Unbreakable

by Jennifer Lazaris

  “This is going to change things between us, Em. It’s going to change everything. No matter how much we try, things will always be different between us if we go down this road.”

  What he’s saying is true; I know it in my heart. But I’m willing to risk dealing with those changes in exchange for a sweet summer memory.

  Still, the concerned look on his face leads me to my next question.

  “Then why did you kiss me, Will?”

  Chapter Eleven

  WILL

  Well, there’s the million-dollar question I have no fucking clue how to answer.

  Truthfully, I hadn’t had a plan when I’d gone after her through the storm. When she’d turned around, the vulnerable look on her face socked me right in the stomach. For once, I didn’t stop to debate the pros and cons. I’d simply reacted.

  At that moment, the tortured thoughts that dogged me for three years completely stopped. It was nothing but blissful silence. The only thing I’d heard was the pounding of the rain against the pavement and the tiny gasp she’d made when my lips finally met hers.

  When she’d kissed me back, her passion rivaling my own, I didn’t want to stop.

  “Mav?” She puts her small hand on my forearm, and the vulnerable look returns.

  “I kissed you because I needed to know,” I say finally. “I needed to know what I was missing.”

  She looks up at me with those lovely green eyes, and this time I know there’s only one question she needs me to answer.

  “I’ve been missing plenty,” I say, my voice thick with emotion.

  Her lips part and her eyes widen. “Oh.”

  It almost all comes pouring out of me—the need to tell her just how crazy I am about her. That it wasn’t just a kiss for me back there. It was three years of aching, overwhelming desire. Three years of needing to feel her in my arms, her body pressed against mine. Three years of wondering how her sweet kisses would taste. Now I know. They taste of sugary mint and fresh, ripe cherries.

  They taste like Emmy.

  Christ, that kiss rocked me to the core. But I can’t tell her that—I’ll sound like a lovesick asshole. Which clearly, I am.

  Anyway, none of this means as much to her as it does to me.

  Emmy’s teeth begin to chatter, and I usher her over to the door that leads into the kitchen.

  “You’re drenched, Em. I’ll get us something to drink while you go change, okay?”

  She gives me a shy smile. “Sounds like a good plan. I’ll be right back.”

  I dig two wine glasses out of the cupboard and pour us each a healthy serving of red before heading upstairs to change. Emmy’s hair dryer is running, so I assume she’ll be a while.

  Stripping down to my birthday suit, I towel off and slide into a dry pair of jeans and a t-shirt before going back downstairs.

  I can’t stop playing that kiss over and over in my mind. It was so fucking hot that I’d moaned into her mouth. When she was finally in my arms, I’d let myself go and chased after the feelings I’d been running from forever.

  It made me feel completely out of control, and that’s not something I’m used to. I was worried not only that I’d surprised her, but also that I’d scared her with my intensity. The tiny little gasp she’d made when our lips met had been like pouring gasoline on fire. It lit me up and burned me down.

  Afterward, something inside of me eased. Like a rope tied around my chest for years had finally come loose.

  Emmy hurries down the stairs and into the kitchen. She radiates nervous energy, but her smile is bright. Her long brown hair is straight and loose around her shoulders, and she’s changed into a short white skirt and a blue hoodie. Her face is bare of makeup, except for a fresh coat of cherry gloss on her lips.

  I know she loves her makeup, but she doesn’t need it. She’s perfect the way she is.

  “Feel better?” I ask.

  She walks over to where I’m sitting at the island. “Much.”

  I smile and place a hand on her waist when she stops in front of me. “Have some wine, Sunshine. It’ll warm you up.”

  I slide the glass across to her, and she takes a huge swallow.

  “I’d rather have you warm me up.”

  Her cheeks turn pink, and she peers up at me. “Is that okay to say? Or is that totally weird? God, I’m so nervous. I don’t know how to act now that we’ve decided to… you know.”

  Christ, she’s so fucking adorable. I pull her close to me. “It’s more than okay.”

  Emmy takes another big gulp of wine and nods. “Okay, good.”

  “Slow down. You don’t want to get drunk.”

  Emmy places her hand on my thigh and gives a shaky laugh. “But it’s liquid courage. I need it.”

  “Em, it’s just me,” I say gently, putting down my wine glass and wrapping my arms around her.

  “But I don’t know this side of you.”

  I touch my forehead to hers. “You will, I promise. You’ll know it well.”

  Her sweet breath mingles with mine as we study each other. The scent of her cherry lip gloss lingers in the air, and I lean in for another kiss.

  Just before our lips touch, her cell phone rings.

  Emmy closes her eyes and lets out a sigh. “You’ve got to be kidding. Who’s calling me now?”

  We don’t have to wait long for an answer. Sully’s name flashes across the screen, and my heart sinks. Of course it’s him. He’s got fucking radar when it comes to his sister.

  “Go on. Answer it.” I nod at the phone.

  She gives me an anxious glance. “Are you sure?”

  The last thing I need is him calling me next. “He’ll worry if you don’t answer.”

  “Hello?” she says, picking up the phone.

  Sully’s voice booms from the other end of the line. “Baby Sis! What’s going on in cottage country?”

  Speaking of liquid courage, I drain my wine glass and get up for a refill. I’d say this situation calls for whiskey, but beggars can’t be choosers.

  “Hey, Sully. I’m just hanging out with Will.”

  “Cool. Press the speaker button so I can talk to him, too.”

  Emmy doesn’t even need to use the hands-free option, because I can hear Sully loud and clear. My mom always used to remind me to “use my inside voice” when we were in the house, but Sully has no concept of what that means. He’s always been loud.

  Emmy shrugs and clicks the button. “Okay. You’re on, Sully.”

  “Mav! What’s up, man? How are things going up there?”

  I swallow down my guilt and focus on keeping my voice even. “Hey, Sully. Everything’s fine. It’s raining, so we’re staying in tonight.”

  “That fucking sucks. What the hell are you going to do? Em, don’t let him drag you into one of his all-night video game marathons. You’ll lose. He’s a master at those fucking things.”

  I run a hand down over my face. If Sully knew what we were going to be doing all night, I’d get a slapshot straight to my nuts.

  “Emmy’s probably better competition than you are, Sully. You fucking suck at every game.”

  Sully laughs. “Probably. Watch out, Mav. She might just give you a run for your money. My baby sister always gets what she wants. Remember that.”

  My gaze drifts back over to Emmy. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  She pours herself more wine. “We’re twins, Sully. Equals. Three stupid minutes does not make me your baby sister.”

  “Yes, it does. Nothing you say will ever change that fact. That also means I get to intimidate and threaten your boyfriends for the rest of my life.”

  Emmy’s eyes meet mine, and crushing guilt settles on my soul like a lead weight. I’ve never betrayed a friend, and betraying my best friend is eating me alive. But sadly, after I’ve kissed his sister, there’s simply no turning back. I want Emmy. Even if it’s only for a few days, I intend to have her.

  “Whatever, Sully,” she says weakly.

  “Anyway, kids, I got
ta go. I’m heading out soon. We’ll be up in a few days, so make sure you keep the beer cold, Mav.”

  “Yeah, you know it,” I reply, gulping down more wine.

  Sully sighs. “Fuck. This vacation isn’t going to be nearly long enough.” His voice suddenly grows stern. “Will, since I’m not there, it’s your job to keep guys just looking for pussy away from my baby sister, got it?”

  Oh, dear Christ. I tip my head back and stifle a groan. “Yeah, I hear you.”

  “That’s complete bullshit, Sully,” Emmy snaps. “I don’t need you to protect me. I’m a grown woman, understand? A grown woman who’s hanging up on you.”

  He snickers. “Yeah, yeah. Stay out of trouble, you hear? I’ll see you both in a few days. Later, Mav.”

  We say our goodbyes and Emmy ends the call.

  I finish off my wine. “Well, that was fucking brutal. Jesus Christ.”

  “We got through it.” She puts her hand over mine. “He doesn’t suspect anything.”

  “Yeah, but the lying and the betrayal still suck.”

  “We’re adults, Will. Sully may be my brother and your friend, but he has no say in what I can or can’t do. He’s not my keeper.”

  “How many guys do you think would be cool with their best friend hooking up with their little sister?”

  She shakes her head. “Why does that even matter?”

  “Because he’d never forgive me if he found out about us.”

  “I think you’re wrong,” she argues. “Maybe if we talk to him—”

  “No,” I say grimly. “I meant what I said. We’re hooking up, not starting a relationship. There’s nothing to talk about with him.”

  She looks down at the floor. “I know.”

  “And if you care about me, you have to promise that you’ll never talk about this with anyone. Not Violet. Not Peyton. Absolutely no one, Em.”

  I must sound as desperate as I feel, because Emmy puts her arms around me and cuddles close.

  “I wouldn’t do that to you, Will. Not without your consent. Please, let’s forget about this, okay? Let’s get back to where we were before he called.”

  She places little kisses all over my face—feathery kisses that barely graze my skin. Thoughts of Sully’s wrath fade away, and I’m left with nothing but my ever-present desire for Emmy.

  “That’s exactly what I want,” I say huskily, wrapping my arms around her. “C’mon. Let’s go upstairs.”

  Chapter Twelve

  EMMY

  Will holds my hand as we walk up the stairs to his bedroom, and suddenly I can’t quite figure out how to feel. I’m excited, turned on, and completely, ridiculously nervous.

  It is ridiculous to be nervous, right? I mean, it’s Will.

  It doesn’t matter what I tell myself, though, because my pulse is racing, and my hands are sweating like crazy.

  My brain turns over question after question in my mind. The main one being, “What’s Will Maverick like in bed?”

  According to Lilly, he’s amazing. Like an off-the-charts, totally smoking hot sex god. Lilly also lies quite a bit, but this time I really hope she was telling the truth.

  Ugh. I shouldn’t think about Lilly and Will sleeping together. I have too much going on in the feelings department to handle that right now.

  I can’t help but wonder what he’s expecting of me. Obviously, I’ve had sex before. Plenty of times before, in fact. At least with Aidan.

  Then again, Aidan never really seemed satisfied in the bedroom. I always felt like I did everything wrong.

  Sometimes I wonder what he ever saw in me. I’d often catch him checking out women when he thought I wasn’t looking. It was always women with bangin’ hot curves and big boobs. I understand on a logical level why men would be drawn to that kind of look. But on an emotional level, it hurt, because I don’t look anything like that. It certainly didn’t do wonders for my self-esteem.

  Aidan’s like a guy who drives a reasonably attractive, sensible four-door sedan but secretly lusts for a gorgeous, expensive sports car. I was the sedan in that scenario, no matter how much I longed to be the sports car.

  Will walks over to the bed and sits down. As for me? I can’t seem to move out of the doorway.

  “Are you coming in, Sunshine? Or do I have to check around for spiders first?” Will asks, grinning.

  I burst into a fit of giggles and then snap my mouth closed. When in the hell have I ever giggled? Never, that’s when. I glance down at my hands, and they’re shaking.

  “Are you okay? You seem nervous.” He leans over, takes my hand, and gently tugs me into the room.

  “I am, I guess.” I cover my face and shake my head. “It’s totally stupid, I know.”

  “It’s just me. No need to be nervous.” His eyes hold nothing but kindness.

  “This is just all so new,” I explain. “I’m still getting used to the idea that… that you—”

  He frowns. “That I what?”

  “That you turn me on like this.” Heat rushes to my cheeks. “It’s just different, you know?”

  Will places his hands on my shoulders and gives a little squeeze. “We can take things slow.”

  “Do you want to go slow?” I ask him. “Or are you just being nice?”

  “I want to do whatever you want to do, Em. Just because we’ve decided to go ahead with this doesn’t mean we have to hurry up and fuck tonight, okay?”

  I’m not against the idea of having sex with Will tonight—no way. But I appreciate that he’s taken some of the pressure off. “That’s true, I guess.”

  He gives me a lazy smile. “I just have a feeling that’s what you want.”

  It is, at least for the moment. Still, I feel kind of silly admitting it. Especially when I was the one to go on and on about hooking up and having fun. That’s the thing about Will though—he always seems one step ahead of me.

  “Well, right now it’s what I want,” I admit. “Fair warning, that might change in a few minutes.”

  I’m already beginning to relax, and my palms have stopped sweating. Yay!

  He takes off my hoodie and skims his hands along my waist, underneath my thin t-shirt. “I just want you to be sure about this, Em. We can’t turn back once we’ve crossed that line.”

  “I’m pretty sure that line has already been crossed and exceeded,” I murmur, toying with the ends of his dark blonde hair.

  “Let’s just enjoy tonight.” His voice lowers an octave, and it does funny things to my belly, hearing him talk all soft and deep like that. Funny, good things.

  “It’ll be nice to kiss you again and not have to worry about getting struck by lightning,” he jokes, tugging me onto his lap. “Though I have to say, I probably deserve it.”

  I cuddle close to him. “You do not. If that’s the case, then I deserve it, too.”

  “Nope. You deserve nothing but good things.” He runs a hand through my hair. “Only good things.”

  The way he’s looking at me makes me all weak and shivery inside, and my case of nerves dissipates completely. The only thing I can think about now is how I’d felt when he’d kissed me that first time. I need more of that.

  “Kiss me, Will. Please.”

  I can hear the desperation in my voice, but I simply don’t care. I don’t want to wait another second.

  He cradles me on his lap like I’m a precious jewel and presses his lips to mine. The kiss is gentle and sweet, and I’m dimly aware of his hands on me, tangling in my hair before tracing down along my back.

  As his tongue slides along mine, I find it hard to keep still. This position isn’t letting me get close enough to him, so I slip my other leg over his and straddle him. His erection strains against the zipper of his jeans. I try to move closer, but my snug skirt thwarts my efforts.

  Will breaks our kiss and skims his hands along my thighs, pushing the skirt up past my hips and out of the way. He glances down at my underwear and lets out a strangled groan.

  “Jesus Christ, more bows,” he
mutters. He sucks and licks his way up to the shell of my ear, and I let out a soft sigh. The man really knows how to use his mouth.

  “What do you have against bows?”

  “Nothing. I love ‘em. Just like that bikini you wore today. Sexy as fuck. It was touch and go there for a while, though. Nearly death by hard-on.”

  I bury my head in the crook of his neck and laugh. “Really?”

  “Yeah. Would have been a hell of a way to go.”

  He touches one of the bows with the tips of his fingers, stroking my hip. When his eyes meet mine, there’s no teasing glint there anymore. Just pure desire.

  “Em—”

  I don’t let him finish. Instead, I kiss him with everything I’m feeling—all of the fear, excitement, and attraction. I take every emotion I feel and funnel it into the hottest, deepest kiss I can.

  Will grabs my ass and stands, lifting me like I weigh nothing. I cling to him, and we kiss for another minute or two before he lowers me down onto the middle of the bed. He stands there for a few heartbeats, just staring at me. I can’t read the expression on his face, and his hesitation makes all of my old insecurities rise to the surface. Why hasn’t he moved?

  “Will?”

  “Just admiring you,” he says softly.

  Okay, he’s forgiven.

  Lowering himself down onto the mattress, he slowly crawls up the length of my body, placing soft, hot kisses along my inner thighs. He pauses when he gets to my underwear, then gently presses his lips against the thin satin material.

  “Ohh,” I breathe. It’s so sexy; I might melt into the sheets.

  He lingers there for a moment, hovering over me. His fingertips press into the flesh of my hips before he slides his mouth upward along my stomach. It’s an achingly slow, panty-dampening tour he’s taking. When he finally reaches my lips, I’m certain I’ll burst into flames.

  “Take this off,” I demand, grabbing the ends of his t-shirt. “Now.”

  He sits back and tugs the shirt over his head, revealing his toned, athletic body. He’s all lean muscle and sculpted abs, and he’s gorgeous.