by A. K. Evans
“I thought you had an older brother and a younger brother,” I said.
“I do,” he replied, smiling at me.
“So, are you a twin?” I asked.
He laughed. “We get that all the time. No, I’m not. This is my older brother, Levi. Levi, this is my friend, Emme.”
“Your friend?” he repeated to Zane with eyebrows raised.
“Yes, fucker, my friend. Think you could be decent and let her in the house?”
Levi looked to me and said, “My apologies, Emme. It’s very nice to meet you. Please, come on in.”
I stepped inside the house not feeling any less anxious when another equally as hot man walked into the foyer shouting, “Zane’s here.” As soon as he saw me he bellowed, “And he’s brought a girl with him.”
Zane dropped his head back and looked to the ceiling as he pleaded, “Give me the strength.”
Hot guy number two, actually three if you counted Zane, walked right up to me wrapped an arm around my shoulders and said, “Merry Christmas, beautiful.”
I felt my face flush as I looked away from him and mumbled, “Merry Christmas.”
“Fuck me. He’s found a shy one,” Levi said.
“I’m Cruz,” I heard the voice next to me say. “You are?” I took him in. I could see the similarities in certain features between him and Zane, but where Levi and Zane looked nearly identical with their dark hair, exquisite bone structure, thick brows, and captivating eyes, Cruz was nearly their opposite. He had thicker, slightly longer hair. It was not nearly as dark, but definitely nowhere close to blonde. He did have the same blue eyes and chiseled jaw, but his features were a bit softer when compared with Zane and Levi. All three of them were gorgeous in their own right with incredible bodies, one of which was still currently pressed up against mine. In addition, all three of them towered over me, even with my heels on.
“Emme,” I answered, introducing myself to Cruz.
“Think you can get your hands off her?” Zane demanded.
I turned to see him clenching his jaw and seething. Crap.
Levi spoke up and offered, “Getting a little worked up over someone who is just a friend, Zane.”
“Friend?” Cruz asked Zane with the same raised eyebrows. His eyes came back to me and he continued talking. “Well in that case, beautiful, let me…” he got out before Zane cut him off.
“Cruz. Her name is Emme. Hands off now.”
Cruz held his hands up and confessed, “Just trying to be nice, big brother.”
“Oh my goodness, you poor thing,” I heard a female voice say amidst all the commotion. I looked up to see a pretty woman walking toward me with her arms outstretched. “Emme is it? My name’s Trisha.” She wrapped an arm around me and looked at her sons. “What is wrong you three?” She pointed to Levi and Cruz first and reprimanded them. “You two know better. Why do you always insist on pushing buttons?” Turning her attention to Zane, she advised, “And you…this poor girl is scared out of her mind. Next time, it would be a good idea to let me know you are bringing someone so that I can prevent this from happening.”
“I didn’t mean to intrude today, Mrs. Cunningham. I’m sorry this was just sprung on you,” I interjected, looking anywhere but any of their faces. I felt extremely awkward.
“Fuck. Emme, you don’t need to apologize. I asked you to be here. You aren’t intruding.”
“Mouth, Zane,” his mother said before she turned to me. “Honey, call me Trisha. And despite his foul language Zane is right. You are more than welcome to be here. You can come help me in the kitchen and leave these boys to do what they will. It’s nice to have another woman in the house.”
As we walked out of the foyer through to the kitchen I heard Zane mumble, “Motherfuckers.”
“I heard that,” his mother yelled back. I couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.
“I brought some homemade Christmas cookies with me. My roommate, who is also my best friend, and I spent the better part of the day yesterday baking. I didn’t want to come here empty-handed,” I explained as I held the tray out to her.
She took the tray from me and said, “Thanks, Emme. If there’s one thing I know, those boys can put away the cookies.”
As we entered the kitchen and moved farther away from the boys I was able to take in my surroundings. The house had an open floor plan where right off the kitchen was the dining room with a table that was already set for what I could only assume would be a heck of a feast considering the wonderful smells in the room. Off the dining room toward the back side of the house was a very large, comfortable family room that had been decorated with a Christmas tree and stockings hung from the fireplace. I turned around when I heard footsteps and a deep voice asking, “What’s all the commotion?”
This had to be Zane’s dad. Zane bore a striking resemblance to the man who I had to admit was very good looking. He was tall, in great shape, and had that voice that was so very similar to Zane’s. I wondered for a moment if that was one of the things that made his wife fall in love with him.
“Oh goodness,” he gasped as he realized I was standing there. “Hello, I’m David. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Mr. Cunningham. I’m Emme,” I revealed, stretching out my arm to shake his hand.
“Please dear, call me David. You come with Zane?” he asked as he continued to hold my hand in his.
I nodded.
For a moment, I felt his hand tighten around mine before he let it go.
“David, honey, you need to have a chat with those boys. They tortured Emme when she came in,” Trisha said.
“Trish, my love, when are you going to accept the fact that those boys are always going to torment each other? It’s in their nature. Talking to them isn’t going to change a damn thing.”
I listened to the two of them go back and forth about their boys while admiring the way they spoke with each other. Even though she was frustrated with how her sons had acted I could tell from her conversation with her husband that not only did they care very deeply for their children, but also that they were very much in love with each other. David repeatedly called her ‘my love’ when he spoke to her. It was very heartwarming to witness.
I went about helping Trisha get the food in serving dishes and took it to the dining room table. Minutes later, Zane walked into the kitchen followed by his brothers. I had to admit, it took my breath away. Zane edged out his brothers ever so slightly in the looks department, but they were undoubtedly one good-looking bunch.
“Zane, honey, will you set a place for Emme at the table?” Trisha asked him.
He nodded and got to it. Not much later, Trisha and I had successfully brought all the food to the table and we were all sitting down to eat. She made stuffed chicken breasts, potatoes, tons of veggies, and homemade cheddar biscuits. Everything tasted amazing and I made sure to ask her for her recipe for the biscuits. Thankfully, once everyone was sitting down to eat the conversation from earlier that day had been forgotten.
“So how did you two meet?” Levi asked.
“My roommate, Charley, is dating Wes,” I answered. “Zane and I met a couple weeks ago at Lou’s when Charley and I were out celebrating her birthday with two of our friends from California.”
“Wes is dating someone?” Cruz asked, seemingly dumbfounded.
I’m not sure where my courage came from, but I said, “He really seems to care a lot for her and he’s made my friend happier than she’s been in a long time. I hope everything works out for them because she’s been through a lot and deserves a bit of happiness.”
I could feel myself getting choked up so I tried to blink away the tears threatening to form. Zane grabbed my hand under the table and squeezed. I looked to him. He searched my face with concern so I did my best to ease that by smiling at him.
So, the bright side of the whole situation was that the guys were all in a great mood and trying to include me in the conversation. Aside from my defense of Charley and Wes’ relationship, i
t was never forced or awkward. They learned all about my photography business and I learned that while Levi and Cruz occasionally went snowboarding for fun, Zane was the only one who ever did it professionally. Levi started a private investigations business quite a few years ago and shortly afterward, Cruz joined him. Levi had a team of guys who were very good, and apparently, he was very highly sought after in Rising Sun and the surrounding areas.
Zane and I hung with his family for a while after lunch, but as he promised me he’d make sure we were back to my place before Charley and Wes got there he told his family we had to get going. This was, of course, not before everyone had a sampling of the cookies I brought. They all loved them or, they at least claimed to love them. Nearly half the tray was gone by the time Zane and I were ready to leave, so I assumed they couldn’t be making it up. I thanked them all for their hospitality and kindness before we left and every single one of them pulled me into a hug and wished me a Merry Christmas. I heard Zane growl when his brothers hugged me, but they didn’t seem to be the least bit phased by it.
After we left his parents’ house, Zane and I stopped back at his house briefly so that I could grab my car before we made our way to my place. As promised, Zane had me home before Charley and Wes got back.
“Thanks for inviting me to go with you today,” I said to Zane as we walked into the house and straight to the kitchen. Once I put my purse down on the counter, I turned around to face him and continued, “You are very lucky. You have a great family and I’m really thankful they were gracious enough to allow me to join in on a special occasion such as this.”
“You’re welcome, Emme. Though, if I have my way, this will just be the first of many occasions that you celebrate with us.”
I really appreciated his determination, but I felt horrible that he wanted something that would never be. I tilted my head, looked at his beautiful face, and felt my heart break because I knew that if my life hadn’t taken such horrible turns Zane and I could have possibly had a chance.
“Zane…I know you’ve been teasing me and joking about this all day, but I really don’t want to give you any mixed signals. Maybe I was wrong for asking for what I did last night and I’m sorry if I’ve given you the impression that there could be more. Deep down I think you really are one of the good ones. Unfortunately, this type of thing isn’t in the cards for me.”
“You’ve been up front with me from the start, Emme. Any effort I put into trying to change your mind is my own choice. Just know, I’m not joking about it. You aren’t going to always feel this way and I imagine you won’t want to be alone forever. We just recently met. I think you are someone worth getting to know a little better. Right now, if you can only offer friendship then I’m willing to take that.”
My eyes got wet and a lump formed in my throat. I tried to swallow past it, but to no avail. A single tear fell from each of my eyes and I croaked out, “I’m sorry, Zane.”
“Christ, Emme,” Zane said as he swiped his thumbs across my cheeks. “Sweetheart, don’t apologize. It’s evident you are hurting and clearly there is something bigger than me going on right now. Don’t worry about me. Take care of yourself and if you need someone along the way to help you through it, I’ll be here for you. That’s what friends do, right?”
I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded at him.
His eyes searched my face a bit before he asked, “You know that no Christmas is complete without watching A Christmas Story, right?”
And just like that, Zane took away the hurt and guilt I was feeling.
“I love that movie,” I said smiling up at him.
“Then you’re in luck because I picked up my copy of it when we stopped back at my house to get your car. Want to watch?”
I nodded furiously at him.
He chuckled, wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and walked with me from the kitchen to the family room.
Ten minutes before the movie ended, Wes and Charley walked in. While Charley and I made dinner, the boys hung together in the family room watching television. I’m sure both would have preferred to have been with us in the kitchen, but I think they both knew that Charley and I needed our time together, too. Sadly, I couldn’t bring myself to tell my best friend about my trip with Zane to his house or to meet his family. She asked questions about my day with Zane, but I was vague. I didn’t want her getting excited about something that I knew wouldn’t be going anywhere. Thankfully, she seemed to catch on quickly that I wasn’t up for discussing the situation with Zane so we moved on to other topics, such as her day with Wes, meeting his parents, her Christmas gift, and then, we exchanged gifts with each other.
We finished making dinner, ate with the guys, and had a great night. It was, by far, the best day I had had in many, many months. When Zane finally got up to leave, Wes and Charley said good night and took off down the hall toward her bedroom. I walked Zane to the front door.
I stood in front of him and looked up at him, smiling. He wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and squeezed gently.
“Thank you for today,” I said to him.
“Wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere that you weren’t today.”
“I feel like I need to do something to repay you for what you’ve done for me, between both last night and all day today. This was easily the best day I’ve had in a very long time, Zane. I know I acted like a tough guy saying that I’d be fine being alone today, but the reality is that I would have been miserable and lonely. Thank you for not allowing me to feel that today.”
Zane eyes warmed and his face softened.
“You don’t need to do anything to repay me. Just knowing that I made the right choice in staying with you today is payment enough. I don’t need anything else, Emme,” he began. Then, he flashed his sexy grin and said, “Though, I won’t turn down a good night kiss if you are really feeling indebted to me.”
I rolled my eyes at him. Typical guy.
“Friends don’t kiss, Zane.”
“Sure they do. We did last night and we were just friends then, right?”
He did have a point.
Since it was Christmas and he had gone out of his way to make the day good for me I figured I could give him this.
“Ok. You win,” I said.
I pressed up on my toes as I put my hands to his shoulders. Zane’s hand at my neck tightened ever so slightly as he slowly bent his head down to meet mine. My lips gently brushed his before I decided that if I was going to give him this I might as well do it right. With my mind made up I pressed my lips to his and he pulled my body up against his. I then gently bit his bottom lip. I kissed the spot my teeth had grazed over before I let my tongue come out to tease his lips. He groaned and pulled me even tighter to his body with his other hand that was now resting just above my ass. My hands moved to his hair and my tongue slipped past his lips into his mouth. He took it and gave me his in return. I could feel the hard length of his arousal pressing into me and I moaned.
This was going to get out of control really quick if I didn’t stop it. I tore my mouth from his and whispered, “Zane, we have to stop.”
With his forehead pressed to mine and his eyes closed he whispered back, “Fuck, sweetheart. You are so damn sexy.”
“Zane…” I said, trailing off because I didn’t know what else to say. I was turned on and this was not easy.
He pulled his head back from mine and looked at me. I watched him as his jaw clenched. I could tell he was thinking so I stayed quiet. Eventually, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and said, “Going to need your number, Emme.”
“My number?” I questioned.
“Yeah.”
“For what?”
“Only way I can get to know you better is if I can talk to you. Besides, I imagine all your other friends have your number. It’s only fair that I get it, too.”
So, I gave him my number. He tucked his phone back into his pocket and looked back at me.
“Good night, Emme.”
“
Good night, Zane.”
With that, he leaned forward, kissed my forehead, and turned to walk out the door.
Chapter 6
Emme
Run. Run. Run.
I keep telling myself that I’ve done this too many times now to not know how to save myself. I need to get away.
Keep going. It’s dark, but there’s the light ahead. Get past the light this time.
Run. Stay steady. Left, right, left, right.
I approach the light and, sure enough, despite all the focus and determination not to fall I do. The searing pain shoots through my ankle and my hands burn from the scrapes I get catching myself as I land on the ground.
“I’m almost beginning to enjoy this,” his voice taunts me.
“Please don’t do this. Let me go,” I plead.
“Never, Emily. You’ll always be mine. Always.”
I hear his footsteps. He is so close to me. I close my eyes bracing for the impact of either his foot or fist.
Then I hear a chime. It distracts me for a moment. This is new.
“Nobody can save you, Emily. Not even him.”
Zane. I see his face.
I shot up in my bed, out of breath, and heard the chime again. I looked to my side and realized it was coming from my phone sitting on my nightstand. A text message popped up on the screen from a number I don’t recognize. The message was cut off so I unlocked the phone and opened my text messages.
Figured I’d come home and have no problem crashing given the long day. I know it’s the middle of the night, but thought you should know that you are one difficult face to forget. Hope you are sleeping well.
This is Zane, btw.
I felt a warm feeling run through my body as I smiled at the phone. I tapped out a quick reply.
I was sleeping, but not well.
He responded immediately.
Another nightmare?
Yep. I answered.
No response. Seconds later, my phone rang. I quickly answered.
“Hey,” I said, as I dropped my head back to my pillow.
