“I’ll only be a minute,” He said, running his fingers through his dripping wet hair. “If you want, you can take the meat balls out of the fridge and let them get to room temperature before we cook them. I forgot.”
“Okay,” I smiled at him briefly. “Enjoy your shower.”
He nodded quickly and closed the bathroom door behind him, and a moment later I could hear the water running. I set Levi down on the floor and took her leash off, hanging it over the sofa’s backrest. She watched me with big eyes while I walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge, biting my lip as I scanned it for the meatballs. They were on the third shelf, next to an unopened bottle of wine.
I took both of them out and set the meat balls down on the kitchen counter, but held the bottle of wine in front of my face to read it. It was an Italian red wine, intended for pasta dishes. I set it down on the table and took out two glasses, figuring Noah had been intending to drink it for dinner. He was always so forgetful.
When I turned around, Levi had curled up into a ball next to Noah’s shoes and closed her eyes. Finally, I thought. She’s calming down. I started setting the table with my back towards the living room. Does the fork go on the inside or the outside? I thought. I never remember…
The floorboards creaked behind me and I looked over my shoulder, seeing Noah walking stark naked across the living room with his towel hanging over his shoulder. I was surprised—I hadn’t even heard the shower turn off. He didn’t see me, luckily, and I quickly turned my head back and stared out the big window. My heart started pounding again, but this time for different reasons. Was that his hand that I saw, or…?
I quickly set the utensils down on the table and walked out into the living room.
“N–Noah?” I called out. “Do you have a shirt I can borrow?”
I looked down at the front of my shirt, which was soaking wet and full of murky seaweed. Levi would need a bath too at some point, but I didn’t want to stress her up now that she’d just calmed down.
“Will any shirt do?” Noah asked and popped his head around the corner, holding a white wife beater in his hand. “I was going to wear this to the gym today, but I ended up not going. It’s pretty tight, so it should fit you too.”
I held out my hand and caught it after he threw it across the room. “Thanks.” I smiled.
I walked out into the hallway and looked around the corner, making sure Noah wouldn’t be able to see me. Then, I quickly pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it onto the shoe rack.
“Ugh, no…” I muttered in annoyance when I noticed that the shirt had soaked all the way through and stained my bra.
I reached around my back and unhooked it, throwing it onto the shoe rack as well. Luckily I had shaved my arm pits that morning, or it would have been very embarrassing to wear Noah’s sleeveless shirt. I pulled it over my head and let it fall over my torso.
He was right, it was pretty tight. Tight enough to see the outline of my breasts if you looked close enough. Hopefully he won’t notice. I thought as I felt my nipples rub against the inside of the shirt and stiffen up.
“What’s wrong?” Noah asked as he walked behind me to the kitchen. “I thought I heard you mutter something.”
“Oh, nothing,” I said quickly and glanced over my shoulder. “I’m fine.”
“Goodie.”
The water was boiling by now, and Noah had probably dumped the full bag of pasta spirals into the pot already. I walked into the kitchen behind him, leaning against the arch and watching him while he cooked. His black hair was getting long and he was in need of a haircut. He had dimples on his cheeks, and a wrinkle on his forehead that only came out when he was concentrating on something. Like figuring out how long to cook an entire bag of pasta after he already threw the package into the garbage.
“It’s 14 minutes.” I smirked. The same thing happened every time I ate dinner at his place, whether it was pasta or frozen egg rolls.
Noah turned his head and looked at me, startled. “Oh, right.” His face cracked into a wide smile. “Thanks.”
He set the egg timer to 14 minutes and turned around, stretching his arms high into the air. His eyes wandered up and down my body for a second, resting for a faint moment on the perky mounds on my chest.
“Well then,” He said and looked away quickly, scratching his forehead with his left hand. “What’s next?”
“The meatballs maybe?”
“Ah, yes.”
Noah reached out and grabbed a frying pan from the rack on the wall, when suddenly there was a hard knock on the door. When the door didn’t open immediately, the person on the other side rang the doorbell several times in a rapid succession.
“Shit!” Noah let out. “Shit. I completely forgot that Camilla was coming over. Shit. Fuck. Damnit.”
“Camilla? You mean your ex—girlfriend Camilla, the psycho who threatened to burn your apartment to the ground if she ever saw you with another woman?”
Noah looked up at me with a defeated look on his face. “Yeah… That Camilla. She was supposed to come by and pick up her guitar like, now, and I completely forgot about that.”
Levi had woken up from the sound of the ringing doorbell, and was barking loudly from behind the sofa. Noah and Camilla had only dated for a short while, a few weeks back, so I’d never met her. Does she even know that Noah has a step–sister?
“Okay, okay…” I said quickly. “No problem. I’ll just stay in here, alright? She won’t even know I’m here.”
Noah nodded up and down before running off into the hallway to open the door. He took a deep breath to calm himself and then put his hand on the handle, pushing the door open slowly.
“Took you long enough.” An irate, high–pitched voice spat out.
“Sorry, I forgot you were coming. Your guitar is still in the—”
“How could you forget that I’m coming?” Noah asked and burst into the apartment. “What the hell is so important?”
Noah sighed. “Nothing,” He said in annoyance. “Just… wait here and I’ll get your stupid guitar.”
“‘Stupid’“? Camilla scoffed. “That guitar is worth more than your entire family’s tattered clothing combined. I guess some of us are just more fortunate than others…”
I was fuming on the inside, but I kept quiet.
Not saying a word, Noah walked across the living room and into his bedroom. The look on his face was blank. Gone was all the carefree happiness that had been plastered on it just a few minutes ago. Camilla sighed loudly and tapped her foot against the floor, causing Levi to let out an angry growl.
Suddenly, Camilla stopped tapping her foot, at the same time as Noah walked out of his bedroom, holding her hand–made, black guitar in his hand.
“What the FUCK is this?” Camilla gasped.
Noah was frozen in fear and suddenly looked at me, then back at Camilla, then back at me. Oh shit, I thought and felt my eyes go wide. My bra! Camilla came storming into the living room, tossing the bra into Noah’s face.
“It’s not what you think!” He said quickly.
“Where is she?! Is she in the bedroom?” Camilla pushed her way past Noah, elbowing him in the ribs harshly.
She stopped in the doorway between the living room and the bedroom, looking dumfounded. I took a deep breath and walked out into the living room, alerting her with my footsteps.
“Looking for me?” I asked, holding back the slight tremble in my voice.
Camilla spun around and glared at me. The hatred in her eyes was so strong, I thought she was about to set me on fire just by looking at me.
“Who do you think you are, thinking you can steal my man?” She asked, walking towards me and pointing her finger right at my chest. “Wearing his fucking clothing?” She added with a furious gasp.
Camilla stopped right in front of me, smelling like cigarettes and cranberry vodka. For the first time, I realized that she might be drunk.
“Your man?” I scoffed. “Last time I checked, Noah was fr
ee to make his own choices and didn’t need your permission to have dinner with his own—”
“You don’t fucking know who you’re messing with.” Camilla interrupted me. “I swear you’ve drawn your last breath, you fucking cunt–ass bitch.”
She spun around and marched up to Noah, ripping the guitar out of his hands. Without another word, she walked out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind her so hard that the walls shook. Noah and I stood in silence for a moment, feeling the shock wash over us and slowly fade.
Levi ran up to my feet and started to lick my ankles, wagging her tail and barking protectively.
“Well…” I let out finally with a nervous giggle. “That just happened.”
Noah scratched his head and laughed with me. “Yeah, she’s a, uh… she’s a handful.”
“I feel like it was all my fault,” I said, feeling a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry.”
Noah shrugged. “Nah, it’s all right. If it wasn’t your bra, she would have found something else to be angry about anyway.” He cleared his throat loudly. “But, if you don’t mind me asking… why was your bra on the floor of my apartment?”
I felt my cheeks burn red. “It was soaked through, so I didn’t want to wear it anymore…”
“Oh, okay.” Noah nodded and smiled a half–smile. “I get it.”
The egg timer rang, and both Noah and I jumped. We’d both forgotten all about the food. Noah walked up and took the pot off the stove and replaced it with the frying pan.
“How many meatballs do you want?” He asked casually, pouring a rigid tablespoon of olive oil into the already sizzling pan.
“That depends—how many do you have?”
Noah turned his head back and smirked at me. “Two more than you.”
I let out a snort and walked up behind him, watching him pour an entire package of sixteen meatballs into the pan. I wasn’t going to admit it of course, but that one was actually pretty funny.
“You’re getting eight now.” Noah continued. “Or maybe six, I’m pretty hungry actually.”
“Six is fine.” I said. “You did save Levi after all, so I guess you can have two more meatballs.” I added teasingly.
I thought back about what had happened just half an hour earlier. Now that I had calmed down a little bit, it was actually kind of… sexy? My heart rate picked up, and there was a faint blush rising on my neck and cheeks. No, Kimberly, I pleaded from myself. Don’t think about Noah that way, he’s your brother.
Noah dumped a can of store–bought tomato sauce into the pan, and the room was quickly filled with the heavy aroma of basil and garlic.
“Smells good,” I said, trying to get the image of Noah’s shirtless body out of my mind. “Look at you, you’re basically Gordon Ramsay.”
“I know right.” Noah said. “I should get my own cooking show. I would call it… How to save time and money cooking by making other people do half the work for you.”
“That’s kind of long.”
Noah opened his mouth to say something, but then immediately closed it again.
“What?” I asked. The stupid smile on his face was causing me to smile as well.
“Nothing, I just thought of a stupid joke,” He said quickly. “Dinner’s ready in thirty seconds! Get the plates on the table.”
I reached up and opened the kitchen cupboard, taking out two black, square dinner plates. “Oh, I took the bottle of wine out of your fridge, by the way,” I said. “Did you know you’re not supposed to store wine in the fridge? Or something. I remember reading that somewhere.”
Noah shrugged. “But then it wouldn’t be cold.” He said matter–of–factly. “Yeah, that’s okay though. It’s actually Camilla’s.” He added with a devious smile. “She won’t miss it… especially if we finish the bottle.”
He grabbed a ladle and started spooning pasta, meatballs and sauce onto our plates. I uncorked the wine bottle and poured it into our wine glasses, then I sat down on the side with less food on the plate. Meanwhile, Noah disappeared into his bedroom.
“I’m just going to grab something real quick.” He said.
He rummaged around in his closet for a moment, then he returned with a box of matches and a handful of candles. He lay them down on the table between us and lit them, and slowly dimmed the lights in the kitchen and living room. The room was covered in a yellow glow, and flame danced on the walls.
“Wow,” I said and looked around. “Candle light makes everything better.”
“I know…” Noah said and sat down opposite of me. The chair creaked slightly when he pulled it out and grabbed the fork in his hand. “Well then! Let’s dig in!”
I pierced a few pasta shells and a meatball on my fork and brought it to my mouth. Hm. I thought quietly. Perfectly cooked.
“Are mum and dad still on vacation?” Noah asked between bites.
“M–mh.” I shook my head and swallowed. “They just came home last night. First time I’ve seen them in weeks. But they’re leaving again on Monday afternoon for a week–long trip to Sweden.”
Noah nodded slowly. “You know… if you’re ever lonely, you can always crash here. I can sleep on the couch if you take the bed.”
“Really?” I smiled up at him. “Camilla wouldn’t freak?”
“Meh, who cares what Camilla thinks?”
We both laughed, and I took another bite of pasta and meatballs. “I never knew that she was so… loud. How could you stand her for so long?”
“Honestly?” Noah set the fork down on his plate with a clink. “I didn’t. I was miserable the whole time, until one day I just had enough. I realized that the sex wasn’t enough to make up for all the drama she stirred up in my life.”
I swallowed the chewed–up meatball in my mouth. For some reason, the thought of Noah having sex with someone else made my stomach knot. Noah reached up and ran his fingers through his thick, blonde hair, wiping it out of his face. Then, he looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes of his.
“So, are you seeing anyone?”
I shook my head quickly. “Me? No… Mom doesn’t want me dating anyone, she thinks I’m too young.”
Noah raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Really? Kim, you’re nineteen. Besides…” He winked and took a sip of wine. “It’s not like she would ever know.”
I didn’t answer. He was right—I was old enough to make my own decisions about my love life, even if it was a decision that she happened to disagree with. It’s not like she’d always made the best decisions either… otherwise I wouldn’t be here.
“You’re right.” I said finally. “Let’s toast!” I added and lifted my glass.
“What are we toasting to?” Noah asked and lifted his glass to meet mine.
“To… making our own decisions.”
We hit our glasses together with a clink, and I looked into Noah’s eyes while we both took a sip. The fire danced in his eyes and casted a yellow glow on his face, illuminating the faint stubble on his cheek. But there was something else in the look on his face—something I couldn’t quite put my finger on…
After dinner, we put our dishes to soak in the sink and retreated to the living room, wine glasses in our hands. Noah brought the candles and placed them around the room ‘to save money on the electricity bill’, and then joined me on the divan sofa.
“It’s a bit chilly, don’t you think?” I asked.
Noah moved closer towards me on the sofa and threw a large, black blanket over our laps. “Better?” He asked.
“Much.” I smiled up at him and rested my head against his shoulder.
“What are we going to watch?” He asked as he put on the TV.
“You choose.” I said and let out a tired yawn. “It’s your house after all.”
Noah skipped through all the channels, eventually settling on one where a movie marathon was running. It was in the middle of an action movie, and the first thing I set my eyes on was an exploding car, with parts flying all over the screen. Noah seemed into it, and I w
as too polite to point out how boring I thought it was.
I took a sip of my wine, trying to concentrate on the movie while fighting the urge to fall asleep.
“This is a good part.” Noah whispered suddenly. “I’ve seen this movie before.”
“Mmm, I saw.” I mumbled and closed my eyes. “It’s very good.”
I set my wine glass down on the table and rested my free hand on Noah’s lap instead. I jerked awake several times—mostly because of Noah moving or saying something—until I fell asleep completely.
I don’t know how long I was out, but by the time I woke up, my hand had slipped downwards on Noah’s lap and was resting against something hard—the remote, perhaps. I opened my eyes slowly, my eyelashes fluttering.
“Mmm…” I let out. “What time is it?”
“Twenty past eight.” Noah mumbled and squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.
His cheeks were red and he was avoiding eye contact with me. Oh no, did I snore? I thought, embarrassed. Then, the hardness against my hand suddenly pulsated, and I realized that it wasn’t the remove that it had been leaning against after all. It was Noah’s cock. With a gasp, I pulled my hand back.
Suddenly I was wide awake.
“I’m so sorry! It was an accident, I didn’t mean to.”
Noah blushed and scratched his forehead with his hand. His other arm was wrapped around his chest, with his hand firmly gripping the side of his neck. He didn’t seem too comfortable. “Err, it’s okay.”
“I swear it slipped. I was asleep.”
“I know. You snored.” Noah glanced at me and smirked.
“Ugh…” I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers against the sides of my forehead. “I’m so sorry, this is awkward now.”
“Well…” Noah cleared his throat. “It wasn’t that bad. I mean, I’m still alive.”
I opened my eyes and looked up at Noah. This time, he met my gaze. “You mean… you liked it?”
TABOO MEGA BUNDLE: Wet & Ready (40 Hot Short Stories, First Time, Menage and More!) Page 18