Page 20 of Sac-rifice (RBMC: Cleveland, Ohio Chapter #7)

EXCUSES WE TELL

SAC

Past

“D ude, look at this one!” Isaac said a little too loudly, sitting up while gripping the pages of the porn magazine he stole from Davey’s stash.

He gawked at this month’s centerfold, holding it out to pass it to me, and I waved him off.

“Suit yourself. Your loss.” He turned the page and settled back onto his pillow, oohing and ahing every once in a while when someone caught his attention.

I’d always had a hard time handling another guy’s porn mags, mostly because I was a guy.

Guys knew guys. If you put a naked woman in front of anyone with a working cock, things were bound to get messy.

Full pun intended. With that in mind, I wasn’t excited to flip through the pages of an old magazine that belonged to someone else.

I wasn’t hard up enough to casually thumb through the pages that may or may not have old jizz on them.

Add that on top of the unhinged urge I had to put an end to the very person who Isaac stole it from, and I had no interest at all.

“This one looks like the chick you have a crush on,” Isaac casually announced, peering at me over the magazine briefly.

My heart skipped a beat, and my mouth was suddenly the driest it had been my entire life.

Did Cor tell him what happened between us?

I didn’t think she had, seeing as Isaac was still speaking to me and I was currently spending the night with him. I needed to play it cool, just in case.

He flipped the pages around for me to inspect, and I shifted my gaze and zeroed onto the face staring at me from the second page. “Nah. Looks nothing like her.”

“What? Are you fucking blind? That looks just like Megan from English class,” he said, studying her face.

“See.” His fingertip landed on the middle of her face.

“She has the same color hair.” He wasn’t wrong.

Mrs. Whichever Month She Happened To Be did look like the Megan he was talking about.

The thing was, I didn’t have a crush on her.

His sister was the only person I had ever wanted anything more with for as far back as I could remember. Of course, he didn’t know that, though.

“Yeah, that does look like Megan.” I chuckled nervously as beads of sweat dripped down my temples.

“Are you okay? You look a little sick.”

“Yeah. Maybe the burgers we ate,” I lied. I felt perfectly fine other than being fucking terrified he would find out I was in love with his sister. Betrayal on a level like that was grounds for beating someone’s ass in the unwritten guy code that every guy was supposed to live by.

Isaac was a callous individual when it came to people messing with or crossing his sister.

In his eyes, I was probably his second line of defense, but when it came down to the things he didn’t know, I had more than likely surpassed him.

He also might be the most unforgiving person I know.

Last year, Dale Fortay bumped into Cor in the lunchroom, knocking her tray out of her hands and sending all of her food soaring in different directions.

Isaac immediately got up and beat the kid within an inch of his life.

He probably would have killed him if I hadn’t pulled him off Dale.

He was that unforgiving when it came to her, and Dale had run into her purely by accident.

Hell, Isaac still mean-mugged him in the hallway every time we passed him.

I guess it hadn’t helped the situation when Dale immediately got up after her tray flew and yelled at Cor about how she should watch where she was going.

Before Isaac reached him, I dove on top of him, landing a few good blows before Cor grabbed me.

“Dude, don’t throw up Wendy’s all over my room,” he said, scrunching his face with disgust. “Go take a shower or something. You’re sweating like a pig.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, wiping beads of sweat off my forehead.

“Maybe you’re right. A shower might help.

” I had showered before I walked over, but he didn’t know that, and I needed to get out of this room with him.

There was no denying how I felt about Cor even if I hadn’t told her.

Neither of us had actually said the words; we weren’t even dating.

All I knew was having her lips move against mine was the best feeling in the world, and I wanted more.

It wasn’t because I was a horny teenager; I was smart enough to know the difference.

I wanted to date her, love her, marry her, and, eventually, grow old with her.

These thoughts weren’t normal for a seventeen-year-old boy to have, but that didn’t make them any less authentic.

I wanted everything with her; however, what I wanted more was for her to win at life.

I hated how Davey treated her and the fact that we kept what he did to her a secret.

She deserved so much more than what she got out of this world, and one day, when I could, I intended to give it to her.

* * *

I had a lot on my mind walking down the dark narrow hallway of their house.

Cor’s bedroom light was still on. My feet stopped in front of her door, and it took everything I had to keep from turning the knob and disappearing for a while with her.

Isaac wouldn’t notice which room I was in, would he?

Cussing under my breath, stared at the ceiling.

Pathetic. I needed to tell him the truth.

We respected each other as friends, and typically, we were able to work out any problems. And while I didn’t want to lose his friendship, I didn’t have a clue as to what I would do if he had a problem with Cor and me being together.

I huffed, turned on my heels, and rushed into the bathroom.

If I stood there another second, I would have found myself alone in her room with her.

I shouldn’t second guess or over-think being alone with her.

We’d been alone in my room plenty of times, but that was before we kissed.

Now, the sweet noises she made were in the forefront of my brain most of the time, and when they weren’t, I thought about when we’d be alone again.

A big gust of heat almost knocked me down as soon as I opened the bathroom door.

Shit! Someone must be in here. The curtain was closed, and the water was running.

I froze where I stood. “Hello? Cor is that you?” I called, squeezing my eyelids shut and waiting for the person in the shower to answer.

It smelled glorious in here. It smelled like Cor, but why wasn’t she answering?

The thought of her naked in the shower only a few inches away was killing me. Great. I had just barely stopped sweating and now I was drenched. “Cor?” I called again. Again, no one answered.

The image of the bloody state she was in the last time she crawled through my window after Davey beat her was all I could think about.

What if she was hurt? What if she was in there and hurt so badly that she couldn’t say anything?

I was losing my shit, and at this point, I didn’t give a damn if I saw her naked as long as Davey hadn’t touched her.

My hand jerked the curtain back as I mentally prepared myself for whatever I was about to find.

Opening my eyes, I shielded my vision with my arm out of instinct, giving her another chance to speak.

“Cor, if you don’t answer me, I’m going to open my eyes.

And so help me, if you’re okay and just pranking me, I…

I… Well, I don’t know what I’ll do!” I stammered, too nervous to form complete sentences.

Slowly, I dropped my arm, and my gaze darted frantically around the shower. I even looked at the drain as if a whole person could fit into it. Relieved, I exhaled a jagged breath, stripped my shirt off, and pushed down my pants and boxer briefs.

“Fucking Corinne!” I cursed her because it was undoubtedly her that left the shower running.

She was also responsible for taking fifteen years off my life, making me worry when she wasn’t even in the shower anymore.

Even though she wouldn’t know why, I was holding her forgetful ass accountable for this.

My heart raced unbelievably fast as I stepped into the shower, allowing the hot water to pelt my skin. “Dammit, Cor!” I jumped backward, adjusting the knobs to a temperature a normal person could bear.

I was blaming her for that, too! The last probably was her fault for leaving the water on, though.

I huffed, frustrated at the world. My emotions had ricocheted from mouthwatering desire while thinking of her to crippling terror while I prayed for Cor’s safety.

Now, I was pissed and needed to calm down.

Warm water flowed from the showerhead, and I grabbed the two-in-one shampoo/conditioner off the shelf, pouring a healthy amount into my palm after popping open the tab.

I plopped it into my hair, scrubbing vigorously in frustration before leaning into the stream to rinse it out.

The almost medicinal smell of the dandruff shampoo I grabbed replaced the lingering sweet smell of Cor’s body wash, and I hated that it had.

The lid of her strawberry scented wash had a spout sticking out of the top, inviting me to use it.

My fingers trembled around the rectangle bottle as I pictured her standing in here moments ago with her hands on her body, touching the same thing I am now.

I pumped the bright red liquid out a little too hard and some slung onto my already hardened cock. I looked around the empty shower for prying eyes, just in case. You could never be too careful in situations such as this. Logically, I knew that I was alone, but this wasn’t my shower or my house.

My hand flew up and down my growing shaft.

I was a grower, not a show-er. I let my mind run wild, picturing Cor’s skin blushing as she nervously gripped me.

My speed increased, and my free hand smacked the shower wall for support.

I leaned forward, out of breath, and groaned, remembering the salty kisses we shared.