All In: Double or Nothing Page 6

  We finished up the statement, which the officer had me sign. I told them everything, even about my mom’s drugs. I was done with her and her habits screwing me over, and I was done supporting her. It was time for me to take care of myself, and leave her to deal with her own self-inflicted problems. Despite her repetitive claims, I knew she was never going to change.

  When I walked out into the lobby Caleb jumped up from his seat and wrapped me in another hug. I desperately needed him to hold me and make me feel like I was finally safe.

  When I opened my eyes I saw Tyler standing behind Caleb, watching me with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked pissed, and I knew the feeling. I was still pissed at him for what he’d said on the phone.

  “Come on,” Caleb said, putting his arm around me. “Let’s get back to the house.”

  Tyler drove his RAV4 and I sat in the back with Caleb, still in his arms.

  “So, can you tell me what all happened?” Caleb asked.

  “I fell asleep and woke up after I heard my mom scream. When I went in the living room she was on the floor and the two guys with black ski masks and guns were just standing there. They told me to get down and tell them where our cash and drug stash was.” I didn’t miss it when Tyler's back tensed up at the mention of drugs.

  “My mom uses so I’m pretty sure it was someone that knows her. I told them that in my statement too. I’m so fucking pissed at her and her shit, putting me in danger. It’s been like this my whole life, but this was the last straw. So I yelled at her to tell them where it was and she finally did, then they got my debit card and made me go with them to the ATM. I got out four hundred dollars, handed it over and they drove away. I had to walk until I found a store that was still open, and asked to use their phone to call the police. That’s when they sent Cooke to pick me up and bring me to the station.”

  “Damn, what a night. I’m so sorry Lauren. I bet you were scared to death,” Caleb said, rubbing his hands down my arms.

  “I’m fine. I know it could have been worse,” I said with a shrug.

  “Did they touch you?” Tyler asked from the front seat, the first words he’d spoken.

  I shook my head. “No, they didn’t touch me.”

  “Thank God,” Caleb said.

  “You shouldn’t go back to that apartment. Ever,” Tyler said with a growling angry tone that pissed me off.

  “Well, asshole, it’s not like I have any other options. Do you think I like living there?”

  “Whoa! Tyler, what the fuck did you do to her?” Caleb asked, jerking backing at the venom of my words.

  “They stole my damn cell phone so I asked Cooke to call Tyler since I didn’t have any other way to get in touch with you, or anyone else. Except my mother, but I wasn’t ... anyway, I’m sorry I bothered you tonight. I didn’t have anyone ... I didn’t know who else …”

  “I’m sorry,” Tyler said. “I was rude when the phone rang and woke me up. I had no idea what had happened to you.”

  “So Tyler was an ass when you called after going through all of that? What the fuck is your problem Ty?”

  “Just forget it. I don’t want to think about or talk about this shitty night anymore,” I told him.

  “I know something that will take your mind off of everything,” Caleb said, then gave me a soft kiss. Tyler spoke up before I had a chance to respond.

  “Caleb, she was just robbed and kidnapped. You trying to fuck her is probably the last thing she wants right now.”

  My jaw dropped open at his hateful statement. I thought he'd said it out of jealousy, but either way it was harsh, and he was wrong.

  “Actually, Caleb, that’s exactly what I want. I want you to fuck me until I forget everything about this shitty night.”

  “Oh hell yes, sweetheart. I’m going to make you come until you forget your own damn name and can only say mine.”

  I smiled and kissed him again, leading us into a full blown make-out session in the back of the SUV, our tongues swirling and exploring each other’s mouths. Caleb’s hands crept up my braless shirt.

  “I like your pajamas,” he whispered.

  “I didn’t exactly plan for anyone to see them.”

  “Um-hmm. I’m glad I got to see them, but Lauren, I’m so sorry about all this. You don't deserve this shit. Why don’t you stay with us for now, at least until you can move somewhere else?”

  I was shocked by his offer, but I still shook my head. “That’s sweet of you, but I can’t. We just met, and I'm not going to burden you like that.”

  “I’m serious. I want you to stay. I’m going to be heading to basic training in a few weeks anyway. You can stay in my room while I’m gone. Keep my bed warm for me.”

  “What? Basic training?”

  “Yeah, you know I told you I just signed up for the Army Reserves. In two weeks I report for the ten week basic training requirement. I’m not allowed to leave the base during that time, so you can stay in my room.”

  “Caleb, I just can’t, and I’m sure Tyler doesn’t want me hanging around your house.”

  “Fuck Tyler,” Caleb said dismissively.

  “What the hell? I'm sitting right here and can hear you. And if you’d actually asked me, I would’ve said I don’t care if she stays with us. Shit, I prefer that to her going back to that damn apartment in the drug district.”

  “Sorry Ty. See, he doesn’t care. Stay with me. I like the idea of coming home to you, and seeing you when I wake up in the morning.”

  I kissed him to avoid having to give him an answer tonight. I’d never been offered something so nice from any man, and it made me feel special, actually cared for.

  Finally we made it back to their place. Caleb carried me inside again, making me giggle. Tyler mumbled something behind us that sounded like, “She can walk.”

  Then Caleb made good on his promise of making me forget everything. Everything except one small thing. The fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about his roommate.

  Chapter Nine

  Tyler

  Damn I’d fucked up tonight with Lauren. She was pissed at me, and understandably so after what I'd said to her on the phone after she’d been robbed and kidnapped. It could have ended a hell of lot worse too, like the tragedy during my sophomore year of college all over again.

  The one time in my life I’m not the nice guy and it’s with her, and at the worst possible time. Then Caleb swoops in like her knight in shining armor, taking care of her, offering to let her stay here, promising to screw her into oblivion. I’d never seen him act like this with any other woman. Usually he kicked them out before the sun came up. But Lauren wasn’t any other woman.

  Now she might be moving in with us. My life would be a living hell, seeing her every day. I couldn’t stop thinking about her now, even when she wasn't around. Having to hear her fucking him was going to drive me insane. I could move out, but the shitty part was I didn’t want to. I wanted the torture of living in hell with her more than not seeing her.

  I tossed and turned a few hours then gave up to head to the kitchen. If I didn’t get over this depressed funk, or whatever it was over Lauren, I was going to end up fat as fuck. All I wanted to do was stuff my face with junk food. I vowed to run a few extra miles tomorrow.

  I was heading back to my room with a can of Pringles and a drink when I saw the outline of her body in the dark, curled up on the couch. I walked towards her a few steps to get a better look and she raised up.

  “Sorry, did I wake you?” I asked.

  “No,” she answered quietly, sounding afraid, sad and devastated all in that one word.

  “Are you okay?” What a stupid question, of course she wasn’t alright. I’d dealt with enough victims to know that.

  “I couldn’t sleep.”

  “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

  I sighed, trying to figure out what I could do, or should do.

  “Do you want some company?” I finally asked. I waited for her response, and got nothing until I heard her sn
iffle. Oh shit, she’s crying. Where the hell was Caleb? It was his job to comfort her, not mine. Not that I didn’t want to. Fuck.

  I sat my food and drink on the coffee table then sat down beside her, wrapping my arms around her. She molded right to my chest, like she needed someone to hold her more than anything else in the world.

  I rubbed up and down her back, over her long hair that smelled all sweet and fruity. A few minutes later her sniffles stopped, her breathing became more regular, and her body completely relaxed. She’d fallen asleep in my arms, and damn if it didn’t feel so fucking good. I kept holding her and at some point I fell asleep.

  …

  Lauren

  I woke up in the dark, wrapped in Tyler’s arms. Shouldn’t I be in Caleb’s? But he was asleep, and Tyler had sat down on the couch and held me when I started crying. I was pretty sure he'd fallen asleep, but his grip on me hadn't lessened. I should slip out of his arms and head back to Caleb’s bed. He’d hold me too, but for some reason I wanted to be in Tyler’s arms. Dammit, I told myself I wasn’t going to make Saturday's mistake again, so I tried to slide free.

  “You’re awake,” he said, his voice husky from sleep.

  “Yeah, I was going to, ah, go on back to bed so you could too.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said, his arms still around me, his hands caressing me softly and soothingly down my back. “For earlier. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was a shitty thing to say, especially after what you’d been through.”

  “It’s okay. I woke you up.”

  “You know it wasn’t because you woke me up. I was jealous. I am jealous that you’re with him, but I promise I won’t take it out on you again.”

  “Oh.” What was I supposed to say to that? And why did I like knowing he was jealous? I was a sick woman, that’s why.

  “Are you really okay? You went through hell tonight. When Cooke told me what happened … shit, I want to find the bastards that did this to you and beat the fuck out of them.”

  “Yeah, I'm okay. I’m pissed they took my phone and my money. I’m angry at my mom for the shit she does that ends up always screwing me over. And I hate that I’m scared to step foot in that freaking apartment again because of those bastards.”

  Tyler’s lips brushed a kiss on my forehead.

  “Stay with us.”

  “Tyler, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Caleb and I just met, and it’s not like we’re serious. It's just too soon.”

  “Is it me?”

  Was it him? I was nervous around him. I wanted him, but he didn’t or wouldn't let himself want me. I was worried I might throw myself at him and make it even more awkward. Or worse, ruin the good thing I had with Caleb.

  “It is, isn’t it?”

  “I, well…Tyler I know you don’t want us to ... after the other morning …I know it’s got to be awkward for you to be around me.” I could feel the flush of embarrassment heating my cheeks.

  Tyler reached up and grabbed my face, making me look at him. His cobalt blue eyes sparkled from the street light shining through the living room window.

  “Lauren, fuck, I'm not going to lie. I don't know if I can keep my hands off of you. It’s killing me to see you with him, and God, to hear you with him-”

  I covered his mouth with mine, stopping him mid-sentence. He didn’t hesitate, and our tongues intertwined with desperation. He pulled me on top of him, so that my legs straddled his hips, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I couldn’t hold in my moan as his erection pushed between my legs, throbbing against me through his shorts.

  “Do you feel how much I want you?” he asked, pulling my hips down onto him, making me gasp as he rubbed me along his erection.

  “God yes,” I whispered against his mouth.

  “But I’m not … Lauren, we can’t,” he said, pulling away and breathing heavily.

  “Can’t or won’t, Tyler?” I leaned back to ask him.

  “Me or him, Lauren?” he asked with a frown.

  I wanted to say him, but I couldn’t. I liked being with Caleb too much.

  “That’s what I thought,” he said. He raised me up like I weighed nothing and sat me beside him on the couch so he could stand up. “You should probably head back to his bed.”

  “Tyler wait …”

  “Damn it, please just stay here. You're not safe at your apartment, and I promise to keep my distance, despite how much I want you. But you can’t have us both, and I'm not going to screw you behind Caleb's back,” he said, then he was gone.

  Chapter Ten

  Tyler

  I worked all day Wednesday and Thursday, avoiding Lauren and Caleb as much as possible. But Thursday night I couldn’t talk myself out of going to the club. I wanted to see her, and hoped she would keep to her offer of a private lap dance.

  If one of my superior officers found out I was at Infinity’s, there’d be hell to pay. It wasn’t down right prohibited, just frowned upon. They could frown all they wanted. I knew what I was doing wasn’t smart, and if I thought my balls had been blue before they were going to be in all sorts of pain afterwards, but I just couldn't resist seeing her.

  I pulled up to the club and headed inside, paid the cover charge, then found an empty table. I sat back and watched the girls come out one at a time on the stage while I ordered a beer. The club was just starting to fill up. Apparently Thursday nights did more business than one would think. I didn't have to wait long before Lauren came on.

  When she stepped out on the stage she sucked the oxygen out of the room. Wearing a slutty school girl uniform, her midriff was showing below her tied up, see through, white dress shirt, sans bra, and her plaid skirt was so short her perfect ass cheeks hung out. The white thigh high tights and four inch white heels, made it look like there was no end in sight to her damn legs. Her long blonde hair was braided in pigtails, just begging to be pulled while fucking her mouth. Which only brought the memory of Saturday morning front and center.

  I’d watched two other girls before her, both attractive in their own fake boob, nice body ways. But the men in the club could have cared less until Lauren stepped out. Of course they played the Britney Spears song made famous by a similar outfit. Fuck if I didn’t want Lauren to hit me baby one more time.

  I watched every hip sway, dip and grind, frozen in place, my cock swollen to capacity in my jeans. I took a brief second to glance around, and saw the same look of a lustful awe on every other man's face.

  Lauren did her provocative dance, losing her shirt and then skirt as the song went on, until she was only wearing the thigh highs and heels. Her long legs wound tightly around the pole as she did a few tricks, and I’d never been so jealous of a piece of brass.

  When the song was almost over her hand went between her closed thighs and I actually groaned out loud. Thankfully that was the end of her performance. She laid stretched out, propped up on her elbows with one knee bent up on the edge of the stage so men could slide their dollars in her thigh highs, since that was the only place for her to hold them. Seeing men rub their grubby hands over the top of her inner thighs, getting an extra feel as they inserted their money, had my blood boiling.

  I was still sitting paralyzed when hands rubbed down my shoulders from behind my chair. I turned around to tell the girl I wasn't interested, but the words caught in my throat when I saw it was Lauren, or Chastity as she was known here.

  “Hey Officer. You ready for that lap dance?” she asked with a genuine sweet smile, like she really was glad to see me.

  I couldn't help but grin back as I took her in from her heels all the way up to her pigtails, standing so close to me I could reach out and touch her.

  “Fuck yes, I’m ready. It's all I’ve been thinking about for a week.”

  She grabbed my hand and led me down the dark hall to one of the private rooms. On the way she told a big bouncer to give her about thirty minutes and she’d be back out. I looked around the small, softly lit room when we went in, but didn’t see any cameras. I knew
they had to be there somewhere.

  “One in each corner and one in the speaker,” Lauren said, answering my silent question. "So keep your hands to yourself, or they'll throw you out."

  "Do you have to keep your hands to yourself?" I asked.

  "No, but I'll get bitched out if I don’t. Now, sit down so I can get started. I do have paying customers waiting to get in here with me.”

  Shit if that didn’t feel like a fist to my stomach.

  “Why do you work here Lauren?”

  “Don’t even start that Tyler. You know why - the money. So just sit back and relax.”

  I sat down on the red velvet couch. It was more of a truck bench seat, since there weren't any armrests or cushion. Better suited for the dancing, I was sure. The music from the front of the club was blaring through the speakers, Def Leppard crooning about pouring some sugar on him in the name of love. You could actually hear the men from the front room cheering and yelling for the woman on stage. Lauren started into her private performance for me, redressed in the pieces of scrap fabric called a skirt and shirt, and damn if the outfit wasn’t almost as sexy as her being completely naked.

  She spread my thighs wide to stand between them, then turned her back to me as she rolled her hips down to the ground, bracing her hands on the tops of my thighs.

  “Goddamn,” I groaned as her ass rubbed over my lap on the way down, and then again when she came back up.

  “Do you ever have naughty school girl fantasies, Tyler?”

  “No, but I bet I’ll have quite a few of those from now on.”

  She turned around and bent down, giving me an eyeful of her breasts, barely being held in by the tiny white shirt. Her hands went to the tie on the front, then changed direction and spread out over her breasts, while the rest of her body kept swaying.

  “Do you want me to take my top off?”

  “No.”

  “No?” she asked, surprised.