Yours to Keep by Claudia Burgoa

Chapter Seventeen

Vance

After runningerrands for my family, I fly back to Baker’s Creek. I’m not expecting a welcome party. As I walk inside the mansion, Henry and Hayes are by the gate, waiting for me.

“The prodigal child is back,” Henry jokes as I punch in the gate’s code.

I glare at him.

“He’s in a mood,” Hayes comments.

“He’s always in the same mood,” Henry says.

Hayes nods. “You’d think that after being with his boyfriend, he’d be happy.”

I stare at my brothers, horrified. “What the fuck, Hayes?”

Hayes is the cool one. He never teases us. However, he laughs while we taunt each other. He also enjoys giving us ammunition to pester the others. He’s a lot like Beacon. You think they’re not doing anything, but they love to instigate and get the rest of us arguing for hours.

He waves his phone up in the air saying, “Mrs. Russell texted me.”

“Why does she have your number?”

“She dragged me to a couple of her charities back when I lived in San Francisco. Let me quote one of her texts. ‘Are you related to Vance Aldridge?’ She even sent me a picture of you.” He smirks. “I responded yes. She said, and I quote, ‘Your brother is magnificent. He and Darren make such a cute couple, don’t they?’ That’s followed by a picture of you two kissing in front of Portland Medical.”

He clears his throat and repeats, “Kissing.”

Henry echoes it, “Kissing.”

“It was…fuck.”

“Mind sharing?” Hayes asks.

I shake my head. “It’s complicated, and when I say that believe me, it’s a fucking mess.”

They look at each other and nod. “We have time. Go on.”

“Mrs. Russell arrived on Dare’s doorstep with a guy. I felt bad for him and pretended to be his boyfriend.”

Hayes’s brow furrows. “That’s such un-Vance-like behavior. Why would you do that?”

That’s a great question, and one I still can’t answer. All I remember is seeing his desperate face. I hated how his mother just pushed me to the side and tried to force him to meet someone. What kind of mother is she? She might be well-intentioned, but I think Dare has to put a stop to this nonsense. What gives her the license to try to control his life?

“No, really, why did you do it?” Hayes insists.

“I wasn’t thinking? Fuck if I know.” I’m too fucking confused.

“I don’t know,” I say.

“So, you kissed, and now what?” Henry asks.

We kissed three times. It was so fucking good I didn’t want to let him go.

But I keep all those thoughts inside. It doesn’t seem wise to tell them anything more than that, “It happened. Does anyone else know?”

They shake their heads.

“Can we keep it between us, for now? At least until we know what’s going to happen, please,” I beg them.

“We can do that,” Henry answers. “But you need to solve this fast.”

“Mrs. Russell thinks it’s serious,” Hayes warns me. “You don’t want to mess with her. She tried to set me up with two of her daughters.”

“Let me guess, Denise and Danika.”

He nods. “How do you know?”

“Darcy is too young.”

His worried look almost makes me laugh. “You met them? How?”

“They were at the airport when we landed in San Francisco. I’m pretty sure they were there to check me out. I made the mistake of setting up the Wi-Fi on Mrs. Russell’s phone. I’m sure she was messaging them during the flight.”

Hayes shakes his head. “What in the world were you thinking?”

I stare at him, unamused. “I wasn’t, and the woman threatened to come to Baker’s Creek soon. So, he either comes clean, or I have to pretend that we’re together, in a town where everyone is watching us.”

“It can’t be too serious, or Jerome will shove him in the house,” Hayes advises.

Please, as if I hadn’t thought about that yet. The last thing I want is to live with another person. And in my room. In only a few weeks, Henry’s twins will be born. If they are anything like Machlan…fuck. That’s it. I’ll never have children. Also, I have to figure out how this pretend relationship works for Darren and doesn’t affect me.

Henry gawks at Hayes. “Are you entertaining this nonsense? I thought we were talking to him to figure out why he’s being stupid, not to…what are we doing now?”

“Supporting him. You don’t know Debbie Russell.” Hayes laughs. He’s actually laughing. I’m not sure if it’s at the situation or my misery. “I hope you have a plan.”

I wish I had one, but I’m out of ideas. After all the changes I’ve gone through since my father died, my mind might be broken. I’m pretty sure the wheel of emotions is going to say I’m screwed.

“No. I don’t.”

“Listen, I don’t want to assume, but you might’ve done this to protect him. Darren’s mom is a force. Your first instinct is always to protect everyone, but…there has to be a long-term plan. After that room service joke, the town thinks you two are together.”

“We’re not.”

“I understand, but you’re getting yourself tangled into something that might end up bad.”

“We’re here for you,” Henry finally speaks. “Sorry for laughing, but it’s pretty funny. I mean, it’s you, and it’s him.”

“What does that mean?”

“You two are total opposites. It’s like trying to combine water and oil,” he answers.

“In case you didn’t know, oils are hydrophobic,” Hayes, the science guy, answers. “Instead of attracting their molecules, they repel them.”

Henry pats Hayes’s shoulder and shakes his head. “What our resident nerd wants to say is that they don’t mix well together. It isn’t an opposites-attract situation.”

“Thank you for the science lesson and the translation. Everything is so much clearer. Why don’t you leave me alone, so I can reflect upon your nonsense?”

“Have you noticed he’s becoming a cynic?” Henry asks Hayes.

“I’m still here.”

“We’re just trying to help.”

“Thank you?”

“No, thank you for providing us hours of entertainment,” Henry says.

“I could entertain the rest by teaching them how I can beat the shit out of you in three easy movements,” I joke.

Henry glares at me, and they finally walk away. It never fails. He’s still scared of me. I text Dare, letting him know that I’m home safe. He calls me right away on FaceTime.

FaceTime.

I don’t want to see him. I hate phone calls. Still, I answer.

“Hey,” I greet him.

I can’t help but smile when he smirks at me and says, “Hi, yourself.”

I don’t know how to follow that, but he has no problem filling the silence between us. “I was starting to get worried.”

“Sorry, my brothers intercepted me as I arrived. More like they ambushed me because they had to talk to me.” The words resonate inside my head. Wait, am I apologizing to him? Why? No one needs to know my whereabouts. Why am I calling him? No. He called me. Still, I shouldn’t have answered.

I’m losing my mind. Earlier, I pretended to be someone’s boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

I’m too old to be holding hands with anyone. Now, I’m acting like a person in some kind of relationship.

“What did they need to know?”

As I march toward the lake, I answer, “Your mom texted Hayes.”

“Fuck, I…listen, I can say it was casual, and since she pushed too far, it’s over. That will teach her not to meddle in my life.”

“Will she learn a lesson, or will she bring someone to console you?”

“Ugh, probably the latter. We’re in over our heads. I’m not sure if this is going to work. Why did you do it?”

“I don’t know. I’m reactive. It felt like we were under attack. Well, mostly you. I had to do something.”

He shakes his head. “I appreciate what you did, but we have a bigger problem.”

I nod, wishing that I stayed in Portland with him, which makes no fucking sense. I don’t need anyone. I’ve never needed anyone’s company.

“There you go again, getting lost inside your head.”

“Sorry?”

“Listen, I can tell Mom the truth. I feel like you’re outside your comfort zone.” He chuckles. “I doubt you’re ever comfortable with social situations, but that’s a problem for another day.”

“You might be right about it. The worst social situation I’ve faced is living with my brothers for a year. Though it feels like three years, and we still have several months to go.”

“Debbie is going to be ten times worse,” he warns me.

“You make her sound like the devil.”

“Talk to all my brothers-in-law. They’re scared of her.”

“Listen, by the end of November, this is over. Once I leave, you can think about plan B. It doesn’t matter if your mom thinks I’m with you or not.”

This time, he’s the one who goes silent for a long time. I appreciate the moment. It’s good to be around him without having to listen to him constantly.

“You know what I’m thinking?” he finally says with a cheery-mischievous-lusty voice.

Oh, that smirk is scary and hot. It hits me right in the groin. Why do I find him annoying, fascinating, and sexy?

“Should I be scared?”

“It depends,” he answers. “Does sex scare you?”

“What?!”

“Well, I’m thinking that while we’re pretending, we can…you know…”

“No. I don’t.” I pretend that I’m so fucking stupid his innuendos don’t make sense. “What, be together?”

“We can make this fun. I like you, and your kisses showed me that you like me as much.”

“I don’t like to be in relationships.”

His grin widens. Apparently, what I said was enticing. Maybe perfect.

“Today is your lucky day!”

“How so?”

“I loathe them. With my schedule, it’s hard to be with one person. I don’t commit, but I like sex. A. Lot.”

I cough. Not that I’m opposed to having sex with him. He’s fucking hot but fuck, do I want to have a lover? I recall our kiss. His mouth. I loved the way he kissed me. Why not try? I’ve done that before. Plenty of times.

“Please tell me you’re thinking how good it’d be to fuck each other and not the logistics of this plan,” he says.

I laugh and start coughing.

“Are you okay?”

“You really don’t have a filter.”

“We already established that. I don’t understand why you have to bring up the obvious.” He arches an eyebrow.

Since I think he’s waiting for an answer to his proposition, I say, “I usually wait until I know I’m comfortable and compatible with the other person before we come to an…agreement.”

“I guarantee you’ll enjoy it,” he says. “We’ll have fun. Hours of fun.”

“We could try, but what if we don’t feel like it’s working, and we need to call it off?”

He smirks. “Babe, you’ve never been in my bed. You won’t want to leave that easily.”

“Well, aren’t we cocky?”

“I know what I’m good at. The question is, are you any good?”

Am I? I never thought about it, but I guess I am since no one has ever complained. I try to make my partner feel good. I enjoy giving oral, which people love.

“You’d have to wait and see. Maybe you’ll be the one who’ll never want to leave my bed,” I say. He smirks with satisfaction. That’s when I realize I’m flirting with him. I don’t flirt; I suck at it. Then again, I’ve never tried it before today.

“You surprise me, Vance Aldridge. Maybe I chose right?”

“Hmm, do you think this is a choice? Maybe I tricked you into this, and you just walked into my trap.”

“What are you planning to do with me? Torture me? Lick me into submission?”

“Fuck you until you can never walk again.”

“I’ll take that as a promise, Aldridge. See you on Saturday.”

“Call me if you need me to pick you up before then,” I offer and hang up before I say something stupid or embarrassing.

A second later, he sends me a text. What’s the dirtiest thing you want to do to me?

I stare at the words for a long time. There are so many things I want to do to him. I wouldn’t know where to start, but I know how I want it to finish. With me claiming him.

Is that even possible?