Wicked Things We Crave

Chapter Fourteen

Jonah was just stepping out of the shower when he heard Astrid call out to him.

"Do you have any button up shirts?"

His face scrunched at the words, and he wrapped the towel around his waist to secure it. "Like my flannel?"

"No. Like a dress up, fancy shirt."

Jonah walked into the room to see her going through his closet, his bedsheet covering her otherwise naked body. "Why?"

"In the movies, the girl always wears the guys button-up shirt. I wanna be that girl," she explained casually.

Most likely, it was a romantic comedy thing, something Jonah was not exactly partial to. Still, having her in one of his shirts was a sexy enough image that he relented and moved the hangers all the way to one side so he could look in the corner at his dressier clothing. Weddings and funerals were the only time he wore anything like that, so it didn't have a reason to be front and center. Jonah found a white button-up and held it out for Astrid.

A smile took over her face, and she dropped the sheet to the ground and grabbed the shirt from his grasp.

Once she finished buttoning, he wasn't sure which was hotter, her standing naked for those few moments in broad daylight or her wearing his clothing.

"In the movies it always hangs lower," Astrid said with her bottom lip sticking out.

Jonah couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Those chicks are probably a hell of a lot shorter than you, and I'm barely over six feet. It's still hot, though."

When Jonah's doorbell rang, he grabbed his cell phone and wallet from the top of his dresser, noticing the pizza was right on time. Not wanting to take the chance that it was the delivery boy who always had his car in the shop and had a thing for Astrid, Jonah got dressed quickly and trotted down the stairs.

It'd been a little too late for breakfast, he had zero food in the house since he'd left for a month, and the only place who delivered was the pizza joint a few blocks away.

The only issue was, when Jonah opened the door, the guy wasn't holding a pizza. Instead, it was Travis, one of his other good friends who'd worked at the shop for the last ten years and was manager at one of them.

"Just got done with a long ass conversation with Scott," Travis told him, his voice gruff enough that Jonah could tell where this was going. He stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. "Mind telling me what the hell's going on?"

It was the same question Scott had asked him, and the same one he was trying to avoid answering.

Unfortunately, avoidance wasn't an option when Astrid showed up in the room wearing only his shirt and her thighs bare to the world.

"That isn't pizza," was all she said, but her expression spoke volumes. Her normally doe eyes were wide open, her body trembling and her cheeks turning redder by the second.

Travis appeared similar, looking as if he wished he'd never shown up. "No," he said with a shake of his head, "No, I do not want to know about this shit."

Neither did Jonah. If he could turn back time and never open the door, he'd go that route. Unfortunately, he lacked the superpowers to make that happen. Jonah took a step back and wiped at his face, trying to figure out what the hell to do here. With Scott, he'd set a plan in motion to remain in somewhat control of the situation. He gave himself a timeline to avoid shit like this.

"Sweetheart, why don't you go upstairs and get dressed."

Astrid squirmed around in place, biting her bottom lip and twiddling her fingers.

"What?"

"You kind of tore up my dress trying to get it off," Astrid answered hesitantly, a blush taking over her cheeks.

Travis let out a closed-mouth grunt at the words, spinning his heels to avoid looking at either of them.

"Grab a pair of my boxers then."

Astrid gave him a last glance before she fled the room, and it wasn't until the steps squeaked that Travis opened his mouth again. "Dude, you can't seriously have fucked up this bad."

Jonah grasped the counter behind him as he leaned back, trying to think up words that would make this all easier. Unfortunately, he knew there weren't any, and he knew that nothing about this would be easy. He released one hand to rub at the overgrown stubble on his cheeks that was quickly forming a lazy beard. "I can't explain it, Travis. Not in a way that anyone would understand."

"I get it, man. She's cute and has that whole tomboy thing going for her. She's an awesome chick, but you can't just go around putting your dick in her."

"Too late."

Jonah was in enough of a daze he hadn't noticed Travis walk up to him, but definitely felt it when he smacked him across the cheek. "Dude, snap out of your pussy trance and listen to me for ten goddamn seconds. Stop putting it in her right fucking now, tell Scott you figured out your shit, and move on. Because this shit is not okay. Like at all. This is the definition of fucked up. If you look up 'fucked up', you'll see a photo of you and her in bed together."

"I know it's fucked up," Jonah admitted freely. He wasn't a sociopath. He understood how wrong this was on every level, and if this had been just some normal lay, Jonah would get his shit straight and walking away. "But she's the one, man."

Travis took a step back and shook his head. "Jesus, dude, how long has this shit been goin' on?"

He was aware this would make him sound like a crazy person, and maybe Jonah was going a little crazy. "Yesterday."

Another smack hit Jonah across the face. But if Travis' intention was to knock some sense into him, he was about fifteen hours too late. "I'm gonna say this real slow so you can understand. Astrid is not the one; not after twenty-four hours, and not for you. Again, she's awesome, but she's your fucking goddaughter." Travis paused and rested his chin atop his knuckle tattoos. "Let me rephrase that, you're fucking your goddaughter, and that's not okay. What you are is infatuated, because you haven't gotten pussy in a while and you forgot what it felt like. But if you keep sticking your dick in her, you'll never be in one again, because Scott is going to chop that shit clear off."

The doorbell rang once again and Jonah only hoped it was the actual pizza this time and not word spreading around of his conversation with Scott. He got out his wallet and opened the door, handing the pizza boy with a crush on Astrid a twenty, grabbing the pizza and shutting the front door in the kid's face.

Astrid came down right as he set the pizza box on the counter, wearing his boxers and an old band t-shirt. He took in the vision of her once again. Her long blonde hair was tied back to hide her disheveled sex hair. Her doe eyes different shades of brown with a feverish look to them. Her chubbier cheeks dimpled and rosy. Her lips plump and still slightly swollen from their kisses. That was as much as he could take in before imagining them wrapped around his dick, giving him a hard-on, something that couldn't be remedied while there was company in the house.

"You in love with me?" Jonah asked her.

Astrid looked between the two men, the pink on her cheeks growing deeper. After a timid smile took over her face, she nodded, still seeming unable to say the words out loud.

Any other man would have taken that personally, but he knew how much that word meant to her, so to own up to it even in silence was a win.

Jonah turned his attention back to Travis. "There you have it."

Travis shook his head and ran his fingers through his overgrown hair. "I'm giving you a month; one month to come clean or come to your senses."

"I don't need a month," Jonah told him. "As soon as that paperwork is signed, I'll come clean, even if the house hasn't sold yet."

"What paperwork?" Astrid asked. "What house?"

"Yeah, this shit's off to a brilliant start," Travis said in a sarcastic laugh as he reached for the door handle. "Dude, I strongly suggest you take the month, because every decision you make can't be undone."

Jonah's gaze fell on Astrid as she stood there with pinched eyebrows. They needed to talk.