Page 42 of Brighter than the Boss
Every fiber of my being didn't want to continue, but she deserved to know exactly what she was getting involved with. How deep the scars went. How messed up my genetics were.
I gripped the steering wheel harder, grateful I didn't have to look her in the eye as I spilled my guts. Didn't have to see her face cloud over with disgust or pity.
"A year or two after my adoptive parents passed away, I got a thick envelope in the mail from a lawyer. I had no idea what it could even be so I didn't think twice about ripping it open and seeing what it was. Turned out the contents would change everything. He was writing to tell me that his client, my biological father, had passed away and he was executing his will by contacting me. Apparently, my parents were very young when they had me. They decided to put me up for adoption to give me a better life. Which I find hard to believe. I mean, everyone knows how shitty foster homes are, right?" I snorted, unable to fathom parents that thought my childhood would somehow be better than anything they could have given me. "So anyway, according to this lawyer, about five years later, my father had patented some piece of equipment and it became vital to automotive companies and he became rich. And like a sick son of a bitch, they didn't even bother to come looking for me. They had the means to take care of me, when I was still being shifted from shitty foster home to even shittier foster home, and they didn't bother to even look me up."
I was breathing hard, feeling like I'd just found out this little piece of information. Like I was back to the same day I'd ripped that envelope open.
Sunny brought me back to the present by stroking my arm, her touch soothing me like my whiskey never could. I wondered if her effect on me would ever wear off.
"So there I was. A letter from some hotshot lawyer telling me my biological parents were also gone, having never looked me up, even though they were quite rich by my standards. The lawyer had been instructed to seek me out and give me the entire inheritance since they hadn't had any other children. I deposited the check into a separate account and have only used it for one thing: my bar tab. Figured they gave me plenty of reasons to need to drink, they could pick up the tab. I didn't want their money, just like they didn't want me."
Glancing away from the road for a minute, I saw Sunny brushing a tear off her cheek.
"Don't cry, Sunshine. I turned out okay. A bit angry, I'll admit, but okay."
Her voice was wobbly when she answered, "Oh, I'm not crying for you, big guy. I'm crying because I think it's so sad that they never got to know you. Never got to see what a beautiful human being you grew up to be. The fact that they never looked you up is on them. Their mistake. And that's just sad."
I pulled up a few houses down from Ivan and Esa's place and whipped my truck into a spot along the curb. I threw it in park and then twisted to grab Sunny. Her seatbelt flew back when I clicked the button, freeing her to be transferred to my lap, straddling me.
"Cain!" Her hands landed on my shoulders, tears still shining in her round eyes.
"You kill me, Sunshine." I pressed my forehead to hers, wanting to squeeze her tight and never let her leave me. Her heart was the most beautiful thing I'd ever come across and I couldn't believe she was mine. More than ever, I knew I'd work my ass off to be the man she needed. I didn't get good grades in school, but I wasn't an idiot. Finding a woman like Sunny was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
Being that we were on a public street, in plain sight for anyone walking by to see, I settled for claiming her lips, telling her with my body what I couldn't put into words: you're precious to me, you're incredible, I adore you.
She shifted on my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck and gripping my hair, giving back as much as she was taking. My hands found her hips, then her soft belly, her luscious breasts, and then up to cup her face, finding every part of her perfectly addictive. I pulled back, breathing hard and not even close to being ready to share her with our friends.
My gaze found hers, and I confessed, "I've never felt like this before." After all that I'd told her, that statement should have been the easiest, but I found it to actually be the scariest. I'd grown up having to play the tough guy role, never letting anyone get too close to me as I'd learned everyone was temporary. Relying and trusting someone, and certainly telling them how you felt, was not only dangerous, but naive and stupid. My simple statement was the first time I'd put my heart on the line and my heart was galloping like I'd sprinted across the beach.
"I feel the same way, Cain," she whispered back in the quiet of my truck cab. Her eyes were doing that melting thing again, so I knew she spoke the truth.
"What am I going to do with you?" I ventured a smile, only half kidding with the question.
She tugged on my hair and tilted my head back forcefully. Her breasts were rubbing along my chest, making my eyes feel like they were going to cross. "You're going to take me to this party and then you're going to take me back home and spend all night showing me how you feel. Sound good?"
If she shifted one more time on my lap, she was going to have to say her hellos and goodbyes a whole lot quicker than she'd planned so we could move on to the second part of that statement.
Who knew having a girlfriend could be this much fun?
21
Sunny
Hearing the party in full swing by the time we made it out of Cain's truck, we walked hand in hand through the side gate instead of ringing the doorbell. Everyone was sprinkled around the fire pit in the backyard, the dance of the flames and the string lights twinkling above creating a bubble of brightness in the dimming night sky.
"Where have you been, you two?" Esa called out, waving us in.
I flushed. "We've been sorting out my Vespa and then started talking and the time got away from us."
"More like your bodies got away from ya..." Bailey deadpanned.
I blushed harder and Cain just laughed. Of course they knew what we were doing, pretty much the entire time since we'd seen them last night. I guess there was no sense in trying to hide the obvious.
"Don't let her get to you, babe. She was tardy to her own birthday party a couple months ago and had the audacity to tell us it was because she couldn't find her car keys." Hessa handed me a beer and shoved Kai over on the long bench they were seated on, giving me room to sit.
"What? I did lose my keys!" Bailey threw her hands in the air, nearly raining beer down on Jack's head as she sloshed it around.
"Dude, your hair was a rat's nest in the back and your wrists were as red and raw as your lips. We knew what you were doing." Brinley huffed out a laugh, like Bailey was ridiculous, which she was. Jack just sat there looking smug, letting his woman handle the conversation herself. Smart man.
