Good Girl (Playroom) (28 page)

“Who do you have in mind?”
Violet primly asks and I can tell that the answer is pivotal to her acceptance.

“Malcolm Mason,” I
quickly state. Seth lights up like Christmas and Violet scowls. Both of them realize that if it works out, the Mason kids would be their step-siblings. Yay for Seth, boo for Violet.

“I haven’t spoken to Chief Mason, yet. Malcolm
may say no. But I need your permission first. So I just need a yes or no. I’ll remind you of who we are hooking up. Your mom isn’t an easy woman to be around. Chief Mason is strong enough to deal with Clover’s shit.”

…And that is how the Prynnes matchmake. Tell them their mom is a bitch
, and that only one man can tame her… and you get two identical head nods for yes.

~Chapter Twenty-Three~

“We’re good to go,” I whisper in Devon’s ear. I linger a moment too long for friendly as I soak in his addictive scent. I could eat Devon up, but I don’t think he’d like that very much.

“I talked to Rae and W
eston today, too. They’re both pleased.” Devon tosses me a pleased smile.

We watch in amusement as the four kids in question square off. The boys are ogling a catalog for dirt bikes- like Clover will
ever let that happen. I immediately decide that I’ll buy Seth one for his next birthday. I may be a reformed brat, but I’m still me. I can be nice and loving, but nothing’s taking the devious out of me.

Violet and Rae are glaring at each other. I can alrea
dy tell that they both know the other had the same talk today, and they don’t like it. If Violet is stunning, Rae is otherworldly- nothing good will come from pairing them up together. As enemies they will kill each other, as allies they will burn the world to its core. I’d thought Rae looked eerily like Isis, now I understand why. Rae is a softer, younger version of her ball-crusher Aunt.

“
Sooooo… a little birdy told me Isis is your aunt. Devon, why didn’t you tell me? Lord knows how many times I’ve shoved my foot into my mouth saying bad shit about Isis.” My voice sounds hurt, and it’s because I am.

“Did Robin tweet-tweet for you?” Devon makes light of it and I scowl. His face changes from teasing to regret. “The words wouldn’t come out, Willow. I just couldn’t say it. After a while I figured you just k
new. I know you’re scared of Isis, and that Auggie plays with her, so it’s kind of awkward to say,
‘hey that evil bitch that’s fucking your master and your brother is spawned from the same blood as me.’
I apologize, but I just couldn’t say it.”

Devon
looks at his hands and I’m no longer the one who’s hurt. I’ve crammed my foot into my mouth so far I’ll be shitting out my toes in the morning. “Hey, I’m sorry.” I run my hand over the front of Devon’s uniform. He’d come here straight from the station. I heavily sigh. “It doesn’t matter, Devon.”

“Kiss,” Essie shouts as she pops up from behind the sofa. I jump
several inches off the cushion and swear like a pirate. Fucking eavesdropper.

“Essie,” I plead. It’s not a good idea to tell your tenacious best friend/cousin that you have a thing for your new best friend/boyfriend
, and you’re pretty sure it’s unrequited.

“Yes, kiss,” Rae drawls
, sounding just as sinister as her aunt. Something tells me that Auntie told Rae, that Devon and I aren’t really together. The knowing look Rae throws my way screams as truth.

I look at Devon for help since we’ve now attracted the attention of every Prynne
in existence, half of the Mason clan, and a gaggle of Websters. Devon looks at me with calm, blue eyes and smiles.

At a loss,
I lean in and gently brush Devon’s soft lips with mine. You could hear a pin drop in the room. I start to pull away but his arms tighten around me and draw me back to his lips. This time Devon kisses me back. I sigh into his mouth and melt into his embrace.

Every muscle in my body is strung tight to maintain my control
. I want to devour him, but now isn’t the time or the place, and I’d worry about his reaction. Devon has maintained the friend zone since the summit meeting declared we were dating.

Devon’
s lips taste sweet from the icing on the twin’s birthday cake and his natural vanilla scent. I lick his bottom lip to get a real taste of him. I gasp when the tip of his tongue seeks mine out and strokes. My fingers flex on his chest as I smother the moan threatening to spill from my lips to his. Devon tastes so damned good, so much sweeter than icing. I want to kiss him forever.

I pull away with a whimper and bury my face in
to the crook of Devon’s neck. My skin prickles as the blood rushes to the surface in the most epic of blushes.

Stunned silence fills the room, but I’m not listening to them. All I hear is the rapid tattoo of Devon’s heartbeat and his breath sawing from his lips. He’s panting so hard
that his chest is moving mine.

Devon
hides his blushing face in my hair and whispers, “Jesus.” Devon’s fingers shake against my back, and it ripples up his arms to his chest. He’s wrecked.

I open my eyes and
see Essie gawking at me. I silently plead with her to help us. Everyone could tell that was our first kiss and it wasn’t fake. By the time Devon’s tongue touched mine, I knew two things. One, Devon doesn’t see me as a friend, and two, until that moment he thought I only saw him as a friend. We’re both thrown by the revelation, and need some time to regroup.

“Well,” Essie says ten decibels too lo
udly. “That was… well, that was… yeah. Presents, we can’t have a party without presents.” I mouth
thank you
at her because I’m still speechless. 

Devon gives up all pretense
s and pulls me into his lap and tightly squeezes me. Everything fades to black around me as he holds me. I hear the twins squeal as they open their gifts and the happy clapping of my family, but my focus is centered on Devon.

Over t
en weeks of angst pours out of me. I’ve tried to control myself around Devon, to contain my true feelings. It took a lot of work. On the back end of the angst was disappointment. I’d feared that we were disappointing Auggie. Auggie’s not dumb. He knew damn well we weren’t touching each other. But Auggie is so diabolical that this was probably part of his evil plan. Devon and I are bonded tight through friendship now. Even if we try it as lovers and bomb, it won’t matter. We will forever be close friends.

I kiss the side of Devon’
s neck and he jolts beneath me. I slide from his lap because I have to give the twins their gifts. I quickly toss a pillow on Devon’s lap to cover up his reaction. I scrub my palms over my face trying to rub the embarrassment away.

It’s been minutes since the gift opening concluded and all eye
s are on me. I blush as I pull Seth’s gift from beside the couch.

“Here,” I pass Seth his present
. Seth’s blushing as bad as I am. He eagerly tears into the paper, revealing the geology kit with over a hundred different rocks and minerals. I bought him a gift card to the webstore where I bought the set so he could buy geodes and other goodies.

“Wow,” Seth
says in awe, running his fingers over the picture on the box. I chuckle when he leans in to kiss my cheek but looks at Officer Devon for permission.

Violet is
silently sitting. She covers her sadness and disappointment well, I’ll give her that. There isn’t a gift left in the room so she thinks I didn’t get her one.

I pull the v
elvet bag from my back pocket. “Put your palm out,” I murmur. Violet’s palm is out before I’ve even finished my request. I pull the stings on the bag and pour the contents into her hand.

“It’s too much,” Clover whispers of the necklace I had custom made for my niece. The pendent is a crystal violet with an amethyst in the center.

“My niece has expensive tastes,” I muse. “Just like her mother.” I snort at my sister’s pinched expression. “Besides, I’m no longer a minimum wage worker. I make quite a bit on commission and my rent is paid through labor.”

“Wil
l you put it on me,” Violet quietly says, voice wavering from emotions.

I fasten the necklace around Violet’s
neck and whisper underneath my breath into her ear, “I’ll try to be a better role model, but I ain’t making any promises. I’ll still punch you if I have to, maybe break a finger or two.”

Violet huffs a laugh
and hugs me. I look at my sister and it wrenches my heart. Even when Sam was dying, Clover never cried. Her eyes are misted with tears and I vow to see her smile again.

~Chapter Twenty-Four~

I’ve never understood sexual frustration until tonight. I’ve been achy as hell before, but my nightly and morning practice relieves most of my pent up frustration. Auggie gives me privacy when I masturbate by going into our adjoining bath and taking care of his own business. It’s too much of
a temptation to do it in front of one another. I’d thought that was sexual frustration. I was wrong, dead fucking wrong. Ache is not a strong enough word, torture isn’t appropriate, either. And Devon’s feeling it right along with me. Our kiss opened something up inside of us that can’t be contained.

After presents
, we took the kids and Essie out for ice cream. We then picked up Kieren along the way to the theatre for a double feature. After three separate stops to drop off our passengers, we’ve finally arrived at the Spook House.

I’ve spent the last four hours reliving our brief kiss. During the movies
, I kept my gaze glued to the screen because I was fearful of what I’d do if I looked back at Devon. I could feel his gaze on my mouth the entire time. After several minutes where we thought the other’s thigh was pure heaven, we held hands until our fingers turned white.

The ride home took an
eternity. I wanted to touch Devon after we dropped off all the passengers, but Kieren insisted on coming to the Spook House. He wanted to see what the remodel looked like. I call bullshit on him. Kieren’s up to something. His sneaky grin is tripping my radar.

“I love the gray siding,”
Kieren says, fingering the siding in question as he smirks at our discomfort.

“Thanks,”
I half-assed reply as I unlock the front door to let us into the foyer. A moan hits my ears, streaks down my spine like a lightning strike, and pools between my quivering thighs. My legs turn wobbly and barely support my weight. The next moan is louder and I want to crawl on the floor to join him.

“What’s Auggie up to,”
Kieren says in amusement and I instantly know this was a trap.

“I know that sound. Auggie
’s close to blowing,” I chuckle at the guys’ expression of disbelief. Kieren thought he’d bait me to anger and Devon was worried I’d be upset. I’ve got no room to judge. I’ll fuck both of them on the foyer floor if I don’t get some relief soon. Auggie can screw a cheerleading squad for all I care as long as none of them have Prynne blood flowing through their veins.

“That’s something I never thought to see in my lifetime,” pours from my mouth before I can
stop it. It’s like a car wreck. I want to look away but I can’t force my eyes to move. I’m pretty sure the image is fused on my retinas.

My living room is being used as a roving
Playroom.
Wherever Auggie plays is the
Playroom
. Siblings, Isis and Malcolm, sit on the settee engrossed with the show. Isis briefly looks up at us, and then gazes back at the spectacle.

Auggie’s lips are fused with someone
of the Prynne bloodline, but Robbie was grandfathered in from the time he was in kindergarten. I’m not sure if I’m sickened or extremely turned on by watching my brother and our master makeout.

“This
isn’t at all incestuous.” I sarcastically murmur to Malcolm as I lead his sons into my living room, where their aunt is fascinated by watching her ex-stepbrother and my brother tongue-fuck each other’s mouths.

“I… Um,” Auggie stutters when he notices us. He looks so b
ashful that I blush for him. “Robin was telling us some good news and we were overcome.” I can only imagine what these four would find as good news. It was another meeting of the deviant summit.

I can’t even look at my brother, but Auggie is bright as a shiny new penny. His green eyes glow with delight and his lips are ruddy from passionate kisses. I pr
etend that the glistening on Auggie’s bottom lip isn’t my brother’s saliva… I want to keep my popcorn in my belly.

“A
h, I can see that,” I look at Auggie’s crotch where the Beast is throbbing inside his pants. “But not overcome yet,” I stress.