Inevitable (12 page)

“
Stop being an arsehole and get me down!”

“
Tell me I’m your hero.” So now he wanted to play? I’d never
understand this gorgeous prick stood below me.

“
What! No fucking way!”

“
Say it or I’m not helping.” Blaine winked at me. He was
enjoying this even more than I thought he would.

Bastard.

“
Blaine, please. Just help me down.” I tried the nicey-nicey
approach.

“
I will. When you tell me I’m your hero.” Christ, it’s not
natural for one person to be able to infuriate you so much. My
blood was simmering so furiously I felt like I was being cooked
from the inside out.

“
Argh!” I screamed and kicked my legs against the wall like
a child having a full on tantrum. “You are such a fucking idiot,
Blaine Elwood!”

“
Maybe so. But I’m also your hero, right?”

“
Fine. You’re my
dumb-arse fucking hero. Now get me the hell down
off this wall!”

“
Hmm, you could have worded it a
little
better… but I guess it’ll do. Wait
there.”

“
Yeah, that’s pretty much what I had planned
anyway.”

Tosser.

Blaine disappeared towards the outbuilding
(which could
actually be classed as a house it was so big) at the back of the
garden and returned a minute or so later with a set of stepladders.
He unfolded them and set them up against the wall. They didn’t
reach the top but the platform at the top was easily high enough to
drop onto without risking death or serious injury.

I hitched my legs up and rolled onto my knees, balancing
myself on the ledge as I prepar
ed to lower myself down. But then unexpectedly, I
felt a set of strong arms snake around my waist and I almost shit
out my heart.

“
I can get down myself!” I barked ungratefully.

“
I think we’ve established that you can’t. That’s why I’m here
remember?”

Dear
god, he was so beautifully irritating.

I let him guide me down the steps and then tried not to
stare at his glorious arse as he returned the ladders to the shed
which looked like a house. Like I said, I
tried.

“
Drink?” he offered on his return.

“
Whatever.” I was behaving like a petulant brat and I was
starting to think it was fuelled by embarrassment more than anger.
Every time his smooth, husky voice danced into my ears I found it
virtually impossible to hate him.

And for that, I hated
myself.

“
Pepsi on the rocks coming up.”

I followed Blaine around the pool and into the house. He
gestured for me to go into the living room and I sat waiting for
him on a modular white leather sofa whilst he grabbed us two
glasses of Pepsi
with ice. The room was easily twice the size of my entire
house and everywhere was white, glass and lightwood. I grazed the
cream shag-pile with the tip of my shoe (thinking I probably
should’ve taken my shoes off out of courtesy) as I took in the vast
array of state of the art entertainment equipment. The paper-thin
TV must have been at least eighty-two inches and there was an
impressive glossy black sound system with speakers big enough to
entertain a small city.

“
So
,
lish, have you decided how to execute my murder yet?” he asked with
a smile so wide I could see every one of his brilliant white teeth.
He handed me a drink, I took a sip and then placed it on a glass
table next to me.

“
Get fucked, Blaine.” Naturally, he laughed at me. “Why did
you beat up that guy who stuck something on my locker?” I figured I
might as well get straight to the point. My question sent the smile
flying from his face faster than a punch.

“
You found out about that, huh?”

“
Well?”

“
Because he’s an asshole that’s why. I’m not sorry if that’s
what you want to hear.” The air turned thick and serious, almost
choking me.

“
I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it. I just want to know why
you did it.”

“
Isn’t that obvious? He was the one behind that nasty shit
being left on your locker.”

“
I get that. What I
don’t
get… is why do
you
care?” My question took him off guard and he
knitted his eyebrows together like I’d just asked him to tickle my
dick. “I mean sometimes I think you like me, that we could be
friends. But then other times, it’s like the sight of me makes you
feel physically sick.”

“
I don’t want to be your friend, lish,” Blaine said sombrely
– his voice low and even. I didn’t know whether to run or cry. Or
run
and
cry. Until he continued… “I want to be
so
much more than your friend, Maddie.
But I’ll end up hurting you. I’ll disappoint you somehow I know I
will. I’m just not sure I can take that chance.”

Oh.
My. God.
I felt so hot I was sure I was about to melt into a gooey
puddle all over Treacle’s pristine shag-pile.

“
Well maybe it’s not
your
chance to take,” I mumbled, my voice literally
vibrating with… nerves? Lust? Something more…
Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve
known him five minutes.

There
wasn’t a single part of me that was expecting what happened next.
He leaned forward faster than I could process what was happening
and fixed his lips to mine. I melted into him. It didn’t even occur
to me to pull away.

As Blaine cupped my face in his hands m
y fingers reached up into his
smooth dark hair, grasping it, holding him in place, planning to
never let him move. I opened my mouth as his silky tongue teased my
lips, his perfectly manicured stubble tickled my chin and his body
pushed against mine until I was lying backwards on the sofa. An
unfamiliar yet delicious ache between my legs urged my hips up to
meet him and I let out an animalistic moan which in theory should
have embarrassed me. Instead it seemed to make him kiss me harder
which in that moment made me feel like the most powerful girl in
the whole world.

Blaine’s lips broke free from mine and he kissed his way
down to my neck
, his tobacco and mint infused breath blanketing my
sensitive skin.

“
Can I touch you, Maddie?” he whispered into my neck. “I want
to touch you more than anything.” I nodded, quite certain I was
breathing too hard to form words.

Then his
hands wandered over my breasts, hardening my nipples faster than a
jolt of electricity. Sliding his hand underneath my t-shirt he
pulled down the cups of my bra, springing my breasts free before
tugging and teasing my nipples, rolling them between his
fingers.

“
Blaine,” I whimpered, dropping my hands from his hair and
finding their way underneath his black button down shirt. My
fingertips trailed the contours of the muscles on his chest,
revelling
in
their unapologetic firmness, and for a moment I thought my frantic
heart might burst straight through my ribs.

“
I want to taste you,” Blaine murmured. “Can I do that,
Maddie?” Again I simply nodded. In that moment I doubted there was
anything I wouldn’t let him do to me.

He
lifted my shirt until it rested beneath my chin and groaned into my
breasts as he kissed and sucked each nipple. His hips pressed into
mine and I could feel how much he wanted me, his unforgiving
erection pressing into my thigh and making the strange and
wonderful tingle between my legs spread like wildfire throughout my
body.

I allowed my
fingers to roam the bare skin of his chest before they wandered
down and around to his back of their own accord. Blaine’s entire
body went rigid and in a nanosecond – he was sat upright on the
edge of the sofa.

Bollocks.

“
I’m sorry, lish, I just can’t-”

“
Shh. It doesn’t matter,” I whispered. “Just hold me,
Blaine.” He looked almost startled by my request but as I nestled
myself into his chest he wrapped his arms around me and held me
there for what could have been forever.
I’d gone to his house with the
intention of having a blazing argument with him. Hmm, that didn’t
quite work out as planned…

We were
relaxing on the sofa – Blaine lay on his back and I lay on my side,
snuggling into him.

“
The things going around about your mom… are they true?” Blaine
asked cautiously, his bluntness taking me aback
slightly.

“
Are you asking me if she’s a hooker?” I replied
calmly.

“
No. Well… just forget it. I’m sorry, that was out of
line.”

“
I don’t mind. I’m not ashamed of my mother. Sometimes I think
I should be, but I’m not. Anyway the answer is yes.”

“
Shit
.”

“
Yeah, shit,” I repeated, mirroring his flabbergasted tone
and making him snort back a faint giggle. “But she’s not well.
She’s never been diagnosed because she’s always refused to tell
anyone her problems, convincing herself the authorities will take
me away from her. I know that doesn’t excuse it or anything. It’s
just, sometimes I think she doesn’t know any other way.”

“
So what do you thinks wrong with her?” he asked curiously,
sympathetically.

“
I’ve no idea. Maybe bipolar or something? Some days she’s
high as a kite – although it’s hard to tell if that’s because she’s
taken something or because she’s just being manic. Other days she
doesn’t stop crying. She starts wishing she was dead and telling me
to leave and make a new life for myself and shit like
that.

“
Being on the game is something she always seems to fall back
on – but in recent years I’ve noticed that’s only when she’s
pissed. The problem there is trying to stop my mum from drinking is
like getting a dog to stop licking its dick.” I wasn’t being
intentionally funny but Blaine threw his head back and laughed. I
stared in awe at his thick, contracting neck muscles tightening
around his Adam’s apple as it bobbed up and down.

“
So where’s your dad in all this? Did he just leave you to deal
with this shit on your own?”

“
My mum would have to know who he was first,” I admitted, for
the first time feeling a little flushed with shame. “But I don’t
mind looking out for her. It’s all I’ve ever known. She’s my mum… I
love her.”

I gazed
into Blaine’s striking blue eyes which looked dark and heavy as if
he was having difficulty processing something.

“
How does Trudy know your mom?”

Oh shit.

“
Don’t get me wrong, and please tell me to fuck off if I’m
being offensive, its just your mom doesn’t seem the kind of person
who would hang out in the same circles as Trudy.”

“
Um, no, you’re right. Not anymore at least.” I contemplated
whether to tell him the truth for a moment and then decided it’s
not my job to protect the dirty little secret of the woman who
abandoned us for a life of luxury.

“
Are you saying Trudy was a hooker?” he asked, shifting in his
seat and dropping his jaw clean open.

“
From what I’ve been told, and from what I remember… yes. She
lived with me and my mum for a few years after I was born, and then
she met…”

Oh crap. I
seriously didn’t think this one through.

“
My dad? My dad bo
ught a hooker to replace my mom?”

Oh fuck. Lord,
take me now.

“
Shit, Blaine, I’m sorry. I didn’t thi-”

Wait a minute… is he…
laughing
?

“
Jesus, why doesn’t that surprise me one bit? Dirty old
bastard! And as for Trudy… I always knew she was all caviar above
the table and no
freakin’ panties beneath it.”

“
Blaine, this isn’t funny.
Why aren’t you pissed off?” I asked in
disbelief, trying desperately not to let his laugh infect
me.

“
Because I’m well aware what a prick my father is, lish.
That isn’t news to me.”
His statement and the look of hatred tinting his
bright blue eyes took me by surprise and I knew there was far more
to his relationship with his dad than he was willing to let on just
yet.

“
You said he ‘replaced’
your mum. What did you mean?”

“
My mom died when I
was five. Cancer of the something or other. Then
my dad left me with my Aunt Mable for a few weeks while he went
away on business and when he came back I had a new mom –
Trudy.”

“
Shit. I’m sorry.”

“
I’m over it. I mean, I miss her sometimes, I think. But then I
don’t really remember her. I don’t blame Trudy. I don’t
particularly like her but I don’t blame her. She never tried to be
‘Mom’ if you get me? And of course she gave us Kara, so I’ll always
be grateful to her for that.”

“
Seems like we’re both a pair of screw ups, huh?”

“
Yeah, I guess we are,
” he agreed with a faint laugh.