Lost in the Moment (A Savioe Family Novel) (12 page)

I sniffed it before I took a tentative taste.
I closed my eyes as the taste of chicory and chipotle mixed in a smoky woodsy flavor with a slight kick. I could feel the spice setting my tongue ablaze and my body instantly come alive at the tingling sensation. “Wow that does have a kick. I’m almost afraid to ask what is in it.”

She gave me a sexy little smirk and rolled her shoulder. “Nothing that will hurt you. I just want to make sure that you are
good and awake when we head to school.”

I drained the cup and rinsed it out blinking my eyes as the caffeine
hit my bloodstream. Whatever that was felt like a sudden surge of adrenalin. I turned away from the sink and caught a glimpse of her leaning against the kitchen island. She laughed at something Luke said and her face lit up with pure joy. I felt a slight pull in my chest at the sight.

Beau looked down at his
mobile and announced. “We better get going.” He walked over to his mother and gave her a hug then kissed the top of her head. He ruffled the hair on each twin. “See y’all after work tonight. You still want to go to the game later?”

Remi’s eyes lit up. “Uh… yeah!”

“Just make sure you’re ready to leave when you get home from school and I’ll meet you there when I get off from work. Okay?” He looked up at the rest of us and motioned for us to leave.

We filed out
of the door and headed over to the garage. Luke jumped on his bike putting on his helmet and gloves. Charles yawned before he climbed into Beau’s truck. I opened the passenger door of Grace for Marie. She rolled her eyes at me and smiled as she got in. Beau clapped me on the back and whispered in my ear. “Remember keep your hands to yourself. This is all just a pretense.”

That set my teeth on edge. He didn’t have to remind me of that.
It’s not like I’m daft. If he thinks that me talking to her in the kitchen warrants that type of warning, he better prepare himself for what was to come. I pulled my keys out of the pocket of my hoodie and gave him a crooked grin that didn’t quite reach my eyes.

I walked to the car and got in. Marie sat with her elbow resting on the door and her head propped up on her hand. I looked her over slowly, starting from her head and worked my way to her boots. Yeah, he’s going to blow a gasket when we get to school.

                                                        *****

We pulled into the car
park. I turned off the engine and looked at her. “Are you ready?”

Her lips twitched in an attempt to smile as anxiety shone in her eyes. “I guess so.”

I picked up her hand and pressed my lips against her knuckles. “Then let’s go.” I grabbed my keys and shoved them in my pocket before I exited the car. I rushed over to the passenger door and opened it for her. She slowly got out and adjusted her skirt. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her against me. My body twitched at the feel of her pressed against me. I quickly cleared my throat and started the trek up to the bus loading area.

Instead of walking in the commons to wait for the first bell to ring, I pulled her over to one of the pillars that stood by the side of the building where a few kids hung out after exiting their buses.
I leaned against the one by the window of the commons and grabbed both of her hands. “This way I can still keep an eye on Roxy when she gets off her bus.”

“O
h.” She looked up at me shyly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Beau as he took a seat at their table by the teacher’s lounge. His eyes went wide when he noticed us and I saw his jaw clench. The same crooked grin passed my lips as I pulled her closer to me.
I gently grabbed her chin in between my thumb and forefinger and tilted her head up. I gazed into her topaz eyes for a brief moment before I lowered my head to hers. I heard her breath catch in her throat at the first feather-light caress of my lips. I closed my eyes as a surge of electricity shot through my veins. Her hand tentatively touched my chest. My heart pounded in my ears as I captured her lips again.

I
growled deep in my throat as her tongue timidly touched mine. She tasted like mint and smells like heaven. I heard her sigh faintly as she wrapped her arm around my neck and leaned into my embrace. My hand fisted a handful of her hair as the other pulled her hips closer to mine.
I can’t get enough of her.

The faint sound of someone clearing their throat made me pull away from her. She let out a small sigh and rested her head against my chest as I looked up to see the grim face of Beau.

                                                        *****

Marie

My pulse pounded rapidly in m
y ribcage as I laid my head on his chest. I was not expecting that at all. My body sizzled and tingled from the physical response he conjured in me. I felt dizzy and giddy all at once. I let out a ragged breath as I tried to keep my hold on reality. I knew this was a sham and that none of what he did meant anything, but damn could that boy kiss.

“Drez.” My brother hissed as he stood beside us
. I leaned back shocked at the hostility in his voice. His arms were crossed in front of his chest as he scowled at us.

“Beau.” Drez answered in a smug amused voice.
His hand gently caressed my back as he glared at my brother. His body was rigid with tension almost like he was anticipating a fight though he seemed so calm.

“
Keep ya hands ta ya’ self or I’ll snap ‘em off.” Beau growled snapping his teeth at us.

Drez chuckled and shook his head. “Please tell me, you
didn’t think they’d buy this if I just followed her around like a puppy? You’ve heard the rumors about me. They’d expect this if not more.”

Beau’s face turned red as he sputtered. “Doesn’ mean I have t
a approve of ya maulin’ her.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head at them.
“He wasn’t mauling me.”

“Dat’s no’ what it looked like ta me.” His hazel eyes turned to pin me with his best
‘Wait till I get you alone so I can lecture you´
look.

I
rolled my eyes and turned my head to the bus that pulled up. I saw Jess exit, walk past us and decided to let them deal with this on their own. I leaned up on my toes, wrapped my hand around Drez’s neck and pulled his head down for a brief kiss. I gently scraped my teeth across his bottom lip wringing out a faint groan from him and whispered. “See you at lunch, Shug.”

I slipped away from his stunned embrace and chased after Jess.
I caught her just before she entered the building. “’Sup girl?”

She turned around and gasped when she saw me. “
Marie! Damn. You are looking fierce! Wait! I just saw you all snuggled up next to….” Her eyes widened in shock before she grabbed my arm and pulled me into the school. “Tell. Me. Everything!”

I opened my mouth to tell her when Keegan and Angie rushed over to me.
Angie’s eyes widened in a mix of shock and disgust when she spotted Jess beside me. “Oh hey! I was just getting ready to ask you if it was true.”

I raised my eyebrow at her and played dumb. “Is what true?”

She moved in between Jess and I and grabbed my arm steering me away from her. “That you and Drez were just kissing outside in the bus area.”

My cheeks turned pink as the heat from that kiss came flooding back. “Oh that. Yeah, we were.”

Keegan let out an ear-piercing shriek. “Oh my god! What was it like?”

             
                                          *****

             
             
Chapter Five

The stadium was already lit up for the game tonight. Scores of cars stretched over the tiny parking lot forcing us to park in the grass across the street. Tonight the Jefferson County Timberwolves face off against the Pulaski County Cougars and I’m stuck watching the twins with momma. She absolutely refused to let me go to Angie’s sleepover. She wouldn’t even give me a reason why either!

I helped Dev out
of his car seat and closed the van door. “Why won’t you let me go?”

She sighed and gave me the mom look before turning her attention to Remi. “Marie, we are not having this conversation again. You are not going to the sleepover of this girl I do not know nor have ever met. And don’t roll your eyes at me, child.”

I stopped in mid-roll and glanced down at Dev whose mouth had dropped open. He quickly snapped it closed and whispered. “How’d she know?”

I shrugged my shoulders and opened up the back of the van. I grabbed the blankets, slung them over my shoulder and closed the hatch. Momma
grabbed hold of the twins’ hands and nodded for me to head on in to the stadium. As we crossed the street, I couldn’t help but wish I’d changed my clothes when I got home from school. The cool air hitting my bare thigh was enough to make me shiver. I grabbed the hem of the skirt and tried to pull it down.

We paid for our tickets and walked up the steps to where Beau was seated. Ever since this morning
’s incident with Drez, he has been trying to pull me off to the side and talk to me about it. Remi ran up the bleachers and plopped down next to Beau. I helped momma up the rest of the way. She took a seat in front of Beau and Remi. Dev sat beside her and looked up at me expectedly. I mentally rolled my eyes and sat down next to them.

Beau tapped me on my shoulder
and whispered. “Marie, we need to talk.”

I
clenched my jaw as I ignored him. There was nothing that we needed to discuss. I was simply just doing what we had talked about, pretending to be with Drez. I understood that there would be certain things required of me to do. Kissing in public was one of them. If he had such a problem with his friend pretending to date me then he should never have pushed the issue. I covered my lap with a blanket and continued to stare at the field.

“Marie! Hey, Marie!” Angie waved her arm at me and jogged up the steps. She stopped beside me and looked over my shoulder to the jackass. “I didn’t know you were going to
be here tonight. You should come chill with us since you can’t stay over.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked over my family. She smiled at my mother and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Angie.”

My mother smiled sweetly at her. “Nice to meet you, honey. Marie if you want to go hang out with them that’s fine.”

“Thank you.” I took off the blanket and placed it over Dev. Beau caught my shoulder and raised his eyebrow at me. I jerked away and followed Angie down the steps. “Thanks for saving me up there. I swear Beau has been driving me crazy.”

“Really? Why is that?” Angie asked with a
glimmer of interest sparkling in her eyes. We passed the concession stand that had already begun to get overloaded with customers.

I sighed and decided to tell her a half-truth. “He hates the thought of me and Drez. I think he’s afraid that when things go wrong between us he’ll have to choose a side.”

“When things go wrong?” She leaned closer to me her eyes wide in hopes of some juicy gossip. “Is there trouble already?”

I threw my head back and laughed.
“Naw, I just know that it’s not going to last. I mean… it’s Drez. Have you seen him with anyone for longer than a few weeks?”

“Now, pet, that just hurts my feelings.” I spun around to see him leaning against one of the pillars under th
e bleachers. His hands were shoved in his jean pockets and he still wore the blue hoodie from earlier. That shaggy mane of his gently hung around his face. Those piercing grey eyes twinkled with laughter before he pushed away from the bleacher and swaggered my way. “Come here and give us a pash, luv.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. His head nuzzled my neck before he whispered. “Your friend is turning green.”

I clung to him and gasped into his ear. “She’s not really a friend.”

He leaned back with a
ghost of a smile on his face and before he could say anything, I touched my lips to his. He inhaled sharply as our lips met. That made me smile before I kissed him again. It was gentle at first with just a feather-light caress of our lips hesitantly touching until I threaded my fingers in his hair and nipped at his bottom lip. He growled in the back of his throat and dug his fingers into my waist. He quickly took control and became more demanding. His tongue delved into my mouth wringing out a moan from me. He tightened his arms around me and hauled me against his hard body. One of his hands traveled down my spine to my waist and rested on my butt. His hand flexed over my backside and squeezed gently. My head spun as he continued to capture my mouth over and over.

When I finally was able to
pull back, I was breathing heavy. I looked up and met his hungry dazed expression. “I didn’t think you’d come tonight.”

His lips twitched in a smirk and murmured against my forehead
as he pressed a soft kiss against it. “I haven’t yet, pet. But I’ll let you know when I’m about to.”

My eyes widened in shock as the meaning of his words
soaked in. I could feel my cheeks heating up in a blush. I ducked my head and brushed a lock of hair behind my ear. “Oh, Drez this is Angie. Angie. Drez.”

She stood there
in stunned silence for a moment before she plastered a smile on her face. “We met at lunch. Uh… I’ll leave you two alone. Marie, when you get a chance come find us and we’ll try to convince your mom to let you stay with us tonight. Bye.” She waved at us and walked to the end of the bleachers.

After she got out of earshot, I smacked his arm. “I can’t believe you said that.”

“Just playing the part, pet.” He steered me toward the concession stand. “Want something to drink?”

“No thank you.
I didn’t think this was your kind of thing.” A little kid rushed in between us making us separate. I rubbed my arm that was pressed against him in an attempt to keep the heat from his body there.

He turned to look at me in confusion. “What
do you mean?”

“You know… football games. You don’t seem like the type that would just sit back and watch a game.”

When we reached the counter, he ordered a hot dog and large soda. “You sure you don’t want anything, pet?”

I leaned against the counter and shook my head no. “I’m good. Momma fixed a bunch of stuff for us earlier.
”

He paid the vendor, grabbed the drink and took a bit
e out of the hot dog. We started walking back to the bleachers where my family sat before he responded. “I’m pretty much up for anything. If it seems like fun then I’ll try it. Football games are interesting. You can find out a lot of information on people here.” He threw away the trash from the dog and took a drink before tossing the cup away.

“So you people watch like Roxy?” I bit my bottom lip as I waited for him to answer me.

His mercurial eyes flitted to my lips then back up to my eyes. He visibly swallowed. “Yes and no. I watch how they interact with each other.” He pointed over to the cheerleaders, players on the field and Angie’s group of friends before he nodded over to the Goth kids. “And talk to them to find out what’s really going on. If you want to know who’s doing who, which player is on steroids, or what girl over there is a backstabber you go to them.”

“Really? Must be how Jess gets her info.
Have you found out anything tonight?” I rubbed my arms again to ward off the chill.

He must have noticed the movement because he took off his hoodie and handed it to me. “Just what we already know. If they win tonight there is going to be some huge bash at someone’s house.
I might be able to find out more there.”

I put on his hoodie and was
immediately enveloped by his musky scent. It smelled like sandalwood and something unique just to him. I inhaled deeply and suppressed the urge to sigh. The sleeves hung past my fingertips and the hem hit a few inches above the bottom of my skirt. I looked up at him and frowned when I noticed he was only in a thin black T-shirt. “Aren’t you going to get cold?”

He shrugged and leaned against the chain link fence
under a line of trees that surrounded the stadium grounds. “I’m not worried about it.”

“You should be. You could catch a cold.” I poked his chest with my finger.

He grinned capturing my hand in his before kissing my knuckles. “Worried about me already?”

I rolled my eyes at him trying to ignore the butterflies circling my stomach. “The same way I’d worry about one of my brothers.”

“Just your brothers, huh?” He pulled my arms around his neck and rested his forehead against mine. “Your ‘not’ friends are walking over here.”

I bit my lip and sighed. “Then we better make it look convincing huh?”

“Oh, I think we’re doing a good job at that.” He kissed a trail down my cheek.

Slowly tilting my head back, he started nipping and kissing my jaw. I closed my eyes and just let my senses go. His hand grabbed my knee and slowly pulled my leg up to his waist as he continued teasing my neck with his lips. I felt his hand slowly move up my outer thigh and slip under my skirt. “Drez
?” I gasped unsure about allowing him to do that.

“Shhh. I’m not going to do anything. Just make it look like I’ve already done it.” His fingertips grazed the lace on my boy shorts and I felt his body tremble. His ragged breath brushed over my cheek before h
e claimed my mouth. He spun me around and pushed me into the fence still keeping my leg at his waist. He pinned me with his hips and I could feel his erection as he languidly rocked against me. My body quivered and grew damp at the possibility of welcoming him.

“Stop.”
I jerked my leg down and gently pushed him away. My heart pounded in my chest in fear and longing. “I will kiss you or whatever, but not that. Not yet.”

             
                                          *****

Drez

My blood surged as I tried to control my raging hormones. I grabbed hold of the chain link fence to keep myself from pulling her back to me.
Tilting my head back to look at the night sky I let out a ragged breath just as the crowd screamed in triumph. I swallowed hard closing my eyes. Damn, my cock was fucking hard as a rock.

I cleared my throat and winced at how desire laced my voice s
ounded. “Sorry, pet. I didn’t mean to get carried away. Though I’m sure your ‘not’ friends got a good little show.” I smiled at her and suddenly felt like the big bad wolf knowing full well that her friends hadn’t even glanced our way.

She picked at the bottom of my hoodie draw
ing my eyes to those legs. My errant friend twitched at the memory of the smooth thigh under my hand and around my waist. “Don’ apologize. I did too.”

I couldn’t help myself. I reached out and grabbed her hand dragging her back to me. I tilted her chin up so I could look into her eyes. “But you had enough sense to stop.”

She pursed her swollen lips as her eyebrow twitched up. She opened her mouth and said something but for the life of me, I had no idea what it was. All I could think of was how soft she was, how her slight curves fit against my body and how seductive those lips were. I swallowed hard and kissed her forehead. “I better get you back to your family before I do something stupid.”

She frowned a little as I draped my arm over her shoulders and ushered her out from under the trees.
I spotted Beau leaning against the bleachers as we walked away from our secluded area. His eyes scoured the crowd as he looked for someone. I really don’t need another confrontation with him. This morning’s had already left a bitter taste in my mouth. After Marie left with Jess, he threatened to cut my dick off if I so much as thought about fucking his sister. Even though I thought it was an empty threat, I still don’t want to chance losing my only friend here over a bit of tail. I looked down at Marie, who’d wrapped her arm around my waist, and smiled sadly. She responded so passionately to me, put everything behind each fake kiss. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like with her.

Marie
stiffened as we neared Beau and grumbled under her breath. “Damn jackass. Tink he knows wha’s good fo’ me. Ha! Da cooyon jus’ full of it. He don’ even have ‘nuff sense ta keep his name outta da damn book.”

“What was that, pet?”
Is she talking about the book? The one we were trying to keep her and Roxy out of.

She shook her head and plastered a smile on her face. “Nothing. He’s just trying to control my life.”

We stopped in front of him. I nodded in his direction as he inspected his sister. My jaw clenched at his insinuation that I would have harmed her. He glanced back over to me. “’Sup?”

“They’re going to have a party if they win. Thinking about crashing it if you want to come with me.”
Olive branch meet Beau.