Faith, Honor & Freedom (17 page)

I hear Mrs. Carter clear her throat as she appears at the top of the stairs. “She’s ready,” she says enthusiastically as she scurries down, seizing her camera from the front table.

“Lana,” she calls after she doesn’t emerge the second her camera is in hand. I laugh; I haven’t seen Mrs. Carter this excited in a long time.

My laughter comes to a halt the second Lana appears at the top of the stairs. My heart stops beating, and in return, I stop breathing.

Fucking beautiful.

Her hair is a long mess of soft black curls that make me want to run my fingers through them. Her face—fucking stunning. Lana always looks good, make up or not, but tonight, she’s killing me. My dick is hard as a fucking rock, and I shift uncomfortably. She’s wearing a short yellow dress—tiny little straps hold the entire thing up, and her tits look incredible. The top dips down into a V, putting them on display for everyone. I want to grab something to cover them and stare at them all at the same time. There’s sparkly shit all over the top of the dress, and the bottom comes down and flares out several inches above the knee, exposing just how long those legs of hers really are.

She’s wearing gold come-fuck-me heels, and at the moment, I want to do just that. She gives an awkward smile as she glides down the stairs, her mother snapping several hundred photos a minute. She reaches the bottom, and I watch as Jonathan steps forward to pin her corsage on—a yellow carnation.

I remember I’m supposed to be breathing, and try and do just that. It’s hard, though, when I want to beat the fucker’s face in for having his hands so close to her tits.

“Let’s get some more pictures in the garden!” Mrs. Carter says excitedly. I remember her doing the exact same thing at Rhett’s and my prom two years ago—only we had my parents, plus both girls’ parents there as well. Fuck that was rough.

I bite my tongue impatiently as photo after photo is snapped. She grabs Rhett and Steve and snaps a few of the three of them, and then has me snap a few of the four of them, and then the five of them. She snatches the camera from me. “Now get in there with her, Weston. You’re family, too.”

Lana looks back at me a little bashfully, her beautiful cheeks flushing slightly. She’s forgiven me for the hammock incident from years ago, but I can’t help but notice how much things have changed between us since.

I pretend to act disgruntled as I stand beside her. “Closer,” Mrs. Carter instructs. I subconsciously look to Rhett for approval, and he nods.

I slip my arm around her waist and draw her in close. Her body feels amazing against my own, and I want to explore more. She leans her head on my shoulder as the pictures keep snapping. I take a deep breath in, inhaling her sweet scent, wishing it were mine, and wishing she was mine to keep.

Mrs. Carter finishes up with our photos, and I whisper, “Be safe,” into Lana’s ear before forcing my arm to leave her waist. She looks up at me tensely, and I know then she’s already promised herself to him. Fucking skeezeball.

As Rhett takes a few photos of his parents and Lana over by their apple tree, I grab a hold of Jonathan’s arm roughly, digging my fingers in to make my point. I tower over him, and I can tell he’s intimidated.

“You fucking lay a hand on her tonight, Rhett and I know where to find you. I don’t care if its prom, she is
not
yours, do you understand?”

He gives an uneasy laugh before answering, “Yeah, sure man.”

I know he’s lying through his teeth, and I fight a strong impulse to kick his ass for it. I wait until he leaves with Lana and pull Rhett aside.

“I saw it in his fucking eyes, man, he’s going to try something on her, and from the look in hers, she’s either not ready for it, or she doesn’t want it. My guess is both.” I watch as fury glazes over his eyes, just as it had mine.

“I promised her I’d be good, and let her have a fun time. She will fucking hate me if I do anything to ruin tonight,” he says, running his fingers through his hair.

“Then don’t; let me do it. She dislikes me enough as it is.” He thinks about it first, before deciding I’m the lesser of two evils.

“Get her away from that fucktard, but seriously man, stay away from her after that.”

I growl, irritated. “Have I not fucking proven myself to you yet, Rhett? I get it, I’m a piece of shit, and I’m not worthy of her. If anyone gets that, it’s me. I would never lay a hand on her, and you of all people should know that,” I bite out.

“Man, that’s not what I meant,” he starts.

“It is, and you know it.” I walk away before I say something that’s going to affect our friendship and hop in my car. I’ve got a few hours to kill until prom’s over, and Sara’s just getting home from work. I need to blow off some fucking steam.

I pull up outside Jenna Masters’ house, where the prom party is already in full swing. “Shit,” I mutter, afraid that maybe they left prom early, and I’m too late. Why did I have to fuck Sara? Right, to fight the urge to ravage Lana’s tight body.

I walk up the front steps of the house, just as a young guy swings open the door and rushes onto the front porch, hurling over the side. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah,” he says, not embarrassed in the slightest. He wipes his mouth with the bottom of his shirt and heads back into the party with a “Shit, yeah!” Fucking high school kids.

I make my way through the living room, scanning the room for Lana. I spot a few of her friends, but no sign of her. I grab a beer from the keg in the kitchen and chug it. I’m sure Rhett’s expecting to pick me up tonight anyway, and I’m not sure what I’m able to handle here sober.

I spot Vi playing strip poker with a bunch of eager football players at the kitchen table. She’s already down to her bra and panties. Fuck’s sake, it’s not even midnight.

“Sorry boys, this one’s all mine,” I say, grabbing her arm and forcing her to stand up.

“Weston,” she slurs, aggravated.

“Violet, make them respect you, yeah? May seem fun now, but I promise you, it’s not the way to win him over,” I whisper into her ear. She bites her lip, and I grab her shirt from the floor and toss it to her. Shit, it doesn’t cover much more than what’s showing now, but it’s still an improvement. She pulls on her little mini skirt before looking back at me.

“Where’s Lana?” I ask.

“Uh-uh,” she slurs. “I’m her bestest friend in the wholeeeee wide world, and I promised her I would not tell you orrrrr Rhett,” she says, giggling. Clearly our serious conversation is already forgotten.

I get the answer I need and leave her standing alone in the kitchen as I hurry upstairs to where I’m assuming the bedrooms are located. I throw open the first door and find two kids making out on the bed. “Make good choices,” I yell, slamming the door behind them.

And then I hear it. “No, Jonathan, please, not yet.” It’s coming from behind another bedroom door. I try the handle, but it doesn’t work. I take a step back, boot the door handle, and the door flies open. Sorry Jenna.

Lana is laying on her back in bed, Jonathan hovering over her, pushing her dress up,

“What the fuck,” he bites out irately, his back still turned to me. “Pick another room, this one’s occupied.”

“Fuck you it is,” I clip, advancing toward him. He turns his head around just as my fist makes contact with his face.

“Weston!” I hear Lana scream, but I ignore her. I see the fucker already has his pants pulled down, so I grab a hold of his shoulders, pulling him off the bed, and knee him in his fucking nuts as hard as I can. I hope he’s unable to use it again, let alone reproduce.

“Fuck off,” Jonathan cries feebly.

“You don’t understand the word ‘no,’ so why should I?” I ask, smashing my fist into the other side of his face.

“Weston, don’t!” Lana screams. “Everyone will know what he tried to do if you hurt him too badly. Don’t let him humiliate me any more than he already has.”

I look over at her tear-streaked face and try to gain some self-control. I give him a final punch to the gut before walking over to the door.

“Get out before they have to fucking carry you out,” I threaten. As he passes me I add, “And if you think what I just did was bad, wait until her brother and I get a hold of you. Don’t you ever breathe her name again or come within a hundred mile radius of her. You hear me?”

He wobbles out of the room like the scared fucking pussy he is, and I slam the door behind him, unable to control the vicious, “Fuck!” I howl out. The door doesn’t lock, or even shut properly, so I shove an armchair up against it to give Lana some privacy.

“Thank you,” I hear in a small voice behind me. I close my eyes, willing myself to calm down for her sake.

“Are you decent, Lana?”

I hear some rustling on the bed before she replies, “Yeah.”

I turn and join her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“It’s not all his fault,” she says, and I turn to look at her. Her head is bowed, and the tears are rolling down her face. “I said I would do it earlier, but once we got up here, it wasn’t how I pictured it, you know? That sounds senseless …” she trails off.

“It’s not stupid, Lana; it’s your body, and if you so much as fucking hesitate, he backs the hell off. If not, he’s not someone worth knowing.” I grab her chin in my hand and turn her face toward me, sweeping the black curls away from her face. I use my thumb to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks.

“You’re perfect, Lana—fucking perfect—and someone like him doesn’t even deserve to be in the same room as you.”

“Thanks Weston,” she says and buries her head into my chest. I wrap my arms around her, even though I know I shouldn’t and rest my chin on her head, breathing in the smell of honey and vanilla. I let my hand rub her back, telling myself that it’s soothing her and not me.

“Anytime Lana. I’m only a phone call away.”

“Don’t tell Rhett?”

“Lana …”

“Please Weston. He’ll do something stupid and mess up his record, then he won’t get into the academy,” she says, worried.

I think about what she’s saying, and realize she’s probably right. Rhett will fucking murder the kid. I’ll handle him on my own. “Okay,” I promise, knowing it’s probably the only secret we will ever share. “I should get you home.”

“No, please, just stay here for a little while longer. I don’t want to go past all of those people.” I fight an internal battle of whether or not I should listen to Lana or drag her out of here, before deciding to let her stay. It’s her prom night, and it’s already been fucked up enough by that bastard, I’m not going to ruin it further. Especially since the only reason I don’t want to be in the same room as her is because I’m going to leave with the worst case of blue balls known to man. I can deal with that to make her happy.

“It’s your night Lana. Want me to go and make sure that bastard is gone, so you can go enjoy it with everyone else? I’ll stick around to make sure he doesn’t come back, and I even promise to leave you alone and not big brother you,” I say, knowing full well it will eat me alive to see her near any other guy in this house.

“No,” she says immediately. “I’m over prom, please just stay here with me.” I nod my head slowly, telling my dick to behave.

We talk for an hour about the doula training she wants to do, and about everything else under the sun. The music switches, and she looks at me sadly. I strain my ears and realize it’s her favorite song. My head screams that I shouldn’t, but I do it anyway. I jump out of bed and walk over to her side, offering my hand. She accepts it, standing up. I pull her into my arms, singing her the lyrics to Bryan Adams’s
“Everything I Do,”
as we sway. My body, pressed hard against hers, her head lying against my chest, it hits me for the first time that I really love this girl. I can see myself marrying her, giving her a home, children, and protecting her. Someday, she’s going to be mine, I just need to prove myself to Rhett first.

That’s the moment everything changed for me. After that night, I stayed away from their house as much as possible, only going over when I knew she wasn’t there. The thought of seeing her, and not being able to have her yet, fucking killed me. I managed to do pretty well, until the night her brother died. That night changed everything.

I always thought someday, once I’d proven myself, he’d give me the okay. I’d have a good house, a good job, and I’d stop fucking around with women. I’d be as worthy of her love as any other schmuck out there, which wasn’t saying much.

The day he died sealed my fate forever. Lana could never be mine.

Chapter 13

I wake to the sound of someone hammering on my door. I stumble out of bed; eyes still at half-mast, and open the front door. It’s Hoss. My breath hitches, but I try and act as unaffected by him as possible.

“Why didn’t you use the key?” I ask groggily, walking back toward my bed. I hear his footsteps following behind me, but I don’t care. I want the comfort of my bed again, for whatever blow he’s come to deliver.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” he replies, standing beside my bed. I realize then that the last time he stormed inside my house he caught me with Alec.

“Oh. What do you want?” I ask, but before he has a chance to reply, a brain cell of mine fires, and I remember he was going to look into Jade for me. The pain hits my chest, and I breathe out, “Jade!” I open my eyes, looking up at him hopefully. Is that why he’s here?