Not Even Close (A New Generation)

by Elizabeth Reyes

  “I have two brothers and lots of cousins,” she explained quickly making Byron feel like an asshole for evidently making her feel like she needed to. “My brothers have been known to eat an entire tray like that on their own.” She laughed softly again but it sounded forced now, nervous. “Not in one sitting of course. But entire trays that size have gone missing from the fridge in less than a day when they’re home all day.”

  Feeling the tension ease up, not just from the initial comment but from his ridiculous reaction to it, Byron forced a smile. “Yeah, I’ll have to think about whether or not I want to share with these guys. Knowing them, they’ll tear through the tray in minutes.”

  She smiled a bit more naturally this time. “Well, I don’t want to take up too much of your time—”

  “You’re not.” He walked around the counter with the tray. “I’m taking a break right now. As a matter of fact.” He opened the drawer where they kept boxes of plastic cutlery and pulled out a fork. “I think I’ll try these right now. Have you had lunch?”

  “I haven’t, but those are for you.”

  “Vannah.” He shook his head. “You said it yourself. You made enough for all my co-workers and while I’m still not sure I’ll be sharing these with them—” or anything else about her “—I sure as hell don’t mind sharing with the chef herself.”

  Byron stopped short of adding, especially one as sweet as her. He was already pushing it by inviting her to have lunch with him. Yet, at the same time his insides were also going nuts because she appeared to accept the invitation. She’d already pulled the purse off her shoulder with a smile and came around the counter with him when he motioned for her to do so.

  Starting to pull out a chair for her, Byron thought of something. “Or we can go in the break room. Seating might be more ideal in there.” Ignoring the warning sirens going off in his head, Byron took it one step further. “We can also go upstairs to my apartment. I have a full kitchen there where there’s more than just bottled water I can offer you to drink in that fridge, as opposed to the water dispenser in the break room.”

  Holding his breath for a moment, he exhaled in relief, smiling big when she crinkled her nose in a curious gesture and glanced upstairs. “You live up there?”

  “You didn’t know that?” Seeing her blush intensely this time, as she shook her head had him chuckling, but he let her off the hook. “Yeah, I do.” He asked one of the guys to come cover the lobby while he went to lunch. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

  She followed him up and despite the battle of contradicting arguments going on in his head, the excitement about getting some more time—alone time with her—was winning out. He was a grown man, for fuck’s sake. He could handle this.

  Texting Gus, to let him know he’d be upstairs for a while and he’d have to cover the lobby, Byron walked Vannah through his small apartment.

  “No school today?” he asked as she took a seat at his kitchen table.

  “I had classes this morning. Then I have to put in some hours in study lab later this afternoon.”

  Byron set the tray of enchiladas down on the table and grabbed some plates. Relieved that he actually had more than just bottled water and beer in his fridge he offered her the other options. “Aside from water, we got juice boxes, Coke Zero and Starbucks bottled coffee.”

  “Ooh, I’ll take Starbucks.”

  Grabbing one for her and a soda for himself, he took the seat next to her at the table. She’d already served them both. Three enchiladas for him and one for herself.

  Byron stared at her single serving curiously. “Just one?”

  “Unlike all my siblings who eat very large servings per three square meals a day, I eat small portions all day long.” She peered at him curiously as she bit into her forkful of food but waited until she was done chewing before going on. To his surprise, it had nothing to do with her eating habits. “Juice boxes?” She chuckled suddenly. “Big guy like you is into juice boxes?”

  Byron started to laugh as he bit into his food but then had to stop as the explosion of flavors went off in his mouth. “Damn this is good,” he said covering his mouth as he finished chewing.

  Before he could answer her question about the juice boxes, he inhaled several more bites then took a quick swig of his soda and wiped his mouth. “No wonder your brothers eat the whole damn thing by themselves. I ain’t sharing shit with those guys down there.”

  Hearing her amusement this up close did even more to him than all the other times he’d heard that sweet laughter. But he shook it off answering her question instead. “My nieces and nephews.”

  He explained about Beast’s daughters and Nine and Orlando’s kids coming by the shop often. How for safety reasons they usually ended up in his apartment, instead of hanging out in the shop.

  “They raid my fridge and take over my TV and tablet. It’s why I stay stocked up on that kind of stuff. Cereal, rice crispy treats, ice cream you name it. And when they spend the night, I don’t cook so I’m all over Grubhub and Uber eats.”

  For a moment he was caught in those sweet eyes as she smiled at him, chewing her food slowly. “So, you’re that uncle, uh? The favorite fun uncle, that lets you eat junk food and stay up past your bedtime?”

  “Shh.” He lifted a finger to his lips. “Pretty sure I’d get my ass handed to me if my brothers knew just what a pushover I am when it comes to their kids.”

  “Brothers?” She tilted her head as her brows furrowed. “I thought you only had the one.”

  “I always refer to Orlando, and Nine as my brothers as well. Their kids all call each other cousins and call me uncle.” He shrugged. “I figured mine will do the same to them someday too. So, it feels like I have three instead of one.” He paused when his phone rang. “Speaking of, I gotta take this. It’s Nine.”

  “Go ahead,” she said taking a swig of her coffee.

  Byron stood up as Vannah motioned to ask if he wanted more enchiladas on his now empty plate. Nodding, Byron gave her a thumbs up. “What’s up? Anything good?”

  Nine filled him in on what they’d found at the auction. Byron tried in vain to pay attention, but he kept getting distracted by Vannah. First, she’d taken a swig of her coffee that dribbled down her neck and chest, and it’d been all he could do to keep his eyes off her as she worked her ample cleavage with a napkin.

  Then after she plated his enchiladas and was done with her wet cleavage, she’d started tapping her phone screen. At the moment, he was once again pulled away from his thoughts on what Nine was saying when he noticed her cover her mouth stifling a laugh as she tapped away on her phone. He turned away so he could try and keep up with everything Nine was telling him but then just seconds later, his eyes were back on her as she took a photo of the enchilada tray. She tapped away at the screen again, all the while she wore that big, beautiful smile he’d been so drawn to since day one.

  “Did you get them?”

  Nine’s question pulled him out of his stupor. “What?”

  “The pictures. I just sent two more.”

  “Uh, no ho-hold on. Let me check.”

  Fumbling with his phone, Byron checked his texts. He scrolled through the pictures Nine sent him of the cars they narrowed it down to, but still hadn’t decided which they’d be bidding the most on. Hearing Vannah laugh softly under her breath had Byron glancing up at her again. She was reading something on her phone screen covering the huge smile with her hand.

  “I don’t know, man.” Byron lied, because he’d barely paid any mind to the texts from Nine. “I like them all too, but the truck is pretty damn sweet.” Since clearly, it was going to be impossible to give Nine his undivided attention while Vannah sat in his kitchen, he cut the call short, lowering his voice. “Listen, I have customers asking to speak with me. I’ll give you a call a little later.”

  Taking a deep breath before walking back to the kitchen table, Byron reminded himself not to say anything stupid. He was entitled to nothing when it came to this girl. Not e
ven an explanation of who was responsible for her silly smile.

  “I think they’re still warm enough.” Vannah motioned to the enchiladas on his plate with her phone. “But you might want to check and see if you need to nuke them.”

  “Nah, they should still be good.” He took the seat next to her again, breathing in that familiar scent of her skin and whatever fruity perfume she wore, and dug into the delicious enchilada.

  “All good?” she asked motioning to his phone on the table now as she put hers down too.

  Glad she asked, he nodded as he finished chewing. “You?” he motioned his chin at her phone. “I saw you taking pictures of my enchilada tray.”

  He smirked making light of his comment as she smiled big again. “I tease my friends all the time with photos of my latest cooking creations.”

  Caught in her eyes for a moment as he struggled from refraining to ask what friends. He breathed in deeply instead as he continued to chew. Did she mean her girlfriends? Or any of the dudes he’d seen her with so far. Did she cook for them too—did she also deliver her creations to them—or was Byron special?

  “What else do you know about me, Vannah?”

  Just like all the times he’d been caught in her eyes from afar, that beautiful smile of hers flattened slowly as she stared at him looking a bit bewildered. Swallowing hard, not even her suddenly flushed again face made him smile this time. The question had slipped out without thought or consent. But it was something he’d been wondering about all weekend. Seeing the way those bright eyes gazed back at him with the same unease she made him feel, gave him hope. As young and innocent as Vannah obviously was, was she really that naïve to believe she had any control when it came to matters of the heart?

  “I know you’re Beast’s brother,” she said softly.

  Nodding without comment, Byron waited for her to go on, but she didn’t. “Is that it?”

  “Yes,” she whispered but glanced down at her phone again.

  Byron knew that couldn’t be true. The articles online about his and Beast’s mother’s death were endless. He still couldn’t bring himself to google his own name for fear of coming across one of them. But he wouldn’t push. It’s the last thing he wanted to discuss at that moment anyway.

  Biting into the enchilada again, he nearly groaned because it was that good. “So, does this mean we’re friends now? Because I know I’m gonna want more of these in my life.”

  And you.

  Despite the slight tinge of color in her cheeks, Vannah smiled playfully. “You really wanna be my friend, Byron? Or will you just be using me for my food?”

  Searching her eyes for a moment, Byron bit down on his food a little harder this time, trying desperately to keep his cool. What the fuck was it with this girl anyway? How could such a harmless and lighthearted comment get him so worked up? If this were any other girl, he would’ve already been all over it, showing her all the ways he’d be using her. But he had an idea of what she meant by friends since she’d been so honest about not doing the boyfriend thing. Seeing the humor in her eyes begin to wane, Byron’s head raced to come up with something to say to cut the undeniable, and no doubt, confusing as shit growing tension.

  “Never been into using anyone for any reason.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “But I sure as hell wouldn’t mind having a friend who can cook me up this kind of hellacious grub from time to time.” Smiling even bigger as her eyes brightened again, he added more. “We can barter. Anytime you need work on your car I got you.”

  “Well, I can’t pass up that kind of deal.”

  The bright smile morphed into that timid almost startled expression he’d seen all those times he’d been caught gawking at her. Only instead of her smile flatlining like they had in those other instances, her expression softened into a sweet, yet still timid smile again. Byron swallowed hard, for the first time since she’d arrived, he was at a loss for words.

  She was so beautiful, yet he was certain she didn’t even realize just how beautiful. For an instant he was so tempted to kiss her. Until she cleared her throat and finally spoke again.

  “I’m, uh . . . hopelessly lost when it comes to anything that lights up on my dash or any weird noises my car makes.” Her eyes dropped from his eyes to his lips momentarily when he licked his aching-for-a-taste-of-her lips. “So, I guess it’s a deal.”

  “Deal.” Byron gazed at her trying desperately not to ruin the moment, but his next words just flew out before his dumb ass could stop himself. “Except, I think this makes us more than friends.” As expected, her eyes widened, though Byron could see she tried to suppress her surprise or was that unease? “We’re colleagues now, Vannah. Bartering, remember? Business associates.” He shrugged, glad this seemed to ease her. “That’s more than friends.”

  She smiled sweetly again. “I like that.” Her words surprised him given everything she’d said to him on the topic Friday night. “More than friends.”

  They were caught in a moment again until she suddenly glanced down at her dinging smartwatch. With her phone in her purse now, Vannah read the screen on her smartwatch instead. “Oh, hold on.” She pulled her phone out of her purse and started tapping away, then stood up. “Yikes, I almost forgot about this guy I was supposed to meet with today.”

  Byron stood up just as suddenly now. “You’re shitting me?”

  Once again, the words had escaped him without thought but he didn’t even care. His first instincts had been right. There was no way he was going to be able to handle this shit. While he’d never understand it, and he was willing to see a shrink if need be, because this was insane, he felt ready to shove the rest of her enchilada tray at her and tell her to get the fuck out.

  Those once again bewildered, huge eyes stared at him in question, then she shook her head. “He’s not a friend.” Feeling her hand on his arm was enough to calm him—a little. “I hate my parents paying for everything. I’ve been searching for this particular textbook online, so they don’t have to pay full price for it. This guy from OfferUp has it. I need it for tomorrow’s class, and he can meet with me but only in the next half hour.”

  Feeling the insane tension drain drastically, Byron rolled his neck but was now concerned about something else. “So, you don’t know this guy and you’re meeting him to exchange money for a book? You know how dangerous that is?”

  Vannah smiled. “I’m meeting him at the school. Inside the library. Perfectly safe. I never meet anyone unless it’s a public place.”

  From the moment he’d seen her last night in that sexy as shit outfit and then again today he knew touching her might be the end of him. Giving into any temptations he had about her would only make staying away from her—like he should—that much harder.

  But it just couldn’t be helped. Just like all his previous impulsive verbal outbreaks, Byron brought his arms around her neck and pulled her to him. To his surprise her tense body eased quickly, then her arms wrapped around him. Breathing in deeply he reminded himself he still had a chance to fight this. This was just his way of thanking her for her delicious food. Kissing the top of her head he knew he was in trouble. “You sure you’re gonna be okay? I could go with you.”

  She tensed up for a moment again before looking up at him and smiled. “No. I’ll be fine. There’s security and all kinds of cameras there. The library is the place to go to do these kinds of textbook OfferUp sales.”

  Gazing silently down at those eyes for a moment so long he knew he might regret it, he said something he knew could be even more regrettable. “You make and deliver food to all your friends?”

  He’d never get enough of it. The first stupid thought that came to him nearly had him laughing—fifty shades of pink. Her face growing bright with color any time he said something that made her uncomfortable, was fucking adorable.

  “No,” she said almost in a gasp. “Only my family and girlfriends.”

  Once again, Byron made an impulsive decision. He’d take his chances and not push for more, bec
ause there was no way he wasn’t giving into this next unyielding temptation now that he had her at his door.

  “Thank you,” he whispered cupping his big hands around her dainty face. “The food was absolutely delicious.”

  Then he did the one thing he was certain he’d regret the most. He leaned in and kissed her. Deep. For as long as she’d let him, and to his surprise she was all in. He devoured her mouth and she let it go on for so long his rock-hard cock threatened to rip through his pants. But he knew there was so much more to this than a hot chick turning him on. When he finally pulled away and stared into those amazing eyes, heart pounding like it never had before, he knew he’d either made the best decision of his life or he’d just fucked up, royally.

  Ten

  Surprise Invite

  Vannah

  Now she knew. Never again would Vannah be able to roll her eyes at the description of the most unbelievable, most unforgettable and knee weakening kisses. In fact, she’d have to go back and find some of her romance novels where they described the kind of kisses she’d just experienced because she was sure they weren’t doing them justice.

  Her mind was still in a daze over it all. Vannah had even lost count of how many times she’d breathed in deeply all the way to school. She was certain of it now; it was his age. Vannah had never been kissed by a man. Only boys, and despite Byron technically being just in his mid-twenties, those kisses alone were proof positive that he was a man in every sense of the word. The kisses, God almighty. There was another thing about them she was certain of now too. He’d ruined it for every guy that might kiss her for the rest of her life.

  Rushing into the library to retrieve the textbook was the only time since it’d happened that Vannah had been momentarily distracted from her thoughts of Byron. But as soon as she was out of there and on her way back to the parking lot she was breathing in deeply again. How in the world was she ever going to get any sleep now? How in the world would she be able to concentrate on anything now when all she could think of was him? She’d always imagined getting involved with any guy would be a distraction. It’s why she’d been so adamant about not doing so until she was done with school. But, holy smokes, she’d never imagined all this. And this after just a few kisses.