by R. Linda
If I turned my head the slightest bit, our lips would touch.
“Sorry isn’t good enough. I thought you were a shark,” I mumbled, leaning into him. Having him so close made my brain foggy.
“If I were a shark, I’d have done a hell of a lot more than run my hands over your legs.” His lips grazed my ear as he spoke in that low, deep voice of his. Too afraid to trust my own voice completely, knowing it would quiver from nerves, I simply nodded. Lincoln Andrews was the only person who had the power to turn me into a nervous wreck. With nothing more than a look or a few carefully chosen words, I was putty in his hands.
He brought one hand to the side of my face. I thought he was going to touch my cheek, brush away a stray hair, like the hero in all Bailey’s romance novels did whenever he was face to face with the girl. But no, he pushed away from the wall and me, causing me to sink, and swiftly swam back out through the curtain of water falling overhead. Just like that, he was gone.
Taking a moment to catch my breath and slow my heartrate down, I swam after him. By the time I had made it back to my rock and my dress, he was fully clothed and scrolling through his phone.
I pulled myself onto the rocks and wrung my hair out so it would dry faster. Linc looked up at me and opened his mouth to say something but stopped. His eyes widened, and he bit his lip. His gaze made me uncomfortable. I shifted on my feet. What was wrong with him?
“What?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
He twirled his hand in my direction, still not speaking.
“Spit it out, Linc.”
He stood and took slow, deliberate steps until he stopped in front of me. His eyes focused on mine the entire time, and his hands clenched in fists at his sides. He was either going to punch me, which I knew was stupid because he’d never hurt me, or he was fighting with himself not to do something. I just didn’t know what.
“Geez, Princess.” His voice was gruff, gravelly—he almost sounded sick as he dropped to his knees in front of me and rested one hand on my hip. My skin burned under his fingertips, and I may have stumbled forward, only catching myself when he reached up his other hand to stop me falling. My head was light and airy.
“You’re killing me right now,” he said, lazily dragging his eyes up to meet mine. One hand dropped from my hip, and he reached for the yellow fabric of my dress. “There’s only so much I can take.”
He released his hold and stood before me, my dress gripped in his white-knuckled fist. “Put this on before I do something that will get my ass kicked.”
It was then I realised I was only wearing my white underwear. And…oh, no! White was see-through when wet. I took the dress from him without a word as he gave me one last lingering glance before turning and taking a few steps away.
Linc cleared his throat and spoke while I dressed hurriedly. “Kenzie is here with her friend Harper, and Brody has just arrived.” He turned back to me with raised eyebrows.
“What?” I strapped up my sandal and stood, dusting off my dress and walking over to him.
“I didn’t think Brody was coming,” he said, guiding me over the last few rocks and onto the path.
Brody was my cousin and so much like Nate and Linc it was scary at times. He was the same age and used to hang around a lot growing up. He didn’t get along with his parents. Well, no one got along with his parents. My father didn’t even speak to his own brother anymore. They had some falling out years ago, but I never asked. I didn’t want the details.
“I guess he was able to swing some time off at work.” It was news to me as well, but it must have been hard. He recently graduated from paramedicine, and to be able to get a week off so soon after securing a long-term job must have been difficult.
“I guess. It’ll be good to see him. And Kenzie brought a friend? What are you parents doing? Inviting the whole damn town?” Linc stepped over a log and ducked under some low-hanging branches, lifting them out of the way for me to walk through.
“Don’t ask me. You seem to know more about their wedding than I do.” I was struggling to keep up with him now. Was it this hard on the way in? Or were we going the wrong way?
“Not my fault you don’t come home often enough,” he shot back over his shoulder.
“It’s entirely your fault,” I mumbled to myself, not expecting him to hear me, but…
“What?” He turned so fast I lost my footing and stumbled backwards, catching myself on a tree before I hit the ground.
“Ouch,” I hissed, turning my hand over to look at the gash running across my palm. There were small pieces of tree bark embedded in the skin, and blood was pouring out everywhere. My eyes crossed, my stomach churned, and then the earth began to tilt. Not even Linc’s voice calling my name could pull me back.
***
I woke to Linc cursing in my ear. I opened my heavy eyelids and tried to stretch, only to have everything spin on its axis again. Linc cursed some more as my feet hit the ground.
“Careful, Princess,” he said, keeping one arm around me while sliding the room key into his door. My head pounded, and my ears were ringing.
We were back at the hotel? And where was his shirt? Not that I was complaining.
“You passed out when you saw the blood.” He kicked open the door and held me close as he led me inside. “Lie down.”
Linc picked up the phone beside the bed and called the front desk for a first aid kit before walking into the bathroom, leaving me alone. Maybe Jack was right and Linc did have a saviour complex. But that was okay. I really didn’t mind if it meant spending extra time with him.
I did what I was told, falling back into his pillows, and was disappointed they didn’t smell like him. But they wouldn’t, because he slept in my room last night, not here. It wasn’t until I brought my hand up to brush my hair out of my face that I spotted Linc’s shirt. Wrapped tightly around my palm.
He returned with a damp cloth and sat on the bed beside me. “It looks pretty nasty, but I think I can clean it up. You’ll probably have to wear a bandage around it for a few days to keep it protected, though.” He picked my hand up in his and gently unwrapped his shirt. “I’m so sorry, Indie. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”
“It wasn’t your fault. I fell. I’m clumsy, remember?” I smiled and watched his face, refusing to look at my hand because I’d likely pass out again. And besides, Linc’s face was a much nicer view.
He chuckled. “I remember.”
He came to my rescue all the time growing up because I was always injuring myself or someone else. We were playing football once, and I was running up the field with the ball, trying to get closer to where Linc was so I could kick it to him. Brody came from nowhere and tackled me to the ground. In my efforts to get him off me, I twisted and turned and kicked every way I could, until I finally landed one kick on him, right between his legs. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Nate hadn’t taken that moment to lean over us and try to rip the ball from my hands, though. Brody reared back in pain and consequently smashed the back of his head into Nate’s face.
Brody ended up with a cracker of a headache and bruised groin. Nate walked away with a broken nose. And I…I was carried off the field in the arms of a laughing Linc because I managed to sprain my knee during the whole ordeal. I was never allowed to play football with them again.
There was a knock at the door, so Linc stood to answer it, returning moments later with a small white case adorned with a drawn-on red cross. I guessed that was the first aid kit.
“Hopefully, this has something we can use.” He twisted his mouth in doubt.
I lay perfectly still, not wanting to risk a glance at my hand for fear of throwing up. Instead, I continued to watch Linc. The way his tongue darted out and wet his lips in concentration. The blue flecks in his grey eyes. The scruffy stubble across his jaw that I really wanted to touch. I could watch him for hours and never get bored.
“There. All done.” He placed my hand on my stomach and turned to pack up the medical kit.<
br />
“Was it bad?” I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
“No, just a scratch. It’ll be fine.”
“Thank you.”
“If you’re feeling up to it, Ryder called before because Bailey couldn’t get hold of you. She wants to have a girls’ night.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, a frown crossed his features before he schooled them into something more relaxed.
“Oh, umm…I guess. What are you doing?” I cringed the second I asked. I didn’t want to sound desperate or clingy, but the truth was, I was desperate and clingy. I didn’t want to leave this room. I wanted to spend more time in his company. I saw Bailey all the time. Kenzie, not so much, but…Linc, I never saw him anymore.
“Nate says we’re going to the bar downstairs for a few games of pool. All of us. Him, Brody, Ryder, and me.”
“What about Jack?” I watched as Linc’s eyebrows screwed up.
“Yeah, him too.” He walked over to his closet and began rummaging through his clothes. “You should probably go and get ready too. It’s dinner. You might want to charge your phone and call Bailey,” he said, talking to me like I was a child. What was his problem? He walked into his bathroom and closed the door, effectively dismissing me.
I was gone by the time he got out of the shower.
Chapter Ten
Linc
The music was blaring, and my clothes stuck to my body. The smell of sweat lingered in the air, but the guys all seemed to be having a good time playing pool and drinking beer. I wasn’t in the mood. One thing had been running through my head all day. Okay, that was a lie. Two things had been running through my head all afternoon.
Indie…Indie swimming in her white lace underwear. Indie standing on that rock dripping wet while she tried to dry her hair, only to have the water run down her body, trickling over her curves, glistening in the sun. That was the single most sexy thing I had ever seen. I’d never get that image out of my head. I never wanted to get that image out of my head. In fact, I was keeping it. It was going in the spank bank for later reference.
And then I couldn’t stop thinking about the comment she made before she fell into the tree and fainted. My fault. I heard it clear as day. It was my fault she didn’t come home anymore, and I couldn’t figure out why. I didn’t think I’d ever given her a reason not to come home, so why was she avoiding it? Or avoiding me? My mind ran through a million scenarios and came up empty every time.
“What’s got you looking like you’re in pain?” Brody put a beer on the table in front of me, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Where is everyone?” I looked up and noticed the pool table was empty.
“Gone to the nightclub up the street. That Ryder dude really doesn’t like his girl being away from him for too long, does he? He got trust issues or what?”
“Nah, not at all, not with Bailey, at least. Protective, though. He doesn’t trust other blokes.”
“I can see why. She’s hot.”
“Not my type.” Best mates’ younger sisters were more my type, unfortunately. I took a swig of my beer and asked the obvious. “Are the girls at the club?”
“Yeah, apparently. So Jack and Nate wanted to get over there too and keep an eye on Indie. Told ’em we’d be there after this drink.” He tipped his beer to his mouth. “So what’s got you looking all torn up?”
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Bull. Three guesses. Indie.” He counted on one finger. “Jack.” Two fingers. “And…hmm, Indie.” Three fingers with a smirk.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” I turned to the side to watch the action in the bar, not that it was interesting, but it was better than looking at Brody’s piercing gaze.
“You took too long, man.” He leaned across the table and punched me in the shoulder. “You missed your chance.”
I didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what he was talking about. He couldn’t know. I’d never told anyone how I felt about her, particularly not Brody or Nate. They were family. They’d kill me.
“Fine. Don’t admit it to me. Just know I think you’re an idiot for blowing it.” He drained the rest of his beer and slapped his hand on the table. “Let’s go.”
***
The nightclub wasn’t much better than the bar. Too hot and too many people bumping and grinding against each other. I didn’t see the appeal of places like this at all. They were sleazy, dirty, and full of losers trying to prey on young, hot women, like Indie. Bailey. Kenzie. Harper. I gritted my teeth and shoved my hands in my pockets as I edged my way toward the bar.
“Whiskey.” I nodded to the bartender because beer just wouldn’t cut it tonight.
“On the hard stuff now, huh?” Brody shouted in my ear after ordering himself a beer.
I slumped against the bar. I was on the hard stuff now, only because it made dealing with Jack-ass a little easier. “Where is everyone?”
He tilted his beer bottle toward the centre of the dance floor, where I could just make out Kenzie’s mass of blonde curls and Nate’s terrible dance moves. “Come on. Don’t be a stick in the mud.” He nudged me with his elbow.
I wasn’t a stick in the mud. I just didn’t want to go over there and dance when I had a perfectly good spot at the bar with a regular supply of liquor.
“I’m fine here. You go. You look like you’re itching to bust out some moves.”
“Your loss, man. Indie’s there.” He slapped me on the back and walked off, leaving me to nurse my whiskey.
Everyone greeted him when he made it to their little circle, which had now shifted closer to the edge of the floor. Indie stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around him in a hug and proceeded to hang off his shoulder until Jack-ass finally pulled her away.
They danced together. Like couples did. But they were too close. Their hips were touching too often. His hands were everywhere. In places they shouldn’t have been. Her hands were holding onto him. Touching his neck. His hair.
My eyebrows pinched together, and my jaw hurt from clenching it so hard. I was considering getting up and leaving when I noticed Jack-ass dragging her toward the door while she struggled to get out of his hold. I stood at once and moved in their direction.
“Jack, stop. I don’t want to go,” Indie tried to argue with him as I reached her side.
“Don’t care, Indie. What the hell were you thinking, huh? Wearing something like that to a nightclub,” he hissed at her. “You look like a whore.”
She stopped dead in her tracks, causing him to jerk backwards.
I grabbed Indie by the arm and put her behind me. Squaring my shoulders, I glared at Jack. “That was out of line. Apologise.”
“Whatever. Look at her. Every single guy in this club can’t take his eyes off her.” Jack looked around the club, my gaze following his, and I realised he was right. Not everyone, but a lot of guys were looking at her because she looked gorgeous.
“Still no need to speak to her that way.”
“Look, bro, I don’t care right now. I’m done. I’m tired. She can either come back to the hotel with me like the good little girlfriend she is, or she can stay here, and you can deal with her.”
I turned to face her. “What do you want to do, Princess?”
“Stay,” she breathed hesitantly, her gaze darting over my shoulder at Jack. Was she scared of him?
“Fine. Don’t come knocking on my door in the middle of the night, baby cakes. I won’t answer.” And with that, he turned and stormed out.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Fine.”
“Want to go back over and dance?”
“No, I need a drink.”
“I can help with that.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the bar.
Two tequila slammers later, she had me on the dance floor with everyone else. Somehow, Nate ended up dancing with Harper, and Brody was wrapped around Kenzie, completely oblivious to the threatening glares Ryder was sending his way. I kept my distance, dancing bes
ide Indie.
That was until some loser worked his way into the middle of our small group and began grinding against Indie. She looked at me with wide eyes and tried to step away, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. I took one step forward and crossed my arms.
“Back off, man. We’re just having fun,” he said with a sneer. The gel in his hair made it stick straight up like a porcupine.
“Does it look like she’s having fun?” I asked, aware Nate, Brody, and Ryder were watching closely.
“I don’t hear her complaining.” She was struggling against his hold.
“Well, I am. Piss off and leave my girl alone.” I grabbed Indie’s hands and pulled her against me, where she fit perfectly.
“Sorry, man. My bad.” He held his hands up in surrender before scurrying away after one look at Nate and Brody flanking me on either side.
Indie waited until the douche with too much gel had disappeared before trying to move away from me.
“Uh-uh.” I pulled her so her back was pressed to my chest. “You’re staying right here with me.”
I expected an argument or for her to roll her eyes at me and tell me I was being an idiot, but she didn’t. No, she relaxed into me and began dancing, swinging her hips to the beat of the music, one hand raised in the air, the other gripping my forearm tightly to her waist, which was perfectly okay with me. I hated dancing, but that was how much I loved that girl.
We moved together languidly. I had no idea if we were keeping time to the music or not, and I didn’t care. I was just enjoying the moment while it lasted. No way would Nate be okay with me dancing with his sister like I was if it hadn’t been for the other loser trying to get under her dress. I didn’t know how long we danced, but it was long enough that the others had stopped for a breather and a drink or two. Yet we continued dancing, only stopping when Kenzie came running over to tell us, “Body shots!”