Conrad Page 13

  “Lesley, what is it?” Lucas asked again.

  Blinking, I looked at him. “Huh?”

  He glanced between me and the road with a concerned look on his face. “You gasped.”

  “Oh, sorry. I just… I just thought I saw something for a second,” I said, trying to tell the truth without telling him how crazy my family might actually be.

  He arched an eyebrow. “You sure?”

  I nodded.

  And this seemed to please him, because he looked back at the road and kept driving as if nothing was out of place.

  Except to me, everything was.

  First, I learned about Miles and the fact that he was my long lost stepbrother, and then I got told that he was supposed to be dead.

  And now this.

  What the hell was going on?

  My mind raced so much that I couldn’t even focus on where Lucas was taking me and instead, stared out the window as I tried to put all the little pieces together. It was impossible though. There were so many different rumors coming from so many different people that trying to piece them all together was like trying to hit the lottery.

  You literally had a 1 in a billion chance.

  I tried to push all of the turmoil currently running amok in my brain aside and pay attention to what was going on right now, but it was harder than I wanted it to be. I needed answers. I could feel my curiosity exploding, even if Lila pretty much warned me to not ask any more questions.

  Even Dare had said that.

  But I couldn’t keep driving myself insane like this and it was at that moment that I knew I would ask Miles the next time I saw him, if I saw him again. Despite my nervousness and fear, I still needed to know what the hell was going on. These people were involved in my life, in my dad’s life, and that was more than enough for me to want to dig.

  And keep digging.

  Lucas turned off onto a dirt road and I glanced around to see that we were going back to the first place we had hung out. It was actually a pull off that overlooked most of Hampton and one of my favorite places to go whenever I got the chance.

  It was perfect for when I needed to think, and it was far enough away from civilization that no one would bother you.

  Once we reached the top of the mountain, he parked closer to the edge with the car facing toward the city lights, which were just beginning to show up in the late evening sky, and shut the car off leaving us with only the noises of mid November. When he got settled, I glanced over to see him reach into the backseat where he grabbed his bag, laying it in his lap.

  He unzipped it and pulled out a container plus two bottles of water. He sat those on the center console and then threw his bag into the backseat again.

  “I thought you might be hungry, so I made this before school this morning,” he said and picked up the container only to hold it out to me.

  My heart melted at his thoughtfulness, but then a rush of guilt hit at how thoughtless I had been toward him. I swallowed that back and took the container from him. When I opened it, I saw that it was actually his mom’s famous Mexican Chicken, something I freaking loved to eat when I went over there.

  The smell hit my nose and my stomach rolled with hunger as I inhaled deeply. “This smells so good,” I said.

  He chuckled and then handed me a plastic fork he had pulled out of the center console, “It’s all yours. I’m not hungry,” he said.

  I caught his eyes and slowly sat the container in my lap. The guilt I had felt earlier came back with a vengeance and I opened my mouth to speak, but he held his hand up to stop me.

  “No, let me talk first,” he said.

  I closed my mouth and watched him.

  Lucas looked toward the city lights and took a deep breath before he spoke, “Lesley, I know I’ve been an asshole. I mean you haven’t been entirely truthful with me either, but I really messed up,” he said.

  My heart picked up, but I kept my mouth shut and let him continue.

  “I was pissed. I acted like a complete asshole by letting Haley ride around with us and I didn’t protect you like I should have when Josh was messing with you. I’m sorry. I really am, and I really hope that I haven’t messed this up entirely,” he said before he met my gaze.

  I could see the genuine apology in his eyes and the worry. My heart couldn’t take it and I dropped my gaze. I wasn’t angry with Lucas, but I couldn’t be completely honest with him when it came to Miles either and I knew that was what he wanted. He wanted to know that this wasn’t a competition. He wanted to know that I belonged to him.

  And I did.

  I was with him, but what happened with Miles couldn’t just be brushed under the rug and forgotten. I had reacted to another guy in a way I shouldn’t have and it wasn’t fair to Lucas to keep downplaying it, so I tried to figure out a way to tell him the truth without getting anyone in trouble, including Miles.

  “Luke…” I began, but again, he stopped me.

  “Whatever you’re about to say, I don’t want to hear it. I didn’t come here to talk about Miles or whatever happened. I came here to talk about us and hopefully, figure out a place where we can both be happy and move forward,” he said.

  Our eyes met again.

  “I love you, Lesley. I will do anything to fix this. I want you,” he said firmly, like he wanted to make sure I knew he was telling the truth.

  And I did.

  I could see it.

  “Ok,” I said.

  He grinned and then leaned over the center console to place both his hands on either side of my face, so that he could lean his forehead against mine. Our eyes burned into each other’s and for the first time since I had met Luke, my heart reacted. That tiny bit of distance I had felt come between us the other night filled, bringing me closer to him than I ever have been. As he watched me, I felt the need to kiss him.

  Pushing the food container onto the floor of the car, I reached up with my hands and locked them around his forearms before I closed the distance between our mouths.

  Luke didn’t hesitate. He kissed me back with just as much desperation as I had and then I felt one of his hands move from my face to my thigh.

  The sensation of his hand there sent a shock through me. One I wasn’t prepared for and I sucked in a small breath. He noticed too, because he pulled away from my mouth long enough to catch my gaze again.

  “I need to know what you feel like,” he whispered.

  My body trembled with nervousness as his words washed over me and without waiting for him to do anything, I reached down with my own hand and grabbed his wrist. Inside my chest, I could feel my pulse pounding, but I ignored it and began to pull his hand between my legs until it barely grazed my core.

  A shock went through me and I sucked in a sharp breath before I looked away from him to watch his hand instead. That was when he took control. Twisting his hand around, he managed to get between the shorts I wore and then he went further until I felt his fingers brush against my skin.

  “Lesley,” he whispered.

  I kept my gaze on his hand, watching as the muscles in his arm moved with his hand, and responded breathlessly, “What?”

  “You’re so fucking wet,” he said before he gently pushed one finger inside me.

  My eyes closed and my head fell back against the seat as a moan escaped me. I couldn’t take it. My body was flaring on all signals as Luke continued to move his finger in and out until I could feel a strange pressure starting to build.

  “Do you want me to stop?” He whispered in a rough voice.

  I kept my eyes closed and answered through my crazy breathing, “No.”

  And he didn’t. He kept going until I was sure my heart would literally fall right out of my chest and my body would be stripped clean of its soul. As the pressure continued to build at an alarming rate, more moans escaped me.

  But then I felt it. That pressure exploded, sending lightning down every nerve I had and leaving me completely breathless as I cried out.

  Lucas groaned i
n my ear and I knew he was having a really hard time keeping it together long enough to give me this little moment of pleasure. After a few seconds, my body relaxed and my eyes came open, but my breathing hadn’t settled down yet as Lucas slowly pulled his hand free and sat back in his seat.

  “I need a cold shower,” he said after an intense moment of silence.

  For whatever reason, this made me laugh and I looked over at him only to see that he was resting his head against the seat like he couldn’t find the strength to hold it up yet.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, feeling a wave of embarrassment rushing over me and turning my cheeks into twin red tomatoes.

  He shook his head and then reached down with his hands, adjusting himself. “Don’t be. I will live,” he said.

  I giggled and then looked at the food container that was now on the floor. “I guess we can eat that now,” I said, trying to ignore the moment of shyness that wanted to take over me.

  Lucas smirked and then reached down to grab it off the floor. “I wasn’t hungry before, but I am now,” he said, opening the container and taking a huge bite.

  A smile pulled at my mouth and for the first time in a long time, I was okay. My thoughts were empty and I just wanted this moment.

  Nothing else.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Lesley

  “Are you going to come out or are you going to hide in there all night?” Lila called from the other side of the door.

  I stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bathroom and scanned my eyes over my outfit. Lila had done my makeup, giving my eyes a dark smoky touch that brought out the gray color in them more than I ever managed to do. She had also put my hair into a bun, leaving a few strands free so that they curled around my face and neck.

  Instead of wearing a diamond necklace like I knew most girls would probably have, Lila had given me a black choker that had a tiny moon shaped diamond in the center, and it matched the dress perfectly. I turned my body in front of the mirror and watched as the tiny diamonds in the material sparkled under the lights.

  “Lesley, are you alive?” Lila called again.

  Smiling and pleased with the way I looked, I walked over to the door and pulled it open, revealing Lila sitting with her legs crossed on her bed. “Well?” I asked, spinning in a circle as I stepped out of the bathroom.

  “Oh wow! I freaking love it. You look gorgeous,” she said and clapped her hands in excitement.

  I stopped spinning and gave her a smile in return. “Thank you for helping me with this. I had no idea what to do,” I said.

  Lila waved me off and stood up, coming over to stand in front of me. “I’m your stepsister. This is what I’m here for,” she said before planting a quick kiss on my cheek.

  I grinned.

  Turning on her heel, she went back over to flop down on the bed. “So when is Luke supposed to be here? Doesn’t the dance start at 9?”

  I walked over and turned on my phone screen, checking the time. It was almost 8:30 pm, so I knew he had to be here soon. “Soon I hope,” I responded.

  “We need to show you off to Noah. Come on,” Lila said and then bounced off the bed, grabbing my wrist and pulling me behind her.

  When we walked out of the room, the first person I saw was Noah. He sat at the bar, dressed in light blue dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a light blue jacket. He also had a white rose in the pocket of his jacket and a light blue tie. He looked good with his hair combed back and his face shaved.

  He looked up when he heard us come out and his eyes went wide. “Holy shit.”

  I smiled with embarrassment.

  “I know! She looks gorgeous right?” Lila said, stepping back to examine her handiwork and tapping Dare on the shoulder where he sat with a hand full of cards.

  He looked over his shoulder and winked. “You look beautiful, Bug.”

  “Thank you,” I said, but then my eyes shifted to Miles.

  He sat relaxed on the couch with his knees spread apart, something most guys seemed to do when they sat down. Unlike Noah, he was dressed in dark jeans, boots, and a black hoodie which also happened to be pulled over his head, giving just enough visibility so that I could see his eyes and the strands of his hair resting over his forehead.

  He also had cards in his hand and our eyes met. For the tiniest second, I saw his eyes drop down my frame before they caught mine again.

  “That color looks perfect on you,” he said before a small smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth and he dropped his gaze from mine.

  My face couldn’t resist. I felt the heat as my cheeks filled with more shyness and I looked away from everyone in an effort to hide it, but it was no use.

  Lila caught it. “Aww, are you blushing?” she teased with a grin.

  I looked at her and begged her with my eyes to shut up, but she wasn’t having it. She smiled and poked at me with her fingers, “That’s so cute!”

  Shoving her hands away, I tried to keep my gaze on anything other than Miles since she had pretty much laid it all out there for him to hear. Luckily, I was saved by a knock at the door and rushed around Lila to yank it open, revealing Lucas.

  He was dressed in black dress pants with a dark blue dress shirt tucked beneath a black belt. His dirty blonde hair was fixed and like Noah, he had shaven. But unlike Noah, he didn’t have a rose sticking out of his shirt. Instead, he held a corsage that was a rose and matched the color of his shirt.

  Our eyes met and he spoke. “Wow, you look… just wow,” he said.

  I smiled and stepped back to let him come inside. He gazed around at everyone, except Miles who also seemed perfectly content to ignore him too and continued playing cards with Dare. I hated that there was so much tension between them, but there wasn’t much I could do. I just had to make sure to be careful with what I did and the choices I made from this point forward.

  Lila, on the other hand, wasn’t ignoring Lucas at all. She brought her finger up and poked him directly in the chest, “You sir, better keep it in your pants tonight,” she said.

  My face flushed once again. I was seriously going to die with embarrassment before I even made it to the dance and it didn’t help when Lucas responded.

  “I can’t make any promises,” he said.

  Oh God. My eyes instantly went to Dare first, and I saw that he was now staring daggers into Lucas before he spoke. “I suggest you make it a promise before you walk out the door or you’re gonna wish that you had,” he said firmly.

  I couldn’t stop myself from glancing in Miles’ direction and I was surprised by what I saw. He wasn’t even looking at anything other than his cards, but his jaw was ticking and I knew all too well what that meant.

  Anger.

  “Calm down, Dare. Lucas isn’t going to hurt her. He knows better,” Lila said, trying to ease some of the tension that had settled over the room.

  Noah, on the other hand, cleared his throat. “Well, I can’t promise that I will keep it in my pants tonight. Are you going to fuck me up too, Dare?” he asked with a devilish wink.

  Dare didn’t even look at him before he responded. “As long as it’s not some weird fucking threesome that involves Lesley, I don’t give a fuck what you put your dick in and don’t ever fucking wink at me again, Noah,” he said.

  Ok, I needed to get out of this house and quickly.

  “Ok, we are going to go now. Bye!” I said before I grabbed Lucas’ wrist and pulled him with me out the door.

  “Oh come on,” I heard Noah say from inside the house.

  I yelled over my shoulder as I led Lucas back to his car, “Noah!”

  A second later, he walked out and closed the door behind him, laughing the whole way to the car. Lucas shook his head and opened the door for me, while Noah jumped into the backseat on the driver’s side. Once we were all settled, Lucas pulled out of the alleyway and headed back toward the high school gym, which was where the dance was being held.

  We were halfway into the drive when Noah leaned up betwe
en the seats and connected his phone to the Bluetooth on the car. I knew things were about to get even more interesting considering Noah’s taste in music and I was right.

  A second later, the same song Noah had played in his car blared through the speakers and he started dancing with the lyrics in the backseat.

  I saw Lucas shake his head, but remained silent as we listened to the music playing all the way to the school. By the time we pulled into the parking lot of the school gym, it was packed full of cars and it took us a minute to find an empty parking spot. Finally, we grabbed one in the far back and Lucas cut the engine, silencing the music.

  He and Noah got out first, but Lucas came around to open my door for me and then placed the corsage around my wrist. When that was in place, he grabbed my hand and I looked up to see his eyes.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  Taking a deep breath, I nodded.

  We all started toward the gym with Lucas on one side of me and Noah on the other side. I lifted my arm and hooked it through his, making it seem like I was being escorted by them both. He grinned down at me and kept in pace beside us as we walked through the gym doors. That was when I heard the music. I also saw the lights and decorations that had been put up around the gym, which cast a purple glow around the whole place.

  Noah quickly parted ways from me and Lucas going in search of Brad, who I knew he was supposed to meet up with tonight. When he was gone, Lucas led me straight to the dance floor and then twirled me around before bringing me back to his chest. Our bodies were flush with each other, and I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck as we swayed to whatever song was playing.

  He leaned his forehead down until it touched mine and then spoke, “You look so damn beautiful, Lesley,” he said before dropping his hands to the small of my back.