Inevitable (Stonewood Brothers, #1)

by Shain Rose

“Grow up, perv.” “Name calling now, are we?” His eyebrows raised a little but he kept peering where he wasn’t supposed to.

“Keep my location to yourself and take a picture with me?” he offered, but more people were already turning our way.

He didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything. We moved together. In sync. Connected. When the crowd started closing in, my breathing picked up.

“You know, those people wanted nothing to do with me. It’s your fault they were taking our pictures in the first place, yet you have the audacity to shove me when I’m having a meltdown, nervous they might dig up my past or something. I could have fallen and scraped my hand again!”

My body wanted to lunge for him and rip his clothes off. How ridiculous that just his scent could erase all the panic and make some part of me want him again.

“Yes, baby, it matters.”

“Because I need to know how long it's going to take me to erase every time you were with him from your memory.”

“That’s not what friends do. Friends actually encourage friends to go get some wherever they can so they aren’t drooling over some unattainable...

“This, Sweet Sin, doesn’t feel like we’re friends. This feels like you’re wet for me.”

Jax didn’t do that. He plunged headfirst with me into the sharpest object called oblivion. Then, we’d each swim around in a lust-filled wonder, holding our breath because the second we gulped for air, the toxicity of our past would fill our lungs. He didn’t protect me at all. He let me risk drowning in the heartbreak that would inevitably ensue again.

“He touches you like he knows every sensitive spot on your body.”

Spiraling toward my finish should have been exhilarating. It should have been rewarding. I should have felt satisfied and relaxed. But coming down from it, watching him watch me, seeing his cerulean eyes searching mine as though they lapped up all my secrets, I felt exposed.

“These children don’t have a lot of contact with figures in their lives who stick around though. My mom gave a lot to this home. It took me a long time to understand how much she did and how much I was capable of doing too. I only just started going when she passed away, and they really appreciate us being there every week. I know some would be crushed if we didn’t show. It’s a real commitment.”

“Not a chance. That’s Whitfield-ingrained manners.” My hands went to my hips too. “Hey, that’s rude!” “That’s true, bitch,” Katie retorted.

“She’s committed to annoying both of us.” Katie shrugged like she didn’t care. “She can be committed to the little minions too.”

“Well, Jasmine likes the color pink, so she will probably like you and your shirt. If you don’t yell at everyone, they will probably like you too.”

“You assume I have a choice in keeping away from her too? She and I have never had a choice. We’re drawn to each other whether we like it or not.”

“I’m tired, Jax. So, if you don’t have anything important to say …”

“Beg me to fuck you, baby. I’ll make sure you get off here and in Roman’s bed over and over again.”

“Jax, how can you possibly think I am being the difficult one right now? You literally have an empty bed and a willing woman to fuck you. Yet, you want to trek all the way back to your house?” His whole body tightened at my words. “Just a ‘willing woman to fuck,’ huh? That all it is to you?”

“You fuck Roman in that bed.” He pointed toward the bedroom furiously. “You’ve probably fucked him all through this goddamn place.”

“I might blow your mind in his kitchen and mark you where he touched you,”—he slid his hand over my neck—“and I damn sure will make you forget every moment you thought he got you off. But when I take you again, it will be in my bed, on my terms, and without him giving us permission to work it out.”

“My bed is coming. Until then, stay the fuck out of his.”

I trudged back to my apartment so tired of following rules and fitting myself into the stupid box I imagined my father must have somehow psychologically built for me.

“Have you ever watched the way he stares at people. Like he’s reading them, calculating them. It’s fucking creepy.”

“That’s the thing. I think he meets me toe-to-toe on purpose. He lets me snap at him, but never really takes the bait. I see him testing me, making sure I’m still ready to bite his head off because of what he did to you, and he likes it.”

“It sounds stupid, I know, which is why I’ll never repeat this, but I know I’m right. He’s testing me to make sure I’m being your best friend and busting his balls still. And it kinda makes me not hate him.”

“I still think you should boot his ass out of your life but …”

“Maybe you should boot him after you give him a shot to make it right.”

“No. You don’t know. You’re stronger than you think, girl. I don’t doubt that you can handle it. I know you can. I doubt that you can walk away without caring. You can’t detach from your emotions like that. Most people can’t.”

“Brey, you can’t learn that. I’m detached because it’s all I’ve ever known. It’s also what I want. My detachment is my survival. Your love is yours. You love. I don’t. And it’s okay to love. It’s why we balance each other so well.”

“You only got to where you are because you loved your momma so much. You and your dad would have killed each other much earlier if it hadn’t been for that love. When she passed, you shifted your love to the Stonewoods. Now, you love all of us.”

I’m a fucking genius psychologist when I’ve had enough whiskey.”

“I wanted to fuck you in my fuck-buddy’s apartment and then proceeded to spend the night drinking the liquor my homicidal father used to drink. You would be surprised with my lack of rules, L.P.”

“What? You want to ask him about it next time you visit? I’m surprised you’ve never discussed with him the alcohol he used to get so drunk on. God, the way it just sits on your tongue and in the air like stagnant filth …”

“You and I aren't meant to be anywhere near each other. We can’t be friends, and we can’t work through whatever is between us. No one is supposed to go through what we did and then be able to live in sync with each other, especially when you add my father, the arsonist, to the mix.”

“Because this is one thing I need to do for you, Peaches. You don’t control it and you don’t meddle in it. I want you out of it until it’s done.”

“I asked him what you visited him for. And you know what he did? He laughed. He laughed so hard, I almost hung up right then. But I asked again, hoping he’d tell me. Can you believe that? I saw hope in the person I hate most in this world because the person I loved the most had left me with no hope at all.”

“I've said it to you before, and I'll say it again. As a businessman, I have always kept my enemies close enough to know their game. That's all I got for advice, baby girl.”

Aubrey: What exactly are you talking about, Jax? Winner: I got a response. So, you're interested. I never label shit between me and you. So, let's just start with you telling me where you are and what you're wearing.

“Spread your legs and feel how wet you are. Rub back and forth just like I would for you, baby.”

“I want to be around you, next to you, touching you, in you,” he breathed. “It feel like I'm making a moment for you yet?”

“That's okay, Peaches. The next time we do this, I’ll make sure you answer every question.” He stopped for a second and then growled, “I'll make you beg for it, and believe me, you'll like it.”

“Keep it moving. Almost there. You need to unravel tonight, baby, just let it take you. Feel me with you.”

“You felt me with you, Sweet Sin. Next time, I sure as fuck will be.”

“If I’m not cut out for it, then why are you wasting your time on me? You want me to do the assignment again? I’m happy to. This exchange though, is a waste of my and the class’s time. And, quite frankly, we’re your clients at the moment.”

“You’re right. You’re my client. You pay to go to school, and you pay to be in my class. I get carried away because I want all of you to actually get something from the transaction. You pay me, and I give you the knowledge to survive in the investment world.”

“Ask me and say please, Sweet Sin.”

“Why can't you admit it, Whitfield? I make you the kind of crazy you want to be.” “You make me crazy, that's for sure.”

“Nice party trick. They all that scared of you?” “Whitfield, it's respect, not fear.”