Chapter Twelve #2
Sammie scrubbed the kitchen counter. Her hands ached and her skin felt brittle from the cleaning solution.
The fumes burned her eyes, stinging her nose.
She scrubbed the surface, again and again, and even though it was finally clean of dust and debris, the laminate was still stained, still warping from the water damage.
She wanted to sling the wet cloth across the room in defeat.
“I’m back!”
Kieran’s voice reached her from the front door. He’d gone out to get some bug spray and spider traps. Sammie had voted to just shut the door to Atticus’ room and let the creatures have it. Kieran had only laughed and said he would take care of them.
“Good luck,” Sammie shouted from the kitchen. If Kieran’s spider removal plan didn’t work then maybe she would just burn the place down.
The thought pulled her up short. Sammie leaned against the counter, chin settled in one palm as she looked through the plastic covering the broken window.
She’d stood in this same spot so many times before, swapping dish duty with Atticus every other night.
The scenery was muddied by the plastic, but Sammie could still perfectly picture the sight of their backyard.
Patchy green grass that led to a small grove of maple trees.
A couple more months and the yard would be littered with leaves the bright colors of autumn.
It wasn’t the same anymore. Just like how her view through the window was distorted, the feeling of home wasn’t what it used to be. The house was lifeless, empty. Lonely.
Sammie’s jaw clenched, bitter tears threatening her again.
Sure, she wouldn’t really burn the place to the ground.
But giving it up was always an option. She’d had two locals reach out since she’d become the homeowner, both with offers to buy.
Sammie knew she wouldn’t have a problem selling the place, if that’s what she wanted to do.
But she didn’t want that. This was her home. It was all she had left of the beautiful life her grandma had given her and Atticus. Didn’t that make it worth it? Wasn’t that so much more valuable than the money in her bank account?
“I sprayed around the edges of the room and set the traps up.” Sammie turned around at the words, meeting Kieran’s gaze.
With the air conditioner on the fritz, even being inside was hot and humid.
He’d pulled his curls back, away from his face, but a few had escaped while they worked, framing his pretty eyes.
His t-shirt was soaked with sweat, sticking to every part of him, outlining his broad chest and hard torso.
“I’ll make an appointment with an exterminator.” Which meant she would probably have to make another trip down here soon, would have to find a way to squeeze it into her busy schedule.
“Let’s see if the stuff I got works first,” Kieran said, shrugging as he leaned back against the wall, taking a long drink from his water bottle. Sammie couldn’t help but watch as the lines of his throat moved, couldn’t force her eyes to look away.
“Thanks for-”
“Stop thanking me,” Kieran interrupted, laughing as he snapped the cap down on his bottle. “I want to help.”
A fire burned low in Sammie’s gut. This guy, the guy she had wanted for ages, was finally standing in front of her, letting her in, weaving his way into her life. How could something she’d desired for so long feel so unexpected?
“Mom called while I was out,” Kieran continued.
“She said my cousins are coming over tonight for a visit. Not expecting them for a few more hours.” He looked happy at the prospect of seeing his family.
That charming, innocent smile set off sparks under Sammie’s skin.
She had been tiptoeing around something every moment they spent together over the last several days.
Something that somehow felt new yet comfortable, exciting and intimidating all wrapped into a flame that simmered low in Sammie’s core.
“I still want to see what I can do about that gutter, but after that we can head home with enough time to-”
Sammie crossed the room, stopping in front of Kieran. “You told me I can’t thank you anymore.”
He hesitated, before grinning. “Nope.” Not many people could look down at Sammie, but Kieran could. He’d always been taller.
“So I need to figure out a different way to show my appreciation.” Sammie wasn’t good at all this, the back and forth. She’d rather just say what she meant, what she wanted. Get it all out in the open.
Kieran’s gaze shifted, searching her face, a hint of pink lighting up his cheeks. Sammie moved closer. She was gross, sweaty and dirty from all the cleaning, her hair wet at the nape of her neck, frizzy waves forming from the humidity. She didn’t care.
This moment felt like another turning point, just like that day in the rain eight years earlier. Sammie had been brave then, bold. She’d never been one to keep what she wanted hidden.
“Sammie,” Kieran said, glancing down at her lips, his eyes burning a trail along her skin. He slipped his phone out of his back pocket. “It’s your turn to take the lead.”
That was all the permission she needed. Sammie moved, leaning in close, her body pressing his back against the peeling wallpaper. She let their torsos align, let her hands fall to his waist, holding him steady, keeping him exactly where she wanted him.
Kieran sucked in a sharp breath, molding to her, allowing Sammie to fully take over, even as he pressed record on his phone, angling the camera to where their hips were pressed together.
Her hands pushed him hard, holding Kieran back before shifting.
She ran a finger over the button of his jeans.
Let it trial lower. His cock twitched, and she smiled, proud that she could get a reaction out of him so soon.
A small sound escaped him, a choked moan in the back of his throat as Sammie pressed her palm against his bulge, feeling it thicken.
“Fuck.” The word was breathy, a huff against Sammie’s cheek as she carefully worked him, the denim rough against her hand.
She hadn’t been able to truly feel the size of him when she’d been sitting in his lap, but now she was getting a better idea of it.
His cock was thick, growing harder with every slow caress.
Sammie pictured him pushing into her, stretching her.
The base of her spine tingled as she imagined sinking down onto him.
He would have the same expression he wore now, his gaze dark, his jaw clenched tight.
Kieran was breathing fast, his chest rising and falling as he leaned closer to her.
She was doing that to him. Sammie was wrecking him with nothing more than a little heavy petting.
The sound of the front door opening sent Sammie careening away from him, nearly tripping over her own feet as she did.
“Kier! Come help me get this ladder up.” Grant’s voice echoed through to the kitchen. Kieran tipped his head back, banging it against the wall as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“God dammit.”
Sammie laughed. It bubbled out of her, a shaky, manic sound that had Kieran looking at her like she’d lost her mind.
“I didn’t know he was coming back, I’m sorry.
” She was sorry, considering Kieran now had to deal with a raging erection while helping his father fix the gutter. But only a little sorry.
“Don’t apologize.” Kieran breathed out slowly through his nose, adjusting himself in his pants. “Definitely don’t apologize.”
Sammie’s phone pinged. She pulled it out as Kieran left the room, following the sound of Grant’s voice.
Ivy: How’s it going at the house??? Is the window going to be okay???
Ivy was asking about the house. Checking on her. Her hands shook with the adrenaline of what she’d just been doing.
Guilt still gnawed at Sammie, as her brother’s admonition from the night before came back to her once again. Atticus wanted her to tell Ivy everything, and Sammie… well, Sammie did want to tell her.
But what if it ruined everything? What if Sammie broke her friend’s heart, only for this…
thing with Kieran to disappear. It couldn’t go on forever.
Was Sammie supposed to spend the rest of her life getting nothing more than sex from the man she was already halfway to in love with?
She wasn’t oblivious to the fact that one day this would all have to end.
And she wasn’t willing to lose a friendship over it. Ivy was a constant, whereas this thing with Kieran? It couldn’t go on forever.
Sammie swallowed thickly as she typed out an update on the house. All the heat that had flared in her as she’d held Kieran against that wall cooled as reality snapped back into place.
Maybe Atticus was right to worry.
Maybe Sammie really was in over her head.