“Chris, man, your hands are looking a little empty,” Ryder, Keith’s right hand, said. “Katy, go sit on his lap.”

The redhead massaging his shoulders promptly skipped over to me with a wide grin as if he had just given her a million dollars rather than passed her around like the slut she was. I never aspired to have that kind of power, but it was always amusing to watch.

“Hi, I’m Katy,” she offered unnecessarily as she lowered herself on my lap. She subtly lifted her skirt so her ass, clad in only a thong, rested directly on my dick.

“So I’ve heard.” My voice came out strained as my dick rose against my will to cuddle between her ass cheeks. I slowly took in her appearance and found everything about her fuckable, from her size D breasts to the soft skin of her thighs.

My cock was ready to fuck.

When I leaned forward and simultaneously wrapped my arm around her waist, she tossed her hair and smiled at me over her shoulder.

“Katy, was it?” I whispered in her ear.

CHAPTER FIVE

KEENAN

“WAKE UP.”

I growled at the feminine voice that pulled me from the deep sleep that I didn’t want to end. I was afflicted with the same dream I had every damn night since the day I left home.

A yawn involuntarily escaped before I could even open my eyes. I could taste the booze on my tongue and felt the muscle strain from too little sleep. When I finally opened my eyes, I was met with an angry pair staring back down at me. Before I could order her to get out, ice-cold water hit me in the face.

“Fuck!” I roared. “What the fuck? I was awake, you crazy bitch!”

“Oops. My mistake.” Di shook the bottle of water she was holding and grinned down at me sweetly. She was dressed in workout gear from head to toe as sweat glistened on her skin. Sunlight shone through the window, and I could just make out her nipples through the thin shirt.

“You work out without a bra?”

“I don’t wear bras much period. They are uncomfortable and a waste of money. Are you seriously just now noticing?”

“Yes. I don’t find you all that attractive. “ Instead of huffing and puffing like many girls would have done, she rolled her eyes and tipped her head back for a sip of water.

I used her distraction as an opportunity to make my move. Her yelp of surprise was quickly muffled by the blanket I had only just discarded.

“Keenan!” she shrieked in outrage. She managed to push up on her hands, but I was already flipping her over to her back. My knee came in between her thighs, and I used it to spread her wide before settling between them.

Once I was anchored, I took the time to take in her fierce expression as she glared up at me. She continued to fight even though we both knew her chance of dislodging me was zero to none.

“Settle down,” I ordered.

“Get off of me.”

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” I let my voice drop low and even, in a way that said I was ready to fuck. I could tell she noticed from the startled look in her eyes. My hips pressed against her sex and the gasp that left her lips was full of surprise. I felt my cock harden to my surprise.

Maybe I shouldn’t have turned that girl away last night.

“Are you kidding me?” she spat.

“Why else would you bring your ass in my bedroom if not to fuck?”

“You weren’t answering your phone.”

“Maybe it was because I was sleeping,” I said slowly, letting my irritation be known.

“And the reason for all this is because?”

“To let you know that if you come in here again, uninvited, we will fuck.”

“Once a whore, always a whore,” she mocked.

“Are you angry because I’m stronger than you or angry because you secretly want me?”

“Neither, asshole. Now get off of me.”

This time, I lifted off her and reached for my shirt at the end of the bed. Di bounced to her feet with a huff while shooting daggers at me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked without meeting her glare. She had no right to be upset after barging into my space uninvited. I lived alone in a high-rise apartment right in the middle of Los Angles. Whenever I stepped outside, I was likely to cross paths with an actor or lead singer in a rock band, and even that failed to excite me.

Di moved into a similar, though smaller apartment, a few floors down, after refusing to live in her father’s house, which she dubbed a gilded whorehouse.

After we had stolen the money from his hideaway in the house, we played around with the idea of torching the place until I remembered that my whole purpose of moving was to keep a low profile.

That night was also the night Di and I almost fucked on a bed covered with money we tossed around after getting shitfaced. We’d come dangerously close but seemed to simultaneously come to our senses for different reasons that may have not been so different.

We never talked about it and never made another move like it again. Our partnership had grown into a friendship when we realized neither of us had many people left that we could trust.

I stepped into the bathroom without waiting for an answer, knowing she would only follow. She seriously needed to work on boundaries. I briefly wondered what Keiran would have done had it been him having to deal with her shit.

I laughed when I figured he probably would have snapped her neck by now. When the thought settled, amusement had been replaced by the grim reality of who my brother was and how it brought me here. Away from my home, my friends… everything I’d ever known including Sheldon.

And she haunted me day and night.

“I got a call from a client saying you never showed for your first appointment.”

“What time is it?”

“One in the afternoon.”

“What time was my appointment?”

“Seriously? You don’t even remember?”

I grabbed the toothpaste and coated my brush. “Can you answer a simple fucking question without asking a question?”

“You went to a party last night, didn’t you? With that lowlife drug scum?”

“That’s another question, but can I ask you something? When the hell did you become so fucking stuck up your own ass?”

“Right around the time my father went to prison and stopped selling me like a whore.”

“So you’re saying you need some ass?”

“Can you please think with your brain and not your dick for at least once in your life?”

“I’ve got to take a piss. Are we through here?” I nudged her from the doorway and slammed the door before she could answer.

My need to urinate wasn’t as bad as the need to hide my reaction to her judgment of me. It wasn’t anything I wasn’t used to or haven’t earned. Despite it all, it still made me want to put my fist through a wall.

“Should I tell your client to reschedule?” she yelled through the door.

“Tell them to either reschedule or fuck off,” I yelled back as I stepped into the shower and let the cold spray wash away the unwanted feelings.

* * * * *

Since I missed my first appointment, and after checking my calendar, realized I didn’t have another for a couple of hours, I took my bike in to get serviced. This bike, Di, and the clothes on my back were the only thing I took with me when I left Six Forks.

I told myself the reason I held onto the old bike wasn’t because Sheldon and my names were keyed on the side. The memory of how it ended up there wasn’t the hearts and flowers story anyone might assume. She actually keyed it there after the third time I was caught cheating. It read—Keenan & Sheldon forever.

She carved it there right before dumping my ass. Getting her back took a lot of groveling, and it wasn’t until she left me for good that I realized she should have left me a long time ago.

And if I really loved her… I would have let her go a long time ago.