Black Sheep (6 page)

“Are we ever going to talk about it?” she asked.

Breaking our connection, I squeezed my eyes shut. I knew she would eventually bring up that day in her room. The day she left for New York when I’d let my control snap. Still, I pretended I didn’t know what she was talking about. It was safer that way.

“Talk about what?”

She moved closer to me, the top of her forehead skimming my chin. The Palmers had a large kitchen, but suddenly, the room felt too small—too warm. I backed away from her, my hips slamming into the countertop, but before Nicole could follow me, Mrs. Palmer interrupted.

“Hey, guys, everything okay?” Her brows pulled down in question.

Nicole and I nodded quickly, probably making ourselves look even guiltier.

She chuckled. “Are you sure? You can cut the tension in here with a knife.”

Nicole saved us by saying, “We’re fine, Mom.”

Mrs. Palmer turned away and starting rearranging some of the leftovers pans of food.

“If you say so.” She shrugged. And then her blue eyes were on me, making me feel guilty for lying to her. “Ty, sweetie, do you think you could run Nicole to the store to pick up a few things for me? I called Don to see if he could stop on the way home, but the old fool left his cell on the table.”

She continued to move around the kitchen in her usual busy fashion, gathering leftovers and making sure to make me a plate of everything she’d cooked to take home.

My eyes clashed with Nicole’s, and she smirked up at me. She wanted to get me alone so we could talk about things I didn’t even want to think about—things that made my body hard and my craving for her intensify.

Just Nicole and me.

Alone.

In a car.

Together.

It was going to be hell, but I couldn’t say no. I’d never been able to say no to the Palmers, and I wasn’t about to start now.

I nodded, pulling my eyes away from Nicole’s. “Yes, ma’am. What do you need?”

“Just some aluminum foil to cover these plates and paper towels. I’m not sure how we managed to run out, but I’ll definitely need some to get this stuff ready to take to the shelter.”

I collected my keys from the counter and went for my coat. Nicole followed behind me, grabbing her scarf from the coat rack and wrapping it around her slender neck.

Already, I was swallowing harder with the thought of being alone with her, and we hadn’t even left the house yet.

“Anything else you need?” I called out before I went to the front door.

Mrs. Palmer peeked her head around the corner with a smile. “No, hon, I think that’ll do.”

I nodded and opened the front door. Cool air rushed into the foyer, and the smell of autumn filled my senses. The door was cold in my grip as I held it open for Nicole to go out before me, and when she did, my eyes went directly to her tight ass.

The long sweater she was wearing wasn’t long enough to cover her ass completely, and her black tights hugged the curves of her hips and ass like a dream. My eyes dipped down her lean thighs as we took the sidewalk to my car until my eyes were resting on the back of her knees and moving over her suede knee-high boots.

She was killing me. The way she walked. The sway of her hips. I wanted to fill my hands with her ass and squeeze.

I opened the passenger side door for her, and she turned and faced me with a smile before she dipped down and fell onto the black leather seat.

“Seat belt,” I murmured before I reached for the door to shut it for her.

“Yes, sir,” she said, looking up at me with a grin.

Quickly, I slammed the door and took a deep breath. White clouds of heat filled the air in front of me on my exhale.

I hadn’t been in a car alone with Nicole since high school. Once I was driving and had my car running well, it only made sense for her to ride to school with me since we were going to the same place.

Back then, Nicole was still extremely shy and quiet. I didn’t have to worry about her speaking up or asking questions. By that point, nothing had happened between us other than the innocent smiles and stares. That wasn’t the case on this ride. Things had happened between us, and she’d gained confidence since graduating high school.

It was hell.

It was going to be pure torture.

Of course, anything involving Nicole had always been torture.

Sweet, sweet torment.

I kept the radio volume up on the ride to the store, which thankfully was only a few minutes from the house. The music flowed through my car, making it next to impossible to have a conversation. Every time she moved, I went tense, thinking she was moving to turn the radio down so she could talk to me, but she never did. I breathed a sigh of relief once we pulled into the store parking lot and got out.

It was a quick trip, her getting the paper towels while I found the aluminum foil. I followed her to the checkout, keeping my eyes on everything around me to prevent me from staring at her perky ass.

The young boy behind the register rang the two items up, and I pulled out my wallet to pay before Nicole could dig the money out of her back pocket.

“I got it,” I said, shoving my debit card at the cashier.

She nodded, stuffing the money her mom had given her into a tiny donation cup sitting on the side of the register.

I smiled inside.

She was selfless that way. Then again, her entire family was. I could remember when we were younger, I watched from across the cafeteria as Nicole gave her lunch money to a girl who never ate lunch. She snagged an apple from Amber’s tray and ate it with a smile as the other girl sat across the lunchroom and filled her stomach for what I was sure was the first time in a long time.

She never wanted recognition for these things. Honestly, anytime I brought up her good deeds, she’d shrug it off or deny it. It was one of the many things I admired about Nicole.

She was an angel.

My angel.

No … my tiny dancer.

Even if I could never have her, I could dream about it. Even if I would never allow myself the tiniest taste of her, Nicole had already given me so much over the years. I’d forever be grateful to her and her family.

The plastic bag stretched under the weight of the paper towels and aluminum foil when I picked it up. Nicole thanked the cashier and followed me toward the door. When the automatic doors opened, I stepped out into the cool autumn air, but she remained behind.

“What’s up? You comin’?” I asked.

She nodded. “I forgot something. Go ahead. I’ll be right out.”

Then she turned and sprinted back toward the aisles.

Pulling my jacket collar up closer to my neck, I walked to my car and climbed inside. The engine roared when I cranked it, and loud music filled the cab, prompting me to turn the radio off completely.

The beginnings of a headache were already forming, and I knew once Nicole got in my car, I’d have to crank the music back up. All I needed was a few minutes of peace and quiet before she climbed into my space again.

Resting the back of my head against the headrest, I closed my eyes and waited until she returned. It was a holiday, which meant the parking lot wasn’t full, but still, the sounds of the world outside filled my ears. I heard a mom yelling at her kids to get in their van. The sounds of a large truck engine coming to life had roared before the truck pulled away and the sounds slowly disappeared.

Then I heard Nicole’s voice.

“No, thank you,” she said.

I kept my eyes closed, waiting for the sound of the passenger side door to open, but it never did. Instead, her voice sounded again.

“Seriously, guys, I said no thanks.”

My eyes scanned the parking lot until they landed on her. She was trying to step around two guys who continued to block her path. She’d step to the left, and they’d follow her, keeping her from leaving.

“What? You don’t remember us?” the taller of the two said as he shifted to the side and blocked her path once again.

Her plump lips went tight, and aggravation filled her expression.

“You’re being ridiculous. Just let me pass.”

I was out of the car and headed in their direction. My fists flexed at my sides. In high school, I’d gotten into many fights over Nicole. Guys were always pulling shit like this with her—being annoying pricks to get her attention—but we weren’t in high school anymore. These were grown men pulling stupid bullshit with her, and I wasn’t having it.

“If you want to pass, you gotta give up that ass,” one of them muttered.

Fire shot down my spine. I saw red before I even stepped foot onto the sidewalk just outside the store.

“What the fuck did you just say to her?”

My vision was tunneling around the two—everything around me blacking out except for the view of their faces. Surely, I’d heard them wrong. Surely, these motherfuckers weren’t sitting on the corner outside of a store talking shit.

Then I got a good look at them, and I remembered them from school. If I wasn’t mistaken, I’d already beat their asses for something similar our junior year.

“Nothing, man, I was just fucking around,” the taller one backpedaled.

Chris.

His fucking name was Chris. I definitely remembered him.

“Just fucking around? That’s a pretty shitty way to fuck around, don’t you think?”

Nicole’s fingers dug into my arm, her touch sending me reeling and turning my attention on her. Her blue eyes glowed in the dim lighting around us.

“Come on, Tyson. Let’s just go. It’s no big deal.”

I shook my arm for her to release me, but her fingers tightened, her tiny fingernails pinching at my skin. Her touch—I hated it, and I loved it, but the bite from her tiny fingers only fueled me—pushed me harder. She was so much smaller—so helpless. I couldn’t let these assholes disrespect her like that.

“Tell her you’re sorry,” I demanded.

The smaller one had the audacity to laugh. I smelled the alcohol on his breath when his chuckle filled the air with the white clouds of his breath.

“What?” Again, he laughed.

My anger was growing, and the muscles in my arms were starting to ache from being so tight and ready to strike.

“Tell. Her. You’re. Sorry.” I spoke each word slowly and clearly.

His face split into another smile, and with courage I knew he’d found at the bottom of a bottle, he pressed his palm into my chest and said, “Man, get the fuck outta here with that shit.”

His touch was totally different than Nicole’s. It zapped me, pushing me from the man I was to the boy I used to be. I shook my head to rid myself of the memories it invoked.

Needles.

Fingers.

Touching me.

His touch burned me all over, pushing memories to the front of my mind like a movie and snapping my sanity. I felt it coming … the moment when I’d lose all control. That part always scared me. I worried that one day I’d hurt someone too much, and part of me knew if these fuckers didn’t apologize or if one of them touched me again, I’d hurt them.

They turned to walk away, but I was way past that point. Reaching out, I grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to put my fist through this goofy grin, but I never hit first. It was a rule of mine.

“I said tell her you’re sorry.”

Again, he pushed at my chest, and the binds holding me in check loosened once again. Every time he touched me, it sent me spiraling.

“Man, get the fuck off me. This ain’t high school anymore, Tyson.”

He remembered me too, which made him even dumber. I’d already kicked his ass once; I wasn’t afraid to do it again.

His fist dug into my chest, pushing me further away, and I felt myself losing a grip on the situation. I blinked, trying to hold the control, but I was slipping.

“Stop,” Nicole called out. “You guys just stop. Come on, Tyson. Let’s go.”

She slid between us, replacing his rough fist with her soft fingers against my chest. I looked down at her tiny fingers before taking in her beautiful face—her perky nose and plump lips—and the slight flush on her cheeks from worry. And I knew I had to walk away. For her, I’d do anything—at least anything that didn’t involve her ruin by me.

I nodded, letting her press me back toward the car, but before I could turn away, the dumb fuck spoke again.

“I’ll see you again, sexy,” he called out to Nicole. “And next time, your little boyfriend won’t get in the way.”

My memory lapsed, and all I could see were his fingers—the tattooed needles—touching me, hurting me … hurting Nicole.

Needles.

Needles.

Needles.

I broke my never hit first rule. Somehow, I went from standing in front of Nicole to being on top of the asshole that wouldn’t shut his fucking face. I hit him square in the nose as his friend tugged at my shoulders, trying to pull me off. I didn’t care. I’d had my fill with these assholes and the way they were treating Nicole. I hit him again, his cheekbone cracking my knuckles.