“Okay. Will you walk me out?” she asks and I see my brother’s face change. I know exactly what he’s thinking.
“Look, Jen. You and I know this will never be anything more,” Trevor says softly. I see her face go hard.
“You’re a fucking joke,” she says, poking him in the chest. “I had to fake it every time we were together,” she yells, her voice getting louder.
“That’s why you keep coming back? Look, I don’t have time for this shit. Now get the fuck out of my house and don’t come back.” I watchas my brother crosses his arms over his chest and glares down at her. Then, she turns and looks at me and I know I’m next on her tirade.
“I hope you know that your bitch is going to find out the way you guys treat women,” she says, glaring at me. “And when she leaves your ass, I will be there cheering her on.”
“She knows how I treat bitches, and trust me, Jen, you were one of the biggest. Now, I suggest you get the fuck out of here like Trevor asked you to, or I will call the sheriff and have you removed.” I watch her stomp to the counter and grab her bag, and hear her stomp down the hall. Then I hear the door slam.
“Jesus, she’s a pain in the ass,” Trevor says as he scrubs his hands down his face. “You do know that the women in town are in a fucking tizzy because of your ass, right?” he asks and I raise my eyebrow at him. “Seriously, they think now that you’ve settled down, we’re all going to follow in your footsteps and start handing out rings. I mean, if I had a November of my own, I might consider it, but there’s only one of her and I don’t see you being done with her anytime soon, so that doesn’t give me much hope.”
“I’m never going to be done with her. And if by some chance this shit doesn’t work out, she’s off limits,” I say, being one-hundred percent serious. I have never cared if my brothers went after a chick I fucked. But if one of them even thinks about getting with November, I will kill them, brother or not.
“I fucking knew it.” He claps his hands. “So the Mayson curse is real. Fall in love on sight and all that bullshit.” I want to laugh. From the time I was young, my father and grandfather told me and my brothers that we were cursed. They said that we would only find one love. When we met the woman who was ours, it would be like an explosion. Nothing else would matter but her. We all thought it was bullshit. Now I’m not so sure.
“The moment I met her, I knew she was the one, as cheesy as that shit sounds,” I say, taking a slug from my beer.
“Wow,” Trevor says, looking stunned. “I don’t blame you, man.She’s fucking hot and funny.” There are a lot of things that November is; hot and funny are only a couple. She is also a good person and that is hard to find in a woman these days.
“So, are you ready to get this shit done or did you call me out here to gossip with you?” I ask, done talking about her. Part of me wishes I was the only person who knew her. I don’t want to share her with anyone.
“Let me get my boots and we can go. The truck is in the garage. It shouldn’t take long to pull the engine.”
I take a swig of my beer and watch my brother leave the room. I can’t wait for this day to be over.
Chapter 6
I WAKE TO a ringing off in the distance. I know it’s the alarm. I’m silently praying that Asher turns it off before I’m so awake that I can’t fall back asleep. I cuddle deeper. He’s pressed into my back. His arm leaves my waist, and finally, beautiful silence. His arm comes back around me, pulling me even deeper under him, and I feel his breath on the back on my neck. The goose bumps he’s causing are bringing me to the surface of consciousness.
It’s Monday, the day after shopping with his mom. I got back to his house at around eleven. He and Beast were waiting out on the porch when we pulled up. Asher kissed his mom then helped me carry all my new stuff into the house, where he threw them into his closet. Yes, threw, not set them down nicely. He swung his arm back and tossed them through the open closet door. When he turned around, I could tell he missed me as much as I missed him.
The next thing I knew, my clothes were gone. He picked me up, threw me onto the bed, and made slow love to me. It was so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes. I was glad the darkness hid them from him. Afterwards, he pulled me close and dragged the blanket over us. I had my head in the crook of his arm and his fingers were at my hip.
We both talked about our day. He told me that he helped Trevor pull an engine from a truck he was rebuilding. I never knew that you could pull an engine from a car, or truck, for that matter, and I really had no idea why you would ever want to. Our conversation went something like this:
“Did you have fun with Trevor?” I asked, running my fingers along the ridges of his abs.
“No, but we did get the engine pulled from his truck.”
“Why would you take the engine out? Doesn’t a car need that to run?” Yes, I’m stupid, I know, but hey, I’m a New Yorker. We hardly drive. We take the subway or a taxi to most places, and if my car needs a mechanic, I take it to Juan and leave it with him. I don’t hang around to see what he’s doing while my car is in the shop, which is probably why my repair bill is always a lot...hmm. I could feel him laughing silently, then he couldn’t hold it and burst out in a loud laugh, and I started to get offended.
“Yeah, your car needs an engine to run. He just wants to put a stronger one in his truck.” This fascinated me. I mean, who knew that you could change your engine and get a faster one?
“Cool,” I whispered, thinking that I should get a faster engine for my bug.
“Not gonna happen,” he said, looking down at me. Then he kissed the top of my head. I grinned into his chest. It was funny that he thought he could boss me around. I seriously couldn’t wait to pull up to meet him on a motorcycle.
“How was it shopping with Ma?”
“Um, let’s just say that I will only be going shopping with her every few months. I felt like I should have prepared better. Maybe ran around Target a few times, or even went to the strip mall and marched into each of the stores a few times. She’s a serious shopper, and if they had a competition, I’m sure she would come in first place.”
“Yeah, that’s Ma,” he said through his laughter. Then, I wrapped myself tighter around him, listening to his heartbeat and feeling him run his fingers through my hair. I fell asleep feeling like this was exactly where I was supposed to be.
I doze off again, only to be woken by the sound of the alarm for the second time. I feel his lips kiss my shoulder, and his tongue run up my neck just below my ear as he kisses me again. Then he squeezes me into him. His warmth leaves me and I feel the cool air rush in behind me, and hear the alarm go off yet again. I roll over until I am lying where he had been. I pull his pillow down and wrap myself around it. I can hearthe shower, and I open one eye and look at the time. It is dusk out, and the alarm says it is five thirty. I can’t believe he has to get up so early. I have to get up by nine so I can get ready and go see the lawyer. I see the closet light come on and I lift my head.
Asher is wearing a towel, and I watch in fascination as he pulls it off and pulls on a pair of black boxers that mold to his thighs and ass. He seriously has the most amazing body of anyone I have ever seen. He must have felt me looking because he turns around, smiles, and shakes his head.
