August

 

I stare at myself in the foggy mirror and try to tap into my anger. What’s wrong with me? I was supposed to be terrorizing this girl, not ripping off her clothes and dry fucking her in my living room. My cock jolts to life beneath my towel. Earlier, I held her after her two back-to-back orgasms, and then told her to get herself cleaned up. She was quiet as she ran off, her sweatshirt barely covering her red ass.

God, I am so stupid. I shouldn’t have let it go so far.

But she was hurting. And dammit if I didn’t want to ease that pain.

Exiting the bathroom, I find some sweatpants and pull them on. After throwing on a black T-shirt, I walk back into the living room. Pots clang around in the kitchen and it’s a good reminder why I allowed her to even stay here in the first place.

Fuck with her to fuck with him.

I tap into my new resolve as I enter the kitchen. She still wears the same sweatshirt but has changed into some black yoga pants. With her wild fake-red hair piled up on top of her head in a messy bun, she looks completely fucking adorable. All plans to irritate her fly out the window.

“What are you doing?” I demand.

She jumps at my words and shoots me a nasty glare. Fire in her eyes is even more beautiful than the tears in them earlier.

“Earning my keep,” she says grumpily.

I chuckle as I approach. “By trying to kill me?”

“I hardly think a grilled cheese sandwich will kill you,” she bites back.

“Grilled cheese?” I ask with an amused lift of my brow. “What are we, twelve?”

She rolls her eyes at me as she sets the pan on the stove. “Get the butter, gramps.”

“Gramps?” I snort. “You have no idea how far from a gramps I am, little girl.” Lifting the hem of my shirt, I show her my cut abs. I work hard as hell at the building’s gym most mornings to keep this body.

Her brown eyes drag down to my stomach and she licks her bottom lip. I’m grinning triumphantly until she speaks again.

“Is that a gray hair?” she asks as she shoves past me to the fridge.

Jerking my gaze down, I inspect my happy trail and run my thumb through the dark brown hair there. “There’s no fucking gray.”

She laughs, her tone haughty and condescending. “You sure? Maybe you should get your bifocals checked.”

The little girl is poking the bear. Letting my shirt drop, I narrow my eyes at her. She’s no longer teary and sad. Her smile is present and there’s a pep in her step. “Make yourself useful and put on some tunes, grumpy Gramps.”

I walk past her and slap her sore ass, loving the squeal that escapes her. I saunter into the living room to my stereo. Pulling my iPhone from my pocket, I plug it in. Flipping through some songs, I find a Lynyrd Skynyrd album. Old man my ass. As “Tuesday’s Gone” starts playing, I walk back into the kitchen to see her swaying to the music as she butters the bread. I become transfixed on how cute she is. Everything in me says I need to fuck with her so bad she runs home to her daddy and complains. Truth is, though, I just want to fuck with her because it’s fun. Because she gives it right back.

As she works on the grilled cheese, I find some tomato soup in the cabinet and get it started on the stove. For two people who don’t like to cook, we work well side by side in the kitchen. I’ve had to learn from necessity after my wife divorced me. Callie couldn’t survive on takeout alone whenever she’d come see me, so I had to learn to cook some.

Winter sings along and I find myself smiling, amused. Just like the storm that seems to grow worse by the hour outside, Winter blew into my world just yesterday and disrupted everything. And apparently, I’m a fan of the new chaos, because this is the lightest I’ve felt in a long time.

When I look at her, I see a bit of Tony in her, but then all she has to do is open her sassy mouth or smile, and then I’m forgetting who she is. Why she’s here. Why I wanted to mess with her in the first place.

“Are we going to talk about earlier?” I ask as I stir the soup.

She cocks her head at me. “How you whipped my ass as a trade for getting me out of trouble?”

My dick jolts at her words. “And then after…”

“I shouldn’t have kissed you.” She flips the sandwiches and frowns at me. “It was a weak moment. I don’t do weak.”

Her body is stiff as she continues to cook, her eyes back on her task. Tough little Winter Burke had a vulnerable moment and now she’s back to being the ice queen.

“You don’t have to do that around me.” I turn off the soup.

“Do what?”

“Act tough.”

“It’s not an act,” she huffs. She turns off the stove and then shoots a withering glare my way. “I don’t cry. So sorry you had to see that. You won’t see it again.”

“So you’re not going to tell me what upset you?”

She was clearly upset over her father kicking her out, but I want her to elaborate and open up to me.

“You spanked me. It hurt.” She averts her gaze.

I let out a huff of disbelief. “Little liar.”

“Maybe I was humiliated at being naked in front of you.” Her brown eyes snap to mine.

Snorting at her, I shake my head. “Try another lie, sweetheart, because these are shitty so far.”

She presses her lips together and her nostrils flare with anger. Ignoring me, she puts the sandwiches on two plates and slams them loudly on the bar. Her challenging stare meets mine as she pulls a beer from the fridge, just begging me to say no so I’ll argue with her.

“I’m not your daddy, Winter. I may like to spank you, but you won’t find me telling you that you can’t drink.” I prowl over to her, forcing her to back her ass up against the wall. “In fact, I might encourage you. Then, your prissy bitch attitude might go away.” Lifting my hand, I run a finger along the side of her throat. “And who knows? Maybe I’d take advantage of you.”

I take the beer from her. With my eyes on hers, I step away to grab a bottle opener and then pop the cap. I drink a swig and then hand it back to her.

“Drink up,” I urge, a wicked smile curling my lips up.

Her neck flares red like her hair. My cock lurches in my sweatpants in appreciation of the lovely color. She tips back the bottle and swallows. I watch the way her throat moves and imagine my dick shoved deep inside, stretching her pretty little mouth to the limits. There’s no way I can hide my hard-on. When she finishes swallowing her beer, she roams her stare down my front and settles it on my eager cock.

She stares for a beat longer before meeting my eyes with fury blazing in hers. “I’ll never be anyone’s revenge fuck.”

For a moment, I’m stunned. Then, I track the way her hips move as she makes her way over to the bar and sits on a stool. I adjust my aching cock and then grab a beer. This woman is going to make me crazy.

The music in the background is soft, familiar, and relaxing. But the little ball of fire beside me as I eat is bubbling over with barely contained wrath. It amuses me that she deflects with anger. I’d much rather see her mad than upset. At least then, she’s a storm. Oh, what a beautiful storm she is.

We eat without conversation. When we finish, she does the dishes without complaint. I grab another beer and settle on the couch so I can watch the snow falling. It’s coming down heavily and I worry it’ll be a bitch to drive in tomorrow.

“I have to study,” she says as she heads to Callie’s room.

“Study in here.”

She stops at the end of the couch and frowns, her palms on her hips. “What?”

“You’re staying here for free? Well,” I grumble. “I want something in return.”

“Sex?” she asks, her voice shrill.

Yes.

“No.” Lies. I grin at her. “Your company.”

At this, she huffs. “Fine.”

A few minutes later she heads to the chair across from the couch, but I shake my head. “Nope, here.” I pat the cushion beside me.

“Whatever,” she groans.

She sits cross-legged and cracks open a textbook. I skim over what she’s reading and am surprised to find it’s a book called Comparative Government and Politics.

“Is that typical high school curriculum?” I ask.

“Are you going to talk the whole time?” she grumbles.

“Yes,” I tell her honestly.

She laughs. “You’re annoying.”

“It’s the only reason I agreed to let you come here. To annoy you.”

Her smile falls and she regards me with a tender expression. “To get back at him.”

The old familiar sting of what Tony and Jackie did to me isn’t as sharp. I shrug and sip my beer. “Maybe.”

She leans her head against my shoulder. “I’m sorry for what happened.”

“Yeah,” I grunt, my body tensing. “It is what it is. It’s been two years. I’m over it.”

Her head tilts up and her brown eyes bore into mine. “But you’re not. You’re salty as fuck, August.”

“What do you expect?” I snap. “My wife fucked your dad. Ruined our family.”

“If it’s any consolation, I hate her,” she whispers, a flare of anger lighting her eyes.

It is, actually. Having someone to commiserate with feels pretty fucking good. I certainly can’t complain to Callie about her mother.

“I don’t really want to hurt you,” I admit, my attention falling to her pouty lips. “I mean, spanking your ass was fun, but I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

She takes my beer and takes a drink. “So we can be friends?” Her brow arches in question.

Goddamn, she’s too pretty.

“I don’t have many friends,” I grunt. “Friends usually fuck you over.”

Her brows furl together. “Maybe we can be something better than friends.” She winks as she sips my beer again before handing it back. Then, she points to her book. “I’m taking mostly AP classes and some college courses. A scholarship is important to me now that Dad kicked me out. I don’t have any other way to pay for tuition and I’ve worked so hard to get to this point. Getting suspended could have screwed with my scholarship opportunities.”

“What are you going to college for?”

She beams at me, pure happiness in her expression. “I want to study law.”

Both my brows lift. “You do, huh?”

“I want to become a badass attorney like my ‘something better than friend’ new roommate,” she says with a laugh.

“You’d be great at it,” I tell her honestly. “You’re fierce and dedicated. And despite those tears earlier, you’re not weak.”

Her smile falls as she steals my beer again. This time, instead of drinking it, she sits it on the table. Then, she tosses the textbook to the floor with a thump. She sits up on her knees and straddles my lap.

“Take my shirt off, August.” Her intense brown eyes burn into mine.

My cock jolts at her demand and I obey the bossy girl. With teasing movements, I peel away her sweatshirt. No bra. This fucking girl. Dragging my stare down to her tits, I grab a handful of each and admire the way they fit perfectly in my grip.

“You’re beautiful,” I murmur as I lean forward, kissing between her tits.

She gasps, her fingers sliding into my damp hair. “August,” she whimpers.

Looking up at her, I grin. “What is it, red hot Winter? Are you scared?” I taunt.

“Yes,” she admits, her voice a whisper.

I love that her tough girl act gets destroyed in my presence. It makes me feel protective over her. Like I want to shield her from everything the world might try to sling her way.

“You don’t have to be,” I rumble as I move my hand away from one of her breasts and replace it with my mouth. I suck her nipple between my lips and revel in the way she whines with pleasure. My tongue teases the peaked flesh of her nipple as I look up at her. “I’m going to make you feel good.”

Her usually hard eyes shine with trust and admiration that does a shit ton for my ego. She tugs at my shirt, forcing me to pull away long enough for her to rid me of it. Hungrily, I attack her wet nipple with my teeth.

“August!” she cries out, her fingers gripping my hair. “Are we going to have sex?”

I laugh against her tit, with my teeth clamped on her nipple. Pulling away, I love the way she yanks at my hair, crying out in pain. I release her nipple and flip her onto the couch so she’s on her back.

“No, little Winter.” My lips curl up wickedly. “We’re going to fuck. Have you been fucked before?”

She closes her eyes lets out a huff. “I had sex with a guy once…” she trails off.

Grabbing her pants, I start inching them down her thighs. “Once? I want more details, sweetheart. Thinking of you with your legs spread open letting some twerp take your virginity surprisingly gets my dick achingly hard.”

“Why?” she demands, her bottom lip pouting out.

“Because I know the moment I stretch your sweet pussy and make you see stars, you’ll be ruined forever. No other man will ever compare. You’ll be mine and you won’t be able to control it.” I smile devilishly at her as I toss her pants away.

Her sweet, coy smile morphs into a wicked one that could easily rival mine. “Just once,” she says, biting her bottom lip. “I was sixteen. Completely and utterly in love with my best friend’s father. He was going through a bitter divorce and didn’t even look twice at me. So, I found someone like him. Let him take my virginity while I pretended he was someone else.”

Bad girl.

Bad girl who plays bad games better than the big bad wolf.

She parts her thighs and reveals her glistening pussy to me. “He never fulfilled the fantasy. Sometimes, I wonder if that fantasy will ever be fulfilled.”

I run my knuckle along her wet slit, loving the way she shivers. “Oh, sweet Winter,” I croon, probing her tight channel with the tip of my finger. “All those fantasies are about to come true.” My finger slides inside her slick cunt and her back arches. “And they’re going to be better than you could have ever imagined, baby.”