Chapter Eleven

**Sargent**
We drive for an hour before stopping at a favorite restaurant of mine. It doesn’t hurt that it’s owned by a close acquaintance so we have no trouble getting a table.

I had to sit next to her the entire way here because Maddox decided to be a gentleman and let her ride shotgun. Now I have to sit next to her at the table because there’s only three of us and it’s unavoidable.

I keep going back to last night in my head, or more aptly this morning, how I need to do it again. I need to fuck her again and again but what Maddox said before has me worrying. She puts her heart into everything.

I need to level it out with her, make sure she understands that this is just sex. This is about two consenting adults finding release with each other. This can’t be anything more.

I make a pros and cons list too, just in case she tries to argue with me.

Not that she will. I’m not so big-headed that I think she’s been pining after me. The girl isn’t fond of me, I see it in her eyes.

Maddox orders for her when she tries to order the least expensive thing on the menu. Typical. Such a little cliché. Does she not understand that money has never been the issue? I should speak to Maddox about making that clearer.

I insist on not being a part of the conversation for most of it. I let them have their easy friendship without butting in. It’s bad enough I’ve fucked the first girl he’s ever brought home regardless of their relationship. Especially when just the day before he decided Devon is too old for her and too much of a dog. I can hardly consider myself any better than Dev. I sleep with different women. There are very few women who I’ve slept with more than once though I do have a few favorites who I return to.

She’s my new one. My new favorite. There are so many more things I want to do to her body.

I remember climbing out of her bed, leaving her tangled in the sheets, the scent of our deed still lingering in the air and on her skin. For a moment I hadn’t wanted to leave her but then I brushed that shit right off.

My phone rings and Devon’s name blinks in the middle of the screen.

“Excuse me,” I say to Maddox and Tempest.

They both continue with their quiet conversation, laughing under their breath like school children not adults.

“Yes?”

“You sound cheery this morning,” Devon replies sarcastically and I know he’s grinning. He’s always been a fan of my moods. Lord knows why.

“I’ve just finished breakfast with my son and his guest.”

Her eyes cut to me but I ignore her look of what could be shame mixed with pain. It was so fleeting it was hard to tell.

I don’t owe her anything anymore than she owes me something. She’s lived with us for long enough to know I’m a bastard in all sense of the word.

“Ah, she still teasing you with those perky breasts?”

I sigh heavily and warn, “Devon. Your point?”

He laughs hard. “Relax, brother from another mother. I’m just calling to see if little Miss Perky is still interested in that job.”

“No, she is not,” I grit, the thought of her working in close proximity to him is making me feel like I want to clock him in his face with a powerful right hook.

“Funny, that’s not what Maddox said.”

I turn away to give myself some semblance of privacy as their eyes come to me again and their conversation slows to a stop. “If you already asked, then why ask again?”

“Just working on a theory,” he replies cheerfully. “If you like her, you should just say. I’ll back off.”

“Have at it,” I reply and hang up my phone. I look at them both and they both look away. “Maddox, when are you getting your hair cut?”

He rolls his palm over the thick, long tresses and grins. “When I feel like it.”

“You look like a stoner.”

“He is a stoner,” Tempest mutters and Maddox shoves her so hard she falls off her chair with a squeal and nearly brings the table down with her.

He laughs so hard he can’t breathe, Tempest however, climbs back into her seat with bright red cheeks. I’m torn between being mortified by their childish behavior and laughing because she really did go down quite easily.

When she catches me smiling her eyes narrow which only makes me smile more.

“Behave,” I tell my son when the eyes of others come to us. When he stops laughing and she perks up again, I ask, “What do you both have planned for today?”

“We are dropping Pest off at Dev’s, then I’m going to finish inventory.”

I ignore the first part. “You’re working very hard, I’m pleasantly surprised.”

“Maddox never does a job half-arsed.” Tempest smiles warmly at my son and I wonder how I could ever have mistaken their affections for anything other than familial. There’s no chemistry between them on the romantic scale.

There’s definitely chemistry between the two of us.

I still need to have a talk with Maddox about his intentions though. His feelings could change and I don’t want to come between them if they do.

Although I wonder if he’ll want anything to do with her should he find out I’ve been inside of her body. It does make for an odd predicament.

Which brings me to my next thought. Birth control. We didn’t use preventative measures at all. I don’t think she’s on anything either.

I feel sick. Why is this only now crossing my mind? I don’t want to be a father again at forty. Jesus fucking Christ… I’m too old to be making these kinds of mistakes. That must also be why it felt so intense with her. I always use protection, always. It’s not because she has an incredible pussy, it’s because it has been years since I rode a girl bareback.

I am such a fool.

If my mood wasn’t bad before it is now.

**Tempest**
I start my new job this morning. To say I’m excited would be an understatement.

“I’ll drop Tempest at Devon’s Shack,” Sargent insists. “I need to have a word with Devon anyway.”

A look of understanding passes between the men. They seem to be silently speaking with their eyes.

Whatever. I just hope Sargent’s mood elevates during the journey there. Throughout breakfast he just seemed to spiral deeper and deeper into this pit of anger. Maddox noticed it too but neither of us said anything.

Maddox gets an Uber to work or home to pick up a car. I’m not sure, I didn’t ask, I just let Sargent hold open the door of the SUV for me, close it after me and then make his way to his side.

As soon as he drives us out of the carpark and onto the busy street he says two words that have me panicking like a teenager. “Birth control.”

“What… what about it?” I stammer, ignoring the heavy beating of my heart.

“Are you on birth control?”

Fuck. Shit. Bollocks. Wank.

I close my eyes and calm my breathing, trying not to mentally chastise myself too badly. “No. I’m not.”

He slams his hand against the steering wheel, making me jump. “Shit.”

“I’m not pregnant, I’m not ovulating,” I assure him. “But we should really use condoms in future.”

“No future,” he declares quickly. “No more. Whatever happened, it can’t happen again.”

I try not to feel too hurt by that but it doesn’t seem fair. “Why?”

“Because I don’t make mistakes like that.”

Okay, this time I cannot hide my hurt because, ouch. “Well, at least I know where I stand.”

“That’s not—”

I cut him off, “Perhaps you could refrain from accosting me in the utility room should you not wish to pursue this further.”

I see a muscle tick in his jaw as his handsome profile and blue eyes pierce the road ahead.

He doesn’t reply and I don’t push him for a response. What’s the point?

“Thank you for giving me a ride to work,” I say softly, trying to portray that whatever happened between us there are no hard feelings. He doesn’t reply and that pisses me off. We tangoed together. I didn’t tell him to ditch the condoms. “If you want me to get the morning-after pill, or something, I will. I’m not trying to trap you with some pregnancy I don’t want. Okay? I want to go back to traveling. I can’t do that with a kid.” He still doesn’t reply. “But you’ll have to book it and pay for it because I don’t have the money and I don’t know any local doctors that will supply the pill.”

“How is your sexual health?” He keeps his tone casual, it doesn’t stop me from bristling at his words though.

“How’s yours?”

“I was tested two months ago. I’m vigilant,” he replies, looking at me briefly. “I have to be because I fuck a different woman every week, but I always use protection.”

He fucks a different woman every week. Jesus. I’m just a number to him, aren’t I?

“You?” he asks cautiously.

“I’m clean.”

“That’s not what I was asking.”

“You want to know the last time I had sex? That’s really none of your business.”

“It is if it puts my health at risk.”

“I have sex with a different guy every week too,” I lie, not wanting to seem virginal, prudish, and pathetic. “But I use protection.”

His lips twitch as though my words amuse him. “So why did you tell me it had been a while?”

“It’s been a couple of months.” Die with the lie, I chant, having learned it from a movie. “That’s a while for me. I normally don’t go more than three days.”

I am so full of shit.

His eyes which held amusement are now blank and devoid of emotion. Or perhaps I’m not reading him well enough.

“My son seems to think otherwise, he warned me to keep Devon away from you. Said you’re not like other women and you put your heart into things.”

“Maddox doesn’t like it when I sleep around. He’s too much of a gentleman,” I respond, mumbling now. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”

“Devon is your type?” I see his hands clench the steering wheel.

“I don’t have a type. If I want it, I take it.”

“It’s that simple?”

“It really is.”

He rolls his eyes. “Your parents must be so proud.”

What a condescending shit! “So must yours be!”

“Mine are in another state stewing over past arguments, they’re not anything.”

“Mine are dead, isn’t life a bitch?” I reply bitterly and cross my arms over my chest.

His lips pinch together and I see his regret immediately as he replies, “I’m sorry, Tempest. I didn’t mean…”

“It’s fine, I got over them a long time ago.” I look out of the window. “Can you stop talking to me now? I prefer your silence.”

Sargent
I’ve never been a particularly sensitive guy. I often miss compassionate social cues so it’s not surprising I’m sitting here beside her, silent as she asked. I don’t know what to say or do to rectify my mistake.

I didn’t know her parents were dead. I never asked about her family.

Maybe I should?

No. It’s none of my business. Just like her sex life isn’t any of my business.

I pull into the parking lot outside of Devon’s Shack which is a place where people can buy or rent all kinds of equipment for the beach. They also teach surfing, jet skiing, skating, etc.

I hate bringing her here. I should have offered her a job myself but she’d never take it and to be honest I don’t need her around me anymore than she already is. We would not work well together.

“You came!” Devon calls when we step into the shack, and she finally starts smiling. She’s never smiled at me like that, so happy and easy. I get a nagging hum in my chest but mentally lock it away. I don’t know what it was and I don’t care to know.

“You look beautiful, but if it’s okay, we have a uniform that all employees must wear.” Devon, without touching her, guides her to the staff rooms, passing other members who wave and smile curiously as we go.

He leads her to a rail of uniforms on the back wall which comprise of black T-shirts with the store logo and tight, Lycra cut-offs that stop below the knee. “At the end of each day you chuck them into the bin in the corner and we have them washed and ready for the next day. Write your name in the label and you won’t get mixed up.”

I watch her take her clothes into one of the few changing rooms and Dev claps me on the back.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her.”

“Keep that in your pants or Maddox will make my life hell,” I hiss, pointing at his dick which is visible through his own Lycra cut-offs.

He chuckles and rolls his eyes. “You sure Maddox is the only reason I should keep it to myself?”

My eyes narrow but he only laughs harder.

“I promise, unless she makes a move, I won’t touch her.”

“Even if she does, you won’t touch her,” I correct and his smile fades.

“Bit possessive there, Wolf. Want to talk about it?”

“Nothing to talk about, so long as we’re clear.”

His smile returns but it’s menacing. “Like I said, you lay claim, I’m off that. You don’t, I’m on that should she wish it. I’m not pushing anything on her but I won’t say no if she offers. You’ve seen her, she’s sweet. I’d be a fool to say no.”

My jaw aches with how tightly it’s clenched. “If you make her uncomfortable…”

“Not my style, you know that. Don’t need to harass a woman to get in her pants. I can dot my I’s and cross my t’s. Not hard to know when a woman isn’t interested.”

She exits the changing room and I have to bite back a groan at those pants. They cover everything but also show everything.

“You sure don’t look like you’re not interested,” Devon mutters so only I hear. Then he twirls her under his arm. “Beautiful. Now, why don’t I show you the ropes and get you started?”

“Thanks for the ride,” she says to me, her tone quiet and sweet.

I hand her my business card because she doesn’t have my number. “Call me when you’re finished and I’ll pick you up or send somebody.”

That’s my guilt for bringing her dead parents into it shining through.

“It’s fine, I can handle it. I need to pick up those photos from you later anyway.”

“What photos?” she blurts and I see her panic and mistrust aimed directly at me.

I also see Devon’s brow rise. This asshole does not miss a beat. “Just some old photographs he’s edited and printed for me from back in the day.”

Did she really think I’d betray her trust like that?

I haven’t even looked at the images yet myself, let alone showed them to anybody.

We hear a bang and Dev sighs, “Duty calls. Come on, Pest, let’s show you the ropes.”