Chapter 21
THEO
I’m fucked. So fucked.
I wasn’t thinking when I started to touch Sienna.
Well, not with my brain anyway. I could feel the way her breath hitched under my arm as I moved my fingers higher up her thigh.
Then she slipped her hand underneath my shirt, and I was done for.
I thought she was finally making a move to act on our very obvious mutual attraction.
Each time her hand grazed over the waistband of my pants, my cock hardened further. By the time I was flattening my hand on her ass, my cock was so hard it ached, especially under the restriction of my sweatpants.
When Leo so rudely cockblocked me with his popcorn question, I realized I was taking things too far. I must’ve been misreading her signals by the way she pulled her hand away so quickly. The last thing I wanted was to push her into something she wasn’t comfortable with.
I shamelessly used a pillow to hide my erection.
My stomach twisted further when Sienna excused herself to the restroom, and I couldn’t follow her.
Although getting up at that moment would’ve made the actions happening under the blanket painfully obvious.
I wanted to sell this relationship to my brothers, but I wasn’t desperate enough to expose myself like that.
In her absence, as I was forced to wait out my erection, I came to terms with the one thought I’ve been avoiding. I want Sienna. I think I’ve wanted her from the moment I spotted her sitting at that diner table, brows furrowed, staring at her laptop screen.
I’ve been treading lightly out of respect for her boundaries, but the urge I have to hold her against a wall and kiss her until both of our lips are raw has begun to consume me.
When I first thought about showing Sienna how much fun she could have with me in an effort to get her to stay, I hadn’t had this in mind.
With every smile she throws my way, every laugh I hear come from her throat, every time we make eye contact, it has been slowly solidifying one fact.
I. Want. Her.
“Thought you might be a little cold out here,” I say to Sienna, in an effort to break the tension.
“Thank you.” She motions to my sweatshirt. The sight of her in my clothing has my cock springing back to life.
“It’s beautiful out here at night,” Sienna says, looking up at the night sky.
This far from the city, the pitch-black sky is dotted with tiny sparkling stars. Although I can’t be bothered to look when an angel stands before me.
My eyes slowly cascade down her face to her lips, then travel farther to her exposed collarbone. Taking in the way the moonlight glistens off her smooth, dark skin. What I wouldn’t give to brush my lips across her neck right now.
“I’m starting to think this wasn’t such a good idea,” Sienna practically whispers.
She’s so quiet, I could barely hear her.
Taking a step closer to her, I brush my arm against hers in the process as she goes back to watching the still waters of the lake.
What I wouldn’t give for her to glance in my direction right about now.
“What wasn’t a good idea? The movie?” I play dumb, hoping she won’t say the words I’ve been dreading since I came out here. She turns toward me then, finally giving me her attention.
“No, Theo. Us.” She breaks eye contact, almost embarrassed, as if she said something wrong.
“Not us, us. Because there is no ‘us.’ But this deal we made.” She swings her finger between the two of us, but is restricted in her movement due to our proximity.
When I smell summer strawberries and ocean waters, every nerve in my body screams that what she is saying is wrong.
“Look, this doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere.
We’ve been here a week, Theo, and I haven’t heard a word about either one of us getting a job at the end of this.
I think I’m going to accept the other offer.
” She pauses and takes a breath. “Quite frankly, I think things between us are getting more complicated than either one of us wants to admit.”
“Don’t accept the other offer.” Sienna’s head turns toward me at my response, finally tearing her gaze from the lake.
I continue when she doesn’t respond, “I think you should stay. I’ll talk to Roman, and I can get you a better offer than what you have now.
” I use every ounce of my strength to resist reaching out and tilting her face to meet mine.
When Sienna continues to stay silent, I say, “If you’re upset because of the cuddling earlier…Sienna, I’m sorry if that crossed a line. I should’ve asked first.” I pause. “Please, just stay.”
“You don’t have to apologize for that. It just makes things more confusing between us.” My eyebrows pinch together as I watch her closely, waiting for her next words.
Her chest rises and falls before she admits, “I’m attracted to you, Theo.
When we made this deal, I didn’t think my attraction was going to get in the way of anything.
I thought it was something I could compartmentalize and ignore.
” I stay silent, too afraid to respond incorrectly until I know for sure where this is going.
“The rules I put in place for us, they were more for me to ensure I didn’t blur any lines, not you.
I know you just want to be friends, but the bikini comment, and whatever that was on the couch…
It’s getting harder to compartmentalize my attraction to you and separate it from our agreement.
I can never tell if the comments you make are genuine or part of the ruse.
I think accepting the other job will just be easier.
” A slight shake of her head and she turns, moving past me to head back inside.
I stop her by placing a hand gently on her arm.
“Did you want me to mean it?” I ask, leaning in close, our lips only inches apart. Sienna’s eyes dart back and forth between mine, as though she is searching them for the correct answer.
“What?” She finally responds.
“The bikini comment. Did you want me to mean it? Because I meant it, Sienna. Every. Fucking. Word.” We’re both breathing heavier now. Neither of us moves, as if we are both afraid of scaring the other away.
When the silence stretches between us, I confess, “I can’t stop thinking about you.
Your smell, your laugh, those tight little shorts you wear before climbing into bed with me every night.
It’s intoxicating. You’re intoxicating. I’ve been barely holding on, only following the boundaries you set out of respect for you.
I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about violating that respect every goddamn day since I drove you here.
” She’s breathing hard now, the dramatic rise and fall of her chest accentuating her breasts in a way that makes my cock ache with need.
Our lips, to my excruciating agony, are still not touching.
“Let me break one more rule, Sienna,” I beg, my eyes still stuck on her full lips.
She nods her head so slightly that I barely catch it. My eyes dart back up to hers. “Words, Angel. I need words.”
“Yes. Fuck the rul—”
Before she finishes her sentence, I crash my lips into hers.