Chapter 4

Donnie sat slack-jawed as Alex slowed, pulled into the circular driveway and stopped in front of the garage. Holy crap, this place was a mansion. A white concrete walkway lined by glowing solar powered lights led from the driveway to the front door. Elaborate terra cotta flower boxes zigzagged along the length of the house and brick pillars supported the portico that jutted from the second floor of the house. Even the door was impressive. Burmese teak with a gold-trimmed oval stained glass window. Alex reached around Donnie and pushed the doorbell.

“This is where Trevor lives?” Donnie whispered. Alex nodded.

The door swung open. “Alex!” Trevor gave him a fist bump. “Good to see you again, Donnie.”

“Hey,” Donnie said with a nod.

“Come on in, guys.” Trevor stepped aside so they could enter. “Party’s outside tonight.”

Donnie couldn’t stop staring as he followed Alex and Trevor through the house.

Trevor stopped, slid open the massive glass door and stepped out onto the patio. Donnie’s eyes widened. A lagoon-style pool was accented by a built-in hot tub shaded by a bamboo umbrella and a waterfall cascaded near the rockslide at the far end of the pool. A half-dozen plush lounge chairs lined the edge near the waterfall and patio furniture large enough to seat twelve stood to the left. A matching mini bar and a two-person swing were to the right of the table. A brick wall divided the grass from the concrete that led to a full size basketball court. Enough strands of white lights hung from the wall, the house, and the trees to illuminate the entire backyard.

“Parker and Lyndsey are here. Jonah and Ethan are on their way,” Trevor said as he led them towards the patio table. “And I think Jason and Beth are coming, too.”

“And Teghan?” Alex asked.

“Sorry, man.” Trevor patted Alex on the back. “Haven’t heard from her.”

“That’s alright. Didn’t really expect her to show up anyway,” Alex said.

“She’ll come around man, don’t worry.” Trevor smiled. “I raided the cellar. Got plenty of beer,” he said.

“Good. I have a feeling I’m gonna need it tonight.” Alex laughed.

“What about you, Donnie?” Trevor extended a bottle of beer toward him. Donnie accepted it, twisted the top and took a long, slow drink. Trevor grinned. “We’re gonna get along just fine.”

***

“Do you really have to do this right now?” Annabelle asked with frustration. “We’re gonna miss the movie.”

“I won’t be long, Annie. I promise. Anyway, I’d rather do this tonight instead of Sunday when my parents will be around,” Teghan said as she pulled into her parents’ driveway. “What the hell?” She looked at the half dozen parked cars. “Trevor,” she grumbled. Teghan turned off the engine. “You wanna come along?”

“No, I’ll wait here,” Annabelle said. “Please make it quick.”

Teghan agreed and hurried into the house. She’d find Alex, apologize, make everyone happy, and then go on with her life. Yeah, it’ll be that easy.

“Teghan? What’re you doing here?” Donnie asked, walking out of the kitchen with a handful of plastic cups.

She stopped “Uh, this is my house. What are you doing here?”

“I’m here with Alex,” Donnie said. “Trevor invited us, remember?”

“How many people are out there?” Teghan asked as she started towards him. “Is he having a party?”

“Seven or eight,” Donnie said.

Teghan stopped in front of him. She leaned a little closer and took a deep breath. His cologne awakened her senses despite the vague hint of alcohol that surrounded him. She cleared her throat. “Are you guys drinking?”

Donnie tucked his free hand into his pocket and smiled.

She pushed past him, marched outside and straight up to her brother. “Trevor! What the hell are you doing?”

“Oh, hey, Teegy.” He smiled. “Glad you could make it.” He hugged her.

“Don’t call me that.” Teghan shrugged him off. “Mom and Dad are going to kill you when they find out.”

“They won’t find out.” Trevor waved her concern away with a flick of his hand.

“That’s what you said last time,” Teghan said. She put her hands on her hips, looked around the backyard, and gave him a disapproving frown. “Really, Trev? Dad’s stash?”

“Yeah, you want one?” Trevor asked as he grabbed a bottle from the table and handed it to her.

Teghan took it and set it back down. “No, I don’t want one. Your ass is gonna be in so much trouble.”

Trevor grinned. “Lyndsey and Beth are here.” He flung his arm around Teghan’s shoulders. “Aw come on, Teegy. Stay. Have a beer. Be social.”

“I can’t. Annabelle’s in the car waiting for me. We’re going to a movie. I just came by to talk to Alex really quick.”

“You finally decide to take him back?”

Teghan snorted. “You’re drunk.”

“Whatever, lame-o.” Trevor put his thumb and forefinger against his forehead in the shape of an L, stuck out his tongue, and rolled his eyes.

Teghan smacked his hand away and laughed. “You’re an idiot.”

“Does this mean you’re gonna stay?” he asked with a glimmer in his eye.

She hesitated. It’d been a really long time since she’d hung out with everyone, and she really did miss her friends, but something told her to leave, to get away, and stay out of trouble. “Let me go get Annie,” Teghan said, ignoring her conscience.

***

Donnie leaned against the brick wall next to the patio table, beer bottle pinched between two fingers, arms folded, and one ankle crossed over the other. His heart dropped as he watched Teghan leave the backyard and walk into the house. She was leaving.

A few moments later Teghan came back through the sliding glass doors with Annabelle following her. A slow smile spread over his lips as he watched Teghan mingle with her friends. His heart dropped again when he saw her take Alex’s hand and lead him into the house.

***

“What’s up, Teeg?” Alex asked, finishing what was left of his beer before popping open the other bottle he’d brought with him.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said the other day, and you’re right. It’s not fair to expect you to walk away from my family. Especially considering the deal you made with my dad.”

“Go on,” Alex said with a grin.

Teghan smacked him. “You don’t have to enjoy this so damn much.” She laughed.

Alex chuckled. “It’s not very often you tell me I’m right,” he said. “I’m going to savor this for a moment.”

“Seriously, though. I think we should try to be friends.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” he said.

“I’m glad you’re back, Alex. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too, Teghan.” Alex smiled. “Come on.” He took her hand. “Let’s go party with our friends.”

***

Donnie brought his beer to his lips and took a sip. He stood straight when he caught sight of Teghan approaching. Where the hell had she come from? His eyes hadn’t left the back door, and he knew she hadn’t come out the way she’d gone in.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

“You and Alex back together?”

“No, just friends,” Teghan said.

Donnie tried, and failed, to contain his smile. “Great place,” he said. “And that’s one hell of a waterfall.”

Teghan glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “I love waterfalls,” she said.

“Really? Um, that’s, uh different.” He laughed nervously.

“When I was six, we went on a family vacation to Niagara Falls. I begged my parents to let me go on the Journey Behind the Falls. My mother was paranoid I’d get too close and fall in.” Teghan laughed. “But my dad eventually gave in. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. The sound of the falls was like thunder, but it was also somehow very peaceful.”

Donnie noticed the way her eyes sparkled when she spoke. “I’ve never been to Niagara Falls,” he said.

“After that trip, I couldn’t stop talking about it. I did tons of research about waterfalls, borrowed books from the library, drew pictures of them. Even took the time to locate other waterfalls I wanted to see. My dad called me obsessive.”

“So he built you your own waterfall in the backyard?” He raised a brow skeptically.

Teghan laughed. “Yeah, crazy, huh? He even left the back open so I could go sit behind it.”

“There’s a cave behind that waterfall?” Donnie’s eyes widened as myriad of possibilities raced through his mind, the primary one being that he could sneak a few precious moments of alone time with her.

“Sure is. I spent hours playing back there when I was a kid.”

“Can I see it?”

Teghan shrugged. “Sure, come on.”

He followed her around the pool, the hot tub and the rock-slide. Behind the waterfall was dark, and illuminated by streaks of lights that hung around the backyard. The rock walls muted the sound of the waterfall. It wasn’t thunderous but it was loud---like rain beating down on a metal roof. And she was right; it was surprisingly peaceful.

“Nothing spectacular,” she said.

Donnie watched as she tucked her hair behind her ear. He smiled. “Do I make you nervous?”

“No.”

He studied her for a moment before cocking his head to the side and asking, “So why do you do that thing?”

“What thing?”

“That thing with your hair. You’ve done it every time I’ve seen you,” he said.

***

Teghan could feel the heat rising inside her as she looked at her feet and back at him. His eyes were glimmering with desire that, she guessed, rivaled her own. She swallowed hard and reminded herself that he was off limits. She’d just made things right with Alex and there was no doubt that if she broke Alex’s heart again, her brother, her father, and their friends would never forgive her. It was something she wasn’t willing to risk.

But oh, how she wanted to feel him. To place her hands on his hard abs and feel his muscles tense beneath her touch. She watched his body, seductively outlined by the light, as he approached. Her breath caught in her throat when he reached out, took her hand, and gently pulled her to him. It was as if they were two halves of a mold that fit together perfectly. She sucked in a breath and held it. Was he going to kiss her? A small part of her wished he wouldn’t, while the rest of her screamed for it.

Donnie cupped her face in his hand, caressing her cheek with his thumb. Teghan’s eyes fluttered closed at the feel of his lips coming close to hers. It was like the time she’d stuck her finger in a light socket; a jolt of searing hot energy shot through her body, but then eased away, leaving her stunned and aroused.

“We shouldn’t do this,” she whispered, her lips brushing against his as she spoke.

“Do you want me to stop?” he said. Teghan shook her head as his lips pressed against hers.

“Oh, Teegy!” Trevor yelled.

Teghan’s eyes snapped open and she took a large step away from Donnie. He looked just as irritated as she felt. Clearing her throat, she tried to focus. It was useless. Damn her brother!

Trevor entered the cave. He looked back and forth between her and Donnie with a smirk on his face. “What’s going on back here?”

“Nothing. I was just showing Donnie around.”

“Sure you were.” His voice was dripping with skepticism.

She walked to her brother and stood inches from his face. “I swear to God if you tell Alex about this, I’ll tell Dad you’re planning on dropping out of law school,” she hissed into his ear.

“Tell Alex about what? There isn’t anything going on, remember?” Trevor winked at Teghan.

“What do you want?”

“You’re the only sober one here. Go to the store and get some snacks would ya?”

“Really?”

“You’re also the one with dad’s credit card.”

“Fine, I’ll go in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, Teegy.” He turned and walked out of the cave.

Teghan blew out a breath. “I guess we should get back to the party.”

Donnie walked next to her, standing so close she could feel his heart beating. “Not yet,” he said, firmly planting his left hand on her hip while the fingers of his right hand bunched in her hair, gripping her head and bringing her lips to him. His tongue parted her lips, slowly grazing over her tongue like a lazy river before adjusting the angle and deepening the kiss with a hard, hungry stroke of his tongue.

Teghan snaked her hands over his hard biceps, down his whipcord-lean stomach, and around his waist. His hard body felt like heaven beneath her fingers. She hugged him closer to her—close enough so she could feel the length of his erection pressing against her cotton sundress. A tiny mewl of pleasure tore from her throat when his lips left hers and trailed icy hot kisses across her jaw and down her neck.

She put her head back to allow him greater access, only to feel him drag his mouth up her tingling flesh until he found her lips again. His tongue dipped inside her mouth, caressing her tongue with diabolically slow, shallow strokes.

“Donnie,” she whispered against his lips, not wanting the pleasure to end but knowing it had to.

He cupped her face in his hands giving her bottom lip a light kiss before tracing her mouth with his thumb. A gentle smile touched his lips.

Her mind clouded. “We can’t, I mean, we shouldn’t. Alex will…”

Donnie’s forehead dropped to hers. “I know,” he whispered.

Oh, to hell with Alex! Teghan clutched his face in her hands, stood on her tip toes and slanted her mouth over his. Stop it, Teghan! She started to pull away until Donnie locked his arms around her back and held her close, kissing her with a hungry recklessness. She arched into him, losing herself in his embrace. His kiss seared her ability to think. She couldn’t be trusted to remember her own name.

Donnie dropped his hands to her lower back and squeezed her body against him. “Teghan,” he breathed.

She forced herself to release his lips and push him away. Teghan stared at him, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. His lips were red and swollen from her kisses, tempting her, daring her to take more. God how she wanted to. But she couldn’t. Instead, she inched her way towards the entrance and said, “This can’t happen again.”

***

Teghan arrived back at the party, her arms filled with snacks. She was still reeling from her kiss with Donnie. As soon as she stepped through the sliding glass doors, she was mauled by her brother and their friends.

“Thanks, Teegy,” Trevor said.

“Anything for you, Trev, Trev,” she said. “I stopped at Pappy’s and ordered a sheet pizza. It should be here within a half hour.”

“Woo-hoo!” Alex shouted before finishing his beer and sitting at the patio table.

Teghan took a seat between Annabelle and Lyndsey. Her gaze kept wandering toward Alex and Beth. In the short amount of time she’d been at the actual party and not in the cave with Donnie or getting food, she’d noticed they hadn’t strayed too far from each other. It shouldn’t bother her, but it did. What bothered her more was the unexplainable guilt she felt about kissing Donnie. It was obvious Alex didn’t care about flaunting his affections towards Beth. She sipped her beer and listened with half an ear to the conversations going on around her.

“I’ll never forget that time we all snuck out and went to Weber’s farm. We got so drunk that night.” Trevor laughed while shoving potato chips in his mouth.

“Ew, Trevor, that’s so gross.” Teghan frowned. She swore her brother had no manners.

“If I remember correctly, that was the first time Teghan got drunk,” Alex said.

Teghan laughed. “And when we got home, Annabelle had a brilliant idea to go swimming. It was like four in the morning or something. The water was ice cold.”

“How would you know? You never got in,” Annabelle said.

“That’s right,” Trevor said. “You mumbled something about drowning. Then you passed out on one of the lounge chairs.”

Everyone laughed.

“Yeah, you jerks left me there, too. Do you have any idea how hard it was to explain to Dad why I was sleeping outside in my bathing suit?” Teghan shook her head and smiled. “He knew I was hung over. And lying to him.”

Teghan finished her beer and sat back in her chair, stealing glances at Donnie every chance she got. He winked at her and her heart all but stopped. Man, he was gorgeous. Her mind wandered back to their kiss. Instinctively, she licked her lips, to which Donnie responded with a smile.

Teghan looked over to see Alex’s arm around Beth’s shoulder. He was whispering in her ear and she was giggling. How dare he do this to me at my house? A searing pain formed in Teghan’s gut as she stifled the scream that threatened to tear from her chest. That’s it. Game on, she thought as she got up from her chair and took a seat next to Donnie.