Bad Impressions (Revive Me #1)

by Franca Storm

  It’d been too long since I’d had her, thanks to my stubborn idea of holding off on sex with her for a while.

  But, as she’d managed to convince me just moments earlier, we were past that. Ever since we’d exchanged the I-love-yous a few weeks ago, things had changed and we were way beyond lust and just screwing around.

  We were in relationship territory. And the strange thing was that it didn’t bother me. My normal run-for-the-hills instinct wasn’t there—not with her. I fucking wanted it with her.

  I was done with holding back.

  I was all in.

  “This wasn’t what I’d had in mind when I said we should eat here,” I said, pulling back from our kiss.

  She gripped the back of my head and forced me back to her. “It was what I’d had in mind,” she breathed in a seductive whisper, before pressing her lips back to mine.

  I finally managed to open her coat. I pushed it off her shoulders and she gasped as I slid my hands under her gray sweater. I grunted with satisfaction as my hands cupped her tits through her lacy bra. Christ. She was like heaven. So fucking perfect. She moaned into my mouth and arched her back, pushing her tits eagerly into my waiting hands. Mmm.

  I couldn’t take the anticipation. I needed more. Much more. Immediately.

  I pulled her shirt over her head, breaking our kiss momentarily. She ripped down the zipper of my leather jacket and I shook it the rest of the way off.

  We were both in a state of utter frenzy, unable to get enough of one another. Every touch just fueled our mutual addiction, leaving us wanting more and more. And I was out of control. Desperate to have her.

  A second later, my hand was down her pants, sliding into her panties. She bucked against me as my index finger brushed her clit. Her pussy was already drenched.

  I captured her wrists with my free hand and slammed them into the shelves above her head, holding her there at my mercy while I worked her pussy.

  “Ah! Yes, Brad! More!” she begged in a breathless whisper.

  I thrust two fingers inside her and she screamed in ecstasy.

  “Ride me. Ride my fingers, baby,” I commanded.

  She thrust her hips wildly as I pumped in and out of her roughly in a brutal, relentless rhythm.

  “Good girl! That’s right. Fuck my fingers.”

  She threw her head back.

  “Look at me. I wanna see the look on your face when I make you come.”

  Her gaze snapped back to mine. Her eyes were glazed over with lust. She fought against my hand confining her wrists. I chuckled. “I love how wild you get.”

  I bit down on her left nipple through her bra and she screamed. I could feel she was already so close; right on the fucking edge. But I wasn’t done with her. I wouldn’t let her go over it.

  “Brad, please!” she begged.

  I chuckled. “You don’t like my teasing?”

  “I do, but…I’m…I’m close...please, Brad!”

  I released her wrists and reached for the belt of her pants. “I need a taste.”

  She flung her arms around my neck, her nails digging into my skin. Her mouth crashed down on mine, taking me in a frantic kiss.

  I unbuckled her pants and hooked my fingers into the waistband.

  “Oh my God!” a voice shrieked from behind us suddenly.

  My fingers stilled immediately. Soph broke our kiss and eyed me in shock.

  Instinctively, I covered her body with mine, pushing against her to shield the sight of her all sexed up and half-dressed from whoever had just walked in on us.

  And then I craned my neck to see Tiff standing there in the doorway; a look of utter disbelief blanketing her face.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I snapped.

  “I left my wallet here last night.”

  “Get out!”

  Her eyes narrowed. “So you can finish up with my best friend? I don’t think so.”

  “It’s not what it looks like.”

  She folded her arms across her chest and scrutinized me. “Really? So, you weren’t just screwing her up against the shelves then?”

  “My dick is still in my pants, so no.”

  I heard Soph grunt at my choice of words. Yeah, that was really fucking blunt of me. But I was too pissed to tone it down. The judgmental expression on Tiff’s face was angering me. I was so sick of people judging me all the time. And she, of all people, had no fucking right. Her reputation was almost worse than mine.

  “How could you do this, Brad?”

  “Do what?” I snapped, although I already knew the damn answer.

  “You’ve crossed some lines before, but this…I can’t believe you’d do this to Ollie. I didn’t think even you were capable of sinking this low.”

  “Tiff, stop!” Soph told her.

  “Soph, how could you let him touch you?”

  “You don’t understand.”

  “Get out!” I cut in. “Now! For fuck’s sake!”

  She pushed off the wall and looked between the two of us. “We’ll talk in the bar.”

  “You and I will talk. Soph has to get back to work.”

  “Fine,” she said, before walking back into the bar and finally leaving the two of us the fuck alone.

  I snatched Soph’s sweater off the floor and handed it to her. I stepped back and adjusted my jeans uncomfortably as she hurriedly re-dressed.

  “Brad, I’ll talk to her,” she said, when she’d finally finished.

  “No. You get back to work. I’ll handle this.”

  I watched her eyes dart back and forth erratically. Her hands were even shaking. She was really freaked out. I took them in mine and told her gently, “It’s gonna be okay, Soph. I promise.”

  “I—”

  I kissed her forehead and whispered, “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then head back to work and let me handle it. Okay, darlin’?”

  She nodded. “All right. But text me right after. She’s dating my brother. She might tell—”

  “She won’t be telling him anything.”

  “How can you know that?”

  “I’ll explain the situation to her. Don’t worry.”

  I managed to finally convince her to head back to work, but as she walked out, I knew she was still freaked out about Tiff catching us in the act. Fuck. Dammit, Tiff.

  As soon as I stepped into the bar, Tiff was on me, waving her arms erratically and yelling furiously, “What the hell were you thinking? You’re fucking your best friend’s little sister?”

  She didn’t give me a chance to respond. She just continued her irate tirade, yelling God knew what at me.

  I folded my arms across my chest and waited as patiently as possible for her verbal assault to wind down.

  I must’ve tuned out, because she suddenly snapped her fingers at me and demanded, “Well?”

  “I love her.”

  That shut her the hell up.

  She took an unsteady step back, as though my revelation had physically winded her and taken all the fight right out of her. For the first time in all the years I’d known her, she couldn’t summon a feisty comeback.

  Several seconds passed where she just stared at me in open-mouthed shock.

  “You, Brad Marsh, are in love with a woman?”

  “That’s right.”

  “So…what…you guys are dating then?”

  “Yes.”

  She grinned. “Oh my God.”

  “I take it from the look on your face that you’re done yelling now?”

  “I thought you were just screwing her…like the other women.”

  “Never. Not Soph,” I found myself snapping vehemently.

  “Wow.”

  “What?”

  “I’ve just never heard you defend a woman before.”

  “She’s not just any woman.”

  “Yeah, I’m getting that.”

  “Ollie can’t know, Tiff. Do you understand me?”

  “Why not? If this isn’t a
casual thing—”

  “It’s not. But Soph isn’t ready for him to know yet.”

  “Brad—”

  “I’m serious. As far as you’re concerned, you didn’t see anything here today. Okay?” She eyed me for a moment and I knew she could tell from the severe look on my face that I wasn’t kidding around.

  She finally blew out a breath and held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. “She’s my best friend. Fine. Your secret is safe with me—for now. You need to tell him soon, though, Brad. The longer you wait, the worse it will be.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I know. Soph will come around.”

  Even as I said the words, I wasn’t sure I even believed them myself.

  Soph seemed so content with the way things were. She didn’t want the drama. The problem was that I wasn’t content anymore.

  I was sick of sneaking around.

  I’d never been into anyone the way I was into her.

  I fucking loved her and I just wanted to shout it from the rooftops. It was a cause for fucking celebration, not skulking in the shadows. I was fine with telling Ollie ASAP. I was eager to do it and get it over with. And then Soph and I could simply move on with our damned lives.

  But she wasn’t at that point.

  I just hoped she’d get there soon.

  Chapter 20

  ~Sophie~

  “So, are the rumors true?” Tiff asked me as we navigated our way through the crowded town square, clutching our red plastic cups full of beer.

  The place was wild with excitement. The night of Winter Fest. The festival ran all day long. It was more like a fair than a festival, really. There were game booths with various activities. I’d already won a soft toy—a tiny little panda—from toppling over six stacked bottles with a single throw of a ball. We were making our way towards the hot dog stand and then planning to stop by the toffee apple stand after. Basically, our mission was to stuff our faces with unhealthy foods high in sugar and salt.

  Marsden loved its celebratory events. It’d been barely three months since I’d come home to the Fall Festival and now there was another. I loved it. Everyone was out and in great spirits. It was a great atmosphere.

  “What rumors?” I asked her.

  She grinned at me. “You know, about Brad being an animal in bed?”

  I felt myself blush instantly. Oh God. “There’s no way I’m answering that.”

  She nudged me with her elbow. “Come on. I’m your best friend. It’s your duty to give me every dirty detail.”

  “Very few rumors in this town are actually true, Tiff.” She looked crestfallen. I couldn’t take it. Oh, to hell with it. I winked at her and offered up, “But that one most definitely is.”

  She shrieked with excitement.

  “Shh!” I hissed. “There are people everywhere.”

  “Right. Sorry.” She took a sip from her cup and then whispered, “I heard he’s dominating as hell when he’s fucking.”

  I rolled my eyes at her, but didn’t say anything. Probably because her words were true.

  When she didn’t say anything else about it for several minutes, I relaxed, thinking she’d finished with her awkward and very personal questions.

  But then I almost spat out my beer all over the damned place when she managed to usurp her other questions with something even more personal.

  “Is his cock really as huge as everyone says?”

  Holy shit. “Oh my God, Tiff!”

  “Come on! Tell me. How big is he?”

  Like hell, I was going to. “How hard up are you right now?”

  She sighed heavily. “Your brother won’t put out.”

  “Oh God,” I muttered with distaste.

  “Sorry, I know I promised I wouldn’t get into all that with you, but….”

  I zoned out as I caught sight of Brad.

  He was leaning against a tree at the edge of the town square, smoking.

  He stood on the periphery, just outside the radius of the festivities.

  That was definitely the Brad approach. He hated attending town events.

  It took me a moment to realize that he was smiling at me. He took a drag of his smoke and winked.

  And that was when I knew. He’d come for me. That was why he’d shown up. I knew it. There was no other reason he’d have shown up. Normally, not even all the hounds of hell could drag him to a town event.

  “….and—oh!—there’s Ollie!” Tiff finished.

  Shit. I’d just missed her entire monologue. I was a crappy friend. But I just couldn’t bear to hear about her sex life with my brother. It was gross on so many levels.

  “You okay on your own for a bit?” she asked. But her eyes were already on Ollie who was just crossing the road towards the town square.

  “Sure, go ahead. I’m good here.”

  “You’re the best!” she cried, before skipping off towards my brother. Wow. I’d never seen her so smitten with anyone. Usually, she just did the one-night-stand thing. She never got attached. I’d certainly never seen her skip before, especially not in those incredibly high heels she always wore.

  Before I realized what I was doing, I’d made my way out of the crowds.

  I was approaching Brad over by the tree. He pointed to the back of the fortune teller tent. No one was hanging around there, because it was at the edge of the fair.

  I followed him over there.

  As soon as I reached him, he pulled me against him and took my mouth in a passionate kiss.

  When we finally pulled away, I was breathless from it. “Wow.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and he gripped my hips, holding me close. “You look amazing tonight, Soph.”

  I glanced down at myself, his kiss obviously having momentarily impeded my brain’s ability to function, as I’d forgotten what the hell I was even wearing.

  I was dressed in a gray mini-skirt with knee-high boots, along with a burgundy leather jacket complete with a fluffy white scarf and black leather gloves to keep the cold out. Brad was wearing a navy-blue fleece hoodie and jeans. Just the sight of him even in just casual wear turned me on as it always had the tendency to do.

  He reached for the panda in my left hand. “Who’s this?” He chuckled and patted its head.

  “I won it at one of the booths.”

  “Something to do with throwing?”

  “How did you know?”

  “You were always good at baseball. You spent enough time proving it too, by showing Ollie and me up on the field when we were kids.”

  I laughed. “Right. I’d forgotten about all that.”

  He pulled back and rubbed my arms absently as he looked at me with a pained expression.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He blew out a breath. “It’s killing me not to be here with you.”

  “You are here.”

  “Only in the shadows, Soph. I can never take you out in the daylight, or in front of people like I want to.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I get it. You’re not ready to tell him yet.”

  “I don’t want to ruin what we have.”

  He cupped my face and said softly, “We’re stronger than that; than any resistance Ollie or anyone else in this goddamn town might have towards us as a couple.”

  “I know.”

  He looked as though he was going to push it for a moment, but then his expression shifted. His somber look disappeared all of a sudden and he grinned. “Pace yourself,” he said, gesturing to my almost-empty cup of beer.

  I rolled my eyes. “I will. Don’t worry about me.”

  “It’s my job,” he said, smiling lovingly at me. He pressed his lips to mine and kissed me again. It was soft and slow and perfect.

  I relaxed into him as he wrapped his arms tightly around me.

  After a long while, we both pulled back.

  As I did, I caught sight of someone standing behind Brad.

  “Oh my God,” I gasped. “Ollie.”

  Brad tensed at t
he sound of Ollie’s name and spun around.

  No. No. No.

  Neither of them said anything.

  Ollie didn’t even look at me. He just glared furiously at Brad.

  To my surprise, Brad did the same. I’d expected him to apologize and to try to placate Ollie. But he didn’t. He gave as good as he got, staring him down with a fierce expression that matched Ollie’s. It was clear he had no intention of participating in the blame game.

  Obviously, there was some sort of animosity between them that I hadn’t picked up on before. Come to think of it, they had been hanging out far less than they ever had. Something had happened between them that I wasn’t aware of. It explained why Ollie had said so much crap about Brad that night.

  “What the hell is this?” Ollie demanded of Brad, still not glancing my way.

  “We’re together,” Brad answered.

  “You’re fucking my sister? My sister?”

  Oh God.

  “It’s not like that.”

  Ollie took a threatening step forward. Both his fists were clenched at his sides. Still refusing to look at me, he kept his eyes on Brad as he barked at me, “Get out of here, Soph.”

  “No. Not until you calm down.”

  “Now!” he roared.

  “It’s okay, Soph,” Brad said, softly. He reached for my hand.

  “Don’t touch her!” Ollie bellowed.

  “Go, darlin’.”

  I turned away and hurried back into the crowded town square.

  But I had no intention of leaving, like Ollie had condescendingly ordered me to.

  No, I was on a mission to find someone who stood some sort of chance of being able to break up the obvious fight that was about to happen between my brother and my boyfriend.

  I knew just the person. But where the hell was he? There were too many people. Shit. Come on! Come on!

  ***

  I stood my ground as Ollie took another aggressive step towards me.

  “I know you hate following rules and you love pushing boundaries, but fucking my sister is so far over the fucking line, Brad!”

  “You need to calm down and listen to me.”

  “No, what I need to do is kick your ass! You’re supposed to be my best friend.”

  “Am I?” I basically spat.

  His eyes narrowed. “What the hell does that mean?”