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MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 17
MY MOM STICKS HER HEAD in the door to my room. I can see her through a crack in my covers. “Teagan’s here, sweetie. She brought you lunch.”I close the crack made by my bedspread so I can’t see her happy face anymore. “Tell her I have ebola virus and to stay away.”I hear some whispering that includes Teagan’s voice. The door to my bedroom shuts.“Get up, you skanky ho. I have Taco Bell,” she says.I peek out of my covers. I have always been unable to resist the siren song of The Bell, and she knows it. I’d pretty much dive into a pool full of oh-my- god-those-are-not-Baby-Ruths for home-delivered Taco Bell. Dammit. Teagan has brought out the big guns.The fact that she barely has any money to her name tells me how far she’s willing to go for me right now. I resign myself to the fact that I have to respect that kind of dedication and eat every crumb of whatever she’s brought me.That’s what friends do for friends. I will just have to sacrifice. “What kind of Taco Bell?” I say.“Do you
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 18
WE’RE STROLLING UP THE SIDEWALK that leads into the health clinic to retrieve the no-baby pills when a familiar face comes walking out in the other direction.“Alissa, hey!” I say, fully expecting her to smile politely like she always does and greet me back. We were never really close friends or anything, but the two of us having the same major and her living in Teagan’s dorm had us crossing paths a lot over the last few years. She’s a lot more serious about life then either Teagan or I am, but that doesn’t stop her from always being polite.She’s a good girl like that.Alissa looks up at me, her eyes bloodshot and red-rimmed. Her gaze drops to the sidewalk and she makes as if to go right by Teagan and me without a word. It’s then that I notice her belly.“Alissa?” I grab her by the arm as she’s about to walk past me like I’m a stranger with a bad haircut.“Don’t,” she says, pulling away slightly as she keeps on going. I stand there with my mouth hanging open as she walks away.“What
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 19
TEAGAN’S ON THE PHONE WITH Rebel and I’m driving Alissa’s Toyota. She’s asleep in the backseat. Apparently, being carjacked is exhausting work for a pregnant person. I keep checking her in the rearview mirror to be sure she’s still breathing. So far, so good.Teagan hangs up her phone and drops it into her purse.“What’d he say?” I ask, glancing at her before going back to looking out the windshield.“He says she can stay with us until we figure something out.”I grin. “Sweetness. Now we just need to figure out how I can wrangle a spot in the apartment for myself and we can live together as one big happy family.”Teagan is looking at me, but I just keep my eyes on the road. I don’t want her making me get all gooey.“You don’t mean that,” she says.“Nah.” I play it off. “I’m cool with the ‘rents. Who’s going to keep Jersey off the cat turds if I move out?”“He’d be fine without you,” Teagan says, censure in her voice. “He’s not your responsibility.”“Anyway, what is the plan for her?”
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I DON’T KNOW WHY I expect my life to be easy peasy. Nothing ever goes as planned.“Who’s this?” Mick asks as I walk into the family room with Alissa next tome.Arranging my face to look as cool as possible, I gesture to the couch. “Goahead and have a seat, Alissa. Rebel and Teagan will be right up.” She looks at Mick with a tiny smile and then follows my orders.“Mick, this is Alissa. Alissa, this is Mick. He’s Rebel’s brother.” Mick walks over and holds out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”“You too,” she says, giving him what looks like a very limp handshake. “Can I get you a drink of water or something?” he asks.“Sure,” she says. “That would be nice, thank you.”He turns towards the kitchen and frowns at me when he’s no longer facing Alissa. “Can I talk to you for a sec’, Quin?”I shrug. “Sure.” Alissa’s already been through enough crap for one day. I don’t want to make a scene in front of her by arguing with Mick, so I follow him. Besides, I still need to apologize about twenty times
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TEAGAN IS ON SPEAKER-PHONE as I put on my makeup in my bedroom mirror.“So, what did you guys finally decide to do with Alissa?” I ask, putting on my eyeliner. I’m going with the smokey-eye look tonight. I figure since this will probably be our one and only date, I might as well play it up right. Mick is going to be speechless with lust. I wonder if I’m going to leave him hanging or indulge a little. Talking about Alissa kind of makes me lean in favor of not.“She’s going to stay here until further notice. She doesn’t want to talk much, though, so it’s kind of frustrating.”“What do you mean she doesn’t want to talk much?” I smudge the liner under my right eye. Perfection. I grin all vixen-like at my reflection. Mick is so going down.“She won’t say anything about the father or what his reaction is to the whole thing, so I have no idea if he’s even in the picture or knows what’s going on. And she says very little about her parents, other than they’re ultra religious and she’s now cons
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 22
COLIN IS DRIVING IN A direction I’m not familiar with.“So what’s the deal? What was so important at work that Mick couldn’t pick me up?”“Car has to be delivered tonight. Last minute thing.” Colin seems distracted. He’s focusing really hard on the road which makes me suspicious. He’s usually way more interested in charming pants off, or at least trying to.I take my phone out of my purse and stare at the screen. No messages. Wouldn’t Mick have texted me if he were going to be late? I look over at his brother. I guess not. Maybe Mick is one of those anti-technology people, so he used old-fashioned personal interaction to send his message.“When will he be done?” I ask. “Soon. Probably real soon.”I remain silent for a few more minutes as Colin navigates the streets. It’s just too weird to be in a car with him driving and me not knowing our destination, so I can’t keep my mouth shut for long. “Where are we going exactly?”“You’ll see.”My phone buzzes in my hand and I turn it over to l
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 23
“COLIN!” AN OLDER WOMAN SAYS in a very smokey voice. She’s just on the border of sounding like a frog; one thousand more cigarettes and she’ll be there. “So nice of you to come. Please, please, come in and meet our guests.”My jaw drops open as I take in the scene around me. All I can think is, Damn, good thing I did the smokey eye look tonight. Every single person in the art gallery is wearing black … every single person except Colin and me, that is. He’s in jeans and a t-shirt and I’m in my red top and bedazzled blue shorts that cost me a chunk of babysitting change. I would fit in perfectly at a date consisting of dinner and a movie with a hot mechanic. Here, I look like the cleaning crew. I sigh, knowing I either need to slink around in the shadows or just own this thing. I decide on the latter and raise my chin just a fraction of an inch.The cigarette lady smiles at me indulgently. “And who is your friend?” “This is Quin. She’s my brother’s girl and my biggest fan.”I’m too shoc
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 24
MICK WALKS IN, HIS EASY glide unmistakable for the warning it carries. He’s on a mission. He looks right at me and freezes for a few seconds, his jaw muscle twitching and his expression going cold. It makes me want to disappear. Where is Jersey’s damn magic cape or spell or whatever it is that makes him invisible when I need it, anyway?“Is he here?” Mick asks, talking to the Rebel, his eyes scanning the space for his brother.“Yeah. Just relax.” Rebel shifts Teagan gently over to his left, freeing up the other side of his body where Mick is standing.Teagan puts her hand on Rebel’s arm. “You’re not going to fight in here, are you?”He shakes his head.I can see why Teagan is so gah-gah over him. He really does look like her long-time crush, Dolph Lundgren, and he’s totally taken control of the situation without even doing anything yet.“Colin!” Mick yells out into the room, making me immediately question my assessment of who’s actually calling the shots in his family unit. Usually Re
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MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 51
I SPEND AN HOUR TRYING to cook up excellent break-up scenes in my mind but nothing is working. Every scenario ends with me having a broken heart and Mick being an ice-cold d-bag. I can’t stand not knowing what’s happening to my life as it unfolds behind my back.It only takes me thirty minutes to get dressed and made up, ready to break some hearts on the dance floor. I hate games. Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat.My dad is dead asleep, exhausted from taking care of my mom and Jersey, so I leave a note on the kitchen counter in the house we’re renting and take off. I’m at the club in less than a half hour, walking through the door like I own the place. That’s right, y’all. I got my butt lifters on. Gravity cannot touch my jiggly parts tonight.The beat is familiar. This DJ Twatmonster or whatever her name is sucks.She just plays the same crap over and over and hopes nobody notices. Well, guess what cooter-breath! I noticed!I scan the dance floor, the bar, and the empty DJ booth, but
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 50
I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE knocked on some wood earlier today when I was thinking Mick was all perfect and awesome and totally in love with me. Yeah, right. I am such a fucking idiot sometimes.It’s eleven o’clock at night and he’s AWOL. He hasn’t returned any of my calls, and a quick trip over to Rebel Wheels reveals that he’s not at work either. Jersey asked for him all night and no amount of reassurances on my part that he’d show up would satisfy him. After he had about two hours’ worth of fits, he finally fell asleep exhausted and in pain. I’m ready to kick some major boyfriend ass.I tried for hours to keep Teagan out of my mess, but I can’t stand it any longer. I call her number and tap my foot while I wait for her to pick up.“Yo, ho. What up?”“Nothing. Do you know where Mick is?”“Wow, abrupt. Um, no, I don’t know where he is. He’s not with you?” “No. I expected him all night, but apparently he was too busy.”“Oh.”I wait for the rest, but there is no rest. “Well?” I say, annoyed.
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 49
MICK AND I ARE HOLDING hands under the conference table at the lawyer’s office. Teagan is on my other side, holding my other hand. Rebel is at work, unable to get away from the huge workload that was made worse by our road trip and then Mick’s subsequent focus on me and my family. A lot has happened in a week, not the least of which is this head-to-head with the lawyers.“So tell us exactly what this so-called secretary said to you.” The young lawyer speaking to Mick looks very happy but the older one, not so much.“She said a lot of things, but mainly that Teagan’s dad was fine up until the last couple months before he died and then he just kind of went downhill fast.”“Downhill in what way?” the lawyer asks. Teagan squeezes my hand hard.Mick responds. “Getting absent-minded. Nauseated. Sweaty. Disoriented.Chest pains.”“Sounds like heart attack symptoms,” says the older lawyer.“Not really. It went on for weeks, not just days. But that’s not the worst part.” Mick looks at Teagan,
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 48
THE MUFFLED CLICKS OF MY heels on the hospital hallway floor keep time with my rapidly beating heart. I can see the room where my brother is being kept, up ahead. I’m going to see him first because he’s in worse shape than my mom and because I know he’ll be scared. We’re in the burn ward, dressed in gowns, masks, gloves and shoe covers. I feel like I have cotton stuck in my ears the way all the sharp edges have been taken off the sounds in this place. Mick is beside me, holding my hand, just like he has been since we buckled our seatbelts on the airplane.I reach the doorway and stop, dropping Mick’s hand and taking a deep breath. I can’t let Jersey see me freaking out.“It’s going to be fine, babe. Just relax.” Mick is rubbing my arm. “Want me to come in or stay out?”“Stay here first. I’ll come get you in a minute.” I can’t breathe. I’m starting to hyperventilate. The hallway is spinning.“Babe. Get a grip.” Mick is shaking me by the upper arms. “Jersey is going to be upset if he se
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 47
WE’RE IN THE CAR HEADED back south and I can’t stand that Mick is on the other side of the car as me. I’m trying really hard to play it cool, but I can’t help but sneak glance after glance at him. He’s dead gorgeous and I’m completely infatuated with him.Maybe I’m wrong or just dreaming, but he seems to be suffering the same sickness as I am. He catches me looking at him about twenty times, but only because he’s doing the same thing. If the goofy grin on his face looks anything like the one I think I’m wearing, there’s no way we’re fooling anyone.“So what’s the deal?” Colin asks. “What did you find out last night?”I blink a few times, getting all that sexy stuff out of my head so we can focus.“Well … a couple of those girls worked in places that didn’t really have a whole lot of contact with Teagan’s dad. But one of them was his assistant, so that was good.”I grab his arm and squeeze it. “What? Are you serious?”“Yeah, I’m serious.” His shit-eating grin is enough to send me throu
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 46
I’M NOT SURE IF WE slept. Maybe I caught a few winks here and there, cuddled up in Mick’s strong arms with my head on his chest, but when I see a few rays of sun coming through the window, I know it’s time to get going.Colin and Alissa are going to be getting up soon and they’re going to come over here and bang on the door and expect to see two messy beds. I don’t want to ride back in that car for seven hours with them knowing what we did. Talk about awko taco.I’m too vulnerable right now to deal with teasing or conversation about it. I need to know exactly where Mick’s head is first. I don’t want to be the only one mooning over our love affair, as brief as it might be. I’m not a total amateur at this stuff. Just because we fit together like puzzle pieces, it doesn’t mean we’re suddenly in a relationship. As much as I might want that to happen, it takes two to tango, and I don’t know if Mick ever does anything but the bump and grind on that dance floor.I get up in all my naked glor
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 45
I’M SQUEALING WITH LAUGHTER FOR about three seconds before his mouth is on mine and the sound is cut off. I downshift right into moaning, growling, and basically going nuts. And I’m not the only one, either. We’re rolling all over the bed, shoes and clothes are flying off, and both of us are battling to feel as much of each other’s lips and tongues as possible.“You are so beautiful,” he says, his words coming out with big puffs of air onto my mouth and face.A niggling of doubt enters my mind and I stop moving. I hold him a little away from me. “Are you sure it’s me you’re talking about?”He pauses and frowns in confusion. “Yeah, I’m sure. Why’d you ask that?”“Because … I’m worried you’ve got your beer goggles on and that they were fogged up by about ten office chicks who were rubbing their hooters all over you in the club.”“Pffft. Right. None of those girls can even touch you. Not even close.And I’m not drunk. I know exactly what I’m doing.” He leans in and kisses my neck, lickin
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 44
BY THE TIME MICK STUMBLES out of the club, I’m the only one still awake. Or I’m the only one not fake-sleeping, anyway. Alissa is snoring so loud I find it hard to believe Colin is really as dead to the world as he appears.Mick comes up to my window as I pretend to not notice he’s there. “Hey,” he says against the glass, fogging it up a little. “Can I come in?” “What’s the password?” I say. I’m annoyed that he’s so happy. Shouldn’the feel dirty selling his body for secrets like he has?He looks up nervously at the door to the club. “Uh, hurry up and let me in before those chicks come looking for me.”I have two ways I can go here. I can leave him out there to sweat all those boobies, or I can let him in and take him away. He looks at me with those darkly shaded green eyes of his and then his body kind of leans forward a little and his tattoo flashes at me from under his sleeve.I grab the handle of the door. Screw making him feel bad for doing what I asked him to do. He needs to
MISCHIEVOUS: a new adult romance 43
I’M HALFWAY OUT OF THE stall on my belly, feeling like a total dirty toilet- snake slithering around, when the bathroom door opens and the loud sounds of the crowd and the music come blasting in.I look up at an amazonian woman wearing heels and jeans standing not very far from my face. She looks familiar, and I’m pretty sure it’s because she’s a supermodel who dates George Clooney.“Uhhh …” I try to play off the fact that I’m wallowing in strip club toilet stink at her feet. “Heh, heh. Hi.”She lifts an eyebrow and stares at me. I’m immediately impressed with her skills. And I thought I was awesome at speaking without talking. She’s like an eyebrow ninja or something. I wonder if they taught her that in supermodel school.“Do you need some help?” she asks, coming a step closer.“Yeah,” I say, pressing my palms into the floor. I’m going to sterilize them with fire later. “The lock broke while I was inside.”She bends in half and puts her hand down where I can reach it.I cringe. “I’m
