Slice (The Elledge Family #1) (12 page)

“I love you,” I whispered into her chest. My eyes were closed but my arms were still entangled in the mess of our bodies.

I felt her hear beat run out of her chest, “You don’t mean that.”

“I mean every word I said Cypress. There is no one else for me.” I professed.

Her face turned my favorite shade of crimson. Though her skin was like a honey, the crimson always found a way to make a grand entrance. “Lucas, it was the sex. You can’t love me.”

“Why can’t I?” I argued, I was still lulled by the remnants of what had just happened. “I don’t need you say it back to me Cypress.” Her ex was an idiot. Wasted her purity and now she was damaged. She didn’t know love when she felt it. She hated gifts and she hated the fact that she could be happy. And it was his bloody fault.

“I don’t know.”

“Well I do. I hope that it doesn’t bother you.”

“You mean the world to me.” She whispered as her hands went through my hair.

“You are the world to me Cypress.”

We stayed like that for hours until something woke me up. My friend the monster was ready to playhouse. I tiptoed out of bed and walked down to the small office area in my loft. I sifted through the security cameras for his face
and more importantly his car and license plate.  I watched his every move for a while and fast forwarded the film as he harassed other females and then stumbled drunk to the car with some blond chick. There was his tag number. I jotted it down and opened the DMV site I should not have access to but didn’t care. I typed in his tag number and there he was… license and all of his unpaid parking tickets.

I typed his name into some search engines and social media sites and he was known for his studies and research psychology. Why would he even be at this university? Our psychology division was horrid? He had some explaining to do and I would pry out of him.  I should talk to him… soon. The monster inside would love to be drunk behind the wheel to take this fucker out.

“What are you doing in here?” Her whisper was sexy and it calmed me. Cypress made her way to the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

“I couldn’t sleep without knowing a few dates. I closed the laptop. “Tired?”

“I am completely drained.” She drank her water.

“My mother invited us down for a small dinner. It will be just us and the parents. Can you come?”

“Sure, when?”

“At the end of October.”

“I would love too.”

Asher

My head pounded. I shouldn’t have drink that much. I shouldn’t have made that pass on Cypress and there was no telling what Lucas had formed in his head. More than likely he had already planned my upcoming death to a t. I tried to think straight but U had not yet recovered from the ass kicking and the overflow of alcohol.

My feet even ached.

“Good Morning.”

My eyes opened as I tried to figure out where the fuck I was. This was not my home. This was not even my car. The room was all white. I had either been abducted by aliens or a clean

freak.

I looked up at the sandy blond guy in frustration. “Where in the fuck am I?”

“You’re in my apartment. The security guards pulled your license but it had California address on it. We are not in the business of throwing people on their asses after my brother beats the shit out of you in public.”

Brother? I stared. He was Mark. The foster brother of Lucas and he was the one that had the most sense about every situation. I patted down my chest in search of my glasses. “Shit.”

“Exactly.” Mark gulped down some of his coffee and looked at me. “I looked you up in a few databases last night. You are a genius. Especially in psychology. Why here? You got accepted into the program at Harvard?”

“Harvard is not for everyone.”

“I would have taken it.”

“Where are my glasses?”

“They are up until you answer my questions for a little while. I mean it won’t take long.” Mark’s voice was calm and darker than Lucas’ voice. “So, you like Cypress?”

“Actually I was drunk. I don’t like her that way.” I had not even considered to like her more than a friend. She was so deep into Lucas and clingy girls were not my type.

“Right.” I could tell by his voice that he was not convinced. He rolled his eyes and rolled his shoulders.

“I’m serious. Let me go home. I got banned. Lucas might kill me if he even sees me here in the first place.”

“He went out of town. And don’t worry about him. You should actually be worried about me. You know that I found somethings in your car that you should be worried about. For example,” He tossed my brown leather journal on the table in front of us and looked at me. “You are studying my brother?”

“Observing.” I corrected. I swallowed hard and struggled to stop being dizzy from the oncoming hangover. “I swear it’s harmless I just have b…”

“Stop lying to me!” Mark yelled. “You better be lucky that it was me that found this shit instead of Lucas. He would have killed you for thinking about following him.”

“I know.”

“Good then you should know that I would appreciate if you kept this information about him to yourself. I know that he is a psychopath. I know that he has a few bolts loose. But not everyone would be as open armed about it like I am. I want to know that I can trust you.”

“You don’t know me to trust me.”

“I know that you care about your education and reporting an alleged sexual abuse charge to the Psychology head would fuck you up.”

My heart pattered and I exhaled. “I won’t break your trust.”

“I want you to check in with me more than once a week. I want to know what you gather and you have to swear to me that you won’t do anything dumb like report this to the police.” He exhaled. “I think we could have a partnership. Apparently you do a better job of tracking him than I do. Could you keep it up? And I can make him answer some questions for you. Maybe it could help seal the deal on your dissertation.”

“You would do that?”

“I would do that if you worked with me. I have some pull with the school. I know you just want to study and I don’t have a problem with it happening.”

“Deal.”

“Perfect, sober your ass up and then leave. The backdoor will be open once I know you aren’t driving drunk from here. The police already just want a reason to close us down.”

“Alright.”

“Talk to you later. I put my number in your phone.”

“It was locked.” I said bluntly.

“You’re right, you should change the code from your birth year. It is highly predictable.” Mark stood up and made his way towards the back area of the apartment.

“How’d you get my birthdate?”

“I can get anything I want. Just worry about what I said. And sober the fuck up.” The door closed from the hallway and I sat down on the couch. I was either all good or fucked. I couldn’t really decide which at the moment.

Chapter Six

Cypress

“So what time are you leaving?” Lana was ready for me to be home. Three months was a while for us to be a part. Not to mention she had that new bundle of joy at home. Our parents were excited, but there was still the fourteen-hour drive ahead and Lucas was the driver for the trip.

“Well, Lucas has to get everything into the car and then we are on our way.” Our first road trip together had me nervous. It would be uninterrupted time with him and there was nowhere for me to hide.

“Perfect, so about an hour. I can sleep and wake up and get breakfast and you should be here right?”

“Perhaps. He said that he just wanted us to hit the road first. He mentioned something about a hotel so maybe we’ll drive a while and then get some rest and be there tomorrow.”

“I like this guy!” Lana cleared her throat. “And please be nice to him the entire way down here.”

“I will.” I sat down on the couch. His loft was always so clean. I bundled in the cover and yawned. “I’ll call you in the morning, okay?”

“Deal, I love you sissy!”

“I love you more Lana!” I tossed my phone to the couch and closed my eyes. I could hear him as he hopped out of the shower.

“Cypress, are you ready?”

“You’re still naked Lucas.” I mumbled.

“I am.” He laughed. “Love, when I’m dressed we walk out the door.”

“I know that babe.” This I had noticed about him. He wanted me to be perfect, but he tended to take his time and be late. It was fine with me though. I could sleep the entire way there. “My sister said that she is excited about us coming.”

“Excited to meet her, you talk about her all the time.” He stepped out of the bathroom half dressed. His perfect hair fell in his face. A smile flickered on his lips as he caught me staring at him. “Keep ogling woman.” He whispered.

“Sorry, but you’re sexy.”

Lucas winked and slid the black sweater over his head. “I’ll run out to the car and warm her up and then we can leave,” His voice was smooth and low. We weren’t sure if the nap, we had taken helped us or made us groggy.

I slipped my boots on as he got the car ready and then grabbed the three blankets for me. It didn’t take him long to run back inside. Mark, his older brother followed behind him. Mark was quiet and opinionated. He rarely spoke to me, but when he did, it was nothing but good and sometimes strong minded conversation. “Hey Mark!”

“Cypress,” He waved. “I hope you two have a good trip.” Mark was a tad bit shorter than Lucas and he dressed completely different. Lucas dressed like every day was casual day, simple t-shirt and some jeans. While Mark wore button down dress jackets and slacks continuously. He fits Shia perfectly as I fit with Lucas. I could care less about what I wore.

“Thanks,” I smirked.

“Don’t forget to make sure the cooks start that new dish on Mondays. I had the meeting with them, but I wasn’t sure if they were actually going to do it.” Lucas handed him a manila folder. “And then make sure that the hostess, doesn’t drain us for overtime. Send her as home at thirty-three hours. She’s killing me.”

“I got it Lucas. Just give me the paperwork and leave.”

“So sweet of you, Mark.” Lucas grumbled.

Thankfully, he listened to Mark and we left for Tennessee soon after.

Lucas

Tennessee was nothing like Colorado. Their mountains were really only foothills. And the weather was dramatically warmer for it to be October. Coming here allowed me to see parts of Cypress that she normally hid from me.

“Do your parents like me?” I’d debated rather I should ask her or not.

“I think they do.” She shrugged as she applied more mascara to her face.

“I hope they do.”

“Calm down. You’ll be fine. Lana likes you and that’s mainly who will be around until dinner.” She smirked and she pointed to the red bricked house with the brown fence that encased the yard. “Wow, mom and dad must have taken off from work to see me.” She beamed.

Ace, now I would meet them in my Pink Floyd shirt and these dull sweat pants. “Are you serious?”

“More than,” she said.

Her parents opened the blue door and walked out of the house. She favored her mother. They shared the same caramel complexion, freckles and even though her mother’s hair was short, it was in a mess of curls. “Your mom is beautiful.” I smiled.
      

“Thank you Lucas.”

I pulled into the driveway. “Your father is a rather tall fellow.” I put it lightly. He stood over her mother by a solid foot and some inches. He had no hair, but he looked friendly enough. “God, I hate meeting them looking like this.”
      
“Breathe.” She opened her door and hopped out of the car. “Mom! Dad!”

Brill. I exhaled and followed behind her. I watched her from a distance. It was easy to tell that she was missed. Her mother rocked with her and her dad kissed her forehead. It was admirable.

Cypress stepped back to me. “Meet my boyfriend, Lucas Elledge.” She smiled. “Luke, this is my mom Terry and my father Nathan.”

“Pleasure.” I nodded. “You have a lovely home.”

“Thank you Lucas.” Her mom shook my hand. “We have heard nothing but good things about you.” She looked me over, her eyes stopped at my tattoos. “You two look tired.”

“Actually, we were going to change here. We thought you two would be at work. We drove in our night clothes.” Cypress followed her mom into the house.

“We wanted to spend the entire day with you.” Nathan said. “And we wanted to take you to get that couch.”

“Yes!” She said. “Where is Lana?”

“On her way.” Nathan added. “You two go get dressed and then we’ll get something to eat and furniture shop.”