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“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” I ask him, needing more from him. When he first knew we would be working together, he was the one warning me to stay away. How does he feel after so long? What was going through his head when he told her I was his girlfriend? Was it really just to get rid of her?
“Yes. Besides, you owe me for last night. I had to put up with your drunken snoring all night. I’ve barely slept.”
I glare at him. “I do not snore!”
“When you’re drunk, you do.” He laughs. Everything is so damn amusing to him.
Great, maybe I owe him something for that. He looked after me, tucked me into bed after I was sick, and he stayed to make sure I was okay. That’s kind of sweet. “This is probably the worst idea you have ever had, but fine, I’ll play along.” I roll my eyes so he knows I’m not one hundred percent on board.
He rubs my leg comfortingly, like a friend does, but the contact does things to me it shouldn’t. “Thank you,” he says with way too much warmth in his gaze. He feels this too. What is he playing at here?
I remove his hand from my thigh. “No touching,” I tell him, secretly loving the way it feels to have his hand on me again. “And don’t even try anything silly like kissing me or I will knee you in the balls and make it look like you were being a dick and deserved it.”
He puts his hands up like he’s surrendering to me. “Okay, calm down. I won’t try to kiss you. But if she’s around, I might need to make it look believable. You know, just hold your hand or play with your hair.”
“You know, you're pushing it.”
His eyes drop to my lips, and I can only imagine what he’s thinking. “I know, but it’s so fun pushing you.” The way he says it does things to me. Things it shouldn’t. Why do I want him to push me? And why do I keep seeing his insane body covered in beads of water with nothing but a white fluffy towel wrapped around his waist? I’m so screwed.
I smile a little more easily this time and shake my head. He has always been so good at getting a reaction from me, known just the way to tease me so I will pay attention to him, and even though I know I should hate him right now, remembering all the crappy things that happened because of him and how my life was destroyed, when I look into his eyes when he’s being playful like this, all I can remember are the good times we had together. The fun we got up to sneaking around. And I know I’m being sucked back into his vortex again. Last time it nearly killed me. This time I’m scared it might be more than I can survive.
CHAPTER TEN
BRANDON
Themorningsessionwentby fast. The banter between the two of us was comfortable, just like it used to be. I almost want to pat myself on the back for pulling off my plan. It was easy once I remembered how jealous Cassie gets. I noticed the way she was watching me yesterday when she thought I wasn’t looking. She might still be mad with me, but she’s also hot for me, and her reaction when I got out of the shower this morning was all I needed to prove it.
She also gave away more than she knows she did last night, explaining that her excessive drinking was all because of me. Now I have gotten exactly what I wanted, for her to spend the rest of the weekend with me, thanks to a little acting on my new friend Juliet’s behalf. I talked to her this morning while Cassie was getting ready, but she isn’t some stage-five clinger, she’s a really nice girl and just wanted to help.
Now we've broken into smaller groups, and our group is taking a yoga class. Our Aussie instructor, Ivy, is running through a basic class and explaining how effective her yoga program has been in the classrooms in Australia. Cassie is stretching next to me like a natural, her long toned muscles easily bending into the warm-up poses Ivy is getting us to practice. For me, it’s not so easy. My muscles get in the way and make it difficult to look anything but uncoordinated and totally out of place. But the view is worth my discomfort. Cassie’s tight little ass bent over in downward dog will be all the spank-bank material I need. If I ever told her that, she would knee me in the junk, but I can think it.
“How do you make this look so easy?” I whisper to her, trying not to lose my balance. I have survived the class but only just, and now we’re just running through the cool-down stretches.
She glances over at me, biting her lip to try and hide her smirk. “Yoga isn’t your thing, is it? And this is just the beginners’ class,” she teases.
“That obvious?” I laugh, finally able to have some fun with her.
“Thanks, guys, that was an amazing first effort. I hope you enjoyed my class,” says Ivy from the stage, her smile lighting up her pretty features.
I turn back to Cassie. “How did I end up in this class, anyway?”
“You followed me in here.” She shrugs. “I’m taking it because the instructor, Ivy, is married to my cousin Theo, and I thought it might help my dance girls to chill a bit before a competition. Might be good for the football boys as well?” she suggests, but she is definitely joking.
Her cousin… “I remember Theo. He came and stayed with you guys one summer when they were teens. There was another brother as well, the surfer?”
“Yeah, Drew. How do you even remember that?” She jumps up to stand somehow after doing that class with a new wave of energy. After how hungover she was this morning, I didn’t think she could bounce back so quickly. Smiling down at me, she holds out her hands to help me up to standing. I’m surprised, but I feel like we have made a lot of progress today.
“Thank you,” I tell her, keeping hold of her hands. “Amelia and I went surfing with them in LA. It was the highlight of my summer.” She has to know how intertwined our lives have always been. Her dad sure did, that’s why he didn’t like me.
Her attention is taken by Ivy walking toward us, and she pulls away from me. “Cassie, is that you?” Ivy calls with a huge grin.
“Ivy, so good to meet you in person.” She throws her arms around our instructor in a warm embrace. “Did Theo come to the States with you?”
“Yes, it was going to be too hard to bring the kids, so they’re back with his mum and dad and we have escaped for a few days, just the two of us.” She grins. Her line of sight comes to me, then back to Cassie, as if to askwho’s your friend?
“This is Brandon. He’s a teacher at the same school as me,” Cassie introduces me to her. I’m a lot more than just a coworker, but that will do for now, I guess. At least she’s not pretending I don’t exist.
Ivy holds out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Brandon.” She smiles, radiating warmth. “Theo wanted me to check with you about dinner tonight. Are you keen to check out 6th Street?”
