Chapter 6
Holland
The drive home was pretty quiet. I didn’t try to force conversation, and Lainey didn’t seem to mind the silence. Honestly, I think she preferred it.
She’s really hard to read most of the time. You can never tell what kind of mood she’s in, which is why I find it so strange that she’s the funny one in their little friend group.
Gwen was the book smart, quiet girl. Or at least, that’s what she seemed to be until she got with Ryker. My sister is quiet, and she doesn’t get into trouble. She’s been that way since we were kids.
Their other roommate, Haley, she’s a bitch. Like she’s nice to them, but she reminds me of a feral cat.Ready to pounce at any second if someone even looks at her wrong.
Lainey though, Lainey is the one that keeps everything lighthearted and cool. She’s the one with all of the advice and the one that will kick some sense into you if you need it.
She’s not afraid to speak up and tell you exactly what she’s thinking, and to be honest, that’s one of my favorite things about her. She’s not afraid to tell me to fuck off or to let me know when I’m being a prick. Not afraid to tell other dudes to fuck way off if they offend her or bother her in any way.
I used to think that made her a bitch, but now I think it makes her strong. She never had anyone there to help her grow up, except the nanny that I’m pretty sure just let Lainey do whatever the fuck she wanted, and my mom when she could.
I used to feel bad for her as a kid, because even though my dad was a prick, and he was barely around, I at least had my mom who was always there for Ellie and me.
When we pull up in front of Lainey’s house that she shares with Ellie and Haley, Lainey jumps out of the car and shut the door. I roll down my window before she can disappear inside.
“Thanks for coming today,” I tell her. She shrugs, as if it’s no big deal.
“It’s not like you gave me much of choice,” she snaps back. I smirk, loving the bit of snark in her tone.
“You know you loved every second of it, Barkley. Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy seeing me all dressed up,” I tease, and Lainey looks completely unaffected.
“I would have rather stepped on Legos repeatedly than have been there with you all day,” she smiles, but it’s not a friendly smile. It’s a ‘fuck you’ kind of smile, and my dick twitches in my pants. Why does her attitude turn me the fuck on?
Just then, the front door opens, and my sister pops out, looked at Lainey and then glaring at me. Her small stature makes her much less intimidating than she thinks she is.
“What the hell, Holland? You can’t just kidnap innocent girls off of their front porches,” Ellie says, a playful kind of anger in her tone. I shrug.
“Barkley’s anything but innocent,” I chaff, watching Lainey for her reaction. She glares at me, and I give her a little finger wave. She lifts her hand as if to wave back but instead raises her middle finger with a sweet as can be smile.
Bringing my hand to my chest and placing it over my heart, I say, “Come on, Lainey, baby. You know that turns me on.”
Ellie makes a disgusted noise. “Ew, Holland. You’re such a guy. Can you please just go?” she begs. I laugh at her expression and give Lainey one last look. She looks like she could kill me, and for some fucked up reason, that makes me want to stay and find out just how mad she actually is.
But I don’t. I give Lainey one last wink before driving the rest of the way to the Elite mansion and pulling in the driveway.
Grabbing the new, absurdly expensive suit from the back seat, I haul it inside, heading straight for my room. Thankfully, I don’t run into anyone in the hallway because I really just want to jump in the shower.
I wasn’t completely teasing when I told Lainey her flipping me off turns me on. The fact that she’s pint size and can hold that much rage inside of her is hot as fuck.
Most girls would be terrified to talk to me, let alone flip me the bird and tell me to fuck off.
Maybe it’s because we’ve been playing this game since we were kids, maybe it’s because she’s got this off-limits factor to her, or maybe it’s because she’s able to pretend that I don’t affect her when I know for a fact I do.
But no matter who or how many girls I fuck, no matter how much I try to tell myself that Barkley is forbidden fruit due to being my sister’s best friend, I can’t seem to help the fact that my dick gets hard every time she’s around.
Maybe that makes me a fucking idiot with a death wish, but I never said I was smart.
After hanging the suit up in my closet, I strip down and turn on the shower. The hot water cascades over my head and down my back as I stare at the drain. I watch as the water gets sucked down and try to distract myself from thoughts of my sister’s best friend.
Unfortunately, staring at the shower floor doesn’t help much. Thoughts of Lainey Barkley take over my mind, and I can feel myself getting worked up.
The way she acts like she’s unaffected, the way she takes no shit, the way she stands tall and strong no matter what she’s going through.
