Deuces Wild Read online

  “The only thing I’ve ever given a shit about in my entire life is football. Football and cats don’t co-exist so I’ve never had a pussy. Not once in my life,” I say with deliberation.

  Her eyes widen. “I don’t believe you.”

  “It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. The truth is the truth.”

  “The minute you walked into school, half the female population were swarmed around you,” she scoffs.

  “And I only had eyes for you.” I can’t wait another minute. My mouth dips and lands on hers, resting gently because I don’t want to scare her off. She inhales sharply but doesn’t draw away. I deepen the pressure, feeling her lips give way and her tongue creep out to slide against the seam of my mouth. My knees nearly buckle at her first touch. I reach up and tug on her chin and her mouth opens for me. I invite myself in, sweeping through the barrier, tasting her in all of her glory. She’s sweet and warm, like hot cider on a cold day. Her hands come up to clutch my shoulders and even that small touch nearly does me in.

  I reach down and grab her ass, boosting her in the air until her notch fits snug against my hard-on. Her legs wrap around my thighs. I press her against the wall so I can free a hand to delve into her thick hair, twisting her face so that my access is better. Our tongues tangle. Her hands skate over my shoulders and down my arms, feeling my muscles flex as I grind her against me. Her heat sears me even through two layers of denim, but that’s not enough. With one hand cupped under her ass, I swing her around until I can set her on the edge of the sink. Then I attack her shirt, lifting my mouth from hers only long enough to get the fabric over her head. My hands cup and mold her breasts, pulling them out of the wire cups that restrain them. I flick my fingers over her nipples. She moans against my mouth.

  “Like that?” I say and repeat the action. She nods, glassy-eyed. I’ve never seen anyone look sexier than Mallory in this moment with her hair mussed, her shirt off, her bra pulled aside with only her tight jeans encasing her legs. I have my fingers on the buttons of her jeans when there’s a loud noise outside the locker room door. Our eyes meet in surprise. We’d forgotten where we were. She pushes me away, grabs her shirt and escapes into one of the stalls just as half the senior class pours into the locker room.

  “Carter, wassup!” cries Ben.

  He protected my ass for four years and if I like anyone in this cursed school, it’s him, but at this moment, I want to grind him into the ground until he disappears like dust.

  “Can’t believe you’re having a party on Friday. That’s gonna be lit.” He slaps me on the back.

  “Yeah. Lit. I can’t wait.” I glance toward the stall door. She’s never coming out. Not while there are people inside. I turn away from Ben, adjust my nuts, and wait for my erection to subside. Once I have myself under control, I smile thinly at my former teammates. “How about we all go to the Shake Shack next period? My treat.”

  The cheers are deafening. I herd everyone out. Fast catches my elbow. “I’ll have Ace come in and get your girl.”

  “How’d you know?” I ask in surprise.

  “Eh. It wasn’t hard to guess.” He points to my face. “You’ve got lip gloss smeared across your cheek and you were leaning against one particular stall door. I guess the no-girls rule doesn’t apply to Mallory.”

  I rub a thumb across my face. “I don’t think any rules I had apply to Mallory.”

  Chapter 16

  Mallory

  “All clear,” I hear Aly say. I push open the bathroom stall door to see her standing there. Deuce got everyone to clear out but I am still a little leery of stragglers. The last place I want to be caught as the new girl is in the boys’ locker room. Rumors get started quick and I don't need any drama in my life. Carter is proving to be a handful as it is.

  “Thanks.” I open the stall door all the way. My heart has finally stopped pounding in my chest. I don’t know if it was from the heavy makeout session or almost getting caught. It was probably a little bit of both. Maybe it was how Deuce handled those assholes when we first entered. I’m guessing it’s a mixture of it all. I honestly don’t think I’m ready to admit the real reason. The one that has me falling for Deuce.

  “So. Carter isn’t your cousin,” she says with a smile on her face. My stomach gets nervous for a second because I don’t want to lie to her if I don’t have to.

  “What makes you say that?” I reach up, making sure my hair isn’t a mess. Had Deuce’s hands been in it? I touch my mouth next, feeling self-conscious now. Oh God, I bet my lip gloss is all over my face.

  “Your mouth is swollen. I know the feeling.” I continue to run my fingers across my lips that still tingle. Hell, if I’m being honest, my entire body is tingling. “This is so awesome.” Aly really is tickled pink over the news of Carter and me not being related. If she wasn’t so into Owen I might get—oh, God—jealous.

  “Why do you find this so interesting?” First it was about Carter's house and then she asked a few questions before Deuce showed up in the cafeteria. Everyone acts so surprised that he even talks to me. I mean I know he can be a dick but damn. These people make it seem as though he’s never had a friend before. His comment about never having a pussy pops into my head. That has my curiosity piqued as well. Did he mean what I thought he meant? No...way.

  “’Cause it’s Carter. He’s this weird enigma that I can’t figure out for the life of me. I don’t know if he’s a good guy or a bad guy. He’s just…” Her eyebrows furrow together and I know she’s thinking. She throws her hands up. “I don’t know what he is but now he’s all gung-ho over a girl.”

  “That’s not normal?” I poke around a bit remembering my thoughts from a few minutes ago. It is still hard to believe but Aly is here all but confirming it.

  “He doesn’t give anyone the time of day unless it messes with something that he’s doing. Football is actually the only time he socializes with anyone from school. If you consider him barking orders at people socializing. Yet, when he does it, everyone falls into line because I think his family might own this school or something. I don’t know.” She shakes her head. “I mean, he’s a dick at times but I have to admit he gets shit handled if it’s out of line. I have a little respect for that. Sometimes someone has to be the asshole and it’s good if the asshole is on your side,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. Making it seem as though Carter is the lesser of two evils sometimes.

  “So let me get this straight. He doesn’t talk to anybody unless it’s necessary and he’s never dated anyone here?”

  “That about sums it up from what I’ve seen.” She shrugs again. Her words make me sad for a minute. What a lonely life he must lead with not having any real friends. I guess we are the same in a lot of ways. I didn’t really have anyone that I was close with in my other school but it wasn’t because I chose it. My mother had made my bed for me way before I had a chance for people to get to know me. Her ways made people assume automatically that I was my mother's daughter.

  I do have to admit that the confirmation that Carter doesn’t date has a warm feeling coursing through my body.

  “Come on. Let’s get to the Shake Shack before Owen is bursting down the door.” Her cell phone dings on cue. “They are waiting for us.” She pulls her keys out of her pocket. “I’ll drive. I don’t normally skip class but I’m sure Carter will get us all passes. Plus I want to see this.” I follow her out of the locker room while she types away on her phone. She starts laughing.

  “Carter let Owen ride with him so you can ride with me.” She shows me her phone. “I guess Carter told Owen not to say one word about the mess.” He might not have said a word about it but Owen took a picture to send Aly of the mess I made in the car.

  “I can’t help it if croissant breakfast sandwiches are flaky!” I say in my defense. Aly laughs as she shakes her head.

  “Carter doesn’t let anyone in his car. Now he’s letting you eat in it and giving someone a ride so you have one. They say there’s someone out there for ev
eryone. It looks like Carter has finally met his match,” Aly says, teasing me as I follow her outside. She continues to walk until she gets to a fancy white Tesla, which for some reason I wasn’t expecting her to have. She must see the look of surprise on my face.

  “My stepdad is a surgeon,” she says, explaining the fancy car. I open the door and climb in.

  “Are there any car rules?” I ask. We both burst out laughing.

  “Why, so you can break them like you do Carter’s?”

  I smile, knowing that Aly and I are going to be great friends.

  “Let’s go see our men,” Aly says as she pulls away from school. I remain quiet because Carter isn’t mine. Not yet anyway. Though I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m his.

  Chapter 17

  Carter

  “I had a visit from Mayor Al yesterday,” my dad says as I enter the gym.

  “Great,” I grunt and down the kale and banana smoothie. It tastes like ass, but it’s healthy and good for my body. I’ve started working out three times a day to burn off the excess energy I have from wanting to fuck Mallory all the time. It works but only because by the end of my third workout, which I do right before I go to bed, I’m so completely exhausted, I can barely muster up the energy to say goodnight, let alone jerk off in the bathroom.

  “He said we may be harboring a criminal.”

  I almost trip on my way to the treadmill. “Don’t know how that’s possible,” I manage to get out as I climb up on the rubber mat. “What’d you tell him?”

  Dad steps off of the elliptical and wipes the sweat from his face with one of the gym towels, embroidered with a fake crest and his initials. “That the plans for the fall festival needed more attention than what was going on at our home. I’m glad that you are finally interested in someone and we’re comfortable enough that I’m not concerned with the young lady pilfering from our wallets. Although I hope that if you have anything valuable that you do not want to collect from the secondhand market you lock it up. No judgment.” He holds up his hands. “I speak from experience. Do you remember Deborah?”

  “I don’t want to know,” I rush to add when it seems like he’s about to add some detail to his story.

  “All I am saying is that I want you to have fun but not to get hurt.” He pats me on the back and moves off to gather his things. “Enjoy your party tonight. I’m flying to Paris in a few hours. Let me know if you want anything from there. I could pick something nice up for your friend just in case you need it later for an apology.”

  Dad’s idea of saying sorry is a $25,000 bracelet. I think he buys them in bulk from Cartier.

  “What’d you do this time?” I ask, starting up the machine.

  “I may have forgotten the little minx’s name.” One side of his mouth quirks up. “The ladies don’t like that. You wouldn’t have that problem since you’ve lived like a monk all these years, but in case this is the start of some inglorious descent into a life of true debauchery, do try to call them by their correct Christian name. It gets very expensive when you forget things like that.”

  “So another bracelet?”

  “Son, the bracelet is for things like not remembering that she likes two spoonfuls of sugar in her coffee. Forgetting a name while you are intimate with a woman requires a private plane ride to Paris and an exclusive visit to the Place Vendôme.”

  “Good thing I won’t have that problem. Besides, I don’t know what Al told you but Mallory’s not a thief so I don’t have to lock anything up.” Not that I have much. There’s a few watches that could fetch a nice price but I’m not like my dad. I don’t have jewel-encrusted figurines around the house and shit like that.

  “What is she then?”

  I increase the speed of the treadmill to nine and slide the noise-cancelling headphones over my ears before answering. “Your future daughter-in-law.”

  * * *

  The shock on my dad’s face after I made that announcement still makes me chuckle hours later.

  “What’s so funny?” asks Mallory as we oversee the caterers putting out bags of chips and dip along with coolers full of soda and lemonade and booze. Mallory insisted on the food being party food—whatever that meant. And it had to look like we made it ourselves instead of hiring someone. In fact, she actually wanted to go and buy all the shit for this party but when I explained to her that I was not carting enough chips and drinks in my Maserati to supply two to three hundred kids, she allowed me to call a caterer. It’s bad enough I had to have Fast in my car, let alone carbonated drinks and junk food.

  “My old man.” The heat lamps set up around the pool are barely warming me up. I can’t believe my classmates are so anxious to come to my place that they’re willing to strip down to their bathing suits in the middle of fucking January. Mallory has a flannel blanket tucked around her shoulders.

  “Where is he?” She turns around, craning her neck to see inside the house.

  “Flew to Paris.” I stare at the roundness of her ass and wonder if I have time for another run before the mob gets here.

  “Business?”

  “I suppose you could say that. He fucked up with his latest girlfriend and has to fly her to some jewelry store to buy his way back into her bed. Or their bed since she’s basically living here.”

  “Wow. That’s...something. You live a very different life.”

  “You should get used to it.”

  “Nah. I don’t think so. I mean…it’s great that you’re letting me hang around but as soon as I find my own place, I’m going to be out of your hair.”

  Her words are more alarming than a case of Coke blowing up in my car. “The hell you are,” I growl. “This is your home now.”

  She turns back and gives me a frown. “I’m not going to leech off of you for the rest of the semester. I figure I can find a job. I talked to the caterer and they pay some decent wages. I was thinking—”

  I slash my hand through the air. “Stop then. No more thinking. You’re not moving and that’s final.”

  “Deuce, your place has one bedroom. I can’t sleep on the sofa for the next twelve weeks.”

  “Then you can have my bed.” Obvious solution. I smile.

  “Where are you sleeping?”

  The smile drops off immediately. I guess the option of bedding down together doesn’t interest her or didn’t even enter her mind. After our kiss on Monday, she’s pretty much avoided all contact with me so it’s probably the former. She doesn’t want me touching her and she’d rather work a job delivering food to others than continue living in my house. “How much?” I blurt out.

  “How much for what?”

  “How much money do you want in exchange for you staying at my place?” The question comes out before I think of the consequences.

  Her mouth drops open and twin splotches of red burn on her cheeks. “Oh, so that’s what you think of me,” she says in a low, angry voice. “That I’m a whore and you can just buy me? Fuck you, Carter Franklin.” She gives me a hard shove right into the pool.

  Chapter 18

  Mallory

  I stand here shocked for a second that I actually pushed Carter into the pool. Even if he did deserve it. When he comes up for air the look on his face is one of shock too. I wait for his anger to come, for him to shout at me, but we only stare at each other, neither one of us saying a word. I swallow the lump in my throat because the anger I was feeling cooled. I’m sure as fast as the pool had cooled Carter. Now all I feel is sadness. Why does this hurt more than when my mom didn’t believe me about her boyfriend? Because you started to trust Carter, my mind whispers.

  I thought we’d grown close. I keep my distance with him when it comes to personal space but not with other things. Over the last week I’ve told him more and more about my life. Tears sting my eyes but I fight them. I won’t cry in front of him.

  “I guess Carter was so excited for his first house party he couldn’t even wait to get his swim shorts on.” Aly laughs, causing my eyes to shift toward her. Owe
n is standing next to her with his arm draped over her shoulder and holding a blanket in the other hand. They are early. This isn’t surprising. Aly’s been wanting to get a peek at Carter’s place and the two of us have become fast friends. She’s always punctual. She even asked me to help her pick out a swimsuit. She said she was going to bring over a few that she already owned and try them on while she is here. I thought it would give us alone time so I agreed to show her the ones Carter ordered for me. I have yet to open the bags. They are still sitting in his closet in a nice little stack. No matter how many times I knocked the pile over it always seems to get folded up into a nice, neat pile. I’m not sure if it’s the maid doing it or Carter.

  “Something like that,” Carter answers in a way that isn’t really answering at all. He doesn’t look mad but he starts moving toward me. I have no idea what he’ll do when he gets out of the pool so I make a dash for it.

  “Follow me. We’ll change.” I motion to Aly. She ducks out of Owen’s hold to follow me. Carter jumps out of the pool but Owen grabs him by the shoulder.

  “Let them go,” Owen tells him. I keep on walking but wait for Carter to tell Owen to fuck off or mind his own business but he doesn’t. I peek over my shoulder. Carter continues to stare at me but resigns himself to staying with Owen.

  “Did you push him in the pool?” Aly whispers as I show her up to Carter’s place.

  “Yes, but—"

  “Girl, you don’t need to finish the sentence. I’m sure he had it coming.” Her words make me smile. “You going to tell me why?” Her eyes dart all around Carter’s place as we enter but she keeps following me until we enter the closet.

  “He gave up part of his closet for you?” She looks around in awe. My side of the closet is filling up more and more. I don’t know where it’s all coming from but I swear there is new stuff every day. There is no way that I’ll ever be able to wear all of this stuff.