by Jane Anthony
Her breathy giggle floated on the breeze, sweet and melodic like wind chimes. “I won’t, don’t worry.” Her fingertips grazed the back of my neck and my ears. My body lit up like a Christmas tree. I’d never found a task as simple as this so erotic, but her touch did things to me I couldn’t quite explain.
“Now, sit still.” She cut the back first then came around to do the front, combing the hair toward my face. I could feel her warmth on my thigh, hot and humid, as she straddled my leg between hers, practically sitting on top of me. My erection pressed against my fly making it hard to think. I balled my hands on my lap to keep from grabbing her ass and pulling her in.
She moved to the other side and switched up the legs, throwing the scissors on the table when she was done. They skidded across the tempered glass and clanged onto the concrete, but she didn't move from my lap. Instead, she leaned in, pressing against my chest and allowing the hair to slip between her fingers as I inhaled my favorite smell in the whole world. Her lips were so close to mine. All it would take was one small move, a tiny blip in the Earth's rotation, to close the space between us.
“I think I’m done. Do you wanna go see?” She took the towel from my shoulders and swept some residual hair away, but a few stragglers remained. Warm breath rolled across my neck. Every nerve in my body danced.
“Nah, it’s cool. I trust you,” I said touching the tingling sensation on the back of my neck. “Thanks a lot, Jill. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. You want a beer?” My heart smiled at her offer. I took that as a clue that she wanted me to stay just as badly as I wanted to.
“I’d love one,” I replied and followed her into the house.
Chapter Eight
JILLIAN
Cutting Jameson’s hair made me nervous. It wasn’t just that I was afraid I’d mess it up, which I was, but being that close to him made the butterflies in my stomach feel like Olympic gymnasts.
His hair was silk sliding between my fingers. The faintest moaning noise left his lips. It turned my legs to jelly. I didn't have to get as close to him as I did but I wanted to. I wanted to sit down on his lap and grind away the pulsating ache between my thighs that was distracting me. It was just a stupid haircut, but I loved that he asked me to do it.
He followed me into the house, and I grabbed two beers from the fridge and handed them to him. “Let me go grab some music and meet you back outside.” I ran up the stairs and poked my head in AJ’s room. “I’m done with Jameson’s hair. You wanna come down and hang out?”
“Nah, I’m gonna head to the shop and check on things. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Suit yourself.” I started to walk away, but he called me back.
“Last night was a disaster and I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right, and I’m going to stop, okay?”
I swallowed hard trying not to get upset all over again. “Then I guess I’m sorry I threw your shoes,” I replied with a smile,
“That’s all right. Your aim is terrible.” He laughed.
I snorted at his joke then became more serious. “Thanks, AJ. It means a lot to me.” He nodded, and I went into my room to grab what I sought out and returned to Jameson on the patio. He’d swept up the hair remnants and wiped down the table for me. “Well, Mr. Tate, aren’t we just so domesticated?”
A wry grin flashed across his face. “I checked out my hair while you were upstairs. I’m a sexy motherfucker, too.”
Hell yeah, you are.
I plugged my phone into the dock and set it on auto play. Loud, nasty guitar riffs came blasting out of the tiny purple speaker followed by Vince Neil's whining caterwaul.
Jameson bobbed his head in approval. “I haven’t heard this album in a while.”
“No? I was on a big Crue kick for a bit. I hear this band puts on a sick stage show. They were here last August, but we never made it out to see them.” The truth was Dad bought us all tickets, but AJ and I didn't think it was appropriate to go without him.
“Yeah, I’d love to see them someday too.”
I nodded in agreement. “Me too.”
“If they ever come back, cutie, I’m going to take you. I promise.” The thought made me grin. The song faded out and another came on, just as raunchy, heavy, and loud as the first. Jameson took a sip of his beer then let the bottleneck dangle from his fingers as he leaned forward on his knees. “You wanna get outta here and go somewhere?”
“Absolutely.” I had no idea what he had in mind, and I didn’t really care. He could have put me in front of a firing squad, and I would have been happy just being with him in my last hours.
We got into his car, and he backed out of the driveway. He headed toward the center of town and slowed down in front of an old brick building with a green neon sign wearing a gold crown. “Crowne Billiards?” I said, scrunching up my nose.
“You don’t play pool?” He looked at me surprised. “C’mon, I’ll teach you.” He parked around the back and we both got out.
The sound of clanking billiard balls echoed through the dimly lit pool hall. A large man behind the counter looked up from his newspaper as we approached the desk. “What can I do for ya?”
“We’d like a table please, one game,” Jameson replied.
The clerk rang us up then set down a triangle shaped rack full of multicolored balls on the counter. “Table twelve in the back.” He pointed to the back of the room and the light magically turned on over the pool table. Jameson led the way to the table and placed the triangle on the smooth green felt.
“I’m going to need a stick, right?” I peered around the room trying to figure out where I would acquire such an item.
The look on his face was thoughtful as he considered my question. “You need a stick, huh? You want a big one or a little one?” His brow arched, and I could tell he was holding back a grin when he said it. Sure, I’ll play along.
My gaze rolled down his body and back up, pausing briefly on the front of his jeans. “A big one.” I wanted to sound bold, but my voice came out a lot more timid than I’d hoped. I leaned my hip against the table trying to appear casual.
Coming into my personal space, he looked down at me and licked his lips. “Think you can handle a big stick, little girl?” he whispered in my ear.
The raspy way he whispered, coupled with his breath on my ear, shot my pulse up like a bullet. I crossed one leg over the other trying to smother the sudden arousal burning between them. “Well, there’s only one way to find out now, isn’t there, big man?” My voice had a slight tremble in it that I hoped he didn’t notice. He’d called me a little girl, and I was ready to prove to him that I was anything but. If he’d let me.
He leaned over me at the table and his body pressed against mine for a moment. My pelvis pushed into him with a mind of its own, and his hand steadied my hip. He straightened back to a standing position and whispered again. “Maybe you should acquaint yourself ...” He grabbed my hand and placed two pool balls into it. “... with the balls first.”
A silly smirk spread across my face. “Anytime you want me to handle your balls, you just let me know.” I turned back toward the table, making sure my ass grazed him in the process. The balls clinked back into their places in the triangle, and I stepped away from him to fetch myself a pool stick. His eyes bored a hole into my back as I went, but I refused to turn around. I sashayed up to the rack, and stood there trying to decide which one I should go with, but I had no idea what I was looking at.
Heavy footsteps came up behind me, but I still refrained from acknowledging them. I felt him at my back, the heat floating off him in waves. He grabbed hold of my hip, his thumb bit into the uncovered area above my jeans, burning my skin and digging hard enough to leave a bruise. “What are you doing, Jillian?” I froze, basking in the warmth of his body and the feel of his skin touching mine.
“What do you mean? I asked, coolly.
“You know what I mean.” He grabbed my other hip, squeezing tighter and jerking me against him with both
hands. The thick ridge of his arousal pressed against my back, and I hitched in a breath. “It’s not a choice you make lightly.” His tone was gruff. The complete opposite of his playful demeanor from a few minutes ago.
He dropped his hands and walked closer to the rack, plucking a stick from it and holding it out for me. “This one looks like it suits you.”
I took the stick from his hand. It was small and much less worn than the others on the rack. It looked almost new, like it hadn’t been played with since it was placed there. My eyes trailed from the stick back to him. I felt vulnerable under his scrutiny but couldn’t tear my eyes from his deep green pools of longing. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
“I’ve never been more ready for anything else in my life.” My voice was a whisper. The energy between us was palpable. I gripped the pool stick tight in my hand, watching the way he chewed the inside of his mouth.
“Let’s play, then,” he said, swiping a stick from the rack and walking back toward the table. My mouth was dry and my insides were shaking. His message came through crystal clear. The electricity we both felt didn’t change the fact that he still saw me as an inexperienced little kid. I knew he carried, at least, a candle sized flame for me, but every time I began to feel it burn, he extinguished it from sight. Jameson was never going to make a move. If I wanted something to happen here, it was going to have to be up to me.
JAMESON
“No, I’m stripes and you’re solids.” I laughed. Jillian was a terrible pool player. She obviously had no idea what she was doing, but it was nice watching her try.
“Why am I so bad at this?” she whined.
“You’re not bad, you just need practice. Here, let me show you.” I saddled up behind her to help her hold the cue better. “Put one hand on the table and make a V with your thumb and pointer finger, like this.” I showed her what to do, and she mimicked my position, leaning over the table and putting her little hand next to mine. “Now, slide the stick through the V.” I grabbed the cue from behind her and fit it into her hand on the table. “Now, aim.” Together, we eyed up the shot and slid the cue back, then quickly tapped the cue ball. It ricocheted off the five ball, sending an orange blur into the corner pocket.
“I did it!” She jumped up and beamed at me.
“You sure did,” I said, returning her wide grin. “You’ll be hustling games in no time.” I leaned over and took a shot of my own. The cue ball missed completely and bounced off all four walls missing every ball on the table. “Dammit, you’re rubbing off on me now.” She wrinkled up her nose and made a silly face at me.
“Will you help me again?” She stood with the cue next to her, her head cocked to the side. She had an innocent look about her, but I knew what was going on in that beautiful head of hers. I could feel how badly she wanted me, and I hated it. I was a selfish bastard, torturing us both wanting to spend this time with her knowing I couldn’t give her what we so desperately wanted.
“You got this. I have faith.”
“Please?” She stuck out her bottom lip in a pretty little pout I just couldn’t resist. I could handle anything but begging.
“All right, come here.” I came up behind her and formed the shot again, only this time she lifted her face and nuzzled my neck. My body tensed up and my insides teemed with conflict from the feeling of her lips on my skin. It felt amazing and wrong at the same time. I wanted to bend her over this table and kiss her senseless, but I also wanted to run from this room for feeling that way. “Jillian?” I meant for it to be a question, but the syllables of her name got caught up in a breath and sounded too excited for my own good.
“You smell delicious,” she said, as she caressed my neck with her nose and mouth. Her lips were soft just as I knew they would be. I was dying to drop my face to hers to see how they tasted, but before I had time to act on that impulse, my cell phone buzzed in my pocket. I reached around and dug it out to check the text message that had just come in.
AJ: It’s getting late. You guys coming back soon?
AJ could add professional cock block to his list of accomplishments. “C’mon, Jill, we should get going.” I straightened up and she took a step back watching for my reaction to her come on. I racked the balls and carried them back to the counter without looking at her. Jillian just trailed behind me and walked out to the parking lot alone.
I knew my abrupt departure was upsetting to her, but seeing AJ’s name pop up on my phone at that exact moment was the buzzkill I needed to fizzle out this intense need I had for her.
We got in the car, and she just stared out the window while we drove back to her house. It killed me that she felt rejected, especially when I wanted her so damn badly, but it was better this way.
I could never be the man she deserved.
When we got back to the house, she couldn’t seem to get out of the car fast enough. “Thanks for the pool lesson, Jameson. It was fun.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I’d hurt her. I should have just said good-bye when we all got back and went the hell home.
“Sure, cutie. I had fun too. Thanks again for the haircut. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
She pressed her lips together with a curt nod before turning her back to me and running toward the house. I idled in the driveway watching her disappear inside, berating myself for being such a jackass.
What the hell was I going to do? If I were smart, I’d just quit the shop and go my own way, but I couldn’t do that to AJ. He needed my help there more than I’d initially thought, and I really did need the work. I was stuck between a rock and hard place and had to start thinking about how I was going to get myself out of it without hurting anyone.
Chapter Nine
JILLIAN
If I could crawl into a hole and die right now, I would. I made a bold move, and he’d rejected me. He was laying it on pretty thick, so I thought we were on the same page. How could I have misread his signals so badly?
Am I really so ignorant that I mistook friendly flirting for something more?
Defeated and dejected, I carried myself over to the stairs pausing when AJ called out to me from the family room. He was dressed in sweats, sprawled out on the couch with the remote in his hand and a bag of chips next to him. “You’ll ruin your dinner.” I curled up at the opposite end, snatching the bag and pulling out a handful.
“Everything’s fine down at the shop,” he said fingering the buttons on the remote.
“That’s good.” I popped a chip in my mouth, letting the salty flavor seep onto my tongue before swallowing it down.
AJ stopped flicking and put the remote down on the armrest next to him. “Did you and Jameson have a good time?” His voice was tight. As if he was forcing himself to be casual but his question had a purpose.
Hearing Jameson’s name made my stomach churn. I finished the handful of chips and rubbed my greasy hands together to get rid of the crumbs, having lost interest in the snack altogether. “Yeah, it was fun. We played pool.” It was more than fun. Being with him is like being on a carnival ride. Thrilling and scary at first, but so damn enjoyable that you want to ride it again the second it’s over.
That is until you make a move and he walks brusquely away from you, leaving you high and dry.
AJ stared ahead at the TV in front of us, but his eyes weren't focused. He and I had spent so much time together that I could read him like a book. When he's sad, I feel it. Same goes for when he's angry, happy, or any other emotion that rolled past the wall he'd put up around himself. He can't fool me. It all comes through in mannerisms and body language and just plain knowing someone better than they know themselves. He was pussyfooting around the topic, but he had something to say. “What’s on your mind, AJ? Just come out with it.”
“Just be careful. That’s all.”
I furrowed my brows together in confusion. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Nothing. Just ... you don’t know him as well as you think you do.” He picked up the remote and the incess
ant flicking started again. This was his way of ending the conversation, but this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.
Heat rolled up my face like a cloud of smoke. Where does every man in my life get off thinking they know what’s best for me? I was not a kid anymore. I’d been taking care of myself for a very long time. “And you don’t know me as well as you think you do, apparently. I don’t need your warnings, AJ. You’re not my father.”
AJ’s glare snapped in my direction, his jaw set in anger. Bringing up our father was a low blow, and I knew it. AJ had taken it upon himself to fulfill the role as best as he could, and up until now, I’d never thrown it back in his face. My heart still stung from Jameson’s dismissal, and AJ was about to get the brunt of it. “For your information, there is nothing going on between Jameson and me, but if there was, I sure as shit wouldn’t discuss it with you. Last I checked, I was a grown ass woman. What I do with my body is my own business, not yours, so back the hell off.”
AJ’s nostrils flared as my harsh words washed over him. We almost never argued, and he seemed surprised by my level of outrage. “I’m not blind. You tell me there’s nothing between you, but I call bullshit on that. I see the way he looks at you, Jillian. Like you’re an Italian buffet and he wants to fucking eat you. I’m telling you right now the same thing I told him: I’m never going to let it happen. I’ll burn the shop to the ground before I see you get tangled up with a guy like him,” he growled through his teeth like a rabid wolf.
Suddenly, everything made sense. Jameson’s hot and cold behavior, the way he clammed up whenever AJ entered the room. He was warned to stay away from me.
AJ crossed the line this time. I pushed myself off the couch and stood up in front of my brother, glowering at him through narrowed slits. “What gives you the right to tell me who I can and can’t be with?” I seethed. “If I wanna fuck Jameson Tate, that’s my business, and you do not get a say in it. You don’t own me. I’m your sister, not your fucking possession.”