Elaina

by Jennifer Hanks

  My head was pounding, reminding me why I don’t drink whiskey, but the water was starting to ease it a little. Why the fuck did I drink so much, but the better question was, why the fuck did I go to Lanie’s? I knew why and I wasn’t proud of myself, but when I looked out the kitchen window and saw them locked together, I saw red. I wanted to fucking kill him for touching her, hell I wanted that after I saw them together when they were leaving. The douche didn’t even open the car door for her or wait until she got into the house last night before he left. She deserves more than that.

  Her face flashed before my eyes, flushed from arousal, her breath coming in hard pants. I thought I was going to explode when she started grinding against me, wanting her to come, wanting to be the guy that made her come hard. It wouldn’t have taken much to flip that damn skirt up and drive into her, giving us both what we needed, but I held back. I rolled my palm into a fist against the shower tiles and ran my other hand down my chest, wrapping it around my hard cock. Hard was not the word, I was like steel just thinking about her. It didn’t take long before I threw my head back, coming long and hard, immediately frustrated having only taken the edge off.

  Walking down the hallway a few minutes later after I’d dressed, I grinned when I heard my dad’s booming voice and Bray’s giggle. I found them sitting at the island together eating bacon and pancakes, two of Bray’s favorite things, Luke standing at the sink, back against the counter, watching the two of them together, a small grin on his face.

  Hearing me approach, his eyes shifted to me. “Hey man.”

  Bray’s head snapped my way and he smiled, bouncing up and down on his chair. “Daddy!”

  I walked straight to him and kissed the top of his head. “Morning kiddo.”

  “You sweepy.”

  I nodded. “Yeah I was.” I glanced at Luke. “Thanks man.”

  He smiled and nodded. I turned my head to my dad next. “Hey Pop. What are you doing here on a Sunday?”

  “Wanted to see my boys.” He smiled and squeezed the back of Bray’s neck, making him giggle again.

  I rounded the island and started myself a cup of coffee, pausing when a flash of color outside the window caught my attention. Lanie was making her way down the road toward her driveway, dragging a stubborn Beasley along with her. I couldn’t stop the chuckle that broke loose, causing Luke to turn his head and look out the window as well.

  He laughed outright. “Holy shit, she is actually dragging him along. I swear I can hear his nails grinding against the pavement from here.”

  I couldn’t help but join in when it was obvious Beasley saw he was nearly home and took off running towards their house. Lanie wisely dropped the leash and stopped at the edge of her driveway, hands on her hips, shaking her head and talking. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but I was positive she was talking to herself. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw dad make his way towards my front door, Bray balanced on his hip and closed my eyes, not even bothering to try to stop him.

  Luke chuckled beside me. “How you feeling?”

  I didn’t bother denying my hangover. “Like shit.”

  “You get it worked out?”

  “Nope.”

  I walked around him and headed for the open door, ignoring his chuckle following behind me. I walked across my driveway and the small patch of grass between our driveways, my eyes glued to Lanie who was standing with her back to me and talking to my dad. Bray was running circles around Beasley who was collapsed in the middle of the yard, laid out on his side.

  “Boys.” Dad boomed and I glanced his way, grinning at the pride always on his face when he’s with any of us, regardless of what we’re screwing up at the time. My eyes found their way quickly back to Lanie whose back was still to me and stiff as a board. I must be a sick bastard because knowing I was making her uncomfortable only made me excited.

  “Hey Lanie.” Luke crossed over to stand next to dad and smiled wide at Lanie.

  She returned that smile. “Hey Luke.”

  My shoulder brushed against Lanie’s purposefully and her eyes shifted quickly to mine before turning back to Luke. That pissed me off. I stood close to her, close enough that her scent floated around me and for some reason I felt calmer than I had since I woke up only a short time ago.

  “Lanie, we’re having dinner today at one.”

  My head snapped to stare at my dad. He invited Lanie to Sunday dinner?

  “But like I said before Jack, I’m really behind on my work because I’ve been busy the last few days so I’m planning to play catch up today.”

  I snorted, knowing what she was busy with or who actually. Her head turned quickly and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning at the fire in her eyes. I’d learned last night that Lanie pissed off was something I really enjoyed seeing. She cocked her head as if daring me to say something before she turned her gaze back to Luke and Dad.

  Wanting to keep her riled, I pretended I couldn’t see Bray and leaned well into her space to look past her into her yard. She stiffened when I put my hand to the small of her back, and subtly pulled her body closer to mine, her side now pressed tight into my front.

  “Just checking on Bray.” I whispered when my face was close to hers.

  She rolled her eyes and shook her head, obviously pissed at me, and my only thought was that I was having too much fun teasing her to even consider stopping. Luke’s chuckle broke through the fog surrounding me and I glanced their way, my hand still on her back, my body pressed against hers. Dad dropped his gaze to the ground, but the grin playing around his lips told me he liked her reaction as well.

  She turned her face, her forehead at my chin and looked up. “Can you back up?”

  I pretended I was thinking about it before shaking my head. “No.”

  She leaned past me and threw her arm out. “There are a dozen other places to stand, Jake.”

  I smiled and wrapped my arm tighter around her, my fingers grazing her hip. “I like it here.”

  She let out an exasperated sigh before turning back to Luke and Dad. “I really appreciate the invitation, but I think I’ll have to pass today.”

  Luke actually looked somewhat disappointed, but hell when I looked at dad, he did too. I realized I’d have a hell of a lot more fun if Lanie came today.

  “It’s only a couple of hours.” I said, my face once again focused on the side of hers.

  She tensed, if it was even possible to be more tense than she had been, before shaking her head. “I realize that, but…”

  I cut her off, already knowing her excuse and smiled. “Hey Bray. Come here kiddo.”

  Bray came bouncing over wasting no time, probably bored because Beasley still had not moved. He grabbed Lanie’s hand hanging by her side and smiled up at her. Her eyes softened and I knew what I was about to do was really a dick move, but I didn’t care. Being around her, arguing with her, was making me feel so much like my old self that I was starting to crave her.

  “Pappy invited Lanie to Sunday dinner today.” I said.

  His eyes got as wide as saucers and he tugged on Lanie’s hand, excitedly. “Wanie you eat wif me?”

  She swung her head my way and glared, making my smile grow even bigger. She looked back down at Bray, sighed and smiled softly. “Sure sweetie, I’ll come eat with you.”

  He jumped up and down beside her, never dropping her hand. “Yay!”

  “Bweasy come?” He asked.

  She shook her head. “I don’t think…”

  Dad cut her off. “Of course Beasley can come. That’s a great idea Braydon.”

  Luke smiled at Lanie. “Is that okay with you?”

  She returned his smile. “Yeah, it’s okay with me.”

  It bothered me how easy they were together, how quickly they’d become friends. She didn’t seem shy or uncomfortable around him at all.

  Dad rubbed his hands together. “That settles that then.” He squatted down and picked up Bray. “You want to come home with me now?”

  Bray
smiled and clapped. “Go Pappy’s.”

  I ruffled his hair. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours, kiddo.”

  Dad leaned in towards Lanie and smiled. “I’m glad you decided to come, darlin’. Anna’s going to love meeting you.”

  “Thanks Jack.” She smiled softly.

  Dad hoisted Bray up to sit on his shoulders and carried him to his truck, Bray giggling the whole way.

  Lanie stepped away and I dropped my arm. “Well, I’m going to do a little work before dinner.” She looked only at Luke. “Could you text me your parents address?”

  Luke nodded but I interrupted. That wasn’t going to work for me. “You can ride with us. There’s room.”

  She glanced over at me and shook her head. “I have Beasley so that won’t work Jake. You only have a truck.”

  I motioned to the driveway where Luke’s SUV has been parked for the last few weeks waiting for him to be able to drive. “We can take Luke’s SUV.”

  “I’m fine driving myself.”

  “That’s crazy. You’re riding with us.”

  She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. “I said, ‘I’m driving myself’.”

  I leaned forward, feeling Luke walk away, but not turning my head, my eyes focused solely on Lanie. “And I said that’s crazy since we’re all going to the same place.”

  She turned and started towards her house. “I’m not arguing with you, I’m driving myself.”

  I followed behind her. “What the hell are so pissed off about anyway?”

  She mumbled something. “I can’t hear you Lanie when you’re only talking to yourself.”

  She stopped right before her front steps and turned to face me. “You want to know why I’m mad, Jake?”

  I threw my arms out to the side. “That’s why I asked.”

  Her eyes flashed. “You made me a cheater.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  LANIE

  “What the hell are you talking about?” He shouted. He’d positioned himself right in front of me. I wasn’t nervous or babbling, or even feeling awkward because I’ve realized when I’m angry, I’m no longer shy.

  And I am very angry.

  He waltzed over here like last night didn’t happen, stood close to me, obviously teasing me and it did nothing but make me angrier than I was when I woke up feeling overwhelming guilt for what I’d done.

  “What do you mean, what am I talking about?” I threw my hands in the air. “Do you not remember coming to my house last night?”

  He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, his voice lowering. “Of course I remember last night. It’s all I can fucking think about.”

  I jerked back, surprised he’d admit something like that but I wasn’t going to let that deter me. “Well because of you, last night I became a cheater.” I gritted my teeth. “And I hate cheaters.”

  He actually looked confused. “Are you talking about that douche you went out with?”

  I felt my jaw drop and did nothing to stop it. “He’s not a douche, Jake. You don’t even know him.”

  He snorted. “I know enough.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “You don’t know anything.”

  His eyes widened. “I know he didn’t open the fucking car door for you. I also know that he didn’t seem to care that I walked my ass over to you, talked only to you, even told you I liked you’re fucking hair, and completely ignored him.” He leaned in closer. “I also know he didn’t even wait until you were in the house before he was hauling ass out of your driveway.”

  I frowned. “You never said you liked my hair.”

  He shook his head. “Out of everything I just said, and you’re focused on my compliment about your hair.”

  I threw my hands in the air. “But you didn’t compliment my hair.”

  “Why the fuck are we talking about your hair?” He shouted.

  I started to respond, but instead rolled my lips together. I had no idea why I was so focused on that except that maybe it had taken me back to his other comments about not being interested in someone like me.

  He took a deep breath. “I like your hair Lanie. I liked it before and I like it now. I like it when you have it on top of your head with your glasses on wearing your ridiculously big shirts and I like it when you have it down. Now can we move on?”

  I nodded in stunned silence.

  He put his hands on his hips. “Will you just tell my why you’re so pissed at me?”

  I reached down and ran my fingers around the dainty bracelet on my wrist. “You kissed me last night and that’s not okay since I’m dating Trey.”

  He squinted in the sun. “Lanie I wasn’t the only one doing the kissing.”

  I dropped my hands and sighed. “I know and I hate what that makes me.”

  “Why are you dating him?”

  His question surprised me. “He’s nice.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Well, no, he’s also thoughtful and attentive and he likes me.”

  “Everyone likes you Lanie. You’re nice.”

  I shook my head. “No, not like that. He likes me likes me.”

  Gah. I knew by his grin how juvenile that sounded. Actually, I knew it as soon as it came out of my mouth.

  He moved closer and I instinctually took a step back, unfortunately jamming my heel into the bottom step and teetering backwards. He reached out, wrapping his arm around my waist before I could fall, and pulled me in close to his body.

  He tilted his head down, but I stared at his chest. His warm breath fanned my ear when he started talking. “You know what I didn’t hear when I asked you that? I didn’t hear that you like him.” His hand flexed against the small of my back. “That shouldn’t make me happy, but it really fucking does.”

  I tensed at his words, not really understanding their meaning and forced my mind to ignore my body, especially considering it wanted to press in tight against him.

  He pulled away, taking a step back and I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. “Luke and I will pick you up in a couple of hours.”

  I didn’t bother arguing because honestly, I didn’t have much left in me. I wanted to go in the house, sit down and try to process what just happened. I also wanted to call Trey and admit what I’d done, fully expecting him to say he never wanted to see me again, which scared me but I wasn’t sure if was the fear of losing him or of being alone again.

  Maybe both.

  I didn’t stick around to watch Jake walk back to his house. I smiled softly at him before turning and walking up my stairs, Beasley already sitting by the door, having had more outside time in one morning than he had in a week, and went straight inside, closing the door solidly behind me.

  I fed Beasley and cleaned up my place, the little bit that actually needed done. It’s just me so it really doesn’t get that dirty. I then took a shower, taking my time washing my hair and shaving until the water ran cold. I knew I was putting off the phone call to Trey, but I also knew I needed to do it, so I got dressed, finally deciding on a blue sundress and matching cardigan because I had no idea what you wore to someone’s house for dinner having never actually done that. I put on a little make-up and dried my hair, loving that it actually looked cute after only drying it.

  I wandered back to the kitchen, sat at the counter, and picked up my phone that I’d left there this morning. I tapped on the counter, organizing my thoughts, but after thinking of a lot of different ways to tell him, I decided to just call and be honest.

  That had to count for something.

  I almost hung up after the fourth ring went unanswered, but I waited and he finally answered.

  “Lanie?”

  His voice made me feel even worse than I already did.

  “Hi Trey.”

  “What’s up? I thought you had to work today.”

  He sounded distracted and I heard voices. I was obviously interrupting something.

  “Sorry, is this a bad time?”

  “No, just hang on a
second and I’ll go in the other room.”

  I heard a door close before he started speaking again. “I have some guys here to watch the game. Is everything okay? You sound strange.”

  I was worse at hiding things than I realized if he had already recognized it in my voice.

  “Um no Trey everything isn’t okay.” I decided to just say it, like ripping a band aid off, except that freaking hurts so I didn’t expect any less from this. “I did something I’m not proud of and I need to tell you.”

  “Okay, so what is it?” He sounded confused, which he should.

  “After you left last night, I kissed another man.” I said the words so fast, I wasn’t sure they even came out right. He was quiet for so long, I thought I’d lost him until I heard his voice again.

  “Your neighbor?”

  His voice was different, it didn’t sound angry, but it was definitely an emotion of his I wasn’t familiar with yet.

  “Yeah.” I said quietly.

  “I figured there was something going on between you two.”

  I was surprised by that. “But that’s just it, there isn’t. We’re just friends, at least I think we’re friends. I don’t know. It’s all really confusing.”

  He snorted. “Lanie, no man acts the way he did around a woman he just wants to be friends with.”

  “If you thought that, why didn’t you say anything?” I hated that he already assumed I was with someone else.

  “Because we’re new and have no idea where this is going.”

  That made sense, but I still felt bad. “I realize that you probably don’t want to see me anymore, but I want you to know that I’m being honest when I say nothing has ever happened with Jake. He’s in a bad place because of his brother and I guess I’ve become somewhat of a support to him.”