Chapter 15 #2
She had washed her face and was brushing her teeth when Jodi finally came into the room, looking well-kissed, her curls a finger tumbled mess around her head. She closed the door and leaned back against it.
“Jid ou uys oo iht ihn dhe kishen?” Shaun asked around her toothbrush, leaning out the bathroom door to glare at her sister.
Jodi rolled her blue eyes that were so similar to her own and shook her head. “Not entirely.”
“Eww, grosh,” Shaun groaned before going to the sink to rinse.
Putting her toothbrush on the bathroom counter, she turned the water off and flipped the lights off.
Crossing to the bed, she jumped into the middle of it, bouncing as she landed.
“I hope we can’t hear Mom and Dad tonight. They’re always the worst.”
“The worst,” Jodi laughed, crossing the room to stand at the edge of the bed, then turned her back, pulling her hair to one side. “Can you unzip me?”
Shaun rolled to the edge of the bed, reaching up to unzip the pretty white cocktail dress Jodi had chosen for the evening, before flopping back onto the bed when Jodi thanked her and walked into the bathroom.
Shaun was almost asleep, still on top of the covers, when Jodi exited five minutes later, dressed in a pair of white lounge shorts and a button-down, short sleeve sleep shirt in a buttery soft material with ‘Bride’ embroidered in gold thread over her left breast. Her hair had been pulled into a high knot on the top of her head and her face was clear of make-up.
“Where are the maid of honor pj’s I got you to wear?” she heard Jodi ask petulantly, slapping her on the back of the thigh.
“I’m going to wear them tomorrow to get ready,” Shaun mumbled into her pillow without turning her head. Yawning broadly, she said, “You’re lucky I’m wearing clothes at all.”
“Scooch over,” Jodi whined, pushing hard on Shaun’s deadweight body that was taking up the entire bed, since she’d laid on it diagonally.
“You have a whole bed over there,” Shaun whined back, but smiled when Jodi shoved again, rolling her over onto her back until her head was hanging off the edge. “Sleep in your own bed!”
“No,” Jodi grumbled, pushing Shaun’s feet aside and climbing into the bed under the covers, snuggling down into them. “I want to sleep with you tonight. Move over!”
Laughing, Shaun righted herself on the bed and slid under the covers too, rolling to her side and stacking her hands beneath her right cheek, Jodi facing her in the same position. “You’re getting married tomorrow.”
“I’m getting married tomorrow,” Jodi whispered reverently, and Shaun watched as her blue eyes shimmered with tears. “I love him so much.”
“I know,” Shaun whispered back, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her sister’s ear. “You’re going to be the most beautiful bride, sis.”
Jodi caught her hand as she made to bring it back, squeezing it three times, their secret way of saying, ‘I love you’. Shaun squeezed back four times, ‘I love you, too’ the response. “Thank you for being here.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Shaun said quietly, then yawned again. “Now go to sleep. You need all the beauty rest you can get.”
“You’re a brat,” Jodi laughed, but snuggled deeper into the pillows. Within minutes, Shaun knew Jodi was asleep by her slow, rhythmic breathing.
She was asleep in minutes herself but awoke only a couple hours later.
Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was only two in the morning.
She knew without rolling over that Jodi was no longer in the bed and rolled her eyes, not in the least surprised.
She sighed quietly into the dark before sliding from beneath the sheets and padding to the door.
The giant house was dark and silent, except for the quiet noises coming from Free’s room, and Shaun hurried down the hallway and down the wide staircase.
Crossing to the kitchen, she opened the fridge, taking a bottle of water out and drinking half of it before closing the fridge door, once again ensconcing the room in darkness.
There was faint moonlight filtering in through the wide windows in the great room, the snow having finally given way to a cloudless, star filled sky.
“Is that his shirt?”
Shaun squeaked in alarm at the husky growl that came from somewhere in the dark behind her.
Spinning on her bare feet, she swallowed hard when she saw the outline of Kasey sitting in a high-backed armchair across the room.
The moonlight cast him half in shadow, half in pale light.
He was slouched slightly in the chair, reclining on his tailbone, his thighs widespread.
One arm lay along the arm of the chair, his long fingers clasped around a crystal glass with several inches of amber liquor.
He wore a pair of dark sweatpants and a black sleeveless tank top that clung to his upper body.
His arms were well muscled and bare for her to stare at.
“Wh-what?” she asked, the word coming out way more breathless than she’d intended. Her heart hammered in her chest.
“Is that his fucking shirt?” he asked again, the darkness in his voice making her nerves skitter.
“So what if it is?” she asked, straightening slightly.
In the faint glow of moonlight, she watched his chest expand with a slow, deep breath in and his fingers shifted around the highball glass that glittered in the silver light.
“Take it off.”
“Excuse me?” Shaun gasped in outrage.
“I didn’t stutter, Shaun.”
“No,” she snapped, setting the water bottle down on the island she stood next to, placing her hands on her hips defiantly.
Fear, dread, excitement, she wasn’t sure what it was, snaked through her when he stood in one fluid motion, lifting the glass to his lips as he prowled—yes, prowled—toward her.
Setting the glass down on the marble countertop as he reached her, he leaned closer and snarled through clenched teeth, “Take. It. Off. Shaun.”
“I can’t,” she whispered, heat rising to her cheeks. “I’m not wearing anything under it.”
“You can take it off or I will take it off for you,” he continued, leaning forward until she backed up against the edge of the counter. His arms reached out, bracing his hands on either side of her.
“I’m not taking my shirt off in front of you, Kasey,” she breathed.
Stepping back a half step, he reached up and gripped the collar of the tank top he wore, pulling it up and over his head in one motion, until he stood in front of her with his entire upper body and torso naked to her.
Her mouth went dry, and she had to fight the urge to reach out her hands and run them over the muscles that rippled along his abdomen.
The muscles of his abs arrowed down in a V into the waistband of his sweats, slung indecently low on his hips, and the sight made her mouth water.
He held out the shirt to her at the same time he muttered darkly, “Take off that fucking shirt, Shaun. I won’t say it again. ”
Growling at him, she slapped his hand away that held out his shirt and grabbed the hem of Tommy’s t-shirt, pulling it over her head and then dropping it to the floor.
She snatched his tank top out of his hands, ignoring her heart as it pounded out a beat in her chest. Her breasts were bare, but he held her gaze.
Glaring at him through the darkness, she slid her arms into the tank top and tugged it over her head, letting the soft material conform to her breasts.
It was long, covering her bottom in the boy-short underwear she wore.
He bent at the waist, picking up the discarded shirt and balling it up in his hands.
“That’s better,” he murmured, reaching out and letting the back of his index finger trail down her side, over the ribbed material of the shirt. Slapping his hand away, she glared up at him in the dark.
“You’re a bully,” she hissed as he backed away.
Holding the shirt that had very clearly offended him so badly out in front of him, he shook it in his fist as he growled, “If he’s not man enough to show his fucking face, you don’t get to wear his clothes in front of me.”
Shaun spluttered in outrage, but he was already striding across the room, his feet carrying him up the stairs until he disappeared from sight.