Just One Of The Others

^^^For those of you who understand 😂😂😂😂

I love you guys. You're making this book very enjoyable for me to write and you're the reason why I continue to write. Thank you.

**~**

I don't know if I'm sleeping or awake, but I sure do feel like I'm in a dream.

Something wet and warm trails my stomach, making my body tingle. It starts going lower... lower... My back arches.

My hand shoots out, tangling in something soft. A nibble at my skin causes my eyes to flutter open. I move my fingers again and freeze when my hand is still on something soft. What... I look down and my breath catches in my throat.

"Arthur?" My legs are spread apart to accommodate his body settled between my thighs. My shirt is pushed up under my boobs and his lips are pressing against my abdomen as he stares up at me through his lashes.

"Good, you're awake." He rests his chin on my stomach then forces his arms under my thighs, making them rest on his shoulders and my calves on his back. His hands reach up to grip my sides. "Good morning." He tears his gaze away from mine as he begins kissing down my stomach.

When did this become my life? I'm going to hell.

His lips brush against the spot above my underwear. His hot tongue snakes out, touching my skin before his lips take over, sucking on the spot before nibbling on it with his teeth. A shiver rocks through my body. I'm sweating and the tension building inside me has me panting,

His tongue slips under the waistband of my underwear, running across my skin.

"What," I breathe, my head pressing back into the pillows as my eyes slide shut, "are you doing?" My hand grips and tugs at his hair without my permission and he lets out a low, gruff sound. He drags his fingers down my sides as he sucks, kisses, and bites his way up and down my stomach, over my ribcage, my sides...

Just as he starts descending to dangerous territory, there's a knock at the door. "Arthur?" A light but firm voice carries through the room, and the familiarity of it snaps me right out of my hormone-induced state.

Arthur shifts back and gets up. He sits back on his heels then grabs my legs and pulls me down so that my butt is flushed against his thighs. I'm about ready to rip his head off when he grins at me, making me flush in embarrassment.

"What are you doing!" I whisper-shout at him. If that's who I think it is, I want to be not this close to him, and wearing clothes right now!

He ignores me and answers, "Yeah, mom?" And there it is.

My eyes widen. I try to move away from him but he isn't having it. Arthur grips my thighs and raises his eyebrows, his eyes twinkling. He's enjoying this too much with his mother outside the door. I glance over his shoulder to make sure she isn't in the freaking room by now. If his mom is anything like mine, she would be.

I let out a breath, only a little relief when the door remains closed.

"Which one is it this time?" She says. My mouth falls open as I stare at Arthur.

"Mom! Seriously!"

"Will I get to meet this one?" Can my mouth open any wider at this point? What in the Lord's n- "Maybe she can come have breakfast."

"See you downstairs!" he calls back and if I weren't so appalled, I'd take a second to admire his blush.

"Okay," she chirps then I hear footsteps fading.

Everything catches up to me at that moment and I'm upset. I practically threw my body at him like everyone else and was in here moaning like a sex worker, of course, his mom would- I've never been more embarrassed and disappointed in my life. But who can I blame other than myself? He makes me feel things I never had in this short time we've known each other. I've never had what he's given me and he makes me needy. A little too much. We're not even dating for Christ's sake and he's touched me--like... that. But I'm most definitely not interested in a 'friends with benefits' relationship.

"Grace."

My humiliation makes it hard to look at him. I shouldn't have let him get to me like that. I feel my cheeks heat up in frustration and anger. I blink rapidly to get rid of the moisture in my eyes as I stare at the ceiling. I throw one of my arms lazily over my eyes and release an unsteady breath. I'm such an idiot.

"Babe?" he says softly, almost vulnerable.

"I'm going home."

I'm so angry and I can't help it. Angry at myself for being so... easy. No, I'm not. I'm not easy. I chant over and over in my head, wanting to believe it. I push myself up before he can stop me and scramble off the bed, managing to stay upright. I wince when I put too much pressure on my ankle and he reaches for me. I move away from his touch, pulling the T-shirt down so it covers what needs to be covered.

I spot my clothes sitting neatly folded on the edge of his vanity after looking everywhere but at him to find a way out of this. I rush over to it, taking my clothes, and quickly make my way over to his bathroom. I close the door behind me and lock it. I walk over to the wall and lean against it with my eyes closed, thumping my head against the cool tiles.

"So stupid," I whisper.

"Grace?" Arthur calls from the room--right outside the bathroom door. "Gorgeous, come on, can we talk?"

I ignore his calls until they stop. After a moment, I get up and start getting ready. I find spare toothbrushes under the sink and take one.

Of course, he has spares. I scoff out loud. When I look at myself in the mirror I almost choke on the toothbrush and have to take it out and spit out the toothpaste. I lean forward to stare, open-mouthed, at my appearance. I have hickies, bright and demanding, scattered on my neck. I'm dead. I can't go home like this!

I take in a deep breath and decide to ignore it for now. After brushing my teeth, I throw the toothbrush out then wash my face and dry it with one of his towels sitting on a shelf. Staring at myself in the mirror, I took in my unruly hair with a nasty look. I try running my fingers over it to tame it but that doesn't work so I start fluffing it. Better. I flatten my hair and work it around my neck, relaxing when I see it's doing a great job at covering the hideous marks.

I get to the door and stand there for a minute before taking a deep breath then open the door and walk into the room. Now, where are my shoes... I wonder to myself as I think back to the night before.

"Grace." I look over to see Arthur getting up from the edge of his now made bed with a worried look on his face.

Oh! In Andrea's room! I hurry to the door but as soon as I open it, it's slammed shut. I stare at his hand resting on the door, trying not to look at him.

"I have to go home. I have stuff to do," I tell him, still staring at his hand.

"Stuff like what?"

"Um- laundry, homework, y'know..." I drop my gaze to the floor with a shrug. I need to do my toes.

He sighs. "Can you at least have breakfast before you go?"

Well... that is the most important meal of the day.

"Fine."

**~**

"Hello, brother." A voice says as soon as we step off the last stair. Arthur's broad back blocks me from the guy.

"So you just don't have a job?"

"Yes, but can't I visit my mom anymore?" the guy says, humor lacing his voice.

Arthur chuckles and walks over to the brother I did not know he had. They hug before breaking apart, then stare at each other for a second before they start laughing.

Once Arthur's out of the way, I get to see the guy. He looks like someone I've caught a glimpse of once in a while. He has the same dark hair as Arthur, a nice wide smile that brings out his dimples even under his dark scruff that's trimmed to perfection. He's a few inches taller than his brother and has blue eyes. The height just runs in this family, though.

"Look at you!" Arthur's brother says while slapping his shoulder playfully.

"Nah, look at you! You're what 23 now? Doesn't matter, old man." Arthur taunts only for his brother to put him in a headlock.

"Take it back, dickhead."

They tumble to the floor, rolling around. Arthur breaks out of his hold, slips his forearm around his brother's throat, and starts rubbing his head roughly with his knuckles.

"Mom! mommaaaaa!"

I lift my hand to my mouth to stifle my laugh. Arthur laughs as he continues to give his brother a nuggy. I have a feeling the twenty-year-old muscular, tattooed guy can definitely get out of Arthur's hold if he tries. It's heart-warming to see him doing the bare minimum in any case.

"Arthur get off of your brother."

Mrs. Kingsley walks into the room in loose pants and a T-shirt, scolding the boys in Spanish, but more playful than anything. She smiles as they role all over the floor, screaming and complaining as they pinch and pull each other's hair. Her dark curls are in a messy bun on top of her head, loose strands framing her face. Why can't my bun look like that? It's not my first time seeing her, she is my neighbor after all, but I've never been in her house, looking directly into her face, after...

Arthur gets up, adjusting his shirt and brushing the imaginary dust from his jeans as his brother lay on his back, glaring up at him from the floor.

"Apologize," his mom says. Arthur's head pops up, an appalled expression fixing on his face.

He lets out a laugh. "Don't you think that's a little overboard?"

His mother narrows her eyes at him, "Boy..."

Oooh, that was a threat! What's dear ole Arthur gonna do now!

"Oh come on mom, he started it!" Arthur exclaims, pointing a finger down at his smirking sibling.

A giggle slips past my lips at how childish they are. I wish I had siblings to be childish with. I have my dad anyway, he's more childish than ten kids combined when it comes down to it.

"Grace?"

I almost jump in my spot at that. I grunt when I'm pulled into a hug before I can even get my sight straight. I hiss as the sharp flair in my ankle from the jolt. I push the pain to the back of my mind, hugging her back but not as tight as she's holding me.

"Morning, Mrs. Kingsley." She isn't as tall as I am, so I have to crouch a little. We know who her kids didn't get their heights from.

"Careful, her ankle still hurts," Arthur informs her, worry coating his words.

"I'm fine." I don't look at him, but I know his eyes are on me.

"My God, what happened?" She pulls back and looks down at my foot, her hands holding my upper arms. "Do you want to sit? I've never broken a bone in my life - wait, my puppy broke a bone once when I was younger, believe me, even I cried- it was horrible. I can't even tell what you're going through. This is why I didn't want a big house, stairs aren't safe and those marble floors-"

"Mom." Andrea walks into the room with her arms crossed, "You're gonna scare her away with your ranting."

In the background, the two brothers chuckle under their breaths and Mrs. Kingsley glares at her children.

"Sorry, Grace," she says, patting my arm before dropping her hands and stepping back, "It's really nice to see you." She smiles at me warmly, causing my own smile to break across my face.

The doorbell rings, drawing our attention in that direction.

"I'll get it!" Both boys exclaim at the same time. Adam jumps up, adjusting his clothes. They look at each other with narrowed eyes and say next, "No, I'll get it!" They glare at each other. I stare at them with my eyebrows raised. "Stop that! No, you stop that!" Then they both take off, racing to the front door.

Mrs. Kingsley, Andrea, and I are just as speechless as we watch them step on each other to get to the door first.

Until Mrs. K places her hand on my arm again and says, "Let's go into the kitchen. Breakfast is ready."

She leads me into the kitchen and I take a seat on one of the barstools. Andrea sits opposite me.

"Thanks for washing my clothes," I say to her. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be leaving this early and probably would've fallen back under Arthur's spell. Or still be in his bathroom hiding until I got my clothes.

"Not a problem..." She pauses then continues, "Just wanna say, I wasn't in the best mood last night. My girl and I got into something, and on top of that, Arthur decided to forget to pick me up at the airport so as you could guess, I was pissed."

I nod. "Yeah, I understand. He should've been more responsible."

Andrea eyes me and I squirm under her gaze. "He was with you wasn't he?" She says knowingly.

"Uhh, I mean, I d-didn't-"

"Andrea," her mom says in a warning tone.

"Just curious." She leans forward, resting her chin on her fist. "When I got home he wasn't here either. So I'm assuming..." An easy grin slips on to her face.

I advert my eyes as my face heats up. "He just wanted to stick around because I broke my ankle on his doorstep." I stare at my hands on my lap. "I was returning a jacket he loaned me at school," I add, not wanting them to get any ideas. Not like me spending the night with him screams 'we're not doing anything'.

"And that's okay, sweetie." Mrs. Kingsley says but my embarrassment swoops in any way, making my skin crawl. She'd heard-

"What's she doing here?"