Glitch (Next Level Book 1)

As far as dates go, I have no clue how to rank this one. Ara fits right at home with us. And when she grabs a controller and starts building a castle, I swear my heart explodes.

Ara settles in between Beetle and I on the couch, automatically invested. “How big do you want it?”

“I don’t care. Just make it have lava floors.”

I raise my brow at Beetle, and he quickly adds, “Please and thank you.”

I slip away to talk with Erin while they play. “So?” I lean against the doorway to the kitchen. I wish she’d repaint the place. It needs a serious remodel.

“So?”

“You like her?”

Erin deadpans me. “It doesn’t matter what I like, Sean.”

Yikes. She used my real name. “Do you?”

“I’ve never seen you smile so much at dinner before tonight.” She hands me a towel and we start the dishes. “I’ve never seen you covered in paint before, either.”

“Ara’s…”

“Good for you.”

“I think we’re good for each other.”

“Then you better not let her go.” She hands me the first dish to dry.

By the time we’re done cleaning up, I head back to the living room and stop dead in my tracks. Ara’s laying on her belly, facing Beetle, and they’re sketching something on a big piece of paper from my sister’s arts and crafts stash.

“What’s this?” I squat down for a better look.

“Ara’s showing me how to draw anime.”

Erin creeps over quietly. “Holy shit.”

Yeah. Holy shit is right. Beetle has a night of endless video games and he’s chosen to turn it off to draw.

“Marry her,” Erin whispers before shoving me aside to sit on the floor. “Let me see, Beetle!”

I love this. I love this so much it hurts.

“I’m doing Pikachu. She’s doing Squirtle.”

Ara smiles at Erin. “Beetle says he wants a collage in his room of all his favorites. I promised to come back and help him. It’ll be an after-dinner project.”

“You, Ara, are a gift from the gods.” Erin ruffled her son’s hair and kisses his head. “This looks amazing, buddy.”

“I already screwed it up.”

“There are no mistakes in art,” Ara chides. “It’s impossible to screw up.”

“Well, what’s that then?” Beetle jabs his pencil at a blurry erased spot by Pikachu’s ear.

Ara tilts her head and studies it. “Looks like an opportunity to me.” She squints and tilts her head in the other direction. “Maybe there’s a Poke ball behind him, and that,” she taps her pencil on the blur mark, “is the dark part of the ball.” She looks at him. “May I show you?”

“Yes, please.”

I’m so proud of this kid right now. He usually tosses a fit when things aren’t “just so” which is a flaw I fear he gets from me. But he’s not freaked about it right now.

Ara’s the reason.

“Okay, look.” She quickly sketches out a ball and the blurry spot that’s gray is now incorporated into it. “See? And when we color it in, this will be black.” Next, Ara draws a random line across the top of her Squirtle head. “What can this maybe be?”

Beetle stares at it. “A hat?”

“Awesome idea!” Ara draws a top hat on Squirtle’s head, and I sit down on the couch. It’s either that, or my legs are going to give out.

“Where’s your bathroom?” she asks.

It takes me a second to find my voice. “Upstairs, second door on the right.” When she leaves, I look over at Erin.

“This woman is a fucking unicorn, Glitch.”

“Better put a ring on it,” Beetle adds. Then he looks up and shrugs. “What?”

“You should probably get to bed, little dude.”

And we should probably get out of here. It’s late, and even if my sister doesn’t sleep well, she could probably do with a little quiet time. “How’s the job search going?”

“It’s coming along.” She yawns and elbows me. “Don’t worry.”

I can’t help but worry.

“Oh my God!” Ara squeals from upstairs. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Glitch!” She races down the steps so fast, I’m afraid she’ll fall.

I’m immediately on high alert. “What’s wrong?”

“I got it!” Her eyes are huge as she holds her cell out to me. “I got the job! The elementary school murals! Holy crap, I got it!” She’s so elated she’s shaking. And her joy is contagious.

Erin claps enthusiastically. “What am I excited about?”

I lift Ara from the ground and spin her. “Of course, you got the job! You’re insanely talented.”

“Someone tell me why I’m clapping!” Erin shouts louder, swept up in our excitement.

I put Ara back on her feet and she’s fucking beaming with excitement and pride. “I put a bid in to paint a mural in each of the elementary schools. It’s not a huge commission, but…” She looks up at me and I can hardly breathe from how fast my heart’s pounding. “My mom’s going to be so proud of this. I’ve… I have so many plans… the colors, and OH! The surrealism and… she loved that stuff… but I’m adding my own twist with these big flowers and this huge—” She stops and covers her mouth. Her eyes get even bigger. Then she starts to cry, and I wrap her in my arms.

“You’ve got this,” I say against her hair.

She clings to me, still shaking. “I can’t even believe I got it.”

I don’t know why. Her talent is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. “Come on.” I pull Ara back and steer her towards the front door. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Where are you going?” Erin asks.

“To her studio. She’s not going to sleep until she gets some of this excitement down on canvas.”

That earns me a massive smile from Ara. She rushes over to hug Erin and Beetle goodbye and promises to be back for dinner sometime soon, and then we’re in the car heading to her studio again.

She keeps staring at her phone, reading the email over and over. But she’s quiet. That energy has crackled into something spikier. I can’t tell what it means.

“What if I fail?” she whispers. “What if my idea doesn’t translate like I want it to?”

“You won’t and it will.”

She’s not convinced. Her insecurity demons are rallying. I pull over and throw the car in park. “Look at me, Ara.”

She stares into her lap where her phone is.

“Hey.” I gently cup her chin, making her face me. “Didn’t you just say there are no mistakes in art?”

Her bottom lip quivers.

“You’re going to slay this. And then you’re going to slay the next project and the one after and the one after. Do you know how?”

She shakes her head.

“By telling those demons barking all that negative bullshit in your head to shut the fuck up. You one hundred percent have this. They loved your proposal, or you wouldn’t have been picked.”

“Maybe I was the only one who submitted.”

“So what if you were? That doesn’t say shit about your talent. What you do with your opportunity will. I can’t wait to see it.”

She stares back at her phone. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” I shoot back. “I’m so honored to get to be a part of this, Ara. Seriously. Seeing you this happy is… fuck, it’s… it’s everything.”

My girl lunges into my chest and kisses me so hard our teeth clack. When Ara leans back, she’s grinning again. “I’m gonna do this.”

“Yes, you are.”

“It’s going to be amazing.”

“Damn straight it is.”

“And then more commissions will roll in and maybe I’ll even get another exhibit somewhere.”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

She shimmies back into her seat and reaches over to unbuckle my belt. “I want your dick in my mouth.”

“I will never say no to that.”

Her hot tongue is on me a moment later. She sucks me off so hard I see stars. “Holy shit, I hope you get never-ending commissions.” Ara laughs with a mouthful of my cock, and it vibrates down to my balls. “Fuck.” My hips jack up and my dick crams down her throat. She gags. I growl.

Her cell goes off with a text.

We both ignore it.

She draws me in and does wicked things with her tongue that make me think of glorious ways to return the favor. “Such a good girl.” I hold her hair, guiding her head up and down my length. She uses one hand to pump me and licks my head like it’s a fucking lollipop.

“Give me your cum, Glitch.” She licks and sucks and draws me in until I hit the back of her throat again.

“Just like that,” I say. “Keep sucking it just like that and I’ll give you what you want.” I don’t last long. “Swallow it all.” I groan just as my cock jerks in her mouth. She doesn’t miss a goddamn drop and when she lifts her head, she swipes her finger along the corners of her mouth and licks it clean. I run my thumb across her bottom lip. “Good girl.”

Her reaction when I talk like this will never get old. Her pupils are big, her cheeks get all rosy, and she squirms. “Take me back to my studio and fuck me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She giggles and sits back in her seat. Picking her phone up, Ara stares at the screen again. Only this time, her face pales when she clicks on her newest text.

The energy in the car shifts again and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “What’s wrong?”

Ara starts to panic. Her breaths punch out of her in short spurts. “No. No, no, no.” She holds the phone to her chest so I can’t see it.

“Ara, what is it?”

“I’m…” She unbuckles her seatbelt and fumbles with the doorhandle, only to tumble out of the car.

Jesus. What the fuck? “Ara!” I scramble out of the car. She’s running. Running and crying and freaking out and I have no clue why. “Ara, stop!”

She doesn’t. I chase her down and pull her back with my hands around her waist. “I’m going to kill him!” she scream-cries. “I knew it! I knew things were going too good. Nothing this good happens to me for real.”

I’m so confused I don’t know where to start. “Talk to me.”

She crosses her arms and cries harder.

“Ara, goddamnit, talk to me!”

She shoves her phone in my face, and my heart falls out of my ass. Then my blood turns to toxic, fiery poison.

A video plays on her screen. It’s Ara, in her bed, masturbating. Clip after clip after clip.

It doesn’t take a genius to know who sent her this.

Fucking Jason.

“He’s going to ruin me,” she sobs. “I’ll lose the school’s commission if this leaks.”

I’m seeing red.

“I don’t even know how he could have gotten this!” She clutches her hair. “How could he have videotaped me?”

I need to stay calm. Think. Breathe. “It’s okay.” I’m not sure it is. “We’ll handle it.” I’m not sure she’ll like how I plan to handle it. “We’ll figure it out.”

“You’re not…” She sobs again. “You’re not mad at me?”

I think I’ve snapped. I must be mad. Insane. Off the rails. “Why would I be mad at you?”

“I don’t know!” she scream-cries at me.

Jesus fucking Christ. Her exes have done such a head job on her. I’m going after every single one of them.

Starting with Jason.