Trace + Olivia Series Boxed Set (26 page)

He chuckled and the sound vibrated through my body.

“It’s just a little water, baby,” he grinned, rubbing me to make sure all the soap was gone. “Let me wash your hair,” he coaxed my head under the water.

Once every strand was wet, he rubbed his woodsy scented soap into my hair.

He massaged my scalp and I found myself moaning in pleasure, which only served to make him laugh.

“Don’t laugh at me,” I scolded.

“I’m not. I’m laughing at myself,” he muttered.

“Why?” My eyes popped open as he guided me under the water once more and began to work the soap out of my hair.

“Because, this was about you. I wanted to please you in a completely non-sexual way and—” he looked down significantly, “—you had to go and make those sexy noises.”

I looked down at the thick length arching beautifully out of his body.

“Hmm,” I murmured, “I think we’re going to have to do something to fix that.”

I quietly opened the door from the garage that led into Avery’s house. I had text Avery before I arrived and she gave me the code so I could get inside the house.

I turned around, easing it closed, and locking it with a soft click.

“Well, well, well, look who’s doing the walk of shame and it’s
not
my little sister,” a guy chortled behind me.

I turned around, biting nervously on my bottom lip.

Even though it was almost noon, he was only wearing a pair of black boxer briefs. He was drinking straight out of the bottle of orange juice and scratching his crotch.

I snorted. This had to be Nick.

He had shaggy strawberry blonde hair that hung just past his ears and he was huge. His height dwarfed my small size and he was built like a stocky football player. He had to be at least six-foot four.

“You must be Nick,” I responded, a slight squeak to my voice.

“And you must be…actually, I don’t know,” he chuckled.

“Olivia,” I answered.

“My sister’s roommate?” He raised a brow. “What are you doing here?”

“Family troubles,” I replied. No way was I telling him all about the soap opera my life had become.

“Gotcha,” he scratched his chiseled chest. “Avery wouldn’t tell me,” he winked. “I thought if I played dumb you might give me more information. So,” he looked between the door and me, “if you’re having family troubles, and staying here, where have you been?”

I pressed myself flat against the door, wishing I could slip right through it.

“Leave the girl alone, she was getting her brains banged out by a sex-god,” Avery smirked at her brother as she stood in the hallway outside of the mudroom. “And she better tell me all about it.”

“Avery!”

“Don’t deny that you went to him last night. I have radar for these things,” she eyed me, disappearing into the kitchen.

I scurried after her so that I wasn’t left alone with Nick again.

I sat down at one of the barstools while Avery made a bowl of cereal.

Nick pulled out the barstool beside me and I bristled.

“Hungry?” Avery asked, holding the gallon jug of milk in her hand.

“I already ate,” I told her.

She grinned. “I bet you did.”

“Avery!” I exclaimed again.

She chuckled, grabbing a spoon from one of the many drawers. It would take me years to explore every nook and cranny of this large house.

“After your all night sexathon you should probably eat something with some protein. Build up your endurance,” she winked and sat down on the other free stool beside me. She leaned around me and leveled her older brother with a glare. “Nickolas, leave,” she warned.

“No,” he smirked, “I want to know what girls talk about when guys aren’t listening.”

“I guess you better spontaneously grow a vagina because we won’t be talking about
anything
in front of you,” she snapped. “Come on. I’ll eat in my room,” she grabbed my arm, dragging me behind her, and upstairs.

She opened the door to her room and I found that it was pretty similar to her side of our dorm room, in the fact that it was a mess. Clothes were strewn everywhere and junk was stacked on her tables, dresser, and bookcases. I wondered how she ever found anything.

The walls were painted in a bright Kelly green and her comforter was the same color. All the furniture was white.

Avery swiped her hand across two chairs, that I hadn’t seen in all the mess, dislodging the clutter that had been sitting on them.

I took a seat on one of the chairs and she took the other.

“Tell me,” she munched on her Frosted Flakes cereal, “did you have sex with him?”

I blushed and looked away.

“You did!” She shrieked and I heard the sound of her cereal and milk sloshing over the lip of the bowl. “Shit,” she muttered, looking at the mess she had made. “Oh well,” she shrugged. “So,” she grinned, “how was it? Did he have big dick? I bet he did.”

I did not want to share this kind of information with Avery, best friend or not, it was personal.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered. “And I am definitely
not
telling you that.”

“Give me a range here, please?” She begged. “Good? Bad? Off the charts? This big or
this
big,” she held up her fingers in different lengths.

“Shut up, Avery! I’m not talking about
that
with you!” I waved my hands back and forth. “As far as how the sex was, I don’t think I’m the right person to judge it,” I mumbled. “I don’t have a lot of experience.”

“That doesn’t matter, trust me,” she finished what was left of her cereal since most of it had ended up on the floor.

“Off the charts,” I reluctantly answered since I knew she wouldn’t drop it until she got some sort of answer out of me.

She squealed shrilly. I was surprised the windows in her bedroom didn’t shatter.

“My little Livie is all grown up,” she pretended to wipe away a tear.

“Oh please,” I rolled my eyes.

“I really am happy for you though,” she smiled. “Now,” she eyed me seriously, “I think you owe me an explanation as to why you’re here.”

“You’re right,” I sighed and began to divulge everything about Derek being my real dad and what had happened with Aaron. It was wrong of me to keep Avery in the dark, even if I wanted to. She was a good friend, and she deserved to know the truth of why I had called her in the middle of the night, desperate for a place to stay.

“Holy fucking shit,” she whispered when I had finished.

“That makes no sense,” I mumbled.

“I couldn’t think of any other words to express what I’m feeling right now,” she shook her head back and forth, still trying to absorb the information. “This is…” she pulled at her hair, “…shocking.”

“I’ll be right back,” I stood.

“You better,” she narrowed her eyes.

“Don’t worry. I only want to grab the pictures,” I smiled.

Once in the guestroom, I flipped through the photos again. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to the fact that the man in the pictures was my real dad.

I made my way back to Avery’s bedroom before she hunted me down.

I handed her the stack of pictures and her jaw dropped open. She looked from the pictures and back to me.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. “He’s definitely your dad. You look just like him, Livie. I can’t believe this.” She flipped to the picture of Derek and my mom. “She looks so happy and young,” Avery smiled. “They really loved each other.”

I looked at the pictures in Avery’s hand and finally managed to say the words that had been stuck in my head since my mom told me. “This changes everything.”

I walked out of Avery’s room and nearly collided with my mom.

“Sorry,” I apologized, holding a hand out to steady her. I looked over her disheveled appearance. “Are you just now waking up?”

By now, it had to be close to one in the afternoon.

“Yeah,” she shrugged, “I can’t tell you the last time I’ve slept this late. I guess I really needed it.”

“Whoa,” Nick muttered from somewhere behind me as a door clicked closed. “Too much estrogen in here.”

“Shut up,” Avery sneered, coming out of her bedroom, dressed for the day.

Nick stepped forward, looking my mom up and down, grinning appreciatively.

Um…ew.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he held out a hand to my mom. “I’m Nick.”

“Nora,” she squeaked, her eyes connecting with his bare chest.

I gagged, glancing at Avery.

She looked as shocked as I did.

“Well, Nora,” he grinned and a dimple popped out in his right cheek, “if you need help with
anything
don’t hesitate to ask me. My room’s right there,” he pointed, “and you can come get me
anytime
.”

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

“Oh, well,” she blushed.

I wanted to slap my hands over my eyes but I didn’t want to call attention to myself.

After everything that had happened, the last thing I wanted to see was Avery’s twenty-two year old brother, trying to finagle his way into my mom’s pants.

“Mom,” I spoke up, finding my voice, “why don’t you shower and get ready. I’ll take you to lunch,” I suggested.

“Okay,” she smiled gratefully, making her way back to the guest bedroom.

Nick’s eyes never left her. When the bedroom door closed behind her, he turned to me.

“Your mom’s fucking hot,” he shook his head back and forth like he was in a daze. “Can I come with you to lunch?”

“Absolutely not!” Avery and I exclaimed simultaneously.

“Honestly Nickolas,” Avery reached up to slap the back of his head, “what is it with you and older women?”

She didn’t wait for him to answer. She bounced down the stairs and I was left alone with Nick. I crept around him and ran for the stairs.

I heard him mumbling under his breath as he went back into his room.

“I am so sorry about that,” Avery began when I set foot in the kitchen.

“That was weird,” I admitted.

“Nick’s always had a thing for—uh—older ladies,” she mumbled. “It’s gotten him into a lot of trouble over the years.”

“It’s gross,” I grumbled. “Keep him away from my mom.”

She laughed. “I’ll try, but once Nick sets his mind to something, he doesn’t give up easily…at all, actually.”

“This is too much,” I collapsed onto one of the stools as Avery washed her bowl and wiped down the counters. “My brain’s already on overload with the whole Derek and Aaron thing, plus what happened with Trace last night, and now this? I don’t have time to worry about your brother seducing my mom.” I crossed my arms on the countertop and dejectedly laid my head on top.

Avery began laughing and I couldn’t help but join in.

Wiping tears away, she giggled, “This is nuts!”

“You’re telling me! It’s my life!” I laughed hysterically.

“Am I interrupting something?” My mom asked, stepping into the kitchen.

“No,” I wiped my face dry with the backs of my hands. “You ready?”

She nodded in reply.

I pulled my car keys out of my pocket and left through the garage.

“Oh! Wait!” Avery called over the roaring of the garage door. She scurried down the garage steps and opened one of drawers in the built in cabinets along the wall. “Here,” she tossed a black rectangular device my way.

“What’s this?” I looked down at it stupidly. I quickly realized what it was but Avery was already answering.

“It’s a garage opener,” she replied. “This way, you don’t have to worry about me or Nick being home, and you don’t have to get out and enter the code like you did this morning. We have a security system but it’s turned off right now.”

“Okay,” I flipped the device over in my hands, “thanks.”

“Not a problem. I’ll see you guys later. And Mrs. Owens,” she called out to my mom. “Watch out for my brother.”

A bunch of gibberish came out of her mouth, which made Avery and me laugh.