The Wrong Girl

by M. Piper

  Nervous she’d find out.

  And even more so, filled with guilt. Guilt that I let my best friend down but heavier guilt that I’d let the one girl down I wanted most. The girl I fought for years to make sure dicks like me didn’t get a hold of.

  Now, though? Now it’s none of the above. Now it’s completely the opposite. I’m…happy.

  I’m not used to feeling this happy. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make her realize I’m not that guy anymore.

  I close my eyes and my dreams take me back to the first day I remember feeling the way I do for the girl I shouldn’t…

  ***

  “I’ll be right out!” I hear Kat yell from her bedroom. We’re going to see a movie tonight and we’re going to be late if she doesn’t speed up this process. I’ll never understand why girls think they need to put on makeup and get all dolled up to go sit in a dark theatre, but she’s convinced Alec from Biology is going to be at the theatre tonight so she needs to look her best.

  I fall to the couch and kick my feet up on the ottoman when I hear someone walking in the halls. Thinking it’s her mom or dad, I pull my feet down just as Kat’s little sister walks into the room and stops dead in her tracks. I notice her cheeks first. Pink as a rose. Then the boy band on her white t-shirt. She’s not that much younger than us…but she’s so young.

  Naive. Sweet. Innocent.

  Beautiful.

  “Hey,” she whispers, tucking a wild hair from her low messy ponytail behind her ear. An ear that my hands want to reach out and touch. Caress. Legs…those legs and those shorts?

  Aww fuck…

  “Hi,” I say, clearing my throat and trying to clear my mind of these thoughts. “What’s up?” My voice cracks and her eyebrows lift slightly before she recovers from holding back that laughter.

  “Grabbing some water.” She all but mumbles the words then speeds off to the kitchen and the entire time I watch her ass in those jean shorts. Holy cow she’s good looking. Too good looking. She’s my best friend’s little sister. She’s off limits but she always has been and it hasn’t been a problem.

  But summer vacation just hit and the girl with all the right curves I’m watching reach into the fridge to get to something from the back isn’t the same girl I’ve called squirt for years on end because she was so small and awkward.

  She’s Finley Reeves. She’s grown up. Matured.

  And she’s going to the one high school in the area that’s known for its perverts and scandal.

  Fucking. Great.

  Chapter 5

  Finley

  At eight pm sharp the next night, Levi’s outside my apartment yelling for me. He texted me all throughout the day today and as soon as I got home from work he texted to meet him out here. The smile on my face refuses to fade as I walk out to him, clothed in my N*Sync shirt and baggy sweatpants. If he’s going to be insistent on making me leave the house after the sun goes down, I’m going comfy.

  “Wow,” he laughs, that smile doing things to my lady bits that makes me wish I didn’t have on this frumpy outfit. His eyes travel my attire and he throws his hands to the top of his head, smiling wide. “This tops last night’s outfit, Squirt. By far.”

  “Thanks.” I wink at him. “Justin Timberlake on my tits is exactly where I need him.” I stroke my boobs and Levi lets out a noise and shakes his head.

  “Keep touching your tits like that and you can wear whatever the hell you want.” His eyes are trained on my fingertips and I trail them around my nipple. The hardened peaks are so sensitive that each stroke makes my pussy tingle with need. The tension between us right now makes it ten times worse and I have half a mind to pull him back upstairs to my apartment. Dammit, this man makes me crave sex.

  A couple walking by interrupts us and I drop my hands, my cheeks heating with embarrassment. Levi smirks at me as they pass.

  “I’m not sure what I liked more. Watching your fingers tease your nipples or watching the color rise on your cheeks when you realized you were caught.” He bites his lip and steps closer to me, pushing his hand to the back of my head and pulling me towards him. “I missed you.”

  “You saw me last night,” I whisper, giggling when he dips his lips to mine.

  “It’s not enough, Squirt.” He deepens the kiss, letting his hands roam to my ass and his tongue slides past mine, tasting me and sending me into a spiral of need. I push harder against him, forgetting that we’re outside where everyone can see us. “It’ll probably never be enough at this rate,” he whispers then pulls away and curses. “We need to start walking or I can’t promise what I’m going to end up doing to you, Finley.”

  As much as I like that threat, I bite my lip and step away from him, heading down the beach. I really want to get to know him. I think I like the man a hell of a lot more than I signed on for. He takes my hand as we walk, twisting his fingers in mine.

  This feels right.

  “What’s your favorite color?” I blurt, kicking up sand as I walk.

  “Blue.” He looks over at me, locking onto my eyes. “With some gold flecks added in.”

  “Stop,” I say. “I’m serious, Levi. You can stop trying to impress me. I want honest answers. I want to get to know you better than just how much I like your dick.”

  “Well that’ll never happen.” He laughs then stops and looks out over the water. “And I wasn’t joking, Squirt. Ask me my favorite scent and I’ll tell you vanilla. Ask me my favorite movie and I’ll tell you The Notebook.” His eyes hit mine. “My entire life I’ve fallen for a girl who I wasn’t allowed to touch, so instead of touching I learned to fall in different ways. Anything that reminds me of you skyrocketed to the top of my favorite things years ago.” He shrugs and my mouth pops open to say something but I can’t. I never knew how he felt about me and I’m kicking myself for not paying that much attention. “So, when I say my favorite color is the color of your eyes, it’s not to get in your pants.” He smirks at me. “I know how to do that easy enough.” His hands shove into his pockets and his eyes trail back out to the water. “It’s because I couldn’t have you, so being reminded of you was the next best thing.”

  “That sounds like torture,” I whisper, wondering if I inadvertently did the same thing over the years. I never liked baseball until I saw him watching it so intently one day. Then suddenly I was a huge fan. I never really liked steak until I overheard my sister and him fighting about how to cook the right steak, then suddenly I craved it. I was young, and I had no clue what I was really doing at the time…but it makes sense.

  “It’s the best torture, though,” he whispers, turning towards me. His stare holds me in place and makes me wonder why we’ve waited this long when both of us were in the same exact boat of denying ourselves the one thing we’ve always wanted. “Now that you’re here, though, and I get all my favorite things in one package?” He huffs and pulls me to him, trailing his thumb down my cheek. “It’s amazing.”

  His lips push against mine and as the water hits our feet he pulls me closer. My arms move around his neck, my fingers pushing through his hair. My body arches into him as his touch moves under my shirt and slides up my back, igniting my body for him and making my legs weak with need. His kisses are relentless. His hands leave a trail of goosebumps in their path. My heart’s in my throat and all I can do is frantically pull at him, needing more.

  “Levi,” I pant. “I need more. I need you.”

  “I know,” he whispers, lifting me so I can wrap my legs around him then slowly lowers us to the sand. “Right here, Squirt. I’m right here.”

  I dip my head, pushing myself against his erection and moan when I find the right amount of friction. My lips push against him and I grind down on him, my entire body pulsing. So many layers between us but this right here is what I need right now.

  “Baby,” he mumbles, his hands pulling me against him hard as I pivot my hips, rubbing against his hard length.

  “Oh God,” I manage to groan, my body starting to shudder. “Oh
my God,” I pant.

  “Let go, Finley.” He grips my ass and helps me when my body refuses to move fast enough, grinding against me until my orgasm peaks and his lips find mine as I moan out, louder than I should but I can’t hold back.

  “Oh fuck!” I scream, the pulsing in my pussy hard and making my entire body quake. “Fuck, Fuck, Fuck.” I huff, pushing my head into the crook of Levi’s neck. His hands rub down my back and he turns his head, pushing his lips to the side of my head.

  “You have yet to cease to amaze me, Finley Reeves.”

  And all I can do is moan, because for the first time ever I know what I’m feeling is more than a lifelong infatuation with an incredibly good looking boy.

  It’s way more.

  And it’s way wrong.

  ***

  “You dry humped him on the beach.” Alexa grins, playing with one of my purses. I nod, biting my lip. “And you came?”

  “You’re so crude,” I blurt, throwing a dress at her.

  “And it was amazing?”

  “It was so good.” I giggle. “I feel like… I don’t know. I’ve never felt like this before!” I pull my hair on top of my head and glance in the mirror. Tonight’s finally date night. After a week of late night beach walks and stolen texts throughout the day, I finally get another date with him.

  And boy it’s going to be an interesting one.

  “This has got to be the cutest and weirdest idea ever…” Alexa trails off and laughs, flinging herself down onto my bed. “I’m kind of jealous!”

  I smile and fix the rat’s nest on top of my head, trying not to freak out that my hair isn’t perfectly done.

  I read the idea for this date a little while ago and thought it’d be adorable to try. No makeup. No primping. Ten dollars each to buy an outfit for the date at Goodwill then off to the nearest truck stop restaurant for a cheap way to enjoy time with someone.

  Or as the article put it… ‘Make yourself uncomfortable to feel more comfortable with someone’.

  This is definitely making me uncomfortable…but it’s Levi. How could I be uncomfortable around him?

  “I’ll let you know how it goes. Maybe you and Zeke can try it!” I pat on some clear lip gloss and grab my sandals.

  She scrunches her nose.

  “Uh…we broke up.” Her tone flat lines.

  “What?” I blurt, spinning to look at her. All she’s talked about the past month has been about how awesome this boyfriend of hers is! “Why didn’t you tell me? What happened?”

  Alexa’s quickly becoming one of my closest friends here. She’s trustworthy, she has my back, and she’s fun to be around. She’s completely opposite of me when it comes to style and way of life, but we make a good team and we both have the love for our jobs in common. She came over after work tonight to grab a dress I offered to her for the weekend and now she’s made herself at home and is curling up on my pillow like she’s about to take a nap. I sit on the bed next to her, unsure how to handle this.

  I had girl friends in college that would jump from one guy to another so they never dealt with breakups, and my sister can’t keep a guy past one date. I’ve never really had to console someone like this. I feel like at my age I should have more instinct on how to deal with a breakup, but I don’t.

  Shit.

  “He was an idiot and cheated on me with some cunt.” She sighs. “It’s fine. There’s always more dicks in the sea,” she says and I smile at her.

  “You want me to beat him up for you?”

  “Yeah. Let me have at him with a butter knife, first.” She groans and pops out of bed. “Fin, it’s almost five. You have to get going!” She grabs her purse and dress and shoves my purse in my hands as I try to tame the beast on top of my head. Looking me in the eyes, it’s like she can feel the nerves rolling off me and she smooths her hands down my arms.

  “He’s a childhood friend, right?”

  I nod.

  “And you’ve already slept together?”

  “Twice… And then some,” I mutter and she lets out a laugh.

  “That’s perfect. So why do you look so nervous?”

  “I do?” I glance back at the mirror and she laughs again, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the door.

  “It’s fine. It’s a date.” She slaps my ass as she pushes me out my front door. I’m in a haze so I let her take the lead as we walk down the stairs.

  I didn’t realize I was nervous until the thought of not knowing how to deal with a breakup popped into my head. Whatever Levi and I start here this summer will eventually end with a breakup. And I’m not certain I’ll know how to bounce back from that.

  I stop mid stride and take a deep breath, looking at her.

  “I’ve never broken up with anyone before,” I blurt. Her eyebrows push together in confusion.

  “I thought this was a date…this isn’t a date? You’re breaking up with him?”

  “No!” I let out a nervous chuckle. “I mean I’ve never had a serious boyfriend so I don’t know what it feels like to break up with someone that I like as much as I like Levi.”

  She nods, glancing out to the parking lot.

  “Well it sucks.” She shrugs. “But you get past it.” She turns to look at me again. “But why are you worrying about that right now?” The look she gives me tells me I’m insane. I know it. But I can’t help but worry about these things.

  “He’s only here for a short time, Alexa. He’ll move back home soon so a breakup is imminent.” I shrug and sigh.

  “Oh damn…” She squints when his Charger pulls into the parking lot. “Well…” Turning to look at me, she smiles softly. “Then have your fun and leave the feelings out.”

  I blink at her, wondering if I could really do it. Could I screw around with a man I’ve wanted since I was a teenager and not get attached? It’s Levi. The boy who brought me my favorite snow globe. The boy who stood up for me all those years. The boy who’s had my heart since day one.

  Could I do this no strings attached?

  I watch him park his car and pop open the door. The bright yellow t-shirt he’s wearing, tight enough at the sleeves to show off the tanned muscular biceps, brings out the blue eyes and light hair.

  Then he smiles at me and I have my answer.

  No. I can’t.

  “Damn, girl…” I hear her voice but I can’t take my eyes off Levi. “I’ll be ready and waiting with that tub of ice cream and box of wine when the time comes,” Alexa whispers, patting me on the back.

  “Yeah,” I mutter. “I’m screwed, aren’t I?” I whisper as he approaches us. Somehow I’ve made my feet trudge towards him while my heart and soul are screaming that this is dangerous territory. It’s not like I’m in love with him. Not yet, at least. But even getting spoiled with all this attention just to know in a couple of months he’s going back home to probably give that attention to another girl is enough to send me running for the hills. Why put myself through that?

  God…because it’s Levi. I’d throw myself off a cliff for the man. I’m already betraying my sister by starting this with him. I guess if I’m going down I may as well go down in flames.

  “Hey,” he says to me casually, like my insides aren’t panicked that I’m diving head first into a steel trap.

  “Hi.” I push out a smile nervously.

  “You okay?” He knows something’s wrong. Fuck, Finley get it together!

  “I’m Alexa,” Alexa says from next to me and shoves her hand out to take Levi’s. He chuckles and shakes her hand.

  “Levi. Hey, thanks for making sure my girl was safe last weekend.” He smiles at her and I watch her reaction to him. It’s not like my reaction. It’s a polite smile back and a small shrug. Not like her insides are on fire and her pussy is clenching with need over a man she shouldn’t want this badly.

  What the hell is wrong with me?

  “We had fun. Only saw a couple gators but I think we both got out with only a few mosquito bites.” She’s lying. My legs were covered i
n them and she ended up with a tick latched on so hard I thought we were going to have to go to the hospital, but all in all it was an amazing trip. We bonded and she showed me all the wonder of the everglades that tourists don’t get on the trails.

  “That’s good.” Levi laughs and looks at me like he knows something’s not setting right with me.

  “She ate something weird. Had a little tummy issues earlier. She’s okay now,” Alexa blurts, noticing it too.

  My eyes go wide.

  “No I didn’t. I’m fine. You ready?”

  “Yeah. Good meeting you, Alexa.” He takes my hand and walks me to his car, opening the door for me and stopping me before I duck into the passenger side. “You sure you’re alright?”

  I search his eyes, getting lost in the cool ocean colors swirling with more than just lust.

  “Yeah, I’m positive,” I whisper. Because I am. I’m terrified, but if I start telling myself now this isn’t going anywhere maybe it won’t hurt as bad when it fizzles out.

  He grins and his lips connect with mine pushing softly before pulling back and heading for his side of the car.

  “So are you going to tell me what we’re doing tonight?” He grips the steering wheel but doesn’t pull out of the parking spot.

  “Oh!” I laugh, completely forgetting briefly about the plans for tonight. “Do you know the shopping section at the corner of Pevely and East Third?”

  “Well, yea, we grocery shop there.”

  “Great. Head that way.” I grin and cross my legs, sinking into the soft leather seats.

  His questioning glance makes me smirk but my lips are sealed until we get there. Less of a warning means less time for me to decide this is a stupid idea.

  Apparently I’m full of stupid ideas at the moment, but knowing that hasn’t stopped me from doing them yet. I still haven’t told my sister. Truth be told I haven’t talked to her. Last weekend I didn’t have a signal so when our weekly call was supposed to happen it couldn’t. She’s supposed to call tomorrow night so I plan on telling her that I met up with him while down here at the very least.