Lila's Thunder: The Almeida Brothers, Book One (14 page)

Lila adjusted her napkin in her lap, listened to the specials, gave her order and dealt with the silence for as long as she possibly could before she couldn’t take it anymore.
 

“So Chase,”
 she said, causing both men to look at her in surprise.  Before she was speaking they’d been pretending to be busy with other things, but now that the menus were gone there was nothing left to distract them.  “I really must commend Ashley on the haircut… she did a phenomenal job.” She smiled softly at him.  "Why are you covering it up?"  Without waiting for an answer she reaced over and took the hat off of him, taking a deep breath at the sight of his face fully exposed, yet again.  She laughed softly when he immediately brought out a self-concious hand up, smoothing his new haircut while giving her a shy grin.

“Hey, easy tiger,” his smile grew when he made a swipe for his hat and she pulled it away.  “Hand it over, Short Stack.”

It was the nickname he’d had for her since the moment he’d grown taller than her all those years ago.  The smile fell from her face the moment she heard it, and she found herself searching his eyes, feeling a connection with him in that moment that she'd almost forgotten about.  A wave of sadness suddenly swept over her and she could see he was experiencing the same.  The longing.  She forced herself to look away. Chase's eyes searched her face before he finally did the same. This haircut of his would definitely take some getting used to.  Clearing her throat, she placed the hat on the table and looked up only to be met with Jack's probing glare.

Jack took a slow sip of his water while staring at Chase, before slowly moving his gaze to L
ila.  “How does she know Ashley?  Or, better yet, how does she know that Ashley is the one who cut your hair?”

Lila and Chase shared a look.

Jack unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat a little taller.

“I caught him and some
little girl in the locker room at school, okay? Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” she mumbled.

Jack threw
her a look. His eyes fell to the dip in her blouse, then made a slow, deliberate climb back to her face.  “Don’t tell me what to do,” a pompous smile lifted the corner of his mouth.

The small smile was threatening Lila’s lips, as well.  She fought it with all her might.

Chase looked back and forth between the two of them before throwing down his napkin, looking over Jack’s head to the bathroom.  “Excuse me,” he said, standing from his table without another word and walking off.

Lila jammed her eyes shut as Chase left the table and shook her head.
  She looked up at Jack when he leaned on the table, his eyes boring into hers, and shook her head, gazing off towards the bathroom.

“Let it go, Lila,”
Jack warned.

She looked back to him.

“Let it go.” 

---

Chase was startled to come out of the bathroom and find Lila leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, giving him a pained expression.  At first he was happy to see her, since that seemed to be the emotion he always experienced when he saw her, but something happening in his mind wiped the smile away instantly.

S
he seemed the furthest thing from happy.  “Some people might call me crazy for waiting for you outside of this bathroom… but I’m hoping you’ll see my side of it.  I want you to give Jack a chance.”

Chase looked away.
  “What are you talking about?” he asked, his eyes meeting hers.  “Are you even allowed to be talking to me, at all?  Aren’t you breaking every rule that the almighty Jack has set?”

“Jack doesn’t control me.”

“Doesn’t he?” he asked, with a squint.

Lila considered
him for a long moment, “No,” she said.  “He doesn’t.”

Chase smiled a brilliant sm
ile, but it was laced with annoyance.  “Oh, okay. Could have fooled me… but whatever you say.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know exactly what it means.”

“Enlighten me.”

“It means you’re fucking him.”

Lila was struck, not by the words, bu
t by how calmly he said them, and how right on the money he was.

Chase now wished he w
as anywhere else. “Christ, Lila I’ve known you forever.  I know you better than you know yourself.  I know that look on your face when you’re delirious with anger but too proud to show it.”  He took a step closer to her.  “I know the smile you have when you’re overjoyed but too shy to express it… and I know Lila…”

Lila’s eyes fell to her feet.

Chase’s voice fell to a whisper. “I know that smile when you’re looking across the table at a man who’s making you cum.”

Her eyes came alive. “Don’t talk to me like that, Chase."

“He was practically foaming at the mouth just because you knew Ashley’s
name
.”

“It’s n
o business of yours who I am or am not sleeping with, okay?  That’s my business. And even if we were sleeping together, what gives you the right to try and shame me with it?  Let’s not forget the position I caught you in with little miss thing at school this afternoon.”

Her evasion of the question was all the answer Chase needed, and he suddenly felt like he was going to be sick, but the urge to protect her overrode it. “Well getting a blowjob in the school locker room beats the hell out of sitting around wondering about you.
  And why do you care who’s going down on me anyway?”

Lila’s eyes searched his.
“I don’t care.”

“No?” Chase’s eyes widened, the dark, leafy green orbs flying back and forth across her face.

Lila blinked before regaining her composure. “No,” she said, sternly.

He studied her face for a long moment.
  “He'll hurt you, Lila."  When she cringed he took her arms, leaning closer. "Listen to me.  He'll hurt you.  And if I can’t be the man…”  He faltered. “If I can’t be the man…”

Lila watched as Chase struggled to say something that was clearly difficult for him.

Instead he changed the subject. “Why are you suddenly so desperate for Jack and me to get along, anyway?  Singing his praises? Because that damn sure isn’t what you’ve been doing for the last five years of all our lives.  Now you expect me to sit at a dinner table and watch you two make googly eyes at each other?  I’d sooner die.  I’m not a kid anymore… I’m not.”

Lila’s wet eyes rose to his.

Chase leaned in, hand over his heart.  “I loved you first.”  His breathing began to tremble, “And I’m not afraid to say it anymore, because I know what’s real. I can’t hang around and watch while he makes you cum.  While you fall in love with him.”

“Chase.”
  Lila sputtered.  "I love you, too. But not in that way--"

He didn't let her finish, “Lila there is no other way.
  Not for me.”  He released her arms.  “Don’t tell me anymore fairytales.”

Lila watched him go with a hand over her heart, shaken to her very co
re.  Chase was absolutely right, he wasn’t a kid anymore, and the truth of that was sending her down a very frightening and confusing spiral that she wasn’t ready for.

She did her best to collect herself before stomping out into the restaurant, but Jack was already standing outside of the bathrooms.
 

He watched her with knowing eyes, gripping her purse in his hands.
He blinked slowly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Lila appro
ached him and took her bag. "Take me home."

---

“You’re so wet baby. I….”  Jack hesitated, then gasped as a wave of pleasure he’d never experienced rolled through him, and he lost control, grinding inside her blindly. “Fuck, I love you so much,” he gasped, his voice trembling with feeling, his fingers caressing her face hungrily.

Tears came to Lila’s eyes and she jammed them shut, tossing her head to the side.
  She gently pushed at Jack’s shoulder, turning them so he was on his back. His stomach heaved and he held her gaze as she slid down his body, taking his heat in her hand and pumping him wildly before wrapping him in her mouth and sucking furiously.  Just the way she’d learned he liked it.  She worked him with frenzy, her hand clutching him tightly, lips working him in unison, egged on by his grunts and groans.

"Lila, wait..."
  Jack grunted, barely able to speak
.  Not like this,
he tried to plead.

But it was the only thing she was capable of giving. He came quickly, just as she knew he would, and she was relieved when he did.

Jack moved to the edge of the bed immediately after, leaning on his knees and running a hand down his face, struggling to keep his composure.  He couldn’t control the feeling washing over him, and threw his head in his hands when it all became too much.  When Lila came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his body he lost focus. Taking his face from his hands, he held them out, craning his neck behind him.  He wanted to look into her eyes but chose to focus on the headboard instead.

“Just get the shit over with, right?"

Lila jolted at his words. It was the kind of venom she was used to hearing in Jack’s voice, but this time she hadn’t been prepared for it. “What?” she asked.

He turned to her, his hands
still out in front of him. “Are you just having your fun with me or what?"

“Well of cou
rse I’m having fun with you,” she said, with a laugh. “I came three times tonight.”

Jack stood from the bed and walked to the window, burying his head in his hands.

Lila sat in the middle of the bed, stunned. “Jack…” she started, breathlessly, before jumping off of the bed and coming up behind him.  “I don’t know what you want from me but we never said that this was a… a serious thing. God, just a week ago we were at each other’s throats…”  She lost her voice when he turned to face her, and had to take a moment before speaking again.  “You treated me like a second class citizen for three years, okay?  I’m sorry if I come off a little cold toward you sometimes but you can’t act like you had nothing to do with it.  That isn’t fair.”

“I watched you,”
 Jack started, looking at her from under his eyes. “I watched you for years and years with him.”  He pointed to the window.  “And it was easy, at first.  It was.  It was easy to pretend that it didn't matter. But I can’t do that anymore, Lila.”

Lila was completely lost. “Can’t do what anymore Jack?"

He scoffed and brushed passed her.

Lila followed as he swept all of his clothes up from the floor and began to frantically dress himself.
  "What, you're leaving?"

"Am I going to stick around here while you play dumb with me?"
  He threw on his shirt.  "I'm good on that, baby.  Thanks though."

Lila was struck by the way he was
speaking to her. "Don't call me baby."

"Yeah, I guess that posi
tion is taken isn't it?"  he asked, pulling his pants on.  "I guess the only job I qualify for is treating you like trash."

Fury coursed through her. "Fuck you,” s
he spat.

Jack stopped buttoning hi
s pants, letting them hang open. "Yeah?" he asked, breathlessly.

"Yeah."
  Lila nodded, tears touching the corners of her eyes. "You got what you wanted and now you're back to the same old asshole you always were.  God!"  She threw her head back.  "I'm not even mad at you about it...Honestly? I should have seen it coming all along."  She stomped over to the dresser and snatched up his watch before throwing it at him, "God damned if you're not consistent."  She left the room.

Jack followed her.

"Hey, hey!"  He took her arm, rearing back when she snatched it away from him like poison.  "You don't get to do that anymore, all right?  You don't get to make me the villain while you bop around like the doe eyed innocent in all of this-- you're not!"

Lila cringed.
  "You're pissed off at me because I won’t look into your eyes while you're inside me, because I won’t let you c..."  She looked away, struggling for words passed her bleary eyes and pounding heart. "...call me baby and act like you're some great man in my life?  I'm sorry Jack, but you're not! You've treated me like shit from the day we met.  You don't get to do that for five years and then call me 'baby' the next day."

"No, I get it,"
Jack said, once he got his watch on and his pants fasted.  He held his hands out in surrender.  "That's fine.  Chase will be there to whisper sweet nothings in your ear and I'll be there to fuck them all away when they turn you on.  Everybody knows their place now."

It happened in a flash, so quickly that Lila didn't even realize she'd slapped him until it had already happened.
  She covered her mouth with the hand that burned from the impact with Jack's cheek.

He zeroed in on her until her back was against the wall.
  "You want to beat me up, that's fine, but it doesn't change a god damn thing, Lila.  I can’t pretend that I’m okay with it, anymore.  I won’t. I’m not okay that you two were arguing with each other tonight.  I’m not okay that it upset you to the point of fucking tears.   I'm not okay with helping you fuck the pain away-- not anymore."