Chapter 16 #2
We all whip around to see Ryder, still dressed in his uniform, looking thunderous, and a grinning Sophie, in a black business dress, standing at the threshold.
Noooooooooooooooooo! Not him.
I cross my arms over my chest. “What are you doing here?”
From behind me, Charlie says, “I called him.”
I swing around and glare at him. “You did what? How could you?”
Charlie
Jessica, in her pink bra and matching panties, is glaring at me in all her beautiful fury.
“What was I supposed to do? None of us can drive.” Two hours in, I’d unfortunately known what I’d have to do when I decided to throw caution to the wind and go down with the rest of them.
Her hands curl into fists. “Not call him!”
“Who else could I call? He’s the only option.” I try to reason with her.
She blows out a hard breath. “Not for me. I was going to ride my bike home.”
Jesus Christ. I want her so bad.
But I’m going to have to be patient. When I take her again, it’s not going to be when we’ve both had too much to drink. No. It’s going to be at my house, with no one to stop or interrupt me. I’m going to take all the fucking time I want, and she’s going to wake up in my bed.
I won’t settle for anything less.
That’s what I’ve decided. “Do you honestly think I’m going to let you ride your bike, drunk, through the woods in the middle of the night?”
“Let me! What do you mean, let me?” she yells, her lightning-blue eyes flashing.
Ryder whistles, and it pierces the air.
We all look at him.
Maddie sits up and manages to drag herself from the floor, and when she sees her best friend, she jumps up and down and starts clapping. “Sophie’s here! Let’s do shots.”
Mitch grabs her around the waist. “No more shots for you. You’re already going to be sorry.”
Sophie giggles. “Looks like we missed all the fun.”
Ryder shakes his head, completely exasperated. “Can someone explain to me why none of you has any clothes on?”
“King’s Cup,” Sam says.
He sighs. “That does explain it.”
Sophie nods, as if all this makes perfect sense. “Ah, Maddie got to make a rule.”
“By the looks of things, there are going to be a lot of hangovers tomorrow,” Ryder says.
Jessica scowls at her brother. “You’re a total buzzkill.”
“Well, I’m sorry, Jess. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to see my sister in her underwear today.”
She sneers at him. “Living in this town with you is worse than living with our father. I feel like I’m in prison.”
I can’t help it; I laugh.
“I see.” His gaze slides to me, narrowing.
I realize I’m grinning at how adorable she is, and I twist my features into something I hope is more serious-looking. “You are kinda a buzzkill.”
“You called me,” Ryder says, scoffing.
“Unfortunately, I have this job that requires me to be responsible,” I say.
Maddie squeals in excitement. “Oh my god, let’s have a sleepover.”
“I’m sorry. In my thirties, I treasure my own bed,” Sam says.
Ryder rubs the back of his neck. “Can you guys please put your clothes on? I find it weird I have to keep mentioning it.”
Gracie gives him her flirty, sex-kitten smile. “Or you could take off your clothes.”
A smile twitches at the corners of Ryder’s mouth. “I’m not sure that’s helping things in the right direction, Gracie.”
“I can get home on my own without my stupid brother.” Jessica plants her hands on her hips.
“No.” The word comes out so sharp, everyone pauses to look at me with raised eyebrows. I ignore it. “That’s not happening, so drop it.”
Her chest puffs up as she gathers steam.
My entire adult life, I’ve stayed far away from anything that even hints at drama, but tonight, I’ve accepted I love it on her.
Watching all that chaotic, vibrant energy come alive over the course of the evening has filled me with a strange kind of happiness I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced before.
None of the alarm bells she’s setting off in me seem to matter. She’s exactly who I’ve always sworn I’d stay away from, but it turns out, I’ve missed her too much for that.
I’m tired of resisting her pull. All I fucking want is to fall for her.
“Do I really look like a woman you can tell what to do?” Her fists are all bunched like she’s ready to fight me.
Not caring how blatant I’m being, I drop my gaze over her. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
“You’re infuriating,” she says, her bottom lip puffed out in a pout.
Ryder glares at me before saying to his sister, “He’s right. That’s not happening. Now, again, let’s put on our clothes so that we can all go home and sleep it off.”
“Fine.” She stomps off and grabs her shorts.
It takes twenty minutes of Ryder and Sophie herding us like sheep to get us out of the house and into the truck.
Sophie settles in the front seat as Harmony, Jessica, and I climb in the back.
Jessica’s body is warm next to mine.
I want to touch her. The desire is so strong I have to shift away to maintain my resolve.
In the rearview mirror, Ryder catches my gaze, his jaw hard.
Obviously, he knows something is going on between his sister and me. I don’t think he’d care beyond the normal brother grumbling, like Mitch and Shane Donovan do, married to each other’s sisters.
What he cares about is that I’m hiding it from him. That I’m not trusting our friendship enough to talk to him. That’s what he’s pissed about.
I can’t blame him.
The best option is to tell him the whole story and admit I can’t stay away from her, no matter how much I want to. But I can’t do that, because I promised the woman next to me. And until she tells me otherwise, Ryder and I will have this wedge between us.
Jessica’s leg presses against mine as she scoots closer to me. “I want waffles.”
“Oh my god, yes!” Harmony clutches Jessica’s arm. “And well-done hash browns with extra salt.”
“We’re not getting waffles,” Ryder says, his tone exasperated.
Jessica kicks the back of his seat. “You’re no fun at all.”
“Hey, knock that off!” Ryder yells.
“You’re sooooo boring.”
“It’s time for bed, not making a spectacle of yourself at the highway Waffle House,” he says, sounding incredibly boring.
I have no trouble picturing them as squabbling teenagers, and the way she gives Ryder shit amuses the hell out of me. I find myself wondering what it would be like to grow up in such a full house.
She drapes her leg over mine. “Soph, you’d better be careful, or pretty soon, he’s not going to know how to work the remote either.”
Sophie peers over her shoulder. “I’m afraid you lost me.”
“Just like our dad,” Jessica says, as though that explains everything. “And once you can’t work those buttons, the clitoris is soon to follow.”
Harmony and I start laughing.
Ryder’s brows slam together. “I know perfectly well where the clitoris is.”
Sophie reaches over to pat Ryder’s shoulder. “He does okay.”
Ryder pinches her, and she yelps, giggling.
“Just remember, it wasn’t that long ago you were so drunk, you peed all over your bed.” Jessica squirms deeper into me, and I drape my arm over the back seat so she can get closer.
Ryder shakes his head. “I was fourteen.”
“Exactly.” Her voice is satisfied, like she scored a point.
I curl my palm over her thigh, and that shuts her up with a gasp. I know Harmony can probably see what I’m doing, and I just do not give a fuck.
I don’t care about anything but Jessica.
I circle the flesh high on her thigh with my fingers, tracing a path over her skin. She very indiscreetly squirms closer. Her head lolls, coming to rest on my shoulder.
My fingers climb higher.
She tilts her chin, nestling into the curve of my neck, quickening breath hot on my skin.
My grip on her tightens.
I have never in my life experienced anything like the chemistry I have with her. It’s like everything that’s been dead inside me is suddenly switched on.
I am exercising actual willpower not to lunge at her. If Harmony weren’t sitting next to us, I’d have my fingers buried in her cunt already.
All of a sudden, the car jerks to a stop, jostling me out of my lust-filled haze.
Jessica sits up. “What’s happening?”
“You’re home,” Ryder says, his tone sharp.
“Oh.” She looks around, finds her phone, then looks back at me.
Our eyes meet in the darkness, where we lock in, and even when it becomes awkward, we can’t move away.
“You’re going to have to open the door and let her out, Charlie.” Ryder’s voice is filled with exasperation.
I don’t take my eyes off Jessica. “I’m going to make sure she gets in all right.”
Ryder sighs. “Of course you are.”
I open the door, and she says her goodnights, following me into the darkness. She stumbles when she gets out of the car, and because I’m not in the mood to be patient, I catch her around the waist, swing her up, and throw her over my shoulder.
“Really?” Ryder yells from the car window.
I hear female laughter from the car.
“Charlie, put me down!” Jessica shouts.
But I don’t. I take the steps with relative ease, considering I’m far past sober, and when I get to the door, I ask, “Key?”
“It’s open.”
I walk into the foyer, before slamming the door shut with my foot.
“Hi, Hailey,” Jessica calls out.
I look toward the dimly lit room full of books and see her sister staring at us with wide, startled eyes, sitting in a leather chair. “It looks like someone had fun.”
“It was excellent.” Jessica waves at the front door. “Until our stupid brother showed up and, once again, ruined everything.”
Hailey chuckles. “He’s a real buzzkill.”
“That’s what I said,” Jessica says.
“We couldn’t drive.” I tilt my head toward the door. “He’s waiting on me. Where’s her bedroom?”
“I can walk,” Jessica says.
Hailey glances at the staircase. “Up the stairs, first door on the left.”
“Thanks.” I haul her up to the second floor.
When I get to her room, I walk into the darkness and close the door behind us before throwing her onto the bed.
She bounces, her hair fanning over the plush, velvety-soft white comforter.
“I shouldn’t even start.” But I’m already following her down.
She reaches for me.
We crash together.
And it’s like everything that’s been wrong in my world rights.
My tongue invades her mouth, and she moans, throwing her arms around me.