It’s torture. Our hands keep brushing and the slight touch sends an electric shock up my arm every time. I would move if I wasn’t enjoying the electricity so much.
Finally, fi-na-lly, we reach our rooms and this feels like an end of a first date moment when I can’t tell if the guy is going to kiss me or not. My last few dates have been total duds and tonight wasn’t even a real date, yet I’m internally screaming at him to kiss me.
A moment passes. He clears his throat. I panic.
“Well, um, goodnight!” I open my door with lightning speed and slam it behind me. I lean with my back against the wood and take a deep, cleansing breath. Why do I do this? There’s a very good chance nothing was going to happen and now I look like a fool. And on the off chance something might’ve happened, I now missed my opportunity. Ugh, I’m the worst.
“Goodnight, Hailey.” His voice is muffled through the door but I hear a tinge of disappointment. I drag my suitcase behind me further into the spacious room.
To the right of the door is the bathroom which is pretty big for a hotel room. The king-sized bed sits in the middle of the wall across from a giant flat screen TV. Balcony doors take up the far wall and a small sitting area rests on the terrace outside.
I can’t even look at the interior door aside of the TV because I know it leads to Chase’s room and knowing that is too tempting. I’m bound to do something stupid if I think about that fact for too long.
I kick off the killer heels that have been digging into the soles of my feet for hours now. Ah, sweet relief. I undo the zipper on my dress and slide the lacy material down my body.
Throwing my suitcase on the bed, I retrieve my toiletries, my much-needed vibrator, and search for something more comfortable to sleep in. Apparently, in my slightly inebriated state last night I thought it was wise to only pack lingerie. I might as well sleep naked with the negligee I have packed.
There’s a quick rap of knuckles on the door, the interior door, and my heart all but stops. “Uh, one second.” I run to the bathroom to grab a robe and throw the offensive nightwear and my vibrator back into my suitcase on the bed. I make sure I cinch the belt of the robe tight before opening the door.
“Chase, what a surprise.” What a surprise? Who the hell else would it be? I grimace as he cocks his head at me. “I mean, what’s up?” Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Hi, sorry to bother you. I just thought we should, you know, nail down our plans for tomorrow.” He’s acting weird, running his hand repeatedly through his hair giving it a thoroughly messed up look. I want to copy the motion and tug on the ends.
I squint my eyes, not sure what he’s expecting. “We’ll wake up, head to Hunter’s, take him for a birthday dinner, and come back to the hotel to sleep. What’s the confusion?” Was he expecting breakfast or something? Sheesh.
“Can I…?” He motions to come in my room and I swipe my arm to allow him in. Now, do I close the door behind him or leave it open? He’s pacing back and forth near both doors and I back up to give him space.
He opens his mouth to talk at the same moment I stop paying attention to my surroundings. I bump into my bed, my hip knocking against my suitcase, causing it to tumble to the ground. Like an idiot, I never zipped it closed and the contents spill all over the floor.
My lingerie is one thing. It falls into a lacy, silk clump on the floor next to my bare feet. His eyes widen into saucers as he takes in the mess. But that’s not the worst part.
The part that makes me want to crawl into a hole and die is when my vibrator rolls across the floor and hits Chase’s shoe. The motion steals his attention and his jaw goes slack.
Bending over, he picks up my favorite battery-operated device. Once again I’m equal parts turned on and mortified. Seeing him hold my sex toy is a huge turn on. Then again, I didn’t need my brother’s best friend to be intimately aware of what I do between the sheets while I’m alone.
He clears his throat but his voice still comes out an octave too high. “I guess you, uh, want this back?” His outstretched hand offers me the toy and not even the sun can compete with how hot I’m feeling in this moment. And not a good kind of hot; a mortified kind, with my body flushed with discomfort. “We can just, uh, talk in the morning.”
He backs out of the room, through the door I never closed, and closes his door on the opposite side. “Holy shit.” I hear him mutter through the walls.
I pinch my eyes closed, praying when I open them I’ll wake up from this humiliating nightmare.
No such luck.
I change and climb into bed, taking my vibrator with me. A girl’s got needs after all.
7
Chase
This woman will actually kill me. I’m sitting on the edge of the hotel bed and I don’t even remember how I got here. My mind is too consumed with the thought of Hailey-freaking-Blake and her vibrator. I need a cold shower.
I stalk across the room and shed my clothes on the bathroom floor. I hop in the shower before adjusting the temperature, praying the cold spray calms me down both inside and out.
I close my eyes under the water but it’s the worst thing I can do. I keep recalling our night together—the red dress, her smile, how incredible her ass looked when accentuated by her heels. And that fucking vibrator.
My mind goes a little wild imagining all the things she does with her sex toy. Does she have more than the one? What is she into?
I picture that fiery red dress with the slit up the back of the skirt. I could’ve reached my hand right up there. Was she still wearing that black thong? I could’ve found out. She’s a sexy little vixen, and she has no idea.
Well, she has some idea, the little tease. She knew she was getting a rise out of me—literally. Teasing, touching, and taunting me. And my damn cock couldn’t control himself, not around her.
This shower was the worst idea ever. My dick is rock hard and the cold water isn’t combating the issue at all. Instead, I wrap my hand around the shaft, wishing it was her hand or mouth or pussy.
I come faster than I’m proud of and the water washes away the evidence as if it never happened. The orgasm didn’t fix the desire still coursing through my veins. Instead, knowing she’s sleeping right next door and how badly I want her but can’t have her makes things worse.
I dry off and walk to the bed, climbing under the sheets nude—it’s the best way to sleep. How anyone sleeps comfortably with clothes tangling and tugging around them all night is beyond me.
Tomorrow, I’ll bring up the issue to Hunter and see how he feels about me pursuing his little sister. If I want to be a man, I have to act like one first. It’s not that I need his permission to date her, but I respect him too much to not run it by him first.
I turn on the TV and allow The Office to put me to sleep. If Jim and Pam could make it work, so can Hailey and I.
◊◊◊
I wake up to some ridiculous pop-EDM music blaring from the adjoining room. I can’t hear the words, if there are any, but I feel the pulsing beat radiating through the thin hotel walls. The thump of the bass as the beat drops is enough to wake up coma patients.
I jump out of bed, dragging on the discarded boxers I threw on the floor last night and make my way to the door that connects my room with Hailey’s.
“What the hell—” I throw open my door, prepared to beat my fist down on her door. She mustn’t have latched it when I left last night, though, because her door is still cracked open.
Peering through the crack, my sexy little road-trip buddy dances around in a barely there lingerie set. Her ass cheeks all but hang out of the bottoms and I watch them jiggle slightly as she hops around like a crazy person.
The tight lace accentuates every curve, exposing the swell of her breasts as well as the curve of her perfect, tight little ass. Her eyes are closed as she bounds around like the energizer bunny on crack, so she doesn’t notice me gaping at her.
I ease the door closed, though the music is loud enough she wouldn’t hear it click
, anyway. I embarrassed her enough last night with the vibrator incident. I’m sure she wouldn’t want me to see her like this. Though, if I’m being honest, I would kill to keep watching her dance around. Who knew watching her act silly with horrid dance moves would be such a turn on?
It’s a good thing I closed the door unnoticed. She would definitely be able to notice my morning wood starting to poke through the hole in my boxers. Dammit.
I hop in the shower, praying I have enough time to rub one out before heading over to my best friend’s place for the day. If I’m going to survive the proximity to his minx of a little sister, I need all the help I can get.
Once the haze of orgasmic bliss settles over me, I rush through the rest of the shower. I’m ready to spend more time with Hailey.
I love Hunter like a brother, but this spontaneous road trip is becoming more and more about spending time with Hailey than going to see my best friend.
The idea blossomed so naturally and everything fell into place too easily, like the God’s are helping me win her over. The hard part comes next, though, when I have to talk to her big brother about asking her out. It feels so… traditional and old-timey. But sometimes being classic is for the best, and I’m not willing to lose my friendship over a girl, no matter how much I like her. I can’t necessarily say the same for Hunter, though, which is another topic we have to cover.
I decide to wait for Hailey to knock on my door to avoid another potential peep show. Not for my benefit, of course, but for her privacy.
Thirty minutes later, a constant, repetitive knocking to a beat comes from the next room. Finally.
I throw open the door a little too eagerly. I inhale a sharp breath when I see her. God, she’s stunning and she doesn’t even realize how she takes my breath away.
My eyes trail down her in a probably not-so-subtle way. Blonde waves trail down her back. An olive green shirt is knotted at the bottom and giving me a peek of her tight abs. Her white shorts are minuscule and skin-tight and accentuate her sun-kissed skin. On her feet are white converse and somehow she even makes them look sexy.
Around her neck is a dainty gold necklace with a wishbone attached and each wrist has tiny gold bracelets. She manages to make comfy and casual look sexy and tempting. She’s a goddess.
“Uh, hi, Chase, you good? You’ve been zoned out for like, five minutes.” Shit. I really wasn’t being subtle at all.
“Yeah, sorry. Let’s go. You look amazing, by the way.” I’m walking in front of her to not constantly stare at her ass, so I can’t see how her skin flushes when I compliment her. My mind runs wild, stirring up images of her flushing in less-clothed circumstances. My dick jumps in my pants and now I’m glad she can’t see how she’s affecting me either.
“Thanks, so do you.” I look down at my outfit and laugh.
“I guess we kind of match, don’t we?” My t-shirt is split-colored, the top half along with the pocket being an olive green and the bottom half is white. I’m wearing light wash jeans and Nikes, but my shirt is basically identical to her outfit.
We stop to wait for the elevator and I see her perusal of my outfit. “Yeah, we kinda do.” She smiles sweetly. She’s an enigma. Last night we embarrassed the hell out of each other for kicks, and today she’s demure, quiet. It makes me realize how much I like both sides of her.
When we get to my car, I open the passenger side door for her. She must feel like a munchkin in my SUV compared to her tiny Audi, though the sports car definitely suits her. It’s tiny, classy, and chic, just like her.
“What’s wrong?” Hailey has been unusually quiet all morning—aside from her obnoxious EDM wake-up.
“What?” She pulls her attention from the window to look at me. I’m not even sure she actually heard me.
“What’s going on, Hails? You’re timid today. I thought you’d be excited to see your brother.” It was the ruse in which I got her up here, anyway, but now she’s acting like it’s the last place she wants to be.
Letting out a shaky breath, she picks at the frayed edge of her shorts. “It’s ridiculous to be nervous to see my own brother, right? But that hag has taken him from me and he knows I hate her and he also knows the feeling is mutual. I try to talk to him as much as I can but it’s not nearly as much as we used to. I lost my best friend and my brother in one fell swoop because of her. I don’t want to see her, but it’s inevitable. She’s part of the package and, unfortunately, she didn’t come with a return address.” Her voice, which started weak, gains momentum, gradually getting stronger and angrier as her rant builds until the very last word; the last sentiment holds a world of sass.
My hand has a mind of its own and I find it resting on her knee across the center console. I rub my thumb in circles across her silky skin. The mere touch of her causes an electric zap to make its way right to my heart.
“I’m sorry, Hails. Want me to talk to him? Maybe knock some sense into him? Or,” I let my voice get low and whispery, “we could get rid of her.” I wiggle my eyebrows. It’s a tempting idea. Alison really is a bitch.
Her eyes snap to mine, green and gold flecks lighting with humor. “Don’t tempt me.” Her smile lights up her face as her mood shifts. She turns on the radio, singing along to a song I don’t know. I could get used to this.
I pull up behind Hunter’s car in his driveway and park. I turn in my seat to see Hailey gripping the door handle so tightly, her knuckles are white, and I think she’s about to break my car.
“It’s gonna be okay, I promise. If it’s not, just say the word and we’ll go.” It seems like her slight nod is the only response I’ll get. I hop out of my car and wait for her to join me, but she doesn’t.
I run around the front to get her door but her hand is still clasping the handle and I can’t get it open. I tap on the window. “Come on, Hailey. Now or never.”
In that moment, Hunter opens the front door and stands on the front porch of his gray stone townhome. He waves, a large smile on his face. “Alison’s spending quality time with her parents this weekend. It’s just us.”
When his sister hears that, the car door flies open, and she barrels out, knocking me over in the process. She runs full force and jumps into her brother’s arms. They’re gonna be okay, I know it. And truthfully, I’m just as grateful his not-so-better half isn’t here this weekend. But I won’t go jumping into his arms. I’m too sober for that.
◊◊◊
“I have to pee again. When will I learn not to break the damn seal? Be right back.” Hailey half stumbles down the hall and I watch her go. We’ve been with Hunter all day, catching up and drinking. It’s nice that the wicked bitch is gone.
“Dude, what the fuck?” A hard fist punches me in my bicep. Shit.
“What, man?” When has playing dumb ever worked out? Never, that’s when.
“You’ve been checking out my sister all night. I see the way you’re looking at her. What the hell is going on?”
I curse under my breath and brace myself. I only have maybe a minute until Hailey returns, but Hunt’s already called me out. It’s now or never.
“Nothing’s going on dude, but, shit, I’m kinda into her.”
“Yeah, no shit. You’ve been eyeing her all night. What the hell, man? That’s my little sister.” I understand his point. Hailey’s five years younger than us and back in high school I never saw her this way, obviously. But now… she’s an adult. And she’s hot as hell with a fiery personality to match. Why wouldn’t I like her?
I can’t exactly tell him that, though. “I know, I know. I wanted to talk to you about it first. I really like her.”
“Are you asking for permission to fuck my sister?”
“What? No, that’s disgusting. I wasn’t—I…” I take a breath, scrubbing my hands down my face in an attempt to clear my thoughts. “I’m not trying to fuck around with her. I want to be with her.”
He picks up his beer and takes a large gulp. The glass bottle doesn’t shatter from his grasp, which I take as a
positive sign. “If you hurt her…” he lets the threat hang between us. I knew the talk was coming, but he doesn’t see how hypocritical he’s being.
“I won’t, but dude, you’re hurting her too. What the fuck is going on with Alison? She’s keeping you from your family, from your sister. Hailey’s hurting because of it.” Where the hell is Hailey, anyway? She’s been gone for ages.
“It’s… complicated.” I open my mouth, ready to push him to give me a real answer, when Hailey struts back into the room, a slice of cold veggie pizza in her hands.
“What?” she asks around a mouthful of food. I smile because even with broccoli in her teeth she’s beautiful.
She plops down on the couch unsteadily. I stopped drinking a while ago, knowing I’d have to drive us back to the hotel. “I should get her to bed.” Hunter shoots me daggers with his eyes. “Alone. Not with me. Christ, dude, she’s wasted. What kind of guy do you think I am?”
He runs an agitated hand through his hair. “I know, I know. Sorry. If I had known Ali was going to leave for the weekend you both could’ve stayed here.” He shrugs and I won’t give him grief over his fiancée just yet. I’ll do that tomorrow.
“Come on, Hails, time to go.” I offer her my hand and she looks at it like it’s a bomb.
“No, I don’t wanna leave yet. I barely got to talk to Hunter. HUNTER! We need to catch up!”
“Yeah, I’m right next to ya, sis. You’ve been here all day and you’re drunk. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He gives her a kiss on top of her head and nods at me. I take the hint and sweep the Drunken Beauty up into my arms.
“For the love of God, I can walk myself.” Despite her words, her body curls into me and her arms tighten around my neck.
“Do you want me to put you down?” I whisper in her ear.
“Just because I can walk doesn’t mean I want to. I like when you hold me.” She sighs, her whole body relaxing into me. I think she was attempting to whisper the sentiment back to me, but she’s pretty wasted and it came out drunk-person-loud.
Chasing Red Page 5
