Caged: Cellar Door Series (10 page)

Javier’s eyes widened at the half crazed look I was sporting, his face paling while he stared back and forth between Kylee and me trying to determine what the deal was without pissing me off further. “Look, I was just dancing with her man. Relax. I got it.  Hands off, no problem.”

“Fuck you Javier. You can tell she’s done for; she can’t even stand up on her own. Your fucking hands didn’t need to be all over her when she couldn’t tell you if she wanted that shit or not. That’s some shady shit right there. Let me catch you near her again and you won’t be fit to fight, ever again.” The warning was clear. Javier was young, dumb and full of cum but he was smart enough to figure out not to fuck with me about Kylee and vacated the dance floor leaving us alone but not before he let loose a few insults on his way past. Fuck him. Maybe I would cut weight and try his class out. Teach him about putting hands on overly intoxicated females except I was almost positive that if I was put in a cage with him, he wouldn’t be walking out. I would be permanently finished with fighting too and not by choice.

I glanced down at the mess in my arms, Kylee eyes were glassy and half shut, her cheeks bright pink. She wasn’t in any kind of shape to do anything but sleep and all I wanted to do was get her straight. God damn I was turning into a straight pansy ass around her, worse yet, a small part of me almost could deal with it, fuck, even wanted to deal with it. “Let’s get you home baby girl.”

Kylee giggled and slurred. “I’m straying at Jenn’s. My mooom will be so pissssed. Did you know I’m old enough, but she still gets so pissssed when I drink?”

I could only shake my head at her babble, the heat from my anger seeping out of my body now that she was safe in my arms. “I’ll take care of it. Come on; let’s get you to a bed before you fall down.” Keeping one arm around her waist leading her towards the door, I interrupted Matt and Ronnie as we passed by them. Matt blanched when he noted Kylee’s condition, worry creasing his brow.

              “Taking her home bro, she’s a goner and will be hating life tomorrow. Tell her friends she’s with me yeah? I’ll text her mom so she doesn’t worry.”

After getting Matt’s word and a sympathetic look from Ronnie, I took Kylee outside and got her settled in my truck, buckling her limp form in and hoping anything in her stomach, would stay there for the ride.

“Make it stop….please JD.” Kylee’s arm was draped out along one edge of the toilet seat, her cheek resting on it as she begged me to stop the room from spinning. We’d just cleared the front door when she started heaving. I’d never moved so fast in my fucking life as I did to get her to the bathroom before she blew all over my apartment.

              After re-wetting the wash cloth and putting it back along her neck, I eased down to sit, my back to the vanity doors, my legs bent, arms resting on my knees. I let my eyes roam over the designs on my forearms while I waited for Kylee’s body to decide it was done getting sick. The bathroom wasn’t tiny but it was beyond crowded with the two of us in there taking up floor space.

              I felt for her. Kylee’s eyes were squeezed shut, her skin pale and clammy. “If I could stop it for you I would.” I received a groan in return. I knew she wasn’t a fucking innocent, she’d been part of a sorority in college so this wasn’t her first go round with a good drunk and while I’d cut Kylee out of my life, Matt hadn’t so I’d always had some idea of what she’d been up too, even when I told him to shut up, he would find a way to drop info about her.

              We sat for a while until I was sure she wasn’t going to violate my bed by getting sick on it and my ass went numb. Finally, I stood and reached down to help Kylee up, my arms lacing between her arms and her sides to wrap around her middle, her back to my chest and then walked her to my room. “Lets get you in bed.”

              I tried to sit her on the bed but she fell back, her arms splaying out to either side. She cracked her eyes open and gave a goofy shit faced grin. “Are you mad at me JD? Don’t be mad.”

              I shook my head and ignored her rambling and instead concentrated on stripping her down. Granted she made the outfit look damn good but her cloths seemed uncomfortable as hell. I got her down to the scrap of lace that made up her bra and the matching panties and sucked in a breath. Fuck me….

              I quickly located one of my largest t-shirts and tugged it over her head feeling like I’d just dressed a rag doll and then tucked her under the covers while silently berating my cock which was painfully standing at attention behind my zipper. He damn sure didn’t care right or wrong, what condition she was in, he wanted her. I turned to leave the room and adjusted myself, stepping to the door when Kylee called out.

              “Don’t leave me JD. Stay…” She rolled to her side to face me and I turned back to see what was up. She blinked her eyes trying to clear her vision, those big browns pleading. “Please?” Kryptofuckingnite…

              I drew in a deep breath. It’d always been hard to tell Kylee no, especially when she started in with the pleases and it was why I’d picked the easiest way out to push her from me. I waited till she was gone off to college and then just stopped talking to her. No way could you ignore Kylee Grace Parrish otherwise. I had managed to be sucked in for every school dance through all four years of high school after a series of pleases and her big browns shinning up at me expectantly. The only way I’d ever been able to tell Kylee no, was to not tell her anything at all, was to not talk to her at all and fuck I had missed the hell out of her. I had damn near gone half insane for the first year.

I exhaled and moved to the other side of the bed, gripped my t-shirt and pulled it over my head before toeing off my boots and getting under the covers. It was after midnight and surprisingly I was tired. I normally went commando but given the desperation of my dick, never mind the rest of me, it was better if I kept my lower half under wrap so my jeans remained in place. I rolled to my side, faced the window and forced my eyes closed.

It seemed like only a few minutes had passed by when a slender arm looped over my side and Kylee pressed up solid to my back. I could feel the rasp of her lace bra beneath the t-shirt when she rubbed against me getting comfortable.

My body went rigid, every nerve in my body on high alert, screaming at me that I needed her in the worst way. “Ky?” I reached out and picked up my cell from the table next to bed and checked the time, her body burrowing even closer to mine.

              “Mmmhmm.” Her breath skated over the skin on my back and captain desperation woke with a wicked shot of lust like someone had prodded him with a  jolt of electricity. I had to bite back a groan of pure frustration. 

She was trying to kill me, had to be. I kept my voice controlled when everything else inside of me was prepped to snap.  “What are you doing Kylee? Its only 3am. Go back to sleep.”

I rolled over until I was on my opposite side; chest to chest and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed. She wasn’t fully asleep or awake but dozing in between. She shifted, wiggled closer and pressed her nose to my chest inhaling and letting out a contented sigh, mumbling softly. I had to strain to hear her.

“My favorite…”  Kylee shifted around a bit more and fell back to sleep soundly, her body completely relaxed.

I laid there completely fucking lost as dozens of emotions broke through me like waves crashing against the shore. Her favorite, favorite what? Did it matter what? She was the light in life. Full of optimism and all good intentions and a smile that just made your day better because it had fucking shined on you. How could anyone even entertain doing something that could screw that up. I was head sprung 100% because she was my favorite too.

I rolled to my back; crossed my arms behind my head and thought about her next to me. She had been so messed up at the club anybody could have taken her home, taken advantage of her and pure fear jolted through me causing my heart to scramble wildly in my chest. What if I hadn’t been there? What if the next time she pulled this shit me or Matt weren’t there? By the time the sun began to stream in my window I was good and fucked in the head turning the confusion and fear into anger, a feeling I could work with. Something I knew how to handle cause every other emotion she stirred in me I damn sure didn’t know how.

I could tell the moment she came awake, her body stiffening as she took in her surroundings. She scooted away from me curling the covers tight around her. “What am I doing in bed with you? God my head hurts.” She didn’t appear scared but was confused and embarrassed about being in my bed; trying to recall the night before.

She didn’t deserve it but I couldn’t stop myself as I started in on her. “Exactly. What are you doing in bed with me? You got any fucking clue where else you might have ended up?” My words were sharper than I meant them to be and she winced, hurt filling her eyes before her anger took over.

Her eyes flashed as she glowered at me, her icy tone snapping at me.“What do you care? We are barely friends anymore and you’re worried about where I might have ended up? It’s not like I’ve never been in a man’s bed you jerk. It’s not your business. Or did I interrupt your plans for the evening. Jenn told me you don’t have to fight to find someone to fill your bed. Real nice JD.” Her hand rose to rub at her temple and she couldn’t hide the shaking of it.

I gritted my teeth, my jaw clenching tightly. “I don’t invite chicks back to my place. You’re the only one whose ever slept in this bed and just so you know; you made it my business when you couldn’t fucking stand up anymore. Much less make a solid decision about who you were going home with. Sorry if I shit canned your plans with Javier.” Pissed didn’t cover how I felt and Jenn could suck my left nut. She’d tried getting in my pants all through high school and now she wanted to fill Kylee’s head with shit, even if it was true….fuck that.

The fact Kylee would have rather woken anywhere else was a kick to the gut. She was angry because she was with me, the one fucker that would look out for her, well one of two. Matt would never have taken advantage of Kylee either. I didn’t bother explaining the mess she’d really been, there was no point. I swept the covers off me and planted my feet to the floor, rising from the bed more angry than I’d ever been, more hurt than I could reconcile.

I headed towards the door, my feet stomping across the hardwood flooring not caring that each step caused Kylee to grimace. “You don’t want it to be my business then don’t press me about being god damn friends and for fucks sake don’t get so damn drunk you don’t even know who the hell you’re with.”

I had slept worth shit, in jeans no less and she wanted to give me shit? I knew she’d had a boyfriend in college, yet another little nugget of info Matt felt the need to share and now she was sharing it too, rubbing it in my face. How the hell was she going to judge my life? And fuck….it shouldn’t matter to either of us. We were just friends….yeah, even I didn’t believe that anymore. I’d always been connected to Kylee in one way or another, from the first day of second grade when she’d shared her lunch with me because I didn’t have one, to the moment her eyes had popped open in my bed that morning. Life would have been a lot easier if she’d ridden off into the happily ever fucking after I’d pictured for her.

I stormed into the kitchen; could hear the scrambling in the hall behind me before the bathroom door slammed shut. I popped a k-cup in the Kuerig and really wished that machine could brew bourbon. I hadn’t refilled my stock since Matt told me I needed to chill the hell out so coffee it was. I turned to grab creamer out of the fridge and caught Matt leaning against it.

“WHAT?” I was seething and my temper was going nuclear.

“Slow your roll JD, I didn’t do shit to you. What the hell did you do to her though? She looked ready to cry when I passed her in the hallway.” Matt moved to get his own cup. Won’t but one fucker that could talk to me that way and even he generally didn’t but he was right, Kylee was upset and it was my fault but I still was functioning on my anger which didn’t really help things.

“I didn’t do a fucking thing but wake up beside her which was more than enough since she found it so damn distasteful. She could have ended up in anybody’s bed as drunk as she was and she’s giving me shit cause she was in my bed and didn’t know why. At least she got some fucking sleep.” I put my cup in the machine and stabbed a button to fill the mug. I jerked my cup off the machine and spilled hot coffee over my hand, letting loose a series of curses.

Matt shook his head, his face reading a whole lot of you are stump stupid. “You need to talk, both of you need to talk. This is getting down right ridiculous JD. She’s a damn adult and so are you for Christ’s sake. You can’t chastise her for making her own decisions or mistakes. You’re not her man and even as friend, there’s a line you keep crossing by trying to tell her what to do. You wouldn’t give me shit for getting tore out the frame. If she didn’t matter to you, this wouldn’t even be a damn issue.” Matt popped his own k-cup in and started the machine, his annoyance about the entire situation riding all over his face.

“You’re not her.” Fuck my head was all over the place. Part of me knew Matt was right. The other part, the part that couldn’t reconcile the possibility of being more with Kylee still rebelled against what he was saying. I couldn’t chance losing my shit with Kylee and hurting her, really hurting her. Most of the time I didn’t think it would ever be possible but then I couldn’t trust my temper. I’d beat my pop unconscious, I’d beaten an opponent so badly he’d been in the hospital for days, I didn’t trust that something wouldn’t set me off and she’d end up in the middle. I’d never forgive myself and I had no guarantees that wouldn’t happen and that was the part I didn’t ever want her to witness or be touched by. I had inherited the worst parts of my dad and if he were still breathing he’d be happy to point out every single flaw.

I felt a hand land on my shoulder again and I sighed, my shoulders slumping; Matt’s voice calm and collected hitting my ears. “No I’m not her and you’re not your dad JD. Funny how that works, that everyone is their own damn person. Realize that shit. And unless you tell Kylee what the hell your deal is, it’s not going to be fixable.”

Kylee walked in just as Matt moved his hand from my shoulder, her eyes bright, unshed tears  pooling in the depths of them. “Matt can you give me a ride to my truck?” She wouldn’t even look at me as she spoke and that tagged me in the gut hard. “I’ll have your shirt returned to you JD.” With that, she strode out of the kitchen to stand outside, Matt taking his coffee with him to give her the ride, muttering as he left. “Dumbasses.”