Page 21 of Indecent Ventures

I nod. “Totally. I can confirm that. It keeps their teeth out of play and is even soft when their teeth do brush against you. I’m a fan. Nothing worse than a woman who uses too much teeth. When I’m old, I’m only dating women with dentures so they can take them out at night. I’ll want a gummy woman in my bed.”

Everyone is laughing. Jade moves her hand higher on my thigh, and leans over to whisper, “Maybe the wrong women are sucking your dick, Collin.”

She turns back to the group and says, “Fruit Roll-Ups too. If you wrap their dicks in a Fruit Roll-Up and lick it off, men seem to dig that, and it makes it much tastier for you.”

I can’t help but lean over and whisper, “Maybe you’re sucking the wrong dicks, Jade. I have something tasty for you.”

She licks her lower lip and my cock stirs. She looks down and notices.

I see a small smile creep onto her lips as she turns her head back toward the group and moves her hand higher on my thigh, brushing against my cock.

I can’t deny that I’m incredibly attracted to her. It’s almost visceral, completely out of my control. But then I look at my smiling best friend and his wife. They would never be okay with a scumbag like me dating Jade. Between the age difference, my history with women, and some of my needs, Carter would never forgive me when things inevitably go south.

As much as I want it in this moment, I know it can’t ever happen. I grab her wrist and reluctantly remove her hand from my thigh.

CHAPTERFIVE

10 YEARS AGO

JADE

Iget home from school and Mom is crying at the kitchen table. I place my hand on her back and she startles. “Oh, Jade, I didn’t realize you were home.” She wipes her eyes to attempt to clean them of the evidence of her tears.

“What’s wrong, Mom? Why are you crying?”

She shakes her head. “Oh, nothing. Max broke up with me.” She mumbles, “And he took our television.”

I sigh. “Mom, every guy you date steals from us. Maybe you’re looking in the wrong places for men.”

She has a remarkable knack for picking losers. Steve stole our DVD player. Frank made off with our couch. Yes, our couch. He managed to come in and take it when no one was home. And now Max stole our television. The fancy, new one that Declan bought for us. It was the nicest thing we’ve ever owned.

“I’m never dating. It only leads to heartache and pain. All men are scum.”

She squeezes my hand. “Don’t say that. I believe there’s someone special out there for everyone. You just have to keep your eyes open.” She gives me a small smile. “We all get our happily ever after at some point.”

I know she believes that. She’s very into fairy tales, thinking Prince Charming will one day come and sweep her off her feet. I don’t believe in any of that. I’m a realist. I know what men are capable of. Declan wanted no part of me for years. Every man in my mother’s life has hurt her and disappointed her. The boys at school are all jerks. I’m never going to let myself care enough to be hurt like she always is.

I sigh at what I know is coming. I’ve seen this program before. She’s now going to lay in bed for a month crying. All for an out-of-work loser who treated her like shit and looked a little too hard at me. It feels like she spends half her life crying over men. That will never be me.

I hear a knock at the door. As if this day couldn’t get any worse, I open it to see Declan. Shit. “What do you want, Declan? It’s not a good time. I can’t deal with you today.”

He gives me a small smile. “We have dinner plans tonight. I came early to see if you wanted to go shopping for any school clothes. You seem to grow every week. It can’t be easy to keep up.”

I look down at my slightly too short jeans. He’s not wrong. I don’t seem to ever stop growing. I’m the tallest kid in my class, by a lot. And that includes all the boys.

“As fun as shopping with my sperm donor sounds, I can’t. And we have to cancel dinner. I need to be here for Mom. She’s a mess. Max broke up with her.”

“Good. He was a loser. And I didn’t like the way he looked at you.”

I let out a laugh. “I can’t disagree with you on that.” I point to the now empty space on our television console. “He stole our TV on the way out.”

I see rage fill Declan’s face. It’s a familiar look. One I often see in the mirror.

He attempts to gather himself. “His last name, please.”

“Why? What are you going to do?”

“Jade, give me his last name.”

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