Four

Saxon

Gage sat back on the leather sofa in Liam Walsh’s office, smoking a cigar, smirking at me. He was enjoying this. I had gotten trashed and taken home a stripper who also did adult movies. We’d used condoms, but I was sure as hell getting checked as soon as we got back to Ocala.

“Echo, huh? You gonna see her again?” Gage asked me.

“No,” was my immediate response.

“Did all three of you take one of Liam’s girls to the hotel?” Levi asked as he sat across from me, frowning.

“Kye and Mattia shared one,” I muttered.

That one had talked non-fucking-stop on the ride over here. At least Echo wasn’t that annoying. She’d just kept touching me. I felt like I needed a damn shower.

“Surprised Kye didn’t rope you into his threesome instead of Mattia.” Gage smirked.

“Spanking asses with belts isn’t my thing, and neither is seeing another guy’s dick near the girl I’m trying to fuck.”

There was a lot in my life that had changed over the past six months, but that part was mine to control. I wasn’t letting the family completely transform me.

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Gage drawled. “Not that I want that anymore but every single guy needs to have a taste of it. Just once.”

Levi let out a short laugh. “You’d fucking murder a man if he got his dick near Shiloh.”

Gage took the cigar from his clamped teeth. “I’d murder a man for thinking about Shiloh and his dick in the same sentence.”

“Just not my thing,” I grumbled. My head was still pounding. Why did he have to keep talking?

“Where the fuck is Liam?” Levi asked, standing back up and walking over to the liquor cabinet. “It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, and Aspen is giddy about that shit. I need to get home.”

“Had an issue at one of his clubs in Miami last night. He’s on his way. Besides, Kye isn’t here yet. Left his wallet in the hotel room,” Gage told him. “The women are all cooking and baking. Well, except my woman. She’s just there, looking pretty.”

I dropped my head and rubbed my temples some more. That seemed to be the only relief I could get. I wasn’t touching a drop of alcohol for weeks. This was hell. I should have stuck with a couple of beers.

The door opened, and I lifted my head to see a guy with dreadlocks, covered in tattoos, wearing a leather vest thing—they called it a cut or some shit—walk into the room. Not Liam. Not Kye.

Jesus, I was ready to get this over with so we could leave.

Why couldn’t I have gone with Blaise, Trev, and Huck to fucking Kentucky to buy a horse? I knew more about horses than Trev did. They were already home, and here we were, still dealing with this shit.

“Tex,” Levi greeted the man. I’d heard of him. He was one of Liam’s strong arms.

“Liam said to tell you he was five minutes out. Y’all want me to have the kitchen bring up some food?”

“Sounds good. I’m starving.” Levi was always hungry.

The guy nodded and started to leave when Kye filled the doorway. He nodded at Tex and stepped inside. His gaze swung over to me, and then he grinned.

What the fuck was he up to now? It was his fault I had this headache and had woken up in bed with Echo.

“Funny thing happened,” he said, glancing over in Gage and Levi’s direction before looking back at me. “I went back to my room to get my wallet, but the maid was already there, cleaning my room …” He trailed off, waiting for my reaction.

Fucking hell. Of course he had gone back and seen Haisley there. I had been trying to forget that encounter. I glared at him. There was no point in bringing this up other than to annoy me.

“You were surprised this morning, too, and didn’t even tell us,” Kye added.

“It wasn’t important.” My words came out in a snarl.

Kye crossed his arms over his chest and raised his brows at me. “Really? You spent weeks fucking sulking like a bitch over Haisley Slate, and she showed up at your door in that tight little maid uniform, and it wasn’t important?”

“Haisley was at the hotel?” Levi’s tone made it clear he was pissed.

What the fuck did it matter to him? This wasn’t his business.

“Seems she moved to Gainesville three weeks ago. Her momma had kicked her out. Too many kids in the house. I did a quick check with hotel management before I left to make sure she wasn’t lying. Her story checked out.”

Kye’s immediate defense of her rubbed me the wrong way. The fact that her mom had kicked her out didn’t sit well in my stomach though. Not that I should care. At fucking all.

“You talked to her then? Got all this out of her?” Levi asked him.

Kye nodded. “She was trying to clean up our used condoms off the floor with a clothespin. I made small talk and handled the mess for her.”

I winced. I didn’t care that she had been cleaning up used condoms or that she’d likely seen the ones I’d picked up and tossed in the trash. Didn’t matter. She wasn’t my concern.

“Where is she living?” Levi asked.

Kye shrugged. “I didn’t get stalkerish. Although she is a fucking hot package.”

My chest got tight as I fisted my hands in my lap.

“You should have asked. Seems off to me.” Levi had an angry expression as he glared at Kye.

Was he asking for Aspen? Did she want to know? Why else would he give a shit? I didn’t. Not anymore.

Unable to just sit there, I stood up and walked over to the pool table. I didn’t want to think about Haisley. It was going to mess me up.

She had gotten under my skin, made me feel shit, made me think I was going to get the girl I wanted this time. Then—bam—she shut me out. When I went to her trailer, she wouldn’t come to the door. Her kid brother told me if I didn’t leave, he was calling the cops. She stopped showing up at the hospital. She’d just disappeared.

“After seeing her again and really getting a good look at her, I get why Echo didn’t seem to do anything for you until you were wasted last night. Haisley is fucking prime-A pussy—”

My hand slammed down on the pool table. “SHUT UP!” I shouted. My head felt like it was going to split open.

“That’s enough. We have business to handle,” Levi said.

I didn’t look back at any of them. I couldn’t. It felt like they would be able to see the torment in my eyes. Thinking about her pussy wasn’t something I could handle. I hated Kye for even bringing it up. He was right though. That girl had fucking ruined me, and I despised her for it.

Getting her out of my dreams was the worst part. I couldn’t control my mind when I slept at night.

I couldn’t shut down the memories. Two weeks was all we’d had, but somehow, she’d wrecked me in that amount of time.

Two Months and One Week Ago

My mood soured as I pulled up outside the run-down trailer Haisley lived in.

When I’d brought her home last week, it had been like a fucking punch in the gut to see this was where she lived. I didn’t know her then. Just that she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. I had wanted to take her home with me and away from this.

Five dates later, and that desire was getting stronger. Every damn time I had to leave her here, I hated it.

The door to the trailer opened, and she stepped out, looking like a fucking dream. My distaste for where she lived was forgotten when her eyes met mine and a smile curled her lips.

Silky, long jet-black hair draped over one of her bare shoulders. The orange halter top showed off way too much skin. Smooth, fucking perfect olive skin. My eyes dropped to her stomach before traveling down to the short, faded denim skirt she was wearing. Legs for fucking days, then a pair of black Converse. Damn, she took sexy to a whole new level. The small duffel bag in her hand made me even more ready to get her in this truck.

I stepped out to go open the passenger side for her and take her bag. Opening doors for women was something that I’d been raised to do, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t doing it to touch her and inhale that coconut scent that clung to her. It drove me crazy.

As I stood in front of the door, she made her way to me. My eyes were fucking glued to her every move. When she stopped a few feet from me, I raised my eyebrows.

“You’re gonna have to get closer than that to get in the truck,” I teased her.

Her long, dark lashes lowered as a shy smile touched her lips. She took a few more steps until I could reach out and grab her waist to pull her up against me. Her mouth slightly parted as she let out a small gasp. I was fascinated with her lower lip. It was fuller than the top. I wanted to suck on it like I had last night.

Lowering my head, I ran my nose up her neck and inhaled that sweet scent. Her body shivered. Closing my eyes, I forced myself to stop before I had her pressed up against my truck with my hands all over her, right here for everyone to see. I reached for the bag and took it from her hand.

“Get in the truck,” I whispered against her ear, then stepped back and held her hand as she climbed up.

My eyes devoured her toned legs and round ass until she was settled in the seat. Winking at her, I tossed her bag in the backseat, then closed the door and headed to get back in the driver’s seat.

I turned my head to look at her before backing out of the dirt road that went between the fifteen trailers on this piece of overgrown property.

“You look beautiful,” I told her.

She gently bit that fat bottom lip of hers, and I wanted to groan. I watched, unable to look away while she let it pop free from her perfect white teeth.

“Thank you,” she replied softly.

After dropping her off that first day, I’d asked her out. I’d taken her to ride horses at our stables twice, we’d gone to the movies, we’d gone canoeing, I’d taken her to several of my favorite restaurants—all within seven days’ time. We’d seen each other every day, except yesterday. She’d worked thirteen hours, cleaning houses, and since her mom was working a night shift, she had to go home to cook dinner for her siblings.

We talked on the phone from eleven that night until three this morning. When I’d had to be at the stables at six with only three hours sleep, I still hadn’t regretted it. Hearing her voice was better than nothing.

“I put my swimsuit on under my clothes—that is, if we’re still swimming,” she told me.

My gaze traveled over her again, and the fact that her bikini was strapless had my mind going to places I wasn’t sure she was ready for yet.

“We are,” I replied, shifting my attention back to turning the truck around and pulling back onto the main road.

“I can’t believe you’ve never been to the springs. We’ve got so many around here.” Although I wasn’t taking her to the springs that I used to spend time at. There would be too many people there. I didn’t want to share her, and the idea of her wearing a bikini in front of other guys didn’t sit well with me.

“I don’t typically have fun,” she replied. “This week … with you, has been new for me.”

We had already discussed her lack of a social life, and I got that she had to work to help her family, but, damn, how had some guy not made her a priority yet? I liked knowing I was giving her a break from a life that, so far, sounded like fucking hell. I also loved making her smile.

A pleased expression tugged at my lips, and I tried not to grin like a damn fool, thinking about what I had planned for tonight. It had taken some work, but I’d managed to make it happen. If I could have just asked Blaise to make a call, it would have been simpler, but I wasn’t ready to tell anyone about Haisley. Even if I no longer had to worry about Trev Hughes, my best friend, taking all her attention from me. He might as well be fucking married. Trev’s days of flirting were over. The guy was in love. Which made that threat one I didn’t have to consider. But I still wanted time with just her. No one else. No questions. Nothing.

“Did you decide which springs we are going to?” she asked.

Last night, I’d still been trying to pull this off, so I hadn’t told her where yet. This afternoon, I’d gotten the all clear from a friend of my dad’s who had helped me. Camping at Ocala National Forest wasn’t difficult if you had a reservation. However, I hadn’t wanted to use the regular campground for tonight or the overpopulated springs that closed too early. Getting to put up a tent somewhere, unauthorized, and using smaller, less populated springs after it was closed had taken some work.

“Yes,” was the only answer I gave her.

She laughed. It was a fucking musical sound that I was getting addicted to. “Are you going to tell me?”

I shook my head.

More laughter. “Okay, I guess I’ll have to trust you.”

I glanced over at her. “It’s a little late to be thinking about trusting me. You agreed to go camping overnight with me. If you didn’t trust me, then that would have been a bad decision on your part.”

She shrugged. “Maybe I was foolishly blinded by the way you look.”

This time, I laughed. “The way I look, huh?”

“Don’t act like you aren’t aware of how you look, Saxon. We might not have gone to the same high school, but even girls at my school knew who you were.”

She’d admitted this before, and it had honestly surprised me. I expected everyone to know Trev. He was the son of the wealthiest, most powerful man in the southeast, probably the entire South. But I hadn’t expected her to know who I was.

“I’m thinking that had nothing to do with my looks, but who I was associated with,” I told her.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You know you’re beautiful.”

“Beautiful?”

Those insane violet eyes locked on mine. “Sexy, handsome, gorgeous—pick a word. Whatever description you like best.”

Damn, this girl.

I turned my eyes back to the road. “Exactly how sexy?” I asked, unable to help myself.

“Do you need your ego boosted?” she teased.

I smirked, flicking my gaze back to hers. “No. I just like knowing you think I’m sexy.”

She dropped her gaze and started biting that bottom lip again.

“Haisley.” My voice sounded deeper when I said her name. “Stop biting your lip. All I can think about is how bad I want to suck on it again.”

Releasing it from her teeth, she shot her eyes back up to look at me. The flush on her cheeks told me all I needed to know. She wanted me too.