Page 86 of Anything To Be With You

"Because my dimples made you blush." I say.

Once again, the girls burst out laughing, Erin huffs and slumps down in her chair and Jake rubs his arm. I'm glad Carrie guilted me into coming over. This has been one of the best nights I've had in a long time.

Dani leans back against me and I toss my arm over the back of her chair. She curls into me and sighs.

"Do you always smell this good." Dani says.

"Only when I shower." I answer.

She giggles and moves closer. "Can I hitch a ride home with you? I don't want to be locked in Erin's SUV when she's mad. She's scary."

I kiss her forehead. "Of course."

Dani

We leave shortly after one in the morning. The drive is quiet, his hand resting on my thigh, his thumb caressing my skin. Luke pulls up behind my hunk of junk and walks me inside the house—that’s full of fucking kids!

"Mason!" I scream from the bottom of the stairs. He’s in so much fucking trouble. He said he was at Clay's.

"Damn, Ms. C," Axe swaggers his way over and drops a heavy arm over my shoulders. "You look fine as hell." He dips his head quickly and I slap a hand over his mouth before his lips touched mine.

"Axton Charles! What—" Axe is yanked away from me before I have a chance to finish.

Luke has Axe by the front of his shirt, lifting him until he's eye level. "Why would you think it's okay to force yourself on Daniella?"

Axe's toes roll on the floor as he tries to find his footing. "I-I-I-I…"

Luke makes a buzzer noise. "Wrong answer. Try again."

Axe looks at me, his eyes pleading with me to help him. Instead of jumping in, I'm frozen in place. I'm used to doing everything on my own, this is all new to me.

"This is what's going to happen," Luke says, pulling Axe's attention back to him. "You're going to apologise to Daniella, then you're going to start cleaning up the mess you and all your friends made. You feel me?"

"Y-y-yes, sir." Axe stutters.

"Good man." Luke lets go of Axe's shirt and spins him to face me.

"I'm sorry, Ms. C."

"Th—thank you, Axe." I stammer.

Luke puts his fingers in his mouth and lets loose a shrill whistle. The house goes silent. "I'm going to give you all two choices," he says. "You can either help clean up the fucking mess you made or I can call your parents and you can explain to them why you trashed Ms. Carter's home while she was out."

I stand in the middle of my living room and watch thirty kids scramble to find garbage bags and cleaner. However, there's one kid missing and it's mine.

"Mason Christopher!" I scream and hear him curse. He comes barreling down the stairs, in his boxers with his hair a mess and what looks like a hickey on his chest.

I point to the kitchen. "You've got some explaining to do."

I follow behind him while Luke blocks the front door and makes sure the kids clean up.

"What in the fuck were you thinking!" I demand the minute Mason sits.

Mason stiffens in his chair.

"You said you were crashing at Clay’s."

"Clay's grandmother showed up for a surprise visit and I couldn't stay over anymore." He explains.

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