Pretty Thing (Naughty Things 1)

And she does. Because when I kiss her, she kisses me back.

This time it’s everything last time wasn’t. It’s heated, not sad. Open-mouthed, not closed. And our tongues are sweet with the taste of whiskey as they tangle together.

She backs off, just a little bit, and says, “You still wanna know the best part?”

I nod my head and say, “Mmmm,” as I kiss her again.

She dips her head down and says, “The best part is… I think… maybe… I have always wanted this. I once told Kyle that I liked you.”

“When?” I ask, too quickly.

“Mmmm?” She rolls her eyes up, like she’s thinking. “Fourteen, I think. Yeah. I was fourteen. And it was Christmas Eve. And you got me—”

“A silver locket,” I say, remembering that night. “And I put my picture in there.” I laugh, thinking back on that memory. “And Kyle was pissed. He ripped it off your neck and threw it away.”

It was a joke. I wasn’t really trying to get Kali to like me. I vaguely remember Kyle and I having a conversation about girls the week before Christmas. About how we could make them like us and get ourselves some girlfriends. And he came up with this stupid locket idea to get them all melty. So I did that—I bought Kali that locket and put my picture in it as an inside joke between Kyle and me.

A stupid, thoughtless teenage-boy move if ever there was one.

But it definitely got his attention.

“Do you know,” Kali says, shaking her head and closing her eyes like she can’t believe she’s gonna say this, “do you know that I took it out of the trash and kept that locket under my pillow for four years?”

I picture her doing this. “You did?”

“Mmmm-hmm,” she says. “I did. After everyone left that night and Kyle was asleep. I went down into the kitchen and poked around in all the trash until I found it, and then I cleaned it up, and took it upstairs and held it in my hand all night long. And from that night forward, I had you with me every time I fell asleep.”

“Jesus,” I say. “I never knew.”

“But anyway,” she says, waving her hand in the air to clear that memory. “The best part of all this is… that time I told Kyle I liked you, he said…”

She stops. And she stares at me. Her eyes begin to water.

“What?” I ask her, sliding my hand around her waist. And not to make a move, either. Just to comfort her. Because all of the day’s sadness is about to come pouring out.

“He said, ‘The day you get with Aiden is the day I die.’” And then she laughs. “But we’re three days late, so I guess he wins.”

“No,” I say, leaning in to her again. “He lost, Kal. We’re the only ones who have a chance to win now.”

She meets me halfway this time. Maybe even more than halfway. Because her lips find mine instead of mine finding hers.

But this time is different in another way too. Because her hand is on my leg, sliding up my thigh, and resting on my cock. I’ve been getting hard, a little bit at a time, ever since we kissed outside. But now the blood rushes in and filled me up as she squeezes.

And I know for certain that we’re going to do this.

Maybe there’ll be regrets tomorrow, maybe not. Maybe Kyle is looking on us yelling and screaming to stop, but we don’t care.

Because Kali is right. That asshole went and died on us, so fuck him and his rules. Fuck him. I’m gonna fuck his sister tonight.

And I’m not even gonna feel bad while I do it.

CHAPTER SIX – KALI

A part of me understands exactly what’s happening.

We drank those shots so quick because we just needed an excuse, that’s all. We need this tonight because we’re all that’s left of our little trio. Kyle is never coming back. He can never walk in on us. Can never get mad at us. Can never do anything, ever again.

I need Aiden to touch me everywhere, all at once. I need it like I need water, or food, or my dead brother back.

“I need you,” I whisper into our kiss.

“I know,” he whispers back. “I need you too.”

I’m just a replacement, and so is he. We’re sad. We’re mad. We’re missing our missing part. And the worst thing is, we don’t care. We’re using each other to get through this night and we don’t even care.

My hand is on his cock and I can’t help but imagine what it will look like once I pull it out. Some people might think a cock is a cock is a cock. But that’s definitely not been my experience. Some are much better than others. And I have a feeling Aiden’s is going to be spectacular.