She runs her hands over my briefs before placing her fingers under the band so she can pull them down. I lift up allowing her to pull them down, my cock springing free. She grabs it in her hand and looks up at me with hooded eyes, licking her lips. It looks so big in her tiny hands and I'm wondering what she expects to do with it. Most girls take one look at its size and shy away, but she looks un-phased.

"It's so big and hard for me." She moans. "I want it in my mouth. Deep in my throat, baby." She starts stroking her hand up and down my length with one hand and she sits back to unbutton the rest of her jacket with the other. She lets go long enough to slide it off, then takes hold of it again. I lean back, resting my head against the back of the couch. She runs her tongue along the length of my shaft, then swirls it around the head of my cock. She then wraps her warm lips around it, sucking it half way in before swirling her mouth around it.

A deep growl sounds in my chest as I grab the back of her head and slowly move it up and down at a steady pace before pushing my hips up, hitting her in the back of the throat. I can feel her spit dripping down my balls.

"You like the way my dick tastes in your mouth?" I pull her head back and she suctions until it pops free. She slowly runs her tongue over her lips as if savoring the taste.

"It tastes so fucking good. The best dick I've ever tasted." She grips my thighs before placing her mouth back over my cock, sucking, and moaning so hard it almost makes me lose my control for a minute.

I hold back knowing she won't be able to handle it. She can barely even fit half of it in her tiny mouth and I'm lucky she's even giving it a shot.

Wrapping her hair around my hand, I stand up and pull her head back slowly, before pushing my way back into her mouth again, this time causing her to choke a little, but she seems to like it.

She picks up pace and after about ten minutes of her sucking and swirling her tongue around my cock, I finally feel a tug on my balls. I can't help but to push up with my hips.

"I'm about to blow," I warn her, giving her one chance to stop. She sucks harder and that's all it takes before I feel the pulsing through my dick, emptying my load in her mouth. She sucks one last time, up the shaft of my dick, licking me clean at the head, like a pro.

I moan, it's such a turn on. "I guess you really did like the taste," I say, raising an eyebrow as she stands up and wipes her mouth off.

"It was delicious." She runs her hands up my chest and leans in, pressing her lips against my neck. "I want you, inside of me, I need more."

Although I'm thankful for what she just did, I just can't bring myself to have sex with her. Maybe I'm just tired or maybe it's the throbbing pain in my face. Who knows, but I have a feeling it's neither. Whatever the reason, it won't be happening tonight.

I reach for my briefs and look back at her, waiting for me to give her approval. I place my hand on her chin and pull it up so she's looking me in the eye.

"I can't tonight. It's not a good night."

A look of disappointment takes over her soft features.

"That's okay." She smiles trying to hide the rejection. "Maybe another time."

I reach out and extend my hand to help her up. She takes my hand and puts on her jacket before buttoning it back up. Then she places her hand on my cheek, reaches in and kisses me by the mouth. Giving me one last look, she turns heading for the door but pauses, looking over her shoulder. "You're going to make someone extremely happy one day." She smiles but it doesn't reach her eyes. "She'll be one lucky girl. You try to be tough, but I see how you treat me and I'm not even your girl, your one of the good guys and that's a rare find. If you change your mind, my number's on the table." She reaches for the handle and opens the door.

Yeah, she might've been right eight years ago, but not so much now. That person died along with my best friend.

She starts to walk out the door. I smile at her while leaning against the side of the couch. "Take care, Maxine."

The door closes behind her and I almost want to punch something at the first thought that runs through my head. What if Phoenix is doing the same thing to Kade right now?

Dammit, I'm fucked.

Chapter Seven.

Phoenix It's been two days since stepping foot into that tattoo shop and still, I can't seem to get the image of Kellan out of my mind. Seeing him was like walking off the deep end of a pool and not knowing how to swim. It felt as if I were suffocating, drowning in my own emotions with no escape route. I wasn't sure if I should've been angry, sad, confused or happy; therefore, I settled for all of the above.

As soon as I set sight on those amber colored eyes and that dimpled smile, I knew there was something familiar there, like coming home. To be honest I had given up hope years ago, thinking I would never see that face again. That's the one thing that keeps me from being angry, though I know I should be. I know he's alive and that means something. It's really amazing how eight years really changes someone. I almost didn't recognize him.

He's no longer that charming twenty year old with the spiky hair, clean shave, and fancy clothing I used to daydream about. Now he's sexy as hell, manly, muscled and inked with eyes that scream pain. I remember that scar through his eyebrow and the unfamiliarity of it. It was what was missing all those years ago. It leaves me with so many unanswered questions, such as, what has he been through over the years or where has he been? I wonder what kind of person he was or who he's been with. Could he have changed that drastically, from the boy that used to protect me and make me laugh at my lowest? Is he still that boy that used to stand up for Adric and take blame for his wrong doings? Who is this new Kellan and do I want to find out? Will I even get that chance, or will he run again?

I still remember the day he disappeared, also the day that Adric died. My parents got a phone call from Dale saying Kellan's car was found smashed up on the side of the road about three blocks away from my house and he was nowhere to be found. The cops, his parents, family and friends searched for him for days without any luck. No one knew if he was dead or alive. Hell, he could've taken off and bled to death somewhere with no one to help him.

I took off running the streets, barely keeping my sanity while searching for Kellan with the belief that if anyone could find him, it would be me. I searched everywhere that I could think of: The park, their secret place in the woods, the school, the old hangout spot. You name it, I went and looked. When every place came up empty, I had a nervous breakdown. Rumor was he couldn't handle living without Adric and went crazy, crashing his car to take his own life or some shit. They were like brothers. The thing is, I didn't just lose one that day, but two best friends. I had already lost Adric and I couldn't cope with losing them both. I was dead inside, hollowed out. I just wanted to be lost and never found.

Kade eventually found me in the woods at their favorite place. I was broken and a total mess, crying my eyes out while staring up at the tree house Adric built when I was nine. He somehow pulled me out of the trance I was in. After that, he became my rock and my best friend, helping me to stay strong. It wasn't the same as having Adric and Kellan, but he was all I had left. Him and Jen, but I was different.

Now, after eight years, here Kellan is, close to town, owning a tattoo shop named after my brother, and yet he couldn't even contact us. The thought alone feels like a knife to the chest at the hands of the one you love. Doesn't he understand the hand we were dealt or the hell I've walked through?

The thought still shocks me and as far as I can tell, Kade feels the same way. He was a total wreck when we walked out of that shop. He wouldn't even speak to me on our way back to my house. He just kept muttering under his breath and gripping the steering wheel so tight I thought it was going to break, but never taking his eyes away from the road. I haven't seen or spoken to him since and I really have no idea what to say to him. We're at the park setting up for Dale's company picnic and Kade should be arriving any minute. That's if he plans on even coming at all.

"Phoenix, pass me the damn tablecloth."

I'm pulled from my thoughts at the sound of Saline's voice. "Excuse me?" I look up from the ground and blink a few times trying to rejoin reality.

Saline brushes past me, bumping me out of the way and reaches for a red tablecloth, spreading it out and waving it up and down in the air. She looks pretty pissed off for some reason and I'm guessing it's my fault. "Never mind, I'll just do it myself. Why don't you go 'not help' somewhere else. I'm trying to get this shit done." She looks me in the eye and sneers before pulling a piece of platinum blond hair off her face. "Can't you see how hot is out here?"

"Someone's a little pissy." I reach for the end of the tablecloth and help flatten it over the table. Wouldn't want to upset the princess even more. Then again, why wouldn't I? "Sorry, I was just thinking," I mutter. "Let me take care of this. Why don't you take a break and go get something to drink." My eyes trail her glistening body and I smile, somewhat enjoying her breaking a sweat. "You're looking a little sweaty. Maybe you should pour some of it on your head to cool off. You wouldn't want to stink up those designer shorts, now would ya?"

"Fuck off. I'm not in a good mood. I hate these stupid picnics." Rolling her eyes like the cold-hearted bitch she is, she turns on the heels of her cowgirl boots, the heels digging into the dirt, as she waves her arm and walks away.

Well, that solves one of my problems. Now, if only the rest were so easy.

I spend the next ten minutes focusing on getting the tables covered and set up. Right when I'm down to the last one, a strong wind comes and blows the tablecloth out of my arms right as I spread it out to place over the table. "Dammit!" Figures, right when I'm almost done, that's my luck. I run around chasing it, until it plasters itself against someone's body. From the looks of the Puma shoes, I would say that it's . . .

"Jen." I laugh as I reach out and pull it away from her face to find her smiling underneath. "Where have you been?"

She grabs the end of the tablecloth and helps me cover the table and secure it down. "I've been over there by the food. You know like fifteen feet away from you. What's with everyone today? Luna is helping Saline with the decorations, they've been arguing for like ten minutes, and you haven't even said anything. You've been over here daydreaming. It's very unlike you not taking a stand."

She takes off walking back over to the table that is covered in a variety of food and I follow in suit behind her.

The first thing I notice is the fantastic smell, before my eyes land on two trays of Mrs. Watson's homemade fried chicken. Mmm . . . Today might just be a good day after all. "It smells so damn good over here, Jen. How can you work over here without eating all of the food?" I reach for a chicken leg, but Jen slaps my hand away. What the . . . what was that for?

"Nope, not on my watch." She smiles apologetically. "Dale said to keep you away from the chicken until everyone starts eating. I made a promise. Now back off."

"You're joking, right?" I push her with my hip and reach for another piece of chicken but this time she pinches my arm. She must be taking this watchdog thing serious because it really hurt. "Ouch!" I rub my arm while scrunching my forehead at her. "Tell him to stop being such a jerk. I just want a snack. He acts like I'm going to eat it all."

"Because you will and he knows it. You act as if you've never been to one of these things before."

"When have I eaten all of the chicken? There are plenty other people here that eat chicken. How does he know who's eating what?"

"Are you serious right now? People have eyes, Phoenix," she says while dicing up a tomato. "Every time someone looks in your direction at one of these events, you have a piece of fried chicken hanging between your lips. Hell, you even stole a piece of chicken off Mrs. Henderson's plate once when she wasn't looking."

She saw that? I guess I'm not as slick as I think I am.

"It was only the skin," I point out. "She shouldn't have taken the last piece and then left it sitting there untouched for over ten minutes. Yes, I counted the time and I'm not ashamed. Plus, I don't even think she noticed."

"Oh, she noticed. Trust me." Kade's tired voice jumps in from behind, causing Jen to snicker.

I spin around to see Kade standing behind me rubbing his eyes. His hair is standing up in all directions looking as if he hasn't slept in weeks. Damn, he looks terrible. I guess we both can't seem to function at the moment.

It makes my heart ache seeing him this way. I haven't seen him this messed up since that day, eight years ago, when we both sat in the woods for hours crying and staring into space, wondering how the world could be so cruel.

My mouth opens but then closes because I can't seem to form any words. What do I say to him? I mean what can I say? Should I say anything at all or pretend it never happened? Neither one of us could've been prepared for what we discovered two days ago. Kades never been much for talking about his feelings, he finds other ways to deal with it; therefore, making this moment really awkward for the both of us.

"Kade," I clear my throat. Are you-"

"It's all good." He attempts a smile, but you can barely even call it that and the emptiness in his eyes says otherwise. "Never been better," he says, but I can tell he's lying by the sound of his voice.

He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a cigarette.

"I thought you quit," I say, reaching out to comfort him. I squeeze his arm not really knowing what to do. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean did you tell your parents?"

He shakes his head and huffs. "Hell no. There's no point in telling them and breaking their hearts all over again. You saw him, Phoenix. He has no intention of coming back. If he did then he would have years ago." Holding the cigarette to his mouth, he plays with his lighter, flicking it a few times before lighting it. It's a nervous tick he used to have back when he smoked. "That selfish dick."

"I'm sorry, but who is a selfish dick?" Jen asks. "You both look like hell," she states while looking us over with her intense mommy eyes.

Kade takes a huge drag that seems to go on for minutes before replying. "Don't worry about it," he says giving Jen a hard look. "You don't need to worry about it. It's no one important." He leans over the picnic table and takes another drag, inhaling deeply before putting it out on the bench and slowly blowing out the smoke, as if it's just relieved all of the stress he's been carrying around.

Jen nods her head and returns to chopping up the vegetables. "Alrighty, then." She waves the smoke off. "If it's not a big deal, then try not to light another one of those by the food. It's gross and some of us don't smoke."

Kade nods. "Right, sorry. It's been a rough day."

Following Jens lead, not knowing what else to do, I grab for a knife to help with the onions. The onions can be used for an excuse to cover up any unwanted tears if they should fall and I need anything possible to take my mind off Kellan. At the moment I wouldn't even care if it meant wrestling pigs. Anything would do.

"Where's Jax?" I question just now realizing I haven't seen him since arriving over an hour ago. "Don't tell me he's not coming." I hold the knife up threatening her. I've lost it, apparently. Maybe having this knife isn't such a good idea after all.

She narrows her eyes and leans back holding her massive knife up, blocking mine. "Mine's bigger so I would be careful where you point that."

I lower my knife. "Shit, you're right. My bad, woman."

I peek behind me to see Kade still leaning over the picnic table lost in thought. He's a total wreck and seems to be lost in his own little world. I'm surprised he even showed up at all.

"He'll be here later. Nathan just had a few things to take care of first." I turn back around and she smiles nervously. "He'll be here," she whispers this time. I almost didn't even catch it.

Kade speaks finally, breaking his moment of silence. "I'm sorry about last night."

I lean against the picnic table and place the knife down beside me. To be honest, I probably can't focus long enough to cut up an onion without managing to cut off one of my fingers anyways.

"What are you sorry about?" I question, not really understanding. "You didn't do anything."

He stands up straight and grabs my shoulders to look me in the eye. It almost looks as if he's about to cry, but is doing a damn good job of hiding it. "I overreacted the other night at the shop. I just lost it." He pauses, lost in thought for a moment before looking over to see that Jen isn't listening. "Maybe I shouldn't have swung at him like I did. At least not with you so close. I would never forgive myself if I accidently hit you. I promised I would learn to control my anger a long time ago, but when I saw him I couldn't think. I just couldn't help it. I didn't know how to react. I've had all of this pent up anger and hurt for so long, not knowing where he was, then seeing him standing there just fine, just set off an explosion of emotions and I saw red."

After Kellan disappeared, Kade acted out by getting into countless fistfights at school. After getting suspended a couple of times and almost ending up in the hospital, I made him promise to gain control or I wasn't going to be around him anymore. I couldn't handle it. I had my own shit to deal with and could barely get by as it was without worrying about his wellbeing.

I find my hand reaching over to touch his face before I can stop myself. Jen is probably watching by this point, but my heart is breaking for him. I don't want to see him hurting. He doesn't deserve this. "Don't apologize to me. You had every right to be mad. I wasn't expecting it, sure." I stop to think my words over. "But maybe he deserved it."

Jen drops the knife and wipes her hands off on a towel. "Okay. Y'all need to tell me something. You know I can't take secrets and whispering." She looks at Kade. "Who did you hit? Did you kick his ass? Did he kick yours? What is the deal? Someone tell . . ."

Just then, everything seems to go in slow motion and the words around me fade into whispers as my eyes lock on Kellan. He pushes himself off an expensive looking motorcycle and runs his hands through the thickness of his dark hair. I can't help but to imagine what it would feel like to be able to touch it, to pull it and twirl it in my fingers.

Jen and Kade are still talking, but none of the words seems to be registering. The only thing registering in my head is how undeniably sexy Kellan looks in his faded, ripped up jeans and army green, fitted button down, rolled up to his elbows, showing off even more of his glorious tattoos.

I just stand there staring, lost in my own little world as Kellan's eyes search the park, looking in every direction until finally they land on me. Heat explodes through my whole body and my nerves are shooting off like fireworks. I reach up and touch my chest. My heart is pounding so hard I can hear it.

Those big, beautiful eyes stay zoned in on me as he sets his helmet down on his seat and reaches to tuck a necklace into his shirt. If he'd been wearing the necklace at the shop, I didn't take notice, but right now, with his shirt undone a few buttons, I'm noticing every last detail. The warm breeze blows through his hair and against the thin fabric of his shirt, revealing the firmness of chest. His facial hair spreads across a perfect jawline, as if he hasn't shaven in days. He has on a studded belt, fitted against his sleek waist, just above the natural bulge in his denims. Damn, he's even traded in his boots for a pair of Converse shoes. I missed that about him.

Holy shit, how can someone be so beautiful?

"Phoenix."

"Phoenix."

"Huh?" As hard as I try, I just can't seem to pull my eyes away or pay attention to what is going on around me. Everything is a blur, everything but . . . him. That is, until Jen smacks me upside the head.

"Phoenix! What the hell? I've been asking you to help me with the corn. Wake up," Jen scorns me. "What are you staring at?"

Taking a deep breath, I pull my eyes away and turn my focus to Jen, but it's too late. She's already leaning over my shoulder, taking in the sight I had to fight to peel my eyes away from.

She raises both brows and lets out a soft whistle. "Now that's a nice piece of ass. Now I understand the distraction. Tall, dark, handsome and a little rough around the edges. Tsk, tsk, tsk, Phoenix, you've been holding out on me. I didn't know you were into bad boys."

Kade instantly turns his head to see what the two of us are fussing about. "What the fuck is he doing here? He needs to leave. This will not be happening today."

I reach out and grab Kades arm right as he's about to walk away. "No." Oh, God please let him stay. "Maybe you should just leave it alone. You don't want to cause a scene at your dad's favorite event. You know how he gets about this every year."

Something must register inside of Kade's head, because suddenly he sits back down. His nostrils flare out and I can see him feeling for another cigarette as his eyes shoot daggers in Kellan's direction.

He's no longer looking at me. He's past that point now.

We all watch as Kellan makes his way through the grass, toward Dale and Nancy, his parents. Dale and Nancy don't seem to notice as they continue to engage in conversation with their friends. Their son is right behind them and they don't even know, as if he's invisible. For some unknown reason, that hurts. That's how I felt after Adric died.

I can sense the hesitation in Kellan as he stops mid step and stands frozen in place. He reaches up and rubs his face before turning around and looking down at the ground. When his eyes look up and meet mine again, without even realizing it, I nod my head to encourage him to continue.

"What was that all about?" Kade's eyes darken as he looks back toward his brother and starts pacing back and forth. "Have you guys been talking behind my back?"

"Um, no." I could only wish. "Why would we be talking?" Somehow, I feel guilty for him even assuming it.

"Who is that sexy man that has everyone staring?"

Jen sounds agitated now. "Don't keep me in the dark. Something's about to go down. I can feel it."

"Kellan," Kade and I say in unison, causing Jen's mouth to drop open.

What happens next seems to be straight out of a Lifetime movie. Kellan taps Dale on the shoulder, causing all of their friends to stop talking.