Summer Breeze Kisses

by Addison Moore

  Fish comes up and wraps himself around Knox’s leg before circling back and gawking up at me. His eyes grow large and his little cat jaw falls open.

  Great. Not only have I horrified Knox, I’ve also shocked the hell out of his poor little cat.

  “Here’s the shirt.” Knox holds it out and I snatch it before doing an awkward dance and slamming the door shut between us.

  Kill me.

  Knox

  Naked.

  Harper Shelton just stopped my beating heart. She has for several reasons as of late with that kiss, her warm laugh, her obsession with pie that rivals my own—but that body I was just exposed to has sent my adrenaline skyrocketing, my body anxious to have her. The obvious fact I’m left to contend with is that I am in trouble around this girl.

  I head into the living room where the pizza waits and I eye that suitcase sitting in the corner. I wasn’t buying that whole laundromat song and dance, so I did the only thing I could think of and texted Lawson earlier to see what the deal was. He didn’t know. But what he did know, and was very much amused by, was the fact Lucky just told him Harper was having a little fun in my bathtub without me. I’ve never felt so turned on by a woman in all my life. It took more natural restraint than I had not to break down that door and join her.

  Harper pads over in bare feet, her skin glowing like a fresh summer tan, hair slicked back, face fresh scrubbed, and my heart skips right out of my throat. Holy hell, here we go. She’s opted for just the T-shirt. I can see the outline of her chest underneath it, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s opted out of the panties too. Damn, she’s beautiful. My body starts to shake as if demanding to have her. I have to. I’m hoping she feels the same. But what the hell is happening between us? In an effort to avoid the classic rebound, did we just jump in with both feet without realizing it?

  “I guess you got an eye full.” Her gaze hooks to mine and the room picks up its own heartbeat around us. She is something to look at with those eyes, with that hot as hell mouth. She makes her way to the sofa and I land next to her with the pizza between us.

  I give a wistful shake of the head. “That body alone is revenge enough.” Not sure what to say to relieve the tension between us. “Has he called?” I hadn’t planned on bringing up her ex, but unless we plan to further explore her naked body, it’s probably time we get down to brass tacks.

  “Nope.” She snaps a picture of the two of us with a slice of pizza next to her open-mouthed smile. She taps something out on her phone before showing me.

  When your boyfriend makes you a truffle pizza because he knows you love it! #foreplay #doesntgetbetter #truelove

  A dull laugh escapes me. “It’s perfect.”

  She hits all of her social media sites with it. “You know what else is perfect? The fact the river rat you dated is now following me on Instagram. She’s so blonde she probably doesn’t realize I’m privy to that info, but nonetheless, I’m hoping to ruin her night in any way possible.”

  “I do what I can to help.” A thought comes to me as we indulge in the truffle cheesy goodness. “You know, a year ago, I would have never imagined that I would be deliberately trying to make her feel bad.”

  “Please. She’s incapable.” Harper snorts while reaching for the bottle of sparkling water.

  I reach over and grab my own bottle. “To making our exes miserable.” I raise my drink in the air.

  “May misery abound for the rest of their rotten lives.” She touches her glass bottle to mine.

  “You know what would make them really miserable?” I swallow hard because I think I want to go there. “Us having a good time with something real.”

  She takes in a quick breath and holds it. “Truth or dare”—her eyes grow wild as her panting picks up—“you still have feelings for your ex.” Her bottom lip tugs down as if she’s trying to keep her emotions in check.

  “I think I do.” My cheek rides high on one side as her face grows pale. “And not one of them is nice,” I flatline. I can’t come out and say I hate her. I haven’t quite given myself the time to sort through those feelings. “Truth or dare, you wanted me to see you naked.”

  She takes in another quick breath as if I had insulted her. “Maybe.” She makes a face and takes a hard swig of her drink, her eyes never leaving mine. “Truth or dare”—she wipes down her face—“you’ve been wondering whether or not I have underwear on.” She opens and closes her knees just enough, but I’m too slow to catch that tiny pink detail.”

  “True.” I frown as I set my bottle and pizza down. “Truth or dare, when you took a bath”—I open my mouth to ask the question and realize I have no good way to frame it—“let’s just say, if you were a guy, I’d ask if you were collecting a specimen.” I give a partial nod, waiting for her to cop to it. “Coming to grips with the situation?”

  Harper cocks her head up at me, her forehead wrinkled with confusion. Then as quick as the confusion set in, she straightens. “Oh crap!” She bounces back a good foot and I catch a glimpse between her thighs. No underwear. I’m grinning from ear-to-ear on the inside, but I don’t dare give it. “Are you asking if I?” Her mouth opens as she studies me, and just like that, her face contorts from shock to horror. “You know!” She swats me with a pillow before burying her face in her palms. “Who told you?” She looks up slowly, her hands pulling down the skin under her eyes giving her a scary demonic look but still hot as hell. There is not a thing this girl can do to escape her beauty. “Lucky?” Her eyes grow the size of hardboiled eggs. “LAWSON!” She drops her face back into her hands a moment before resurfacing with a newfound fury. “That’s it. I’m excommunicating him as my official big bro. He just broke a sibling code of conduct that although unstated goes without saying. Yes”—she snaps just inches from my face—“I was giving myself a low five—a hand solo, testing my batteries, Jilling off, enjoying a happy ending to a story I didn’t read, enjoying the safest sex possible!” She pulls the pillow over her face and gives a groan of frustration. Harper looks up at me, her eyes red and watery, her face piqued with color. “Dare. Take off your clothes.”

  A smile tugs on my lips because I’m pretty sure she skidded right by the rules of the game. Here we go. “What for?” I have a feeling playing hard to get will only set her off, but here’s hoping it sets her off in the right direction.

  “Turnabout is fair play. You saw my bits and pieces. I think it’s only fair I get to see yours.”

  “You strategically held your hands over your bits and pieces, but—” I stand and slowly unbutton my shirt, yank my tie off before discarding both behind me. I unbutton my jeans and pause. “Seeing that I’m a good sport…”

  Harper jumps up so fast, Fish flies between us like a bullet as if a war were readying to break out, and it just might be.

  My fingers work open my zipper.

  “You would!” she barks as if I were about to accost her.

  “That’s because you just dared me, sweetheart.” I jump out of my jeans and boxers all at once, and it takes less than three seconds for me to dance out of every last stitch of clothing.

  “You’re naked!” she gasps with her hands clapped over her face.

  My eyes ride down that white T-shirt of mine she’s wearing, testing the fabric at the chest, and my mouth begins to water. “Whatever happened to turnabout is fair play?”

  “Ugh!” she grunts so loud it echoes off the walls. “Is that a dare?” Her left brow hikes into her forehead, and she looks like a sexed-up doll posturing in my living room.

  “Yes.”

  Harper touches the hem of the shirt she’s wearing slowly before inching it up like a tease, high, ever so much higher until it is indeed confirmed that the panties were not necessary. Then in one quick maneuver she hurls my T-shirt back at me like a punishment.

  She strides forward with that perfectly bronzed body, her chest high and full, calling to me like candy. “Go ahead”—she runs her cool fingers over my cheek—“take it all in.” Her head coc
ks to the side. “Truth or dare—you told Ryder you couldn’t stand me. That this entire fake relationship was nothing more than our little plot for revenge.”

  “True.” I swallow hard, my body thumps to life as I graze her thigh. A deep sigh expels from me. “But I lied.” There. If I’m going to admit things to myself, I may as well admit them to her too. “Yes. I told him those things, but only because he’s not my shrink. He’s my client and I didn’t want to muddy up the waters. What I really wanted to say was—”

  Her finger lands to my lips. Harper’s chest is pounding so fast I’m half-afraid she’s going to pass out at my feet.

  “You don’t have to answer that.” Her breathing picks up to atomic pace, and I wrap my arm around her. Her sweet body touch down over my chest, and I close my eyes a moment just taking it in. “You know. It’s fine. I get it. This is our anti-rebound.” Her bottom lip tugs down once again, and I give a wry smile because I think it’s freaking cute. “But since we’re stuck with one another for a few more weeks, maybe we can have a little fun?” Her hips sway into mine. “You know, the good old-fashioned way?” Harper presses her hot body up against mine, and my skin drinks down every inch of the aching sensation.

  “Harper.” Her name comes out breathless as I graze my lips over her face. I take a gentle bite from her bottom lip and pull out slowly before running my mouth close to her ear. “What I was about to say is—I only told Ryder half the story. The truth is, I can’t stand to be apart from you. I think you’re beautiful, smart, and funny as hell, and I think—”

  A loud wallop explodes over the door and we both jump a good foot.

  “We don’t want any,” I bark in hopes whoever it is will get lost, but my eyes stay nailed to Harper’s. She just propositioned me, so I figure, in the least, I owed her the truth.

  “It’s me!” a tiny female voice rails from outside and the pounding continues. “I’m not leaving, so would you please open up? I’m carrying ten pounds’ worth of donuts or I’d use my key!”

  “Crap.” I glance down at the foot long I’m sporting and wince up at Harper. The last person I want to see is my sister. “We need to get rid of her.”

  “No.” Harper is already halfway into my old T-shirt before she yanks a pair of sweats from the suitcase next to her. “She’s got donuts for God’s sake! Besides, she’s your sister. She’s not giving up any time soon. Plus, I swear she said she had a key.” She scowls at the door as she heads in that direction and I make a beeline for the bedroom. I hit the shower and think of Harper’s beautiful face, her body in the most demented way possible before tossing on a pair of sweats myself and heading back out to the living room.

  Trixie and Harper sit discussing something amongst themselves, each with a glazed donut in hand.

  “How was practice?” Trix looks up, completely nonchalant as if nothing were amiss.

  Harper nods. “She asked where you were earlier.”

  “Oh, right. Practice was tough as hell.” I wipe off the water beading from my hair on my forehead. “So, what’s with the donuts?”

  Trix leans in, examining me with those eyes. She’s reading me. She already knows. “Scarlett and Rex dropped them off. They had like twenty in the back seat. They’re headed to Mirror Lake for a few days—said it was their anniversary.”

  “Cool.” I dip into the all glazed box of donuts opened on the coffee table and pluck one out. “My stepsister and brother have a thing for donuts.”

  Harper gives a low guttural laugh and it’s sexy as all hell. “Sort of like our thing for pie.” Her eyes grow wide as she freezes mid-bite. “I mean”—she glances to Trixie with a face full of guilt—“um, I like pie.”

  “Relax.” Trix swats her on the knee. “I’m keeping up. I saw the pics. I follow you both on like six different places.” She takes a bite while examining me with a far more scrutinizing stare than the one she had a moment before. Great. Not only does she know, but she’s damn pissed. “In fact, I think the two of you should pick up your game.” She takes an angry bite out of that sickly-sweet confection in her hand. “Have you considered matching tattoos?”

  I groan and push the coffee table out with my foot. “Here we go.” She’s pissed and she’s about to have a little fun with us first.

  “No, I’m serious.” Her eyes do that I’m so innocent thing when we both know she’s not. “How about the two of you go to one of those drive-through wedding chapels and get hitched?”

  Harper shoots a glance my way as if assessing whether or not it’s safe to take her next bite.

  “Oh, I know! Why don’t you knock her up, Knox? That will really take your level of commitment up a notch.” Her voice rises with anger. “And what’s with the suitcase in the corner?” she growls at Harper, and suddenly I’m fearing the fact she’s within striking distance.

  “What’s your problem?” Harper reaches for another donut and takes an obnoxious bite right in Trixie’s face. Usually I’ll side with Trix over just about anything, but I’m rather digging Harper’s response right about now, and I am completely on her side.

  “You’re my problem.” Trix stabs her in the chest with her finger before I can flick her off.

  “Keep your hands to yourself.” I shield Harper with my arm in the event Trixie goes psycho, which I’m suspecting will be shortly.

  “I knew it!” she shrills, the veins in her temples quivering with anger. “You’re not wearing a bra!”

  “And?” Harper scoffs at my sister’s boulder-holder based putdown. “I prefer not to. Big whoop. You want to poke at my crotch too? Newsflash, honey, it’s nobody’s business but mine if I decide to go commando. Or are you too uptight to know what that is?”

  Crap.

  Trixie jumps up, and so does Harper just as I wedge my body between theirs.

  “Whoa, ladies. No need to take it to the next level. Trix—be nice to Harper. She had her heart yanked out of her ass just like I did. Who the hell cares if she’s not wearing any underwear? Who the hell made you keeper of the panties?”

  Harper leans over my shoulder. “Maybe she’s hitting for the same team?” She sticks her tongue out at Trix, and you can see the steam pouring from my sister’s ears.

  “That’s it!” Trix jumps back, red with rage. “I knew she was nothing more than a little tramp!” She kicks me in the shin and I buck. “Practice my ass! I know for a fact practice hasn’t started!” Crap. I give a sheepish smile to Harper. “This skank ho bag is trying to sleep with you! And to make things worse, you’re letting your prick do the thinking! Imagine how pissed I’m going to be when you end up with some venereal disease because you hooked up with some random chick on the fly! Yes, she’s beautiful, but so are half the skanks on campus! She’s using you! And the most disgusting part about this is that you’re using her! And don’t you give me any of that she’s just had her heart yanked out of her ass bullshit. Yes, it might be true, but you of all people should know how lousy it feels to be manipulated and had. And now you’re both essentially doing it to one another!” She picks up the donuts and lands the box over my head, one bouncing ball of sugar after the next rains down on me. “If you really think hooking up with one another is the answer, then be my guest!” she thunders as she opens the door. “By all means”—she pauses a moment to glare at Harper and me—“you deserve one another.” She pokes her head in one final time. “Have fun getting laid!” Her eyes bug out in my direction. “I hope you think of me and it kills your erection! I can’t believe you!” She lets out a scream as she heads down the walk.

  “I can’t believe you said erection!” I shout after her and slam the door like a gunshot.

  I lean my head back and close my eyes. I thought college would be fun. It would be a blast to be near Jen in addition to playing on the field, not to mention hanging out with Trix, growing up, growing apart for the very first time, and instead, every single part of my existence is slowly turning itself inside out.

  I turn around to face Harper and her lips begin to
twitch like mad. For a moment I’m convinced she’s about to cry, but soon enough a smile flexes on her lips, followed by another, followed by a laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You.” She wipes a tear from her eye before clasping onto my waist. “You’re officially the king of donuts.” She plucks one off the top of my head and I admire my sticky crown for a moment.

  “Trix always did have good aim.”

  “I’m sorry I’ve upset her. I know how close I am to my siblings. I can only imagine how much closer you must be with yours, seeing she’s your twin and all. Can you read her mind? Is she really going to kill me?”

  “No—to the killing. Yes, I can read her mind.” I frown a moment, because Trix just so happened to suck every ounce of my good mood right out of me. “Truth or dare, what’s the suitcase doing here?”

  She winces. “I happen to be temporarily homeless. I may or may not be petrified of heights, and my roommate—who goes by the moniker of a cartoon cat—nearly scratched my eyes out with her unhygienic claws.”

  My breathing picks up as I lose myself in those lips. “Okay. Makes total sense.” It makes no sense, but both my man parts and I approve of the fact she’ll be spending the night.

  “Good.” Her chest pulsates, matching that of my own as she takes a step in. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  I step in close until our chests are inches apart, her narrowed gaze still sealed over mine.

  “You’ll sleep in my bed.” A devilish grin buds on my lips. “With me.”

  It’s a Pizza Cake

  Harper

  I’ll sleep in his bed.

  My body thumps with one giant heartbeat at the brazen proposition, but all I really want to do is backtrack to the moment before his psycho of a sister stormed in wielding both deep-fried donuts and her deep-fried accusations, all the way to those sweet words that were streaming through his beautiful lips.