Broken Ground: (Broken Series Book 1) (15 page)

"That sounds great. I've been craving strawberries a lot lately." Ever since we shared that moment at the berry patch.

She must have known what I was referring to because she blushed. "Yeah. Me too."

We spent the next few minutes in silence while we ate our sugary breakfast. I nearly ran off the fucking road when she began licking the icing off her fingers. One by one, she placed them in her mouth, licking and sucking them clean. Fuck. Me.

Eyes on the road, McGavran.

Finished with her breakfast, and her fingers, thank God, Ali turned in the seat and tucked one leg under the other. She was facing me, and one glance at her told me she wanted to talk. Despite my original desire to do just that, I found myself dreading whatever was about to come out of her mouth. There was a good chance that she was regretting what happened between us. If so, I was about to get the 'I just want us to be friends' speech for the first time in my life. I could deal with being nothing more than friends, it would be much less complicated that way, but the thought that she might regret our encounter fucking gutted me.

We stopped at a red light, the truck's cab silent. I took a deep breath and met her eye, afraid of what I might find there. She was smiling. Genuinely smiling as if she'd never been happier. Thank fuck. She placed her elbow on the center console and rested her chin on her hand, studying me. "Something occurred to me this morning."

Oh shit. "What's that?" I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

A horn blared behind me and I returned my eyes to the road as I rolled through the intersection. I could still feel her gaze on me. "I never found out what was said after I left you alone with Keith last night. I think you owe me some details."

Damn. I'd forgotten all about that. "I guess I do." She was going to be pissed, but I had to tell the truth. "I told him that he was wrong about everything but especially about you being cold." I'd never use the term 'frigid' in her presence again.

"And?" She knew there was more.

"And I told him that he just didn't know how to fuck because I'd already made you come twice on the way to the gala."

She jerked upright, shocked. Her body was twisted toward me, and I could feel her staring. I may have flinched slightly. She was about to rip my head off, and I brought it on myself. I should never have said anything to him. She didn't need me defending her.

When her howl of laughter ripped through the cab, I instinctively stomped the brake, panicked at the sudden noise. It took me a second to grasp what was happening, Ali was bent forward in the seat, clutching her stomach as she laughed hysterically into the floorboard. I checked my mirrors — relieved that no one had been behind us because we surely would have gotten rear-ended — and pushed 'resume' on the cruise control.

I couldn't help laughing as I watched her. She sat back and wiped her eyes though more tears streamed down her face a second later. We both laughed for several minutes, her out of apparent amusement, and me in relief that she hadn't been angry. She got herself together enough to speak and looked at me. "It wasn't exactly a lie, more of a prediction." Then she cracked up again.

Though she was obviously alright with what I'd done, I had to say something. "I'm sorry if I overstepped, but I couldn't help it. The hateful little prick had it coming."

Her laughter peaked all over again. She sputtered out, "Little prick is exactly right." before she doubled over again.

It took some time before she finally calmed down and, when she did, I asked something that definitely crossed the line and was likely to piss her off, but the curiosity was killing me. "Had you ever orgasmed before last night?"

She sucked in a breath, blushing all the way down her neck but holding my eye. Not wanting to run us into a ditch, I turned my eyes forward. Her voice was surprisingly steady when she replied. "Yes, just never with a partner."

Oh, holy fuck, I was picturing her pleasuring herself, and it made me instantly hard. I was dying to ask for more details. With her hand? A toy? Both? I would have loved to see that show. My God.

She snickered at my reaction, my desire probably obvious on my face. "I get to ask you a question now, right? I mean, it's only fair." I nodded hesitantly, and she sat looking at me for a moment. I could feel the heat of her stare on the side of my face. "How old were you your first time?"

"Thirteen." Her soft gasp told me she thought it was too young and, although I agreed, I didn't regret it. "I was stupid and in a hurry for something I didn't even fully understand." That was the truth, sadly. I didn't want to focus on that. I was more interested in my next question for Ali. "Is Keith the only lover you've had?" If she'd only been with him, and he had no clue what he was doing, it made sense that she'd never come with anyone before.

"No. My high school boyfriend and I..." she trailed off. "But it was only a couple times and hardly lasted a minute each time. He was seventeen, after all, and just as inexperienced as I was but he was sweet, and he truly cared about me." Her voice was laced with sadness when she went on. "It may not have been the best sex ever, but at least he was a good guy. If I'd waited, if I'd given that first time to Keith, it would have been the biggest mistake of my life." She touched the hand I'd rested on the console. "The only real first I had left, he didn't get. I gave that to you."

I flipped my hand over, palm side up, and she threaded her fingers through mine. "I'm more honored than you'll ever know, Ali."

She leaned over the console and rested her head on my shoulder "Even though we're just friends, can we still have this sometimes?"

Not sure what she was talking about, I squeezed her hand. "This what?"

She squeezed back and nuzzled my shoulder. "Just being close like this. Nothing sexual has to happen. I know that was a one-time thing, that it has to be that way because we work together, but I'd really miss being close to you. It's comforting, safe. You know?"

I did know. I'd never been a snuggler, but with her I craved it. Her touch, her warmth, I needed the contact as much as she did, maybe more so. "I'd miss it too, Ali." I stroked her thumb with mine. "There's nothing wrong with comforting a friend, so there's no reason to stop." Of course, I knew that every touch, every hug, every caress was just pushing us closer to crossing the line, but I didn't give a damn right then. Not with her body pressed against me, and her hand in mine. It was where I wanted to be, and I wasn't going to pretend otherwise.

At least not today.

Denson

WHEN WE WERE
about a mile from Ali's place, I leaned my cheek down onto her head and whispered, "Almost there, sleeping beauty." She stirred but didn't sit up, so I tried again. "Ali? We're back in Denson. We'll be at your apartment in a minute." She made a sound that was eerily like a growl. It was kind of sexy.

She groused a bit longer before sitting up, blinking rapidly into the early afternoon sun. "Wow. I can't believe I fell asleep." She turned to me. "You should have woken me."

I just smiled and shook my head. "No way. You were tired. Besides, even unconscious, you're better company than Spencer."

She chuckled as she adjusted her wrinkled clothes. I turned into the parking lot beside her apartment, and the smile fell from her lips. She stared out her window and placed one hand on the door. Confused, I parked the truck and leaned over to follow her gaze.

Talia stood on the landing by the door to the apartment, phone in hand and white as a damn sheet. She paced and gestured with her hands as she spoke to whoever was on the other end, looking distraught.

Ali turned to me with wide eyes. "Something's wrong."

We both jumped out of the truck and raced up the stairs to Talia. Ali got there first and, when Talia saw her, her face crumpled. She hung up on whoever she had been talking to and pulled Ali into a fierce hug. Ali turned them so that she was looking at me over Talia's shoulder. Her expression was scared and confused.

I stood there like a damn idiot, not knowing what to do or what was wrong. When Talia pulled out of the embrace and raised a shaking hand to point into the apartment, I was immediately alarmed. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "God, Ali. I can't believe this." Her shoulders shook, and I thought she was going to break down. I was relieved when she managed to continue, though a cold feeling of dread was worming its way through my stomach. "It's all ruined. Every painting, every book, every scrap of clothing, all of it."

Ali looked like she might shake her friend. "What the hell are you talking about? What happened?"

Talia pointed again and this time I stepped over to the door, barely squeezing by them. What little I could see from the threshold was enough to chill me to the bone. It was like a damn tornado had hit. Talia finally found her voice. "Someone broke in and destroyed everything in sight. I didn't make it through the whole apartment, but there was black paint splattered everywhere. All the books are in the living room floor, and they're all torn apart and covered in paint. There are broken dishes everywhere. I could see your shredded canvases all down the hallway and there are cut up bits of clothes everywhere." Her voice climbed an octave with each sentence.

Ali gasped. I turned to find her peeking around me into the apartment. She looked around at the devastation and her lower lip trembled. Once. Then she looked up at me with anger in her eyes. "Somebody just fucked up. Colossally." She turned back to Talia. "Did you call the police?"

"Yes. They'll be here soon. Since it's," she used air quotes, "just a vandalism, they didn't seem to be in too big a hurry."

Standing out there sweating our asses off wasn't going to help the situation. I gathered the girls, and we headed back to the truck. At least we could wait for the police in the air-conditioning.

Ali sat in the back with Talia, comforting her friend between angry glances at the apartment. I watched them in my mirror, offering whatever small encouragement I could, but I felt useless. I couldn't do a damn thing to fix what had happened, and it pissed me off. They were both shaken, even if Ali was putting up a good front. I'd seen her lip tremble, and I'd watched her hands shake as she ushered Talia to the truck.

When the police arrived, I stayed with the girls as they inspected the apartment. I walked with them down the hall and heard Ali fight back a sob as she stepped over the remnants of her paintings. We discovered that Talia's room was relatively untouched with the exception of some broken picture frames, all of which held snapshots of her with Ali from what I'd seen.

It quickly became apparent that whoever had done this only targeted one of them. Ali. The more we saw, the madder I got. Some fucking body was going to pay for this. I'd make sure of it. Whoever the coward was, their ass was mine.

After what seemed like hours of pointless questions, the responding officers suggested a hotel, given that the apartment looked like a landfill. I watched the look that passed between Ali and Talia, both of them angry and afraid. No way were they going to a damn hotel. Not that this town had one anyway. There was a motel a few blocks away, but that shit was not happening. I stepped up and shook the officer's hand. "That won't be necessary. The ladies are coming with me."

He nodded and handed Ali a card. "This is the number of a clean-up crew. It might take a few days, but they can get this place spic-n-span. If you think of anything that we should know, discover anything is missing, give us a call." He offered a sympathetic smile and nodded for his partner to follow him out.

I turned to Ali. "If there's anything left of your clothes and personal items, you can pack them up and bring them with. If not, we'll just buy everything you need." She just stood there, staring. I ignored that for the moment and addressed Talia. "You seem to be in good shape as far as clothes and stuff, but the same offer applies to you." I looked between them both, trying to be as comforting as possible. "If you don't want to touch a damn thing in this place, we'll get in the truck right now and go. I'd completely understand if you didn't want to take a single thing with you." I met each of their gazes.

Talia sniffed, tears welling up again as she stepped over to me and pulled me into a hug. I patted her softly on the back and whispered reassurances as her tears dripped onto my shirt. She released me and walked down the hall to her room.

When I turned back to Ali, I expected to have a fight on my hands. I knew she wouldn't like the idea of me stepping in and taking charge, but I couldn't just ship them off to a crappy motel and walk away. That was not fucking happening.

So, if she wanted to argue, fine by me.

She wasn't looking at me, though. She was watching Talia retreat down the hall, listening to the quiet sniffles echo through the decimated apartment. When she finally met my gaze, she looked at me adoringly for a moment and launched herself into my arms. Unlike my embrace with Talia, this one was desperate, urgent. My arms tightened around Ali until I thought I might break her. Her whole body pressed against me as if she wanted to be as close as humanly possible. I lifted her until her feet were off the floor and her legs wrapped around my hips. We stood there like that for several minutes, listening to the shuffling sounds coming from Talia's room as she packed.