Laughing Fate (30 page)

James smiled as he saw the man stumble backward. He watched with satisfaction as the pervert swiped a drop of blood from his lip in surprise. The man had quick reflexes though, because soon he was up and taking a step towards James.  Good- the man was a fighter. James’s smile widened as he stepped outside. It had been way too long since he’d had a good fight…

A tiny weight pushed past him, elbowing him on the way, and rushed towards the strange man. James sighed when he saw Puck put herself in the middle of the fight. The man had been getting ready to swing at James, but once he saw Puck he immediately put his fists down.

“Puck, move aside,” both men said.

“
No! James go inside, now! Potter, you stay right there!” Puck turned on her brother, keeping herself in between the two men. “James, you will not hit this man! He is not the baby’s father! He is my friend.” Puck pushed James inside and slammed the door. Then she whirled on Potter. “You will not hit my brother! Do I make myself clear?!” She stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring up at Potter.

James, who had reopened the door, stood assessing Potter. “So this is Potter?”

Puck nodded.

“
Good, he was second on my list,” James said almost happily.

In a smooth movement, Potter picked Puck up and set her aside while James swung at Potter. Puck stood open mouthed for about two seconds, staring at the men fighting in front of her. Why the heck did guys have to fight so dang much? Puck limped right into the fight, forcing her way between both bodies again, taking a hit in the process. She shoved James and jabbed Potter in the ribs while yelling at them to stop.

“Listen, both of you! If you hit him, I will never speak to you again!” Puck shrieked when she was once again set aside.

She growled in frustration at the wrestling men. They were such boys! Puck jumped in again, taking more hits in the process, and wrapped herself around Potter. She was not going to let them fight each other! She yanked Potter’s ear and whispered that if he continued fighting that she’d never kiss him again. He cast her a look that said he didn’t quite believe her, but dropped his fists.

“Get out of the way, Puck.”

“
No. Not until you promise not to hit Potter! He hasn’t done anything wrong; you’re just acting like a big stupid ape!”

James smiled. “Fine. I won’t hit him. Move aside.”

Puck cast him a calculating look, obviously not believing him.

“
Puck, for Pete’s sake get out of the way,” Potter said.

Puck frowned up at him. “No.”

Potter let out a breath of air, letting out a lot of his tension and tucked her hair behind her ear. “I love it that you want to protect me, but Puck you really aren’t helping any. Will you please just go inside?”

Puck heaved a giant sigh. She knew when to quit. The stupid boys wanted to fight. Fine! Let them kill each other. She didn’t care. She stood on tip toes and tugged Potter’s hair. “Listen, you. Don’t you hit my brother! I mean it. If you hit him, I’ll never kiss you again.” Puck glared at him and whirled on James.

She pointed a finger at him and repeated her order not to hit Potter. Then she sailed into her house and locked the doors. She was through with stupid boys. They could just stay outside. She heard a thud and ran to the window to glance outside. Potter was lying on the ground, having just been punched by James. Puck glared and let the curtain fall. She hated boys.

****

“Come on Puck, let me in,” whined her big brother. Puck had spent her time very wisely. She had locked all the doors and all the windows while the boys had their fight. Now she sat in the living room reading her romance novel.  It had been about an hour since the fight. The last she’d seen, Potter was sitting on the porch step, nursing his black eye. James had tried all the doors and windows, confident he could break in, but he had obviously forgotten her skills. Her house was a fortress; he would not be breaking in.

Perri had escaped the second James had targeted Potter. She was probably upstairs listening to music right now, the coward. Puck glared upstairs briefly. It was so unfair that James was picking on her. What about Perri? SHE was pregnant! Shouldn’t he be out chasing the scum bag that knocked her up? Puck stuck her tongue out at the door. She knew James wouldn’t see it, but it made her feel better. So would letting him freeze outside. The moron had left his overnight bag inside so he was now completely in her mercy. Puck grinned. She liked the sound of that.

“Puck, come on. I didn’t hurt him much!”

“
He didn’t hurt me at all!” Potter’s outraged voice countered.  Poor baby, his male ego was wounded.

Puck calmly turned the page. She heard James grumbling and had to hide a smile. Her big brother could be such a baby. He’d grown soft in his old age that was for sure. When he was younger he would have tried harder to get in.

“Is she always like this?” James grumbled.

Potter glanced up, “She’s your sister, man.”

James sighed. “I know.”

Puck frowned. She did not like them talking about her. She set her book down and tip toed to the door to hear them better.

“She sure can be a brat.”

“
Tell me about it. When we were kids she once told my girlfriend that I had crabs. I was like 13!”

Deep male laughter filled the air. Puck mimicked them sarcastically and strained to hear more.

“That sounds like Puck. I’ve only really known her about four months, but already she has turned my life into utter chaos.”

James’ voice lost any friendliness. “About that. Tell me why you let her almost die. Explain to me how my little sister wound up alone in the woods at night. Do you have any idea what could have happened to her?”

Puck gulped. James sounded mad. Maybe she should go outside and rescue Potter?

“Believe me; I know what could have happened to her. While you were sleeping in bed, blissfully unaware, I was out searching for her body. I can’t keep your sister safe. All I can do is watch over her and be the one she calls for help.”

There was a long silence and then she heard her brother slap Potter on the back. His good mood had returned and now they were talking sports. Guys were so weird. An hour ago they had been fighting, now they were friends. Go figure.

She returned to the couch and picked up her romance. She had read in it maybe five minutes when someone knocked on the door.

“
Go away.”

“
Puck, can I please come in?” Puck almost let her brother in. Almost. He sounded so apologetic, but…

“
Puck, open the door. I have a bloody black eye because of you! Now open this door before I call your other brother to let him know what you’ve been up to.”

She did NOT need another brother here! Puck opened the door nonchalantly and motioned for them to come in. She ran her fingers lightly over his black eye and winced. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

Potter grinned and snagged her hand. He turned her hand over so her palm was up and kissed her wrist. “Your kisses are worth it.” He heard her brother gagging and smiled. James wasn’t such a bad guy after all. When he had first seen him, his jealousy had instantly risen. Once he’d figured out that he was Puck’s brother he was already fighting the dude. After the fight was over, however, they had settled down to talk. It turned out they had a lot in common. They both loved this crazy girl for one.

Puck rolled her eyes at Potter and snagged her hand back. She patted him on the cheek and limped over to the couch. She watched as the men commandeered her living room and began watching the ESPN channel. Stupid guys. She liked to play sports, not watch them. Still, it was nice to have her big brother in town again, she had missed the stupid man.

She picked up her novel and resumed reading it. She saw Potter eyeing the book cover, which had a beautiful girl and a hot man in a steamy embrace, and blushed. Not many people knew of her addiction to romance novels. She buried her nose in the book and turned her back so Potter couldn’t see the book. She was nearing the end of the story, all the characters had fallen in love and the happy ending was looming. She was so engrossed in the story that she failed to notice Potter leaning over her shoulder.

“
What you reading?” Potter laughed when Puck jumped in surprise and blushed guiltily. He had been surprised to see her reading a romance novel. He would have pegged her for more of a murder and suspense type of girl. He liked the idea of her having a hidden romantic side. He thought back to some of their make out sessions and grinned. Maybe not so hidden, after all.

He watched in amusement as Puck quickly set her book down out of view and answered, “Nothing.” She was embarrassed. Potter reached for the book, batting her hands away when she tried to stop him. He tugged the book out of her grasp and flipped through the pages.

Puck tried to wrestle the book from him, but the man was a brute. She quickly looked to her brother to make sure he was engrossed in sports. Once ESPN was on her brother zoned out the entire world. Satisfied that he wasn’t paying attention to them, Puck crossed her arms and waited for Potter to finish leafing through the book.

“
Interesting book you have. Do you get horny when you read this, Puck?”

Puck gasped and made another attempt to grab her book. Her brother was just a few feet away! She’d die of embarrassment if he heard any of this! She jabbed Potter with her elbow and hissed at him to shut up. She glared at the big stupid brute when he just laughed. His rich chuckle irritated her to the core of her being. He was so stupid!

“You do, don’t you? Get horny when you read this. Do you ever think of me when you read the sex scenes? Do you ever wonder what it would be like between you and me? Wonder what if would feel like if I touched you like-

“
Shut the freak up!” Puck growled. Puck hoped that Potter couldn’t see how his whispered words had affected her. Her brother was in the freakin room, she shouldn’t be feeling things like this right now! She struggled to get her breathing under control. Drat the stupid man.  She could feel his warm breath on her neck; his body was way too close.

She turned her head so she was facing him, ready to tell him off. Unfortunately she got side tracked when she saw the desire in his eyes, the slight quirk to his lips, and his smug expression. He knew just what effect he had on her. She stared up at him for a long moment, letting the world slip away as she stared into his eyes. She imagined flowers popping up, little hearts floating in the wind, and cute little frogs singing ballads.

Wait a sec, she was mad at him. She forced herself to blink and step out of the hazy little bubble world that he had created for just the two of them. His eyes sure were dangerous, they made her forget things. Things like her brother was just a few feet away. She leaned closer, so that her lips were almost brushing his and whispered, “You’re right. I do get horny when I read them. Only I don’t think of you. I think of Tony.”

Puck held back a smirk of her own when she saw the muscle in his jaw twitch. She grabbed her book out of his grip and stood up. His eyes had narrowed and a vein was just beginning to pop on his forehead. Puck could no longer hold back her triumphant smirk, the jerk deserved it. She sauntered off, completely pleased with herself.

She walked into her kitchen, a huge grin on her face. Potter was so predictable. Maybe she should tell him the truth about Tony? They were kind of going out now. Nah… Potter was a grown boy, he could handle himself. Speaking of the devil, Puck jumped when two strong arms grabbed her.

Potter hauled Puck up close to him and growled in her ear. “Let’s get one thing straight. When you read those little books you think of me. You imagine me touching you like that, not Tony.” He turned her so she was facing him and kissed her long, slow, and deep. His hands came up to cradle her face, his lips gentling at her eager response.

When they came up for breath, Puck sighed and snuggled against him. He could be so stupid sometimes, but he sure was hot. And possessive was not always a bad thing, she thought as he held her against him. Maybe she should tell him about Tony. She looked up at Potter and smiled. He was so cute when he was jealous, maybe she would tell him later.

“
I do think of you, you know. I find myself thinking of very little else. It kind of scares the crap out of me…” Puck said softly against his skin. She hadn’t meant to add the part about being scared, it had kind of just slipped out. Now that it was out in the open, however, she was kind of relieved.  She felt his arms tighten around her comfortingly and smiled. She felt so safe in his arms, like she could tell him anything and he’d make it all better.

“
Awww baby, you have no idea how much I think of you. I find myself obsessed with you. I wonder what you’re doing when I’m not with you. I wonder if you’re safe or if you’re off on one of your adventures.  I wonder how your day is going and if you’re thinking of me.  I’m scared too, because you are so important to me and I wonder if I’m just as important to you. And it scares me that when I think of a future without you, I feel my heart break just a little bit. I need you babe.”

“
Don’t call me baby,” Puck whispered against his skin. Her eyes were closed, basking in his words and the soothing touch of his arms caressing her back. No one had ever said such romantic things to her before. A tiny voice was warning her to be careful, not to give him her heart because he would only break it.  ‘It’s too late,’ she thought. ‘He already has it.’