by Kennedy Fox
It turns out it was a wrong move. If I hadn’t turned away, I would have known what was coming next. I startle as I feel his arm come around me when he aligns his chest to my back. I feel his lips press to my cheek as he sighs and snuggles even closer. My body is still and rigid, but as his hand settles on my hip, and his breathing evens out, mine does as well. I’ve thought about something like this with him more times than I care to admit. I know it’s not real—it’s the exhaustion of the trip—but for tonight, I’m going to pretend like this is our future.
“Better than I imagined,” his sleep-laced voice mumbles.
I freeze, waiting for him to say more. My heart gallops in my chest and I don’t make a move. I don’t know what I’m expecting. A confession of love? Lust? However, what I get are his soft snores greeting my ears. I know he’s sound asleep. I allow myself to relax into his arms, and my breathing to sync with his. It doesn’t take long for me to fall asleep.
“Hello?” a deep voice rumbles, pulling me from sleep. “Good morning to you too,” Silas says to the caller. “I’m answering her phone because she’s still sleeping,” he explains. “She’s lying next to me. That’s how I know.”
I roll over, and his tired eyes find mine. “Here she is.” He pulls the phone from his ear and hands it to me, not before leaning in and kissing my cheek. “Morning, baby,” he whispers in his husky sleep-laced voice. The sound causes me to squeeze my thighs together to ward off the desire those two words do to me.
“Morning,” I say, taking the phone from him and placing it to my ear.
“Happy Birthday,” Silas whispers.
All I want to do is melt into the mattress and burrow myself in his embrace. “Hello,” I greet the caller that I’m sure is either my sister or Brody from the way that Silas was talking. My guess is my sister.
“Did he just call you baby? Why is he sleeping next to you? Are you at a hotel?” She fires off questions.
“No. We’re not at a hotel. We decided to drive straight through. We got in a little after four.”
“He’s in your bed?” she squeals with excitement.
“Yes.” I look over at Silas to find him with his arms under the pillow, his eyes open and clear as he watches me. “He’s in my bed.” He smiles at my words, and the dimples I love so much make their appearance.
“Tell me everything,” Charity gushes.
“I just did. It was late. He insisted on driving the entire time, so I told him to crash here instead of driving another twenty minutes to his place.”
“Oh,” she says, defeated. “Wait, he called you baby.” She points out.
“Yeah,” I agree. I don’t offer an explanation because I don’t have one.
“You two are still coming over tonight, right? For New Year’s and your birthday? Shit, Happy Birthday.” She laughs. “I was too distracted by what’s going on over there to even tell you.”
“I’ll be there.”
“And Silas?”
I turn to look at him. “Charity wants to know if you still have plans to be at their place tonight.”
“Is that where you’re going to be?” he asks me.
I nod. “Yeah.”
“I’ll be there.”
“He’s coming.”
“I’ll bet he is.” Charity laughs at her own joke, and I inwardly curse the fact that I know my face is flushed from her insinuation.
“Can I bring anything?”
“Yes, Silas loves your taco dip, so bring that. We’ve got everything else covered.”
“How are you feeling? How’s my niece?” I ask, ignoring the “Silas loves” part of the conversation. My heart, though, it skips a beat with those two words directed toward me.
“I’m feeling fine. Just anxious to meet her.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“Okay. I’m going back to sleep. I’ll see you later.”
“I bet you are.” She laughs and ends the call.
“Do you feel any older?” Silas asks.
“Only from the drive. My muscles are stiff.”
“I can help you with that.” He smiles and scoots closer to me.
“I appreciate the offer, but nothing a hot shower can’t fix.”
He watches me intently for several long heartbeats, before bending to press his lips to my shoulder. “I’m going to run home and shower too, and check on things, and I’ll be back to pick you up later.”
“You don’t have to pick me up. I’ll just meet you there.” My words sound weak even to my own ears.
He leans over and places his hand against my cheek. “I know I don’t have to. I want to. How am I going to convince you to give me a chance if I don’t spend time with you?”
“Give you a chance?” I repeat as I try to decipher is words.
“It may have only been a few hours, but I already know I’m going to be addicted to sleeping next to you.” He leans in, and I take in a breath, preparing for his lips to press to mine, but instead, they land on my forehead. “Go back to sleep. I’ll lock up and be back here around six to pick you up. You need me to grab anything while I’m out?”
I shake my head. Not that I can actually think or process anything other than him telling me he’s addicted to sleeping next to me. That he wants me to give him a chance. “I’ll see you soon,” he says, climbing out of bed. I watch as he slips into his shoes and quietly closes the door behind him. Under the covers, my fingers pinch my leg, and I yelp at the pain.
I’m not dreaming.
This is real.
I squeal into the pillow that smells like him, and I know there is no way I’m going to be able to go back to sleep. A glance at the clock tells me I need to get up anyway. I’m having lunch at Mom and Dad’s. We had already planned for Charity and Brody to stay in. None of us want her out in this weather and risking a fall or having an accident.
Chapter Six
SILAS
I’m early. Thirty minutes to be exact. When I left her earlier today, it took everything I had not to blow off my plans and crawl back in bed with her. However, I had some shopping to do. Today is her birthday, and I need to get her something. In the past, I’ve always just gotten her a card. One year I did break my tradition of only a card and bought her a bottle of wine, but that was then, and this is now. I’m no longer pretending that I don’t want her. No. In fact, I couldn’t give a fuck less who knows. Callista is my kryptonite, and I want the world to know she’s mine. Or she will be.
Knocking on the door, I push one hand behind my back to conceal the bouquet of roses I got for her. Roses mean love, and I would have denied this a week ago, but I’m too far gone to not admit that I’ve been falling for her for years. It’s time to make my move.
“Hi,” she says, a smile tilting her lips. “You’re early.”
“I couldn’t wait to see you.” Leaning in, I press a kiss to her forehead, even though I would prefer kissing her lips. “And I wanted to give you this,” I say, pulling back and offering her the gift bag in my hands. “Oh, and these,” I say, presenting her with the dozen roses.
“Silas.” There are tears in her eyes.
“Happy Birthday, baby.” She steps back, allowing me to enter the house.
“This isn’t what we do,” she says, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Maybe not in the past, but in the future. Come and open your gift.” I move into the living room and take a seat on the couch, placing the roses on the coffee table. Callista takes a seat next to me, the gift bag in her hand. “Open it.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll love it. Thank you, Silas.”
“Open it,” I urge her again. I watch as she nods and then slowly begins to pull the tissue paper from the bag. She gasps when she sees the new camera backpack she told me she wanted during our drive yesterday.
“How? I mean, why? Silas, this is too much.”
“This is the one you wanted, right? The one you showed me in the picture.”
“Y-Yes, but I didn’t tell you that so you
would go out and buy it for me. This is too much, Silas.”
“Shh.” I place my index finger to her lips. “I want to spoil you. I want to be where you are, and I hope that I’ll be spending my nights sleeping next to you.”
“I don’t understand.” Her eyes are wide and full of hope, which tells me all that I need to know.
“I’ve sat on the sidelines for far too long. I told myself that if things didn’t work out between us, it would be awkward with Brody and your sister, and all the time that the four of us spend together.”
“What changed your mind?” Her voice is soft, almost as if she’s afraid of my answer.
Reaching for her hand, I place it over my heart. “Our drive yesterday solidified what I already knew. We’re meant to be together. And the worry of it not working out was swept away. There’s no one else I want to be with. I know if I’m lucky enough to make you mine, it will be a gift, the greatest one I’ve ever received, and I’ll never let you go.”
Her phone rings, and she sighs, her lips turning down at the interruption. I grab it from the table. Seeing Charity’s name, I answer. “Hello?” I say before putting the call on speaker so Callista can hear our conversation.
“Silas?”
“Charity?” I echo her.
“Are you still there?”
“Just got back. We’re going to be headed your way soon.”
“You’re riding together?”
“Yes.”
“What are your intentions with my little sister?” There’s humor in her voice.
Callista rolls her eyes, and I know it’s not from the question, but the little sister comment. “We were just talking about that,” I tell her.
“And?”
“And she’s everything.” I keep my eyes locked on Callista. “Everything I never knew I wanted, and everything I need.”
“Brody and I have been saying for years there’s something between the two of you. It’s crazy how you both watch the other when you think no one is looking.”
“Charity!” Callista scolds her sister, which only causes her laughter to sound from the phone.
“I’ll see you two love birds in a few.” The line goes dead.
“See, even your sister and my best friend know this is right.”
“I feel it too,” she whispers.
“Do you like it?” I ask, nodding to the camera case she’s clutching in her hands. I need to steer the conversation away from us, even though that’s all I want to talk about. We need to go soon, and I know me, and what she means to me. That won’t be happening if I keep thinking about all the things I want to do to her.
“I love it. Thank you, Silas. It’s perfect.”
I want to lean in and kiss her. I want to strip her out of her clothes and make love to her right here. I want so many things in this moment, and it’s hard to define each of them. But if I kiss her now, we won’t be leaving. And we have plans. I also have no doubt if we don’t show up, Charity will keep calling or worse—she and Brody will come knocking.
Standing outside of Brody and Charity’s door, I get a glimpse of my future. I’m holding a Crock-Pot of my favorite taco dip, and Callista has a bag full of chips and homemade cookies that she made today. She raises her hand to knock, and a flash of us in this very same situation, only with a little girl who looks just like her mama, and a little boy who has my dimples stand next to us. It’s surreal, and nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I’ve never had a glimpse of my future or even thought that far ahead in life.
“Why are you knocking?” Brody asks when he answers the door.
Callista shrugs. “I know that sex helps induce labor, and we didn’t want to walk in on that. I’m already scarred from that time I heard the two of you in the shower.”
Brody smirks. “We made sure to take care of that before you got here.”
“Here.” I hand him the Crock-Pot, then take the bags from Callista, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “Go find your sister.” Not needing to be told twice, she slides past Brody. He steps back, and I follow her inside.
“So,” he says as we make our way to the kitchen.
“So,” I repeat.
“You and Callista.”
“Yep.”
“She’s basically my sister. You know that, right?”
“She’s your sister-in-law, and one day I hope that your wife will gain that title when she’s referring to me.”
“How long?”
“Years.”
“Why now?” He reaches into the fridge and grabs two beers, but I wave him off. He raises his eyebrows in question.
“I need to get us home.”
“You guys can stay here.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll stay sober just in case.”
“You’ve got it bad.”
“I remember saying those exact words to you.”
“Best decision I ever made was to tell her how I felt.”
I nod. I understand that statement. It was freeing to finally tell Callista where I am and how I’m feeling. She didn’t really tell me how she feels about all of this, but I didn’t give her a chance to. The sexual tension between us is strong, and if she even hinted that’s what she wanted, we wouldn’t be here right now, and the sisters always celebrate their birthdays together. Charity’s isn’t for another two weeks, and I already know we’ll be getting together for dinner and cake then as well.
Laughter rings out from the living room, and like moths to flames, Brody and I automatically move toward the sisters who hold our hearts in the palms of their hands.
Chapter Seven
CALLISTA
“Ten minutes!” Charity says with excitement.
I watch as she places her hand on her belly. Brody’s hand covers hers as they talk quietly among themselves. The smiles on their faces and the excitement they must feel brings tears to my eyes. My niece was supposed to be born today, but she’s stubborn, just like her momma and her aunt. I know we will meet her when she’s ready, but I can’t wait to hold her.
Brody reaches for the remote, and a slow song fills the air. We’ve been watching the performers and waiting for the ball to drop. I watch as he stands and offers my sister his hand, pulling her as close as their daughter will let them, and dances with her.
Silas stands and offers me his hand, and there is no hesitation on my end to place my palm in his. He guides us to the other side of the room, opposite of my sister and brother-in-law, and pulls me into his arms. He’s holding me close as we sway to the music.
“Happy Birthday, baby.”
I smile up at him. “Thank you. It’s definitely one I will always remember.”
“Me too. It’s the first one I’ve spent with you where I was able to do this,” he says, drawing me closer, which I would have thought to be impossible. I lay my head on his chest and savor the feeling of being in his arms.
“We’re one minute away,” the announcer says.
I lift my head and try to pull back, but Silas is holding on strong. “There’s no music,” I state the obvious.
“We’ll make our own.” He smiles down at me.
“You know this day would be perfect, but it’s missing one thing.”
“Yeah? What’s that so I can do better next year.”
The announcer begins the countdown. “Twenty, nineteen…”
“A midnight kiss.” I can’t go another minute without his lips pressed to mine. We’re doing this, we’re together, and that gives me rights to his lips. I want them pressed against mine.
His hands cradle my cheeks, and his green eyes blaze with desire for me. “Happy Birthday, beautiful,” he says. His lips press to mine as the clock strikes midnight. The kiss is slow, yet the press of his lips is firm. He steals taste after taste, and I’ve not had a single drop of alcohol, but I feel drunk. Drunk on Silas and the way his touch lights my body on fire. He slows the kiss and rests his forehead against mine. “Exactly what I thought our first kiss would be like. Explosiv
e.”
He starts to pull away, but I stop him with my hands, fisting his shirt. I don’t want him to pull away. I don’t want to lose this moment. The way my heart is racing so fast, it feels as though it could beat right out of my chest. The way my lips are wet from his kiss, the way his green eyes and those fucking dimples smile down at me… I want to memorize this moment.
“Let’s get out of here,” he says softly.
I nod. “Charity,” I call out, my eyes never leaving his. “We’re gonna go. Call me if you go into labor. I love you, thank you for having us. Happy New Year,” I rush to get it all out.
“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” Brody calls after us as we move toward the front door. Neither one of us answer him as we slide into our coats and head outside.
The drive to my place is quiet. Silas has his hand on my thigh, and he’s driving me crazy. With each swipe of his thumb, he’s igniting every sensor in my body that screams for him. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted someone as much as I want him. As we pull into the drive, I’m suddenly worried he’s going to leave, which is the opposite of what I want to happen.
“I know it’s no longer my birthday, but I’m going to be selfish and ask for one more thing.” My voice is thick.
“Anything,” he says, turning to face me.
“Stay with me.”
He unbuckles his seat belt and leans over the console of his truck. “Always,” he whispers, brushing his lips over mine.
All too quickly, he’s pulling away and climbing out of his truck. I scramble to do the same, and he’s there, tugging open my door, offering me his hand. Once we’re inside, I kick off my shoes and with his hand clasped tightly around mine, lead us to my bedroom. I don’t bother turning on the lights, instead choosing to find my way in the darkness. With each step that carries us closer to my room, my heart rate accelerates, and my breathing begins to labor.