Everything I Shouldn't / Everything I Need (Nashville Nights #2-3)

by Stacey Mosteller

  We found two dressing rooms across from each other and right next to the three-way mirror to try our things on. I had just taken my pink t-shirt and jeans off when Livvie's voice came from across the room, "Tyler will be here in a few minutes to help us choose which costume to wear so don't come out naked!"

  Like I would do that anyway! "Uh, okay? How did he know where we are?" Livvie and Tyler have been really close since our senior year, but their relationship is really weird. They don't act like friends and Tyler only hangs out with us when Emmett isn't around.

  "I texted him silly! I need help picking which one of these to get. That's okay with you right?" She wouldn't have told him to stay away even if I said it would bother me so there was no point in telling her that I don't want him to see me half naked.

  I try the first costume on, the cupcake dress, before walking out to look in the mirror. Livvie comes out a few seconds later in the fairy costume and together we turn left and right trying to see every angle of each costume. "I like that one SB! Jeremy will want to eat you up," she says with a wink.

  My face immediately turns pink when Tyler's voice comes from behind us. "Love, everyone will want to eat both of you in those." Tyler leers at both of us in the mirror as he puts an arm around each of us. "Let's see the next!"

  Livvie turns to kiss his cheek before bouncing back into the dressing room, "Wait until you see the next one, Ty. You're going to love it!"

  "Ahh, Livvie girl, are you sure you don't need any help?" Tyler exaggerates his British accent when he says this and Livvie giggles before telling him she thinks she has it.

  When I try the next outfit on, I decide I'm not leaving the dressing room wearing it. I knew it was short, but I didn't realize it would be this short. The top is cute, but the tutu barely covers anything. I turn in the room, trying to look behind me to see the back of the dress, and sure enough, it doesn't cover my ass at all. It looks more like a costume you'd wear to role-play before sex than a Halloween costume. There's no way I'd be able to leave my room, let alone the house in this. Not to mention, David would lock me inside if he ever saw it!

  "Come on, SB! Aren't you dressed yet?" Livvie jerks open the door and I wish I'd remembered to lock it when I came back in. "Ohmigosh! I love that one! You have to get it!" I don't say anything, still looking behind me in the mirror while biting my lip. "SB? What's wrong?"

  Pointing at the short skirt, I tell her, "Um, Livvie? Do you see anything wrong with this? My brother would never let me out of the house wearing this."

  "Well, get dressed at my house then! He'll never know." Livvie's grin is downright evil.

  I shake my head, "You're crazy. There's no way I'm getting this costume."

  Livvie huffs out an exasperated breath, "You're such a prude. Get out here and let Tyler see." Grabbing my arm, she starts pulling me out of the room, but I dig my heels in. There's not way I'm leaving this dressing room with Tyler standing outside. I like him and all, but he does not need to see what color my panties are. Unfortunately for me, Liv is taller and stronger than I am so it's not long before I'm standing in front of the mirror, seeing myself from three different angles.

  "SB, can you imagine what Jeremy will think when he sees you in this? He won't be able to control himself!" Then, mimicking Tyler's accent she says, "He'd spank your lily white arse for leaving the house in that costume."

  Her accent is awful and I can't help but laugh. "What accent was that supposed to be?"

  Looking mildly insulted, she says, "English of course. Wasn't it awesome?"

  "No," Tyler laughs, "It was absolutely atrocious actually." Livvie glares at him, which just makes him laugh harder. "Livvie girl, I love you, truly I do, but please don't pretend to be British again. It's rather insulting."

  Putting a hand over my mouth, I attempt to cover my snort. Tyler's attempt to sound like a snotty Englishman is extremely amusing when you look at him. There's not a spot of visible skin that isn't covered in colorful tattoos aside from his face. Plus, his accent is normally very soft. He's lived in Nashville longer than he lived in London, so it's not as pronounced now.

  Tyler turns to me and grins, "Now, love, if you're trying to drive a man to distraction, that's the outfit to do it in. I wouldn't turn you down that's for sure." Liv punches him in the stomach and he lets out a small "oomph" before grabbing her and pulling her into a hug. "Ah Livvie girl, you know you're my favorite, but you did ask for my opinion." She rolls her eyes, but it's obvious she's not really upset with him.

  "Guys, there is no way I can wear this to a party. Look! My butt hangs out! Everyone would be able to see my panties."

  Liv just laughs. "SB, we can get you a pair of hot pants to wear under it. Problem solved."

  Easy for her to say, both costumes she chose for herself cover the essentials. I don't know why I let her talk me into these things; they never end well for me. With a heavy sigh, I head back into my dressing room to put my clothes back on and when I come out, Liv holds out her hand for the sexy sleeping beauty costume. I reluctantly hand it over and she walks out into the store leaving Tyler and I to trail behind her.

  "If you really don't want to wear that costume, why don't you tell her no?" Tyler asks sincerely, looking down at me with concern.

  I shrug, "Have you ever tried to tell Livvie no? It's pretty much impossible." I don't know what it is about her, but you just don't tell Olivia Barrett "no". "Plus, I really like the idea of making Jeremy crazy."

  Tyler shakes his head, "The poor bloke never really had a chance, did he?" Then, putting his arm around me, he walks me out to where Olivia is standing in line, waiting to pay. The more I think about it, the more I want to see the look on Jeremy's face when he sees me wearing that costume. Hopefully, he'll be the only person to see me in it! We've been slowly getting our friendship back over the past few months, and now, I'm ready to push his limits. Ever since the afternoon he came barreling into my room to "save" me from Wyatt, and he told me about the things his family was doing to him, he's been pulling me closer with one hand and pushing me away with the other.

  Halloween finally gets here, and I'm nervous and jittery thinking about how Jeremy will react when he sees this outfit. In addition to the ass-cheek showing costume, Livvie and I got a pair of white hot pants and white thigh high stockings to go along with it. The shorts are super tight, and super short, not leaving much to the imagination, and the stockings come up to about three inches above my knees with little pink bows on the front. The finished product is a mixture of innocent schoolgirl and vixen. Jeremy is going to absolutely flip his shit!

  I got dressed at Livvie's house in an attempt to avoid David seeing what I'm wearing, but now I'm headed back home under the pretense that I "forgot" something. Pulling in, I know Jeremy's home because his car is still here and there are lights on inside. I have to take a few minutes to psyche myself up before going inside. I've never done anything like this before, but I have to do something to get to him. He's obviously not going to man up on his own, and I'm hoping that seeing me in this get up will make him just crazy enough that he'll at least kiss me again.

  I shut the door behind me quietly before tiptoeing up the stairs - something that is about as easy as it sounds. It takes me forever to reach the top and my phone chimes just as I step onto the landing.

  Well?? Has he seen u?

  Dammit Livvie. I've only been here five minutes! Tapping out a quick reply to let her know that he hasn't, I slide my phone back into the tiny pocket on my costume, not paying a bit of attention to where I'm going.

  "What the fuck?" Jeremy's voice is deeper and he sounds completely pissed. I'm going to kick Livvie's ass when I get to the party...if I get to the party.

  Startled, I stumble backwards, losing my balance and putting out a hand to break my fall. A strong arm wraps around my waist, pulling me up against him and keeping me from falling flat on my ass. I didn't even realize he was behind me. "Jesus, Jeremy! You scared me half to death!" I tell him, putting a hand to
my chest. He releases me quickly before spinning me around to face him. His eyes travel down my body like a caress before coming back up to meet my gaze.

  "What the hell are you wearing SarahBeth?" he practically growls, his hands tightening on my waist, keeping me against his body.

  The heat in his eyes has me breathless and it's evident in my voice when I answer him. "It's just a Halloween costume. There's a party on campus tonight that Liv and I are going to," I tell him, trying to play off the fact that I wore it just for him. I have no plans to actually wear this particular outfit in public, contrary to what Livvie believes.

  "Fuck that. You aren't going anywhere in that." He's glaring down at me and I can't tell if the heat in his eyes is more lust than anger or the other way around.

  I hate being told what to do though. Especially by Jeremy. Since last New Year's Eve, he's been distant with me. The only time he really talks is when he's telling me how I shouldn't be doing something, usually something to do with Wyatt. Livvie swears he's jealous, and Wyatt agrees, but I'm not sure. Well, at least I wasn't until tonight. It's obvious that his anger tonight is because he doesn't want anyone else to see me in this outfit. Deciding to antagonize him just a little bit, I put my hands against his chest and push until he releases me. Then, turning, I walk a few steps away, making sure to swing my hips a little more than I normally would...just for his benefit. When I turn back around, his eyes are focused on the bottom of my costume which barely covers the tops of my thighs, leaving a couple of inches of bare skin between the hem and the tops of my stockings.

  "You do realize that you're not my dad, right?" I'm proud of the fact that my voice stays level because he hasn't looked at me this way since New Year's and I didn't realize how much I missed this kind of attention.

  Jeremy tenses, groans and closes his eyes briefly. His lips move and I'm guessing he's either counting to ten or praying for patience. The patience doesn't come because his eyes snap open suddenly and meet mine. I feel like prey as he starts stalking towards me, making me walk backwards, almost tripping over my own feet until I'm up against the wall with nowhere to go. He places a hand on either side of my head, leaning close to me. In my heels, I'm even with his throat instead of his chest and I can see his adam's apple bob with his fast swallows. His arms are shaking slightly and I know he's mad, but based on what's pressing against the bottom of my stomach, he's also aroused.

  "Stop playing games with me little girl," he breathes into my ear.

  My breathing speeds up at the feel of his breath against my throat and my voice is husky when I ask, "Or what? You'll press me up against a wall again? Too late for that. I think you need some new moves."

  "You don't want to know the answer to that." He chuckles, but it's dark...almost sinister. The deeper quality in his voice has me shaking, but I don't know if it's in fear or because I really do want to know the or what. "Trust me baby, playing games with me is going to end up with you up against any hard surface I can find." His breath is hot against my ear, and his words have everything south of my navel clenching tight. "I'll be on you and in you before you can blink." Before I can catch my breath or say anything else, Jeremy steps back, his gaze traveling down my body once more. It feels more like a caress than a simple glance, but I don't have a chance to analyze it before he walks away...again, leaving me standing on shaky legs.

  When I'm sure he's gone, I head for the stairs, running up them and shutting myself in my room. I strip off the costume, exchanging it for skinny jeans, a long d pink henley and a hoodie before heading back out to the party. I don't see Jeremy on my way out, and I'm thankful because I don't want him to think I changed because he wanted me to. In reality, I changed because dressing like that isn't me. I only put that on to torture him.

  Pulling up to the house where Livvie, Emmett and Wyatt are waiting for me, I send her a quick text to let her know I'm here. When she replies with where they are, I head inside to find them. It takes me a few minutes to get through all the people in the living room, but I make it to the kitchen where my friends are standing, drinking and talking. Scooting next to Wyatt, I slip an arm around his waist to hug him and he wraps an arm around mine in return. He places a kiss on the top of my head in hello before going back to his conversation with Emmett and Clay, leaving me to deal with Livvie's questions.

  "Oh boo!" she exclaims. "You changed! How come?" She has her head cocked sideways as she studies me, which looks really funny when you take into account the horn on the top of her head. I can't believe she chose the unicorn costume.

  Rolling my eyes, I tell her, "Liv, you know that a costume that shows my butt isn't my thing. I changed after Jeremy saw it." I know the grin that spreads across my face speaks volumes, but Livvie doesn't get the chance to ask what happened because Clay butts in to the conversation.

  "Whoa! Wait a sec - your costume showed your ass? Baby, why didn't you wear it for me?" He pouts comically, and my smile widens.

  Reaching over, I run a finger down his bare arm. "Because Clay, if I wore that outfit here, you'd come in your pants and we don't want everyone to know just how....premature...you are." I can feel Wyatt shaking beside me with silent laughter and Emmett isn't even trying to hold it in, laughing loudly while Clay scowls at all of us.

  "Fuck all y'all. That shit ain't right." He starts to pout, which just makes Emmett and Wyatt laugh harder until finally, Clay walks off.

  Biting my bottom lip, I watch him leave before looking up at Wyatt. "Too much?" I ask him, but he just shakes his head.

  "Definitely not, babe. That was awesome." He hugs me closer to his side and I relax into him, wishing again that I could feel something other than friendship for him. It would make my life so much easier if I was in love with him instead. Unfortunately, I didn't get a choice, but I am glad I have a friend like him.

  SarahBeth

  David has a girl, a real live girl over for dinner tonight! If I wasn't so excited that he has someone to focus on besides me, I might be jealous of her getting my brother's attention, but since I started spending so much time with Wyatt, he's become the definition of over-protective. I'm pretty sure even if Wyatt and I were in a romantic relationship, he'd never touch me...my brother is just that scary.

  I was hoping to be out of the house before they came back to the kitchen, but I couldn't find my phone so now, I'm standing at the top of the stairs listening to their conversation like a creeper. I feel even more like one when their conversation stops and I know I'm standing here listening to them making out. There's no way I can go down the stairs now and even if I went down the front stairs I'd have to go through the kitchen to get to the pool house, so I'm pretty much stuck.

  As soon as I hear them talking again, I run down the stairs, making as much noise as possible and hoping I don't walk in on them doing the dirty on the counters or anywhere else. When I walk in, Lyric is sitting at the bar and my brother is cooking. Good boy! Show her you can cook and maybe she'll hang around long enough for me to get a little freedom. There's a bowl of olives sitting on the counter, so as I walk through, I grab one and pop it into my mouth. I don't know why more people don't like olives, I love them!

  "Where are you going tonight?" David asks as I walk past him.

  I shrug, "I'm going to go see what Jer's doing. If he's busy, I guess I'll hit up Liv."

  "I think he's in the pool house." David raises an eyebrow at me before continuing, "But, if you wind up with Olivia, try not to get into too much trouble, okay?"

  Jeez dad, pay attention to your date and leave me alone. Seriously...he's got a hot girl here, and he's worried about what I'm going to do for the night? He's wound way too tight. Rolling my eyes I say in a placating tone, "Whatever big bro. You know I'll behave."

  "Yeah, but your definition of behaving and mine are vastly different," he scowls at me; clearly he's not going to cut me any slack.

  Laughing, I open the door before looking over my shoulder and smirking at them both. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Then,
closing the door I skip down the steps to the path to the pool house where Jeremy already told me he would be. As I walk, I reflect on the past few months, well really, the past year. Since last New Year's Eve, my friendship with Jeremy has been strained and Wyatt has kind of taken his place as my guy bestie. In some ways, that's a really good thing, because my "bestie" is the last thing I want Jeremy to be. In others, it's not so great because now I'm faced with trying to put Jeremy in his own little box. A box I'm not sure he wants to get in.

  If you had asked me before that night, I would have told you that Jeremy absolutely had feelings for me that were the opposite of brotherly. There were so many moments that had me certain of that. But, after the misunderstandings and drama that night, and Jeremy going home with the skank from hell, he didn't forgive me right away. Well, he said he forgave me, that he got why I said I wanted to keep "us" on the down low, but forgiving and forgetting are two very different things. I really thought we were getting back on track, and then he found me in my room with Wyatt and misunderstood the situation again. I feel like I spend most of my time chasing Jeremy down to explain why I said or did something and it sucks. Tonight, I'm finally going to make my move.

  I probably wouldn't have the courage for this, except Halloween and the few months since; he's acted more like he did before I screwed everything up. And, after the things he said on Halloween, I know that he wants me, at least sexually. Now I just need to know if he still wants me the way he did on New Year's, and if he does, I need to convince him to not tell David. It shouldn't be hard considering how overprotective my brother's been lately. Jeremy has commented on it to David and me so I know he's aware of how ridiculous it's become.

  When I walk inside the pool house, Jeremy is lounging on the couch watching a race, not paying any attention to me coming in until I sit down beside him, pulling my knees up underneath me and cuddling up to his side. Without turning his attention away from the screen, he puts an arm around me, not pulling me closer, but not pushing me away either.