Garden of Sins

4. The Rush family welcomes you, Caden

Alayna

I’m still breathing heavily in the car when you charmingly open the door for me. Let’s face it, Caden, who does that anymore? You’re the type of guy I could fall in love with.

There’s a cigarette hanging from the corner of your mouth as you make a sweeping gesture and I slide out of the car with blushing cheeks and out of my mind. You act as if nothing happened, while I still feel your fingers inside me. Quickly, you grab my arm and hold me because my legs seem to be nothing but jelly and I stagger a bit. When you hold me, I feel safe. I don’t know how you do that, Caden, but that’s the way it is.

Meanwhile, Carter, with his jaw clenched, grabs the suitcases out of the trunk and slams it shut. I don’t know why he’s so tense, but I won’t ask him, let alone look in his direction for too long. That was embarrassing.

Mason Rush slams his door just as loud as he gets out. “Shit, are you crazy?” he promptly yells. “YOU WERE DRIVING LIKE A DRUNK AT 100 MILES AN HOUR! YOU ARE BEYOND HELP!”

I didn’t notice anything at all because my heart also accelerated to 100 mph and because I was intoxicated. Intoxicated by you, Caden.

Carter rolls his eyes without comment, grabs his bags, strolls to the front door, and rings the doorbell. Meanwhile, I look around. A large weeping willow bends deep down to the ground in the well-tended front garden and on the veranda, is a Hollywood swing swaying gently back and forth in the breeze.

Clouds have actually moved in front of the sun. The white house with the immaculate facade practically shines in the neighborhood.

It is incredibly beautiful and peaceful here.

“Why is he in such a bad mood again, Emilia,” Mason asks his beautiful wife, who is just getting out of the car and scolding Ava for being too loud and chewing gum like a cow.

A

Emilia Rush is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Her face is so pure and flawless. She has the same eyes she passed on to you and is always dressed modestly without too much jewelry. She has style and appears so elegant. Today, her black hair is in a bun at her nape and she is wearing white shorts and a loose, dark blue top that makes her tan skin stand out. Next to her, Mason Rush is a real rock. He is as masculine and muscular as you are, has tattoos, and just like Carter, wears black clothes. Together, Mason and Emilia look like movie stars.

And then Ava Rush, who follows them to the door grumbling quietly. She seems incredibly different from the rest of the family. Her hair is long and golden blonde. You once told me that she couldn’t cut it because your father has forbidden it. Supposedly, he hates short hair. She’s the only one who inherited your father’s eyes, which I still haven’t determined what color they are exactly. Sometimes, they shimmer dark, then greenish, and sometimes even blue.

Ava is slim, but has curves in all the right places and must never wear makeup or clothes that are too short or go out after eight in the evening. I feel a little sorry for her, I think with a smile.

I wonder why and what her parents are so afraid of that they think they have to lock her up.

You throw one arm around my shoulders and grab our travel bags that Carter just dropped onto the ground. He took his own suitcase with him. Something seems to be bothering him, but that is always the case.

“Are you coming?” Mason asks just as a

“FINALLY, YOU’RE HERE!” cries a woman, and as I pass by you, I shake my head. Is there anyone in this family who is not pretty? It can give you complexes. As if I didn’t already have enough of those next to you.

The woman who opened the door must be Olivia Rush, Mason Rush’s mom. And she’s awesome. I am impressed with how beautiful you can look at that age. Her hair is probably dyed but the same golden blonde color as Ava. She falls around Carter’s neck and he allows it. Her forest green eyes search our small group. First, I think she wants to greet her son, but instead, she pulls Emilia to her and hugs her for what feels like an hour before hugging her son.

Little by little, everyone disappears into the house until only you and I are left.

“Hello, pretty lady,” you purr and hug her, lifting her up a little, making her giggle. Then you set her down again and point at me.

“This is Alayna, my friend.” Your girlfriend, Caden. I am your girlfriend. That’s why I grin slightly moronically. I mean, look at you, all the women at college envy me when you stroll around campus with me and Carter follows us around like some a

Olivia looks at me for a moment and then smiles before pulling me into a brief hug and invites us in. She smells so good, I don’t even want to know how much the perfume she is wearing costs.

“I like your friend,” Olivia says.

“Me too,” you whisper and I feel my cheeks getting a little red.

We follow her into the house and what I see immediately overwhelms me. The place looks quite modern, though pretty chaotic, in a kind of clinically clean way. My God, is there even a grain of dust here? Tense, I glance around and worry about my shoes.

“Wow,” I whisper stiffly as I carefully remove my ballerinas, hoping that no dirt falls off. We follow Olivia into the house like a small family of ducks waddling one after the other.

Pure chaos prevails. Emilia and Mason argue with Carter about who will sleep in the basement.

The basement? Why would anyone want to do that?

Mason is getting angrier and angrier. “That is my basement, you fucking toad!” he roars with flashing, angry eyes. Carter hisses something and I glance away quickly because I’ll probably never be able to look him in the eyes again. Never again, never, never, never, never, never again.

Olivia is in the adjoining kitchen, apparently making coffee with a high-end machine that I wouldn’t dare dream of in a hundred years. From the stairs, there is a dark voice that gives me goose bumps, although I haven’t seen the face that goes with it yet.

“Oh, no,” the person says emotionlessly. “They are here.”

That must be Keaton J. Rush. The man who everyone says you resemble so much. I can’t wait to compare him to you. So, I turn around.

And here he comes.

Keaton Rush looks insanely good, but what else did I expect? He has dark hair that’s graying in places and you can tell he’s been to the Caribbean, as you told me, because his perfect skin is sun-kissed. His eyes are really the same as Ava and Mason Rush. His body is absolutely toned and flawless: not an ounce of fat, broad shoulders, narrow waist, and upright posture. The walk of a proud man. He intimidates me already. I scan his outfit. He wears white chinos and a dark blue polo shirt that hugs his muscular arms.

Holy shit! He is beautiful and daunting.

So, if you end up looking like this later, I’ll have to lock you in the basement.

Keaton Rush sluggishly comes down, almost a

First, he takes aim at Carter. “Your parents are sleeping in the basement, you fucking toad. You get the couch,” he clarifies.