Tangled Up In You (A Savioe Family Novel) (17 page)

“Like what?” I clenched my fist at my side.

“That you just dated girls long enough to get them in bed then left them the next day. Anyway, he insinuated that was what happened to Christie and that Jesse girl. And that after you took their V-card you left them. I kinda stood there trying to figure out why that Jesse name sounded familiar. I also kinda told him if that’s the case then I bet he was glad you weren’t involve with the book cause he’d lose his lead. That’s when it dawned on me about w
hy that girl sounded familiar.”

A ball of nausea settled in my throat as she continued. “He asked me what I knew about the book. I told him I knew enough to realize that he was an asshat and that you didn’t pop her cherry. Unless he forgot about
that little incident that happened at Angie’s Halloween party last year.” She bit her lip and took a deep breath. “Then that’s when he grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me against the car. He told me that they thought I’d be an easy target but I had surprised him by not blindly believing everything he said. He…. He then said that that was okay. That he enjoyed the chase and that he would have me before you did. He tried to kiss me after that. I ended up breaking a few nails on his face and activating the car alarm.” She looked down at her left hand. A few of her nails were chipped. “Grandma ran out of the house and threw a flower pot at him and he took off.”

I sat there in stunned silence, my rage at a steady boil completely disgusted by him. “Dat cooyon gonna end up fish bait if he try anyting else. Gawd, chèr, I’m sorry ya had ta deal wit dat.” I grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Dat stuff he said bout me’s no’ true. Jus’ so ya know. I don’ do dat. An’ I don’ plan on breakin’ up wit da only girl dat I’ve been wit any time soon.”

She gasped in shock. “I don’t know what to say to that.”

“Ya don’ have ta say anyting. I jus’ wanted ya ta know dat I’m not like dat.” I rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand as it rested on the
gearshift. “So wha’ are we gonna do ‘bout dat jackass? I only ask cause I know ya don’ want me and Beau ta kick his ass.”

“He needs it.” She muttered under her breath. “I don’t know. He scared the crap out of me today and right
now, I really don’t want to think about it and ruin our night. So can we just push it off until tomorrow and enjoy our time together?”

“If dat’s wha’ ya want. Ya look beautiful by da way.”

                                                        *****

When we arrived at Nox’s she pulled up to the entrance and had the valet park the car. She smiled over her shoulder at me and walked past a line of people waiting for a table to open. The hostess stood by her podium and guarded the door like Cerberus guarding Hades. She sneered at Roxy when she approached. “There is a two hour wait unless you have a reservation.”

“Yes I know. Show us the Saintshill table.” Roxy rested her hand on my arm.

“I’m sorry we don’t have reservations for a Saintshill.” The woman haughtily told us. I swear if she tilted that nose further up in the air the view would make me lose my appetite.

Roxy shrugged the woman’s attitude off like a pro and gave her back a good dose of her own. “I am aware of that. We have a permanent table here. I suggest you find it and show us to it now. Or do I need to speak with Mr. Charvat?”

The woman bristled, her shoulders flinging so far back I thought she’d tip over. “There is no need for that
. I’m sure we can find a suitable place for you when a table opens up.”

Roxy sighed, rolled her eyes and opened her purse grabbing her phone. She punched a few numbers and held it to her ear. “Dad, hey. I’m here at Nox’s trying to get our table and…
.” She leaned closer to the woman to see her nametag. “Melissa here is being a bit of a witch. Can you please take care if this for me? Okay. Thank you Daddy.” She hung up her phone and put it back in her bag with a smug look on her face.

A few minutes later a
heavyset man in his mid-fifties stormed into the waiting area. He walked over to Melissa and whispered in her ear. All the color drained from her face and her bottom lip trembled a bit. She swallowed hard, stepped away from her podium and walked out of the restaurant. The old guy turned and smiled at us. “Roxy, I am so sorry about that. If you’ll follow me I’ll take you to your table.”

She gave a tiny shrug that caused her breasts to gently bounce. “Thank you.” We followed him into the main eating area past the bar and up a spiral staircase to a private balcony that held a handful of tables. The environment in here was more intimate than the main dining area. Our table was in the back next to the wall. A solitary rose decorated the centerpi
ece. I pulled her chair out and waited for her to have a seat before taking mine.

“Your waiter will be here momentarily.” He handed us our menus, bowed and exited the balcony.

I glanced at the menu. No prices were listed for anything. Why do I have the feeling like this is going to break my bank account? Her foot gently touched my calf. I looked up at her. She had her lips pursed looking over the ridiculous food selection and raised one eyebrow at it. “Have you decided yet? Cause I’m baffled here.”

“Yeah, I know exactly what I want.” Her eyes shot up to me in surprise, a small smirk appeared on those delectable lips. I closed my eyes and chuckled. “For once I did not mean it like that. Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Her grin got bigger as she giggled. A slight pink blush hinted on her cheeks. “I can’t help it. You look very, very good tonight.” She bit her lips and ducked her head.

Our waiter showed up to take our orders apologizing profusely for our rude reception and informed us that Mr. Charvat insisted that everything was on the house. I let out a small sigh of relief and chose the steak medium rare with steamed vegetables. She picked some fish thing with asparagus and another side dish. We both chose the iced sweet tea. Each dish came with a salad. I have never been much of a salad person so I just shrugged and
selected the same one she did.

I sat there for a while just staring at her. She really was beautiful in an earthy way. Her almond shaped eyes and cupid bow lips that could give Angelina Jolie’s a run for their money captivated me in ways I never imagined. She looked up at me and frowned. “What
? Do I have something on my face?”

             
                                          *****

Roxy

We finished our meal and headed out to get the car from the valet. The night air had a slight chill to it making me shiver when it grazed my bare arms and legs. He shrugged out of his jacket and placed it over my shoulders. I bit my lip and smiled up at him. “Thanks. So what do you want to do now?”

He gave me a heated gaze, his electric blue eyes sizzling with banked desire. “We can go to the Point.”

I laughed taking my
keys from the valet and tipped him a twenty. The Point is a secluded clearing overlooking the town where couples go to get some alone time. It’s not used as much as it used to be thanks to the opening of a few clubs geared toward teenagers. “You just want to get me alone to have your way with me.”

“Naw that thought never crossed my mind.” H
e laughed getting into the car.

I slid into the driver’s seat shaking my head smirking. “Well it crossed mine.” He gaped at me in shock. “Don’t forget to buckle up.” I added sweetly before speeding down
Main Street.

We traveled in a comfortable silence up the back road to the turn off for the Point. My heart pounded against my ribs the closer we got. My palms glided on the wheel from the dampness emanating from them. I swear I was throbbing in anticipation. I glanced over to him bobbing his head along with the beat of the music. Though he appeared to be
calm, his pulse pounded noticeably at the base of his throat and his breathing was ragged. Good to know I wasn’t the only one anxious.

My lips twitched in a
small grin as I maneuvered the car behind a large bush overlooking the town lights. I turned off the car and lights. His neck bobbed as he swallowed hard. I chewed on my bottom lip before I reached over to touch his shoulder. He reached over the console and pulled me onto his lap straddling his hips. I sat there facing him as he smoothed the hair away from my face. With my head cradled in his hands, he gently kissed each eye and cheek before capturing my lips in a scorching kiss.

“Your lips are so soft. They still taste like dessert.” He pulled away slightly and rested his forehead against mine. “We don’t have to do anything, love.”

“I want to. Now kiss me again.”

He stilled, one hand resting against my cheek the other on my lower back.

“Kiss me, Lucien.” I breathed against his lips. He inhaled sharply seconds before his tongue invaded my mouth. I ran my hand up his chest around his neck and into his hair relishing in his taste. He groaned at my response, low and deep, vibrating through my senses setting me on fire. His hand moved down my body, brushing my breasts, my waist and settled on my ass. His fingers slowly kneaded the flesh. I let out a moan and slowly moved my hips against him.

“Shh, love. Keep dat up an’ it’ll be over ‘fore it even starts.” He whispered his voice all husky with his desire. His hand tightened in my hair at the nape of my neck holding my head firmly in place as he captured my mouth again this time a bit more forcefully. His other hand traveled down my leg to mid-thigh and teased the flesh at the hem of my skirt. “I love dis dress.” He murmured as he slipped his hand beneath the black silk to caress my thigh. I shifted my hips again and th
e air hissed between his teeth.

“Keep still, love.” He growled. His hand moved up my thigh and cupped my sex. His thumb snuck beneath my thong and found the kernel of my desire. My breath caught in my throat as pleasure spread through me like an electric current.

I mewled and wiggled against him. “Still.” He whispered before kissing me once more. His thumb circled gently as his tongue dueled with mine. Slowly he eased two fingers past my panties and slipped them inside me. I whimpered and flexed my hips toward his hand.

“Please.” I panted.

“You’re so ready, love.” He groaned sliding his fingers in and out, torturously slow. The pressure inside me built. He withdrew his fingers suddenly and lifted me up. His hands fumbled at his belt buckle and zipper in his haste to get them opened. He removed his jacket from me and grabbed his wallet in search of a condom. I slid my thongs off and tossed them in the driver seat. I heard the telltale sound of the wrapper opening. He pulled me back onto his lap and captured my lips again just as he drove up into me.

I cried out still somewhat sore as I slid down him. He hissed out another breath through his teeth until I was completely filled with him. His hand gripped my hips and started to move me in a slow rhythm. It was so much deeper this way. I looked down at him as I moved. His eyes were closed his jaw taunt. I leaned down to kiss his throat. His teeth grazed my earlobe and tugged. I mewled against his neck. My body was a riot of pleasure as our bodies sl
ammed together again and again.

“Yes….” He gasped against my ear. I leaned up and kissed him as my body shattered around him. He wrapped his arms around me and slammed into me one last time. I ran my nose along his jaw and softly kissed his throat. Slowly I moved off of him and slipped back into the driver seat.

“Is it always going to be that explosive?” I joked leaning back against my seat.

He removed the used condom, opened the door and disposed of it outside. “Gawd, I hope so.” He straightened h
is clothes and grabbed my hand.

I gave him a sappy grin. “We should probably head back. I don’t want to bring you back too late. Your mom might not let you
go out with me again.”

He gave me a droll stare. “Funny.”

I leaned over the console and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I thought so.”

             
                                          *****

             
             
Chapter Thirteen

After I dropped Luke off at his house and pulled into my driveway, I noticed that mom’s car was gone. They must have gone out yet again. I got out of the R8, grabbed my purse and quickly stuffed my thong into it. I can’t believe I forgot to put it back on. After making sure the car was locked and alarm set I entered my house through the front door locking it behind me. I made my way to my room and plopped down on my bed with a sigh. I pulled my phone out of the clutch and called Jess.

“Frasier residence.” She answered quietly indicating her dad was asleep.

“Hey, girl.”

“Hey! How’d dinner go last night and why are you waiting until ten to call me?” She bitched.

“Dinner went great. Everyone got along. Grandma showed up and cooked for everyone. After dinner, our parents hung out in the living room and we went to my room to watch a movie.” I took a deep breath and quickly added. “I had sex with him last night and an hour ago.”

“Come again. Did you say you finally did it?” She asked slowly.

“Yeah.”

“O
h my god!” She screamed hysterically. “Tell. Me. Everything.”

             
                                          *****

Monday morning rolled around much too quickly. Luke and I were not able to see each other yesterday so we ended up talking for hours after he got home from church. He and his brothers had discussed what we were going to do about Bus. I honestly didn’t even want to think about what had happened. It still gave me chills just thinking about wha
t might have occurred that day.

I pulled up to Jess’s trailer and honked the horn twice. The passenger
door opened and shut. A hand slipped around my neck and pulled me over to the other seat. Luke’s lips captured mine in a reverent kiss. I leaned back licking my lips and whispered. “Good morning.”

“Morning, chèr. Jess is riding with Beau and them.” He pointed behind the car. I turned around and saw her sitting in the cab of the truck waving at me. “We have all decided that until Bus moves on to
another girl. You will not be alone. You get me in the morning before school and then all day after Science class. Charles and Marie will walk you to art and Beau will escort you to Science.”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “Do you really think that will help?”

“We are hoping so.” He leaned back and shrugged as I drove on to school.

We pulled into the student parking lot. My eyes darted around the parked cars searching for Bus’s white Mustang. I found it under a tree close to the athletic department on the far end of the lot. Damn. Why couldn’t I be lucky enough for him to have stayed at home? Is that
too much to ask? Apparently so.

I sighed as I turned off the car. Luke reached over and squeezed my hand in reassurance. “Don’t worry about it, love. You’ll be safe.”

I gave him a sad smile and got out of the car. “I hope so.”

Jess and the Savioe
s were walking over to the car. Beau strutted over to the hood of the car and leaned against it staring at Bus’s Mustang. Marie and Charles were playfully shoving each other in the space beside us. Jess leaned against the door beside me pouting. Luke walked next to Beau and quietly whispered something to him.

“What’s up, Jess?” I quietly ask
ed her.

She crossed her arms over her chest and grumbled. “I have been friend-zoned.”

I let out a hiss of surprise as my eyebrows rose and asked. “By who?”

She nodded over to Beau who was now adamantly talking to his siblings. “He said I am not his type. That I remind him too much of his sister to even think about doing anything with me. I don’t get it. We spend
hours talking on the phone. He’s even gone out of his way to help Dad fix my Bronco but he just freezes me out when it comes to anything else. Damn, Rox, I don’t know what to do.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Well, you’ve hung out with him. Maybe you can find out for me what he is interested in.” She pleaded grabbing my arm and giving it a slight tug.

“I have had one conversation with him. So you probably know more about him than I do if you spend hours on the phone with him. If you really want to find out more about him perhaps you can ask Marie.” I shrugged my arm away slowly rubbing my wrist.

“You really think she’d help?” We both turned to look at Marie.

“Possibly.” I pursed my lips in thought. I wonder. “Maybe we can have a sleepover Friday. Just a girl’s night, get our nails painted, hair done and gossip about boys. You know stupid shit like that. ”

“You think she’d be interested in that? I mean she doesn’t seem the type.” Jess frowned.

“I don’t know. Let’s ask.” I walked over to them and wrapped my arm around Luke’s waist giving him a little squeeze. “Hey Marie. Do you want to come to a sleepover Friday?”

Her eyes widened in surprise as she stuttered. “Uh… sure. That sounds cool.”

I smiled at her. “Oh it can be. Jess and I usually order pizza, watch movies, do some girlie stuff and talk about boys. Last time we had one she dared me to….” I looked up at Luke. “Well, I can’t really say right now, but it was frickin’ hilarious.”

Luke leaned down next to my ear and whispered. “What’d she have you do, love?” He placed a tender kiss against my neck causing me to close my eyes and bite my lip to keep from jumping him.

I placed my hand on his chest and leaned against him. “So you want to play dirty?” I lowered my voice to a husky whisper. “Cause I can get dirty. I can get real dirty if given the right… motivation.”

He swallowed loudly before letting out a groan dropping his forehead to mine. “Behave.”

“You like it better when I don’t behave.” I whispered sweetly. “But if that’s what you want.” I kissed him quickly and headed up to the commons with Jess and Marie leaving him standing there next to the car with his hands now in his pockets.

                                                        *****

Luke

I stood there dumbfounded. She really knew how to get me all hot and bothered with just a few simple words. I tilted my head back and looked at the morning sky. This is going to be an interesting day, sitting so close to her without being able to touch her. I dropped my head, my gaze following the girls on their trek to the commons. Roxy’s hips swayed gently as she walked with Jess and Marie. I quickly noted that I was not the only one paying attention to her walking away.

I sneered at a few of the lower classmen that leered after her. Beau slapped me on my back and laughed. “Come on. Let’s catch up to them.”

Charles snickered as he walked by me shaking his head. Yeah, this was going to be a long day. I picked up my books from the hood of her car and ran up the steps to the commons. As I was opening the
door, I heard a high-pitched voice sneer. “So that’s your whore. I can’t believe you’d leave me for that wetback.”

I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth. “Christie, she is not a whore or a wetback.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Yeah right. Bet that little bitch has already spread her legs for you.” I must have given something away in my eyes because she continued. “Oh my god she has! Argh! I can’t believe it.”

“For the last time, she is not a whore and it is absolutely none of your business what goes on between us.” I stormed into the commons allowing the door to slam behind me. Roxy’s eyebrows shot up. As I made my way over to the table and sat down next to her, she placed a tiny hand on my arm.

“What’s wrong?”

“Jus’ dat stupid cooyon. Why’d I date her agin?” I grumbled and pulled her close to my side.

Charles shook his head. “Cause you’re stupid.”

Marie smacked him in the back of the head. “Shh. We don’t tell him that. Even if it’s true.”

Beau sniggered behind his hand and Charles laughed so hard he fell out of his seat. Roxy bit her lip and ducked her head to hide her smile. I could feel my cheeks heating up in a faint blush. “Very funny, guys.”

The bell rang with a loud shrill. I stood up and helped Roxy to her feet. “I’ll see you in Science, love.” I pulled her against me and bent my head down to place a feather light kiss on her lips. I brushed a lock of her hair back away from her face and stared into her eyes. Gawd, I could get lost in those eyes.

“Come on, Roxy. We need to get you to class.” Marie grabbed her arm and gently tugged her away from me. Charles laughed at me and placed his arm over their shoulders as they headed to her locker.

Beau nudged me and nodded over to the common doors. Bus had just walked in with a few of his buddies. He was dressed in a blue polo shirt, jeans and startling white shoes. The right side of his face had a square white bandage on it. It stood out like a beacon against his light brown skin. Beau grabbed hold of my arm to keep me from stalking over to him a
nd beating the shit out of him.

“If you try anything now, Roxy will be alone the rest of the week. Plus his boys would jump on you. While I think you could take a few of them, you’d get your ass handed to you if they all got involved.” Beau steered me into the locker banks.

I shot Bus a glare as we left only to get a smug smirk in return.
Oh he is going down.

             
                                          *****

After Calculus and stopping by my
locker, I headed to Science. I realized that I was excited to get there. Just being able to be next to her for the rest of the school day seemed to ease my anger and tension from this morning. I jogged the rest of the way there and smiled when I saw her sitting at our table. Her head was tilted as she sketched. The dark curtain of her hair was tossed over her shoulder giving me a lovely view of the soft curve of her neck. Quietly I made my way over to her and placed a kiss at the base of her neck.

“Hey, beautiful, how has your day been so far?” She lifted her face to look into my eyes. That’s when I noticed they appeared slightly bloodshot and puffy. “Oh gawd, baby, what happened?”

She took a deep breath. “People have been calling me slut or whore as I walk down the hall. Someone even wrote it on my locker.”

I wrapped my arms around her in effort to try to comfort her. My temper soared. Damn that Christie. “It will be okay. We will make sure of it. After class we’ll head out for lunch and all of us will try to figure out how to stop it.”

She placed her palm against my chest and tilted her head back. “Thanks. But it’s okay. I figure it’s just your ex. She’s just being a bitch because… well she’s a bitch.” She leaned back to her side of the table and scooted her sketchpad in front of me. “What do you think of this?”

She drew a caricature of Christie, transforming her into a scrawny mosquito like figure with an exaggerated nose, cell phone in one hand, and stringy poorly dyed blonde hair. I busted out laughing. “That’s priceless! We have to make copies of this.”

She gave me a sly grin. “That’s the plan. Oh and apparently Bus left this in my locker Friday.” She slid a note across the table.

I hesitantly picked it up and scanned the contents.

Noticed yhu wern’t in skool. Just wanted to c if yhu wanted to catch a movie. Call me girl. 555-9210. Bus
.

I had to read it twice just to decipher what was scrawled on the page. “And he is graduating this year? Dude doesn’t even know how to spell. Has he said anything to you today?”

She shook her head. “Not a thing. He glowered at me on the way here until your ex started talking to him. His face started to get red the longer she blabbed on but nothing was said to me by him.”

I grabbed her hand and started rubbing small circles on her palm. “I think it’s cool that you and Jess are trying to include Marie. I think that she has a hard time with just us boys around all the time.”

She tilted her head to the side. “I can see where that would cause some problems. What sucks is it means that we can’t do anything Friday night.”

“That’s okay. We can always catch a movie some other time.” I smirked.

She rolled her eyes at me and giggled. “Yeah, a movie.”

             
                                          *****