Stepdaddy Savage (10 page)

I guess “district attorney” is some kind of a magic word, because it makes Graham listen, and he finally spins around to face me, examining my face closely. I try to smile, even though I know that in all probability he’s seeing my face smeared with Shawn’s blood, and my ripped dress.

“Hey, I’m okay. He didn’t get to…” I trail off because I can’t say the words, but I know he understand when his nostrils flare and gives me a clipped nod. I link my fingers together behind his back, hugging him. I don’t even care that Shawn is in the room. I’m pretty sure he is out of it, and when he comes to, the last thing he’d do is rat me out. He’s just been kicked real good. I’m not going to be surprised if he broke a few ribs in the process.

“I’m going to make sure he never does that again to anyone else, district attorney’s son or not.” Graham sounds so resolute; I don’t want to argue with him. I should probably warn my friends and girls at school from Shawn. This is outrageous. I’ve never seen him like this, and that makes me wonder whether he’s tried doing it to somebody else…or worse, if he’d succeeded.

“I don’t care about Shawn. I’m okay,” I state again, and Graham rubs his thumb over my lower lip, inspecting my face.

“It’s not my blood,” I assure quickly, trying to put him at ease. “I smacked my head but I’m fine, I promise.”

Graham nods, rubbing my lip with the pad of his thumb. He takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself down.

“You got him good, Dolly. If you hadn’t bought yourself those few extra seconds…” I don’t even want to think about that.

“How did you know?” I ask softly.

“The cameras. I see videos of everything in my room. I’ve been following your whereabouts all night, wanted to make sure that you’re okay. I made one phone call. That’s all it took….”

I try to bite my grin, but there’s no point. My face shines like the moon even after taking a beating.

“You’ve been watching me?”

Graham reaches for my cheek, pulling my face into his and kissing my forehead with his eyes shut. “I’m very protective of you, Dolly. I’m protective of you as a lover and as a pseudo guardian. Not because I feel like I’m your father, but because you’ve never had someone who took care of you, and that sucks.”

“I have you now,” I declare, tracing my finger along the scar on his temple. God, it makes him even more beautiful. He groans when my hand disappears inside his black mane.

“Everyone needs to get the fuck out of this house. It’s time to play and I am
not
a team player.”

I raise one eyebrow, a playful smile tugging at my lips. “Then it’s a good thing my scary step-daddy happens to be home to shut this shit down, isn’t it?”

I
’m not sure what Graham said to have two hundred rich kids scrambling for the exit, but they cleared out in two seconds flat…
except for Jade, of course
. At five feet and five inches of fury, I feel like she can even give Graham a run for his money. She isn’t afraid of anyone, and wasn’t buying whatever Graham was selling. She refused to leave without seeing that I was okay, and of course I don’t exactly look okay, so here I am, sitting on my bed, being interrogated by my cock-blocking BFF.

“He fucking
what?!
” She’s burning a hole through my carpet from all of her pacing. It’s obviously going well. I let out a long sigh, resigned to the fact that she probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“I don’t know where it came from. He’d been pushier lately, but I never thought he was capable of something like this. I mean, we know Shawn. We hang out with him all the time. It just came out of nowhere.”

Jade pauses her assault on my floor, and I see a light bulb go off behind her eyes.

“What is it? Do I even want to know?”

She shifts nervously on her feet and mumbles something incoherently. I cup my hand to my ear dramatically and raise my eyebrows.

“What was that? I’m gonna need you to speak the fuck up, J.”

“I heard Shawn was snorting some blow in the car with Britney and Dillon before the party. But they weren’t doing it in your house, I swear!” She quickly tacks on the last part.

“That’s no excuse,” she continues, “but maybe that’s why he was extra aggressive? I’m going to kick his fucking ass.”
And the pacing commences
.

“Dude, give a bitch a head’s up next time,” I groan, throwing myself deeper into the mattress, my head hits my pink, girly pillow with a soft thud.

Guilt flashes across Jade’s face, and I instantly feel like a turd for putting that on her.

“It’s not your fault. I should’ve known the snow bunnies would be hitting the slopes. I just didn’t expect it from Shawn.” I sigh, waving my hand in her general direction. Though, really, she was the one who invited half of Jersey into my house.

“I’m sorry, Dahl. I should’ve said something. I didn’t even see you two talking. Where is he, anyway?”

“That’s a good question. I think one of the minions was called in to ‘deal’ with him. I don’t even want to know what that entails.” My gut swims with fear and nerves thinking about what Graham’s doing with him. Not because I care about Shawn, but I don’t want this coming back to bite Graham in the ass. Shawn’s father, Warren Montgomery, is the DA and has a lot of reach. Call me crazy, but I don’t think he will take the news that his son was beat up by a mobster well.

“So, uh…” Jade is picking at her nails, avoiding eye contact, and feigning nonchalance, horribly, I might add.

“What minion did you say step-hottie call, again?” I know what she’s getting at. She wants to know if he brought Carter in. Of course, I can’t make it easy for her.

“I didn’t,” I deadpan. Finally, she loses the act, and smacks me with one of the fifty-seven pointless decorative pillows on my bed.

“Goddammit, bitch, don’t make me spell it out for you. Do I get to see that sexy Irish hulk or what?” My grin feels like it’s splitting my throbbing lip open, but I can’t help it. It’s fun to get her all riled up.

“He actually told Graham that you creeped him out and he specifically requested that you stay away from him. Way to go, J.” She knows I’m joking so she rolls her eyes and tells me to fuck off.

“But really,” I say. “I’m pretty sure they won’t be back for a while. I don’t know what they’re up to, but I know that Graham always keeps business away from me…err…us. Away from
us
,” I correct myself.

Jade raises one perfectly arched brow at me, with a smug look on her face.

“What?!”

“
Graham
? He’s Graham now? Not Asshole or even stepdaddy dearest? Not only are you referring to him by his real name, but you seem to be worried about him. Anything you want to tell me?” She’s my best friend, of course I want to tell her. I don’t know why I haven’t. I guess I just liked having it be our little secret.

I take a deep breath, before blurting out, “I’m sleeping with my step-dad.”

Smooth, Dahl.

Her eyes practically bulge out of her skull, but she doesn’t say a word. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jade speechless. I tuck a few strands of my blonde hair behind my ear and huff in annoyance, like she’s making a big deal out of nothing, which is, of course, bullshit. This is huge and I kept it from her. Only Graham and I haven’t slept yet, so technically, I’m not 100 percent a crappy friend. Only, like 95 percent.

“Well, I mean, I haven’t slept with him yet,” I rush to continue, shrugging. “But I want to. And I will. Tonight.”
And the verbal diarrhea just keeps on comin’.

She finally snaps out of her shock at that, shaking her head from side to side while squeezing her eyes shut. She holds one finger in the air for me to shut the fuck up and let her digest the new info.

“Ignoring the fact that this is the first I’ve heard about this thing between you and Don Draper over there, I fucking knew it, by the way, you want to have sex with him tonight? After what just happened?!”

I lick my lips, looking left and right, grabbing a stuffed teddy bear Graham bought me when we first moved in because he had no idea what girls this age are into, and hug it to my chest.

“I’m gonna be honest, J. The fucking apocalypse couldn’t keep me away from him at this point. Which brings me to my next point. You’re clam jamming me.”

Jade throws back her head and cackles.

“Oh my fucking God, you did not just say that.” She grabs my head and smothers me with her boobs, falling into the bed on top of me, peppering me with kisses. “My little Dahlia is growing up and finally giving up that V-card. And to her step-dad, no less. Go big or go home, am I right? I’ve never been so proud.” She continues her assault on me as I fight my way out of her cleavage and swat her hands away.

“Nobody’s losing anything if you don’t get out of here.”

She snags her purse off the end of my bed and stands up swiftly, just like that, a giant smirk spreads across her face as she slips her flats back on.

“Fine, I’ll go. But on one condition.”

I roll my eyes, already knowing where this is going.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll call and tell you all about it later.”

She arches an eyebrow. “With details?”

“Down to the number of inches,” I grunt, burying my face in the fluffy teddy bear, feeling my neck and ears reddening.

“Damn straight baby girl.” She smacks a loud kiss on my cheek and then hugs me uncharacteristically long. Then she lingers on the threshold, fingering the doorframe before swiveling on her heels to face me.

“I really am sorry about tonight, Dahl,” she says in a quiet voice. “And I know this is all kinds of forbidden, but I see the way he looks after you, the way he looks
at
you. You deserve something good. Don’t be afraid to take that shit.”

I don’t know why, but her words make me want to cry. I know my life hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, but I never complain about it. Knowing that it’s obvious to other people, even if she is my best friend, makes it somehow seem worse. I know she wants the best for me, and even after three years of friendship, sometimes I’m still not used to anyone being on Team Dahlia. I want to listen to her advice. I want to be a taker for once in my life. I don’t want to risk speaking, because
fuck feelings
, so I simply nod to let her know I’m picking up what she’s putting down. Jade’s scarlet lips form a small, knowing smile and she gives me a curt nod before leaving my room, closing my door behind her.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes.

This is happening.

This is really happening.

I am going to have sex with the man who bought me the teddy bear that I’m hugging.

No,
the man who took care of me. The man who gave me a new life.

This is happening, and I want it.

Graham still hasn’t shown his face, so I took the opportunity to wash and shave everything. And I mean
everything
. After basically contorting myself into a pretzel in attempt to get to those hard-to-reach areas, I towel-dry my hair and put on my Pink Sugar lotion that smells like actual sugar cookies. I actually feel pretty good after my shower, all things considered. I have a headache from knocking my head, and my lip is swollen, but other than that, I’m ready for some action. Jade is right. I should be all kinds of fucked up about what Shawn tried to do to me, but I’m not. Because at the end of the day, he didn’t. And after what Graham did to him, whatever it is, I know he’ll never try again.

I pick out a baby pink cotton nightie with lace trim and white polka dots. It probably doesn’t scream experienced sex kitten, but I leave off the underwear for easy access, hoping it evens things out.

I contemplate painting my nails to pass the time, but I decide against it, not knowing when Graham would make an appearance. Wet nails on my pristine white bedding
probably
wouldn’t be a good idea. I flip through an eBook on my phone, but I can’t focus on the words. I give up after reading the same paragraph approximately seventeen times. The air is heavy with lust and anticipation. I snag my earbuds off my dresser and decide to listen to some music. Apparently, all the excitement of the day finally hits me because I start to doze off. I try to fight sleep but it catches up with me. All the adrenalin coursing through my body earlier made me tired, and all of a sudden, my eyelids become heavy, too heavy. I call his name one last time before drifting off, and then I’m done.

I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep before I feel Graham’s massive body blanket my own. I stretch and hum contentedly while my eyes adjust to the dim lighting. He hasn’t turned on the lights, but there’s some light pouring from the hallway and into my room. His dark hair is wet and a soft lock hangs in his eyes. He’s in a plain white tee shirt and what feels like thin cotton pajama pants against my legs. I’ve never seen him so dressed down and it catches me off guard. I decide that I love comfy Graham. I think I want to keep him. He drags his nose up my throat and inhales deeply before tugging my headphones out with his teeth.

“What’ve you done to him?” My voice is groggy from sleep and exhaustion, and my eyelids are droopy, but I can still see through the mist of sleep the gorgeous dangerous man next to me. And he’s done something bad tonight. I can see it in his eyes.