by LL Meyer
I snort out a laugh, and she joins me.
When our laughter dies down, she sighs. “It’s a good thing they moved out right when they finished high school, because when I was thirteen, I had a huge crush on Dane.”
At my look, she laughs again. “Don’t worry. My head is on straight now. He’s my brother . . . a very protective, very annoying brother.”
“About that,” I say. “I think I convinced them to lay off your boyfriend a bit.”
She looks genuinely pleased. “Thanks.”
“So you really like him?”
“Braeden? Yeah, I think so. We haven’t been together for that long. He’s nice. He treats me like a queen.” The words are positive, but they’re accompanied by a bit of reluctance.
“But . . . ?” I prompt.
She wrinkles her nose. “But maybe he’s too nice.”
My eyebrows go up, and her shoulders slump a bit. “I know, I know. I sound horrible. It’s just that I grew up around Jason and Dane and they’re both so . . . confident. You know what I mean?”
I smile. “I do.”
“Neither of them takes shit from anyone. And I bet . . .” She looks at me slyly. “That Dane is not timid in bed.”
“Jenna!” I say, turning bright red.
“I knew it!” she says in triumph. “That’s my only concern with Braeden.”
I cover my ears in mock horror. “That is way too much information!”
She laughs. “Come on. Let’s hit Victoria’s Secret first.”
We spend an obscene amount of time and money at Victoria’s Secret. Jenna insists that I get measured when she finds out I’ve never worn a real bra before, and truthfully, I’m grateful for her help.
Obviously we spend over the limit that sends a message to Dane’s phone, because my phone buzzes with a text a few minutes later.
Fashion show in my room later.
I giggle in contentment.
Shopping with Jenna isn’t actually that bad. We have similar body types, and she knows where to get stuff that will fit us. Without her, I’d just wander around aimlessly. At first, spending the money makes me uncomfortable, but with Jenna persuading me at every turn with her honest opinion, soon I’ve got new pairs of jeans, T-shirts, shorts, tank tops, a sundress, and even a couple of blouses that can be dressed up or down.
After a late lunch, we end up at Macy’s where she says that she needs a ‘back-up dress’ for commencement next week.
“Have you got one?”
“One what?”
“A dress for commencement.”
“Oh.” I sigh. “I’m an architecture major,” I explain.
“I know. But aren’t you coming? Charmaine and Josh are graduating, too. And Jason and Dane are going. It’s not like their baby sister graduates from college every day.”
What? I’m a little hurt that no one has mentioned anything to me, not Charmaine and not Dane. “When is it?”
She immediately picks up on the tone in my voice. “Monday. And we’ll both get ourselves something to wear,” she says, still with the enthusiasm that now seems like too much.
I don’t argue with her even though I have to work on Monday and I’m obviously not invited. I just nod and pretend to be interested in the racks of dresses. I wander in the opposite direction and find a place to sit near the change rooms, thinking that I’ll let myself wallow for a few minutes.
I dump all my shopping bags at my feet, closing my eyes as I rest my head against the wall behind me.
“Hey.”
I jump. Jenna is sitting beside me, holding out her phone. “Dane wants to talk to you.”
Giving her a withering look, I don’t reach for the phone. I don’t really feel like talking to him. She pushes the mute button.
“He feels really bad. He just forgot. He’s a guy, right?”
I nod faintly. “He is.”
She undoes mute and pushes the phone into my hand.
“Hey,” I say, completely unable to add any life to my voice under the weight of this stupid disappointment.
“I’m sorry, Lil. With everything, I totally forgot. Will you come with us?” he asks in a rush. When I don’t immediately say anything, he adds, “Please? It wasn’t intentional. I truly forgot.”
I’m nodding, but I can’t say anything because I don’t trust my voice not to crack.
“She’s saying yes,” Jenna yells.
A bubble of laughter comes out of my mouth.
“So you’ll get a dress?” he asks me, sounding ridiculously hopeful.
“I have to work,” I whisper.
“I’ll take care of that.”
I shake my head at his arrogance, but my small smile is genuine.
“Okay?” he asks.
“Okay.”
I hang up and hand the phone back to Jenna.
“Yay!” she sing-songs. “Let’s shop.”
She helps me find the perfect dress. It’s a simple black sleeveless sheath dress with a V-neck. It reaches to my knees, so it’s conservative, but it hugs me in all the right places. Jenna is beside herself with her stylist abilities and I have to agree. I feel completely glamorous and sexy. I try to put my foot down at the shoes she wants me to get, but she insists, claiming that if she had a boyfriend as tall as Dane she’d wear three-inch heels too. I only agree because they’re simple, black patent leather pumps that go so well with the dress.
By the time she drops me off, I’m exhausted and completely amused that they’re both waiting for me at the door.
Jason takes all the bags from me, while Dane pulls me into his arms. “How’d it go? Have you forgiven me?”
I give him a smile and then a kiss. “It would be pretty awful of me to spend so much money and then come home mad, wouldn’t it?”
“It would,” he agrees facetiously. “I’ll make it up to you later.” The look he’s giving me makes me a bit weak in the knees.
“Kay.”
He pulls me in the direction of the stairs to follow Jason.
“Did you eat, Pretty Girl?” Jason yells over his shoulder.
“No,” I yell back.
“Pizza?”
I look to Dane who’s grinning, obviously in a good mood. He shrugs as if to say whatever.
“Sure.”
In our room, Jason has put the bags on the bed and is now sitting up against the headboard with his phone to his ear, ordering pizza.
“Do we get a fashion show?” Dane asks, kissing my neck.
I throw a nervous glance in Jason’s direction and Dane laughs. “Not the X-rated kind.”
A little embarrassed by my assumption, I mumble an, “okay.”
I take the dress bag and the shoes, which I don’t want him to see yet, and a bag I grab at random into the walk-in closet. Dane’s clothes only take up a quarter of the space and I shake my head at how big this house really is. Hanging up the dress, I dump out the contents of the bag on the center counter and sort them out. I pull on the sundress first.
When I go out, they don’t see me because they’re both elbow deep in the Victoria’s Secret bag, pulling stuff out and showing it to each other. Jason finally notices me as he’s holding up a black lace teddy, while Dane groans.
“You guys are serious pervs, you know that, right?” Jason at least has the decency to look abashed, but Dane is grinning like an idiot.
I move forward with my hand out for the bag as they stuff everything back in.
“So,” Jason says with a grimace. “If you got all this, does that mean my dear little sister got the same?”
I scoff. “She’s not so little. You have her to thank for almost all of that.” It suddenly occurs to me that I’m using you in the plural sense, not the singular, and my mind starts skittering off-kilter. “Actually,” I say, quickly diverting my thoughts to safer ground. “She loves to talk and she was full of juicy tidbits.”
Dane looks up. “Like what?”
“Well, I now know that Jason wet the bed till he was in the
second grade and you’re afraid of heights.” I start checking things off on my fingers. “I heard all about how you used to bribe her with money so she wouldn’t tell Mom and Dad about the girls in your room, and about Joanne MacNeil, and how Jenna used to have a crush on Dane when she was little, and how Melissa was a cute little thing.”
They both look a bit stricken, and I almost laugh. “But I’m sure you’re mostly interested in the fact that she may be getting rid of Braeden soon because he’s just not cutting it in the bedroom.”
Finally, an audible reaction. They both cry out in dismay and Jason even throws a pillow at me. I start giggling as I throw it back.
“So, what do you think of my new dress?” I do a turn and they’re both relieved to have something else to focus on, making all the right noises and saying all the right words.
The next day, they go to work in the morning and I decide to make lasagna for dinner. I don’t know how they can eat so much takeout. The salt alone is enough to kill a person.
In the afternoon, I’m coming down the stairs and hear them in the kitchen. I smile, I hadn’t even heard them come home. But halfway down, I freeze. They’re arguing about something. Floating down a few more steps, I stop again. Their yelling fills me with dread.
“You said a week,” Jason spits out.
“I’m taking it back.”
“Why?”
“It’s just not worth the risk.”
There’s a pause, and then Jason speaks with so much loathing that fear courses through me. “You’re such a selfish prick. After everything I’ve fucking done for you.”
“What?! What the hell have you done for me?!” Dane shouts in disbelief. “And I sure as fuck don’t owe you this.”
“Fuck, I hate you sometimes!”
“Grow up, Jason.”
Dane appears from under the landing, heading for the door with angry strides.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
He stops, his back rigid. “Everything’s fine.” The edge in his tone is clear as he turns to look at me. “I’ve gotta work for a couple hours. I’ll be back later.”
My head bobs nervously. “Okay.”
He’s about to leave, but changes his mind and jerks his head, telling me to come down. When I’m in front of him, he rests his palms on either side of my face and kisses me gently.
“See you soon.”
I nod. And he’s gone.
What was that about?
Movement by the stairs catches my eye.
“Jason?” I call, but he ignores me.
For a brief moment I consider letting it all go as none of my business, but who am I kidding? Jason is way more likely to tell me than Dane.
I follow him up the stairs.
“Jason?” His long legs carry him down the hall to his room faster than I can keep up. He doesn’t slam his door on me, though, so I take that as permission to go in.
He’s pacing at the foot of the bed, his fists clenching and unclenching.
Before I have a chance to ask what’s going on, he starts ranting. “He’s such a selfish, arrogant bastard. That asshole can’t acknowledge anything I’ve ever done for him. I’m so fucking tired of it. Dane’s parents are dead. Dane’s depressed. Dane doesn’t want to go to college. Dane wants to do real estate. Dane doesn’t like Melissa. Dane wants this ginormous house. As soon as I want something, he fucking says no.”
Throughout the whole spiel he doesn’t look at me. But now that he’s done, he turns his blue eyes on me in earnest. “I’m so fucking tired.”
I take a few steps toward him. “But what do you want that he doesn’t?” I can’t think of why they’re fighting like this. I really can’t.
He huffs out a breath and then sinks down onto the end of his bed, his elbows on his knees, his head hanging. “Nothing,” he says, sounding resigned.
I sit beside him and rest my head on his shoulder to give him some comfort like he always does for me. “It can’t be nothing. I’ve never heard you guys yell before.”
He doesn’t answer.
“It’s not true,” I say softly, raising my hand to rub soothing circles at the nape of his neck, “that he doesn’t appreciate you. He told me how grateful he was that you stuck by him in high school.”
He sighs, and then sits up a bit and turns to me. Our foreheads meet. “Did you just make that up?”
A twitch of humor runs through me. “That’s not very likely.”
I watch as his lips tug into a grin. He really does have beautiful lips. Slowly, I realize that once again, we’re inappropriately close.
“Pretty Girl?” His voice is hoarse, and so, so inviting.
Why am I not pulling away?
He leans closer.
Our lips touch, and the electricity running between us is like a tether, completely short-circuiting my brain. Neither of us moves for a second. He comes to his senses first, but it’s not to pull away, it’s to move his lips on mine. Nervous pleasure explodes in my stomach as he increases the pressure. I’m kissing him back; our tongues brush and it’s so good. A soft moan floats on the air.
I pull away with a start. Oh my God. My hands fly to my lips in horror and I jerk myself to my feet. Realization crashes over me and my heart starts pounding in my chest. What am I doing?
“Lily.” He reaches for me, but I stagger back toward the door. I can’t outrun him, though. At the door, his arms are around me, holding me to him. “It’s okay.”
“What?” I gasp.
“It’s okay. It’s on me. It’s okay. He’ll be mad at me, not you.”
I take a deep breath in an effort to calm myself, but all I get is his scent and it rushes straight between my legs. I want to scream at myself. I don’t know what’s worse, kissing him in the first place or still wanting him?
I need space, but he doesn’t want to let me go.
My phone rings from my back pocket, taking both of us by surprise and when I reach for it, his arms loosen enough for me to slip away.
On autopilot, I answer. “Hello?” It comes out as a whisper.
“May I speak to Lily Friesen, please?” says a female voice.
“Speaking.”
“Lily, this is Officer Clarke. We’ve had some developments in your case and we’d like you to come down to the station. Right now, if you could.”
“Right now?” I repeat, my eyes rising to Jason’s.
He must have figured out who I’m speaking to because he’s nodding his head.
“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I press end and stare at Jason. In the silence, neither of us is able to break eye contact.
“Was that the cops?” he finally asks.
I nod.
“Get a sweater and your purse, and we’ll go. I’ll call Dane and he can meet us there.”
At the mention of his name, a strangled cry comes out of me.
“It’s going to be okay, you’ll see. Just get your stuff.”
Fucking Jason. I knew he wasn’t going to be happy, but he threw a fit, a bloody temper tantrum. So what if I’m a selfish bastard? She’s mine. My excuse to him is that she’s too fragile, but I know it’s not her, it’s me. No matter the rush of a three-way . . . my mind gets off-track as images of her high on the both of us inundate me. I may be able to make her come, but it’s nothing compared to what Jason and I can do to her together. And I guess I could tie her up by myself, but what fun would that be?
Stop! I’ve already made this decision. I can’t lose her.
I park the car on the street outside the job site and take a moment to get myself together before I go in.
My phone buzzes. I see it’s a message from Jason and almost don’t open it, but I can see the first bit starts with the word Cops.
For fuck’s sake.
Cops called. Want to see PG now at station. See u there.
Just as I’m starting the car again, another message comes in.
I kissed her. She’s freaked out. Thinks you’ll
never forgive her.
Motherfucker! Anger surges through me. I’ll fucking kill him.
Another message.
She kissed me back. She wanted it. Keep panties unbunched.
I force myself to count to ten because my first reaction is that I’m literally going to rip his head off. He touched her when I told him not to. Then I count backwards from ten. She kissed him back?
Shit, the police. I have to go.
In the fifteen minutes it takes to get to the police station, I force my mind to be blank. All I need to concentrate on is that she needs my support and my reassurance that she hasn’t done anything wrong.
At the next light, I manage to send her a quick text.
I’m not mad. I love you.
When I pull into the parking lot, I spot the Range Rover right away. Hurrying in, I watch her jump up guiltily from where she had her head resting on Jason’s shoulder. She crosses the lobby and throws her arms around me.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know, Lil. It’s okay.” I pull her close. “Everything’s fine. Let’s just focus on what’s going on here.”
She reluctantly lets me move her back to where Jason is sitting. Taking a seat next to him, but refusing to look at him, I settle Lily onto my lap. Her stiff posture speaks volumes to how she’s feeling. This place would be enough to stress her out without what happened. She must be going crazy. She needs to know that everything is okay.
I finally look at Jason who stares back at me with a completely unrepentant expression as I lift her legs onto his lap. A little v forms between her brows, so I kiss it in an attempt to allay her worry, but it remains firmly etched.
Jason’s hands are on her legs, so I place one of her hands over one of his. He flips his palm face up, and then I put mine over top. With her hand sandwiched between ours, I kiss her temple. “We’re okay, Lil.” I raise my hand from hers briefly to gesture between the three of us. “No matter what happens, we’ll always be okay.”
