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PROLOGUE
Walking into Kelsey’s house sends a tidal wave of memories through my mind. I spent most of my high school days in this house, basking in the normalcy of her family. I knew the second I met Mr. and Mrs. Reid that they were different from my parents in every way. They were welcoming and affectionate with not only themselves but with their kids, and intensely kind, something I was not used to. Growing up with money, people always assume your life is perfect, yet most of the time the truth looms within the shadows of those assumptions. Mom and Dad never wanted me, that much was clear. I spent most of my childhood in my room or with the nanny, only seeing them at dinner and sometimes for birthdays. I confronted them once about their lack of affection and they brushed me off, telling me I was reading too much into it and to leave it be. I knew then that my relationship with them wouldn't survive beyond my teen years, and here I am, three years after my high school graduation, and I haven't heard a peep from them. Not since the day I packed up my stuff and moved to Stanford.
“What has you so lost in thought over there,” Kelsey asks, her naturally gorgeous blonde hair shining in the mid-day sun as we lie in her backyard by the pool.
“Just…memories,” I say, shading my eyes from the sun as that knowing look crosses my best friend's face. She knows how I feel about my parents and so that look is the only inkling I have that she knows what's going on inside my head.
My eyes linger as she takes a sip of her beer. I see the bracelet I made for her senior year still tied to her wrist and I almost choke on my beer. “How the hell is that thing still on your wrist?” I ask, laughing at the way her eyes bug out of her head.
“What, this?” She touches the leather strap, spinning the two wooden beads representing our friendship that sit perfectly in the middle. “Why would I take it off? You made it for me, and it reminds me of you, even though you moved thousands of miles away from me.” The guilt trip from her is nothing new and so I roll my eyes.
“Please don't get into this now,” I joke, remembering how every time I talk to her on the phone she reminds me how far away I am and how it's not fair.
“What are your plans?” Kelsey asks, changing the subject and sipping the last of her beer. I peer over at her, wondering how the hell she became my best friend in the first place. She's outgoing, full of life, and loves being around people. Me? Not so much. It's a wonder she even likes to hang out with me.
“What? For my life?”
She laughs, throws a towel at me, and then lies back down.
“Of course not, jackass,” she mutters, turning to her side so she's facing me. “After we graduate, are you gonna come back here or stay in California?” God, the idea of staying in California makes me want to break out into hives, but the thought of coming back to New York makes me anxious as hell.
“That's a question for future Ashley, present Ashley wants another beer,” I mutter, getting up out of my chair and heading to the garage where I know there’s a fridge full of drinks.
“Grab me another one too, will you?” Kelsey asks, and I wave my hand, letting her know I hear her. My flip-flops echo on the pavement as I make my way toward the house, relishing the blast of cool air that hits me once I open the sliding glass door. I bypass the kitchen, walking down the hall until I reach the door I know leads into the garage. The second my fingers wrap around the handle I hear the piercing sound of a drill, my heart rate picking up with each second that passes. There is only one person that spends any kind of time in this garage and it's not either of Kelsey’s parents.
The instant I open the door and see the figure bent over the hood of his car, my heart stops. I haven't seen Kacey Reid since prom night when he drove Kelsey and me home after our disastrous dates ditched us at the after-party. I secretly fell in love with him that night, basking in the way the rage washed over him when Kelsey explained what happened, loving the way his eyes softened when he met my eyes and gave me his jacket when I was cold. I tried to forget him, even moving to the other side of the continent, but nothing worked. I was still in love with my best friend’s twin brother.
“Well look who decided to finally come back home after all these years,” Kacey teases, that knowing smirk playing at the edges of his lips as his blue eyes latch onto mine. I take a breath, wondering how one man can change so much and yet so little in three years. His once shaggy blond hair is cut short, tendrils falling strategically in front of his face, making him look older than his twenty-one years. His crystal-clear blue eyes still cause my insides to flip every time they’re trained on me and those tattoos…they’re new. Both arms are covered and from the little I can see of his chest through his white t-shirt, that’s covered too.
“I've been home, you’re just never here,” I quip, loving the way his eyes shine with humor as they meet mine.
“Touché,” he says before grabbing the rag from his back pocket and wiping the grease from his hands. I wonder what those hands would feel like against me, how the calluses on those fingertips would feel gripping me tightly as I…I shake my head, silently berating myself for going there when I know I can't.
“I didn't know you were home?” My voice cracks as I make my way to the fridge on the other side of the car. Kacey’s eyes follow my every move. There was a time when I would have begged him to look at me the way he is right now, but I have to keep my distance because from what Kelsey has told me, he will ruin me.
“I’m not. My new place doesn't have a garage to store this baby,” he says, shutting the hood. “I keep it here and Mom and Dad let me come over and work on it.” I nod, turning so my back is against the fridge, and our eyes connect.
“Are you sure it's not just a ploy to get you to come home more?” I say, his eyes widening as if the thought never crossed his mind.
“Well shit,” he mutters, a small laugh leaving his throat as I smile, turning back around to get the beers out of the fridge. The second my back is turned and the door is open, I sense him behind me.
“Kacey, what are you doing?” I whisper just as his fingers grip my waist, hauling me back until I can feel all of him. Every hard inch. My breath shudders as those deft fingers trace over my hip and rest just over the waistband of my bikini bottoms.
“Do you know how many times I’ve told myself to stay away from you?” he mutters against my neck, the stubble on his jaw causing delicious friction against my skin. “Do you know how many times I’ve had to remind myself that you're my sister’s best friend?” I shake my head, my fingers gripping his wrist as the tips of his fingers drop just below my bikini, causing every breath to leave my lungs.
“Kacey we can't do this,” I whisper, closing my eyes and wishing we could, wishing I could feel what his lust feels like against me, what his passion would feel like inside me.
“I know,” he growls against the shell of my ear, nipping at the lobe until I’m putty in his hands. “But that doesn't mean I can walk away without a taste…” My knees buckle as his lips tease the side of my neck, grazing my skin and causing every inch of me to become acutely aware of every move he makes.
“Shit,” I mutter just as his hand sinks deep into my bikini bottoms, only stopping when his palm rests against my very wet pussy.
“Tell me something Ash.” The use of his childhood nickname for me cause a war of emotions to break out inside me. “Have you ever thought about what it would feel like to come with my hand on your pussy?” I shake my head, the lie easier without words. But just like always, Kacey knows I’m lying and growls before sinking two fingers inside my wet heat.
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper, my fingers gripping his arms so tight as he pulls me flush against his chest, his breath cascading over my skin as I sink deeper into the pleasure of him against me.
“Fucking hell, you feel better than I ever dreamed baby.” The endearment rolls off his tongue as he begins to pump those fingers in and out of me, the orgasm cresting faster than I want but having no way of stopping it. “I can feel you squeezing the life out of my fingers, Ash, what I wouldn’t give to have my cock inside you, feeling just how tight you are wrapped around me.” The second the palm of his hand rubs against my clit I detonate. My mouth opens and just before a scream can escape, his hand is there, covering the sound as his fingers slowly leave my body.
“Kacey…” I moan, my head hitting his shoulder as a chuckle fills his chest. “That was…” But before I can finish that sentence the door to the garage opens and Kacey catapults away from me, leaning against the car and crossing his arms just as Kelsey pops her head in.
