Assumption (Underground Kings #1) (9 page)

“Stop thinking and sleep.”

“I have to get up,” I tell him, trying to lift his giant arm. My body feels so weak that I stop trying after a couple of seconds.

“You were up all night. You just went to bed two hours ago. You need to sleep. I need to sleep, so stop moving around.”

My eyes widen when I realize that his very evident erection is pressed up against my leg. “I can’t remember anything,” I tell him, covering my face.

“Seeing how you drank a shit-ton of tequila last night, that’s not surprising,” he mumbles sleepily.

“Please don’t say that word.” I shake my head. Just the thought of that drink alone has my body ready to revolt. “How did I get home?”

“I’ll tell you every embarrassing detail from the time you texted me until now when we wake up later.”

“Oh God, I texted you?” I groan.

“You did. Now, go to sleep.”

“I feel sick.”

“You have nothing left if your stomach,” he says on a sigh.

“What do you mean?”

“You were sick all night.”

“This just keeps getting better and better,” I whisper.

“Sleep, babe,” he says quietly as I feel his lips against the bare skin of my shoulder; the touch has my pulse picking up.

“Why am I naked?” I ask, concentrating on the feeling between my legs. I sigh in relief when I don’t feel any tenderness or anything that would lead me to believe I did anything stupider than drink too much and send drunken texts.

“You were sick and I put you in the shower last night. I tried to give you a shirt, but you wouldn’t take it.”

“Oh,” I say, squeezing my eyes closed.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t see anything.
Much
,” he says quietly, and I can hear a smile in his voice.

“I’m never drinking again.”

“Why?” he asks, sounding surprised. “You had a good time. You just don’t know your limit. I will be having a talk with Tara. No way should she have given you shots of tequila on your first night out drinking.”

“You are not talking with Tara.” I shake my head, imagining him talking to her. I can see it now—it would be a lot of yelling and none of it nice.

“We’ll talk about it later. Right now, we’re going to sleep, and then later, we’re going to my Aunt Viv’s house for dinner.”

“Your aunt?” I shake my head in disbelief.

“Yep, my aunt.”

“How in the hell does this stuff happen to me?” I question as my stomach gurgles loudly.

“You’ll be okay. You had some Tums a little while ago.” He squeezes my side, and I’m pretty sure my life is like a really bad Lifetime movie.

“You can go to your room,” I tell him after a few minutes.

“No, I’m comfortable.”

“I’m not,” I whine.

“Go to sleep, Autumn.”

“I can’t.”

“You can.” He squeezes me again. “Close your eyes and go to sleep or I will give you something that will put you to sleep.”

“You didn’t just say that.”

“Sleep,” he growls.

“Can you at least move your arm so I can move?” I pull the sheet up higher on my chest, lifting my head slightly to see if I can spot a shirt anywhere near me.

“Jesus, you’re a pain in my ass.” He flings his arm behind him and pulls a piece of fabric from behind his back.

“Why do you have this?” I ask when I see that it’s a shirt.

“I just told you. I tried to put it on you last night, but you refused.”

“Oh,” I whisper, slipping the shirt on over my head and then shimmying it down under the sheet.

“Now, lay your ass down and go to sleep.” He tugs me back onto the bed, not giving me a choice.

I turn my back to him and try to scoot away, but it feels like it takes all of my energy to move an inch. I close my eyes as he pulls me into him. My ass curves into his hips, his arm wraps around my waist, and his bicep slides under my head like a pillow. I try not to think about how it makes me feel to be so close to him. I try to tell myself that I don’t feel incredibly safe and comfortable. Before I can convince myself that I hate how I feel, I fall asleep.

I wake up
slowly and take notice that I don’t feel the warmth of Kenton behind me, and I open my eyes, wondering if I dreamt the whole thing. I lift my head slightly and look at the clock. “Shit,” I whisper, seeing that it’s eleven already. I take a deep breath and smell Kenton’s cologne. I lift some of my hair to my nose. The smell is so strong that my stomach flips over.

I take my time sitting up on the side of the bed, and I see that a glass full of water, two Tylenols, and a few Tums have been set on the nightstand. I don’t want to think that it’s sweet that he thought about how I would feel when I woke up and made sure to leave them where I would find them before I got out of bed, but I can’t stop thinking about it as I take the pills.

I get out of bed and look down at myself, noticing that I’m not wearing one of my shirts, but a shirt I’m sure belongs to him. I walk to the dresser and get a pair of panties and a bra before going to the closet and grabbing a pair of shorts, a tank top, and an oversized sweater. I open my bedroom door, looking both ways before running across the hall to the bathroom.

Once inside, I quietly shut the door and turn to look in the mirror. I cover my mouth with my hand when I see myself. My hair is sticking out all over my head. My eye makeup is smeared around my eyes and down my cheeks, and my freckles stand out due to how pale I look.

“Kill me now,” I whisper to my refection as I grab a couple of makeup remover cloths from the drawer and wipe my face. When I’m done, I start the shower and step inside. I look down when I feel something soggy under my feet. My dress from last night is on the shower floor, sopping wet, so I pick it up and ring it out before tossing it over the shower rail.

I don’t know what happened last night, and I can’t help but be thankful I don’t remember anything. I can only imagine the kind of fool I made out of myself while drunk. I get out of the shower and quickly get dressed before french braiding my hair and putting on some mascara, blush, and lip gloss.

As I’m picking up my clothes from the floor, my eye catches my cell phone sitting on the back of the toilet. I pick it up, looking at the black screen, afraid to click it on. I say a silent prayer that I didn’t actually text Kenton last night and that he was just joking when he told me what I’d done. I press the round button before sliding my finger across the screen.

The picture that is now my background has me almost dropping the phone into the toilet. I’m lying across the bar at the club we were at with my dress up around my waist. A guy has his back to the camera and his upper body is bent over me, his face near my stomach.

“Please, no,” I whisper, and my shaky fingers press the icon for my text messages. As soon as the screen changes, texts between Kenton and me pop up. “No, no, no…” I chant, reading the messages.

Me:
Why do you hav to so hot?

Kenton:
Where are you?

Me:
da clubs lol

Kenton:
What club?

Me:
I wants to kis you all ovr

Kenton:
Dammit, tell me where you are.

Me:
I asj Tara shesnice.

Kenton:
I’m on my way.

Me:
howz that

Me:
Yoi kisz god

Kenton:
Go to the bar and ask for water.

Me:
Tequeda is like watber

Kenton:
Baby, I need you to find somewhere to sit down until I get there.

Me:
Sitty with a nicews guy

Kenton:
Where’s Tara?

Me:
herre

Kenton:
Parking now.

I close my eyes and bite the inside of my cheek hard, trying not to cry from embarrassment. I’m never drinking again.

Not My Ass!

A
fter I read
the text messages in the bathroom, I try to sneak back into my bedroom, planning to hide out until it’s time to go to Viv’s house for dinner. Unfortunately, as soon as I make it back into my room, Kenton knocks on the door.

I think about not answering, but I don’t want to be mean after he so obviously took care of me the night before. As soon as I tell him to come in, he pushes the door open, carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a bagel in the other. I don’t know how to react to him being sweet. Since the day I met him, things have been a roller coaster, and I’m not someone who likes amusement parks.

“I want you to try to eat something,” he says, walking around the bed.

“Thanks, and thank you for taking care of me last night,” I tell him, taking the coffee from his hand as he sets the bagel down on the bedside table.

“How’s your head?”

“Better. Thanks for the Tylenol.”

“You’re welcome.”

The small smile he gives me has my eyes dropping to his mouth. I take in his face, the scruff along his jaw, and the way his hair hangs, touching the collar of his shirt.

“You need to shave,” I blurt and look away, but my eyes go back to him when his laugh hits my ears.

“You think so?” he asks, rubbing his hand along his jaw. I want to lean forward and touch his face to see what it feels like against my skin. “You might like it,” he mumbles, his eyes dropping to my thighs.

I don’t know if he’s thinking what I am, but the thought of the rough scruff on his jaw running along the inside of my thighs has my hands shaking.

“Eat. We’ll head out in a couple of hours. I got some stuff to take care of before then, but come find me in the office,” he says, his voice sounding deeper than before.

I nod, not able to say anything. I have a feeling that any words that might come out of my mouth right now would be incoherent anyways.

He looks at me again then stands, shaking his head. I watch him as he walks to the bedroom door, stops at the threshold to look at me over his shoulder before tapping the doorjamb twice, and then leaves the room. I let out a long breath, wondering what the hell I’m going to do. I’m drawn to him. He scares the shit out of me. I’m never like this and don’t know what to do with the jumbled mess my emotions are in.

*

“You okay?” Kenton
asks, and I look from the house in front of us over to him and nod before I start to open the door to his car. “Wait here while I come around,” he says, unfolding his large body from behind the driver’s seat.

I watch him walk around to the passenger’s side of the car. Watching him move is fascinating to me. He reminds me of a lion or a bear, his movements fluid, even with his large mass.

He opens my door and I get out, running my sweaty palms down the front of my shorts as I stand. As soon as I clear the door of the car, his hand goes to the small of my back and he leads me up the front porch. He doesn’t even knock or ring the bell; he just opens the screen door and walks us into the house.

My feet stop inside the front door. I didn’t tell Viv that Kenton was going to be bringing me, and I don’t want her to think that I’m rude, even if they are family.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his eyebrows coming together.

“I feel bad. I should have called and told Viv what was going on. I don’t like springing this on her,” I tell him, fidgeting with the ends of my sweater.

“I called her this morning and told her I was coming,” he assures me.

“Oh.”

“It’s all good. Come on.” He grabs my hand, pulling me along with him.

When we clear the front hall, we walk into the large living room, where more than a dozen people turn to look at us.

“Crap,” I whisper and then glare at Kenton when he starts to laugh.

“Autumn, you’re here! And look! You brought the ass,” Viv says, walking towards us.

I feel my eyes go wide at the word ‘ass’ and start shaking my head at her.

“Oh, honey, trust me. I know this one’s an ass.” She pats Kenton’s cheek, smiling up at him.

“Thanks, Aunt Viv.” He laughs, kissing her cheek.

When she comes to me, her hands go to my face, her eyes look me over, and she smiles, shaking her head. I have the urge to bite my lip. I know what she’s thinking, and she is oh-so wrong.

“Is Mom here?” Kenton asks her, and I look over at him, feeling suddenly like I might be sick.

“Yep. She’s outside with your uncle.”

“I’m gonna go get my mom, baby. I’ll be right back,” he tells me and starts to move away.

“No! I mean…don’t do that. I…um, I need to go back to the house,” I say quickly, trying to plan my escape. “You guys have a nice dinner and I’ll just reschedule.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Viv says, waving her hand around.

No way do I want to meet Kenton’s mom, and there is nothing anyone can say that will convince me differently,
I think, feeling the panic rise.

“Honey, I’m so glad you’re here,” a woman says, walking into the room.

I take her in. Her dark hair is shorter than Kenton’s. She’s petite; I would guess close to five one. She’s wearing a long, flowing dress and a blue jean vest with a wide belt wrapped around her waist. My eyes close and my head falls forward. Now I have no way to get out of this without looking like an ass.