Unbearable (the TORQUED trilogy Book 2) (12 page)

He stops, grabbing my ankles and spreading my legs for him.

“You’re about to be
really
late,” he adds when my legs are spread and my lower half is now completely bare for him.

Tyler’s mouth twists, a half grin that fades quickly as his eyes drop, his fingertips moving and squeezing my upper thighs as he groans, a low, throaty sound I want more of. When his right hand falls away, he leans in, supporting his weight with his arm beside my head.

Picking up the wrench, he presses it against my center, the cool metal causing me to jump.

He pauses, his eyes searching mine, waiting to see my reaction. My hands move to his chest and then his hair, wanting to fist that beautiful brown hair between my fingers. He lets me pull at his hair, trying to make him come forward, but then he stops, taking my wrists in his left hand and pins them down on the table.

Again, the wrench in his hand rubs over my center but never inside.

I wouldn’t think a wrench could do this. But it’s Tyler Hemming we’re talking about. He knows his way around a woman’s body. Just when I think this can’t get any better, his lips are on mine, his elbows holding him up while my wrists are still trapped in his hold.

“You like that?” he asks against my lips, his sweet breath blowing over me.

I can’t even respond because while he asks this, he doesn’t stop moving the wrench in his hand against my clit.

I’m not sure what it is about Tyler and
this
, but everything is exactly right and the friction of the cool metal grinding against me is exactly what I want. Writhing under his hands, I begin to move my hips on my own will without his direction. When Tyler comes forward, his chest is heaving with heavy breaths giving me another angle. I kiss his rough and tensed cheek, his jaw, and then his lips, anywhere I can access.

“Fuck.” A shudder rolls through his body. “That’s it…
come
for me, baby,” he says, just before plunging his tongue into my mouth.

The warmth starts low and it’s sudden, first a slow burn and then stronger, like the pop of a firecracker.

Tyler’s eyes are dipped, watching the wrench carefully, rubbing where it wouldn’t normally be touching me, moving me against him. When I start to shake against him, my heels dig into his ass, begging him to come closer, harder, anything to make this last longer.

He does,
oh God
, does he.

My head is right by the carburetor and the smell of gasoline ties me to him in every way. It’s everything I associate Tyler with, cars and engines.

His breath comes out in short gasps, much like mine, when he sees me falling apart on him. “You’re so fucking sexy… fuck.” He moans it this time.

“Oh God!” I scream, my eyes squeezing shut as I throw my arms around his shoulders hanging onto him and clawing at his skin.

“That’s it, baby.” His rough voice is low and tense as he whispers to me. “There you go… fall apart for me.” One hand moves from beside me, wrapping around the back of my neck and bringing his eager kiss to mine. He’s excited and his kiss shows me, wild tongue and frantic gasps telling me how beautiful the sight before him is.

But then he pulls away, dropping the wrench on the ground.

“Have you done that before?” I’m still trying to catch my breath.

“No, never.”

His fingers trace my cheek bone. He gives me a long stare, searching for any regret. When he doesn’t see it, a grin appears and he steps back.

“I’m going to be late for work.”

I look at him like he’s crazy. “We can’t just leave you hanging. That’s not fair.”

“Watching you come apart in my hands was enough.” He helps me up from the table and hands me my jeans. “Come back tonight and we’ll take care of it.”

Oh, I’ll be back. For sure.

I know it’s a forty-five minute drive but whatever. I smile when he picks the wrench up and places it in his back pocket. “At least you’ll be thinking of me today.”

He winks. “Not just today. I’ll think of you every time I pick up a wrench from now on.”

Why am I excited about that?

IT’S CLEAR I’M not making it to my nine o’clock class so I take my time once I leave the shop.

I’m dragging ass and in desperate need of caffeine, mostly because I was up all night with Tyler. I stop off to get coffee before getting on the freeway. Inside the small café, I see Sophie waiting for her order. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her. She and I were friend’s way back in middle school but when she and Rawley used to date in high school, we became even closer. I’m not sure why we drifted apart after their breakup.

She spots me immediately. “Hey, Raven. I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve seen you.”

“I know. It’s been a while. Probably since the Fourth of July party, right?”

She frowns, probably remembering the night where her and my brother got in a huge fight in the driveway. She also doesn’t realize I know all about the fight since I was there watching them.

They call her name for her coffee, and then mine and she nods to a nearby table. “Are you in a hurry? How much time do you have?”

“I’ve got time. Do you want to sit down and catch up?” I don’t have time but something in her eyes tells me she needs someone to talk to.

“Actually yeah, if you don’t mind I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

I have a feeling I know what the answer is going to be, but I ask it anyways. “How are things going?”

Tying her hair back in a ponytail, she lets out a heavy sigh. “Shitty. Completely fucking shitty.”

“Rawley being a dick?”

She rolls her eyes. “When is he not?”

“I can’t think of anytime actually.”

We both laugh and then she shakes her head. “I just don’t get him. I try to help. I mean, after your dad died, I reached out to him to tell him how sorry I was about everything. Your dad was an amazing man and was always so kind to everyone. It’s hard to believe someone that alive is gone. ”

“Thanks for saying that. He was pretty great.” Naturally, I thought my dad was the greatest but that was the thing with Lyric, everyone thought he was a good man. “We were all concerned with Mom after we lost him and I think we forgot how hard Rawley took it. He and Dad got in a huge fight the night he died and I think he holds it against himself.”

Sophie lets out a sigh, as if she’s gone over this a thousand times inside her head. “I can only imagine. I called him and asked him if he wanted to grab some coffee or maybe dinner and talk or something, and he suggested I meet him at the bar one night.”

“Makes sense. I swear that place has become a second home to him.”

“It has.” Sophie nods. “The only way he can stand to be in the same room with me is if he’s either high or drunk. That night we met at the bar, we got drunk and ended up in bed together. The next morning Rawley was such an ass. I thought….” She sighs, as though she honestly thought hooking up with him would have changed anything between them. In some ways, I can relate. “I spent the next day in bed. The breakup with us was hard enough that I don’t know what I was thinking that night. I guess I thought if I was there for him he’d see I made a mistake and didn’t mean to hurt him senior year.”

“What did he say?”

Her eyes well up with tears. “Just that it didn’t change anything and thanks for letting him get his dick wet. Typical Rawley behavior lately.”

I’m actually surprised he said thanks.

“He’s not the same guy he used to be. He’s drinking and smoking more than ever. Beck’s a horrible influence on him and I just… he’s going to end up doing something he shouldn’t.”

Everything she’s saying is just a reminder to me that I don’t even know Rawley anymore. Sure, we still act normal around one another and he still uses every chance he can to annoy the shit out of me but she’s right, he’s not the same.

When I was younger, I took it upon myself to watch over him. He’s always been a little different, more the brooding type but I was always the one to keep him from going too far.

I’m the normal half of the two. I swear, but he’s the fun-loving joking half where if there’s fun to be had, I’m going to weigh my risks first. Rawley will just react and think later.

I know when the change happened, but I don’t want to tell Sophie because it happened when they broke up. It was slow at first, but then when Dad died, there was no coming back from it. He distanced himself from everyone but music. Gone was the automatic smile every time he walked into a room. You could always count on him to ease the tension when things between Dad and Red would get heated, which believe it or not, happened more than you’d think.

I’ve been so wrapped up in Tyler lately I haven’t stopped to look at Rawley and what I could do to help him. I know if it were me, and I was going through this, he’d help me.

When Holden and I broke up, he came to my college and spent the entire weekend with me making me laugh.

“Why don’t you just distance yourself from him?” I know it’s probably way harder than I realize. Probably for the same reason I know there’s nothing ever going to change Tyler’s mind about wanting a relationship, but I still stick around.

“I still love him,” Sophie tells me and then takes a sip of her coffee. “I know I made a huge mistake spring break. I don’t even know how it happened and I tried explaining it to him. One minute I was fine and the next I’m waking up next to some random guy. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt Rawley. Ever. Nothing compares to the way we were when it was good. I just hoped maybe with time he could forgive me, but he just keeps acting like he’s going to and then when we start spending time together, he sleeps around, as if it’s payback or something.”

“You don’t deserve to be treated like crap though, Sophie. Yeah, you made a mistake but you were eighteen and in Mexico. A lot of people make mistakes in Mexico. I bet you if the tables were turned and it happened to him, he’d be a lot different.”

Her eyes dart around the coffee shop and then back to mine, tears falling now. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“I think you need to consider letting him go. If you’re meant to be, he’ll figure his shit out. I know he loves you.”

She laughs through her tears. “He has a shitty way of proving it.”

I laugh and look down at my phone to check the time. “Yeah, well, he’s Rawley. As Nova would say lately, we shouldn’t expect so much from him.”

My words have me thinking though. If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. I guess I could say the same for Tyler and me. Why am I trying to push something he doesn’t feel? Probably because I don’t want to lose him, so I settle for what I can have. Much like Sophie. If she can’t have my brother in the ways she wants, she settles for what she can have. The jerk.

Drawing in a deep breath, Sophie lets it out slowly. “How’s college life? I heard you’re with Tyler now?” You can’t miss the gleam in her eyes. She definitely wants me to be happy but if only she knew. “College is okay. Lonely sometimes, but good. It’s nice being able to come home on the weekends.”

“And Tyler?” I know she’s curious because like I said, Sophie and I were friends in middle school, long before her and Rawley got together or Holden and me. She knew I secretly had a crush on him.

“So take your situation with Rawley, take away the cheating and add a guy who refuses to commit.”

Sophie laughs. “What’s with the men in this town?”

“I’m not sure.” I look at my phone again. “I’m sorry but I have to get going. I have an eleven o’clock class I need to make it to.”

Sophie waves her hand around and then stands. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you.”

“You didn’t keep me.” Standing, I hug her close. “I’m here for you if you need me.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

As I’m leaving the coffee shop, my mind races over our conversation and my situation. In many ways—much like Sophie—I felt like Tyler’s toy, shelved up high, out of reach of everyone else, and brought down easily when he wanted to play, as sad as that was to admit.

My thoughts are a reminder that I can’t change how I feel about him. I’m trying but I’m consumed with one thought, one mindset. Tyler.

He’s in my head, wrapped around every thought and decision I’m making.