Vincent grinned. “Logically, you don’t find me attractive, but naturally you do.” He tilted his head closer until he was so close, I felt like his lips were on me. “And, you’re seventeen now, but when you turn eighteen—when you’re a woman—you won’t be able to resist me.”
My eyes fluttered to his lips, and my heart was doing cartwheels. We were silent, sizing the other up, trying not to break eye contact. It was a silent staring match and whoever broke away was obviously scared of feeling something and, heck, I was feeling a lot of things.
The one thing I wasn’t feeling was fear. Or repulsion. Or disgust.
Vincent didn’t make me feel any of the things I’d felt two years ago. He made me feel warm, like somehow a part of him and a part of me just clicked into place. Which was strange because this guy was a Madden and he was definitely not the kind of guy I should feel comfortable around.
Luckily, Mariah broke up the stare down for us. “Jeez, get a room you two. You can stop screwing each other with your eyes now.”
And the embarrassment just kept coming.
I snapped my eyes away from Vincent and placed my hands on my hips as I faced Mariah. “Ray! Seriously, do you ever think about anything else?”
Mariah stuck her tongue out at me. “Hey, we were all thinking it. I’ll leave you two alone so you can continue your googly eye, staring thing. Call me tonight, okay?” She grinned at Vincent. “Thank you for not stabbing me or taking my money.” Despite the situation, a laugh escaped me as I watched Mariah walk away to where her car was parked around the corner.
When I turned back to Vincent, he was still watching me. Clearing his throat, he approached his bike and threw me the helmet.
“She’s…interesting,” he mused as he climbed onto the bike.
“That’s definitely one word to describe her, yes.” I climbed on behind him, wrapping my arms tightly around his firm, muscled body.
He gunned the engine and we didn’t speak as he headed to Penthill. The next thirty minutes went by in a blur of trees and fields. I loved the rural landscape that came with the outlying area of Penthill. Not that Statlen was a huge city or anything, but I liked the farms and dirt roads out here. Statlen was more of a suburban town; Penthill had a country feel to it.
I loved how I didn’t need to say or even think anything. There was just a sense of being alive on the back of this bike with Vincent that I had never felt before.
When Vincent pulled up into this driveway, I wasn’t sure if I was quite ready to get off.
“You good, Stelle?” he asked, turning his head a little so I could see his profile. His lips were inches away from mine, and I could actually feel the air passing from his mouth.
Vincent’s dark eyes searched mine and it was like being pulled in by a magnet. There was an unspoken connection between us that made shivers erupt in the pit of my stomach. If he touched me, I was sure I would fall apart.
I felt myself nodding, my eyes were fluttering shut, and my mouth was drawing closer and closer to Vincent’s. I was trying to keep my thoughts pure, but I’d never met a guy like Vincent before and those lips of his were tempting me.
Then Vincent turned his head and swore under his breath, breaking the connection between us. “I told them to stay away when you’re here.”
What on earth was he talking about?
I was about to shoot him a strange look, but that’s when my eyes landed on the eight bikes neatly parked out the front of Vincent’s house that we’d both failed to notice earlier on.
“What’s going on?” I asked, hopping off the bike and approaching the house uncertainly.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt Vincent press his hand into the small of my back. He was only a few inches taller than me, so I only had to raise my head a little to meet his gaze.
There was a sheepish expression on his face, and he ran his free hand over his long hair. “Well, the boys kinda want you to cook for them.”
“They what?”
Vincent shot me a grin as he led me up the front steps. “What can I say? Your mac and cheese won them over.”
Chapter Sixteen
Vincent
The look of annoyance on Dylan’s face made me burst out laughing.
His scowl only deepened and he folded his arms across his chest, not impressed that I wasn’t taking him seriously. “It’s really not funny, Vin. Estella was my friend first and now everyone wants to be friends with her.”
Goat started laughing as well and clapped Dylan on the back. “God, you’re a possessive bastard, Dil. Already trying to keep her all to yourself.”
There was loud bang, and we all jumped. Estella had slammed a large jar down on the kitchen table and was glaring at Goat. “Put a dollar in the jar!”
Goat stared at her, startled. “W-what?”
“Put a dollar in the jar! I’m sick of you guys swearing in front of Dylan!” She placed both hands on her hips to show she wasn’t messing around. She was pissed.
Goat looked at me for help, but I shrugged. “You heard her.” A smile crept onto my face as Goat caved, pulling out his wallet and placing a dollar bill into the jar.
“Shit. She’s scary,” he said to me in a low voice, “I wouldn’t wanna get on the wrong side of her.”
Estella spun around, shoving the jar in front of Goat’s guilty face. “I heard that!”
The guys started laughing as Goat groaned and dropped another dollar bill into the jar. Estella somehow managed to glare at everyone in the room. “Let that be a warning to the rest of you. You swear, you put a dollar in the jar.” Her glare ended on me and she gave me a pointed look as if I was the one to blame for all this.
Normally, a woman talking to me like that would’ve pissed me off—Sarah had definitely done a good job of pissing me off last night—but Estella didn’t have that effect on me. As stupid and lame as it sounded, I was in absolute awe of her, especially after the way she’d handled herself around the boys last week and tonight.
It seemed so natural for her to fall into this role of taking charge and taking care of everyone. Warmth just radiated from her and made everyone want to be close to her. The guys had willingly volunteered to help her cook and were now trying to find enough plates and forks for everyone.
My home had never felt more like a home. And, it was all because of Estella.
There was nothing I wanted to do more than sweep her up in my arms and plant a kiss on the pout that filled her lips. I’d wanted to kiss her so bad when she’d been sitting on bike, but I’d made myself stop before I did something stupid.
Shit. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her like that. Estella was off limits to everyone, including me.
But as I watched her walk back over the stove where she was getting Topher and Three to stir the large pot of chili, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d somehow managed to creep into every part of me without me even noticing.
“I’m not finished talking to you,” Dylan said, still scowling at me.
“Huh?” I’d almost forgotten that my kid brother was standing there, thoroughly annoyed with me.
“Estella was my secret,” Dylan said, not looking impressed that I hadn’t been paying attention to him.
“Okay, I’m sorry, Kid,” I said, feigning defeat. “But you know what? Secrets should be shared. Especially good ones.”
Dylan still didn’t seem convinced, but before he could argue with me, Tyson strolled into the kitchen, a grin plastered across his face. “What the fuck is that amazing smell? I’m fucking hungry!”
He was still dressed in his boxers and his hair was a mess. It was six o’clock in the afternoon and the asshole had just gotten out of bed.