Chapter 17
Rhys
Thank God it’s Friday.
For the next two and a half days, I’ll be able to think with my head… the one on my shoulders.
After dropping Keira off at Arianne’s place in Marina del Rey, I drove straight to Golden Finger—the award-winning whiskey bar at the Quintus Hotel.
I’m a free man.
When I enlisted Arianne’s help, I was hoping to catch a break from Keira’s ever-present sexiness.
I didn’t expect it would turn into a weekend affair.
Arianne wasn’t joking when she said she was mapping things out.
On Thursday morning, she declared after a long conversation with her best friend, it would be best if the shopping expedition started on Friday night since there’s a lot to do.
I didn’t argue.
Neither did Keira.
In fact, she was jumping up and down with excitement.
Throughout the week, she alluded to being lonely, longing for me to come home earlier at night.
Distance was my only salvation.
I take another swig of my drink, and the tension of the week rolls off my shoulders.
And what a week it’s been.
Five days of unbearable hard-ons.
Five days of blue balls.
Five days of jerking off like an insatiable teenager.
In other words, five days of pure fucking hell.
Guilt nags at me for using work as a buffer between my eager cock and the object of my desire, but I’ll do whatever it takes to avoid succumbing to temptation. At least I know she’ll have fun this weekend.
“You’re lost in thought, buddy.” I lift my eyes to see a familiar face.
“Shane, what are you doing here?”
His gaze drops to my tumbler. “I’m about to follow in your footsteps.”
“The only way to ring in the weekend.” I lift my tumbler.
He looks around before meeting my gaze. “Are you drinking alone or is Keira in the ladies’ room?”
“I’m here alone.”
“You left the pretty girl at home?” His bright blue eyes sparkle with curiosity.
“No, I found the pretty girl some girlfriends to hang out with.”
He furrows his eyebrows.
“Have a drink with me. I’ll tell you everything.”
He takes a seat and motions for the waiter to bring him what I’m drinking.
The waiter wastes no time pouring three fingers of exquisite whiskey before sliding the glass in front of my friend.
“Here’s to you spilling your guts.” Shane lifts his glass.
“Here’s to you being my sounding board.” I clink my glass with his.
“That sounds heavy.”
I nod. “You have no idea.”
We both take a long swig of our drinks.
Shane drops his tumbler on the bar top. “What’s weighing on your mind?”
“I’m fucked.” There’s no point in sugar coating it.
“Keira?”
“Keira.”
He laughs. “I could’ve told you that at the airport.”
My head jerks back from his admission. “What are you talking about?”
“The expression on your face as you were hugging her suggested there was a lot going on between you,” he says. “Is there?” Leave it to Shane to cut to the chase.
“It’s––”
“Don’t say it’s complicated. It’s a given. You wouldn’t be sitting here mulling things over if it wasn’t.”
“Fair enough. I won’t bullshit you.”
“I appreciate it,” he says. “Before we dive right into it, I have to ask. What happened to Keira? She looks nothing like she did before leaving LA.”
I tell him what I told Arianne.
“That explains it,” he says. “You have the hots for your best friend’s baby sister.”
My eyebrows lift to my forehead.
“It was a wild guess. I didn’t expect to hit the nail on the head.”
I run my fingers through my hair. “Well, you did.”
“If that’s the case, what’s the problem?”
“Noah.”
“Isn’t Keira an adult?”
“She is.”
“Is it unrequited?”
I shake my head. “It’s not. She’s made it clear in the past she was interested.
Since she was only sixteen at the time, I dismissed it as a teenage crush.
I was a grown man. No way was I going to lead her on or even consider looking at her that way.
But Keira is persistent. She became a hell of a lot wittier at finding ways to catch my attention as the years rolled by.
My blinders were safely on, so I was somewhat oblivious to her advances…
well, that’s what I told myself.” I pause.
“Frustrated, she stole a kiss to drive her point. Sure, she was eighteen at the time, but she was still Noah’s little sister.
On top of that, the age difference was still a factor, I was getting my life back on track after rehab, and Beckett and I were just starting SCORE.
I was juggling a lot of balls. That was too much baggage for such a young woman––”
“Did you tell her?”
“I did. After the kiss, I pushed her away and told her it could never happen again. She gave me the silent treatment for six long months. When Noah told me she was leaving for London to pursue a music career, I thought I’d give her some advice to prepare her for the reality of a business that can be unkind and cruel. Let’s just say, she wasn’t receptive.”
“You have history together,” Shane says.
“A lot of history. Which is why I was uncertain about her living with me. After three years of tension and distance, I wasn’t sure how it would play out between us.”
“Are things tense?”
“The first night they were. So much so, I had to get the hell out of my own house. I needed space.”
“Is that why you’re here now?”
I shake my head.
I tell him about Keira spending the weekend with Arianne and Phoebe.
“I see.” He nods. “You have the weekend to yourself.”
“Yes. I can think freely.”
“Think about what?”
“How to navigate this thorny situation. She’s going to be living at my place for a while.”
He nods a few times, but doesn’t offer a response.
I polish off the rest of my drink.
He does the same. “Do you want her?”
His frankness doesn’t surprise me.
In a slow motion, I drop my tumbler on the bar top and ponder his question for a beat.
My wet dreams kept me company all week long. After sliding into bed, I’d imagine her…
Under me.
Beneath me.
On top of me.
Surrendering to me.
I shake my head.
I meet his gaze. “I’d be overstepping my boundaries.”
“That’s a roundabout way of answering my question,” Shane says.
I’m being evasive for a reason. It’s one thing to admit how I feel about Keira to myself, it’s another to admit it to someone else.
“There’s still the age difference.”
Shane chuckles.
“What’s so funny?”
“In a town like LA, eight years is hardly an age difference,” he says.
“She’s still Noah’s little sister,” I say. “There’s something called the bro code amongst guys. Breaking it is sacrilege.”
“It’s clear your best friend is protective—”
“Very. He doesn’t want his baby sister to end up in the same toxic merry-go-round of bad relationships like their mother.”
“I totally understand where Noah is coming from. If I had witnessed the things he had, I wouldn’t want my sister involved with an asshole or a douchebag who takes advantage of her and treats her like shit.”
“Exactly.”
“You’re neither an asshole nor a douchebag,” he says. “From the sounds of it, you treat Keira with a lot of respect… and care. You’re a solid guy. Someone Noah trusts—”
“Hence the problem.”
He shakes his head. “No, that’s not a problem. You’re using that as an excuse––as a false barrier. Same for the age difference and whatever else that’s been incubating in your overactive mind as obstacles.” He allows for a pregnant pause. “You want her? Go after her. Plain and simple.”