Always You (2 page)

“No, Cali. I got this. You’re making my food as it is, but thanks anyway.” I reached up in the cupboard and pulled out what he needed. I involuntarily took in a deep breath, inhaling his scent when he caught me. He gave me a look and swallowed hard. Shit. I must have looked like a pathetic young school girl.

“Sorry, I love the smell of fresh coffee. I don’t drink it, but I love when it’s first brewing.”

“Okay.” I didn’t think he bought it, but he took a seat quietly at the table just as Rob walked in. After that, the conversation took a turn toward business after they graduated. I excused myself to work on my homework somewhere else.

~~~~

Damn, the day wasn’t getting any easier. I tried to avoid talking to her this morning. After catching her taking in my scent, I needed to sit before she spotted how hard she made me. It would have been fantastic that she was interested, but it was two years too early. Rob’s entrance was perfect timing. We started talking about my plans to join my father at his corporation in Dallas. I was happily following in my dad’s footsteps. Being in Dallas may be a great thing. I needed space from this sudden fascination with the little blonde beauty.

Rob and I were going to a Mavericks game that night. We were just about to walk out when Cali came bouncing down the stairs. “Where are you going?” Rob asked her in irritation. I wanted to ask the same thing. She was dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a super tight top that emphasized her breasts, which were huge. I had to bite back a groan. So damn sexy.

“I’m going to hang with a couple of friends tonight. We’re going to see a movie,” she said with a snotty, mind your business tone.

“Does Mom know?” Rob asked again, seeing what I was seeing. She looked like she was going to more than a movie—more like sneaking out to a club.

She rolled her eyes at Rob. “Duh. Seriously Rob. This isn’t, like, the first time I’ve gone out.”

“Just be careful.” I heard the concern in his voice, but he didn’t try to take her with us. I should have suggested it; I wanted to suggest it. Even though it would put me in more danger of falling for her, it was better than her going somewhere I couldn’t supervise. Just because I couldn’t fuck her doesn’t mean she couldn’t be having sex with someone her own age. I wanted to smash my head against the wall for my obsession.

“I will. Have fun boys.” She rushed passed us out the door to a red sports car and a tall man waiting for her. She gave him a super tight hug before he opened the door for her. There was a girl in the back, but Cali had shotgun. I thought that was weird, unless he was her boyfriend. I wasn’t liking that one bit. Cali should be coming with us.

“Who the hell is that?” I snarled, hating how jealous I was feeling, but it was unstoppable. I felt like running out there and knocking that smug looking motherfucker on his ass.

“That’s her best friend’s brother. He usually takes the girls out. Lydia is sitting in the back seat as usual.” He acted like it was no biggie, but if I had a little sister, I wouldn’t be letting her go out with an older jackass in a lame ass sports car. That just screamed predator to me. I didn’t have room to talk, but that didn’t mean I was going to run off with her. Now, when her birthday came, I’d make her mine. Until then…

"And you're going to let her go out with him?" I was seething with anger. Rob was supposed to be her protector and my best friend. She was mine. If I could only stake my claim, then she’d be sitting next to us at the game getting treated like an untouchable princess.

"Are you jealous?" Rob asked laughingly. This shit wasn’t funny.

"He's too old for her,” I grumbled as I watched the car pull out into the street.

"Yeah, and I warned him, too. He’s showed interest, but knows my parents won't even consider it until she's legal. I don’t want her with him, so don’t worry. I’ll put a good word in sometime in the next two years." He smirked again.

So he was one of the masses when it came to Calista. She had a following that I was going to have to monitor. There wasn’t anyone that was going to stop me in two years, but until then she could meet someone her own age. "How many more are there?"

He laughed at me. "At least two. You've got a lot of competition." He slung his arm around my shoulders, still chuckling. I pushed it off and we walked to my car. I didn’t drive a flashy sports car because I wasn’t that kind of guy.

He thought this was funny, but I sure as fuck didn't. Two years was a long time, but one day she'd be mine.

After we got back from the game, she still wasn't back. I waited up, bullshitting about the game with Rob and his dad. It was an hour later when I was told that she was spending the night. I drank a beer, then went to bed really fucking pissed off.

~~~~~

When I woke up in the morning she still wasn't home, but then again it was only seven. Needing to clear my head, I went for a run. I didn't give a shit that the skies opened up and unleashed a torrential pour on me. I ran and ran, hoping the burning in my lungs would stop the thoughts of her being in the same house with another man. I wondered if they had a secret relationship.

By the time I got back to Rob's, she was back. I wanted to tear her a new one for not coming back last night but I had no right. And, damn it, she looked great this morning.

"Oh my gosh! You're soaked. What the hell were you doing running in the monsoon out there?"

"Trying to clear my head. Excuse me."

I walked past her, jealous and angry.

I had to take a hot shower so I didn’t catch a damn cold, when I really needed a cold one. That run only served to make me more possessive. I wanted to set some ground rules for the next two years, but I didn’t have any damn right.

I stepped out of the bathroom barefooted with a pair of gym shorts and tee shirt, towel drying my hair. Needing to pass her room to get to mine, I noticed her door was closed, but I could hear sounds coming from it.

Rob took his mom grocery shopping and her dad was at work. It was just me and her in the house alone. It wasn’t a smart move on their part, and I wasn’t sure I could handle being alone with her. The smart thing would be to run to my room and lock myself in until they came back. I wasn’t smart, it seemed.

She let out a loud cry and I could have sworn I heard my name. I rushed into the room thinking something happened. There she was laying on her bed, her eyes wide with her hand between her thighs. She was looking at me in full embarrassment. Her face was flush. Was it because she got caught or was that the way she looked when she came, chanting my name?

“Sorry. Fucking shit.” I walked the fuck out of the room before she could freak out.

“I…I…” I heard her stutter.

I got to my room as fast as I could, breathing harshly. My dick was about to fucking explode. She was fucking playing with her pussy while thinking of me. I pulled down my shorts, my cock stiff and thick. I was about to cum just thinking about her sweet little mound hidden under her tee shirt. I took my length in hand, giving it a few strokes. It wasn’t long before I came hard. Shame filled me up, and I refused to speak to her the rest of the day.

~~~~~

“Alex, can we talk about yesterday?” she asked meekly the next morning.

“I’d rather not.” My tone was harsh, but I didn’t want to talk about how beautiful she was when she came to visions of me.

“It’s just…”

I made her feel bad and I didn’t want that. It wasn’t her fault that I was too old for her. “Listen, I shouldn’t have rushed in there like that. We all do that. There’s nothing wrong with it,” I offered.

“So why are you avoiding me?” That was a good question.

“I thought you were feeling embarrassed about it. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable,” I lied. I was trying not to sneak into her room and commit a crime.

“Can we pretend you didn’t see me?”

“Definitely.” I answered too quickly and she took my meaning the wrong way. It was better that way, though, but I didn’t like the sad look in her eyes.

“Are you two ready to watch the Mavs play the Heat?” Rob asked interrupting us, something about it told me he didn’t like me talking to her alone. This would be the last private conversation I would have with her during my stay.

The rest of my time at her house only made me fall deeper into her spell. My heart was like a fly teased and taunted into her spider's web. I knew by the end of the week I was in love and thoroughly fucked.

I was back again. Almost every weekend since Rob and I graduated, I visited him at his parent's house. I worked at Richmond Holdings in Dallas, just an hour away from Cali, but it was still too close. I was a glutton for punishment. Her body, smile, and laugh had me at the balls. Her brain and her tastes in everything had my soul. I was hers, but she still couldn't be mine.

All summer long she tormented me with her short shorts and super fucking tight tops. Part of me knew that she liked the attention I gave her, but she was young and at that age when attention was something girls craved. One afternoon, she was tapping her leg and it was getting irritating because it made me focus on her bared legs, so I grabbed her thigh and asked her to stop. It was a big mistake. Our eyes met and the pleasure from touching rushed to my nuts. I left ten minutes later and refused to go back for a couple of weeks. It felt like the longest two weeks of my life, but I needed the distance.

One day after work, I had a heart to heart with my father. “So son, are you and Rob like a thing?”

“A thing? What?” I wanted to laugh at his question, but except for the few that knew that I was there for Cali, they all assumed the same.

“You know. I’m trying not to judge, but you visit him every weekend.”

“No…God no. It’s definitely not like that. Besides, I don’t go there every weekend, but I have to admit I do go there for a reason. A reason that could get me into a world of trouble, but I can’t stop myself.”

“Not drugs, please.”

I shook my head. “Oh, she is a drug alright, but not the way you’re thinking. I’m obsessed with Calista Delaney, Rob’s younger sister.” I felt relief, letting it off my chest.

“Does Rob think you’re not good for her?” My dad didn’t know how young she was, and seemed pissed. I was everything a father or brother would want in a boyfriend for their girl. 

“It’s not that. She’s too young. Dad, she’s sixteen.” I watched the expression changed from anger to worry.

“Don’t freak out. I know she’s not old enough to be with me. I’ve decided to wait for her to reach eighteen, then the gloves are off.”

“It’s that bad?”

“It’s like breathing is getting harder to do without her nearby. When I get there and she’s out, I’m irrationally jealous. It is…I never thought I would lose my mind over a woman, let alone one who is too young to even consider for anything more than a conversation.”

“Falling in love happens to the best of us.”

“Yeah, but why couldn’t I have fallen in love with her two years from now.”

“I don’t know. Maybe you needed to enter her life at this time.”

“You’re sounding wise, old man.” I laughed.

“Yes, that’s me. You must call me Jedi Master Xander.” We loved Star Wars and watched them annually as a family.

“I don’t want to know what Mom calls you in private.” He just cracked up laughing. Then my mother walked by. I felt awkward because I thought she was out shopping.

She poked her head into the room, and said with a straight face, “Actually, he makes me just call him Master.” I almost threw up in my mouth, while she sauntered away from the room.

“That’s what I get.”

“Yes, but I think I have a solution to your little miss issue.” I didn’t like the look he was sporting.

“Yeah, like you can speed up time?” I joked, wishing it was possible.

“No, but I can keep you out of trouble. You can take the job in Milan.”

“The one managing the building and set up of the hotel?”

“Exactly”

“I don’t know. That’s a big decision. Can I handle being far away from her? How long will the project take?”

“If everything goes as planned, less than two years.”

“Damn. I’m going to talk to Rob about protecting her better before I give you an answer.”

“It may be the best thing, Alex. Just consider it.” He was right. Being around her or waiting to see her was becoming harder and harder to do.

“Okay. Thanks, Dad.”

My father gave me an opportunity to prove myself to the world as a brilliant business man and not just a rich boy riding my father's coattails. It was a decision that would take me away from her.  I didn't know if I could do it, but after what happened I knew it was necessary for both of us. After having a talk with Rob, my decision was set in stone. I was going to miss the fuck out of her, but it was for the best.

~~~~~

It’s been a magnificent summer so far. Alex spent his summer after his graduation visiting us as often as his work would allow. He worked for his father up in Dallas, but he came to Irving most weekends. I was starting to think he came for me, but one day he made it clear I wasn’t the one he’d come to see.

I was just about to enter the room when I heard him tell my brother Rob, “Man, what’s up with your sister? She doesn’t dress like her age. She does know that invites unwanted attention, right?”

“I know. I’ve told her about that shit several times already, but it goes in one ear and out the other.”

“Well, I find it…gross.” I felt my heart falling to pieces onto the floor, the sound was deafening. I closed my eyes to stop the tears I felt caress the rim of my eyelids. Fuck him. I was gross. Was it because I wasn’t a size zero like the girls Rob brings around? My curves caught men’s attention, so I knew I wasn’t disgusting. I thought we had something going on. He seemed like he was at least a friend.

I did an about face, then practically ran to my bedroom. I let the tears fall that I hadn’t shed before while I stripped the stupid outfit off. Time to shake Alex off my body.  My crush was over. Once I got myself together, I walked downstairs dressed in joggers and a tee shirt and a towel in my hair. There was no point in looking good in front of him anymore. All that effort and skimpy shit was a waste of time.

“Hey guys, where’s mom and dad?” I asked my brother, avoiding making eye contact with Alex.

“They went out on a date. You’re stuck with us tonight,” Rob said with a shrug.

“Actually, I’m not feeling company, so I’m going to my room.” I returned his shrug with one of my own.

“I’m leaving for Italy tomorrow,” Alex piped up, jumping from his seat on the sofa.

“Good for you. Have fun,” I said with a steady voice I didn’t know I had.

“It’ll be for business for two years,” he added, like us not seeing each other was supposed to mean something.

“Good for you. Make money.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Rob asked me.

“Nothing’s wrong with me. I think I’m just fine. I can’t wait for you to leave. I wouldn’t want you getting grossed out by me anymore.”

“Cali,” he called out to me. I hated hearing him say my name. It was tainted now.

“Don’t Cali me. Only friends call me that, and you sure as hell aren’t one.” I pressed my finger into his chest angrily. “Have a safe trip, Mr. Richmond.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not sorry. You’re just sorry I heard. Goodbye.” It was my last words to him for the next two years.