, it wouldn’t stop me from having him. From having him take me. I belonged to him. I had always belonged to him. He knew it and so did I, and now I was willing to give him whatever he needed from me. It was astonishing really; how one person could walk into your life and wield your future over you.

  I didn't care what people thought about me anymore.

  Nathan Cole wrapped me up in hi
s arms and I felt cocooned – protected.

  They couldn’t touch me.

  None of them.

  Not even my father.

  "You're nothing but a traitor bastard, Cole!" I heard Jackson roar from behind me. "A broke as fuck momma's boy who fucks over his friends."

  Immediately, I stiffened, expecting a brawl, but Nate didn’t react like I thought he would.

  Instead of chasing Jackson down like I expected, Nate pulled me against his side and wrapped his large tanned arm around me. "Aren't you mad at him?" I asked, gaping up at him.

  "Nah." Nate shrugged it off and waited until my brother had turned around and walked into school before looking down at me. "Jackson's hurt, baby. He doesn’t mean a word of what he just said. And besides." He smirked down at me then. "See how he's saying all that shit from a safe distance?" Nate winked down at me. "Boy's all sizzle and no steak."

  "You are seriously kind, Nathan Cole," I heard myself say as I stared up at Nate's face. A new found respect for him settled inside of my heart because I knew he could beat on my brother like a sack of potatoes if he felt inclined. I didn’t want that to happen and he cared enough that he didn’t either.

  "No. I am seriously yours, Adriana Davis," he corrected before ducking down and pressing a kiss to my lips.

  It was supposed to be just a light kiss, but the moment his lips touched mine, I couldn’t stop myself from turning in Nate arms and pressing my body to his. With a breathy sigh against his mouth, I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, throwing everything I had into kissing him. His tongue snaked out, sliding against my bottom lip, probing for access; access I gladly gave to him. His hands moved to my lower back, holding me to him, his fingers digging into the fleshy area of my hips.

  When we finally broke apart, Nate was smeared in my lipstick. Grinning at the sight, I reached up and wiped his lip with my thumb. "You're covered in my red lip prints," I told him.

  "Fine by me," he shot back gruffly, eyes dark and full of heat. "Feel free to cover any part of me in your lip prints." Nate hooked a finger in the waistband of my jean skirt with one hand before sliding the other around to cup my butt. "Goddamn, you're perfect."