Текст книги "Falling For My Best Friend's Brother"

Автор книги: J. S. Cooper

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Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 12 страниц)

My heart felt heavy as I pulled into a parking space and turned the ignition off. I think that being in a situation where you think you love someone and they don’t love you is most probably one of the hardest things in life. While I still had hope (for what are we without hope?), I didn’t necessarily think I had a good shot, no matter how much Liv tried to convince us both otherwise. Part of me felt like a fool with all the plans and tricks. I didn’t think they would work on Aiden. Not given our history. I didn’t think they would work, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still going to try. Aiden had been a part of my heart since I could remember. He most probably didn’t even know how much he meant to me. He most probably didn’t realize that he was the reason why my heart had healed after my father’s rejection.

***

“I’m back from my date,” I squealed as I opened the door to the apartment, with a wide fake smile on my face. “He got me roses,” I called out giddily. If I was going to lie, I might as well play it up. Silence met my lies, and I frowned as I hurried through the corridor to the living room. “Liv?” I said in a confused voice, surprised that she wasn’t responding as planned. “Liv,” I said again as I entered the living room.

“She’s gone out,” Aiden said smoothly with a short smile from the couch. He was sitting there stiffly with an amused look on his face. “She asked me to wait as she had tried to call and text you, but you weren’t picking up.”

“Oh?” I frowned and looked at my phone. “I don’t have any missed calls.” I made a face and checked the screen again.

“I was there as she called you.” He shrugged and I sighed.

“I bet my service went out again.” I shook my head. “I’m going to change carriers, I’m so fed up of this crap. I’m always missing calls.”

“I thought maybe you were just ignoring her because of your hot date,” he said as he glanced at me curiously. My face was red with shame as I looked away from him. “So where are they, then?”

“Where are what?” I frowned as I looked back at him.

“The roses?”

“The roses?” I repeated dumbly, but I knew exactly what he was talking about. Me and my big mouth had remembered to pretend my date had given me flowers, but I’d forgotten to buy them at the grocery store on the way home.

“That your date gave you. What was his name again?”

“His name?” I squeaked.

“Yes, his name.” Aiden frowned. “Or you don’t want to tell me?”

“I, uh …” I swallowed hard, my mind going blank.

“Were you out with Scott?”

“Scott?” I made a face. “No, of course not.”

“Henry?”

“Henry, Xander’s brother?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes, the one and only. The guy you were flirting with all day at flag football.”

“I was not flirting with him.” I rolled my eyes and made a face at him.

“Don’t tell me you plan to slip into his bed as well.”

“How rude!” My jaw dropped. “I can’t believe that you would say that.” I peered into his azure blue eyes, and I could see remorse in his gaze.

“That was a low blow,” he said finally. “Sorry.”

“Yeah.” I stood there awkwardly. This was not going as planned at all. “Why are you still here?” I said curiously. “Liv is gone.”

“She figured we could still watch the movie together when you got in.”

“But you didn’t know when I’d be back.”

“I was willing to wait,” he said simply, and my stomach started flittering.

“Oh?” My heart jumped.

“Yeah, I wanted to watch this movie, and Elizabeth doesn’t do horror movies.”

“Oh,” I said and this time my heart dropped.

“I thought Liv and I would watch it, but you’ll do as well.”

“Oh, wow, how flattering.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll do, huh?”

“Yeah, you’ll do.” He laughed. “You going to sit or do you want to change first?”

“Change?” I raised an eyebrow at him as I caught him checking out my long expanse of leg.

“Yeah, change.” He raised an eyebrow back at me. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep my hands to myself otherwise.”

“Oh.” I blushed, but all I was thinking inside was, You don’t need to keep your hands to yourself.

“That’s an interesting outfit that you’re wearing to a first date.” He looked up to my heaving bosom. “A bit revealing, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” I said with a grin. “I had a guy ask me if I was a prostitute.”

“What?” He laughed.

“Well, he asked me what twenty dollars would get him.”

“Oh no!” He laughed again and then paused. “This wasn’t your date, was it?”

“Technically yes, it was the guy I met tonight,” I said and burst out laughing. It was true. The guy in the coffee shop was the only guy I had met tonight. He was as close to a date as I’d come.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He bit his lower lip to stop from laughing even more. “So maybe it wasn’t really a perfect date?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t a perfect date.” I sighed. “And there were no roses. I was just saying that so Liv wouldn’t feel bad for me.” I felt bad about lying, but I didn’t want him to know that I knew Liv wasn’t going to be there.

“I kinda figured that part out.” He grinned. “Go and change and let’s watch this movie and maybe we can change this night around.”

“Can we order pizza as well?” I asked hopefully, as my stomach grumbled.

“I think that can be arranged.” He nodded.

“Yay!” I felt like I was soaring as I stared at Aiden. This was going better than planned, and I had kinda extricated myself from my lie about my date. I knew I hadn’t come completely clean, but I figured I had admitted enough. “Pepperoni and—”

“Pepperoni and ham with onions,” he said, interrupting me and giving me a wink. “I know, Alice, trust me, I know.”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d remember,” I said with a shrug, though of course I was deliriously happy inside.

“You and Liv ordered pizza almost every weekend.” He rolled his eyes. “And you were both brats about not letting me choose what went on half of the pizza, so of course I remember.”

“Are you calling me a brat?” I asked, with my hand on my hip.

“What do you think?” he asked with a grin.

“I think you’re calling me a brat.” I wrinkled my nose at him and took a step forward.

“You got smarter in your old age.” He laughed and my eyes narrowed.

“I’m going to make you pay for that.” I took another step forward and raised my fists at him.

“Is this your way of trying to touch me, old lady?” He raised an eyebrow and I gasped. How had he known that I was hoping to cop a quick feel? Could he see from my expression that I was practically salivating at how sexy he looked?

“Haha, very funny. I’m not an old lady, and I don’t care about touching you.”

“Is that right?” He grabbed my arms and pulled me towards him. “That’s a pity.”

“What’s a pity?”

“That you don’t care about touching me,” he said lightly as his hands ran down my arm.

“Oh, why?” I breathed out, my heart about to jump out of my chest.

“Because I very much like being touched.” He winked and then stepped back. “Now go and change, and I’ll order the pizza. We don’t want to be up all night.”

“I don’t mind,” I whispered under my breath as I hurried out of the room. And I didn’t mind. Not at all. He could keep me up for twenty-four hours straight if he wanted to. Shit, thirty-six hours if he begged. I could picture him now, kissing my neck and pleading with me to stay awake so that he could have me one more time. How delicious would it feel to have his body against mine, on top of me, sliding himself inside of me? It would feel like heaven.

“Alice?”

“Uh, yes.” I looked around, my face bright red.

“You okay? You were walking and then just stopped.”

“Oh, I’m fine.” I nodded. “Thanks.” I gulped and hurried out of the room to my bedroom. I needed to stop fantasizing about being with Aiden. I needed for us to either get together or not. I was acting like a fool because all I could think about was the sexual tension between us. I opened my closet and pulled out some tank tops and T-shirts. I didn’t know what to wear. I didn’t want to wear my Mickey Mouse T-shirt as that was too childish and unsexy, but I also didn’t want to wear a tight tank top and make him think that I was trying to turn him on. I also wasn’t sure whether to go braless or not. If it was just Liv and me, I wouldn’t have thought about it twice. My bra would have been off in seconds, but then I also wouldn’t have thought twice about putting on a T-shirt with cartoon characters on it when I was with Liv. I finally settled on a black wife-beater with a pushup bra (your breasts can never look too high and luscious) and a pair of black boy-shorts. Hey—I have long legs; I have to show them off. I did have to make a quick trip to the bathroom to give myself a quick dry shave because I could see the beginnings of hair stubble on my legs and I didn’t want Aiden running his hands over my calves and thinking he was touching bristle or something.

“Hey,” I said casually as I sauntered back into the living room and frowned as he said “Hey” back without even looking up at me. I’d just spent fifteen minutes applying makeup in order to look subtly beautiful and he wasn’t even going to look at me? Grr!

“Did you order the pizza?” I asked, standing in front of him.

“Yup,” he said as he played with his phone. I could feel my face growing hot as I stood there, feeling like a fool.

“Cool,” I said, not knowing what else to say. It’s not like I could say, Hey, Aiden, look at me. I look pretty right now and I want you to take in my hot body as I stand in the pose that I know elongates my neck and makes my stomach look flat. Of course I didn’t say that. I just stood there for a few more seconds before plopping down on the couch next to him and sitting back.

“Ready for the movie?” Aiden finally glanced at me before turning the TV on. He didn’t even look at me for five seconds. I was positive he hadn’t even noticed how blue my eyes looked with my new Lancome mascara.

“Sure,” I said snappily.

“Uh oh?” he said and I felt his eyes on me again. “What is it, Alice?”

“What is what?” I looked up at him and there was a sparkle in his eyes as he looked at me.

“Why are you so grouchy?”

“Who said I’m grouchy?” I glared at him. Stupid Aiden with his stupid smirk and pink lips making me feel like a petulant child.

“Smile, Alice.” He leaned over and started to tickle me.

“Stop it.” I laughed and pushed him away.

“But I want to see the smile on your face.” He grinned and continued to tickle me under my arms and on my knees.

“Aiden,” I squeaked out. “Stop!” I laughed and tried to push him away.

“I see you’re still as ticklish as you were before.” He grinned as I laughed and I grabbed his hands.

“Aiden,” I breathed out, my face dangerously close to his.

“Yes, Alice?” he said lightly and moved even closer to me.

“Stop,” I said as I fell against him. “Please.”

“You didn’t say that the last time I tickled you,” he said with a devilish look in his eyes. “In fact, you quite liked it then.” He moved towards my ear. I felt his lips next to my earlobe and he blew into it lightly.

“Aiden!” I screamed and jumped off of the couch, my heart racing as memories came flashing back. The last time Aiden had tickled me had been the night we’d spent together. He had been inside of me, not moving, and I’d wondered what was going on. Then he’d moved his lips to my ear and he’d sucked on my earlobe and then I’d felt his tongue and breath in my ear. And I’d giggled because it had tickled me. I’d squirmed underneath him and then he’d started moving inside of me again, all the while continuing to breathe into my ear. It had been the most amazing and surreal experience of my life. Every nerve-ending in my body had been on edge, and when I’d exploded in orgasm every part of my body felt the pleasure. At the time, I’d known it had been a breathtaking experience, but it was only now that I’d been with other men that I knew that it was a one-of-a-kind experience. No man had ever pleasured me as much as Aiden had that night.

“Sorry.” He grinned. “I was just teasing you. I won’t tickle you again.”

“What were you talking about when you said that I didn’t say that the last time you tickled me?” I asked him as I sat back on the couch. I curled my legs up under me and looked at him curiously. Okay, so I was acting. I was pretty sure I knew what he was talking about. I mean, that was a moment I’d never forget. However, I wanted him to tell me what he thought about that night. I wanted him to tell me that he still remembered what it was like to be with me.

“You know what moment I’m talking about, Alice.” He stared at my lips and then back up to my eyes. “So is there a reason why you’re asking me?”

“No,” I said and looked down. Busted!

“Shall we start the movie and pause it when the pizza arrives?” he asked, and I was slightly annoyed that he was changing the subject. When was he going to just let us talk about that night and let us discuss everything without changing the subject?

“That’s fine,” I said because I didn’t want to start the night off trying to get all serious with him. I knew that there was some sort of attraction between us, but I wasn’t sure exactly what it was and what he really thought about me. Especially now that he was dating Elizabeth Jeffries.

***

The pizza arrived fifteen minutes after we’d started the movie and I was happy for the break. The movie was called Orphan, and it was already creeping me out. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like Aiden and I were in the “let me jump into your lap and bury my face in your shoulder” stage yet, so I just had to sit through it and try to not close my eyes.

“Ready to start the movie again?” he asked me softly and I nodded, my mouth full of pizza. Aiden stood up and turned the lights off and then came back to the couch to press play.

“In the dark?” I mumbled, my mouth full of delicious greasy pizza.

“We can’t watch a scary movie and not be in the dark.” He grinned and pressed play. I stifled a groan and watched as the weird-looking kid with big eyes came back onto the screen. I knew she was evil. There was no way she wasn’t going to be evil. Why couldn’t her new parents see that? My heart thudded as I waited for something to happen. I became so engrossed in the movie that I didn’t even realize that Aiden was shifting closer and closer to me on the couch or that his arm was around my shoulders, or that I was leaning back into him. I didn’t realize until there was a really scary scene and I screamed and I found my head against his chest. His chest felt hard and warm and he smelled so good and musky, like sandalwood and sand on a balmy night by the ocean. I breathed him in and tried not to kiss his chest. I wanted to consume him and his scent.

“You okay?” His voice was amused, and I felt his hands rubbing my back and massaging my shoulders.

“This movie is scary,” I said softly. I wondered if he could feel my heart racing.

“It is a horror movie.” He chuckled close to my ear, and I felt my body growing warm as he shifted on the couch.

“I know it’s a horror movie.” I moved back slightly, but his hands held me to him. “That doesn’t mean I don’t still get scared.”

“Don’t worry, Alice.” His fingers played with my hair. “I’ll take care of you.”

“You think I’m a baby,” I said and looked into his eyes.

“I don’t think you’re a baby,” he said and moved his face closer to mine.

“You don’t?” I said and moved even closer to him.

“No,” he said. “If I did, I wouldn’t be doing this, would I?” And he pressed his lips against mine.

“Hmm,” I said and closed my eyes. I grabbed the back of his head and brought him closer to me. I felt his fingers in my hair as well and a part of me melted. His lips were gentle and firm next to mine, and I felt his tongue sliding into my mouth roughly as his kiss became deeper and more assertive. His fingers ran down my back, and I pressed myself into him, allowing my breasts to graze his muscular chest.

He groaned as I shifted on his lap and I reveled in the guttural sound. It was manly, strong and lusty, and it made me feel powerful. I shifted in his lap again and his fingers tightened on my waist and shifted me farther towards him.

“You taste like peaches,” he muttered against my lips, and I sucked on his lower lip for a few seconds, tugging on it gently and then nibbling it with my teeth gently. “Oh, Alice.” He groaned and ran his fingers down the side of my body, going slowly over the sides of my breasts.

“Yes, Aiden?”

“What are we doing?” He shook his head and his eyes gazed into mine questioningly.

“Whatever we want,” I said softly as bells went off in my head. “I think we’re both adults. We can do whatever we want to do.” I ran my hands through his hair and kissed him again. I could feel a bulge underneath me and I knew that he was hard. I hid a smile and shifted on his lap again so that I could rub my ass on his hardness.

“Alice.” He grabbed my waist again and held me still. “Didn’t you have a date tonight?”

“Perhaps.” I gave him a small smile. “But I’m not in a relationship. I’m still waiting for a guy that’s as adventurous as me,” I said, dropping the first crumb onto the ground for him to consume.

“Adventurous?” He looked at me curiously and I tried to hide my triumphant smile. I wanted to come straight out and tell him that I knew that he was interested in BDSM. I wanted to tell him I knew he was a Dom. I wanted to tell him that I was willing to try almost anything in the bedroom with him; that I’d had a crush on him for years and that part of me felt like I’d been falling in love with him for years as well, but I knew I couldn’t tell him all that.

“Yes, I want a man who can take me on journeys I’ve never been on in the bedroom,” I said simply and stared into his eyes with a small smile. “I want a man who can teach me things I didn’t already know about.”

“You want someone to teach you things?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes.” I nodded. “I want a professor. I’m willing to be his student,” I said boldly, knowing that I was being very obvious.

“Have you found the guy?” he asked and I watched as he licked his lips. I felt as if he could hear my heart thudding as I stared at him.

“Perhaps,” I said coyly.

“Perhaps, huh?” he said with a smirk. “You always were a sly one, Alice.”

“I’m not sly.” I shook my head.

“I think a twenty-two-year-old Aiden would beg to differ.” He laughed.

“I wasn’t thinking,” I said with a blush. “I just wanted to be with you.”

“I took your virginity,” he said softly and I couldn’t tell if he was asking a question or just stating a fact. I didn’t answer him.

“But you knew it was me and you still went ahead.”

“Yes, I did.” He nodded.

“Why?” I held my breath.

“Why do you think?” He cocked his head and stared at me, seriously this time.

“I don’t know.” I bit my lower lip and then slowly got off of his lap. “Do you want to go to my room?” I asked him softly and reached down and grabbed his hand.

“Your room?”

“Yes, my bedroom.” I gazed at him, not disguising the lust in my eyes. I fluffed my hair and stood there, basically offering myself on a platter. “I have handcuffs in my room.”

“Handcuffs?” He repeated my words and stared at me for a few seconds taking in what I was offering. Then his phone started beeping. I saw him look at his phone and then frown slightly. He jumped up, placed his phone on the coffee table and looked at me. “Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom.”

“Oh, okay,” I said and watched as he left the room. And then I did something that I knew I shouldn’t do. I’m not normally a nosey person—I swear I’m not—but I couldn’t stop myself from looking at his phone. I pressed the screen with my fingers and to my astonishment the phone came to life. There was no lock on the screen, and I froze as I realized that I could just press the messages icon and see who had texted him. And of course, whose name did I see when I pressed messages? None other than Elizabeth Jeffries.

I groaned and made a face at the phone before turning to the doorway to make sure that Aiden wasn’t on his way back in yet. I listened carefully and I could hear him humming in the bathroom. I smiled to myself and grabbed his phone, once again looking around the room, even though I knew I was the only one there. I clicked on Elizabeth’s name, feeling guilty. My face was warm as my fingers fumbled on the screen. I looked around the room again and up at the ceiling, as if I thought that someone had placed hidden cameras in the room just to trap me in this moment. I heard a creak and dropped the phone as my heart thudded. Had Aiden snuck out of the bathroom without me noticing? Was I about to be busted before I’d even gotten to read the messages? I took a deep breath as I realized that the noise had come from my upstairs neighbors. I quickly grabbed the phone off of the floor and checked that it wasn’t cracked. The last thing I wanted was to have to buy Aiden a brand new iPhone. My handbag fund was getting lower and lower each month.

I pressed home on the phone and quickly got back to the messages screen again. I clicked on Elizabeth Jeffries’s name and waited for the messages to load. I looked at the smiley face at the bottom of the screen and frowned. How dare they send smiley faces to each other? I quickly scrolled up the screen so that I could read all the messages that were available on the phone before Aiden walked back into the room. I rolled my eyes at the obvious flirting. Elizabeth was asking him if he wanted to come over to try her lasagna. Lasagna, my ass, I thought as I read the message. Then she asked him over to try her roast chicken. Then they talked about going to the museum and she was thanking him for taking her. My fingers gripped the phone as I read a message from her asking him if he wanted to go camping this weekend. He’d responded with a flirty message saying “only if you promise to keep the bears away from me” and she’d replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” I could feel my face growing warm as I kept reading. My stomach was churning and my head was starting to pound. I was starting to feel upset. Why was Aiden flirting back with her if he liked me? How could he kiss me, but go to her house for frigging pasta? What was going on here? Did he like Elizabeth or did he like me? And was that why he’d gone to the bathroom as soon as he’d gotten her text? Had he gotten carried away with himself with me on his lap? And then her text had reminded him of her? I frowned as I put his phone back down on the desk. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel so light and excited.

“Hey, sorry about that.” Aiden walked back into the room with a smile and then looked at his watch.

“No worries,” I said, trying not to stare at his lips. Lips I’d just been kissing. Lips I wanted to feel against mine once more.

“I should go,” he said as he walked towards me. “I just realized the time.”

“Oh,” I said, my face growing red in embarrassment. He was going? Right after I’d asked him to come to my room and talked about wanting to experiment? I felt shame filling me as I realized he was blowing me off.

“Unless you want to finish watching the movie first and need someone to protect you?” He rubbed my shoulder and I offered him a weak smile.

“I’m fine,” I said stiffly. How had we gone from making out to polite acquaintances in five minutes? I sighed inwardly as I realized that I just couldn’t figure Aiden Taylor out.

“Okay, well, I’m sorry you had a bad date.” He gave me a pointed look and paused, but I didn’t say anything. “Thanks for a good night.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” I said, not really sure how to respond. I mean, what did you say to a comment like that? Thanks for letting me sit on your lap and kiss you? Thanks for letting me feel your hardness on my ass as I sucked on your lip? Thanks for grazing my breasts and making me feel like I’m on fire? And the good kind of fire, not the scary “I might burn” fire, but the hot, sensuous, “I’m going to get laid and it’s going to be amazing” fire.

“Have a good night, okay?” he said softly and I watched as he moved in closer to me. His eyes gazed into mine, and I held my breath as he gave me a light kiss on the lips. “See you later, Alice,” he said as he pulled back, and all I could do was nod like an idiot as he picked up his phone and walked out of the room, leaving me in a daze. I had no idea what had just happened, but I knew that there was a distinct change in our relationship. I just didn’t know what it meant.