CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Breck
I stand in the middle of a condo, its panoramic windows lining the back wall and showcasing the imposing Sierra Nevada mountains beyond. Our last condo was comfortably spacious, but this one, this one is something else. I might be splurging a little, especially considering I’m no longer getting the friends and family discount from Rory and Wes’s parents, but screw them. I’ll happily pay a bit more to distance myself and Rory from their control.
Then there’s the—
“Daddy, can I go in the hot tub?” Willow asks as she slides up next to me, Risky Business –style, with socks on her feet and a swimsuit on. I give her a once-over and laughter bubbles out of me, my shoulders shaking with it.
“That is quite the look, Bear.”
She huffs likes she’s seventeen, jutting her chin up, and ignores my comment. The hot tub she’s pointing to is roomy enough for at least six people, and we are only three.
Three.
My brain’s been gnawing on the idea of Rory moving in with us since I began my search in earnest on Monday morning. By some twist of fate, this brand-new listing popped up and I immediately booked it for the next five weeks.
“Let me help you get the cover off.” I slide my bare feet into my boots, not bothering to tie them or to grab a jacket. The frigid air hits my lungs when we step out, and I make quick work of the cover, checking the temperature isn’t too hot for Willow, and leave her to it. She seems content to sit with her arms crossed on the ledge, chin resting there, watching the skiers and snowboarders make their descent down the snowy slopes.
I’d happily watch her stare up at the mountain all day, but the doorbell rings. “Holler if you need me, okay?” I shout over my shoulder as I close the door, leaving a slight crack so I’ll be able to hear her.
I swing open the light blue door to find Rory with two suitcases behind her.
“We have to stop meeting this way,” I quip.
“What way would that be? At doors?” The pink of her cheeks matches the pink of her lips—lips that part in a smile when she looks at me.
There’s extra tension in this particular doorway. We’ve been crossing boundaries with each other for a while now, but this one feels different.
“Come on in.” I step aside, grabbing her larger suitcase, and lead her down the hall toward her room. “Is this all you have? Do you need help getting anything else from your car?”
“This is it. Well, and a few boxes, but Jamie took those to his place for now. It’s kind of sad to think I lived in that house for four years and this is all I’m walking away with, you know?”
“The furniture?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “It’s all theirs. The condo was furnished as a vacation rental when I moved in.”
“And Jamie’s okay storing your stuff? There’s space here.”
“It’s fine. It’s only a month. He even offered me a room if I can’t find something of my own before you leave…” She trails off.
“We’ll find you something.” I’m glad she has a backup option, but she deserves to finally have somewhere she can call her own.
“Where’s Willow?” she asks.
“In the hot tub. There was no stopping her from changing into her suit the minute we got here.”
“I can’t say I blame her.”
A vivid picture of Rory in a bikini pops into my mind unbidden, and I have to physically shake the thought away. That’s not going to make this living situation easier. This is what’s been constantly on my mind for the last few days. How do we maneuver around our physical relationship while also living in the same house? It shouldn’t be all that different from the sneaking around we were doing before, when Willow was asleep, but we cannot let those lines blur in front of her.
“Mm-hmm,” I hum under my breath, trying and failing to come up with the best possible way to bring this up.
“Breck?” Rory says from the doorway of her room. It’s the only one downstairs. Mine and Willow’s are both upstairs.
“Yeah?” I ask.
Her head is tilted to the side, like she’s studying me. “You’re overthinking again, aren’t you?” She gives me a knowing smile, and I snort a laugh.
“Yup.”
“I know this changes things. Me living here with you and Willow complicates the…” She hesitates. “The friends with benefits situation we had going. It’s probably not a good idea for that to continue now, right?”
“Right.” I nod, wishing it wasn’t true, but this new situation is tenuous as it is. I’ve already spent almost a month hooking up with my best friend’s sister. Now I’m living with her, and something in combining those two things feels like it’s too much, too far. “Have you told Wes? About this?” I swipe one hand out to encompass the condo and squeeze the back of my neck with the other.
Her gaze drops to her feet and she shakes her head.
“Me neither. Why don’t we call him in a bit?” Her shoulders sag. “How did it go with your parents, by the way?”
I tense, waiting for her answer.
“I still haven’t talked to them. I called their office Monday and left a voicemail saying I’d be out of the condo by this afternoon. I never got a response. I figured they’d make contact today, but nope.” She drags her toes across the carpet and watches the way the color changes as she does.
“It’s their loss, Rory. They’ll realize that eventually.” I leave her suitcase by the bed, listening for any sound in the house to indicate that Willow’s coming back inside. I brush my hand up her arm, past her shoulder, until it reaches her neck. “I’m proud of you. Wes would be too if he could see you.”
I brush my thumb over her lips and feel her body shiver against mine. “What do you say? One more kiss?”
When she presses onto her toes, our lips meet. It’s soft and languid, unhurried—even though Willow could walk into the house at any second. As seconds fuse into a minute, then two, the way our lips move together becomes more insistent.
My tongue glides against hers, one hand fisting in her hair while the other slides to her ass and pulls her hard against me. If this is our last kiss, I’m going to make it count. She meets me stroke for stroke with her tongue, her teeth, her body as it moves against mine. There’s something in the way we are together. It’s like the sun, burning so bright, but also dangerous if you look too long. Kissing Rory leaves me with sunspots in my vision, in my mind, for hours… and every time it only lasts longer.
I break the kiss, my breathing ragged and my heart slamming like a drum against my ribs. Rory is just as affected. I love it and I hate it. I feel like a million bucks knowing I can make her lose control like this, but I also know I have no control with her either.
“Dad!” The shout echoes down the hall and I startle back. Rory does as well, tripping over the suitcase behind her and falling flat on her ass in the hallway.
“Shit,” I say, lunging for her.
“I heard that,” Willow bellows.
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumble. “We’ll be right there.”
“Rory’s here?” Willow’s voice brightens and Rory’s face does the same.
“I’m here, but I fell and need a second to get back up.” Rory hollers back to her.
“Okay, I’m going to go take a shower,” Willow yells, followed by the wet slap of her feet on the floor as she heads for the stairs.
I hold back from hauling Rory into my arms again when I pull her up, but her hand lingers in mine a second longer than necessary. Then she smiles and leaves me standing there in a daze. I take a minute to move her suitcases to the far side of the room, then I take a deep breath and resolve to figure out this whole roommate situation.
Rule number one is no more kissing.
When I hear Wes’s voice coming from Rory’s phone a few moments later, my determination to stop sleeping with his sister only solidifies.
“Where are you, baby sister?” he says as I walk into the living room.
She glances over her shoulder toward me. I’m not in the frame yet, so I shoot her a wink and a blush stains her cheeks—I did not kiss her just now like she was anyone’s baby sister.
“Well, uh…” She flounders.
Not one to beat around the bush, I move so he can see me too and jump straight to it. “This is our new place. You know how Willow and I extended our trip…?” Wes nods, still looking confused. “Well, Rory’s going to be staying with us.”
Wes’s eyes bulge, and he opens and closes his mouth a couple times.
“But why?” Joss’s voice comes from the background before she moves into the frame.
“I—” Rory tries again. “I needed to move out of the condo. Until I can find somewhere on my own, Breck offered for me to stay with him and Willow.”
I’m leaning over her slightly, my elbows on the back of the couch, just out of reach of her shoulders. If I lean forward any farther my chin will be resting on her head. That position would feel natural if we weren’t on the phone with her brother, or if we weren’t trying to keep our physical relationship in check.
Wes’s eyes lift from Rory to me and then flit back to her. “What happened with the condo?”
Rory tilts her head back and I give her an affirming nod when our eyes meet. She needs to tell him.
“Rory, seriously, what’s going on?”
“Mom and Dad were going to kick me out, so I left.” She lifts a shoulder, letting the sentence slide off her with feigned nonchalance.
“They what ? You—but what happened?” Wes’s face grows red and his brows pull down in the middle like confusion and anger and uncertainty are manifesting all at once. Joss squeezes in next to him, a similar look of concern etched across her brow.
“Breck and I—”
A coolness I’ve rarely heard in Wes’s voice fills the space. “You and Breck what?” His eyes are moving between the two of us at a rapid rate. Can he read in our body language what’s been happening here?
I see her roll her eyes through the screen and she continues with more confidence. “Oh, stop it, Wes. For god’s sake. Breck and I did that elopement, the one I sent the pictures from. He wants to help me get going with a business of my own. Mom and Dad don’t want me doing anything of the sort. They gave me an ultimatum and I called their bluff.”
“Wait, what? Why didn’t you tell me about any of this? How long has this been going on?”
Again, the question seems to address things Wes doesn’t even realize. A hint of guilt niggles my gut.
“What would you have done? You’re not here to handle them. You don’t understand what they’re like with me. How they’ve always been with me. You never have.”
“Rory.” His voice softens and there’s sadness in his eyes.
“No, it’s fine.” She waves a hand, dismissing whatever he wanted to say. “But working toward this with Breck is the most fulfilled I’ve felt in a long time. Maybe ever. I don’t—I don’t want to give that up.”
She’s come so far in the last few days. I smile broadly, hoping she can sense the pride I have for her in this moment.
“Okay, but what about your job with the resort? What are you going to do when Breck comes back here?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Wes,” I say, and he startles back from the phone at my tone. “Sorry, mate. It’s just that she’s not a kid. She’s not quitting her job… at least not as far as she’s said, and obviously she knows this is temporary, but it’s better than the alternative. You know how talented she is. Are you really telling me she should’ve given up on her dream because your parents were trying to bully her?”
“No—I—that isn’t what I’m saying. I’m just trying to process.” He runs a hand through his hair and heaves a sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you don’t know what you’re doing. I just want what’s best for you, and this is a lot of change at once.”
“I’m okay, really. Or I will be. I’ll be using this time to find a place of my own for when Breck and Willow leave, but for the next month, I’m going to take advantage of his”—she shoots me a wink over her shoulder—“business brain to get this thing up and running. I’ll figure out the rest as I go.”
“Okay.” He still sounds a little skeptical, but he doesn’t push any more. “If you need anything, you’ll tell me, right? I don’t like that I’ve been in the dark.” His eyes fall and he sounds a little wounded. “You’re supposed to tell me this stuff.”
“I know,” she says, her voice low. “But you just—you haven’t been here. I know that’s not fair. But it’s hard to explain it all when you’re not here to see it.” She glances at me again. So does her brother, and I think he sees it. There’s something sad in his features when he looks away from me and back to his sister. The sister who’s been coming to me instead of him for the last month.