Fumbled Hearts (A Tender Hearts Novel) Read online

  At my door.

  And man is he tall. Ginormous compared to me, but not freakishly so. More like six feet of vagina waking, no K-Y needed temptation. Trouble.

  My eyes drop to the jeans stretched nicely over what look to be thick, strong thighs. Pants still unbuttoned, I skirt past the no-fly zone, and feast my eyes on his yummy tummy.

  Yep. Still rock solid. I continue my appraisal upward until his mouth is in my line of sight, when I snap back to reality.

  There’s that self-satisfied smirk again, the one he was wearing at the party.

  I want to punch it off his perfect face.

  My eyes lift to his, and damn it all to hell. They’re a deep dark brown, almost black in color, and right now his lids are half-closed as he stares at me.

  I watch his eyes as they roam over my body.

  I’m fully aware I’m only wearing a very small, very thin t-shirt and thong. The bottom of my freshly waxed prize is surely peeking out, and my ass is exposed. I guarantee my nips are hard as rocks from the breeze sweeping through the door, but I’ll be damned if I allow him to think I give two shits what he thinks, not with that “I’m the man” look on his face, smug bastard.

  As soon as his dark eyes meet mine again, he speaks. “You must have really worn me out.” His voice is deep, and raspy from sleep. “Didn’t even make it down the drive before I passed out.”

  My eyes shoot wide.

  At my reaction, he puts his hands up in front of him. “Hey. Don’t go gettin’ all offended.” He smirks. Again. “That’s a compliment coming from me.”

  This guy...

  “Okay. Whoa.” I lift my hands this time. “Just... whoa.” I gape at him. “You’ve lost your damn mind if you think you-”

  “Look,” he cuts me off, a miffed sigh leaving him. “I’m not interested in hashing things out. You should know the drill.” He drops his gaze to my hard nipples and, without a doubt, this egotistical asshole assumes it’s my body’s reaction to him. “I don’t go in for seconds, so you might wanna put those away.” He motions lazily toward my chest. “You know, so you don’t embarrass yourself.”

  I’m pretty sure my jaw hits the floor. Seriously.

  What the fuck?

  What. The. Fuck.

  “Um, hi. First of all, it’s cold.” I squeeze my boobs. “This has nothing to do with you. Second, let me break it down for you, Mr. Hugh Hefner-in-training.” He grins at that. Dumbass. “That,” I point to his groin, “was nowhere near this,” I say, giving a little WWE “suck it” smack to my crotch, speaking like I’m addressing a kindergarten class.

  His eyebrows pull into a deep frown, and his hands find his hips in a lazy, thoughtful motion. It’s almost comical how confused he looks.

  I release an annoyed sigh, deciding to get this over with. “You,” I push my index finger into his chest, “were passed out drunk in your truck in the middle of the road.” I shrug. “Figured I’d do my good deed for the day - though, now I’m thinking I should have left your ass there - and drove you here since I didn’t know where you lived. Thought you would wake up and take off by morning.” I motion my hand toward him. “Clearly, I’m a dumbass for that ‘cause here you are.”

  He smashes his lips into a tight line, glances at his truck, then back at me.

  “You’re saying you brought me to your house... and we didn’t have sex?”

  “Yep.”

  “Sooo...” He looks pointedly from my naked legs to his open fly. “We didn’t have sex?”

  I stare at him blankly.

  Those dark eyes of his narrow before he shakes his head unbelieving.

  With a quick glance over his shoulder, he looks back at me with a dark brow raised. “Guessin’ my phone’s not in your house?”

  A laugh bubbles out of me before I can stop it, because there it is folks, the reason he had to come to the door.

  His eyes narrow further.

  “K. I get it now.” I nod. “This isn’t part of the play ‘em to lay ‘em routine and clearly you have a serious case of selective hearing, that or you’re way to cocksure for your own good, so let me try this one more time, maybe a little slower and see how that works?” I mock, not letting him respond before continuing. “You were Passed. Out. I drove you here so you didn’t get yourself arrested. End. Of. Story.”

  He scowls past me as he scratches the back of his neck. “Huh.” Then, his head pulls back, as his eyes widen, a look of horror crossing his face. “Wait,” I think he might hurl, “you drove my Hummer?”

  What part of… ahhh. So, the big boy is attached to his toy.

  “Sure did.” He looks seriously disturbed, so I add, “Of course, that was after I climbed up the back in my boots. Then, crawled across the top and dropped in through the sunroof, heels first.” That’s not a lie. The small heel of my boots did go in first, with extreme caution, but he doesn’t need to know that.

  “Thank goodness the center console was there for me to step on,” with my knees, “or I might have fallen.”

  And bam. He’s full on fuming now.

  Eyes bulging, jaw tight, chest heaving; he’s officially going to lose his shit.

  I’m not gonna let him.

  “Right. So... bye.” I slam the door in his face as fast as I can.

  I go back to my room and climb into bed, listening as the Hummer’s engine roars to life. A few minutes pass before I hear it pull away.

  Sleep doesn’t come so easy after that.

  Mia and I slide into a worn black booth at Wicker, the small pub downtown.

  It’s cute, has your typical diner set-up with a counter and bar stool area blocking the kitchen, black booth seats wrapping all along the walls, and black granite-topped tables placed sporadically around the room, ketchup and hot sauce bottles in the center of each one.

  If the sports memorabilia covering the walls is any indication, this place is all about supporting their local athletes. According to Mia, this is the hangout spot for all the high schoolers. Looking around, it appears to be true, there isn’t an adult in sight. Even the waiters and waitresses seem to be around our age.

  “Hey, Mia, how’s it going?” A cute, blond-haired guy asks, setting a couple waters down in front of us.

  “It’s going. I’m here for my ‘cure the hangover’ meal,” she laughs, then touches her temple, wincing.

  “Ahh, yes,” he chuckles. “So, water and The Grease Monkey for you?”

  “God, yes,” she says with a moan, slouching further into her seat.

  He glances at me. “Holding out on me, huh, Mia?”

  “Shit, sorry.” She places her hand on my shoulder. “This is my cousin, Lolli. Lolls, Ryan. His family owns Wicker.”

  “Hey.” I smile.

  “Nice to meet you... er... Lolli?” His eyebrows rise just a little. And, bless his heart, he tries to hold back a grin.

  “It’s okay, you can laugh. I promise it won’t offend me. And to answer your unasked question; no, it’s not my real name.”

  He smiles and gestures to Mia. “Her idea, right?”

  “She definitely makes sure it’s a constant.”

  He nods. “So, what’ll it be, Lolli? You create your meal; we deliver.”

  “Well, I don’t need to recover from a hangover, so how about you surprise me? Just know, I’m hella hungry.”

  He rubs his hands together excitedly while looking me over, as if that’ll help. “Alright. You’re a breakfast kind of girl,” he declares.

  I can’t help but laugh. “Okay. That’s a little creepy, but your food witchery mind-reading thing totally works, because I am indeed a breakfast girl.” I sigh wistfully. “I’d eat it for every meal if I could.”

  “I knew it!” He grins triumphantly. “Considering it’s well after 3:00 pm, that’s the answer I was hoping for.” He winks before walking away.

  Once he’s out of earshot, I decide to spill the beans. “So, I had quite the interesting night last night.”

  “Yeah, you had a whole j
ello shot all to yourself.” The smartass dazzles me with spirit fingers. “Crazy.”

  “Har, har, biatch. I was actually talking about after I left the party.” I circle the rim of my glass with my finger.

  Mia flips her long red hair over one shoulder, resting both elbows on the tabletop. Hands clasped together, she lays her chin on her fingers. “Do tell, oh mysterious one.” She wiggles in anticipation.

  I take a deep breath. “I jumped in a shiny truck with a total stranger, who was passed out by the way, drove him to my house, left him in the driveway, and went to bed. I woke up to a pounding on my door. Thinking it was you, I opened it, tits and ass on display all day. Guy was smug. Thought he had some fun in my hoo-hoo land, didn’t believe me when I told him he didn’t, and had a fit when I told him I drove his truck. The end.”

  I take a drink of my water, and glance up at Mia.

  Bad idea. I choke-laugh-spit all over myself.

  She stares at me, her mouth wide open, brows drawn in.

  It only takes a few seconds for her to work through my word vomit.

  “Are you serious?” she shrieks. “He was so high and mighty he couldn’t believe you hadn’t slept with him?”

  “Yep.” I laugh at her stunned-stupid expression. “It was as if the idea of being alone with a girl, and not fucking her, was inconceivable.”

  She shakes her head back and forth. Her brows go from lifted, to pinched, then back to normal in a clear sign of acceptance. “Yeah, with the top football team in the area, we kind of have a lot of big-headed, sexy shitheads,” she laughs.

  “Yeah.” I nod, replaying last night in my mind.

  “I can feel your brain thinking. What is it?”

  “I don’t know.” I swirl the straw through my drink. “Now that I think about it, he kind of seemed like...”

  She tilts her head, those green eyes searching. “Like what, Lolls?” she says in a soft, attentive tone. I don’t think I like it.

  “Like...” I roll my eyes, and sit up straight. “Okay, so, he couldn’t believe we hadn’t slept together, but I think it was a little more than that.” I look up at her. “I don’t know. It was weird. I don’t think he’s used to girls doing decent things for him.” That evokes a laugh from me. “Well, nonsexual friendly things, and I honestly think he just had no idea how to take it.” I look past Mia’s shoulder.

  She giggles. “Well, based on what you said, I would have to agree.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “So…?” I know what she wants.

  “What?” I tilt my head back, fanning myself.

  “That hot, huh?” she grins.

  “Totally.”

  We’re both still laughing when Ryan walks up, food in hand.

  “For you, milady,” he says as he places a large plate with two slider burgers, a fried burrito, a bowl of homemade mac, and gravy-covered fries in front of her.

  “Daaamn, Meems,” I stare at her food in awe. “Can you seriously eat all that?”

  “You don’t know my life,” she snaps as she digs in.

  “And for you, Lolli... T’s French toast with hash browns, and scrambled eggs. I even took a chance and brought you strawberry syrup.”

  “Ooh-ho-ho.” Mia wiggles her eyebrows at Ryan. “You did good, boy.”

  He grins and looks to me for confirmation, but all he gets is a thumbs up and a not so appropriate moan, because the goods are already causing an orgasm in my mouth. He walks away with a smile, so I guess he’s satisfied with my response.

  We sit in silence and inhale our meals. It’s a quick and satisfying adventure, before paying the bill and heading to Mia’s house.

  She pulls into her driveway, and kills the engine to her Red Jeep Wrangler.

  “You coming in?” she asks.

  “No, I’m gonna get my crap ready for hell tomorrow, and crash out early.”

  “It won’t be so bad, Lolli, I promise. You’ve met some of my girls already. You just gotta give it a chance.” She gives me a sad smile.

  “I know.” I sigh, before shifting my body to face her. “I actually wanted to apologize to you.”

  Her head jerks back, and she frowns. “For what?”

  “For being such a drag the last few weeks. You’ve been stuck spending most of your time watching movies with me when you should be hanging out or something.”

  “Hey, Grease is a classic,” she jokes, nudging me in the shoulder.

  “Really though, thanks for that, but I’m seriously done moping around.”

  She raises a skeptical eyebrow at me.

  “I’m not kidding! Might as well let loose and have some fun while I’m here. Once school’s out, I’m leaving and-”

  “Okay, stop,” she cuts me off, laughing. “You can’t get me all high on a ‘let’s party’, then knock me down with thoughts of you leaving.”

  “Ugh, you’re right.” I let my head drop back against the headrest. “I’m bad at this stuff.”

  She tilts her head to the side, and replies, “Try to get to know people.”

  “Right.” As in, yeah right.

  “Seriously though, Meems,” I say, as we step out of the Jeep, “I’m just your cousin who moved in next door to you for senior year, okay? They don’t need a backstory.”

  “I hear you, Lolls, but remember, this town is all about football, so…”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  We part ways as she calls out, “Be ready at seven sharp, chickadee!”

  I throw a peace sign over my head as I walk to my door.

  The second I walk in, my bitch of a cat is at my feet.

  “Yes, I know. Pet you, feed you, clean out your box. I’m on it.” She follows me into the kitchen and watches as I pour food into her bowl.

  After taking care of all her crap, I grab a water from the fridge and head to my bedroom.

  When it was first decided that Alrick Falls was where I would complete my senior year, I didn’t realize that meant living directly next door to my Aunt Kara and Uncle Ben. I guess I was hoping to be at least a couple miles away. Close enough if I felt like stopping by, but not close enough to have to see them - by “them,” I mean her - on a daily basis. I think she knew that, which is why she was quick to jump on this place the minute it was available, thinking it would be good for me to be “close to the family.” I can’t really fault her for it; her heart’s in the right place. Regardless, right next door is a bit much and she knows it.

  I do like the house, though. It’s a basic one-level home with a two-car garage and a hella big backyard. There are three bedrooms: a master and two average-sized rooms, and a hall bath.

  The first thing I did when I crossed into Alrick Falls in my rental car was pull over at the hardware store to purchase paint.

  The kitchen is now a deep burgundy with mocha-colored countertops and cabinets, while the living room, along with the rest of the house - other than my room - is a charcoal gray with white trimmings. The red suede couches and black furniture help bring it to life, but my room is by far my favorite.

  The walls are a deep, teal blue color, matching the pillows that lay on top of my black comforter perfectly. A California king-sized bed is pushed up against the wall with a small black nightstand next to it. My long black dresser along the far wall has a TV perched on top, and that’s it. Mia says it’s weird not to have a mirror in my room. Apparently, the large closet doors that are actually two huge mirror doors don’t count - gotta love her quirks.

  She’s really the only positive I could come up with for this entire situation. Being only a year apart in age, she and I have always been pretty close, and this time together will be good for us. It makes the whole “waiting a year to go back to school thing” worth it. Now I can sit idle while she soars through our final year of high school.

  Yippee.

  I’ve been lying on my bed staring at nothing for at least three hours, watching as my room grows dark, the light disappearing with the sun.

  With a sigh, I roll over and reach into my nightstan
d drawer, feeling around for the Polaroid camera my parents gave me last year. For the first time, I consider walking the few blocks to the meadows, but decide against it just as quickly.

  I call for Nauni, the devil cat. She jumps up, curls herself beside me, and we fall asleep.

  As soon as the last curl drops from my fingers, I hear the front door slam. Knowing it’s Mia, I continue studying my reflection in the mirror.

  My dark, almost black, hair is shiny, and reaches the middle of my back, even with the big barrel curls I gave it today. I went light on the makeup, using a nude color shadow, and adding a thin line of black liner to make my blue eyes pop, a little blush, mascara, and voila. I look like I care, but not like a hooker.

  I decided to wear my stretchy, dark blue skinny jeans with a white, crew cut tank top, my black leather jacket that reaches just below my oversized breasts - thank you, genetics - paired with my favorite black knee-high boots.

  I’m fluffing my hair out as Mia comes around the corner.

  “I don’t know why you don’t take the master. This room is…” She trails off. “Hells bell. You. Look. Smokin’.” She slowly shakes her head back and forth, admiring my outfit. “That jacket, with those boots…just, damn.” Crossing her arms, she releases a sigh. “The boys of Alrick High are gonna looove you.”

  I laugh. “So, I have your seal of approval?”

  “Nope.” She spins on her heels, and walks out of the bathroom.

  I follow her into my room where she picks out a pair of silver hoops. “Once you put these on, you’ll have my approval.”

  I loop them through my ears, not because she told me to, but because they’re hella cute.

  She hooks her arm through mine and pulls me toward the door. “Okay, chickadee, let’s roll. We have a grand entrance to make.”

  “I thought the cool kids were supposed to be fashionably late?”

  She squeezes my arm and bounces with fake amusement. “Funny, Lolli, you should be a comedian.”

  “Nah, I couldn’t handle the night shift.”

  “Right, the cat lady needs her sleep.”

  “Damn straight. However, I think you have to have more than one cat to be considered a cat lady. Or at least like the one you do have.”