by Gina Kincade
I laughed. She looked so adorable in my jacket. “Of course,” I said, not hesitating as I took it upon myself to unzip her from the confines of the leather.
Without another word, we walked side by side to the bank of the creek, the waterfall just beyond the tree line.
“Man, I love that sound,” she mumbled, most likely talking about the rushing timbre of the water hitting rocks. Looking over at her, I noticed her eyes were closed while she took in a deep breath of air through her nose. She seemed so peaceful in that moment.
While the scenery was beautiful, I couldn’t stop staring at her. With silky hair flowing like melted chocolate and eyes swimming like honey, she was the perfect example of beauty. Her skin was so soft looking, I just itched to touch it—touch her.
God help me, she was going to be the end of my self-control. Even though it was the last thing I wanted to think about right now, I couldn’t help but consider what Dylan would say. Would he have a problem with the fact I liked his sister? Would he even care?
It wasn’t just her looks that attracted me to her either. There was something about her, a confidence I couldn’t quite pinpoint. She acted poised and strong, yet she had a few fragilities hidden behind those beautiful, brown eyes.
Unable to keep my hands in my pockets, I reached for her, grazing my finger along the crest of her bare shoulder.
In response to my touch, she turned her head and looked my way, watching every move my fingers made. I felt my heart skip a beat when her eyes met mine. I could’ve been wrong, and Christ knew I was quite often, but it seemed like she was inviting me to see her—I mean, really see her—to know who she really was in every way imaginable.
With that invitation, my fingers made their way to her cheek, trailing them along her jawline to hook one beneath her chin. Turning to face me head on, she allowed me to lift her face toward mine. My lips were just dying to taste her.
I ran my thumb across her lips, feeling the softness beneath my touch. Her breath hitched in response, and I couldn’t wait to hear that again once my mouth was against hers.
With my other hand, I snaked my arm around her waist, pulling her to me. Long forgotten was the waterfall and peaceful mountains—she was all that existed in this moment.
“Travis,” she whispered, her eyes darting from my lips to my eyes. My name sounded so amazingly good from her lips. I just couldn’t wait to hear her say it again and again. Well, yes I could, because right now I wanted her lips to be busy kissing me, not saying my name.
Her eyes were practically begging for me to close the distance, so I did what any red-blooded man would do and kissed her.
My lips met hers, softly at first. Both of our mouths danced with each other, gently, as if we weren’t quite sure this was supposed to happen. Doubts began to riddle my mind. Should we have been doing this? What if she wasn’t really sure? What if she was only kissing me because she felt pressured to?
It didn’t matter who you were, or how old you happened to be—a first kiss was always one of the most passionate and nerve-wracking events in a relationship.
All my doubts seemed to fade away as she deepened the kiss, our lips continuing to move in time together, closing around each other and opening again. With her eagerness, I figured she was more than okay with what was happening, so I made my move.
Pulling her in a little tighter, I opened my mouth more, tilting my head to gain better access. Without a second thought, I sent my tongue out to taste hers. She responded immediately, grabbing the back of my neck with her hands, and squeezed me against her body.
She let out the cutest little moan, an obvious sign she was totally into me, and wrapped her tongue around mine. I never wanted this to end. She was simply perfect.
Tingles traveled all the way from my head to my toes, and a more than slight twinge in my gut told me she was affecting me on so many delicious levels. With the feeling of my length swelling in my jeans, I considered pulling away. Again, doubts began to overtake me as I questioned how she’d react. Would she think I was a total asshole for bringing her here to an isolated place and practically mauling her?
The feel of her warm tongue turning with mine pushed all the hesitation from my mind once again. Maybe she’d notice, maybe she wouldn’t. Right then and there, I didn’t care. There was no way I could stop. She had me hypnotized with her tongue, entranced with her lips.
All too soon, she pulled away, leaving me hanging. I stood there, shocked and dejected while she wiped her lips with her thumb.
“Dani, I...” I what? I was going to say I was sorry, but if I had to be honest with myself and her, it would’ve been a blatant lie. I wasn’t sorry—not one little bit.
“It’s getting late,” she said, her eyes unable to look at me directly. “Well, not late, but close to lunch time. We still have to load up the bike and—”
Without a second thought, my lips interrupted her words. She was just scared, just making excuses to avoid our true feelings.
At first, she responded in kind, kissing me back as if her next breath depended on it. God, she was amazing. She tasted so sweet. Her body fit perfectly against mine. She was—
“Stop, please,” she whined while pushing at my chest, harder this time. Hearing that four-letter word—stop—had me halting in my tracks. It no longer mattered what I wanted. My desires had to be pushed aside. I might not’ve had the best relationship with my father, but one thing he taught me was that when a woman says no, it means no.
I didn’t say anything—I really had nothing to say. She wanted me to stop, so I did. No amount of questions that seemed to be stewing around in my brain could change that.
Grabbing my hand, she prompted me to look up at her.
“I’m sorry, I just think we shouldn’t be doing this, especially since you just moved in a few days ago... not to mention you’re Dylan’s best friend,” she said, her voice cracking as if she didn’t believe her own words.
I nodded, looking back down at my feet like my shoes were the most interesting thing I’d seen all day.
“Thank you,” she muttered, confusing me to my core.
“For what?” I asked, finally looking at her to examine those warm, brown eyes of hers.
“For bringing me out here. For taking me on my first ever motorcycle ride. For not being mad at me.” She phrased the last sentence as if it were a question. She obviously needed validation I wasn’t pissed.
“Of course not,” I admitted. “I’ll admit, I’m a bit disappointed, but definitely not mad.”
“Good,” she said with a dazzling smile that hid so many secrets behind its curves.
Chapter Seven
Danielle
It had been several weeks since our trip to Georgia... several long ass weeks. What was I thinking turning him away? Now he didn’t seem to want to come near me at all other than when he had to. He still kept up with cooking dinner most nights, which I was definitely grateful for.
I still wanted more from him. The standoffish treatment he was giving me was for the mother fucking birds. God, what I wouldn’t have given to feel his lips on mine just once more.
I was a stupid fool of a girl for pushing him away. At the time, I was afraid... afraid of what his motives were, afraid of what my motives were, and overall, afraid of how my brother would react.
With another weekend off work, I was bound and determined to have a little fun.
“Hey, Dylan? Travis?” I asked while the guys watched TV one Saturday morning. “I want to invite Madison over for dinner tonight if that’s okay.”
“Sounds fine with me,” Dylan said, never taking his eyes of the tube long enough to acknowledge me.
“Do you need us to make ourselves scarce?” Travis asked, a gentleman as always.
“Of course not. I want y’all to be around. It can be the four of us for dinner and maybe a movie?” Sitting next to Travis on the couch, I grabbed the remote and began thumbing through the guide for the on-demand channels.
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�Hey! You better not change that,” Dylan yelled, squealing like a whiny little girl.
“Quit your moaning. I’m just looking,” I retorted back.
“How ‘bout The Longest Ride? That sounds like a good one,” I said out loud, hoping the guys would agree just to get rid of me.
“That sounds like a chick flick,” Travis said, stating the obvious.
“It is, but the chicks in it are hot too, so it’s not like you guys won’t have something to look at,” I said. My stomach flipped as soon as I said it, and I wondered if Travis was looking at any other girls. Not that it was any of my business, but it still got me all kinds of tied in knots just thinking about it.
“You girls can watch whatever you want after the game is over tonight,” Dylan said, referring to the college football team he liked to follow.
“Deal.”
“So what are we having for dinner?” Travis asked as he turned his body to face me.
“How about spaghetti?” Little did Travis know, my spaghetti was killer.
“Hell yeah!” Dylan cheered. He loved my spaghetti too.
“Sounds good,” Travis said, his smile dazzling me for the first time in weeks.
With that, I busied myself with chores, tidying the place and getting it ready for my friend.
“SO, YOU HAVEN’T KISSED him since?” Madison asked while in my room for a brief moment.
“Nope. He respected my wishes and hasn’t even come near me,” I admitted. I was unable to hide the disappointment in my tone, and my friend saw right through it.
“Well, you have to change that shit, girl. Tell him you were wrong,” she demanded. She always knew how to push me. Peer pressure was intense around this girl.
“I can’t do that. My reasons are still justified, no matter how difficult it is for me to come to terms with them.” Even I didn’t believe the blabber coming from the hole in my mouth.
“They sound more like excuses, and excuses are for losers. You’re just scared,” she said, pegging me like a true friend would.
“That’s one of my reasons. I’m scared Dylan will cause issues. You know how protective he is, especially since he’s been back. I really don’t want to make things harder on him than they already are. Travis is a tremendous help around here. I can’t let my clit make the decisions and screw up everything in the process.”
Madison huffed out a breath, exasperation clear in her tone. “Then you mind if I go for him? He’s fucking hawt!”
My stomach dropped. The words couldn’t have been coming from my best friend. There was no way she would do that to me. I mean, yes, she had the ability to take any man she wanted—she was gorgeous, smart, sexy. But there was no way in hell my best friend would go for someone that I liked, regardless of how fickle I was being about him.
“Yes, yes, I mind. I mind a lot. You have no idea how much that’ll torture me,” I said, tears nearly threatening to come up. What a stupid woman I was... tearing up over something so trivial.
“Okay, shhh... damn. I was just joking,” Madison said while advancing to give me a hug.
Ignoring the fact that I majorly overreacted, I pulled out of her arms and said, “I’m going to get started on dinner. Want a drink?”
“Yes, oh hell yes. Something strong,” she insisted.
“Me too.”
It didn’t take me long to pull out the bottle of Jack Daniels. I seriously needed to chill out, and Jack was just the ticket to get me there.
“Need any help?” Travis asked as I started browning the meat in a skillet.
“Yeah, that’d be great. Could you start chopping up some fresh spinach, scallion onions, and mushrooms? I’ll get the meat and noodles going.”
“Sure thing.” I was thankful the man was at least talking to me, especially after I turned him down like I did. Even though it’d been several weeks, it still seemed like yesterday with how raw I felt.
Our counter space in this house was pretty plentiful, yet Travis chose to stand right next to me while he prepped the vegetables—intimidatingly close.
With his arm pressed against mine, I turned my head to look at Dylan and Madison. Of course, Dylan was glued to the game, totally oblivious to what was going down, but Madison was staring, her jaw slack. She wasn’t ignorant. She could see the tension building like a wildfire between us.
“You want this stuff in the meat?” Travis asked, snapping me back to reality.
“Please,” I agreed. My voice sounded breathy, like a nervous whisper.
In the cabinet right in front of Travis, I reached around him and pulled out the brown sugar. I had to practically maul the guy to get what I needed, putting my hand on his shoulder and pressing my breasts against his side. I let my hand linger, my fingers gliding slowly along the tight muscles of his back.
“You’re so wicked,” he said under his breath, a smile playing on his delicious-looking lips. I couldn’t help but mirror his smirk. I knew I was being unfair, but I couldn’t seem to help myself.
“Umm,” I muttered, thinking about what I needed next. “Ahh, barbeque sauce.”
Snapping my fingers, I made my way over to the fridge to grab the bottle. Without warning, Travis grabbed me around my waist and pulled me into the pantry. It was all I could do not to squeal in reaction to the sudden movement, and I was beyond grateful we were out of sight from the living room area.
As soon as the door shut behind us, capturing us in the dark, walk-in pantry, his lips were on mine like fire on fire. The pain in my back as he pushed me up against the shelves was welcomed—a relief in comparison to the tension that had been building inside me for so long.
Hissing, he dug his teeth into my bottom lip, and I couldn’t help but moan in response.
“You drive me fucking crazy, you know that?” His hands held me close to him, pushing his erection against my stomach. I smiled in response, his lips swallowing up my smirk. I knew it was wicked of me to take pleasure in his frustration, but the fact I was affecting him really had me excited.
He descended down to the column of my neck, his scruff tickling me as he sucked on the sensitive part of my skin there. Giggling, I pushed him away. While I wanted so badly for this little tryst to continue, dinner was going to burn if we didn’t get out there.
“Dinner,” I whispered. I couldn’t see him, but his frustration was palpable. I could feel the sexual tension building between us more intensely than ever.
He growled as he let me go, prompting me to tease him just a little bit more. Without opening the door, keeping us still cloaked in darkness, I grabbed the fabric of his shirt and pulled him against me.
“Later,” I whispered, my lips finding his in an instant. “Promise me... later?”
“Most definitely... later,” he affirmed as I reached behind me for the door handle.
Blinking a few times as soon as the light hit my eyes, I felt so frazzled, I had to stand and think about what I was supposed to be doing.
“Barbeque sauce,” he said, whispering in my ear and making me jump.
Right. That’s what I was doing...
DINNER WAS PERFECT, all except for Madison constantly staring and smiling at me. It was obvious she could tell something had happened, and I was worried with the amount of alcohol now in her system, she wouldn’t be able to keep her mouth shut for long.
And I was right.
“So, you two are good together,” she said with an infuriating wink, gesturing her fork to point to both of us as if we were one item.
“What?” I gasped. I couldn’t believe she actually opened her big trap.
“Cooking. This meal is delicious. You two work well together,” she clarified, brilliantly covering up her stupid blunder.
“Hell yeah, you do. You two sure know what you’re doing in the kitchen,” Dylan said, never looking away from his plate as he spoke.
Twirling some spaghetti onto my fork, I shoved it in my mouth before saying anything.
“Well, I’m glad you guys are enjoying it,”
Travis said, his voice even and cool like nothing had gone on. Meanwhile, I was out of my mind with anxiety.
It didn’t take long after dinner for Madison to corner me and demand answers.
“Tell me what the hell happened,” she insisted. “I want to know everything!”
“Shh! Damn you, Madi.” I didn’t know what to say. Her assault had me so frazzled. “He just kissed me... in the pantry. Nothing happened, really.”
“Yeah, suuure,” she said, rolling her eyes at me in true Madi fashion. “Please tell me you didn’t turn him away again.”
“Well, I had to finish dinner, didn’t I?” I knew I was being defensive, but seriously, she didn’t need to know I already made him promise we’d continue where we left off once we were alone.
“I don’t think we would’ve starved. That hottie out there is more important than some spaghetti,” she said, pointing her finger toward the closed door of my bedroom. “Which is why I’m leaving. You need to tell your bro to go to bed so that you can hit that.”
“You’re so ridiculous.” I couldn’t help but laugh, my chuckle coming out more uncomfortable than humorous.
“Still, I’m leaving. Dinner was good though,” Madison said as she opened my bedroom door. Looking back at me, she whispered, “Do it.”
I rolled my eyes again, suddenly feeling self-conscious about my clothes, my body, myself. She had no idea how difficult it was for me to put myself out there. What if I took my clothes off and he didn’t like what he saw? I’d be mortified for sure.
Hugging my friend, I walked her out, almost relieved she was leaving. So, the fact Travis was helping my brother to bed now that the game he was watching was over had me over the fucking moon in that moment. I busied myself by cleaning up the kitchen, hoping and praying that he’d come back out to see me.
Without saying a word, Travis followed me to my room.