Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
AIDEN
I need to schedule a apt. ASAP. Plz?
My eye twitches.
It’s sad that I haven’t saved Sally’s name in her contact details, and yet I immediately recognize the sender based on the text.
Always needing a dick appointment yet never catching a clue that I want nothing to do with her. It’s been two years since I ghosted her after she admitted she was in love with me. She still hits me up from time to time with false hope that I’ll fold and visit her for a sneaky link.
I could be balls deep in some pussy in front of her, and she’d call next like I’m a mechanical bull ride instead of a human.
“Uh oh, who escaped?” Nova’s voice draws me out of my annoyed thoughts.
I stuff my phone into my pocket while raising my head. My shoulders stiffen, and I suck in a quiet breath.
Nova pads across the kitchen while toying with the hem of the band T-shirt that she snuck out of my room when I wasn’t paying attention.
It’s not like I haven’t seen her wearing my clothes before.
However, this time feels different. Maybe it’s the deal we made.
Harmless or not, I can’t get it out of my head that she’s really mine and not pretend.
I shake off the thoughts. “No one escaped. Why do you ask?”
“You were glaring at your phone. You always do that when you get bad news or someone escapes.”
My fingers reflexively tighten around my phone in my pocket.
Nova leans against the island and cups her face with a palm. Her eyebrows scrunch together as I stare at her like a fucking idiot. Tendrils of pale pink hair hang in front of the two messy buns at the sides of her head and fall over her green eyes.
“What’s that look for?” She straightens, side-steps behind the table, and attempts to hide as she adjusts the bottom of her pink shorts that cling to her curves like a second skin.
I raise an eyebrow.
She huffs and drops her arms to her sides. “I wanted to look cute, okay?”
Jesus Christ. She misunderstood my warning.
I couldn’t care less if her ass is hanging out of her shorts—in fact, I love it when she wears clothes like that.
What I do care about is her feeling the need to pull down her shorts to hide her body from me.
Her weight doesn’t offend me. It’s her insecurity that does.
“You’re cute every day.” I lean against the counter, opposite her, and fold my arms over my chest.
“You really have got to stop complimenting me so much or I’ll think you’re flirting with me.”
“Why?”
Nova’s attention snaps toward me, and she raises her eyebrows. “I just told you.”
“No.” I drum a finger against my arm. “Why are you trying to look cute today?”
I’d like to believe it’s because of me and the promised lesson. But I know her. More than she probably knows herself.
She’s not dressing up for me.
Nova sighs with a slump of her shoulders, defeat written across her face. She inches toward me while saying, “I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Yeah?”
“Brandon texted me after you left my room.” She smiles, and while normally I love seeing that look on her face, this time I don’t so much, and I feel like an asshole because of it.
Nova’s lips move, but I don’t hear a word. Not when I’m fantasizing about finding Brandon, kidnapping the motherfucker, and torturing him until he takes his last, rattling breath.
A light touch brings me out of the imaginary bloodbath. Nova rests her palms on my chest and leans forward, forcing me to look into her pretty eyes.
“Did you hear what I said?” she murmurs.
“Sorry. Can you repeat that?” I fist my hands until my knuckles turn white. It’s all I can do to stop myself from grabbing a fistful of her hair and kissing the fuck out of her.
“He wants to meet up with me at the fair later today.” Her grin stretches across her face.
I keep my features neutral so she doesn’t figure out that I’m already game for whatever she has planned. Maybe it’s because I want her to continue touching me and buttering me up. Perhaps I like her looking at me with those puppy eyes, silently begging me to help her. Not that it’s needed.
Nova huffs and slips her arms around my neck. “Will you please go with me? To make him jealous, I told him you’re taking me. It worked, but I don’t want him to call my bluff if you don’t show up with me.”
I lose the battle of keeping a straight face as a grin forms. “It made him jealous, huh? And what exactly did you tell him?”
“I told you already.” She frowns.
Tsking, I unfold my arms and settle my hands on her hips to hold her in place. “Telling a guy that your boyfriend is taking you to the fair doesn’t work to make him jealous.” I lean down and stop right before my lips touch hers. “So what did you really say to him?”
She averts her gaze for a moment. Pink tinges her cheeks with a soft blush. “He asked if I was ditching him for you.”
“And?” My chest tightens.
“I said it’s hard to do anything when my boyfriend can’t stop touching me all the time.” She cringes and peeks at me from beneath her lashes, likely seeing if I’m upset she implied we slept together.
Laughter bursts from me, and I throw my head back while covering my face with my palm. “Yeah,” I say through cackles. “Causing him to picture all the filthy things I’d do to you would definitely make a man jealous.”
She’s quiet for a moment, still clinging to me and tracing invisible symbols on my nape. “What do you think he pictured?”
“It’s hard to tell since I’m not him.” I recover and drop my hand from my face. Her expression has me pausing and studying it, needing to pick it apart and understand why she’s looking at me with disappointment in her eyes.
“Right.” She loosens her hold.
I crush her against my chest, not allowing her to escape. Call me greedy for her touch, I don’t care. “I’ll go with you.”
Nova’s features brighten. “Really? Thank you so much!”
She giggles like I just told her the best news she’s heard in years.
“So what was that text about, by the way?” Nova steps back and glances at my shorts, specifically where I slipped my phone into my pocket.
While I didn’t plan on telling her about the message, even though we talk about everything, it may benefit me to do so. She’s eager to help me because of this deal, and I selfishly want to find different ways of being with her.
I have to keep up the act. Keep pretending that I’m still the playboy I made myself out to be.
“It was from one of the women I was telling you about,” I say.
“What did she say?”
I shrug. “The usual. Probably wants to make another deal with me so she can try to win me over like she did the last time.”
“Another deal?” Nova’s head rears back. “You’ve made deals with other women?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”
“What? Pfff.” She rolls her eyes and backs away with a wave of her hand, dismissing my observation. “Why would I be jealous of my brother’s flings? That’s weird.”
A slow smile creeps to my face as I watch her try to convince me—and herself—that she’s not jealous.
What an interesting reaction.
Nova glances at me, catches my smug grin, and stomps to the toaster on the counter facing my back. She grabs the strudels I popped in for her. “What deals are you making with these women anyway?”
I bite back a laugh as she rips open the packet of thawed icing. “Why does it matter? You’re not jealous, so I shouldn’t have to explain myself, yeah?”
“I’m not jealous.” She spins toward me and stabs a finger in my direction. “Is it wrong that I want to know what deals you’re making?”
Fascinated as I am, I don’t understand her reaction.
It’s not like I’m some saint who hasn’t touched a woman.
Hell, Nova was the first person I went to after I lost my virginity.
We’ve always had a close relationship, and we talk about everything.
There was never a line drawn between what we could and couldn’t tell each other.
Until I caught feelings for her.
I shove away from the counter and close the gap between us in two strides. Nova squeaks as I cage her in from behind with my hands on either side of her on the counter. I nestle my groin against her soft ass, earning a shaky breath from her.
“No kissing. No cuddling,” I murmur into her ear.
Nova’s shoulders tense, and she goes completely still. “What are you—”
“No hickeys. No sex facing each other. I don’t give oral. I don’t fuck bareback.” My fingers circle her throat, and I stroke my thumb over her pounding pulse. “And most importantly, no catching feelings. If any of these rules are broken, then the deal is off.”
Silence fills the suddenly small kitchen, stretching for what feels like an eternity.
What is she thinking about? Does she think I’m a heartless bastard for having emotionless sex with women I don’t give two shits about?
Nova sets the strudels on the counter and peeks at me. “Those are your rules?”
“For the deals you’re not jealous of,” I say with a half-assed smirk.
She turns forward and stays quiet for another moment. “So do you need my help with her, then?”
“Only if you’re up for it.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Later. Let’s focus on part one of that lesson I promised you.” I drop my arm and take a step back to put space between us. The more I touch her, the harder it is to stop when I want more.
“Part one?” She side-eyes me and carries her breakfast to the island before taking a seat.
“Yep. There are two parts to this lesson. First, you need to know the steps. Later, you’ll put them into practice.” I sit on the chair beside her, then grab the bottom of hers and yank her next to me until our legs touch.
Nova doesn’t flinch at my attempt to be closer to her, despite my earlier need to put space between us.
“Okay. I’m listening.” She bites into her strudel and closes her eyes at the first taste of the strawberries and cream. I wait for her to moan like she’s been doing lately; however, it never comes.
“How much do you know about flirting?”
“Not enough, obviously, since I’m asking you for help.”
“Do you know when someone’s flirting?”
“Um. Yeah, sometimes.”
“Do you?” I tilt my head with a grin.
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not totally clueless, jeez.”
“I know. Just seeing how much you know. The steps are simple when flirting.” I hold up my other hand to count with my fingers as I list each point.
“Eye contact. Smiles. Compliments. Light-hearted teasing. And if the other person is reciprocating, you can take it to the next level by touching. It can be brushing your hand on his shoulder. Or his chest. Get creative, but always remember to be elusive. You want him to chase.”
I wonder if she’ll catch on that I do this with her every day. It’s dangerous to lay those cards on the table for her to see, but I can’t help it. My heart bleeds for her. As much as I’m terrified of her rejection, I want her love, despite being unable to follow through with it.
Nova’s eyebrows pinch together, and she stuffs the rest of the strudel into her mouth. She shifts in her seat and scratches at her scalp near her nape.
Frowning, I lay my hand over hers and lower it to her lap. “What are you thinking about, pretty girl?”
She swallows hard and peeks at me from the corner of her eye, her cheeks flushed. “I don’t know if I can flirt.”
“Why would you think that?” I tilt my head, perplexed that she went from eager to learn to now convinced that she can’t do this.
“I get nervous around him and shut down.” Nova winces. “I overthink and try to play it cool and always end up awkward. I don’t know if I—”
“That’s where part two of this lesson comes into play.” I release her hand and settle my palm on her thigh. “Before you meet up with this fu—” I clear my throat. “Before you meet this guy, you’ll practice with me.”
She glances at my hand on her thigh, then back at my face. It may be too touchy for her, but I need her to get used to it. And fast. Especially if she wants to help me with my Sally problem.
“Why can’t we practice right now?” she asks.
I tsk with a shake of my head and stand. “It won’t be organic.”
“And you think it will be later today?” She scoffs.
I boop her on the nose and slip my hand into my pocket, grabbing my phone. “While at the fair? Yes. It’s such a busy place that it’s often overlooked as an opportunity for a little bit of romance.”
Nova narrows her eyes. “I’m guessing you’d know from experience.”
I chuckle and unlock my phone screen. “That sounds a bit like jealousy, sis. You sure you aren’t jealous of the other women sleeping with me?”
“I’m not jealous,” she grumbles as I stride out of the kitchen with a huge grin. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“Nope. I need to check if there’s a party tomorrow night, and then I’m all yours.” I shift my attention to my phone screen and type out a message to an old acquaintance.
If Nova wants to help me, I’ll milk as much of this fake relationship as I can. I just hope she’s ready to be thrown into the deep end tomorrow evening.