Sorry it took so long! My Beta was on vacation again...lol. Anyways, enjoy this chapter. I wanna thank BEG75, beccatdemon, MissIndependemt101, and StraightEdgeQueen for reviewing. :) Thanks! It means a bunch!!
To say that he was confused, was an understatement. Seeing his older brother as his door looking as calm as could be, sent Joe's mind into a state of wonder. On any other day, Joe would have been happy to see Billy so calm and casual but seeing as Airynn was right behind him, Joe knew something had to be up.
"You gonna invite me in or not?" Billy asked, staring at his little brother.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Joe stuttered and pushed the door open for Billy. Billy strode in and walked over to the couch where Joe was just sitting and took the seat next to Airynn. She looked over at him and smiled weakly.
"How long you been here?" Billy asked, stacking his feet on the table. Airynn glanced over at Joe quickly as he sat down in the recliner.
"Not too long. I knew you'd be at the bar so I stopped by to say hey to Joey." she told him softly and as calmly as possible. Billy looked at her and squinted. He knew she was lying but he wasn't here about that.
"Go get me a beer." he ordered her and grabbed his cigarettes. "Get Joe one too. We need to talk." Airynn hurried out of the living room to go fetch them the beers and Billy looked over at Joe. He could see the sweat starting to form on his forehead and smirked.
"A new batch should be done tomorrow. Baggy and Tommy got first dibs, you and Bodie are after them." Billy told him casually. Joe nodded, not knowing what to say. Airynn walked back in and handed Billy his beer. He took it from her and watched her walk over to Joe. He noticed the smile they exchanged when she handed it to him.
"Thanks." Joe mumbled and popped the top. Airynn went to stand up but Billy grabbed her hand. She looked at him confused as he pulled her back next to him and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Ya know I've been thinking, Joe." Billy started. "Since the other day when we took that store." Airynn's head snapped in Joe's direction and Billy hid his smirk. "You did damn good, Joey. I was real proud of ya." Joe couldn't help but smirk a little at this comment.
"Thanks, bro." he said softly, trying to avoid the accusing glare Airynn was shooting at him. He had avoided to tell her about his boys night out with Billy, and by the look of it, she wasn't happy to find out what they had done. Joe felt a mixture of guilt and shame. He hated Airynn to bust him with these kind of things, because he knew that the violence and the fun of humiliating other people was exactly what Airynn hated so much about Billy.
"And at my meeting with Bodie today, we talked a little." he continued. "We think it's time, Joe." Joe's eyes lit up and he sat forward to look at Billy, he knew what that meant. As excited as he was, Joe sent Airynn a weary glance. He did not like the idea of her finding out what Billy was talking about. If she was going to give him trouble over shooting up some liquor store, she would certainly not approve of him becoming a man. At least, not in the way that Billy had in mind.
"You think I'm ready, Billy?" Joe asked. He knew that joining the gang meant a lot more responsibility. He knew that once he joined he was able to do more than just selling. He would be able to help make the drugs and go on the trips with the other guys, to talk to people that messed up or needed a talking to. Joe knew he could do it, but he wanted to hear Billy say it. He needed Billy to answer that question, because he couldn't believe that Billy meant what he just had said.
"Would I ask if you weren't?" Billy asked, raising a brow. Airynn had the sudden urge to yell out yes, she could tell from the smirk on Billy's face that he was up to something. "So you in?"
"Hell yeah, I'm in!" Joe exclaimed, standing up to do the whole man hug with his brother. Airynn watched the exchange and frowned on the inside. Billy kept standing and waved her up."Ya ain't gonna congratulate him?" Billy asked.
Airynn saw that glint in his eye. He knew she was aggravated on the inside and he was taking advantage of that. Part of her really wondered if Billy thought Joe was ready. "Congratulate him with what?"
Joe looked at her solemnly, he knew she she wouldn't like like the idea of him joining, especially after the talk they just had. But there was no way he could say no. This was just too good of a chance. "I am going to get a bigger part in Billy's business."
Airynn forced a smile onto her face and walked over to Joe. She was a little torn about this. She was afraid for Joe joining the gang, for obvisous reasons but he looked so excited. He tried to look in her eyes to really see what she was feeling but she looked away as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Congratulations, Joe." she whispered and pulled away. She walked back over to Billy's side and crossed her arms.
"We'll talk more about the details later." Billy told him and reached into his pocket. "Until then, go have fun." He threw a wad of cash on the coffee table and smirked at Joe, while throwing an arm over Airynn's shoulder. "Go see Jenn again. She said when you came to see her last week, you weren't so nice."
Joe's cheeks reddened when he saw the glare Airynn sent him. Last time she heard Jennifer's name was when she was telling Joe to stop seeing her. Airynn hated Jennifer with a passion. Maybe it was the old Airynn talking but Jennifer was nothing, she wasn't worth anyone's time or money. She was nothing but a whore and she didn't like the fact that Joe slept with her on occasion. Joe never told Airynn about his last escapade with Jennifer or the few times before that. In fact, he never stopped going to see her. He hated to say it but he had to get something somewhere.
"Well, Joey, have fun. And be nice." Billy smirked, enjoying the thick tension that grew in the room. He bent his head down to Airynn's neck and bit it gently. "How's about we go celebrate too?" Airynn shivered when he snuck his hand down to grab her butt, but this time it was a disgusted shiver. Billy pulled her to the door and Joe reached out for her to say goodbye but she moved away from him.
"Later." he whispered. She glared at him and slammed the door when she left.
Joe hadn't been going on runs for long. Billy only let him go when the night before was really busy and he only let him go with Bodie or himself. Billy didn't trust anyone else with his younger brother. Even though Joe was eighteen now, Billy still didn't want to just throw him in the streets and not know how to do things properly and safely. He didn't not see Joe as the toughest and he didn't want anything happening to his brother, it was his blood. Billy wasn't able to run corners every night and when he did he ran by himself so Bodie, being next in charge, got stuck with Joe.
"Joe, you need to shut up when I'm talking to people. They want to hear you ramble about as much as I do. And FYI, I don't." Bodie snapped. Joe had a bad habit of talking to ear off of someone. Bodie knew it was because Joe was excited about being able to over see the corners and be there when they sold but still, it got annoying. Plus, tonight Heco was with them and he was enough of a fuck up.
"Yeah, Joey. Shut the fuck up." Heco laughed. Bodie turned to him and glared.
"I don't need an echo." he snarled. Heco huffed and looked around.
"He shouldn't even be here. He don't know nothing about what's going on." Heco smirked over at Joe. Joe's fist tightened and he took a step forward but Bodie stopped him.
"Just stop. I ain't having this shit at my corner." Bodie told them both.
"Whatever. If he wasn't Billy's little brother he wouldn't be here and you know that. He's a boy in a big man's world." Heco grumbled and lit a cigarette. "He ain't never gonna be one of us."Joe's body tensed up and his fists clenched beside him. Heco kept laughing as Joe sent them and icy glare.
"Didn't I say stop? I'll send both of ya asses home. I ain't no babysitter so I don't wanna hear the whining." Bodie sighed. Heco glared at him and walked over.
"You think you'd be man enough one day to be like us?" Heco asked Joe. Joe looked at Bodie, who looked on.
"Yeah." Joe told him, confidently.
"I doubt it." Heco smirked.
"Hey, you were in his spot at one time. You didn't know jack shit about what was going on around you but you learned. So don't go around saying you're the shit." Bodie defended Joe.
"Yeah, and at least I won't be on Billy's shit list everyday when I get to where you are." Joe smirked. Bodie chuckled a little and Heco walked off to meet a customer.
"At least we know you're a Darley." Bodie smirked. Joe looked over at him seriously.
"You think he'll let me join one day?" Joe asked.
"Maybe. If you don't fuck up or steal. You're his brother, he knows he can trust you but we need to be sure we can all count on you." Bodie told him.
"Heco? You trust Heco?" Joe asked incredulously. Bodie chuckled again and nodded.
"He might steal and take when he's not supposed to but he's been a friend of ours for years. At one point we've all stole to get a little buzz going. But it's the fact that we know he won't forget to pay us back or deny that he stole it. And he won't go running off to B Street to sell us out." Bodie explained. Joe nodded and looked around.
"I wanna join one day. And I won't be like Heco, I won't steal." Joe vowed. Bodie nodded his. He knew Joe wouldn't betray them, he know he wouldn't wrong them in anyway. No matter what.
Joe quietly slipped into Billy's apartment and shrugged his jacket off. Billy had called him not even twenty minutes ago telling him to drop the money he had made off at his place. Usually Billy came to pick it up but apparently someone didn't like how Tommy did business and tried to take off with a free bag. Tommy, of course, called Billy and he went to over see the situation. That left Joe taking what he earned to Billy's place.
He noticed all the lights were off and quietly laid his keys down on the counter. He walked down the hallway and walked into the extra bedroom. The room used to be Joe's until Airynn moved, then Billy wanted Joe out. Now the room was only for Billy and Joe to enter. There wasn't too much in it at first glance but if you opened the closet and lifted a few floorboards, there was a lot. The safe was in the back of the closet and there were a few guns stashed under in the boards. Joe thought Billy was crazy for wanting to live here, the place was a dump. There were holes in the wall and nothing worked properly. He thought this until he realized it was the perfect place to hide their stuff. Billy wasn't as stupid as he thought.
Joe placed the bag of money in the safe and put it back in it's place. Him and Billy were the only ones who knew the combination and that made Joe feel better and more trusted by his brother. It proved to him that he meant something to Billy. He left his old bedroom and slowly started to walk back into the living room. He hadn't even thought about Airynn being there until he passed the bedroom.
He waited at the cracked door for a minute before slowly pushing it open and poking his head in. He smirked when he saw Airynn laying on her back on the bed. She was wearing a black tank top and a pair of black night shorts, both decorated with tiny white swirls and Harley Davidson written across the shirt. Her arms were above her head and under the pillow while her legs laid over the crumpled sheets, one was straight out and the other was bent at the knee. He was debating on whether to go closer or not, but their last conversation kept replaying in his mind. Silently he kicked his shoes off before walking over to the bed. She didn't move as he crawled up onto the edge of the bed. His eyes traced a path up her legs and up her body, noticing the tiny space of skin that showed on her stomach.
His mind went into over drive when he placed a hand on the top of her foot. He watched face for any signs of movement as he slowly moved his hand up her right leg. Her skin was soft, softer than he had ever felt before and it only made him want her more. His hand had found it's way to her knee and that's when Airynn shifted.
"Fuck off, Billy." she mumbled, her eyes still closed. Joe chuckled softly and moved his body to move with his hand. He watched as her face twitched as his hand got higher and higher on the inside of her thigh. He placed his other hand on her hip as his first found it's way to the hem of her shorts. His heart beat faster knowing that a few more inches and he'd be where he'd been dreaming of since he met her.
Suddenly, Airynn's hand grabbed his. At first, she thought it was Billy, but these hands on her felt not like Billy's at all. Billy never touched her that way. She thought she was dreaming, until she felt the fingers touch her shorts. She opened her eyes. Joe pinned her hand to the bed and looked up at her. Her eyes focused on him and she smiled a little.
"Stop it, Joey." she breathed, not really meaning it. Joe smirked and placed a kiss to the exposed skin on her stomach. She licked her lips and closed her eyes, enjoying the warm softness of his mouth on her.
"Why?" he whispered, moving his hand further under her shorts. His heart leaped as his hand touched the lace of her panties.
"If Billy comes back…." she whispered, shivering when the tip of his fingers ran along the outside of her thong. It hit her then what he was doing, he was teasing her.
Joe pretended like he didn't hear her, watching her biting her lips and massage the pillowed under her head as he continued caressing her. His mind wondered for a moment if Billy made her feel this way. If Billy took his time to watch how he was making her feel or not.
"Joe… stop." she breathed again, when he placed another kiss on her skin, this time just under where her shorts ended on her thigh.
"Airynn," he whispered, his voice savouring every letter of her name as he moved up to kiss her chest. Her hand had moved from under his and ran through his hair.
"What does Billy want you to do?" she whispered. He wasn't letting this conversation go any further so he moved his lips from her chest and up to her lips. His tongue entered her mouth greedily as the moment finally took over. Airynn shifted her hips down into his hand, begging him to go further and he obliged. He moved a finger inside of her and used another to rub and caress her slowly. He smirked when her lips peeled off of his to throw her head back and let out a long, soft gasp. He wanted to attack her neck as she exposed it to him but he couldn't pry his eyes off of her face as she showed every ounce of pleasure she was feeling. When the initial overwhelming feeling of him touching her was subdued, she opened her eyes to look down at him, surprised to see him looking back.
Slowly, Joe removed his hand from he shorts and went to remove his shirt. Airynn stopped him though. She looked in his eyes and sat up from the bed.
"Tell me." she whispered. He sighed and moved to sit next to her.
"Why do you wanna know so bad?" he asked, pulling his cigarettes out of his pocket.
"Why are you so adamant in not telling me?" she retorted. Joe sighed again and threw his cigarette down. He turned to look at her and nodded.
"Fine. You wanna know?" he asked, a little to harshly. "I gotta kill somebody. I gotta kill the person that Billy tells me to kill and then I will be part of his crew." he asked. Airynn stared at him shocked and slowly found her voice.
"No." she whispered at first. "You can't do that." Joe narrowed his eyes at her and stood up.
"What you don't think I'm as tough as they are? They wouldn't have asked if I wasn't, Air!" he yelled. Airynn's anger boiled in her veins and she stood up in front of him.
"Do not fucking yell at me, Joseph!" she yelled back and glared at him. "This isn't about who's tougher. It doesn't matter if they think you're strong enough. It's about me not wanting you to do it."
"Why?" he asked. Airynn stared at him dumbfounded and crossed her arms.
"You just told me to join the gang, you have to kill someone." she yelled. "Take a life, Joe. Do you even understand what that means? Of course, I'm going to tell you not to do it."
"I'm not fucking stupid, Airynn. But I can't turn them down. I've waited a long time for this. I'm his brother and half the time he treats those fuck ups better than me. I deserve more respect." Joe told her. Airynn shook her head and stepped way from him.
"You're not doing this," she told him. "It's me or the gang, Joe. Simple as that."