Chapter 6
Addison's POV
Game night at the Shepherd's house was a tradition that had been going on for years. What was funny about the game night was that only Derek and Amelia were interested in playing board games. Their parents never played, Mark played sometimes, and Kathleen and Nancy never played at all.
"I'm going to take you all down." Derek wiggled his eyebrows as he looked at Link, Amelia, and me with a serious face and I tried not to laugh. He was so far from intimidating when he made that face, but I knew he wasn't joking. Derek never joked about board games. He played to win, and he pretty much always did.
I stared at Derek's face for a few seconds and wondered how it was that he could be so good-looking without being completely cocky. Derek Shepherd is classically handsome in the way that means that pretty much any woman can look at him and find something to appreciate.
That's not why I like him, though. Yes, his eyes remind me of the sky on a clear summer day; yes, his hair is dark and silky that makes him look dangerously sexy; yes, his lips are full that makes him look roguish; yes, his body is fit and muscular without looking like he's Mr. Universe ... Yes, I'm attracted to his looks, but what I like most about Derek is the fact that underneath his bossy-older-brother persona, he is deeply caring, wickedly intelligent, and he has a secret naughty side to him that I love seeing come out. And even more, than that, he's always been there for me even when I didn't know I needed him.
"Are you going to play, Addison?" Derek asked me and poked me in the shoulder.
"Sorry, I was just thinking," I said and smiled at him as I picked up the dice. He smiled back at me and then looked away and started counting his money. I laughed at the happy look on his face. Derek had always loved playing Monopoly, and he was the king of property buying. He always acted as if the game were real life and he was always a sore loser when he happened to lose a game, which had only happened once. And if I'm completely honest, I wasn't sure if he had lost on purpose or not.
"Thinking is not acting," he said with a stern face. "Roll the dice and move."
"See what I told you, babe?" Amelia said and kissed her boyfriend. "Derek takes this game so seriously. He thinks he is buying real properties and hotels."
"Don't be a sore loser, Amy," Derek said, and Amelia laughed.
"We just started playing ten minutes ago. You haven't won yet."
"Yet," he said with a smirk and then looked back at me. "Are you going to play?"
"I'm playing, jeez," I said and rolled the dice, and then moved my piece. "I'm not buying the property," I said as I looked at my cash.
"What?" Derek looked at me like I was crazy. "How can you not buy it? You always have to buy."
"I'm saving my money." I shrugged and adjusted the strap of my top as it was sliding off of my shoulder.
I noticed Derek's eyes shift from my face to my shoulder and his gaze became more intense as he watched me adjusting my bra strap as well. My fingers got stuck underneath the strap for a moment, and Derek moved towards me. For a second, I thought he was going to help me untangle my fingers, but he didn't. I released my breath, and he moved back.
"You can play now." I smiled at him sweetly. "My turn is done."
"That was a bad move," he said and shook his head. "How many times do I have to tell you and Amelia to always buy a property?"
"I didn't want to," I said, and I saw Amelia rolling her eyes as Link smiled.
"Well, you should have," Derek said and picked up the dice. "I know you like being difficult, Addison, but you should listen to me when it comes to playing board games."
"I know, I know," I said and picked up my bottle of water. "You know best. You're the king of Monopoly, the baron of fake-property buying, the master of the universe."
"The master of the universe, huh?" Derek smiled and licked his lips. "I don't know if I'm the master of the universe, but I can be a master of other things."
My breath caught, and I looked away as my face grew red. Was Derek confirming what Link had told me? There was no way that he knew that I knew he was a Dom, so I wondered if he thought he was smart. I stared at his hands and shivered slightly as I imagined them doing dirty things to me. Very, very dirty things.
"What other things?" I said softly and looked down at his belt. "Leather things?"
"Leather things?" His eyes caught mine, and I couldn't read his expression. "Okay, I'm buying Park Avenue." He changed the subject without continuing and I looked over at Amelia, who was looking very confused. I needed to talk to her about what Link had told me. I knew it would be awkward for her to hear that her brother was a Dom, but my sanity was more important than her feeling awkward at this point.
"Get ready to pay me all of your money, bitches." Derek sounded gleeful, and Amelia gasped.
"Is that any way to speak to women?" she said tartly. "Bitches? Derek?"
"No." Derek jumped up from the ground. "Sorry, girls, I got a bit carried away. My apologies to you two gentle damsels."
"I'm no damsel," I said and sipped some more water. "You don't need to be gentle with me."
"That's good to know." Derek winked at me and studied my face for a few seconds. "Anyone wants a beer or anything else from the kitchen?"
"I think I'll come with you and grab a beer." The link jumped up as well. "Girls?"
"I'll have a Blue Moon, please. And some chips."
"I'll have a Blue Moon as well," Amelia said. "And bring some more salsa out."
"Anything else, ma'am?" Link teased her, and she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Yes, some popcorn too," she said as they exited the room. "Don't forget the popcorn."
"How could I forget the popcorn?" Link looked at her from the door and then exited.
"What is going on?" Amelia screeched as soon as they'd be" in the room.
"What are you talking about?" I said with a frown. "What do you mean, 'what is going on?'"
"You and my brother are flirting." She pointed a finger at me. "Master of the universe and damsel in distress?" She giggled as she studied my face. "What are you two going on about?"
"We're not flirting." I groaned. "I wish we were flirting. I wish he were interested in me."
"Addie, trust me. Derek is flirting." She cocked her head to the side. "Why do I feel like there is something you haven't told me?"
"Amy," I whispered as I stared at the door. "You will not believe what I have to tell you."
"Oh my God, what?" She leaned forward eagerly.
"Link told me ..." My voice trailed o! and I lowered my voice some more. "You cannot tell him I told you."
"Oh my God, what did he tell you?" she said, her voice growing louder.
"Shhh, Amelia!" I groaned. "Look, I don't have time to tell you now, but I will tell you later."
"You're killing me." She made a face. "I want to know now."
"I seriously can't tell you now," I said, and Amelia frowned.
"Give me a clue, at least. You can't just leave me hanging."
"I'm not leaving you hanging," I said and then leaned forward. "Let me just say that Derek likes to be in control."
"Huh?" Amelia looked confused. "What does that mean?" Her eyes searched mine. "What do you mean he likes to be in control?"
"I mean he likes to be in control," I emphasized the last word and widened my eyes. I moved my hand back and forth in a quick slapping motion, but I could tell that Amelia had no idea what I was acting out. The look on her face was one of deep confusion.
"Okay, here are the beers." Derek walked into the living room then, and I blushed as I took the beer. Every time I looked at Derek now, all I could think about was him spanking me or bossing me around in the bedroom. Unfortunately, I had no real clue what went on in a Dominant/submissive relationship, so I knew I was going to have to do some research if I was hoping to get him to believe that I was interested in being a part of that lifestyle.
"So, who's up now?" Derek said as he sat down and handed me a bowl of chips.
"Amelia," I said with a smile, and we both turned to Amelia who was busy kissing Link. "You're up, Amy."
"Oh, sorry," she said with a small smile as she played with Link's hair. I looked at the board and smiled to myself as we waited for her to play.
"Reminds me of old times," Derek said softly, and I looked up at him with a small smile.
"Oh?" I said just as softly.
"Amy being preoccupied with a boy and us having to wait," he said and reached over to grab some chips. "Do you remember that night we played by ourselves?"
"I do," I said quietly, surprised he had remembered. "I was thirteen and you were eighteen," I said with a laugh. "And it was Valentine's Day."
"Yup." He nodded. "And you were so upset because Amelia spent the whole night chatting to her friend on the phone."
"What friend?" Link frowned, and Amelia giggled as she punched him in the shoulder.
"I was thirteen." She shook her head. "His name was James Peterson, and he was fourteen, and I thought we were going to get married and live happily ever after."
"Hmph," Link said, and I smiled at his slightly jealous expression.
"They weren't even really dating," I said.
"Amy just had a crush on him, and they spent most of their calls talking about music."
"Ugh, and wrestling." Amelia made a face. "I don't know how he believed that I enjoyed listening to rap and hip hop."
"Hip hop?" Link looked confused.
"Amelia told him she loved wrestling because he loved them and she wanted to connect with him." I giggled as I thought back to the silly lies, we'd told as teenagers.
"I guess you've both been a bit immature for a long time, then?" Link asked in an amused tone as he gazed at Amelia lovingly.
"I wouldn't say immature," I said defensively, thinking about my current plan to try and seduce Derek.
"Yeah, we're not immature," Amelia said and punched Link in the arm again. "We're just fun-loving."
"Uh huh," Derek said and shook his head, his eyes never leaving my face. I looked up at him, and I wondered what he was thinking.
He had a half-smile on his face, and I wanted more than anything to be able to lean forward and just kiss him. I let out an involuntary sigh, and I watched as Derek's eyes dropped to my lips and then back up to my eyes.
A sharp thrill ran through my stomach and the room went quiet. I felt tense and excited and I could barely breathe. The electricity between us was tangible and I waited with bated breath for Derek to say something else.
"Back to my story." He grinned. "Remember how I saved you from eternal depression and disappointment?"
"Hmmm, eternal depression and disappointment, eh?" I raised an eyebrow at him, but my heart was thudding. I could remember that night as if it were yesterday. It was one of the moments between us that reminded me why I'd fallen so hard for him.
I'd been thirteen and a bit awkward. Both Amelia and I had been awkward. We'd been average students, both with braces and slight acne. We weren't cool kids and we weren't really smart, either. We'd been just normal teenage girls: a bit goofy, really into boys, really into talking about boys, and really into wishing boys would notice us. Amelia had invited me over for a slumber party on Valentine's Day but had gotten a call about ten minutes "Er I'd arrived, and I'd sat in Shepherd's living room watching TV with her parents and feeling sorry for myself. Mark and Nancy were out, and Derek was busy studying for some test.
At thirteen I'd already felt like a bit of a loser, and I'd been so excited when Derek had seen me sitting with his parents watching Jeopardy and asked if I wanted to be his Valentine's date. Now, he hadn't meant in a romantic sense—I'd been thirteen and he'd been eighteen—but he'd wanted to cheer me up. Of course, I'd eagerly said yes. I mean, Derek was like a Greek god to me, so hot and so untouchable. I'd jumped off the couch so fast and we'd gone into the kitchen and to the games' cupboard. He'd pulled out Monopoly (his favorite game) and asked me if I wanted to share a pizza.
Of course, I'd said yes, even though his parents had already fed me lasagna. Derek had taken a frozen pizza out of the freezer and poured us each a glass of orange Sunkist. We'd sat at the kitchen table and played Monopoly all night. I'd felt like a million bucks; especially after he'd made strawberries dipped in chocolate for me. That was perhaps the first time I'd ever thought of Derek in a truly romantic way.
My heart had soared at how caring he was. I could still remember the words he'd said to me as I'd complained to him that I was afraid I'd be alone forever. Amelia had a valentine and had left me to just watch TV with his parents, and I'd had no one.
He hadn't laughed and told me I was too young to have such worries. He hadn't called me a loser. He hadn't made comments about me being thirteen and too young for love. No, he'd smiled at me and picked up my hand and leaned forward, and looked deeply into my eyes.
His voice had been deep as he spoke and told me that "one day I would meet a guy that would make me feel like the only girl in the world. One day I wouldn't care about Valentine's Day because every day of my life would feel special. That the man that I ended up with would be worth the wait and that I should never settle for anything less than true love." He'd then stroked the top of my head and told me that one day I'd meet the right guy, the guy made especially for me, and that nothing would be more important to me than that guy.
At that moment, I'd known deep in my heart that he was that guy. I hadn't said anything of course, since I knew he just saw me as his sister's best friend. I knew that I was someone he cared for, but I was still a little kid; deep inside, though, I'd known: he was that guy for me.
The moment hadn't lasted long because he'd let go of my hand within seconds and gone back to playing Monopoly and telling me o! for not upgrading my houses to hotels, but I hadn't minded. The fact that Derek had spent his Valentine's Day trying to make me feel better and special had meant more to me than anything in the world. It meant that I could put up with his superior attitude when we played Monopoly because I knew deep inside that while Derek was bossy and arrogant, he had a heart of gold and he cared about me and my feelings. I knew that he was a guy who I could always count on; even if for him, I was just his sister's best friend.
"Addison, it's your turn again." Derek's voice distracted me from my thoughts, and I blinked slowly as I gazed at him, momentarily forgetting I was twenty-two and not still thirteen.
"Sorry," I said and picked up the dice and rolled them gently. I wondered if he remembered our conversation from that night. I wondered if he remembered how he told me to wait for Mr. Right. I wondered if he knew that I thought he was the one. I wondered what he would think if he knew of the plans, I had for the two of us. I sighed inwardly as I thought of those plans. A part of me told me to just be patient and let fate play its hand, but the other part of me was too impatient to wait any longer.