Chapter 4
Later that night, I was back at Liv’s place, settling in.
My large military bag was on top of the full-size, neatly made bed with a dozen throw pillows on it as if it were on display in a department store.
There was a nightstand with a touch lamp with a USB charging port and gray blackout curtains covering the window across from the bed.
My clothes were strewn across the floor near the closet, waiting to be hung up whenever I bought some hangers, and my shoes were lined up in a row at the bottom.
I set my phone and wallet on top of the dresser next to the framed picture of Lex and Liv.
It had been hours since my surprise welcome home party, and I still hadn’t managed to get Alexis Rosewood off my fuckin’ mind, let alone the news that she was engaged to another nigga.
The protector in me wanted to know his name, where he lived, what he did for a living, and who his family was.
But I knew I had to chill. She was off-limits.
Or at least that was what I’d been telling myself for years.
Nothing would change that now, especially not with another man’s ring on her finger.
I didn’t see any good coming from me thinking about her pretty ass for too long.
What would it change? Absolutely nothing.
So why hadn’t I been able to stop? The whole car ride home, I’d tried to pretend that I hadn’t thought about what things would’ve been like for us if I hadn’t left for the military after taking her virginity.
If she wasn’t my sister’s best fuckin’ friend.
If I’d gotten the opportunity to put a ring on her finger before someone else did.
Besides, twelve years was a long time. It was foolish of me to think she’d saved a place for me in her heart or between her butterscotch thighs.
But no matter how many times I told myself that I didn’t come home to be a menace to her heart or that I couldn’t get caught up, there was something about the lack of sparkle in her almond-shaped, coffee-brown eyes when she mentioned her wedding that had me feeling a way.
Out of curiosity, I wanted to probe Liv for more information on Lex’s man, but I told myself I had to be careful.
I knew my sister might disapprove of me meddling in her friend’s business, and the last thing I wanted to do was mess up Lex’s life or their friendship.
I closed my eyes, replaying how good she fuckin’ looked.
Lex had always been a pretty girl, but now, she was far from my baby sister’s homegirl who had spent years at my house or the young adult I’d messed around with years ago.
She was a grown-ass woman, and more beautiful than ever.
Her face card was bad enough to snatch souls without ever having to give up the pussy.
Her brown eyes were fringed with long lashes, and she had a dainty, button nose and thick, arched brows.
Her chestnut-brown hair was styled in bouncy, romantic curls that cascaded down her back and framed her round face.
The sleeveless white dress she had on showed off her poreless, honey-brown skin with yellow undertones and clung to her petite frame, accentuating her curves and cleavage in a way that still left something to the imagination.
Lucky for me, I didn’t have to imagine. My hands studied every part of her body in the back seat of my car the night she gave herself to me.
I was sure I hadn’t unlearned the location of her sweet spot and exactly how to reach it.
Before I knew it, my dick was bricked up underneath my joggers. “Shit,” I hissed, trying to push it down.
It was no use. I had to take the fuckin’ edge off.
And fast. I marched into the guest bathroom and locked the door.
I pushed the shower curtain back and listened to the water sputter out of the showerhead.
As I waited for it to heat up, my mind replayed the moments of the night I took Lex’s virginity.
The night she rode me like she was on a four-wheeler.
Fuck. My eyes rolled back in my head at the thought of how tight she was around my dick.
I stripped down and wrapped my hand around my shaft, holding it firmly while sliding my hand up and down.
I stepped inside the shower, feeling the warm water slide all over me.
I bit my lip at the memory of kissing both sets of her full, lush lips.
I stroked my dick faster as the thought of fucking her again after all these years washed over me.
I remembered the sound of her moans. The way she said my name.
The sting of her nails clawing at my back. Everything.
“Fuckkkkkkkk.” I growled through my clenched jaw.
My orgasm surged from the soles of my feet all the way up to my hair follicles as I spilled my seed onto the shower floor.
I knew thinking about Lex in that way was wrong, but I didn’t regret it.
Not then. Not all these years later, either.
And if she wanted it to happen again, I swear I’d take my sweet time drowning in her ocean.
After showering, I hung my damp towel on the bar.
I stepped out and wiped my hand over the steamy mirror, smearing the water droplets across the glass.
I brushed off my feelings, deciding to keep quiet about them and chalk up our past as just that, the past. The only question was, did I believe myself, or was I finding ways to try and justify why I couldn’t have what I wanted.
I threw on some basketball shorts and a T-shirt before walking down the hallway toward the kitchen. Liv was in there heating up some leftovers from my party. I leaned against the kitchen counter and saw the wedding invite on the fridge.
“Yo, Liv. I was thinking, now that I’m back and not in the middle of the ocean, I could be your plus one to Lex’s wedding.”
She twisted her neck to look at me. “She mentioned something about you wanting to go. I just didn’t think you were serious.”
My broad shoulders rose and fell with a lazy shrug. “Yeah. Why not?”
“You sure you wanna be there? I won’t be around to babysit you with all my maid-of-honor duties and all. Plus, Dad’s walking her down the aisle and sitting at the special table with Mom.”
My lips twisted to the side. “So the whole family’s gonna be there, but me?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “I guess I didn’t think about it like that. I’m so used to you being away and missing everything.”
“So . . . wassup?” I encouraged her.
She huffed. “Fine. I guess you’re housebroken and charming enough in a tux for me to tell people we’re related.”
“Wow. How caring of you.”
She laughed. “I’m kidding.”
I stared at the invite with Lex’s government name written in fancy script font. My eyes traced each letter.
“What about her man? You like ’im?” I probed casually, trying not to reveal that I was really probing for information.
She glanced up at me while pulling her plate out of the microwave. “Who, Pat?”
“That’s his name? Pat?” I commented, not even bothering to acknowledge his place on the invitation.
“Patrick. And he’s cool, I guess. He’s a pilot, so he’s gone a lot, like you.”
I grunted. “Oh. How long they been together?”
“A little over a year. They met on one of his flights. Why? What’s got you so interested in her love life all of a sudden?”
I opened the fridge to keep myself busy. “No reason. I was just wondering, damn. I am about to pull up to their wedding. Figured I’d get caught up before her big day.”
“Mm-hmm,” she replied with a side-eye. “You’ve got that look in your eye.”
My brows furrowed as I looked over at her. “What look?”
“That look that says you wanna go into big brother, military man mode and vet him. But I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to do all that.”
“Why not?”
“Because he comes from a good family. Lex told me his mom and stepfather own a bunch of hotels around the country.”
“What that mean? They got money or somethin’?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Mmm.” I grunted. “But is she happy?”
“Yeah. I think so. She’s always had a glow about her, but I think Pat brings a little extra sparkle out of her.
She couldn’t stop smiling after he proposed.
And you should’ve seen her when she found her wedding dress.
She tried on like seventeen different gowns before she found the one.
But when she did, it was like she was floating on cloud nine. I love seeing my girl happy.”
I looked back into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water as my jaw tightened. “Good for her.”
“Y’know, I think she’s always had a soft spot for you.”
My brows rose in surprise as my heart began to gallop in my chest. I masked it with a stoic look and another lazy shrug as I closed the fridge. “Why you think that?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a vibe I get. She was sad when you left for basic training. I mean, we all were. But I didn’t think she’d be as sad as the rest of us.”
I kept my expression unreadable. “I missed y’all too.”
The kitchen fell silent as I slipped into my inner thoughts.
Lex had gone from the girl stealing my fries and barging into my room unannounced with Liv, when they were kids and forcing me to play with them, to being someone’s bride-to-be.
And according to my sister, the nigga had her floating on cloud nine.
But how could she be when she was lonely?
I was done working somewhere across the ocean, only to learn that she’d given her heart to a man who was always gone.
“I wanna meet him,” I announced, the words slipping past my lips before my brain had sense enough to stop them.
My sister’s brows scrunched together. “Meet him? For what, so you can grill him?”
“That’s what brothers do, right?”
“Yeah, but you’re my brother, not hers.”
“Set that shit up, Liv. I wanna learn this nigga’s intentions for myself.”
Liv sucked her teeth. “I swear the older you get, the more you sound like Daddy.”
I scoffed, not giving a fuck. “So be it.”
Was he good enough for her? Was any nigga that wasn’t me good enough for her?
I told myself I should’ve been happy for her.
But I kept thinking about our last night together—the night she gave me a piece of herself that no other man could ever say he had.
But she was about to become some other nigga’s forever.
I’d missed my chance. Or maybe I was never supposed to have one, given the circumstances.
Perhaps I was always supposed to be her best friend’s brother and nothing more.
Either way, I planned to find out everything I could about the man who was about to marry the woman who had a hold on my heart.