I want to marvel at his talent and the intricate detail of his painting, but then I remember why I’m there. I plant my hands on my hips. “You told everyone there’s a party at my house?”
“Si, the kick-off party,” he says, sitting up. “That way everyone knows where it is, and kids can use it before school starts. When they go back to school, they can talk about the pool just like the rich kids.”
I glare at him. “My stepdad will never allow it.”
“He won’t even know,” he says. “You said he plays poker on Thursdays.”
I just gape, too furious to even speak. He used something I told him in casual conversation to manipulate the situation to get what he wants, and he’s not even pretending to be sorry for it. He grabs my hand and pulls me down on his lap.
“Just think about it,” he says, rubbing his chin against my neck, sending shivers racing down my body. “We’ll introduce you to all our friends before school starts, let them know you’re off limits…”
I almost let my eyes close with bliss at how good it feels, but then I see Maddox standing there watching us, and I remember what I just heard. Surely I heard wrong, but it still makes my body tense and embarrassment flood through me. Especially when I see, on his messy side of the room that has shoes kicked haphazardly in a pile, CDs scattered around a boom box on the desk, and clothes tossed over the back of his chair, a magazine with a girl in a see-through lace bikini sliding off a stack under his bed.
The distraction lets me grab onto my anger once more. I struggle against Lennox’s hold, but he pulls me back, pressing his hips against my ass just hard enough for me to feel him stiffening.
“Let me go,” I say, furious and embarrassed about how easily these boys can get under my skin. It was one thing when I thought they were older—grown men. Now that I know they’re still in high school, they shouldn’t have this power over me.
Lennox releases me, laughing. “Don’t be such a buzzkill,” he says. “It’s just a party. Your dad will never even know we were there.”
“No,” I say fiercely, my heart hammering as I think of what Lee will say. There’s no way he won’t find out, even if he’s gone all night for poker. “I told you, you can’t have a party there.”
“Relax and come here,” Lennox says with a careless smile that makes me want to scream and throw something. He pats the bed and grins. “I’ll make you feel better, little mama.”
I want to cry with the desperate fury crawling up inside me. But there’s no way I’m going to cry in front of these guys and look like a big baby. I already feel like I’m in way over my head when I’m with them, even if they are basically my age, and this only confirms it. They do whatever they want, regardless of what I tell them. I’m powerless against them, even when it’s my pool they’re using.
Something flutters in my lower belly as I stare at Lennox’s big, paint-stained hand stroking the bed. I wonder what it would feel like on my skin, what his mouth would feel like on mine. He’s kissed my neck and shoulders, but it’s always been playful. But if he’s not older, if he doesn’t think of me as a kid… Does he like me? Will this gorgeous, older guy be my boyfriend at the new school where I don’t know a soul?
I gulp, my gaze darting to Maddox, who’s leaning on the dresser and watching us as per usual. Instead of his usual frown, though, he looks amused this time.
“What about him?” I ask, my throat tight.
Maddox breaks into a grin, but it’s not one that makes me melt like his brother’s. Instead, it’s cold and sly, like a predator sneaking up on its prey. “If you think you can take us both at once…”
My heart starts galloping as I realize I’m alone in their bedroom, helpless against these two older, bigger boys if they wanted to hurt me instead of kiss me and be my boyfriend. I feel stupid and naïve just for having had the thought.
“What?” I whisper, barely able to speak as I step back toward the door.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got practice,” he says, prowling forward until he’s looming over me. “We sex in all the crew girls with a gangbang.”
I feel the color drain from my face, and I turn my gaze to Lennox, who’s just watching without saying a word to fend off his brother.
Maddox looks positively feral at my shocked expression. “What’s the matter, little girl?” he purrs, reaching out to play with a silky strand of my hair that came loose while I was running. “Cat got your tongue? Don’t worry. I’ll give your cat plenty of tongue if you hang around long enough.”
A flutter bites into the flesh between my thighs, like a vicious butterfly. I back toward the door again, and Maddox chuckles.
“Look, Len, I scared her away. Don’t go, little girl. I can just watch this time, if that’s what gets you off.”
I turn and flee, halfway expecting one of them to grab me as I yank open the door and race down the hall, my heart galloping faster than my feet. But the only thing that follows me is their laugher.
six
Maddox North
“You didn’t have to be such a dick,” Lennox says, watching me as he lounges back on the bed.
I open my drawer, pull out my gun, and check the chamber. “She shouldn’t even be coming around here. She’s a normal girl.”
“Exactly why you shouldn’t be such a dick to her.”