Something for the Pain (Pain #2) (8 page)

I HEAR MY DOOR PUSH open, but I’m too tired to acknowledge it. It can’t be any later than seven thirty in the morning, so I just stay lying on my stomach.

I hear something get set down on my computer desk before I feel the bed dip down next to me. It must be Lucas saying goodbye before he has to get ready for work.

Groaning, I reach out and grip his upper thigh, surprised at how hard and thick it feels in my hand. I guess I never really paid his legs much attention before. “Ughhhh . . . my head. Why did you give me all those shots last night? I feel like hell?” I run my hand up higher, stopping just below his package. Why does he feel so good right now?

“You look like hell too,” Alex says playfully.

Shocked, I let go of his thigh and grip onto the sheet to cover my bare breasts, while maneuvering my way to my knees. I almost forgot that Alex finally moved his stuff in last night. Man, I really must’ve had a few too many shots.

“Crap, Alex. I thought you were Lucas.” I reach up with one hand to cover my face as my head starts pounding. “I guess I drank a little too much last night.” I pull my hand away and squint from the light shining in my room. “I almost grabbed your dick, Alex. You weren’t even going to say anything?”

Grinning, Alex stands up, and I can’t help but to notice how sexy he looks, wearing only a tight pair of boxer briefs. Not only do I get him as a roommate, but now I’ll also have to see him running around in his underwear. Talk about a distraction.

“Just a few too many.” He runs his hand through his wet hair. “And I’m not going to stop something that feels good. I’m sure your hand was enjoying it too much. Now sit up straight.”

I watch as Alex walks over to my desk and grabs a plate and a glass of something. My head hurts too much to even pay attention to his words. “What’s this?” I ask as he sets the plate on my lap. “You made me breakfast?”

He sets the glass down on the nightstand beside me and I peek over to see that it’s orange juice. “Yeah.” Without another word, he walks into the bathroom. I almost think he’s going back to his room, until he emerges a few seconds later, holding something in his hand. He places two pills into my hand and crosses his arms over his chest. “Ibuprofen. Take those and eat your food.”

Not questioning him, I do as told. The first bite of food causes me to smile at its deliciousness. “Oh my goodness, Alex.” I point down at the toast before taking another bite and quickly chewing it. “This is absolutely delicious. Wow.”

He smiles. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

I toss a piece of egg at his head. “Cocky much?” I laugh as he grabs my hand and takes a bite of the eggs that I was just about to eat. “Very much so.” He chews the eggs and rubs a hand over his stiff abs. “What you doing before work?”

“I was going to stop by and visit Tara. You want to come with?”

He nods his head and starts backing away to the bathroom. “Yeah. I’m sure she misses the shit out of me.”

I laugh, accidently spitting the mouthful of toast out. “Seriously?” I cover my mouth and smile. “It’s only been like a week. Trust me, she does not miss you.”

He flashes me his dimples. “We’ll see about that.” He gets ready to walk out of my room, but stops and grabs onto the frame. “Oh and Lucas left for work already. He said he’ll see you around one.”

Figures he wouldn’t say bye. “Alright . . . thanks.” I take a sip of my orange juice. “I’ll shower after I eat and then we can go. Sound good?”

“Everything out of your mouth sounds good.” He attempts to catch the egg in his mouth as I throw it at him. “You have a horrible aim. I’m going to go downstairs and work out for about twenty minutes and then take a quick shower. I’ll shower downstairs so I don’t slow you down.”

Eyeing his body up and down, I swallow, remembering the dirty sounds coming from the downstairs shower last night. I tried so hard to block them out, but it was pretty hard to miss. I have to admit that hearing Alex fuck, both turned me on and bothered me at the same time. A part of me wanted to imagine myself taking her place, while the other part wanted to pretend that I wasn’t imagining it at all.

Then Lucas came up here saying dirty things to me about Alex . . . once again, turning me on so bad that I practically knocked him down and jumped on his dick. We had wild, meaningless sex, and then I sent him down to his room. Sleeping in the same bed as Lucas is something that I haven’t done yet. I’ve only slept next to Alex, and for some reason . . . I want to keep it that way for now.

“Sounds good. We can take your truck.” I smile while taking another bite of food.

“You just can’t get enough of my awesome driving, can you? You like it fast and wild.” He winks. “I like that.”

I point my fork at him. “Just hurry up so we can get going.”

“Sure thing, babe.” He dodges out of my room, leaving me grinning from ear to ear. He always has a way of making me smile. I honestly don’t know what I would do without him.

After I finish with breakfast and down the pills that Alex gave me, I start searching through my closet for fresh clothes to wear. Settling on a pair of old jeans and a black tank top, I throw my clothes down onto the bathroom rack and listen for the shower downstairs.

I can’t tell if he’s already inside yet, so I throw on the first shirt that I see and run downstairs to see if he’s still working out. I just remembered that I have the early shift at the bar today so we really don’t have a lot of time to waste.

By the time I get to the rec room, Alex is standing up beside the huge weight bench, wiping sweat from his face. My eyes trail down, following the beads of sweat dripping down his heaving chest, wetting the front of his tight briefs. My breath catches in my throat as I notice the shape of his dick moving beneath the fabric with the rhythm of his heavy breathing.

He notices me standing here and smiles as he pulls the towel away. “I’m getting in the shower now. Am I holding you up?”

I watch as every muscle in his body flexes to his movements as he reaches up to dry his hair with the towel. Shaking my head, I respond. “No. I was just making sure you were about to jump in the shower. I only have two hours before I need to leave for the bar.”

He tosses his towel aside and walks over to me, throwing me over his sweaty shoulder. He walks us out of the room, down the hall, and sets me down at the bottom of the steps. “Well then, we better hurry up.” He turns around to walk away and my eyes land directly on his firm ass. “Meet me by my truck in twenty minutes.”

Mmm. . . . so perfect. Too perfect . . .

“Alright.” I jog up the stairs and quickly strip myself in my room before closing myself into the bathroom and turning on the shower water. I shake my head, trying to clear it. Living with Alex is just too damn much.

I’m going to be in a world of trouble with this boy . . .

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, I’M FOLLOWING Alex outside and to his truck. He opens the door for me and grips the back of my thighs, boosting me into the seat. “Hold on, Firecracker.” He winks and shuts the door, before jogging around the truck and to the driver’s side.

Turning to me, he notices that my seatbelt isn’t on, so he reaches over and secures it before slamming his door shut and buckling his own. “You know . . . I think I can manage to put on my own seatbelt.”

He laughs while turning the key in the ignition and shifting the truck into reverse. He turns to me. “Nah, you definitely can’t handle that.” He starts backing out of the driveway while still talking. “Don’t think that I haven’t taken notes of the times I’ve seen you driving without a seatbelt. That shit won’t happen on my watch, Tripp.”

Turning red, I look away, embarrassed. I sometimes forget when I’m in a hurry, but I hadn’t thought that anyone else noticed. That’s just another reason that Alex will feel the need to take care of me now. I hate making him feel that way.

“I’ll make sure I buckle up every time I get in a vehicle, okay?” I turn back to him as he concentrates on the road. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I try not to,” he mumbles. “But I find it hard as shit.”

I know that feeling well, because I feel the same way about him.

When we arrive at Tara’s, me and Alex jump out at the exact same time and meet at the front of his truck. He places his hand on my lower back as we walk to the door.

Tara is standing by the TV on her tippy toes, attempting to hang a picture when she notices our entry. “Tripp.” She inches a little higher, still struggling to get it hung. “Glad you’re here. How about some help?”

I hear Alex chuckle before walking up behind her and helping her hang it and straighten it. “Good thing she brought a man along,” Alex says.

Tara turns around and greets Alex with a warm smile. “And I was starting to miss this man.” She squeezes his arm teasingly. “These muscles come in handy.”

Alex flashes me his dimpled smile. “Told you,” he says in a cocky tone.

I throw my arms up. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You win. Apparently everyone misses you when you’re away.”

Laughing, Tara walks over to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Jealous much? Don’t worry . . .” She pinches my cheek. “I missed you too.” She turns away and whispers to Alex. “Not as much as I missed you though.”

Nudging her with my arm, I move past her and make my way into the kitchen. “Did you make my favorite brownies? I need a stash for work today.”

I start looking through her cupboards, not finding what I’m in search of. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see Tara open the oven and pull out something wrapped in foil.

“Oh calm down. You know I always have some ready for you when you ask.” She tosses the brownies to me and reaches to pour herself a glass of wine. “You’re just lucky I was in the baking mood last night and that I was bored out of my mind.”

Tara was only twenty when my parents disappeared, leaving her to watch over me. She wasted all of her young adult life raising me as her own and I can never be more thankful to her. I owe her so much. She just turned thirty-three a few weeks ago, but she doesn’t act a day over my age. I guess she’s making up now for all her lost years.

Not even two seconds after Alex walks into the kitchen, Whisper—the cat that Alex gave me when I was fifteen—runs up to Alex’s leg and digs her claws in, asking to be picked up.

I swear that cat is in love with him. Even though
I
raised her, she always clings onto Alex whenever he’s around. I find it to be adorable and sickening at the same time.

Without hesitation, Alex picks Whisper up, burying his face into her fluffy, white fur while rubbing under her chin. “Hey girl. You missed me too, huh?”

I roll my eyes, but laugh to myself. I love seeing Alex so happy and full of love. He’s in a much better place than he was over six months ago, before his brother Memphis returned. I wouldn’t trade seeing Alex happy for anything else in the world. He deserves it more than anyone.

He’s been through more pain and suffering than anyone I know and he’s still open to happiness, always thinking of others first. I, on the other hand, get abandoned by my parents and can’t even manage to let anyone in. Well, besides Tara and Alex. Trusting just doesn’t come easy to me. That’s why Lucas and I have the arrangement that we do.

It’s worked well so far . . . I guess we’ll see if we can make it past this year mark.

“How’s the living arrangements working out,” Tara asks while sipping on her wine. “Must be nice living with two guys. I really need to find myself one of those.”

I laugh while shoving the brownies into my purse. “It’s fine. Too bad you missed our party last night. There were plenty of hot guys there. You just need to get out more.”

“Had to work. I always have to work. It doesn’t leave me much time to go looking for dates at a party.” She turns to Alex. “Don’t you have an older brother or something?”

Alex gives her a little smile. “You’re a little late on that. He’s taken now.”

“Well shit.” Tara refills her wine glass. “Oh well. I’ll find me a hunk sooner or later. I get a vacation in a few weeks. Maybe you two can hook me up.” She raises an eyebrow. “As long as he’s over the age of twenty-five and looks half as good as Alex, I’ll be happy. Oh and he has to have a job too. I won’t be anyone’s sugar mama.”