I chanced a glance toward Dana as she observed us with a look of distaste, almost like she’d tasted something really bad. After a while you’d think that she would’ve just walked off, yet she remained right there watching it all. On occasion, she would add a little piece of a story that was retold, and each time that she did, I hated that she’d been there to help create that memory.

  “I think I just heard you growl,” Palmer said near my ear and I waved her away, making her laugh. It was true, in my mind I was scratching her eyes out and damaging her perfect skin. The girl drove me crazy and I knew it was unfair because I didn’t know her. But had the roles been reversed, I think I would have been trying to gain the attention of Clayton, too.

  ***

  “What are you doing?” I asked him in a whisper as I looked over toward the bed next to me. Ethan had been awake when we got home and climbed into bed with Palmer. He was now fast asleep curled into her. The three of us had shared the spare bedroom, out of respect for Clayton’s parents, though I knew Clay didn’t much care for the arrangement.

  We’d hung out for a couple hours after eating, catching up with Penny. The guys seemed to really adore her, in a little sister kind of way. She was fun, I could see that in her, and she reminded me a lot of Palmer. She was kind of a badass, and not once did she ever make me feel like I wasn’t a part of Clayton’s life. She and Palmer ganged up on Corbin, and we all sat around laughing when he realized that there was no way in hell he’d come out unscathed paired against those two.

  It was the first time all day I had laughed and felt less tense. But in the back of my mind, that green monster continued to lurk.

  “You need to get back to your room.” I pushed against his chest as he lay over me. Instead of moving away, he held on tighter, refusing to give in.

  “No,” he whispered into my ear. Using his thigh, he parted my legs and managed to wiggle into the space between. “I needed to see my girl.”

  “Okay, you saw me, now get going.”

  He shook his head and again I looked toward Palmer.

  “You need to be quiet before you wake them up.” I narrowed my eyes at him when he hushed me and smiled. “Now kiss me.”

  I made no attempt to offer him what he’d asked. “Either kiss me or I’m gonna start moaning your name real loud and everyone in the house is gonna assume we’re having sex.”

  He was impossible.

  I moved forward, quickly offering a peck before moving away fast, taking away his chance to prolong it.

  “There, now go back to bed.” I wiggled beneath him as if I actually thought I could break free.

  “Come with me.” He skimmed over the side of my nose with his own.

  “No.” Again I looked toward the bed Palmer and Ethan slept in. I was worried we’d wake them. Not to mention his closeness was making it almost impossible to not grow aroused; the guy was like a magnet.

  “I know you’re still upset about earlier.” Immediately I started worrying my lip. “Which means you’re still questioning what we have and I don’t know how to make you understand what I feel for you. It kills me that you think I wanted anything other than you and him.”

  “I don’t.” I looked away from the second bed and back to Clayton. His eyes locked on my own and that familiar hum in my body whenever he was close ignited.

  “Yeah you do,” he whispered, leaning in and this time kissing me the way I assumed he’d wanted to be kissed a few minutes ago. “I don’t want Dana, or anyone else. I want you, I always want you.”

  Only seconds had passed, but I swear it felt like hours before I reached up and pulled his mouth back to my own. Palmer was right, I was being an idiot. I knew Clayton loved me, but the fear of losing him had paralyzed me and I wasn’t being fair.

  “I don’t like it when you’re mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad at you.” I fisted the hair at the back of his neck. “I get so scared of losing you. I’ve never had the kind of love you give me. Neither of us have.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Emelie.” I reached down between us and started to stroke him through his shorts, desperate for a connection. “Mm,” he moaned, and I kissed him again to muffle the sound.

  “I want you,” I confessed, pushing his shorts lower.

  I was on the pill. I also took it at the same time every day, without delay. Hell, I’d had an alarm set in my phone with a screeching panic sound that went off and then two minutes later it went off again. But even then, we’d never gone without protection. But now I was almost desperate for it, hungry for the intimate message it gave.

  “I need you,” I added, and I felt how eager his hands became as he pushed his shorts down, exposing himself completely.

  The adrenaline was pumping through me at the idea of what was about to take place. Our movements were quick, and I almost lost it the second the head of his cock came into contact with me.

  “I need to feel you,” I whispered near his ear, spurring him on. “I need all of you.”

  He looked at me as he slowly pushed his hips forward, nudging my opening. With each inch I felt the ache inside me grow more intense until he was so deep my head grew fuzzy. I’d never felt anything like this, the rawness, the deep connection. I had no words to describe the impact it held.

  “Fuck,” he practically growled as his body tensed and he remained perfectly still for a few seconds. I could imagine what he was feeling, because I was feeling it too. This was more than sex, it was so much more than a sense of release.

  “I need more, Clay,” I wiggled my hips beneath him and he turned his head, suckling the side of my neck. Then before I could say anything more he began to move. Slow, steady strokes, pulling back to the point where he was almost out and then sliding inside me all over again.

  “You feel so good,” he assured me. “Nothing better, perfect Em.” His movements picked up. “So fucking perfect, feeling you wrapped around me. Nothing between us, it’s almost maddening. I don’t wanna be quiet.”

  I knew exactly what he meant. I had to bite my lip to keep from moaning or screaming out his name. With each stroke I could feel myself building.

  “Damn,” he moaned, kissing me harder. “You’re getting close, aren’t you?”

  I nodded my head, fearful that if I opened my mouth I wouldn’t be able to hold back my screams of pleasure.

  “I can feel it,” he confessed, thrusting upward, chasing after my release. “Let go,” he groaned out, his voice husky with determination. “Come for me, Em.”

  ***

  We laid completely still in the darkness of the room. Clayton remained seated inside me, our foreheads pressed together, both of us with our eyes still closed. Somewhere off in the distance you could hear the faint sounds of crickets chirping and it was crazy how such a sound could be classified as peaceful. But it was.

  Being here with Clayton and his family, with the exception of our trip to the grocery store, was the most peaceful I’d felt in a long time. They’d all accepted me and Ethan so easily. They’d also accepted Palmer.

  Clayton gently rubbed his thumb over the side of my neck. He lifted his forehead off mine, and I opened my eyes to find him looking down at me. “You’re amazing, Em,” he whispered.

  “She’s amazing, you’re amazing, we’re all amazing,” Palmer said and both Clayton and I froze. “And I feel like I just experienced the most erotic sensual form of porn blindfolded. All the whimpers and moans, it was excruciating when I’m stuck in a country town with Corbin as the only form of relief.”

  I laughed and hurried to bury my head against Clayton’s chest.

  “Busted,” Clayton whispered near my ear, only furthering the humor.

  “Next time can you two take it to another room, please?” Palmer said her voice muffled. “It’s just a cruel game of teasing when you force me to listen.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Clayton

  We arrived home to a house full of people and I instantly regretted not choosing to drive halfway and stay somewhere overnight to drive the second half. That or staying over at Emelie’s instead of coming back to the house.

  The music was loud; the people were even louder.

  The living room was subjected to some type of Nerf gun war and I’d been hit with flying bullets from all directions.

  Jay and Blake cornered me in the kitchen, and when Blake shot, I was hosed with water instead. “What the fuck?” I wiped away the moisture from my face.

  “We missed you.” Jay chuckled before offering a wink to Blake. “Blake and I have been going a little stir crazy. No one around here is as fun to fuck with as the two of you."

  “What about X and Eli, or hell, even Brent? There’s plenty of idiots to harass.” Blake wrinkled her nose. “Eli makes me pay for my harassments, and though I do like his form of torture, a girl needs to recover too.”

  It was my turn to wrinkle up my nose in disgust.

  “How did your trip go?” Blake asked as she lowered the weapon. At this point I was already soaked and uncertain if this was a truce. Knowing them, it was a simple tactic to get me to let my guard down. I noticed the way her finger continued to tap at the trigger, even though the barrel was pointed to the left.

  “It was good,” I told her as I pick up the red Solo cup that sat upside down on the pile near the liquor. “It was nice to get away and my parents loved Emelie and Ethan. But I didn’t doubt for a minute that they would.” I could see that Jay was very observant of my movements, but Blake was distracted as she looked around at the commotion near us.

  Guys were getting rowdy, girls were laughing and squealing.

  I grabbed a bottle of water and unscrewed the top, still looking at Blake as she laughed at something behind her.

  “I’m glad it was a good trip,” she finally said, turning back to face me. “I know Emelie was nervous.”

  Picking up the cup, I lifted it to my mouth and took a small sip to play out the role. It was cold from being in the fridge, which made the plan even more perfect.

  “Corbin made it entertaining with his continuous hassling of Palmer.” I lowered the cup, holding it in front of me. “He annoyed the hell out of that girl to the point where I started to fear for his safety.”

  This made Jay and Blake laugh.

  “Corbin annoys everyone,” Jay interjected, still watching me close. I nudged my head to the side, hoping that he understood it was his warning to move away. He grinned, sidestepped, and was careful to keep it less than obvious.

  From that point, it all fell into place. Blake looked behind her when someone hollered, I lifted the cup out in front of me, and just when she turned back around, I tossed it. She jumped back, yelling out a few profanities of her own. When she looked up at me, her nose was flaring and her hair was plastered to her forehead.

  “Mess with the bull…” I shrugged without finishing the sentence and it only seemed to piss her off more.

  “You are so gonna regret that.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I leaned back against the counter and crossed my arms over my chest. “What do you plan on doing, pipsqueak?”

  We stood there in the kitchen staring at one another for a few seconds, me smiling, of course, and her growing angrier with each passing second. “I’m telling.” She arched a brow and I laughed harder.

  “Aww…” I poked the tiny bear a little more. “Am I gonna be grounded?”

  “No, but you will be running away like a scared little girl.” She dropped the gun, spun on her heels, and as she moved away, she yelled out for Elijah. And my heart hit the fucking floor.

  “You better run, man.” Jay hunched over laughing. “Like, now.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Emelie

  I tried not to laugh, honestly I did, but how could I not?

  “Go ahead,” Corbin said, “laugh it up. I’ve got purple hair.” He lifted his hand and ran it through his hair.

  “And a mohawk,” I added, covering my mouth.

  “Jay and Blake apparently had time to plan their attack while we were gone. I was guilty by association, even though Clay was the one who tormented them. I can’t win for shit, even when I’m the good guy. Just wait until you see your boy.” He lowered his hand and moved away from the doorway. “He’s in the bathroom, with a razor.”

  “What?” My eyes widened in horror; I knew because I could feel the fear racing through me as I imagined what he was doing with a razor. He could not shave his head, I needed his hair. I had times that called for me gripping that hair.

  My legs were now moving fast as I walked toward the stairway and began running up the stairs.

  “Clayton…” I knocked. “…open the door.”

  “No.” He didn’t sound pleased. I could almost picture him pouting in my mind. He pouted like a little boy when he didn’t get his way. Sometimes it was cute, others not so much.

  “You do know that I could just get Blake and have her get Eli’s keys, right?” There was still no answer and no sign of movement. “Okay fine, I’ll just go get—”

  Before I could finish the sentence, the door came flying open and there stood Clayton with pink hair. It was almost so pink I swear, if we turned off all the lights he just might glow.

  “It’s fucking pink, Emelie, and it won’t come out. I’ve washed it ten damn times and still nothing.” He flipped the razor and began lifting it. “So I’ll just shave my head to get rid of it.”

  “No, you won’t.” I reached out for the razor and he leaned away, small little pieces of his hair floating through the air as they fell.

  “It’ll grow back.” He held me back away from him, lifting his hand once more.

  “Drop the razor.”

  His hand froze in the air as he arched a brow at me.

  “Now, Clayton.”

  “Emelie.”

  I said nothing, only crossed my arms over my chest and waited.

  “What do we have here?” Xavier asked as he stepped up behind me, only I didn’t look away from Clayton. He was having some type of meltdown and I wanted to laugh, I did, but I couldn’t. If I laughed, he would take it as me accepting the situation and he’d shave his head. He could not shave his head, absolutely not.

  “Blake,” Clayton said that one word as he pointed to his head.

  Corbin stepped up on the opposite side of me, taking a big bite of an apple; the noises he made were obnoxious. He didn’t seem to be affected by his new look, in fact he was owning it quite nicely. “Look at it this way…” I felt the juice of the apple splatter my arm and closed my eyes tightly to fight off the urge to mother him. The boy was so close to being a grown up, so so close. “People can tell us apart easier now.”

  “Seriously,” Clayton dropped his hands to his side, “they can tell us apart now because I’m the one with the damn sense. You’re like an overgrown kid.”

  Corbin shrugged, walking off like he knew this to be true and whistled as he went.

  “Vitamin C,” Xavier added, and both Clayton and I looked at him. “You remember that year Red dyed my hair green, orange and blue?” Oh, my hell, what was wrong with these people?

  “I Googled it and found that vitamin C powder mixed with shampoo helps to remove hair dye out of hair. Just make sure you don’t get the toning shampoo, because it doesn’t turn out so well.”

  Xavier walked away, and the next thing I knew Clayton was handing me his wallet. “What?”

  “Vitamin whatever,” he shook his wallet at me, “I need it. Get all you can find and the biggest damn bottle of shampoo.” When I just stared at his eagerly shaking hand without grabbing for the wallet, he sighed. “Please, Em, I can’t leave like this.”

  “You are such a baby.”

  “Fine.” He sagged back against the bathroom vanity. “I’m a baby. I’m ridiculous and everything else you wanna throw at me, but I need you to get me that stuff.” I watched as his eyes widened just a small fraction as if something triggered in his mind. “Or I’ll be forced to shave my head.”

  Oh, so we’re playing that game, are we?

  “Shave your head,” I shrugged, “but don’t plan on sharing my bed with me until it grows back.” I leaned forward, kissed his cheek, and turned to walk away. “By the way, I came by to tell you that Palmer is taking Ethan with her to her parents’ for the night and we have the entire apartment to ourselves. Plus, I bought something new in the form of lace that I’d like to show you.”

  “That’s cruel, Emelie,” he shouted after me, but by the tone of his voice I could tell he was smiling. “What about the stuff?”

  “I think you know where the store is.”

  Maybe it was a dick move on my part, but I kinda liked the idea of him having to face his stupidity. This house and those who accompanied it were off-the-wall crazy. Come on—piercings, tattoos, and hair dye. The list went on and on; it was like a torture chamber for the scammers and jokester driven.

  As I stepped off the last step and into the entryway, Blake peeked around the corner with caution. “Oh, it’s you.” She seemed relieved. “I was hiding from Clayton. The boy is so testy. Who knew he was such a perfectionist about his hair?”

  “He spends longer than I do getting ready.” It was true, he did.

  Suddenly Blake’s eyes widened and her body grew rigid. “I gotta go.” Then she was gone, no goodbye, no see ya later.

  Arms I was very familiar with circled my waist before I was lifted into the air. “You’re coming with me. If I have to look like an idiot out in public, you have to look like one for being with me.”

  I was tossed over his shoulder and we were moving toward the door. “I kinda like your pink hair.” Lies, they were all lies. “It’s like a statement or something.”

  “Yeah, look at me, I’m a dumbass,” Clayton said as he lowered me to the ground next to his SUV. “I’d show up on radar with this color. Why the hell did Corbin get the purple? It’s less obvious.”

  He was so unbelievably scorned by this new look, and all I could do was stare at him.