Page 11 of Theo (Stone Brothers #6)

NINE

THEO

C rusoe and Cormac had invited some friends over to the party basement.

We'd all had too much to drink and smoke, so it followed that half of the guests, the lightweights of the bunch, had passed out while the hard cores played video games.

Cormac and Crusoe tended to get extra competitive when they were drunk, so the game was getting loud and out of control.

I'd settled onto the couch to watch them because they were pretty fucking entertaining when they were smashed.

Brenda and Tina, two friends since high school, had sat down on each side of me.

Brenda was still semi-sober, but Tina was at the unable-to-keep-her-head-upright stage.

She eventually curled up and dropped her head in my lap.

Brenda was texting someone. When I glanced at her screen, she turned it away from my view.

"Sorry, my eyes just landed that way. Wasn't trying to be nosy," I said.

"Okay fine, I'll tell you."

"Really don't care, Bren."

"No? Well, I'm talking to Angie. She's going to Lacey's wedding tomorrow." Brenda covered her mouth as if she'd released a giant secret. "You did know about the wedding, right? Shit, I'm sorry, Theo. Did you know?"

I looked at her. She'd never been the brightest bulb, but it seemed she'd lost a few more brain cells since high school. "I know about the wedding."

She sighed dramatically and even put her hand against her chest. "Thank goodness.

I thought I just broke the news to you, and I know how much you loved Lacey.

The wedding is at this massive country estate, the Plunkett Estate.

It's a few hours north, up in Santa Loma.

Guess they've been partying since Thursday.

Angie says the house is enormous, and they're setting up this glass house that has?—"

"Brenda, stop. I don't care." I knew she could go on forever about literally nothing, and the last thing that interested me were details about Lacey's wedding.

Brenda was insulted enough that she scooted to the end of the couch and returned to her texting.

I pulled out my phone and sat forward when I saw Lacey had texted me.

Tina groaned groggily. She looked up at me. "Is there a bathroom down here?" she asked weakly.

"Past the kitchenette," I said.

She flew off the couch. "Brenda, I need you," she said desperately and ran straight for the bathroom.

I got up and headed to the stairs.

"Bro, where you going?" Cormac asked as he turned the controller sharply to the left as if he was driving the damn thing instead of playing on it.

"I'm out. Going to bed."

"Alone?" Crusoe asked and then yelled. "Take that, fucker!" He'd obviously nailed some kind of monster in the game. I read the text as I headed up the stairs.

"Wish I'd never left Trayton."

I reached my room and shut the door to blot out some of the noise.

I started to text back the message in my head.

"I wish you hadn't left too" then decided I wasn't in the mood for stupid fucking texting.

Something was going on with Lacey. It was a short message, but there was a hell of a lot of shit behind it.

I decided to FaceTime her. If she was at a party or with him, then she could just ignore the call.

I needed to see her. I needed to see her as much as I needed to hear her voice.

I sat on the bed and leaned against the cold plaster wall.

She answered quickly, and her face came into view.

I was so stunned to see her; it sucked the breath from me.

"Hey," she said quietly. Her voice pulled me out of my trance.

"Hey." I'd bravely called her, and now I was a tongue-tied idiot. I swallowed hard and forced out some words. "How are you doing?" It was all I could think of.

"Well, I'm a little drunk, and frankly, I'm busy having a freakout session about my wedding, about my husband-to-be and about my whole damn future. And it seems I turned to the boy I loved in high school for reassuring words. So that makes me nothing short of crazy."

"It does, Ace. Cuz I'm not going to give you any reassurances.

Far as I'm concerned, you're making a big fucking mistake, so get that amazing ass back here to Trayton.

You belong with me. You've always belonged with me.

I can't give you luxury mansions and expensive cars, but I can make you happy. Every. Single. Fucking. Day."

"Luxurious mansions are overrated." She held the phone out farther. "I'm in a room that is bigger than the house I grew up in, and I'm homesick for that house."

She held the phone out far enough that I could see more of her. "Uh, hold on there a minute, Lacey Michaels. You're not wearing clothes."

"I'm wearing a bra, and that counts as clothes."

"Wrong," I said. "There are two kinds of clothes. Clothes that need to come off for a good fuck, and clothes that can stay on because they make a good fuck even more fun. That silky white bra would definitely be a 'leave that on, darlin',' piece of clothing."

Her laugh floated through the phone and wrapped itself around my heart. "You have not changed a bit, Theo Stone. Still a rogue, a cad, a cutthroat heartthrob."

"Not true. I've changed a lot. The last time you saw me I still had my appendix, and I'm now appendix free, and I've gotten a lot bigger."

She smiled. "Yes, I can see that. In fact, why don't we even this up? Take off your shirt, so I can see just how much bigger."

"Prepare to be amazed and feel faint and all that shit that comes with seeing Theo Stone's chest, abs and arms." I set down my phone and whipped off my shirt. I picked up the phone again.

"Your ceiling has a lot of cracks. I heard you guys were living in that old Victorian house. Can't believe that place is still standing."

"Barely but it's home sweet home for now." I held the phone out.

"Okay, very nice. I approve greatly of the rippling abs," she commented.

"Hmm, now that I removed an article of clothing, maybe you should do the same."

"I thought you said the bra was a leave-that-on piece of clothing." She bit her lip teasingly. I sensed she was getting as hot as I was on this call.

"I lied. Take it off, Ace. Take it fucking off."

She held the phone out and reached behind her to undo the clasp.

She giggled as she struggled to unhook it, and that teasing pause nearly sent me through the cracked fucking ceiling.

The bra slipped off, and like a hot, slow burn, she moved the camera down, starting with the swell of her breasts and down to the rose-colored nipples.

I groaned in appreciation. "Well, hello, old friends. Boy, have I missed you."

"I think they've missed you, too." Lacey's soft giggle added to the tension I now felt in every inch of me. My cock was hard just looking at her.

"Hey, Ace, touch them for me, yeah? I'm stuck here in this old house. Cru and Mac are downstairs yelling at their fucking video game. Not exactly a kickin' Friday night. C'mon, Ace, make my night."

She moved the phone down, and her lush lips were in the center of the screen. She licked her bottom lip seductively.

"Fuck, baby, you're killing me with that. I can taste those lips like it was just yesterday."

Her breaths were coming in short spurts. She was feeling this too. The phone moved down her long throat and down to her tits. The nipples were hard and just waiting to be touched. Her fingers came into the screen, and she tugged lightly at her taut nipple. Her breathing quickened.

My cock ached. Her hand smoothed over her breasts, and she arched her back to push them out farther. "I want my tongue on those nipples," I growled. "I want to take each one between my teeth and bite them until you suck in a sharp breath. What are you wearing past the bra?"

The phone moved slowly down her flat belly, revealing a pair of panties that were merely a triangle of silky fabric. "Hell, Ace, you've moved onto grown-up panties. I approve. Now, touch yourself. I want to know if you're wet cuz I'm halfway to coming just watching you."

She laughed softly. Her phone followed her free hand, a hand I knew so well because I'd held it a million times. She had a small X-shaped scar at the base of her thumb. She'd cut it on broken glass when she was little.

Lacey pushed her hand beneath the small triangle of fabric. She sucked in a breath as her fingers pushed into her pussy. "Theo," she said breathlessly.

"That's it, baby. Make yourself come. I'm there in spirit. I know that pussy like no one else. Easy on the clit. Massage it lightly."

It took only a minute, and her breathy moans radiated through the vast room as her body writhed in pleasure. Her breathing slowed as she brought the phone up to her face. It was still flushed pink.

"I can't believe I just did that," she said on a whisper.

"That's cuz you miss me. You miss having me between your thighs, and I miss being there. It's not the same, Ace. Nothing's been the same since you left."

"Oh, Theo, shit, I can't believe this. I'm getting married tomorrow, and I'm on the phone with you."

"Told ya, you missed me."

I heard a knock on her door. Lacey sat up straighter. "Uh, yes, I'm not dressed," she called.

"Is that him?" I asked. "Let him in. I wanna talk to him," I said.

"It's not George."

"Fuck, George? Do people still get named George?"

"I've got to go, Theo. Thanks for my therapy session. I'm feeling remarkably better."

"Not as good as you'd feel if I was actually between your legs."

She laughed. "But really, Theo. Thanks. Take care." She hung up. Once again, I was left with a goodbye that felt permanent. "Take care" was something you said to a distant friend, a friend you only saw once in a great while or even never.

I dropped the phone onto my nightstand and scooted down to the pillow. It was going to be another long fucking night.