AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What happened at the wedding?” I ask.
“I realized it wasn’t fair to either me or Landon. I left him a note explaining everything because I was worried I’d lose my nerve if I said it to his face. I was planning to tell a few more people, but then I heard my mom and my aunt coming to get me. So I just jumped out of the closest window and lost my shoes in the process. I kept thinking they’d catch me, but I cut through some trees instead of sticking to the road. I ran like a mile to my car, got in, and boom.” She makes a zipping away gesture with her hand and smiles. “I still can’t believe I did that. In a way, it feels like I lit a stick of TNT and threw it, but I’m still waiting for the explosion.”
“I can imagine. Well, from what I know of Jake, he’ll understand. If he’s too hard on you, I’ll bail you out. Okay?”
Her smile is crooked. “Why are you so nice to a girl you just met, Jesse? Usually, I’d accuse a guy acting like you of wanting to sleep with me. But I don’t think that’s what you’re trying to do. So what is it?” Her tone is playful, but there’s a glimmer of real curiosity behind her eyes.
“I’m just doing what anyone would do.” I try not to gulp down a hard swallow. Wanting to sleep with me. Just hearing the words slip between her full lips makes them alive, real, and dangerous. I can almost feel their silky thread tightening around me, threatening to pull me closer to her and toward all the bad decisions I’d make if my hands were on her body.
“What anyone would do, hm? I’m not so sure about that.”
I clear my throat because the moment suddenly feels a little too heavy. “Well, I’m hungry. I can go pick up some takeout if you want to shower and clean up.”
“Are you trying to tell me I should clean up, Jesse? Do I stink?” She raises an eyebrow.
“No. Somehow you still smell like flowers and sunshine.”
There’s that crooked smile again. “Have you been sniffing me?”
“What kind of food do you want?” I ask, because I’m not a good liar.
Her smile goes wider. “Surprise me. Which shower should I use?”
“Take your pick.” I hesitate. “Actually. Use the one in my room. If the guys get back early, I don’t want them barging in on you.”
“Right,” she says. “That’s smart. If I use your shower, you’ll be the only one at risk of barging in on me and seeing me naked.”
I can’t think of a solid argument for that, but I’m also still not willing to tell her to go use another shower and risk the guys walking in on her. I pretend not to hear her and point behind her. “It’s the one at the end of the hall.”
“With the waterbed, right?”
I grin. “Yeah. That one. Feel free to take a nap on it if I’m not back when you’re done. I’ll come get you once I’m back with the food. Any requests?”
“Surprise me!” She pops up from the chair, stretches with her arms behind her head in a way that makes her dress ride up until I’d almost be able to see her panties if she hadn’t been wearing those damn wool leggings. Actually, I should be thanking God for those leggings, because I’m not sure I could keep my impulse to push my luck with Andi if I was any more tempted than I already am. With any other girl, I’d think she was doing all this on purpose–taunting me with her body and her sexuality.
With Andi, though, I don’t think that’s what it is. She has the energy of a golden retriever on steroids–like a rogue beam of sunshine that’s almost too blinding to look at but too captivating to take my eyes away from.
“This way?” she asks, pointing in the completely wrong direction.
“That way,” I say. I pause. “Actually, you could just use the guest house shower. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“That’s okay. I’ll use yours. I want to give that water bed a test drive.” She winks and walks off down the hallway toward my room.
I try not to, but I definitely watch the full shape of her ass as the fabric of her dress shifts up and down. She doesn’t look, but it’s almost as if she can sense me staring. She starts swaying her hips in an exaggerated, playful impression of a catwalk. It pushes past sexy and goes straight to comical, especially when she plants a hand on the door frame, drags it down, and then shoots me a smoky glare.
She backs into my room, then pokes her head out and twinkles her fingers before pulling the door shut.
I’m left standing at the end of the hallway with an extremely confused erection and a pounding heart. Suddenly, the idea of Jake showing up and threatening to murder me in cold blood if I so much as look at his sister doesn’t sound so bad. It honestly sounds like one of the few things that might just save me from my stupid heart trying to act like it’s not still torn in half.
7
ANDI
Whoever decided water beds needed to go extinct after the 80’s should be brought in for questioning.
I’m lying on my back, eyes closed, and it feels like I’m riding a cool wave. The bed ripples beneath me every time I shift or wiggle, and it might as well be rocking me to sleep like a freaking baby.
I still need to get up and get dressed–I’m just in my towel from the shower because I was too excited to try this bed out. I can’t seem to motivate myself to get up, though.
