by Chloe Morgan
All of it, so new.
With someone who wasn’t so new.
“So, have you had luck with any of your applications?” Chase asked.
“Nope. Not a one. I’ve had five come back on me already,” I said.
“That’s insane. If you’re even half as smart now as you were back in high school, they should be nipping at your heels to get you to work for them.”
“Well, apparently a year’s worth of an internship and a Master’s degree don’t take the place of ‘five years of experience necessary.’”
“Are there any jobs where that much experience isn’t necessary?” he asked.
“If I want to be a janitor, sure,” I said, grinning.
“I mean, you’d fill out the uniform nicely,” he said cheekily.
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you.”
“Ah, taking a peek at the old muscles?”
“I figured logging would put some muscle on that scrawny form of yours, but I didn’t think it’d do all it’s done.”
“And tell me, Serenity. What has it done?” he asked.
I was three drinks in on an empty stomach and gazing into the eyes of a man whose stare was darkening. His foot started sliding up and down my ankle. My fingers crept to his, wrapping around his hand. His touch was electric. Just like it used to be. It zipped fire through the marrow of my bones and ignited my vision. I felt myself come alive just with the holding of his hand.
And when the hairs on his arm prickled, I knew he felt the same way.
“I’ll take a cue from my eighteen-year-old self and say, ‘it might be better to show you,’” I said.
His eyes were hungry. His grip tightened around my hand. He slung back the rest of his drink, and I followed in his footsteps. He guided me not toward his car or mine, but the back of the bar we were at. We stormed down the hallway to the bathroom, and I grinned at the desperation pouring from his aching muscles.
Until he tossed us into the janitor’s closet.
I laughed as I stumbled over the mop. I heard the door shut and lock behind us, and then my chest was pressed into the wall. Chase’s hand wrapped around my mouth. His free arm trapped me around my waist and held me to him. I felt his cock pulsing against my ass, sitting between my cheeks as the skirt of my dress slowly worked its way up from my squirming.
“If you laugh too hard, someone might come find us. And who knows what state of undress you might be in.”
His voice rumbled. It blanketed me and rattled my rib cage. His lips kissed my ear as my eyes fluttered closed, and slowly his hand slipped from my waist. He kept a grip on my mouth. I felt his hand slip below the skirt of my dress and dance up my thigh. My leg jolted at his touch. My pussy heated at the anticipation of what was to come. I felt my nipples puckering against my bra as his lips fell to my neck and he kissed my shoulder, causing me to moan against his hand.
“I always loved your sounds,” Chase grunted.
He turned me around quicklyin his grasp, pressing my back against the metal shelving. His fingertips worked deftly, pulling my panties to the side as our mouths crashed together. My hands slid into his hair, gripping on to that pompadour I wanted to touch the other night. Our tongues did battle as his fingers slipped between my dripping pussy folds. I felt my hips already rolling against his skin, seeking out its release as my juices dripped into his palm.
He tasted exactly like I remembered.
His fingers slid around my clit. They slid against my aching walls, filling me as my pussy fluttered around his thick digits. The calluses of his hands rushed against my skin, and as he inched his fingers out of my body, I moaned at the loss of him. His lips fell closer into mine. His body pinned me against the wall as he shoved his jeans down his legs. I reached around and grabbed his girth, my eyes widening as I felt the massive cock that was supposed to fit inside me.
Holy hell, it would feel like my first time again.
Two first times.
With Chase.
I listened as he licked my juices off his fingers. And when he kissed my lips again, my head spiraled into a pit of darkness, one Chase had opened me up to years ago. His hands fisted my thighs and he hoisted me up, and my legs wrapped around his waist. He eased his cock into me. One shallow thrust. Two. Three. Even four. My pussy swallowed him as it coated his skin in my scent, lubing him up for my body.
“Shit, Serenity,” he growled down my throat.
I rolled against him. His mouth swallowed my sounds as he pounded into me. He gripped the metal shelving as he fucked me against it, my legs tightening around his waist. My nails dug into his shirt. My head swirled with passion and delight as his cock throbbed against my walls. His curls felt outstanding. The stubble of his hair raked against my aching clit. I shook. Trembled. Jolted against him as colors burst and sizzled in my vision behind my eyelids.
“Chase. Chase. Holy shit, yes.”
His hand fisted my hair, keeping our mouths together as our worlds collided. I felt his cock pulse within me before threads of come poured into my body. I unraveled against him. I gripped his shirt and hung on as my legs weakened around him. He pressed me further into the shelving, his muscles blanketing me with their heat. I whimpered against him. Dripped my juices down his balls as he filled me with his arousal.
And when I collapsed against him, heaving for air, his face fell into the crook of my neck.
“Fuck, Serenity.”
I smiled at the sound of my name falling from his tired tongue. It made me feel so good inside I started to giggle. It grew and it mounted, sweeping Chase along so he was chuckling along with me. He slipped his cock out as the two of us continued to laugh, trying to keep ourselves quiet. I fixed my panties, and he stuffed himself back into his pants. I smoothed my hands down my dress as he slid his hands through his hair.
I looked up just in time for him to grip the back of my head and sweep me into another passionate kiss—one where his tongue did the talking his mind wasn’t clear enough to.
Shit. I really had lied to my brother.
4
Chase
I stood there looking in the mirror, trying to piece myself together after last night. Every time I thought about Serenity a smile crossed my face. What we had experienced was amazing. Carnal. Passionate in all the ways I remembered us being. She couldn’t hold back, and neither could I. And that giggle. That fucking giggle. It throbbed in my gut and made me smile every time I heard it. Back when she was in high school it had been cute, but now it was downright painful because it was so beautiful.
I had no idea what last night meant for any sort of a future for us, but what I did know was that Serenity was seared more deeply into my memory than ever.
I’d missed her more than I thought I had. When I had seen her in the restaurant that night with her parents, there was a pang of something I couldn’t define. But when we sat down for drinks and she smiled at me from behind her martini, I was able to put words to it. I had missed her.
I had missed her so much I put it out of my mind so it wouldn’t hurt as badly.
I felt like shit for thinking about her while I was getting ready to have lunch with Shawn. My father was coming home on his lunch break to watch Mom so I could get outand have some lunch with him. Though, part of me was hoping my father would have said no. I knew what he was going to do. He was going to do what Serenity had told me he had already done to her.
He was going to lecture me about not touching his sister.
Too late.
I didn’t want to deal with it. I didn’t want to sit across from him and act like things were okay when they weren’t. The shit he had pulled before Serenity left for college had really created a rift in our friendship. After I’d left for New York City to pursue my degree, we had hardly talked. It was only when I came back because of my mother’s health that we reconnected, and that was simply because we saw so much of each other. He wasn’t going to be pulling that shit again. I’d shut it down before it ever got off
the ground.
I wouldn’t let him yell at Serenity like he had that day.
Not again.
My only issue with not doing lunch was that if I avoided Shawn, I knew he would suspect something. And when Shawn got an idea in his head, he ran with it until he had turned over every stone. The last thing Serenity and I needed while trying to sort out whatever this was between us was her damn brother sniffing around us.
“You got this,” I said to myself in the mirror.
“Chase!”
“Yeah, Dad?”
“I’m home. I’ll be here for an hour and a half. Where’s Mom?” he called.
“Why do you two talk about me like I’m not here?” my mother asked.
“She’s in the living room, smart stuff,” I said, grinning.
I heard my mother and father kissing as I grabbed my things. My phone. Keys. My wallet. I let them have their moment and slipped out without saying goodbye. I had an hour and a half to blow with Shawn, and the sooner I could get this dumbass conversation over with, the better. I slipped into my car and rode into town, meeting him at the burger joint we always hit up.
He was already sitting outside and had ordered a drink for me.
“Hey there, man,” I said as I sat down.
“Hey, dude. How’s your mom today?” Shawn asked.
“You know, she’s in good spirits today. She and Dad were even kissing when I left.”
“Oh, shit. That’s really good. Think she’s getting some of her strength back?”
“I hope so. Because this chemo is kicking her ass something hard this time around,” I said.
“Did she try those nausea suckers I came across in the store a few weeks back?”
“Actually, she did. They didn’t completely stop her nausea, but they did hamper it. She only threw up once yesterday from her round of chemo.”
“Good. You let me know when she’s running low and I’ll pick up some more,” he said.
“I really appreciate it, Shawn.”
“So, not to juxtapose one thing to another, but I wanted to talk with you for a second now that Serenity’s back in town,” he said.
I grabbed my drink and took a sip.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“You know she’s off-limits, right?”
I looked him square in his eyes and debated telling him to fuck off, but I had enough shit going on in my world. If the time ever came for Serenity and me to tackle him, we’d do it together.
As a team.
Like I wanted us to be.
“I hear you,” I said.
“I’m serious. I get that what happened a few years ago was more… hormones than anything,” he said.
Hardly.
“Probably,” I said.
“But you two are grown. Hell, we’re all grown. She’s got enough on her plate right now with student loans and finding a job. She doesn’t need you complicating things.”
“Don’t worry about it, Shawn. I agree with you. I don’t think she’d be interested in me in that way right now anyway.”
“You better not be interested in her either,” he said.
“I’m not,” I said.
I should have felt like shit about lying to my best friend, but I didn’t. If anything, her being off-limits made me want her more. Call it psychobabble, or maybe just petty revenge, but the idea of pissing Shawn off a bit made me grin inside.
“Good. That was all I wanted to say. She’s having a shit-show of a time finding a job. She needs the space,” Shawn said.
Or the stress release.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that a Master’s and an internship don’t replace real-life experience,” I said.
Shawn narrowed his eyes at me.
“My sister says that,” he said.
“Then it sounds like she’s smart,” I said.
“Uh-huh. Well, I suggested she volunteer at child centers or something like that. Volunteer work in a field of interest looks good on a resume.”
“That’s actually a smart move. There’s a daycare not too far from my dad’s logging company. I could poke my head in and see what’s up,” I said.
“I can do it. There are plenty of daycares around my parents’ house, too.”
I sipped my drink, knowing exactly what he was doing. He was forcibly putting as much space between the two of us as he could. Trying to keep us apart so we would bend to his whim and want for our lives.
Boy, did he have another think coming.
5
Serenity
“Kayla!”
“Holy shit, Serenity. It’s about damn time.”
I ran into my best friend’s arms and wrapped her up tight. I picked her up and swung her around, excited to finally be able to spend some time with her. Kayla had been pissed when I had gone off to college. She had stuck around the Fort Collins area, not venturing very far to get her accounting certifications. The woman had always been a whiz with numbers. I put her down, and the two of us hugged one last time before we made our way into the coffee shop.
We ordered the same thing we’d always gotten as teenagers: two large mint chocolate chip Frappucinos, two cheese Danishes, and one of their peanut butter and jelly lunch boxes to split.
“I feel like I’m sixteen again,” Kayla said, giggling.
“You know we can’t come in here and order anything else. They practically knew how to ring us up whenever we walked in,” I said.
The two of us sat down at a table by the front window and jammed our straws into our sugar-laden drinks.
“So, catch me up. How long are you in town for? Have you found a job yet? What sort of trouble have you already gotten into?” Kayla asked.
“Already got stories on deck to trump mine with?” I asked, grinning.
“You know how I am, Serenity.”
“Trust me, I do. So, to answer your questions, I’m in town for the foreseeable future. No, I haven’t found a job yet. In fact, my applications are being tossed back at me faster than I can put them in. And in terms of trouble, I’ve only got one name for you: Chase.”
Kayla’s jaw dropped. “You’ve already run into him again?”
“He’s my brother’s best friend. Yes, I have. But we’ve done a little more than run into one another.”
“You’ve only been back a few days!”
“I guess the two of us work quickly,” I said as I sipped my drink.
Kayla’s eyes widened. “Okay, so no. We’re tabling my stories until you give up all the gossip on what’s been happening in your life.”
“It’s all happened so fast. I’m still not quite sure how to process it. My first day back, I’m barely unpacked before my parents drag me out for drinks. Chase shows up and sits down, then the next day he’s at my parents’ house asking me out for drinks—alone.”
“But it wasn’t just drinks,” she said, grinning.
“It was supposed to be! Until he dragged me into a janitorial closet,” I said, smirking.
“A janitor’s closet! I haven’t even ventured there yet. You slimy little— Does anyone know? I mean, other than me, of course.”
“Oh, of course. And no. If my brother knew, he’d kill us both. You know this. And my parents wouldn't be able to keep their mouths shut long enough for me to keep it away from Shawn.”
“He’s an idiot for not supporting this. I’ve always believed that,” she said.
“You’ve always thought Shawn was an idiot no matter what,” I said.
“Yes, and definitely on this topic. The two of you were good back then, and it seems as if you guys are picking up right where you left off.”
“First off, it was only a couple of months. Hardly enough time for anyone to be ‘good for’ the other. And secondly, it was good.”
Kayla grinned. “How good?”
I could only answer her with a groan and a roll of my eyes.
“Now, you know I need details,” Kayla said as she ate her Danish.
“Let’s just say Chase isn’
t the scrawny boy he used to be.”
“I know he’s muscular. You forget I live around here. I see him from time to time,” she said.
“I meant all facets of his body.”
I stuck my tongue in my cheek and Kayla squealed. She clapped her hands as everyone started looking at us, and the two of us busted out laughing. It felt so good to be talking to her again. Like old times. I knew she was happy to have me back, and honestly? It wasn’t completely terrible being back.
Just embarrassing to be living with my parents.
“So, does this mean the two of you are officially back together? Please tell me it does,” Kayla said.
I took a sip of my drink and shook my head.
“No, it doesn’t. Not by a long shot. It was just a moment of alcohol-induced weakness. Nothing else,” I said.
“You know I know when you’re lying, right? You haven’t been away from home that long.”
“Kayla, I’m serious. We aren’t back together. We can’t be. My brother would kill us, and I’ve got enough on my plate in terms of figuring out the rest of my life. I don’t need to be battling my brother like I did when he found out the last time this all went down.”
“Or you could tell your brother to suck it because you’re twenty-five years old and you have a Master’s degree. You don’t have to be afraid of him. You don’t have to listen to him. And I know he’s already lectured you about Chase. You wouldn’t be talking like this if he hadn’t,” she said.
“Look, it’s easier to just listen than it is to try and sneak around behind his back. We tried that when we were younger, and it bit us square in the ass. I’ve got a life to figure out, Kayla. I don’t need to be dragging some guy along with me,” I said.
“Do you care about him?”
I leaned back in my chair and picked at my Danish. I let a soft smile trickle across my cheeks as I thought about him. His eyes. His grip on my hips. The way it was so easy to talk and laugh with him.