He struggles with drinking it, but I make sure he gets a good amount before I close it and set it aside.
“You need to get your shit together, kid. You’re going to end up in the hospital or jail if you keep this shit up.”
He looks at me but doesn’t say anything. It’s hard to tell if he’s comprehending anything I just said to him.
“Do you fucking understand me, Seb?”
“Dammit.” When he still doesn’t respond, I stand up and begin looking for anything I can take with me to keep my truck clean of this kid’s damn stupidity.
Otherwise, he’ll be spending the next week shampooing my shit until every last hint of his vomit is gone.
The best option will be to empty out the small trash in my office and bring that. I grab it and place it in Sebastian’s hands and force him to hold it, before I pick his skinny ass up and carry him outside to my truck.
As soon as I go to reach for the door to set him inside, he pukes all over the side of my vehicle.
Annoyed, I stand here and wait for him to let it all out, before shoving him inside and taking him to the one place I know he’ll be safe.
It takes him an hour to finally stop puking enough to pass out. Once I know he’s good for the night I find my way to my bed and lay down, putting on some music to sway me from my thoughts.
As much as I fight to keep my mind off Tegan, though, she seems to be the only thing on it. Not just how good it felt to be inside her, making her come undone for me, but also the fact that I just fucked my best friend’s little sister when I know I shouldn’t have.
That makes me a piece of shit, and even recognizing that doesn’t stop me from wanting to fuck her again.
I guess that makes me a special brand of asshole.
IT’S BEEN A FEW HOURS since Micah took off to take care of the kid he mentioned. Since then, what we did outside . . . against his truck . . . has been running through my mind non-stop.
My legs are still shaking and I can’t seem to stop sweating, because I keep replaying it over and over in my head, despite the fact that I’ve been trying to think of anything but.
The way he slammed me against his truck and stripped me out of my shorts, as if he was desperate to have me, is quite possibly the single hottest moment of my life. I seriously thought I was going to die if I didn’t have him inside of me right then.
That’s how turned on I was and I hate it.
My whole body felt as if it ignited into flames the moment he slid that condom on and slammed into me. It was like he owned me.
He didn’t take it easy on me like the men I’ve been with in the past. He didn’t treat me like he was going to break me in half if he moved too fast or too hard.
No, he owned every single part of me with just one thrust of his hips. And now I’m sitting here screwed because I allowed it to happen, and I know without a doubt that I’ll only want to feel that way again.
How the hell can I not? Any woman breathing wants Micah Beck and having him once isn’t enough.
How am I supposed to be around him every day and pretend like nothing happened when it was the best sex of my life?
I thought maybe . . . just maybe . . . one night with no strings attached would be enough, but I was wrong.
So damn wrong.
I let out a frustrated breath and exit out of Word, before turning on some Amber Run. I’m not getting anywhere tonight with where my thoughts are.
The words aren’t flowing like they have been lately and all it’s doing is giving me a massive headache.
When I look over at the clock and realize that it’s past two, I get nervous, thinking about my brother coming home soon.
I haven’t kept anything from him since we were kids, and knowing that I have to do it now has me feeling like a shitty sister.
All he wants to do is ensure I don’t get hurt, and instead of listening to my brother I went and slept with the one person he warned me not to.
My brother seems to be closer to Micah than he has been with anyone for as long as I can remember, and the last thing I want is to mess up their friendship. For some reason Alexander has a hard time trusting people, which has always made it hard for him to have close friends.
So, I just need to remind myself that it’s okay to think about Micah but not to touch him ever again, no matter how badly I want to.
The sound of my brother’s motorcycle has me shutting my laptop and sitting up, anxiously looking out the window.
I know it’s bad, but for some reason I was hoping to see Micah’s truck pull in as well, even though he told me he wouldn’t be back tonight.
But my brother is alone.
My stomach twists into tiny knots when I hear my brother’s footsteps coming up the stairs a few minutes later, because I have no idea what went down at the bar once Micah arrived.
I remain sitting here in the dark, my heart pounding as I listen to his footsteps stop in front of my opened door.
Please keep walking . . .
“Are you awake in there? It’s really late.” He pokes his head inside my room, squinting as he tries to adjust to the dark. I consider hiding from him, but I’m pretty sure he’s already seen me at this point. “Tegan?”
“Yeah, I’m awake.” I reach over and turn on the bedside lamp, yawning as I sit back and get comfortable. “I’m just thinking about my book and what I’m going to write in the morning. Sitting in the dark usually helps me think. How was work? Everything good?”
He laughs and nods his head, which relieves me. “Yeah, just tiring is all. I think I may need to have Micah hire more staff soon. I had to jump behind the bar to help my guys most of the night because they couldn’t seem to keep up.”
“That’s a good thing though, Xan. You should be really proud of your bar. It was a smart business decision for sure. I mean . . . shirtless men serving drinks on the beach. That’s genius.”
He smiles proudly and takes a sip of his soda. “Appreciate the compliment, little sis. It definitely took a lot to get Vortex to where it is now and I have Micah to thank for the most part. That’s why it’s going to suck when he leaves to open his own bar. Don’t get me wrong . . .” He runs a hand through his hair and exhales. “I’m proud as shit of him; he’s my best friend, but it’s going to be hard not having him there when he’s been there pretty much since the beginning.”
My heart is still pounding inside my chest from the first time he mentioned Micah since he’s been home, but somehow the mention of his name for a second time has my heart beating even harder.
It’s pounding so hard that I’m almost afraid my brother will hear it from across the room. Talk about being paranoid.
I begin fidgeting with the blanket on the bed when he looks down at his phone, as if to read a text. “How is the kid doing?”
My brother looks up from his cell and gives me a weird look. “How did you know about the kid?”
I swallow, just now realizing me asking about the kid gives away that I was with Micah when he called. Might as well tell him the truth. Well, most of it at least. “I was bored earlier, so I went to Express and helped Micah clean up the place a bit. He repaid me by ordering us a pizza and we just got back here when you called him.”
His face hardens as he squeezes the door frame. “That better be the only way he repaid you, Tegan.”
“It was,” I lie. “Jeez, Xan. You don’t have to worry about Micah getting to me. I’m a big girl. Now, are you going to answer my question or not?”
He flexes his jaw as if he’s worried about me now, and I hope with everything in me that he doesn’t question me further. “Sebastian showed up at the bar pretty wasted, but I kept him inside my office before he could get into any trouble. At least I hope. The kid is only seventeen and Micah has taken on the responsibility of taking care of the troubled little shit because his parents are never around for him. They could care less what that kid does and Micah is afraid he’ll get hurt or arrested. He’s been coming around for two years now and he hasn’t given up on him yet.”
My heart melts at the knowledge that Micah has been taking care of him for two years now. Micah can’t be much older than I am and I can’t even imagine having the responsibility of keeping someone else out of trouble. “How old is Micah?”
“Twenty-five. But Micah knows what it’s like not to have a parent around who cares about him. His mom abandoned him at a young age and he spent most of his childhood bouncing from group homes to different foster families. He’s pretty much been on his own since he was sixteen or something.”
My heart drops hearing something so sad and personal from Micah’s past. When he mentioned his mother to me and how she used to make him read before bed, I just assumed she’s been around the whole time.
Knowing now that she abandoned him and made him feel so unloved and unwanted makes me feel sick to my stomach.
“Then it’s a good thing he’s been there for this Sebastian kid. He sounds like he needs someone who cares about him.”
“Yeah.” My brother nods his head and slaps the door. “Well, I should probably get some sleep. Micah is playing tomorrow night and you saw the crowd he drew in last week. It’s like that every week and sometimes it’s even crazier.”
“Well, he’s got a pretty amazing voice.” One of the best I have ever heard, but I leave that part out.