Page 1 of Cruel Promise
ONE
DOMINIQUE
If there is one commandment in life every man should honor, it’sthou shall not fuck your best friend’s baby sister. Problem is, I broke that one already and I continue to fucking break it with zero end in sight.
I knew screwing Kasey Henderson would earn me a one-way ticket to hell. Honest to god, I was very well aware of what a horrible and fucked up idea getting involved with her was. There is a reason I’ve denied myself all these years.
The path leading to her was lit up with neon caution signs and “Stop! Turn back!” warnings so damn big and bright they were impossible to ignore. But like the fool my father often proclaims me to be, I turned a blind eye to every single one of them.
It’s easy to think you have shit under control when the years roll by without incident. When you get in the habit of ignoring your wants. Your fucking needs. You assume you have your shit together. That you can walk away without a single problem.
I grew complacent and it is biting me in the ass.
Kasey Henderson has always drawn my attention. And not always in a good way. At first, she was impossible to ignore simply because that girl can get under my skin in a way no one else could.
She always has a smartass comment or some pissy comeback for everything I say. It drives me insane. It's as if she takes pride in aggravating me.
I tried to banish her to the category of annoying little sister because for years that’s all she was to me. My friend’s annoying as shit baby sister. But as the years rolled by, something about the way I looked at her changed.
Kasey still goes out of her way to infuriate me but she’s not that scrawny kid she once was. She blossomed in high school and despite her shit personality, there’s a lot more for a man to appreciate now. Things I’ve spent the last five years or better forcing myself to ignore.
It was easy to push thoughts of how good she looked or how great I imagined she would taste from my mind after I graduated. There were fewer opportunities for our paths to cross and you know how the saying goes.Out of sight. Out of mind.
I moved on to Suncrest U while Kasey had three years left to complete at Sun Valley High. The four-year age difference between us, and knowing she was still in high school was more reason to ignore any attraction I might have to her. To ignoreherall together.
Aaron would kill me if I hurt his sister which, let's be honest, is exactly what I’d do. I’m not a relationship sort of guy. Something the women around me are unable to accept but that’s their problem. Not mine.
I’ve spent too long working my ass off in football to throw it away by getting distracted by some chick. And knowing that, plus taking her age and the fact that she’s my best friend’s kid sister into consideration, it was easy to convince myself that nothing could ever go down between us.
But those excuses aren't reason enough to continue keeping me away. It’s a big fucking problem.
Kasey is eighteen now. No longer a kid. She’s doing that running start program that lets her take college courses as a high school senior.
She’s at my school. Living right on campus at the Kappa Mu sorority house. A house that is only a few blocks away from my place. It was bad enough trying to avoid her in our friend group.
Worse when we registered at Suncrest U and started going to the same school.
But the real problem I’m having now, is that Kasey is still in my bed. And she’s been in my bed, or I’ve been in hers, damn near every night for two weeks.
Ever since her mom died.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I look at her sleeping form, huddled beneath the blankets with just her curly blond head poking out. Having her here, in my space, it shouldn’t bring a smile to my face but it does. Something about her being here soothes something inside of me. It quiets all the noise. The incessant voices telling me what to do, or how to act. What my future has to be versus what I want it to be.
All of that shit falls away when she’s here. But that doesn’t make what we’re doing right. It’s wrong. Very, very wrong.
How the fuck did I let things get this far?
With a sigh, I rub the back of my neck. I’m torn between spreading her thighs and sinking into her needy center, or taking a cold ass shower until I can get my head on straight.
Fuck.I need to get her out of my bed.
It’s been two weeks. That’s how much time has passed since she came to me, begging for me to take away her pain. To fuck her until she couldn’t think or feel. Until it no longer hurt to breathe.
She wanted to forget about her life and about her mom dying. And I could do that. I could offer her some semblance of relief. But this was supposed to be a temporary thing. A way to bury her grief until she was ready to face it.
I don’t know what it is anymore.
I thought giving in and fucking her would get her out of my system. Make these fucking cravings for her go away. But all it’s done is make me want her more. Kasey is a drug I desperately need to quit.
