Not A Chance (Heartstrings #2)

19. Theo

If steam could actually come out of a person’s ears, I had a feeling I’d be seeing that now.

I didn’t know what had possessed me to call my sister like that. If I had given even a second’s worth of thought, I’d have considered how wrong that whole conversation could have gone.

Of course Emery might have strong feelings about me asking out her closest friend. But I’d needed to get through to Indie that I was serious about this, and I’d needed something shocking to make the point.

Well, the point had been made all right.

Usually, I loved watching Indie’s fire come to life. The difference was I was a bystander in those cases, not the person who she might be fuming at.

She could very well tell me to go to hell since I’d called Emery without talking about it with her first.

I was putting all my eggs in one basket, and it could still go to shit on me. I had the feeling that her other reasons weren’t as easily fixable as Emery being the wonderful, understanding person that I could count on her to be.

“Theo! How could you do that? You just… just called her up and said all that.” She waved her hand in a circular motion in the air, gesturing to my absolute gall to call my own sister.

“Yes, baby. I did. Now, tell me what else is holding you back.” I infused every bit of desire into my tone that I could.

Still on the outrage train, she continued as if she hadn’t heard me.

“To just call her up, without any warning! You don’t even know if I think what happened in Kaya’s office was a mistake. But you just steamrolled on through.” Her hands moved to emphasize her words.

I stepped closer to her until my socked toes met the edge of hers. I put my hands on her shoulders, noticing once again how fine and delicate her frame was, despite her height. How many people were fooled by her beauty and elegance to miss the steel beneath?

“Indie, look at me and listen, please,” I whispered, trying to draw her focus back to just me.

My nearness seemed to calm her slightly. Her honey-brown eyes whipped to mine, widening at how close together we were now. I could smell her sweet scent and the subtle fragrance of whatever products she used to keep her skin petal soft.

“Tell me what’s stopping you here, Rocky,” I asked again.

With my hands on her, I could see the little jolt her nickname had as it made its way through her body. The skin I could see on her arms rose with tiny goose bumps.

My primal brain interpreted that as a sign that she wanted me, too, and hopefully wasn’t too mad at me for crossing a line in her relationship with Emery.

I pulled her toward me gently, waiting to see if she would resist my touch. She didn’t. So I leaned down to close the short distance and whispered in her ear .

“Tell me, baby.” My hushed tone was tinged with a whiff of demand.

My lips brushed over the shell of her ear, causing us both to shudder. The mere inches between our bodies were driving me insane. I wanted to overcome all her objections and admit that she was mine.

Only mine.

Her shoulders tensed under my hands, and I braced myself for her to pull away and kick me out of her apartment.

She shocked the shit out of me by grabbing my jaw with her hands and dragging my mouth to hers.

Indie kissed me like she had thrown out whatever other fears she might have about this moment and had suddenly gone from zero to one hundred.

She sucked on my bottom lip, trying to gain entry with her sweet little tongue, causing my answering groan into her mouth.

Taking advantage of my surrender, Indie twisted and slid her tongue along mine, fucking into my mouth the way I had taken control that afternoon.

Her hands left my chin, sliding down the hard muscles of my chest and abs to reach the bottom of my T-shirt. Her lips, tongue, and teeth still attacked my mouth. I didn’t dare take more than a quick sip or two of air until she had yanked my shirt up to my armpits.

Leaning forward slightly to allow her to pull the shirt over my head, I tried to get a read on her.

Her eyes were blissed-out like we’d already fucked. Her mouth and surrounding skin were swollen from my lips and stubble.

She was as sexy as fuck, but I felt a tiny tug in my gut to check in with her again.

“You sure you want this, baby?” I asked, keen to hear her give me permission .

As an answer, she whipped off her own shirt, leaving her in a simple yet sexy black lace bralette thing. The gentle swell of her tits and hard nipples exposed through the thin fabric that was clearly more about decoration than function.

“Goddamn, baby. Look at you. I want you so badly.” I was so overcome by my need I could barely choke the words out.

She bit her lip, and that vicious little tug hit my gut again as she forced out what she wanted to say.

“I want you too, Theo. Obviously. But I need you to know this is all it can ever be, okay? I’m not looking for anything serious.” She dragged a finger back and forth across her collarbone, hypnotizing me with her innate sensuality. “I’m leaving in nine months. We can have fun together until then, or we fuck this attraction out of us. But that’s all I can offer.”

Disappointment sliced straight through my chest. Why did Indie’s insistence on just some fling make my heart feel like it had been filled with lead?

I wanted more from her. It was as simple as that.

I would just have to show her how good it could be between us and hope to hell that the desire she felt turned into something real.

For now, though, I didn’t want to put a stop to what was happening between us. Even if she never came to feel the way I was starting to feel about her, I didn’t want to waste a chance to have any part of her she was willing to share.

For now, we would do things her way.

“Okay, Rocky. I understand what you want and don’t want here. You’re the boss,” I agreed.

Pressing a sweet kiss to her lips to seal our deal, I hoped that I could use my body to show her how much I wanted her since she wasn’t ready to hear the words.