Fate (23 page)

His arms were around her waist
, and
in the next instant
,
his face
was
against hers. “I’m sorry,” he said kissing the side of her face. “I promise I’ll come as often as I can—every weekend
,
maybe more
;
it’s only until next summer. I just…I need to be there.”

She turned around
, and
his expression
fell
when he saw the tears
,
so she brushed them away swiftly. Then she ran her fingers through his hair like she loved doing so much. “You do
,
and this is why I love you so much. Your devotion to the people you love is admirable.”

“And I love you
,
too
,
but—”

“But nothing, Vincent.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to explain. I understand
,
okay? You need to be there for your brother. I’ll still be here. I’ll miss you like crazy
,
but I’ll live.”

“And I’ll be down here a lot. I swear to you.” He kissed her
,
reminding Rose that Sal was still in the office closing things down. “I can’t stand being away from you, Rosie. You know that
,
right?”

“Yes
,
I do. I’m sorry about how I reacted. I hate being away from you, too, but I really do understand.” She smiled
,
her heart still aching
,
but she fought to hide it. “It’s gonna be okay. We’ll get through this.”

Pushing aside the ridiculous notion that he’d picked his brother over her
,
she hugged him hard. There was no choice. It was a given. She would’ve done the same thing had she been in his place.

“I love you, Rosie,” he whispered.

She looked up at him and smiled as genuinely as she could. “And I love you.” She kissed him
,
then glancing around quickly
,
she announced, “We’re done here. Let’s go enjoy what’s left of this summer.”

They drove back to Sal’s house as they often did after work these past couple of weeks. With the heat wave they were having
,
it had been hot enough to go night swimming all week. Even though Vincent had said he didn’t want to ever chance what they had in Sal’s house again
,
and they hadn’t there since that first time
,
they had done some pretty naughty things in that pool.

Grace
was wearing
a slinky black dress and heels when they got to Sal’s house
,
and it dawned on Rose that she’d agreed to watch the baby so that
Grace
and Sal could go out for drinks with her friends
,
Joey and Taylor
.

Vincent’s unexpected news had made her completely forget about it. Relieved that she hadn’t suggested Vincent make a sudden change in route, Rose exhaled. She’d been tempted to have Vincent head to the beach instead where they could have fun on a quilt in a private little cave they’d recently discovered.

“I almost forgot about babysitting tonight.” Rose turned to Vincent with a pout. “There goes our swimming.”

Grace turned to them as she put on an earring. “No, you can still go swimming. I just put him down. He should be out at least until we get home.”

Rose smiled
,
glancing back at Vincent but didn’t miss the look Grace gave her
:
t
hat
yes
,
you can
go
swim
ming
,
but be good
look. It was no secret anymore that she and Vincent were very much a couple now
,
but after Grace had walked in on them making out pretty heav
il
y one evening, she’d sat Rose down for a talk.
Grace had
been so upset
that
Vince had left immediately
,
worried that his time in La Jolla would be over now.

To
Rose’s
surprise Sal
had been the one who stuck his neck out for Vincent. He reminded Grace this was typical for a couple their age and assured her that even though Vincent had gone through some rough patches
,
he was a good kid and was proving to be much more responsible now. That seemed to calm Grace enough to give Rose the courage to speak freely once Sal had left the room.

Having always been close and keeping little from Grace
ever
, she fessed up about her and Vince being intimate now. Grace had, as expected, been surprised and worried. Rose knew she would be
,
but she’d also known Grace would want her to share something so personal and important with her. Of course Grace immediately brought up birth control. Since it was something Rose had been thinking about anyway
,
she decided and
promised her
worrying sister she’d get on it as soon as possible.

Grace promised to keep this from Sal because when Rose mentioned to Vincent
that
she’d most likely be talking to Grace about it, she thought he might pass out. Vincent was convinced
that
if Sal found out
,
he’d be fired on the spot
,
and after getting pummeled
,
he’d be banned from La Jolla for life. But Rose assured him Grace wouldn’t share this with Sal. She did
,
however
,
accompany her the day she went in to get on birth control
.
Rose had gotten her first shot a month ago and would be getting another one every three months.

After Sal arrived to pick up Grace, Rose checked the baby one last time before taking the monitor out with her and Vincent into the back yard. The view from Sal’s backyard was amazing. They couldn’t be in a more romantic setting.

They’d only been in the pool for a few minutes
,
and already Rose had her legs and arms wrapped around Vincent. “I talked to Enzo while you were changing.”

Rose pulled her face away to look at Vince
,
tilting her head. She loosened her legs from around his waist and let them fall
,
so she was standing in front of him instead. Secretly she prayed Lorenzo had maybe promised he’d be good and stay out of trouble so that Vince could stay
:
a
wish she certainly wouldn’t be sharing with Vincent.

“He explained about this last fight. Of course it was
stupid
. He wasn’t even the one doing the fighting
;
it was his two drunk
-
ass friends.” Vince frowned shaking his head. “They were arguing in the car over some chick that blew them both off at the party they were coming home from. When they stopped to drop one of them off, they both got out and started swinging. Enzo got out to separate them.” Vince finally eased up and chuckled. “He said he was even laughing because it was
so
stupid
,
but then his friend’s mom came out and made a huge deal of it. First, because of them fighting, then when she realized how drunk her son was
,
she got even crazier.”

The humor left Vincent’s face as he explained how the guy’s mom called his dad. By the time his dad got down there to pick up Lorenzo
,
the cops had been called. Not by the guy
’
s mom
,
but probably one of the neighbors since they’d been so loud. All for a girl who’d walked out of the party with another guy!

Luckily no one was taken in or even ticketed
,
but it was enough to alarm his dad into thinking Lorenzo was beginning to get out of control. On top of it all his brother was supposed to have been home hours earlier. Unfortunately Lorenzo thought the whole thing was funny. He did insist Vincent didn’t need to come home after the summer
,
but from the looks of it
,
this only confirmed that Lorenzo’s lack of remorse or even concern over his behavior meant Vincent
should
go home.

“My dad’s finally getting the extra hours at work he’s been wanting to for so long
,
and he can’t afford to pass up the overtime. He’ll be gone even more now
,
and with my mom picking up another elderly lady to be caregiver to, she’s gone most of the day even on the weekends.” Vince traced his wet fingers over Rose’s lips, something he always loved doing when they spoke this close. Even after all this time it still made her shiver. “Enzo promised to stay out of trouble
,
so my dad won’t ask me to come home before the end of summer
,
but I gotta go back.”

Rose nodded wanting to show she understood though it irked her that his brother couldn’t just be good on his own. “Yeah, you do.”

Vince leaned in and kissed her softly. “Maybe if I can convince him to straighten his shit out and he stays out of trouble for a while
,
I can move back down here before next summer.”

Not wanting him to rush anything for her, Rose shook her head. “Stay as long as you need to. As long as you promise to come down often, I can wait. I’ll be busy with school and soccer anyway.”

Done with this downer topic
,
Rose kissed him
,
lifting herself onto him again and wrapping her legs around his waist. She did the same with her arms, wrapping them around his neck. Instantly
,
she felt the rise in his shorts as she kissed him deeply. Since their first time in her room, they’d gotten hotel rooms several times and made the most of their secret love cave at the beach.

Since Rose wasn’t allowed to spend the night with him, they only rented hotel rooms when they both had the entire day off. They’d check in as early as the hotel would allow and be there until curfew. Rose was absolutely mesmerized by some of the things he’d done to her
,
but she still couldn’t get enough.

Reaching into his shorts
,
she wrapped her hands around him and stroked. Groaning
,
Vince pulled away from her mouth. “We can’t here, babe.”

“I want to,” she said
,
biting his lower lip then sucking it.

God, did she ever. She was so ready for him now. Before he could protest further and because his body language said he was more than ready, too
,
s
he reached down
,
pulling him completely out of his shorts and slid her bikini bottom to the side. When Vincent realized what she was doing
,
he pulled her behind up higher and spun around so he could pin her against the wall of the pool.

He looked around nervously
,
but his breathing was so
ragged
she knew Sal and Grace walking out the back door would be the only thing that would stop this from happening now. One thing he’d let her in on earlier that summer was how much it turned him on to hear her talk dirty. He said it was especially arousing because he knew just how innocent she was. “Fuck me,” she whispered in his ear. “Fuck me right now
—right
here.”

Without giving it another thought, Vince plunged into her
hard
. Rose cried out
,
loving the way he felt in her. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. “I own this?”
h
e grunted.

“Yes,” she gasped, barely able to catch her breath.

He kissed her neck then sucked it
,
making her tremble as he thrust in her again and again
,
harder and faster with each thrust. “Say it, Rosie.”

“You own me, Vincent. You know that.” Her body began to tremble as everything
,
his mouth, his body his words aroused her completely.

“Forever
?
”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly, feeling the beginning of her climax.

She’d only begun to come without him having to use his fingers or tongue
the
last few times they’d been together. It was so amazing she’d even begun to have naughty dreams where to her surprise she’d actually climaxed.

He squeezed her behind with both hands
,
pushing her harder against him making him go even deeper into her. “Say it to me, baby. Tell me this is all mine forever.”

His
pulling her into his thrust that way made him rub the perfect spot just so
,
and she could barely get the words out as waves of pleasure exploded throughout her. “Oh my God!”
s
he cried as he continued to pump her
,
making her climax that much stronger. “You own all of me, Vincent
,
”
s
he kissed him madly before adding
,
“
f
orever and ever and
ever
.”