Flanked Read online

  Wouldn’t it be nice if her parents were out somewhere? Then she could sneak in and out unscathed, leaving nothing but a note and the fresh smell of dryer sheets in her wake. As she slipped in the door that led through the garage so she could enter at the back of the house closer to the laundry room, Silver saw that was not to be. The big new Mercedes her parents had just bought was parked there. Oh well, it had been nice to dream for a few minutes anyway.

  “Mom. Dad. I’m here.”

  “Hello, Susan.”

  She cringed at hearing her mother’s voice, hating her lackluster given name with every fiber of her being. She’d changed it so she could be an individual. So her name would stand out from the crowd as much as she wanted to. But she’d long ago given up trying to get her parents to call her by her chosen name instead.

  Dumping the laundry bag on the floor by the machine, she planned on taking an extra-long time sorting her darks from her whites so she could hide out in the laundry room for a bit. She refused to feel any shame in avoiding direct contact with her parents. It was better for all involved really, because if they gave her that pursed, poor-Susan-who-has-no-boyfriend look one more time she’d be up for double homicide. Or patricide. Or whatever it was called.

  “Are you staying for dinner?” Her mother was always trying to feed her. The woman was somehow convinced Silver was going to starve to death because she didn’t have a man to support her.

  “I guess.” Then again, Silver’s fridge was pretty bare. Not for lack of money, but more because she hated grocery shopping about as much as she hated the name Susan. “What are you making?”

  “Your favorite. Lasagna.”

  Yum. That was her favorite. As long as she was going to stay, at least she’d enjoy the food.

  “So your brother Aaron called.”

  Silver shook her head. Apparently her mom was going to hold a full conversation with her even if they were two rooms apart and it had to be done by shouting. A repeat of her favorite show must be on and she was bored.

  “And?”

  “Nothing. He just wanted to say hello and see how we were.”

  “Well, all righty then.”

  If this was her mother in the prime of her life, she could only imagine how pointless the conversation would be when her parents got older and started to lose it.

  “Your father wants to make sure you got the oil changed in your car.”

  “Not yet.” She frowned. “Wait, where is Dad?”

  “Right here next to me. He says you better do it. It’s long overdue.”

  “I will. I promise.” She dumped detergent in and slammed the door shut. Might as well go inside since they could nag her from afar just as easily as face-to-face.

  She found them in matching chairs in the living room. “Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad.”

  “Susan, you know the oil is the lifeblood of a car.”

  “I know, Dad.” She also knew her father would never hound her to make sure she took care of her motorcycle the way he did about her car. Apparently he was hoping she’d forget to change the oil in her bike so the engine would seize and she couldn’t ride it anymore.

  Parents were so predictable. What they refused to accept is that she loved that bike as if it were her baby. When she took it out on weekends or after a long, hard day at work, it made her feel free. Made her feel like the person she really was deep down inside. The person she kept hidden all day at school. And when she had the spare time and money to get work done on one of her vehicles, given a choice between the two, the bike won every time. Except for this time. If she didn’t get the oil changed in her damn car, her father would never let her hear the end of it.

  “How long before dinner?” Her father glanced at his watch and then at her mother and Silver began to fear what was coming next.

  “At least another hour. I just put it in the oven a minute ago.”

  Silver’s father hoisted himself out of the chair. “I can take your car in now. Jimmy’s open late. He’ll slip it in for me as a favor.”

  “Dad, I’ll do it. I swear—”

  “I’ll just get it done for you and then it’ll be finished.”

  She took a step forward and laid a hand on his arm. “Seriously, I already have an appointment to get it done tomorrow during my lunch hour. I wouldn’t want to have to cancel this late.”

  “Oh, okay. That’s good. Make sure they check the tire pressure too.”

  “I will.” She let out a breath of relief.

  Lying to her father had been necessary. If he’d gotten into her car and seen that not only was the oil change five-thousand miles overdue according to the recommendation on the sticker, but also that it needed to be inspected and that two of the tires were pretty much bald, he’d have flipped his lid. She’d have had to sit for an hour-long lecture about caring for her things better.

  “And I certainly hope you’re taking better care of that deathtrap of a motorcycle you insisted on buying yourself, than you are of the car we gave you.”

  Meaning the old car they’d driven for years and then given her when she’d turned sixteen and they’d gotten a new one. Silver sighed at her father’s parting jab but let it go. And yes, she did take better care of her bike. She liked her bike.

  The fib about the car appointment carried them all the way through a fairly happy and uneventful dinner with no more car discussions. Silver left her parents’ house two and a half hours later with a bag full of clean clothes and a plastic container full of leftover lasagna. All in all, it had been a good night, even after a slightly rocky start. Her parents ate dinner insanely early, but that was perfect. It was still light out and she got to get out of there and head home to watch some television that people living in this century might actually enjoy.

  In fact, Silver was in such a good mood she was even singing along with the radio as she sped down the highway between her childhood home and her apartment. That’s probably why she didn’t hear the rattle or the grinding at first. Not until the thick black smoke began to billow from beneath the hood anyway.

  Aw, crap.

  She couldn’t call her father. Or Aaron, for that matter. He’d just tell them. If her parents found out, she was never going to hear the end of this. Silver pulled out her cell. There was only one hope. Beckie, her best friend and cousin, would just have to come and follow her to the nearest service station.

  Chapter Two

  In his bedroom at the house, Garret pulled a clean shirt out of the closet. Meanwhile his father was in the kitchen making his romantic dinner for two.

  Garret sighed. There’d better be someone out tonight for him to hang with. There had to be. And even if there wasn’t, hell, he’d just eat and drink alone. No problem. It had to be preferable to sitting here with his father and his new girlfriend, Molly.

  Molly.

  He couldn’t help but wonder what she looked like. Had his father picked a woman similar to Garret’s mother? He wasn’t sure if that would make him feel better or worse. He decided to simply not find out and get the hell out of there so he’d never know. Hopefully, he could avoid running into this Molly person before he hit the road for North Carolina. Then, with any luck, his father would have moved on by the time he was home next.

  Moved on. Moved on to what? Another woman? That wouldn’t be any better. And how the hell was his father getting women when Garret had trouble himself? What Chase had said that afternoon on the phone was totally true. Even though Garret would never admit it to anyone—hell, he had trouble admitting it to himself—he did get shot down as often as he scored. But whatever. That was fine. The chase was half the fun. It was like hunting. What fun would it be if the deer just stood there and waited for the hunter to take aim? None at all.

  The same was true with girls. Garret liked scoping out the bar or the audience at the arena. Picking out who he wanted to go for. Trying to get her attention. Winning her over even when she didn’t want anything to do with him—or at least pretended she didn’t. It wouldn’t be
as exciting if they fell over in his bed with their legs spread.

  No challenge. No fun.

  It sounded like a good argument to him. He’d have to use it next time Chase was acting cocky because he had guaranteed sex with Leesa while Garret was bankrolling some girl’s drink tab trying to woo her into at least a kiss.

  Garret ditched the towel he’d wrapped around his waist after getting out of the shower and pulled the fresh shirt on. That was another thing. With a female in the house, he’d have to start making sure he was decent all the time. That his door was closed when he was getting dressed. That the bathroom door was locked. That the toilet seat was down. That he wasn’t wandering around in nothing but his underwear. Things he didn’t do now because it was just him and his father in the house.

  Shit. This was yet one more reason to hate his father for not only dating, but for bringing this woman home and subjecting Garret to her.

  He lost no time pulling on the rest of his clothes and his boots. After grabbing his hat, he made sure his wallet and phone were in his pocket and then headed out of his room. He strode down the hallway and pulled open the front door…where there stood the woman who had to be Molly.

  “Oh, hi. I was about to ring the bell.” The redhead, probably only about ten years older than himself, smiled. “You must be Garret.”

  Perfect. His father had scored a younger woman and a redhead. That figured. Garret had always wanted to be with a redhead. Now that his father had gotten one first, that fantasy would be totally ruined for him forever. And she was probably as close to Garret in age as she was to his father. He shook that disturbing thought from his brain.

  Eh, she probably wasn’t a natural redhead anyway. Women dyed their hair all the time, right?

  “Yup, I am.” He pivoted toward the kitchen. “Dad! Your date’s here.” Garret moved back from the door. “Come on in. He’ll be here in a sec. I gotta run. Bye.”

  “Oh, okay. Thanks. Nice meeting you.” Her auburn eyebrows knit above the blue eyes he refused to admit were pretty. She looked a little flustered as he pushed past her, but he ignored that and strode fast for his truck.

  His heart felt heavy with disappointment at his own behavior, but it didn’t make him turn back and try to fix the situation. His mother was probably frowning down at him from heaven. That wasn’t how she’d raised him to act around a guest. Even if that guest was his father’s date, he should know better and act better.

  Glancing back, he saw his father kiss the woman’s cheek and then, with an unhappy-looking glance at Garret’s truck in the driveway, pull the door closed.

  He drew in a shaky breath and then threw the truck into reverse. He couldn’t get to that bar fast enough. There was a bourbon waiting there with his name on it. He needed it badly right now, for so many reasons.

  Luckily the bar was only a few miles down the road. Nice and close. Only a few bucks for a cab ride home. Hell, he’d even walked it once after he’d had a few too many. And tonight it was nice and close for when he had to flee his own home and drown his sorrows in booze. Garret scoped out the parking lot. None of his friends’ trucks were there. Though it was really early and a weekday. They were probably just getting off work. Hopefully they’d stop by on their way home.

  He hadn’t kept in touch as much as he should have with his old high school buddies. It was hard with the travel and all. He pushed through the front door of the bar and decided he’d remedy that this trip. No time like the present. A man could never have too many friends—especially when they seemed to be dropping like flies to the love bug.

  “Garret James, is that you?” A strangely familiar and sultry voice from his past greeted him before he’d walked halfway across the room.

  He squinted into the dimly lit space to see a young woman seated at the bar. “Marci?”

  Marci Brown. The one who got away. Actually, more like the one he’d never had. She’d been the cool girl in Garret’s high school graduating class. The head cheerleader who dated the quarterback and had no time for the guys on the high school rodeo team. And that, of course, had included Garret.

  “How you doing, honey?” She jumped up and met him halfway across the bar. “I hear you’ve made quite a name for yourself in bull riding.” She reached up and planted a kiss square on his lips. That was sure as hell a surprise.

  “Uh, yeah, I guess I kinda have. I’m doing good.” Garret managed to think clearly enough to glance down at her left hand before he got too excited. Chances were she’d married some jock by now.

  Hmm. No engagement or wedding ring. Couple that with the kiss on the lips, the friendly greeting and the more than friendly smile and he’d say there were good signs all around.

  Marci, the girl who’d starred in his teenage dreams, grabbed his hand and pulled him to the bar.

  “What’re you having, honey?”

  “Uh, bourbon and cola, please. Thanks.” It seemed he’d have company for his drinking after all. Still in a daze, he sat on the barstool she’d pulled out for him.

  He took a sip of the drink the bartender delivered and glanced around the room. He wanted to see who, if anyone, was here to witness his newfound success—minor though it was—with the ungettable girl of his high school years.

  No one he knew, in fact hardly anyone at all was here. That figured.

  “So tell me, what’s it like to be famous?” She leaned forward and he got a look at a whole lot more of her. Right down her expansive and exposed cleavage.

  His throat suddenly dry as the desert, he took another swallow of his drink. “I’m not really famous.”

  “Oh, sure you are.” She smiled and played with the stirrer in her drink in a way that had his cock waking. “You’re on television, aren’t you?”

  Between her hand and lip action, she might as well have been giving a blowjob to that very lucky straw. That thought had him rising to full tilt.

  Garret pushed the blowjob image aside and cleared his throat. “Yeah, I am. Almost every event during the season. It’s good, I guess. I get to travel a lot. And sometimes we get invited to come to really cool places. Like sets of TV shows. Stuff like that.” He shrugged, not sure what to tell her to hold her interest. He wracked his brain for something, anything, to keep this girl looking at him the way she was now. Not that it seemed as if she needed all that much encouragement.

  “So what brings you back here?” Marci leaned even closer.

  Damn, were those her nipples poking through her shirt like the tips of his .22 caliber bullets? Garret finally remembered to breathe and answer her question. “Uh, I had a break between competitions so I decided to come home and visit my dad.”

  She flipped her blond hair over her shoulder and gazed at him like what he’d said was the most interesting thing in the world. “And how long are you here for?”

  “Just until Friday.” He noticed he’d made up his mind pretty fast, right here on the bar stool, to extend his stay from Thursday to Friday. Tits could do that to a man. At least really nice ones. Ones that were practically touching his arm now.

  “So soon?” She pouted. That dragged his attention back to her lips and thoughts of what they could do wrapped around him.

  “I’ll be back again. We have a break coming up soon. I want to come home and do some hunting.” Hunting, yeah, that’s what he wanted to do. Sure.

  “Well, there’s no reason why we can’t make the most of tonight, now is there?”

  The bartender cocked a brow at the two of them and then continued to wipe down the bar. Garret did his best to ignore him. Bartenders should know when to mind their own business anyway.

  Glancing back at Marci, Garret somehow kept his attention off her assets and finally noticed her dazed, heavily lidded blue eyes. “Sure. What did you have in mind?”

  She looked a little tipsy. It was pretty early in the day for being drunk. Though maybe she was a lightweight. Some girls got drunk on one drink, or at least pretended that they did.

  “Finish your drink a
nd pay the bill.” The tip of Marci’s tongue came out and swept over her lips. “Then come outside with me and I’ll show you.”

  Eyes open wide, Garret struggled to down his drink and dig his wallet out of his jeans at the same time. He threw a twenty on the bar and felt to see if the condom was still in the side compartment. It was, judging by the round outline he traced through the leather. Thank God for that.

  As Marci neared the exit, Garret glanced at the bartender. “That cover it?”

  The man’s brow rose as he nodded. “Yup.”

  Not really caring about change or that he’d probably just left a huge tip, Garret followed the sway of Marci’s ass out the door.

  She shot him a look over her shoulder when they reached the parking area. “That your truck?”

  He followed her gaze and nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Then let’s go.” Purse swinging from one hand, Marci sashayed her rounded jean-clad butt around to the passenger side and waited for him to unlock the door, which meant he had to find his keys.

  Still not believing his luck, Garret dug into his pocket again to find his key ring. He finally emerged triumphantly with it. With fingers that shook, he pressed the button to unlock the doors and Marci, goddess of Waldon High School, climbed on in.

  He scrambled into the driver’s seat and slammed the door. “So, where to?”

  “My house.”

  “Your house? Uh, the house you grew up in or do you live somewhere else now?”

  “My parents’ house where I grew up.” She leaned across the center console and planted a hand on his thigh. “They won’t be home from work for at least two hours.”

  Garret swallowed hard. He definitely wouldn’t need the full two hours. Not the way his cock was throbbing already. Feeling like a teenager again, he started the ignition and peeled out of the parking lot. Sometimes living in a small town was a good thing. Such as when it only takes two minutes to get a horny girl back home while her parents were still at work.