Page 5

Chapter

Five

ADON

Feels like my brain is running through a meat grinder. Can’t get my favorite coffee anymore for fear of running into that pink pixie. Well, not fear as much as just thinking of taking her across my knee, spanking her until she behaves, then fucking her into next week.

Because it’s Friday, and I am not going back to the club now. She’s invaded every fucking space I have. Surprised she hasn’t stolen my car or moved into my house.

She’s in my every thought and I can’t get her out. Usually, I’ll flip through a catalog of the previous week’s sex club events. But no. She had to ruin that by leaving me high and dry. Literally dry. Not a drop of cum was spilled into her tiny twat.

So I’ve been fapping to the little girl squirming on my lap since last week. Came three times to what her face would look like when I entered her. Bet her lungs would lose air from how big I am.

“I’m not doing this again.” Voice aimed at my hard dick, I shake my head, then get up from bed. My palm rubs down my face until I can stand and make it to the bathroom, starting my routine for the day. The good thing about today is that the kids will be back with me after school. They’ll make a good distraction from that rosy-cheeked woman invading my life like patchouli poison.

The water isn’t getting hot. I hold my hand under the stream for several minutes before turning it off. Wrapping a towel around my middle, I march down the hall to the water heater closet. The pilot light is still lit, but I can’t get the water warm in any of the sinks, either. I don’t have time to deal with this.

With a loud growl, I hurriedly take a freezing shower. As I’m stepping out, I slip on the tile and almost land on the edge of the tub. Great. Now my back is tweaked again. Which means no gym for a day or two. The tension of not being able to lift already makes my neck tight.

When I go to make some coffee in the French press, there isn’t enough left to get a scoop for what I need. “Fuck!” I forgot to pick some up. Throwing the bag in the recycling, I grab my jacket.

I’ll just have to stop by a fast-food restaurant and get a cup on my way to the garage. Like a lost lover, my mind rests fondly on Rainy Day cafe and that perfect autumn roast they make. I can taste it on my tongue. Feel its warmth easing the irritations of the morning… But then, all I can see is Rosy flirting with the barista, distracting her from being able to do her job and get me my coffee.

The only good thing about the exchange is that I don’t think she recognized me. If she had…I’m not sure what I would have done. Paid her to keep quiet? Grabbed her arm and taken her to the bathroom and shoved my dick so far down her throat she couldn’t talk again?

My hips raise off the driver’s seat as I adjust my firm erection. Damn it! Why won’t this thing go down? I’m thirty-six. Not a teenager.

I roll up to the drive-through window and place an order for black coffee. Considering the cramping grunts my stomach makes, I may as well treat myself since I won’t be getting any pussy tonight. I ask for a breakfast sandwich to go with my morning joe. When I pull up to pay, however, the woman waves off my credit card.

“Sorry, sir. Our machines are down. Only taking cash.”

“What? Are you serious?”

She lowers the microphone on her headset and stares at me, asking silently if she needs to repeat herself.

Heaving a sigh, I roll up my window and drive away. I don’t have any fucking cash, either. Going through a mental checklist, I plan a visit to the store for coffee, cash, a new water heater, something to eat for breakfast this week…

And pussy. Maybe they have it in a hidden aisle in the back.

By the time I get to the garage, I’m late. I hate being late anywhere, but especially when I’m trying to set a good example for Eli. Who has already irritated two customers by the time I get to the back office he’s using as his own now that I made him office manager, encouraging him to step away from the cars with his disastrous mechanical abilities.

“Sorry!” He sounds all whiny, like he used to when we were kids. Catching my eyes, he shrugs sheepishly and says quietly, “I thought I knew what I was doing by now. Thought I could help Tate out when it got busy, but I should have known better.” Slumping into the chair across from my desk, he runs his hands along the sides of his shaved head. Guilt racks my heart once again. He looks so fucking defeated .

He’s doing good with the customers and running the business aspects of things, but some days, I don’t know what to do with him. He has to have a job. It’s part of his parole. And no one hires ex-felons. Especially one who was in on drug trafficking charges.

“It’s fine. I’ll straighten things out and offer free repairs for those customers on their next visits.” Hurriedly, I add, “Just let Tate and I handle the service.”

Looking out the window over the long table in the back corner of the room, he sighs. “Essa’s going to come by today, if that’s okay. Her car’s not doing good, so I said we’d take care of it for her.”

I cross my arms. Eli rarely opens up, and this seems like a rare opportunity to hear what’s going on in his head. I wait to see if he’ll say something more. But, just like me, he stays silent. “What’s she do for work?”

His chocolate brown eyes greet me, and I see it. This man is head over heels for this woman. My youngest brother is smitten . “She’s in school at Northview University.” He sits back in the chair with a squeak and smirks bashfully. “Uh…I think. God , this is stupid, but…I think I may try my hand at some classes, too.”

A mixture of pride and jealousy twists my guts. It must be very serious if she’s convincing him to achieve an untold dream. Eli’s always been bright. I spent years trying to convince him of that fact. This girl has helped him see his worth in just a month. Why wouldn’t he take what I said as the truth? See how proud I am of him?

Emily’s words during an argument come back to haunt me. “I’m not a mind reader, Adon. No one knows what’s going on in that head of yours. If you feel like sharing, we’re waiting with open hearts.”

“That’s fantastic. I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Visions of expanding the family business across town, with each of us running a franchise, enter my mind. Rhodes would never, though. And I’m not sure I can trust Eli to handle the pressures it would take, at least not yet. While sober. “Have her pull into a bay, and Tate can take care of her car.”

The tension leaves his body in a giant wave and a broad smile spreads across his lips. He looks just like that time I said we’d all go to an outdoor concert when we were teens.

It was just after Mom died and Aunt Maria was on her way from Greece to help me out. The three of us were mindless, disgusting zombies walking around the house. I tried my hardest to get Rhodes and Eli to clean and cook under my supervision. What did I know about grieving? I was just an eighteen-year-old kid myself and now a guardian to my two younger brothers.

Eli had been bugging me for weeks before she died, wanting to go to some concert. Mom said for me to take him, that it would be good for us to go. But after she left, I thought it would be irresponsible.

Until one night, the grief got to be too much to bear. I couldn’t take feeling so fucking sad anymore. So I marched into his room where Rhodes and he were talking. Probably about me being such a fucking tyrant. And I told him we were going.

The brightness in their smiles was all I needed to feel like living another day. Those fucking grins kept me alive. And I eat it now like it’s my last meal.

Emotion grips my heart so powerfully, I think my eyes water, but I won’t let him see. Instead, I focus on the computer screen and clear my throat. “Okay, so I’ll call those customers. Get back up front.”

Once he’s gone, I focus on cleaning up his messes. And spend the rest of the day dealing with angry people and rude suppliers.

The lack of coffee catches up to me after lunch when my head pounds harder than it has all day. I forgot to stop to eat so my stomach has acid pouring through it, waiting for any protein. My hand slams down the receiver of the phone as I deal with the city inspector coming by at the most inconvenient time. And just as I think about getting a bite, Eli knocks on the door to introduce his girlfriend to me.

She’s a fucking tiny thing, and Rhodes is right. She looks really young. But knowing she’s in college and that I tried to fuck a girl about her age at the club last weekend, I ignore it. If Eli’s happy and looking into a more solid future, one without booze and drugs, I’ll encourage this new relationship.

Her big blue eyes look up at me as if she’s terrified as she peeks around my brother’s body. Brushing off my palms, I stand and stretch out my hand. “Hey there. I’m Adon. You must be Essa?”

With a shy voice, she says, “Yes, sir.” My heart warms to her already. So respectful and obviously kind.

Eli chuckles obnoxiously. “Essa, this is Adon, my brother. He used to try to light centipedes on fire with a magnifying glass. He’s not a ‘sir.’”

Clenching my jaw, I smirk as his girlfriend blushes fervently. “She can call me sir if she wants. It’s good to meet you, sweetheart. Are you the one encouraging him to get back in school?”

“Um…I didn’t know about that, uh….”

Her eyes dart to Eli, seeking his reaction, and he clears his throat, swallowing as he whispers to her, “It was just something I considered.”

The door opens, and my heart stops. In fact, I think I’m having a fucking heart attack. If I could grab it to restart it, I would, but I’m frozen. My breathing comes to a complete halt.

Wild pink hair skirts past Essa and my brother, entering my office like she owns the place. Here. In my place of business. The rage rising in my blood is so hot, I think it’ll boil over. She saunters over to the table and fingers one of the plastic plants that Emily put there years ago.

Like she’s making fun of the place I built, with toil and late nights working here since I was a kid, she says, “Nice place you have here.”

Does she know it’s mine? Is she messing with me? And why the absolute fuck is the girl that left me with blue balls here now ? She has to know. Patchouli and vanilla explode up my nose like a bomb as she spins back to face the room. She has to be doing this on purpose.

“Oh, Adon, sorry. This is my friend, Piper,” Essa interrupts my urge to grab the little girl by her shoulders and toss her out the window.

“Does she normally waltz in like she owns a place that isn’t hers?”

Finally, her spring greens gaze up at me as she drops her jaw. The sight of it opening so wide makes my dick spring to life. I want to make her pay for that. “I’m standing right here.”

My eyes narrow, waiting for her to give me some look of recognition. Barely inhaling, I pause. But it never comes. There’s no way she just showed up here on her own…

Everything is closing in on me. The walls feel tight. I think about my mask sitting at home. No pussy for me tonight, and I have to look at this girl here in my place of business. Quick, think of something to get them all out of here. Clearing my throat, I walk back behind my desk and say, “Okay. Well, it’s a bit crowded in here. I’ve got to get some work done. Go ahead and take off for the day, baby brother. See you.”

Eli looks stunned and hurt, but the pink lady leaves with a parting sneer, and I can finally relax a bit. Did I come off as a complete ass? Yes. I can’t leave things that way with Essa, though. Not if I want my brother on the right track.

“Essa,” I say, stopping her from leaving the room. She pauses with her hand on the knob, and I continue. “You’re taking good care of my brother. We’ll take good care of your car. Glad to meet you.”

She turns shy and smiles. “You, too.”

Once the door is closed, I bang my head on the desk, rub my hands against the buzzed sides, then tug on the longer ends on top. What an absolute disaster.

I don’t think she recognized me. At least, she didn’t make eye contact as if she did. If that’s the case, I’m at least getting coffee. I won’t let her take that from me.

Yeah, I’ll show up and take it back as my own territory.

I just have to try not to beat off to the images of her tight little ass in those bell-bottom jeans she was just wearing…

Fucking patchouli!