He turned his back to her, knowing how pissed she would become if she caught him laughing, and peeled off his soaking t-shirt. He twisted the fabric and wrung out the majority of the water before slinging it over his shoulder. He slid his feet from his boots, turning them each upside down to pour out the river water.
After he put his boots back on his feet, not bothering to re-lace them, he turned to see Jessica sitting on the ground emptying the water from her own shoes. Once she put the muddy tennis shoes back on she stood, shoulder-to-shoulder with him. He knew walking in wet socks and shoes wasn’t ideal but they couldn’t stay where they were at waiting for them to dry.
They began walking side by side far enough into the woods that no one on the other side could see them but close enough to the river to not lose track of it. Kyle stayed positioned on the side closest to the river just in case they somehow were spotted and someone tried to take another shot at them.
In his peripheral vision, he saw her boldly reach for the top button of her shirt. By the time he gave her a sidelong glance she had unfastened half the buttons. Seeing that she caught his attention, she met his eyes and continued working her way down. After the last button, she peeled off her wet shirt, leaving her in nothing but a crimson red bra and jeans. He glanced down before meeting her eyes again in bewilderment.
"What?" She asked coyly. She was fucking with him on purpose.
Her amusement at his undeniable enthrallment wasn’t lost on him. Against his wishes, he felt his blood rush south. It took just about all the self-control he had but he forced himself to tear his eyes away from her perfect cleavage and the soft curves of her waist.
Oh boy. This can’t be good.
Eight Years Ago
“Where’s Jessica?” Her mom asked as her dad helped James carry the last two boxes to the SUV.
James was moving into his dorm at North Carolina State University and Kyle had come over to help the family move his belongings and see his friend’s new room. He had an open invitation to visit any weekend and wanted to check the place out. Jessica had overslept and her mom had woken her by banging on the door right before Kyle got there. With everything packed into the car, they were all just waiting on her.
“Will you go see what’s taking her so long?” James asked Kyle impatiently. He was anxious to get to his dorm, meet his roommate and unpack. College life awaited him and he didn’t want to stand around waiting on his little sister all day. They already had an hour drive ahead of them.
Kyle sprinted up the stairs and passed James’s closed bedroom door. Jessica’s bedroom was at the end of the hall and the door was slightly cracked. He usually knocked but seeing as it wasn’t closed, Kyle pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside, assuming she would’ve closed the door completely if she didn’t want anyone walking in.
Boy, was he wrong.
“Oh my God!”She shrieked.
She pulled the shirt in her hands in front of her to shield her body and turned around abruptly. He immediately fixated his eyes on the carpet, his face reddening. Still, he had already seen her standing in nothing but a push-up bra and jean shorts and the sight had seared itself into his mind.
Even with his focus completely on the cream carpet underneath his feet he couldn’t get the image of her soft, slim stomach or her perky breasts out of his mind. The jolt he felt at the sight of her made him more than a little uncomfortable. He had never experienced that type of reaction to her before. She had always been his buddy. James’s sister. But what he felt for her in that moment was anything but friendly.
“I’m sorry. Your mom asked me to come find you because James is ready to go and your door was open so...”
“It’s okay.” She replied flustered, brushing past him out of her doorway.
She had pulled on and buttoned her light blue chiffon shirt and he noticed a hint of pink in her cheeks. She refused to meet his eyes and headed downstairs with him trailing awkwardly behind. She knew she should have shut the door fully but she was quickly changing her shirt and thought everyone was too busy loading the car to come looking for her.
She thought she would’ve felt the same about Kyle walking in on her half dressed as she would if James had done the same thing. After all, she had always claimed Kyle was like a brother to her. She even tried to convince herself she did feel that way as she slid in the backseat of the SUV. But she suddenly realized it simply wasn’t true. Sitting in between James and Kyle, the distinct difference in her feelings toward each of them was plain for the first time.
Chapter Nineteen
Kyle kept his eyes averted from Jessica; trying his best to remain aloof about her attire, or more specifically her lack thereof. She had changed significantly since the last time he had seen her wearing so little. Still perfect as ever. If anything, she had grown even more beautiful in the time they had been apart. He hadn’t even thought that was possible until he saw it with his own eyes.
When he heard the distinct sound of a zipper he shot his gaze to her just in time to see her sliding her thumbs inside the top of her unbuttoned jeans, preparing to pull them right off. Seeing the edge of her lacy red panties peeking out, he knew he couldn't handle this. His hand jutted out fast, grabbing her wrist just as it started to descend down her hip.
"What are you doing?" He asked as he eyed her exposed hips, cutting the act that he hadn’t been affected.
"My clothes are soaking wet because of you. So...I'm taking them off." She responded slowly.
"Just…just leave the pants on, alright?" He stuttered, hoping she hadn't noticed how flustered he was. The small smile that curved her lips implied that she did.
"Alright."
He looked ahead as they walked in thick silence. All the while, he made a conscious effort to not look her way. When he was finally unable to ignore her half naked state any longer he came to a complete stop and turned to her.
""Are you really going to walk around like that?" He asked incredulously, wishing he could just remain impervious.
The last thing he wanted was for her to know she had gotten under his skin. Her soft giggle told him that was exactly what his obvious discomfort had conveyed.
"Until my shirt dries." She stated simply.
Her heart was pattering at the interest she saw him fighting. Little did he know, she was fighting back her own instinct to stare. His perfectly sculpted chest, softly defined abs and naturally bronzed skin glistening with a mixture of water and sweat were begging her to steal a glance. She looked over at his face instead, not allowing her eyes to wander down, and noticed the dark stubble that was beginning to grow on.
“I don’t know why you brought underwear like that on a trip to the jungle anyway…” He grumbled.
“Underwear like what?” She knew what. She just wanted to hear him say it.
“Sexy.”
The intense stare he pinned her with as he bluntly said the word made desire wash over her all the way to the tips of her toes. She broke their heated gaze and started walking again. After several seconds passed he took a deep, calming breath and caught up to her effortlessly.
"When did you get those?" She asked, referring to the tattoos down both of his sides.
He looked over at her with furrowed brows, waiting for her to elaborate on what exactly she was referring to. He followed her gaze down to his tattoo and understanding dawned on him.
"A few years ago."
“What do they say?”
The dark black letters swirled in an elegant cursive that made it impossible to read without closer examination. The writing started at his rib cage and trailed down to his hip right, disappearing just beneath his waistline. His pants, secured by a thick military-issued belt, covered only the bottom line.
“It’s lyrics.”
“To what song?”
Seven Years Ago
“Never mind, I’ll find someone like you.” Jessica sang over Adele’s voice, her tone smooth and harmonious.
“I wish
nothing but the best for you, too.” Kyle sang back in a faux high-pitched tone, simply for fun of it, when she looked over at him for the next line of the song.
“Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.” They sang at the same time, him playfully louder than her, sounding worse than usual on purpose to draw out a laugh.
This had become their daily routine after school when he drove her home. Living only three streets away from each other, they had always walked home together. As soon as she got a car, she drove them around for five months until he had saved up enough to buy his own. Ever since then, they always took his to and from school.
And every day on their way there and back they would turn the radio up and sing. His voice was off key and monotone; nowhere near as beautiful as hers. She threw her head back laughing at his attempt. He loved her laugh and would do just about anything to hear it.
The song faded away and a new one started playing. Blake Shelton’s voice streamed through the speakers and her smile widened. They had heard that song on the radio nearly every day since it came out and had playfully turned the chorus into a duet.
“It’s our song.” She smiled, tapping his arm animatedly. He laughed softly, waiting for their part to come up.
“You’ll be my soft and sweet, I’ll be your strong and steady.” He started off roughly on a laugh.
“You’ll be my glass of wine.” She jumped in angelically.
“I’ll be your shot of whisky.”
“You’ll be my sunny day.”
“I’ll be your shade tree.”
“You’ll be my honeysuckle.”
“I’ll be your honey bee.”
They pulled in her driveway before the second chorus and she turned down the radio to tell him goodbye, still smiling happily.
“See you tomorrow.” She called out as she swung her door open. She pulled her backpack from the backseat, swung it over her shoulders and headed up the driveway, turning back to wave before opening her front door. He waited for her to get inside and shut the door before backing out of the driveway and heading home.
Chapter Twenty
"You should probably put your shirt back on." He whispered, slightly leaning in as he changed the subject. "We have company."
He lifted his chin in the general direction up ahead, urging her to look. When she did she saw several villagers huddled at the water’s edge, filling up ceramic jugs. Just as one of the women glanced up in their direction she spun around so her back was to the strangers.
She scrambled to put her shirt back on as a pink blush colored her cheeks. Kyle stopped walking as well and waited patiently for her to button the shirt and turn to face him. He smirked once he saw her flushed face, finding her sudden modesty cute and refreshing. In that regard, she hadn't changed a bit. Once the blush faded from her cheeks and she collected herself she looked toward the new village they were approaching.
"Oh thank God! They have a car!" She exclaimed, bouncing on her heels in pent-up joy before she rushed toward the village.
He looked ahead to where she was pointing and, sure enough, they had a beat up jeep parked in the small field beside one of their huts. It was so unlikely to find a vehicle in a small village in the middle of the jungle that it felt as if they were seeing a mirage.
He followed along in her wake, pulling his dried t-shirt over his head and slinging the strap of the heavy gun he was still lugging to his other shoulder. Jessica had already approached the curious villagers who had immediately begun fussing over her. She had been through a lot and, although she was always had a natural beauty, she clearly looked a wreck. The apprehensive stares they directed to Kyle, or more specifically to his gun, had him quickly explaining he was no threat to them.
"Please help us. We need to get to the nearest town." Jessica urgently pleaded, taking over the role of speaking to the people when she noticed their watchfulness of Kyle.
The middle-aged woman narrowed her eyes in concentration and nodded slowly as she struggled to mentally translate the message. To Jessica's relief the little boy at her side tugged on his mother's dress and began rapidly speaking to her in Spanish. Understanding finally lit the mother’s eyes. She nodded with a wide grin.
"Si. Si." She waved her arms toward the village before her and the child turned to walk back.
Jessica turned to Kyle and shrugged her shoulders. The woman began telling the child instructions neither Jessica nor Kyle could understand. When she noticed that the woman was leading them to her home rather than helping them with a car or even walking directions that could get them to town, Jessica spoke up.
"Um, excuse me?" She interrupted, getting the attention of the small boy who was able to speak English. "Where are we going?"
"Mama wants you to wash up for dinner. Then she will help you make it to city. She says you must be lost."
Kyle opened his mouth to protest, wanting to insist that they needed to make it to town immediately. Seeing his impending objection, Jessica elbowed his ribs. She looked at him with desperate hope, clearly wanting nothing more at the moment than to bathe, eat and rest.
Knowing they both could use a break and a fresh meal, he nodded his approval. She surprised him by flashing a bright smile he hadn't seen in days. She briefly wrapped her arm tightly around his midsection in the form of a half-hug. As quickly as it had happened it was over and she was walking ahead of him with a perky spring in her step.
Had he been alone, he would have insisted on getting the keys to the jeep to leave right away. But having her around was making him do a lot of things that were against his better judgment. Besides, it felt good to know he was the reason behind her smile.
When they reached the doorway to the hut the woman came back out, shoving a smooth wooden bucket into Kyle's hands. He took it and looked to their unofficial translator for another explanation. Kyle’s Spanish, it seemed, was worse than he thought. It was best used in military situations. And in bars. In domestic settings it seemed he was as useless with Spanish as tits on a nun.
"She wants you and your wife to wash up in river." The boy relayed and promptly ran off to play with some other children.
"I'm not-" Jessica began.
"Thank you." Kyle called out, cutting her off.
The two exchanged a glance and made their way back to the river.
"Why did you tell them we were married?" She asked, kicking off her shoes and peeling off her stiff, dirty socks.
“I didn’t tell them anything. They assumed it.”
“I tried to tell them the truth.”
"It's best if they think we're married."
"As opposed to what? Ex-friends?" She challenged.
"They'll think were dating." He explained. "People out here are pretty old-fashioned."
"Well we aren't married or dating or anything."
"I know that. But they need to think we are."
"And why would they need to think that?" She pushed reproachfully. "We're leaving after we eat anyways."
He sat on a small log along the water’s edge, setting his rifle next to him. She narrowed her eyes at him when he hesitated to answer.
"We are leaving after we eat...right Kyle?"
"As much as I hate to stay here overnight, that's probably the best thing for us to do. We can rest up and leave first thing in the morning."
She sighed sharply in disapproval and began unbuttoning her shirt again. She tossed it on the ground next to Kyle.
"And," He continued, causing her to turn back to face him. "I don't think it's a good idea to make ourselves targets. If we take the jeep out after dark, that's what we'll be."
"I still don't understand what that has to do with being married?"
"I'm not letting you out of my sight. We're sharing a hut."
"They'll expect us to share a lot more than a hut." She muttered, sliding her jeans down her legs. She stood in her bra and panties hoping no one from the village wandered their way. Tossing the jeans on top of her discarded shirt,
she looked back at Kyle. His cheeks flushed so lightly she was hardly able to detect it. His eyes purposefully avoided hers.
"I'm sure they’ll expect us to share a bed too." He joked, finding a sudden interest in digging through the contents of the bucket.
"This just keeps getting better and better." She grumbled sarcastically.
Inside the bucket Kyle found one folded blanket which was no doubt supposed to be used to dry off and a single bar of what appeared to be homemade soap.
"I guess this is a bad time to tell you there's only one bar of soap." He teased with a smirk followed by a wink.
Not finding it humorous in the least, Jessica stormed up to him in nothing but her bra and panties, snatched the soap from his hand, and walked back to the water's edge. He definitely liked the way she looked walking away; the way her hips swayed gently with each step.
"You better sit on that log and face the other way." She demanded, pointing for him to turn around.
He tore his eyes away from her figure and did as she ordered, digging a hole in the dirt with the butt of his rifle to give himself something to do. Although she was amused at his uncharacteristically nervous behavior, having him see her in her underwear was as bold as she was going to get.
Confident that he was facing the other way and trusting he wouldn't turn around anytime soon, she reached behind her back and unhooked her bra, swiftly tossing it to the ground. Feeling exposed and worrying someone may come along and see her she quickly pulled down her panties, threw them next to the bra and raced into the water with the soap clutched in her hand.
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