by Gina Kincade
The sneaking part was the only downfall in the whole situation.
For some reason, she was insistent that we not tell her brother—worried he wouldn’t approve and end up getting upset or, worse, kicking me out. Whenever I brought it up, she’d change the subject. I personally hated the fact that we had to hide what we had. I wanted to date her, take her to a nice dinner, a movie, show her off to anyone else who happened to notice just how incredibly gorgeous she was.
There was one time we planned to go out, just the two of us, but as soon as Dylan questioned it, she backed down, saying she wasn’t feeling good and wanted to stay home.
Part of me couldn’t help but wonder if she didn’t want to be seen with me or was too embarrassed to admit to anyone that we were secretly seeing each other. After all, she was pretty perfect—strong, independent, sexy as hell—so for her to fall for a shmuck like me didn’t make much sense.
For several months, we hid our little secret behind closed doors, never being able to show our affection beyond the company of each other. Frankly, it was beginning to eat at me. So many times, I wanted to give her a kiss goodbye before she left for work or hold her hand as we watched a movie after dinner. But with a gentle smile and a special look in her eye, she’d always turn me away.
I didn’t want to hide anymore.
Without her permission, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Dylan was going to have to learn that this was our new reality. I was just hoping I wouldn’t piss off Danielle too much.
One night when Danielle had the next day off work, we decided to find something to watch on Netflix... her choice, not mine. I would’ve preferred to take her out for a night on the town. But then, I saw this as my opportunity to change our course—send our relationship in a more positive direction.
Feeling a bit slimy and devious for what I was about to do, but seeing no other way, I went to Dylan’s room and invited him to come out and watch a movie with us. Of course, it always took him a bit to get moving, but he seemed eager to hang with someone considering he was stuck at home without us while we were at work most days.
Plopping down on the couch next to her, I stretched my arm out behind her. Of course, I was graced with a sideway glance, a silent way of her asking what the hell I was up to.
“Kiss me,” I demanded, hoping and praying the timing was right.
“Not out here, you know that,” she whispered, her eyes darting toward the hall where Dylan’s room was.
“Just a small kiss before I’m forced to move,” I insisted while stroking her hair.
“Quickly—then it’s the chair for you,” she said with a smile, making me fall for her all over again. Yeah, she might’ve been a bit too paranoid about this whole ordeal, but she was still adorable.
Gently, I pulled her to me, placing my lips against hers in what now felt like a familiar act. She matched my movements, the small hum of her moan nearly inaudible, except to me. As our supposed small kiss deepened, she grabbed hold of my shirt, pulling at the fabric in order to draw me closer. I just loved how eager she always was—it not only gave me confidence, but it fueled a fire inside me I’d never felt with anyone else before.
“What the hell?” a voice boomed from behind me, causing Danielle to jump and pull away from me. I didn’t bother to turn and look. I knew what was happening. We were caught—good.
Danielle’s eyes went wide, the look of surprise on her face in stark contrast to the usual happy grin she sported.
“Dylan, it—” Her words abruptly stopped as she looked at me, than her brother, and back. “This is a setup, isn’t it? You knew he was coming in at any moment, didn’t you?”
“I told you I didn’t want to hide anymore,” I said, still never looking at Dylan, only at Danielle, trying desperately to assess how mad she was at me.
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Dylan said, making his way around the couch so his wheelchair was parked right in front of us.
A frantic look came over Danielle, and I suddenly felt guilty I was the one to put it there. She opened her mouth and then shut it, like she was trying to find the words but they wouldn’t come out.
“Dani and I have been dating for several months now,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Well, not exactly dating,” Danielle added in with an uncomfortable laugh. I knew she was just trying to make light of the situation for her brother’s sake, but it still hit me deep that she’d blow off what we had as something so frivolous and unimportant.
“So, I invite you into my home and you thank me by throwing it at my sister?” Dylan said, his voice becoming outraged. Dani sure knew her brother well, and from his initial reaction, he wasn’t happy. “You’re my fucking fri—”
“Wait a minute,” Danielle stood up and said, interrupting him mid-sentence and making her presence known. “This has absolutely nothing to do with you, Dylan.”
“The hell it doesn’t!” he seethed. “You’re my sister, damn it. There is no bro code in the world that would make this okay.”
“Screw whatever unspoken bro code you’re supposed to have!” she yelled, her hands on her hips making her look fiercer than she had mere minutes before. “My love life is none of your business.”
Now I really felt guilty that I’d started something. I hadn’t seen them yell at each other, well, ever. Now they were yelling at each other because of my selfish reasons.
“None of my business?” Dylan hollered, wheeling his chair closer to us with every word. “You sucking face with my best friend is none of my fucking business?”
“No, it’s not. What I do with my lips is my decision, not yours,” she said, towering over him as she spoke. “I’ve been spending day after day worried about you, Dilly. Now it’s my turn to worry about myself for once.”
“Why the hell are you worried about me? You two are obviously not too worried about me if you’re spending your nights shacking up with each other!”
I needed to put a stop to this. Dylan was being petty, and if he didn’t back off, he was going to hurt her to the point where it would be hard to repair.
“Don’t fight!” I yelled as I stood too, never making eye contact with either of them.
“You started this, Trav. Let me clean it up now,” Danielle said, her words stinging, bad, causing me to finally look at her, bewildered as to why she was being so crass. I knew I probably screwed up by not following her wishes, but she was acting like she hated me.
“Is it really that bad he knows now? I’d much rather he know how we feel about each other than be constantly lied to,” I pointed out, shooting my words right back at her.
“You two obviously don’t have much feeling at all if you felt the need to keep it from me all this time,” Dylan spat.
“You have no idea what you’re even talking about, Dylan,” Danielle retorted. “My feelings, again, are none of your concern.”
A tear began to fall from the corner of her eye, causing her to wipe it away before she thought anyone would see.
“Damn it, Dani. Don’t cry,” I said, holding my arms out for her. If I’d known this whole ordeal was going to make her cry, I wouldn’t have done it. I wished at that moment I could take it back.
“I’m not trying to,” she said as she curled up into my arms. “Why’d you have to do that, huh? You couldn’t just let things be for a while?”
“You mean keep lying to me?” Dylan said, causing us both to look down at him.
“Yes, I wanted to continue lying to you because I knew you’d act like a child about it all,” she said, her tears now beginning to flow even more. At this point, she didn’t wipe them away. She didn’t even try to stop them. She let her feelings show, and the whole scenario was breaking my heart.
With force, Dylan locked the wheels on his chair and began to stand, struggling a bit as he pushed his way up. By reflex only, I let Dani go, putting my hands out for Dylan to grab hold of. He didn’t want the help though, pushing me away with anger.
A grunt came from him as he straightened his spine, standing to full height, towering over his sister. His balance was definitely getting better, but I made sure to stay close, just in case. The last thing we needed was him falling.
“I can’t believe you don’t trust me enough to share something like this with me,” he said, looking her straight in the eye as he spoke. “Or did you think your brother wasn’t a big boy enough to hear his sister is fucking around?”
“Quit being so crude! I’m not the kind of girl to just fuck around, and if I was, it would be none of your concern!” she said forcefully, never backing down from him. “Plus, my relationship goes far beyond fucking with Travis, not that I need to explain myself to you.”
“I’d rather you did. Considering you’re my sister...” he said, pointing to her before looking at me and adding, “...and you’re my best friend, I’d really like to know what the hell is going on.”
“I love him, Dylan,” she blurted out, her eyes slick as glass as another tear fell. Her gaze darted from her brother to me, a gasp leaving her lips as soon as she realized what she’d said.
“Love? How the hell did this get that far without me knowing?” Dylan said, his voice simmering to that of annoyance rather than anger.
Jaw slack, I just stared at her, completely ignoring the fact that Dylan was standing right next to us. I knew she had just dangled out on a limb, and I was leaving her hanging. I’d wanted to say those words to her for so long, yet here we were spilling our guts out in front of Dylan. It wasn’t exactly the dream scenario I’d planned.
“I love her too,” I said, my voice getting a bit choked up at the realization we’d just hit a much bigger milestone than I’d expected.
“Travis, don’t say it just because I did,” Danielle said, her tears beginning to dry a bit with each passing moment.
“If you think I’d do that, you don’t know me very well,” I admonished. She knew me more than anyone else. We’d confessed our deepest secrets to each other, confided in each other about everything over the past several months. No way did she not know me, but she definitely had some self-esteem issues that made her see herself in a different light than I did.
“I know you,” she whispered.
“Yeah, and I know you,” I said back, reaching my thumb out to wipe a tear away from her cheek.
“Great. You guys know each other,” Dylan interrupted as he reached for the arm of his wheelchair and sat back down with a plop. He’d been fitted for a prosthetic about a month ago, but he was still getting used to it and didn’t often wear it around the house.
“Well, Dylan. It’s a long time coming, but this is my attempt at informing you that I’m in love with your sister. Are you going to kick me out now?” I asked, worried he’d be hard to live with if he felt this adamant about me seeing his sister.
“Hell no. I’d never do that. I just wish someone would’ve fucking told me is all. I’m really not so fragile that I wouldn’t be able to handle this kind of news. Shit, I probably would’ve been happy for you guys if you’d told me from the beginning,” he admitted. “How long has this been going on?”
“Since Georgia,” Danielle said. Shrugging, she looked at Dylan and added, “It was the bike, I swear.”
Her joke had all three of us laughing. She loved the motorcycle so much that she actually had me taking her to and from work on it as often as I was able.
“Damn, so basically ever since you moved in, man? You couldn’t keep it in your pants for more than a few days?” Dylan said, earning a slap from his sister.
“You asked when it started—as in, when I started liking him. You didn’t ask when we first slept together,” Danielle clarified. “I doubt you want to know the details, so just shut it.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to know,” Dylan said. “So, y’all are serious then? Like, really serious?”
“Umm... I think love is pretty damn serious,” I said, scratching my head and wishing I wasn’t having this conversation with him. Hell, Dani and I just admitted that we loved each other, yet here we were, beating it to death with Dylan?
“Well, shit. And I can’t talk some sense into you, sis?” he said, laughing as the words flowed from the hole in his face.
She laughed, shaking her head at him. “No, you can’t talk sense into me. I don’t want you to. I just want you to accept what is and leave it at that.”
“And if you two don’t work out? Will I be stuck in the middle being forced to pick sides?” he asked, his tone a bit more serious.
“Nope. We didn’t need you to make our decisions before, we won’t drag you into anything if the waters get rough,” I clarified.
“Ditto,” Danielle said.
“Welp, congrats then. I just hope I don’t have to see any more mushy shit like I just did.” He took that moment to wheel himself into the kitchen and grab a beer.
I just looked at Danielle, amazed at how she handled herself. I knew she was a tough cookie, but her fear of telling him made me think standing up to her brother was an exception. Boy, was I wrong. I definitely would avoid crossing her at all costs.
“Asshole!” she said, pushing at my chest before lunging at me and wrapping her arms around my neck. “You couldn’t just leave well enough alone?”
Placing my arms around her waist, I explained, “Nope. I was going crazy sneaking around, always afraid I’d look at you too long or get caught with my pants down.”
“You’re a pain.” With that, she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed me, stealing my breath away.
“Ugh! See? This is exactly what I don’t want to see,” Dylan yelled while wheeling himself back into the living room. “Can we watch the damn movie now?”
Both of us laughed, and my heart suddenly felt lighter than it had in quite a while.
Epilogue
Danielle
Two years later...
My brother walked me down the aisle yesterday. Yes, you heard me right... walked! I couldn’t help but tear up the whole way either, not just because I was marrying the love of my life, but because my brother was actually able to walk alongside me.
It took him quite a while to get used to his prosthesis, but now he walked like he was born to wear it. He even danced with me, which had me crying even more.
With excitement, Travis and I boarded a cruise ship. I’d never been on a cruise before and thought it’d be the perfect honeymoon for us. Making our way to our room, I quickly realized I made the right decision. This place was paradise on the water... with food we didn’t have to cook! That alone was thrilling to me.
Once we found our cabin, a feeling of anticipation overwhelmed me. I finally had my new husband all to myself. Of course, I pounced on him as soon as we walked through the doorway.
Pushing him down on the bed, my lips landed hard on his, almost jarringly so. But I didn’t care. I wanted him, here and now.
I pushed on his chest to sit up and straddle him, pulling off my shirt while trying to be both quick and sexy.
“Mmm... I guess you couldn’t even wait until we left port?” he said, his hands landing on my breasts and squeezing me through my bra.
That needs to be rectified right away, I thought as I reached behind me and unclasped the over the shoulder boulder holder.
“What’s the point in waiting? I plan on fucking you every single day of this trip—possibly more than once a day,” I admitted, sighing heavily when he began to play with my nipples just like I wanted him to.
With his muscles flexing as he moved, he stood up, taking me with him just long enough to set me on my feet and remove his clothes, my shorts dropping like lead on the floor.
Man, life with him was going to be so much fun.
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About the Author
Rene Folsom, author of paranormal romance and erotica, lives in Florida with her husband and three kids. She has officially diagnosed herself with creative ADD and often has a million and one writing projects going at once. In addition to writing, she is also a graphic artist who enjoys creating custom book covers for indie authors. She is definitely an artist at heart and would love nothing more than to be elbow deep in clay during her waking hours.
Rene believes that all fiction is based on some form of reality—otherwise, we would never have the inspiration or knowledge to dream up the realistic situations we portray with our words. She is proud to say that her personal experiences have been inspirational, though perhaps not always identical to that of her fictional characters. Where reality and fantasy diverge, however, must remain her little secret...
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Cornerstone Series
Playing Games Series
Roommate Romance Series
Soul Seers Series
Twisted Wolf Tales Series
Favorite Things Series
#MeetCute Series
Boss
A Powerless Series Prequel