“Dez! What are you doing?”
“Speeding up the process. These heels are hurting your feet. You can wear flats, you know. You don’t need shoes to look sexy.”
“Put me down! I’m way too heavy for you to carry.”
“Are you sure about that? Because you feel perfect to me.” I hit a button with one hand, balancing her little body between one arm and the elevator wall. I kissed her neck and heard her sharp intake of breath.
The elevator took us straight down to the garage. I backed my car out of my reserved spot and headed for their place in Torrance. We had to go a block down the street to find a parking space.
“Well, we’re here.” She tugged the hem of her skirt down. “Thanks for taking me home.”
I pulled her across the console and captured her sweet mouth in a hard kiss, so hard that our teeth touched. “We can tell Paul about us. You ready?”
Someone rapped against my window. Shit, a policeman had caught us making out in my car like teenagers. At least I wouldn’t get a ticket for public indecency. We were still fully clothed.
But when I turned around, I met the furious eyes of my best friend.
Paul was standing out there, his motorcycle next to him. In another second, the driver’s side door, my door, was open. Paul pulled me away from his sister and straight into his fist. I saw stars from a well-deserved punch. He’d finally caught me with his little sister.
When he hit me again, I felt something open up in my nose. I was bleeding, but Paul wasn’t stopping.
I didn’t raise a hand to stop him from giving me the beat-down that I richly deserved. I could hear Riley screaming in my car. Her screams got louder when she got out and pulled Paul off of me.
“Stop it! It’s my fault. We were going to tell you.”
“How long has this been going on?” Paul shouted. “How could you betray me like this? Both of you…”
He let go of me, shoving me against my car, and got onto his bike. We all heard the roar of the engine starting before he went down the road, leaving us behind.
“Well, that went well.” I could taste something thick and coppery in my mouth. I spat out a little blood onto the street.
Desmond’s Place
Riley
Desmond put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.” He hugged me close, even though he was the one who’d just taken all the punches my brother wanted to throw.
“Don’t worry? Your nose is bleeding! You just spat blood on the street.” I looked at my shirt. “And I’ll never be able to get the bloodstains out of this shirt.”
“I’ll buy you a new one. Five new ones. Let’s get you home.”
I thought about sitting at home, waiting for Paul to cool off and trying to have an adult conversation about my romantic relationship with his best friend, which still was so new.
“Could we go to your house instead? You need to get cleaned up…and if Paul comes home when you’re there, there’s a chance that he’ll hit you again.”
“Sure thing, sweetheart. Just get back in my car. I’ll take you home.”
Desmond didn’t live that far away, but he always came over to our place before he and Paul went out. I didn’t know why, but my stomach had butterflies. I’d never been in his space before, even though he’d spent a few drunken nights at our place.
He turned on the radio as he quietly took us straight to his place. He lived in a really nice apartment building with a doorman who raised an eyebrow but didn’t say a word as he let us through. We went into the elevator. After swiping a card, Dez hit the P button at the top.
“You live in a penthouse?”
“Gift from my father.”
I didn’t know much about his parents other than that they weren’t around much. His mother traveled a lot, and his father always seemed to be working. I knew that they were divorced, but I was realizing just now how little I knew about his family despite Desmond nearly being part of mine. It seemed unequal, because he knew my brother and had known my parents.
The elevator chimed as soon as we got to his floor.