Her Best Friend’s Brother

by Feeney, M. B.

  Still she got no response and started pounding her fist on the door.

  “Oh my God. Wake up, you lazy asshole!” she shouted through the door, not caring who could hear her. As she tried to bang on the door once more, it was wrenched open and her fist caught in a tight grip. Her gaze was automatically drawn to a bare arm, which lead to a bare, sculpted shoulder… She didn’t remember him having a scar there before; her eyes continued to move down his naked torso.

  “Can I help you with something?” Letting go of Lucy’s wrist, he ran his hand through his sleep rumpled hair, a lazy grin slowly splitting his face. “Better yet, can you help me with something?”

  Jenson

  Sitting opposite a grown-up, beautiful Lucy Duncan as she unashamedly flirted with him wasn’t something Jenson ever thought he would experience. He had to admit he’d brought her actions upon himself when he accused her of being moments away from cheating on her boyfriend. Watching her mouth, he’d almost come undone right there at the table. He knew she heard his groan of frustration, but he couldn’t have prevented it from escaping him, even if he’d wanted to.

  Then she stopped and called him out on his bullshit. If anything, that was more of a turn on to him, until he dropped the ‘gentleman’ line. At that moment, Jenson knew Lucy remembered more than she was letting on; and so did he.

  Thinking back to the one and only time he’d allowed himself to give into his desire for Lucy, Jenson wished he hadn’t been scared of his friends giving him shit for being attracted to his little sister’s best friend. He’d promised to be a gentleman, and had been, regardless of how hard it had been. During the drive back home from the beach, all he could smell was Lucy’s shampoo. He’d stuffed his earbuds in his ears and tried to ignore it. By the time they’d arrived back at the house, he was determined to talk to her, maybe start something despite his leaving for college.

  Then his friends drove up and invaded his house. Nina, a cute redheaded cheerleader, had attached herself to him, and he resisted her attention. When he’d finally managed to get the time and space to speak to Lucy, she was busy with Matthew Stone, her and Megan’s loser third wheel. Jenson hadn’t been able to believe his eyes when he saw them kissing outside on the sidewalk. He’d been pissed and a little hurt, and knowing Lucy could see him, decided to take advantage of Nina’s attention. It was a reaction he’d always regretted, but could never admit it to anyone.

  As he played around with Nina on the couch, he could tell Lucy was watching him, and he hated the gnawing feeling of guilt. Seeing Nina must have pushed Lucy into Matthew’s arms; a guy she had no romantic feelings for. The guilt mixed with anger was aimed toward Lucy herself. She could see he wasn’t involved with Nina, that he wasn’t encouraging her, but she still chose a loser she didn’t want over him who she did.

  He’d looked up at her as she walked up the stairs, willing her to turn back to look at him. When she did, the look of hurt in her eyes cut him to the quick, but he masked it. He was locking his heart away from Lucy Duncan.

  He’d seen her a few times since that vacation, but had been able to avoid having to speak to her, until now. He never expected agreeing to travel with her would stir up memories and feelings. Jenson wasn’t sure he’d be able to cope for the next two days being trapped in his car with her, the woman he’d compared all women to since he was eighteen. As much as he hid behind sarcasm and teasing, it was getting harder and harder to ignore how attracted to her he still was, how much he took pleasure in reminding her about their history.

  It was clear to him, from the way she spoke about Matthew – he couldn’t believe they were still a thing – that she still didn’t feel the same way about the loser, even after six years. Jenson couldn’t tell if any feelings Lucy had for him were still there, but it was going to be the only fun he would have on the trip.

  Starting with making her wait while he took his shirt off, despite being fully dressed when she started to hammer on his motel room door.

  Trying her best to look at, and focus on, a point beyond Jenson’s shoulder, Lucy couldn’t help but notice the jagged scar in her peripheral vision.

  “Well?” There was a hint of amusement mixed with expectation in his voice.

  Lucy struggled to quash the thought that he was so much bigger than Matthew as she dragged her eyes up, across his bare flesh, to meet his. His grin widened even more as her eyes flicked down to his naked upper body before meeting his once more. The mischievous blue seemed to ask her if she was enjoying the view. She knew he was trying to bait a reaction from her.

  Squeezing her eyes closed, she took a step back away from him and turned to face the wall behind her. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves before speaking helped.

  “It’s ten in the morning.” She stated the obvious, not particularly sure what to say now they were face to face.

  “And?” His voice was husky, making Lucy struggle to forget how big he was and the fact he was half naked behind her.

  “It’s time to get going.”

  “Is it?”

  “Yes. So, please go get some clothes on. The locals don’t need or want to see… that.” She waved one hand up and down to indicate his form. She turned her back to him as if making a point, but in reality she needed a break from looking at him.

  “Hate to break it to you sweetheart, but a lot of people want to see… this.” He chuckled as Lucy heard him move away from the door and rummage through his bag. “You can turn back around now.”

  A grey t-shirt covered his bare, bronzed skin and Lucy couldn’t help but notice how dangerously low the sweatpants he was wearing sat on his hips.

  “Aren’t you cold?” She didn’t even know why she’d asked him that.

  “No.” He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his feet at the ankles with a tiny smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

  “I brought you breakfast.” Lucy held out the bagel.

  “That’s nice of you.”

  “Well, it was my way of getting your lazy ass out of bed,” she grumbled.

  “Are you always this pleasant in the mornings?”

  Ignoring his question, Lucy held out her other hand as she withdrew the bagel from him.

  “We need to go, so hand me your keys. I’ll have your breakfast waiting for you in the car.”

  “Sure.” Jenson strode over to the nightstand and grabbed his car keys. He threw them to Lucy in an underhanded toss. She caught them and walked away to her room to collect her packed bags, chanting ‘two more days’ in her head.

  Sitting in the passenger seat, she couldn’t get the image of Jenson’s disgustingly perfect body out of her mind. She wondered what would have happened if she’d accepted his offer. It would have been delicious to turn the tables on him again. She knew he thought she was a pushover, but she was determined to prove him wrong. She’d show him that she could be better than he’d expect her to be, which led her to wonder what would actually happen between them…

  Trying to not think about the two of them together, she moved her thoughts to the long, jagged scar on his shoulder; she couldn’t help but wonder when and how he got it. She spent the majority of her teenage years around the Phillips family, which meant she saw a lot of Jenson, who spent far too much time wandering around the house topless, yet she couldn’t remember ever seeing the scar before.

  Wondering why Megan had never told her anything about his life, especially about why he’d left college, she remembered after they’d kissed, she’d wanted to hear nothing about him. Every time Megan mentioned his name, Lucy would get uncomfortable and change the subject. Megan was smart, soon caught on and stopped mentioning him to Lucy, assuming she hated him. Lucy had never discouraged that train of thought; it made life so much easier, especially when Matthew was around. Lucy had always wondered if he knew she’d had feelings for Jenson when they were younger.

  Sighing loudly, she leaned back into her seat. A strip of red on the dashboard caught her attention as she looked around her. The gas
gauge arrow was pointing directly at the bright red E. They were out of gas; another delay, which was all they needed.

  Lucy silently debated taking the car to the nearest gas station to fill it up, but she hadn’t driven a stick shift since Mr. Phillips gave her and Megan lessons years before. She was wary, unsure whether attempting to save them time would piss Jenson off by driving his precious car without permission. Not really caring about his reaction, Lucy shuffled over to the driver’s seat. As she considered starting the engine, she realized she had no idea what kind of gas she’d need to put in the car.

  The sound of a closing door reached her ears. Lucy turned to see Jenson, fully dressed, on the walkway outside his room. She was relieved to see him fully dressed in jeans and a hoodie, but her mind betrayed her as she remembered how good he looked beneath them. Guilt flooded through her as she thought of Matthew; she would be seeing him soon for the wedding, and afterwards, they’d be together – the thought didn’t excite her the way it should, hadn’t the entire time they’d been a couple. She considered calling him when she next got the chance, yet as Jenson walked toward the car, she couldn’t stop watching him.

  He was rugged, broad, and looked both inviting yet dangerous. She couldn’t move her eyes from his form. He reached the bottom of the stairs, put his bag down, and stretched his arms above his head, exposing a sliver of taut, tanned skin above the waistband of his pants. Lucy wondered if he was taking his time on purpose.

  He looks just as gorgeous with his clothes on as without. She couldn’t help but think, her mind betraying her once more. She shuffled back over to the passenger seat as he picked his bag back up and walked over to her. He dumped his bag on the back seat next to hers, climbed in and fastened his seatbelt before turning to her.

  “Ready to go?”

  “I am, but we need gas. There’s a station just across the street.”

  Jenson backed up the car, threw it into gear, and pulled out onto the open road.

  “We don’t need gas, I filled her up yesterday.” Lucy eyed the meter that still pointed to empty. The car was old, so the gauge was probably broken. She decided to trust his judgement but couldn’t stop herself from double checking.

  “Is the gauge broken?”

  With his eyes still on the road, he leaned over her seat; he was close enough that Lucy could smell the soap on his skin. Reaching into the glove compartment, he withdrew a brown paper bag and handed it to Lucy.

  “See for yourself.”

  Lucy opened the bag to find a pack of gum and a receipt.

  “I filled up last night. I couldn’t sleep and you weren’t around to keep me company, so I kept myself occupied.”

  Turning over the receipt, Lucy scanned the writing. She focused on one line in particular; the amount and cost of the gas he filled up with. She put the receipt and gum back into the bag, and stowed them back into the glove compartment, fighting the urge to rub her temples. She could feel a headache building, and they’d been together for less than ten minutes.

  His cocky attitude was driving her insane and would likely get him in the ER one day when he pissed off the wrong person. However, she was determined not to argue so much, wanting a more peaceful day than the previous one.

  “Thanks for getting gas after dropping me at the motel. I’ll pay for food today to make up my portion of it. But I don’t feel right driving around with a broken gas gauge.”

  “I’ve got us this far, haven’t I?” His voice had a flippant air as he started the engine and began to pull out of the lot.

  “Really, that’s all you have to say?” She couldn’t help but glare at him. “You’re such an arrogant asshole.”

  Jenson lowered his sunglasses and turned his head to look directly into her eyes. “Yeah, I’m an asshole.”

  She would have taken him seriously if he hadn’t waggled his eyebrows. It looked so ridiculous she couldn’t help but snort at him. “Well, we finally agree on something.”

  The smile on his face widened until he let loose a booming laugh, getting caught up until he was laughing hysterically.

  Lucy couldn’t believe she was driving three-thousand miles without a working gas meter, with a guy who thought it was hilarious when she called him an asshole. His laughter began to sweep her up, and she couldn’t help but giggle along at the craziness of everything. It actually felt good for her to be doing something crazy and spontaneous for once. The complete opposite of how she spent her time with Matthew.

  As their laughter died down, Jenson looked over at her once more.

  “So, what have you been up to for the past few years?” he asked, genuinely interested, or so it seemed.

  “School. Work. That kind of thing.”

  “Where did you study?”

  “I graduated Laverne University of Arts last summer.”

  “And work?” Although he was asking a lot of questions, Lucy didn’t feel as if she were being interrogated.

  “I work at a bar in the evenings. During the day, I spend all my time on my artwork. How about you?”

  For a long time, Jenson was quiet, making Lucy wonder if he’d heard her question. Eventually, he answered.

  “I run my own business.” He seemed a little hesitant to talk about his work. Does it have something to do with his scar?

  “What does your business do?”

  “Clean pools.”

  Lucy couldn’t help but snort a little. “You’re a pool boy?”

  She looked over at him, expecting to see him smiling. His lips were pressed together tightly, his expression blank. “Yes.”

  It was obviously a bit of a sensitive subject for him, but inside, Lucy was laughing. A pool boy… the idea was golden, and quite possibly something he’d heard more than a few times.

  “What happened to football?” In high school he was the star, and was going to be an even bigger star.

  “I got hurt.” This time, when Lucy looked over, Jenson was gripping the wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.

  “And how did you get into your line of work?”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy saw his shoulders relax; he must have expected she’d ask more about his injury.

  “A year ago, I was hanging out in a bar. I overheard some lady complaining about her husband and their disgusting green pool. It all started from there.”

  “Go on.” Lucy was interested. Also, it didn’t hurt that his deep voice was nice to listen to.

  “Some of the others in the bar started to joke around, telling her to get a pool boy. One good-looking enough to make her husband jealous. Some guy mentioned my name.” He fanned his arm across his body sarcastically. “One thing led to another, and what started as a joke quickly became my new career.”

  “That explains the tan,” she blurted out without thinking.

  “Nice to know you’ve been paying attention, Lucy.”

  Before she could stop herself, she swatted at his shoulder playfully. “Oh shut up. So, you’re saying there’s no sex involved?”

  The entire exchange felt natural, and Lucy found herself enjoying their time together

  “No, there’s no sex. I don’t know what kind of pool boy you have, but I hope you tip him well.” Jenson’s smile was wide as he kept his eyes on the road ahead of them.

  “Well, for your own peace of mind, I wouldn’t recommend looking up some of the Urban Dictionary definitions of a pool boy.”

  “Now I have to check it out.”

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Lucy couldn’t help but laugh.

  “To be honest, I don’t even clean pools anymore. I have a crew, and the only time I get to go out is when someone is out sick. Which is why I’m able to take this trip with you. The tan is from surfing. Most of my job is paperwork, which surprisingly, isn’t sexy, as well as being boring as hell.”

  “You’re right. I’d go nuts if I was cooped up behind a desk all day. I love to work with my hands.” A heavy pause between them was broken when Jenson started to crack up.
“Oh, I mean… I love making art.”

  For some reason, this made him howl with laughter even more. “Love… making…”

  “You’re such a child, did you know that?”

  Slowly, he recovered, and his laughter subsided. Keeping his eyes on the road, he cleared his throat while still grinning. Lucy shook her head at him but couldn’t wipe the smile off her own face. Leaning back, she enjoyed the companionable silence. Already, it was a better day and she couldn’t help but continue to smile as she opened her book, hoping that the easygoing conversation between them continued.

  Once again, Lucy and Jenson booked separate motel rooms on day two of travelling. He made up for their late start by driving for thirteen hours straight. Lucy was pleased at the progress they’d made, but now she was out of the car, she was struggling to walk straight. The last time she’d seen Jenson, he’d looked dead on his feet, so she was sure he went to his room and crashed out.

  She realized that due to their constant driving, only stopping for gas, food, and bathroom breaks, she still hadn’t had the chance to call Matthew. Checking her watch, she saw it was past two in the morning, but wondered whether she should call him anyway. Deciding against it, she tapped out a text for him to pick up when he woke up.

  Hey, we’ve made it to our next motel stop. Miss you and I can’t wait to see you in Boston. Love you lots, Lucy. She sent the text, put her phone down, and was about to crawl into bed when a soft tap on the door startled her. She decided to ignore it, thinking it was a creeper or someone at the wrong door. The tap happened again, a little louder this time.

  “Lucy, it’s me. Are you awake?” Jenson’s voice sounded through the door. Thinking it might be important, Lucy opened the door.