by Emilia Finn
“I’m giving you my number, rather than me asking for yours. That means, until you call me, I won’t have a way to bother you, or text the inaugural booty call message at three a.m.”
“Inaugural? Really?”
“It’s inevitable.” He grins. “You have the power, Ally. You don’t have to call or text any time. Not until you need me. But I promise, when you do, I’ll be here fast. I could run here in just minutes. In fact, it would be quicker to sprint than it would to get in my car and follow road laws.”
He closes my hand around the paper and smiles. “If you find yourself in trouble, you only have to call or text. Then you have to hold on for just a couple minutes. After that, I’ll take care of it for you.” He folds his neck a little further and waits for me to meet his eyes. “Deal?”
I swallow the lump of nerves that have settled in my throat. My heart flutters like a hummingbird’s wings, and because of that, my blood pumps fast, heady and intoxicating.
“Ally?” he presses on a gravelly murmur. “Deal?”
I nod, and lick my dry lips. “Okay. Deal.”
He flashes a wide grin and drops that sincere, caring guy he was a second ago, and picks up his playboy act. “Perfect. Now get changed.” He goes and sits on the end of my tidily made bed, bounces around a little, then opens his legs wide. “I’m gonna enjoy the shit out of this show.”
“You’re a pig.”
I turn back to my closet and take out a top that clings to my curves and somewhat pushes my boobs up. I don’t mean to find something quite so provocative, but it’s black, and it’s the look we’re going for, right?
I remain facing the closet, with my back to Luke, and pulling my work top up, I drop it to the floor and shrug into the black one.
“You were supposed to turn around for that,” he grumbles and makes me smile.
Fortunately for me, he can’t see my face.
I unsnap my skirt, and reach around to the side to lower the zipper. Taking a deep breath, I push it down and pray I don’t come to regret this moment.
Though of course, I do.
“Fuckkkk…” Luke groans behind me, and rearranges himself on my bed.
I wish I could pass it off as obnoxious leering, but my throbbing pulse says otherwise. He sees my ass, my thighs, my everything, except the skin my cheeky panties cover.
“You got black panties and a black shirt, which makes your lily-white ass stand out and tempt me over there, Ally. I’m trying to be a gentleman, but there hasn’t been a single moment since we met that I’ve pretended I didn’t want you.”
“You’re going to have to control your urges.” I let my skirt drop to the floor, then pulling a pair of jeans from one of the hangers, I step into them and regret how tight they are. “I’m trying to dress for anti-burglary, and you watching me do so is—”
“An aphrodisiac?” he inserts on a gritty rumble. “So close,” he continues. “So sexy. But you’re all the way over there, and I’m over here. It’s like a peep show, but classy as fuck, and tempting, the way water is tempting to a man dying of thirst.”
“That’s poetic of you.”
I jump to get my jeans the rest of the way up, then working on the button, I turn around and swallow when I find his hand resting over his cock. My eyes shoot to the movement, to the bulge in his pants, and the way his hand tries fruitlessly to cover it all.
“Luke…”
“We’d both be so much happier if you’d just give us an hour, Ally. Let me touch you, let us be selfish and wild. And then…”
“And then, what?” I go back to my closet to select shoes. I came home in heels, and I’ll leave again in sneakers. “Huh? And then I leave town, because I’ve broken another rule for my job. Therapists aren’t supposed to sleep with their clients, Luke. It’s an ethical thing. I doubt you’d understand.”
“Small-town hick.” He drops a hand back behind himself so he can lounge and rest on my bed. “Probably doesn’t know anything outside his small group of friends. If it ain’t a gym or someone jabbing someone else in the face, then he can’t wrap his tiny brain around it.”
“That’s not what I said.” I take a pair of socks from the drawer, my shoes from the closet, and sitting on the floor, I go to work putting them on. “If you’re insecure about being small-town, then that’s on you. I’ve never said anything of the sort…” I swallow. “To your face.”
“Wow!” He thrusts up from the bed and mocks my use of the word. “You talk shit behind my back? You enjoy ridiculing my town?”
“You’re being dramatic. Quit it.”
“I won’t quit it, Ally! I also won’t talk shit behind your back. If I have beef, I face my problems toe to toe.”
“You’re being seriously loud right now. I’ve never talked shit about you or anyone else in this town behind your backs. Just like you, if I have a problem, I tell that person. You are the only person who’s annoyed me since I got here, and I haven’t tried to hide that from you. I’ve told you a thousand times. I can’t sleep with you, Luke, because I’d really like to make a career out of this job I’ve been studying for so long. But if it soothes your fragile male ego, then sure, I would if I could.”
That catches his attention and slows the tirade he was gearing up to screech about.
“You’re sexy, okay?” I roll my eyes. “You’re annoyingly charming. You’re funny, and when you force me to hug you, or hold your hand, you still manage to make me feel safe and delicate, even when I’m trying to escape.”
“Annoyingly charming?” He moves toward me now, and crouches down so we’re just a foot apart. “You think I’m charming?”
“Mostly the annoying thing. You annoy me so much that if we made it to bed together, you’d probably wake to find me trying to smother you under a pillow.”
“But would your pillow smell like you? Because if so, we could probably negotiate.”
“You gave me your number. Zero pressure, no strings attached. You just said to hold on to it, to feel safe. And now…”
“And now?” He leans a little closer. Mint plays on his tongue, and somehow, I can feel his stubble in the air. It’s impossible. But still… “What do you feel, Ally?”
“Safe,” I admit on a sigh. “I feel safe, because I know that if I call, you’ll come to me.”
“I’ll run.” He leans closer still, so his breath feathers along my chin. “I would run to you, Ally. And whatever was scaring you, I would fix it.”
Startling me, Luke smacks a kiss onto my cheek, grins when I squeak out my surprise, then he pushes to his feet and darts back to the front door.
Or, more accurately, to the gift bag I left by the front door.
“You still didn’t open this.”
“Because it doesn’t make sense.” Instead of reaching out for the gift he offers, I tie the laces on one sneaker. “That bag pre-dates us ever meeting, so opening it feels like, one, an invasion of privacy, and two, weird.”
“Weird?” He snorts. “Is that your fancy education speaking, or…?”
“You were accusing me of being a snob not five minutes ago, but you have no clue you’re the snob right in this moment. Am I supposed to be ashamed of seeking a higher education? Should I be stoned in the street for wanting to do something important?”
“Depends…” He grins, and tempts me to pop him on the chin with a fast jab. “This stoning… clothed, or no?”
“I’m gonna run you down with my car. Swear to god.” I shove him back and slide my foot into the second sneaker.
Working on the laces with jerking movements, I try not to look into his eyes. I swear I try not to look.
“Are you often this angry, Allyson? Or do you save the best for me?”
“How’s your brother?”
He jerks back a little and scowls. “Huh?”
“He busy today?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does he usually find himself attracted to the same types of women you are?”
“I d
on’t—” And then it hits him. “Don’t even!”
“Rob is like you, right? Identical twin brothers. I bet he could run here and make good time.”
“Ally—”
“I bet when he hugs me, he could make me feel delicate and beautiful.”
“Stop analyzing me!”
“You love your brother probably more than you love anyone else on this planet. You wouldn’t begrudge him his happiness, would you?”
“Yes I would! If you were his happiness, I’d begrudge the shit outta that. He can find his own. I have dibs.”
“On me?”
“Yes!”
“On a human being? Really?”
“Yes,” he growls. “Just like you were ready to throw down the other morning in my kitchen when you thought some other chick was laying claim on me.”
“That was—”
“It counts, and you want me so fucking much that your chest hurts. Open your fucking present.” He tosses the bag into my lap and pushes up to his feet to walk laps along the carpet. “Never try with the brother shit again. I’d feel a little guilty if I was forced to toss him in front of a train.”
“For a girl?” I dig my hand into the gift bag, past scrunches of soft paper, and frown when my fingers wrap around a delicate chain.
“For you,” Luke corrects as I pull my hand and the gift out of the bag.
I study the silver chain, the unicorn charms with rainbow horns and glitter on their tails. I turn my hand over and let the chain shimmer under the light from above.
“I would toss him under a train for you,” he murmurs and kneels back down in front of me. He takes the chain and gently undoes the clasp with fingers that are much too large to be dealing with something so small. “I bought this in seventh grade.” He wraps the bracelet around my wrist, and concentrates hard on refastening the clasp. “I was thirteen years old, and it was soon after my mom and dad’s wedding anniversary.” He stops for a moment, and grins. “Did you know my parents accidentally got married?”
“Accidentally?”
“Uh huh. They were drunk, he carried her most of the way, and then they were married by an Elvis impersonator. Or maybe Chewbacca.” He pauses to think. “I dunno. It wasn’t a regular church or a regular priest, that’s for sure. Anyway.” He clips the bracelet closed, and releases it all so it dangles on my wrist. “Back when I was in seventh grade, for their wedding anniversary, my dad got my mom a bracelet. It was a gift to say he loved her, that he still appreciated her, even when she’s moody as fuck, and mean as a snake sometimes.”
“Sounds like the perfect marriage.”
Luke snorts. “They’re crazy in public, but I swear, when no one is watching, they’re fucking perfect for each other. They’re so sweet on each other, so gentle and selfless. So Dad got Mom this bracelet, and when they were alone and they thought Rob and I were asleep, I overheard them talking. Mom was saying how she truly loves Dad, how thankful she was to have him, how happy she is when he’s around. She went full sappy mode, and she rarely ever does that.”
“That’s sweet.” I turn my wrist over and study the unicorns. “It’s beautiful that your parents are still so in love.”
“Right.” He eyes my bracelet now, just as I do. “So then, after seeing how happy the bracelet made Mom, I took my ass out the next day with a plan to do the same. Now remember, I was a kid, and maybe our family does alright with money, but we never had free access to cash. There are no trust fund babies in my life, no rich kids with bad attitudes. So I wanted to buy a bracelet, but I had to do it on a budget. This one was cheap as hell, and from a vending machine. Two bucks, and it came with a bouncy ball.”
Finally, his eyes come up to mine. “I used the coins in my pocket, bought the gift bag, swiped the bouncy ball, since the temptation was too much, I placed the bracelet in the bag, and the bag in my closet, and here we are.”
“Where?” I look around my room, then back to Luke. “Where are we? Because I’m still confused.”
“I bought the bracelet for my future whatever you are.”
“For your…” My eyes flare wide. “What?”
“I’ve spent time with women. Everybody knows it, so there’s no point tip-toeing around that fact. But until today, I’d actually forgotten about the bracelet. I tossed it into my closet forever ago, out of sight, out of mind, and not one chick has ever made me think of it.”
“Okay…”
“But today, I thought of it, and I wanted to give it to you, so here we are. Thirteen-year-old me bought a gift for you. And if you really think about it, that’s kinda cool. I wonder what I would have said back then if I’d known the recipient of that gift was my red-haired, green-eyed, almost-therapist.”
“He’d have called you crazy.”
“Maybe. But if he could have somehow gotten his hands on a picture, he’d for sure have been whacking off.”
“Luke!” I swing a hand out and slap his shoulder. “That was a nice moment. Why’d you have to say that, huh?”
“Because it’s true. But most importantly, I’d like it repeated that you’re my almost-therapist. You’re not yet graduated, therefore, there are no ethical problems with you wearing my bracelet.”
“You’re a pain in my ass,” I grumble.
“A man can dream.”
When I whip my gaze around to him to glare at his crass remark, he only flashes a wide grin and offers a hand.
“Come on. We have to go to my place now. It’s time for Chester to make his return.”
Luke
Well, Ain’t That A Kick in The Ass?
I hold Ally’s hand and lead her through my front door without hesitation. She tries again to pull her hand from mine, but at this point, I suspect it’s an act, a pretend defiance, to give me the chance to hold on tighter and prove to her I’m not ready to let go.
Her bracelet touches my skin as we walk, and her perfume fills my lungs, sending me into a tailspin every time I let my mind wander. Because maybe I’m all about the bachelor life: having fun, zero commitments, zero chance of getting tied down and bored. But now I’m giving away the unicorn bracelet, and more notable is the fact I’m not freaking out about it.
Once Ally is in the apartment, I close the door and smile for some more of my favorite people, sitting at the dining table.
“Rob.” I pull Ally along with me, ruffle Rob’s hair as I pass, and elicit a giggle when I drop a noisy kiss on the top of Emma’s head. “Kincaid. What are you guys playing?”
I pull out a chair, and lead Ally to it without asking. And because she likes to be bossed around by me, she sits with a ‘harrumph’. Circling back, I sit in the last remaining chair – directly opposite the woman I could very well consider getting monogamous with – and smile when her eyes invariably go back to her bracelet.
“Poker,” Em murmurs and studies her cards with a serious eye. “You can’t play this hand, since you snooped my cards when you came in. But you can jump in on the next, so long as you don’t tell him about my ace with your twin brain telepathy.”
“Smooth.” I sit back with a smile and glance over at Chester the Cheater. He left his Miss Dixie, and correct me if I’m wrong, but he hasn’t stopped smiling about it since he got here. “You can’t have an ace, because Rob has four.”
“Funny,” Rob drawls and plays with as much concentration as Emma. “Why are you home already? Don’t you have work to do?”
“I had therapy.” I smirk for Allyson and catch her, again, staring at the unicorns. “I worked through my rage for the day. I haven’t made it out to the pier yet, so I might have to double-up this weekend to make up for lost time. Or… ya know… there are two of us.”
“Nope.” Rob tosses one card down and settles on four. “We look alike, but I didn’t do the crime.”
“Speaking of.” I poke a thumb in Chester’s direction. “Say goodbye to your best friend, because he’s going back where he came from in a couple hours.”
That statement brings Em u
p short. “Huh?”
“Chester? The strange little llama taking up half of my kitchen. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice him and the ice cream man having an orgy last night.”
“I noticed the damn llama. I meant, huh, where’s he going?”
“I’ve been ordered by my therapist,” I drag the word out and roll my eyes, all for Ally’s sake, “to return him. Sonia got word that Ally was one half of the dream team who took him, so now her job depends on her getting him home.”
“Sucks to be you,” Rob murmurs and takes a pull of a half-empty beer that sits by his pile of chips.
And by chips, I mean potato chips.
I pick one up and toss it into my mouth. “Mm. Salt and vinegar.”
“Hey!” Rob snaps. “That’s my money. Fuck off.”
“We should play strip poker. No need for chips when we could be using clothes.”
“I’m your brother, you freak. Sit down and shut up.”
“Not you.” I look to Ally and grin. “Me, Allyson, and Em.” I look to the Kincaid and wink. “You wanna play with me, right?”
“Er, I don’t,” Ally inserts with a lifted hand, despite the fact I’m not really giving her the choice.
“I could play,” Emma grins, sitting taller when Rob’s gaze snaps up. “I bought new panties recently. No point hiding them away when I could be showing them off to connoisseurs of exotic underwear.”
“I am an underwear connoisseur.” I take another chip and smile for the girl I consider family. “It would be my pleasure to, ya know, critique or whatever. I’m sure you chose well.”
“You’re so thoughtful.”
“Fuck off,” Rob growls. “No one’s looking at Em’s panties.”
“No?” Em questions. “Well ain’t that the damn truth.” Placing her cards face-down on the table, she pushes up and walks to the fridge. “I feel like this town is stale. You guys understand what I’m saying?” She pulls back to catch our eyes from around the fridge door. “Being a Kincaid in this town basically means everyone knows me, and I know everyone else. It’s boring, because apart from a week or two every Christmas, there’s no new blood here. Everyone in the club is the same, everyone at the lake is the same…”