Tempted (9 page)

“The fuck does that mean?”

“It means I’m not begging anymore. From now
on,
I
decide if or when we have sex.”

“If?”

“Yes…if. Pretty soon,
you’ll
be the
one begging
me
.”

His lips curl up in amusement and he places
his hands on his hips.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, Mr. Hunter. Exactly so.”

He steps closer, and I try my best to look
disinterested. I hope I’m succeeding.

“There are no ifs, buts or maybes, Miss
Alvarez. When the clock strikes midnight on your birthday, I will
be inside you.”

Fuck. “We’ll see about that.”

“Yes, we will. Have you been taking your
pills?”

“No.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Next week. Dr. E said it becomes effective
immediately if I start on the first day of my period.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Are we all done here? I’d like to get back
to celebrating my best friend’s birthday.”

I hop off the desk and pull my dress down
back to where it sat, just above mid-thigh.

“Fine. But I’m watching you.”

“Great. I’ll make sure to twerk a little
harder just for you.”

“Don’t make me come down there,” he
warns.

I turn to him with a smirk when I get to the
door. “Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show,
papi
.”

I grab my clutch and close the door behind
me, deciding to make this as painful for him as possible.
No
more whimpering female. It’s time to turn the tables on the
prez.

I take a drink of my beer and impatiently tap
my fingers on the bar. I’ve been so antsy these past few days, and
I can only attribute it to the fact that I haven’t seen Raven all
week. She’s been avoiding me, making all kinds of excuses why we
can’t meet up. I know it’s all a part of her plan to make me beg.
Fuck if it ain’t working. A ruckus from the boys draws my
attention, and I look to the door to see Ellen walking in.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Excuse me, big brother, but I grew up here,
too.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. You know you’re
always welcome. Where’s Mikey?”

“With a sitter.”

“What sitter?”

“Jeez…I swear you’re worse than Daddy. He’s
with Raven. Stop worrying.”

At least I know where she is now.
Jesus.
I’m like a crack fiend.
I need to see her. I slip away quietly
and ride out. The closer I get to Ellen’s, the better I feel. This
isn’t me. Maybe I do need some time away from her. She’s sucking me
in deeper and deeper, and I haven’t even fucked her yet. I should
turn around, go back to the club. I should. So why am I pulling
into Ellen’s driveway?

I let myself in and find her curled up on the
couch with Mikey, watching cartoons. They haven’t noticed me yet,
so I take advantage of the opportunity and watch them. She seems so
comfortable with him. He’s asking a million questions, and she
answers each one with patience and enthusiasm. She’d be a great
mother. I make my presence known and she stares at me,
surprised.

“Unca!”

Mikey runs to me and I pick him up as I walk
to the couch. “Hey, buddy. What you doing?”

“Cartoon.”

The word comes out sounding like
“cawtoon”.

“Yeah? Can I watch with you?”

“Yes! Watch cartoon.”

I sit next to Raven and she folds her hands
in her lap, keeping her eyes on the TV.

“Hello, Raven.”

“Hello.”

“Unca, I like Waben,” Mikey whispers.

“Yeah? I don’t blame you, little guy.”

He sticks his thumb in his mouth and gives
the TV his attention.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” I confront
her.

“I haven’t. I’ve just been busy.”

“Is that why you can’t look at me?”

“Of course not. I’m watching TV.”

“If you say so.”

We sit quietly for a while. I watch the
images on the screen, not really paying attention. My entire being
is attuned to her; I can’t focus on anything else. She finally
turns her head but not to look at me.

“He’s asleep. You should go put him down,”
she says.

I take him upstairs and gently place him in
his crib then turn on the baby monitor. He looks so much like
Eddie. It’s all my fault that he’ll grow up without his father. His
is the only death I’ve ever felt guilty about. Mikey may not have
his father, but I’ll be damned if I won’t be the strong, male role
model he’ll need. I kiss his forehead and head downstairs. I find
Raven in the kitchen with a bottle of Advil.

“Are you sick?”

“¡
Dios
! Why do you keep sneaking up on
me?”

“Answer me.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then why are you taking pain pills?”

“Honestly, Gage…there are things that a woman
just doesn’t need to explain.”

“Is it your period?”

“
That
is one of them.”

She walks past me, and I follow her back to
the living room. She picks up the remote and starts flipping
through the channels.

“When did it start?”

She mumbles in Spanish but doesn’t answer my
question. “Well?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“You’re my business.”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Trust me, doll. In a few months, I’ll know
your cycle better than you do.”

“I doubt that.”

“Every man dreads that one week where he
can’t get no pussy.”

“That’s what this is about? You want to mark
the week when you can’t get any sex?”

“Yup.”

I bring up the calendar on my phone and wait,
but she’s still not forthcoming with the information.

“Fine. Let me put it this way. When did you
start taking the pills?”

She sighs and shakes her head in resignation.
“Tuesday.”

“Good.” I put the phone away and pull her to
me. “Now, come here.”

She lays her head on my chest and her hand on
my stomach, taking a deep breath. My soul settles. This is just
what I needed.

“I missed you,” she whispers.

“Were you trying to make me miss you?”

“Did you?”

“I missed you in my bed.”

“That’s not what I asked you.”

She runs her fingers along the patches on my
cut. Another first. No woman has ever been allowed to touch my cut.
The mere fact that I can allow and do all these things with her
without even thinking about it confuses me a little. I’m in
unchartered territory here. This whole thing is going to be a
challenge but not one I’m going to back away from.

“Yeah, doll. I missed you.”

***

A tap on my shoulder wakes me up and I open
my eyes to Ellen’s confounded ones. She jerks her head toward the
kitchen and storms off. I carefully untangle myself from Raven and
settle her into the couch, then head to the next room to face my
sister.

“What the fuck are you doing?” She
whisper-shouts.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? She’s seventeen years old!”

“I know that.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“We were watching TV…fell asleep. That’s
all.”

“Don’t feed me that bullshit.”

I take a deep breath and pull her to the
breakfast table. “Sit,” I say as I take the chair next to her.
“You’re gonna find out soon anyways, so I guess you should hear it
from me.”

“Oh, God.”

“I swear nothing’s happened. But in a few
weeks, she’ll be eighteen, and we’re going to start seeing each
other.”

“Seeing each other?” She raises her brows in
curiosity.

“Dating…if that’s what you wanna call
it.”

She leans back and regards me carefully. I
can see the wheels turning in her head and puzzle pieces clicking
into place. Finally, she smirks.

“You’re falling for her.”

“What? No. I like her, I’ll admit, but that’s
it.”

“Mmhmm.” She’s not convinced and frankly,
neither am I. “How much longer?”

“A month.”

“Be careful, Gage. I don’t want to see you in
prison over this.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t worry. And don’t say anything to
anyone.”

“Goes without saying.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m going to check on Mikey.” She looks down
at the watch on her wrist. “Take her home. And pay her…sixty
dollars.”

“Okay.”

She’s still asleep on the couch. I kneel in
front of her, then trail my fingers down her cheek and whisper her
name. Her eyes flutter open, and she smiles up at me.

“Wake up, doll.”

“Shit. I can’t believe I fell asleep,” she
says while sitting up.

“Come on. I’m taking you home.”

“Ellen’s back?”

“She’s upstairs with Mikey.”

I pull her up and she staggers, grabbing my
arm. “You good?”

“Yeah…just still waking up.”

“Here.”

I hand her the money and she shoves it into
her pocket then sags against me. “I got the bike so you gotta wake
up, doll.”

She grumbles incoherently, and I realize that
I’ll either have to carry her or we walk to her house. I tuck her
under my arm and we make our way outside and up the street. By the
time we get to her door, she’s fully awake. She buries her face in
my chest and groans. Her hands slide under my cut and up my back,
then she drags her nails over my T-shirt.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ugh. What’s
not
wrong? I’m horny and
frustrated and I want you and I’m on my period. Pick one.”

“We’re on the home stretch now, babe. Not
much longer.”

“God, I love how you smell. I just wanna eat
you up.”

She reaches for my crotch and I pull away,
taking a few steps back. “Whoa.”

“You should let me.”

“Let you what?”

She moves toward me, biting into her bottom
lip.
Jesus. Why does she have to be so tempting?

“Eat you up.”

“Fuck, Raven. Don’t talk like that.”

“Why not? It’s not like I haven’t done it
before.”

Rage overtakes me. Just thinking about it
makes me want to kill someone. “The fuck, Raven? Who the fuck had
their dick in your mouth? Was it the boy?”

“No, it wasn’t Chris. My ex back home.”

“That’s what you meant when you said you’ve
done things? Did he touch you?”

“No. It was a compromise. He was ready for
sex, I wasn’t. He got tired of hand jobs.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

He’s dead. That motherfucker better start
picking out caskets. Never mind caskets; there won’t be anything
left of him to bury when I’m done with him.

She pats my chest then takes the sides of my
cut in her hands.

“
You
don’t talk like that.”

“Why not? I’m serious.”

“That’s just it. Coming from anyone else, it
might sound like an empty threat…but not you.”

“What do you expect? I have to live with the
thought of you sucking some other dude’s dick.”

“Forget about it. I have. I can’t even
remember what it looks like…just that he was nowhere near your
size.”

Her eyes twinkle with mischief and just like
that, she levels me out. “Not many men are,” I say.

“I’ll take your word for it, monster
dick.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“I liked it, you know…seeing his face while I
was doing it. I can’t wait to see yours.”

She leans into me, and I have to take deep
breaths to calm my body. All I can see is her on her knees with her
lips wrapped around my dick.

“You gonna come in my mouth, Gage? You want
me to swallow?” She asks in a low, gravelly voice.

Jesus Christ. I think I can hear my balls
turning blue.
“Raven –”

She winks, stands on her toes, and gives me a
quick peck on the lips.

“I’m going to get some sleep. Call me
tomorrow?”

“Yeah, babe.”

“Dream about me.”

“
You
dream about
me
,” I tell
her.

“Always.”

I see him before he walks into the diner.
Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself to face him. It’s time to
put three years of drama club to use. I square my shoulders but go
back to wiping down the counter. The chimes on the door jingle, and
I smile up at him.

“Hi. Welcome to Millie’s. Just sit where you
like, and I’ll be right with you,” I issue my standard
greeting.

He removes his hat and takes the stool in
front of me. He looks tired. The kind of tired that comes from
having a stressful job. He’s probably in his thirties but looks
much older. His eyes are a beautiful shade of brown, but are heavy
with years of seeing too much shit. His brown hair is parted to the
side and neatly combed. I can tell he works out a lot because his
arms fill out his shirt very nicely.

“Okay…counter it is. What can I get you?”

“Coffee.”

“Regular or decaf?”

“Regular.”

“Coming right up.”

As I’m pouring his coffee, he introduces
himself. “Sheriff Adrian Renley. I’d like to ask you some
questions, Miss Alvarez.”

“Um…okay.”

I need to play it cool. I have to find a
balance between not knowing anything and knowing too much. He’s
here, which means he thinks I know
something
.

“Are you acquainted with Mr. Gage
Hunter?”

“I know him. Why?”

“How do you know him?”

“I met him through my sister. Again…why?”

“There was an incident on September
thirteenth. Witnesses reported a car being chased and shot at by
two men on motorcycles.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. Have you caught
those guys?”

“Working on it. Witnesses from Chiquita’s say
the two of you had a heated argument that night.”

“I wouldn’t call it that.”

“What would you call it?”

“A conversation.”

Millie walks up and places her arm around my
shoulder protectively. “Sheriff, what’s going on here?”