Being with the Brothers Next Door

by Being

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2013 Jenika Snow

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-563-1

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  It isn't your dirty little secret if everyone knows about it.

  As always I want to thank Evernight Publishing for being so freaking wonderful through the entire writing process. To my family, friends, and readers, you guys rock my socks off, and without you none of this would be possible.

  BEING WITH THE BROTHERS NEXT DOOR

  Wickedly Taboo, 4

  Jenika Snow

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  2002

  “Sasha, if you don’t quit hanging around with us, you’re going to get hurt.”

  Sasha had to run in order to keep up with her brother Rian, and his best friends, Jonas and Tanner Ashbury. She might only be twelve, but hanging out with Rian and his two best friends was a lot more fun than playing with dolls at Seana’s house. Sasha pumped her legs faster trying to keep up with their long strides. It was Saturday, and they were all going to the lake to watch the girls in bikinis. Well, the boys were. Sasha just tagged along. The guys were rounding the bend that would take them right to the lake when her foot caught a rock, and she fell forward. She went down hard, and pain lanced up her knees as they met the ground. Instantly tears sprang forward, and when she looked down at her knees and saw the bloody, torn skin, she cried harder. A moment later she saw a set of sneakers come into her blurry view, and she raised her head to stare at Tanner. He scowled down at her, but when he saw her scrapes his gaze softened. Jonas and Rian came running up behind him seconds later, and embarrassment washed through her.

  I told you that you’d get hurt.” Rian stood beside Tanner and scowled. “Mom’s going to be so mad.”

  “No, don’t tell her, Rian. She won’t let me come along anymore.”

  Tanner gripped her under the arms and helped her up. Jonas stared at her knees.

  “You don’t need to be coming with us anyway, Sasha. You’re too young to be hanging out with us anyway.” Rian crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at her. If not for Jonas and Tanner telling her older brother that her tagging along was fine, Rian would have made her stay behind most likely. “You going to be okay?” He gestured to her legs, and she nodded. “All right then, come on.”

  Rian didn’t wait for a reply, just turned and started back for the lake. Tanner and Jonas stared down at her.

  “You guys don’t like me hanging out either, do you?” She had known them her whole life. Even if they were three years older than she was, they never made her feel like Rian’s annoying little sister. They both watched her with the same hazel eyes that were more green than brown. They might have been fraternal twins, but they looked so much alike they could have passed for identical.

  Tanner exhaled and ran a hand over his short dark hair, the same color and length as Jonas’s. “Come on, sweet pea.” He had always called her that endearment, and her heart gave a little pitter-patter at the nickname. Jonas took her hand, and they made their way to the lake. Even if the guys were going there to flirt with the girls and hoped to catch a glimpse of their bikini tops popping off, Sasha did like spending time with them. Tanner and Jonas never complained about her presence, and they never said she couldn’t do what they did. Rian was the only one who was annoyed that their mom made him watch over her when she tagged along. But to be honest, she crushed hard on Tanner and Jonas, and because of that would have gotten dirty and hurt just to be near them. The only problem was the brothers didn’t see her as anything more than their best friend’s little sister.

  ****

  2004

  High school was like stagnant water. It smelled and was toxic. Sasha tightened her hand around the strap of her backpack and turned around to see Tanner talking with some blonde girl off to the side. She wore a skirt that was the length of some of Sasha’s underwear, and her top, if it could be called that, stretched so tight across her boobs Sasha could see the outline of her nipples. Just seeing Tanner touching another girl had her already hating the first day of her freshman year. The cherry on top of the shit sundae would be to see Jonas doing the same thing. Even two years later she wanted the Ashbury brothers like she wanted to breathe.

  Sasha slammed the door of Rian’s beloved Mustang and smirked when he climbed out of the car and narrowed his eyes at her. He treated that car like it was made out of diamonds and gold. Sasha admitted it was a beautiful piece of machinery, though, what with its glossy midnight blue paint job and completely restored frame. He had worked hard on it with their father over the past couple of years, but Rian was an asshole on the best of days, and today was one of those days. Anything she could do to piss him off made her feel loads better.

  Rian said, “If you don’t behave, Sasha, I’m going to make you ride the bus.” All she did was roll her eyes at him, because they both knew their dad wouldn’t make her ride the bus while he drove in the car he poured money into to restore. Rian’s expression told her he knew the same thing. He walked toward the front of the school, and several guys came up to him and slapped him on the back. It was a move she had seen Tanner and Jonas do countless times. She noticed girls off to the side start giggling when her brother walked by, and she couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose.

  Sasha looked at the front of the high school, and unease knotted her stomach. Pushing all her worries aside, she breathed in deeply. She was so damn nervous about what lay behind those ominous double doors of Hayven Hill High. She made her way toward the school, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Jonas and Tanner stepped in front of her, and she couldn’t help but smile even if all she could picture was their lips on other girls. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen enough of that over the years, but right now she had a fresh visual of Tanner doing that exact thing just feet from her. It had her smile faltering.

  “You look about ready to sprint, sweet pea.” Tanner grinned down at her, and Jonas gave him a light shove.

  “Leave her alone, Tanner,” Jonas said seriously, but his lips twitched with suppressed amusement. “Come on, Sasha.” Jonas wrapped his muscular arm around her shoulder and steered her toward the front entrance. With Tanner on one side and Jonas on the other she felt her belly tighten and her heart race. Rian called out from her left, and they stopped. He ran up to them and ruffled her hair.

  “Knock it off.” She shoved Rian away, and the four of them headed inside. Girls stopped and stared at the three guys, but Sasha couldn’t blame them. Not only had Rian, Tanner, and Jonas been on the Varsity football team last year, and most likely would be again this year, they had bodies to suit the somewhat violent sport. They were also popular and insanely attractive, even if she had the ick factor going on when thinking anything remotely nice about her brother.

  “I’ll catch you guys later,” Rian called out behind him as he made his way to a girl leaning against the lockers. She knew enough about her whorish brother to know he didn’t have a girlfriend, but had plenty of girls.

  “What a man-whore.�
� Sasha said it with all the love she had for her brother, and Tanner and Jonas chuckled. The thing was, as grossed out as Sasha was that her brother was a “ladies’ man” Tanner and Jonas were the same way. How many times had she looked out her bedroom window and seen the twins bringing homes their dates? With their parents working nightshift, she saw their “dates” more than she cared to admit. A few girls came up to them and flirted heavily with Tanner and Jonas, telling them how much they missed them over the summer and how much they hoped to “catch up” this year. All of it was extremely nauseating.

  “You know where to go?” Tanner looked down at her, and She nodded, and looked between him and Jonas. Damn them for being so attractive, but double damn her for wanting not one, but two guys who were totally off limits. She waved them off, acting indifferent, but inside she was scared to death of this new world and frightened by how her emotions for Tanner and Jonas were increasing with each passing year. She was too young to want both of them the way she did, but then again they had been a constant presence in her life, and she felt safe and comforted around them.

  Sasha found her locker and fumbled with the lock. Once she managed to get it open she shoved the books inside and shut the metal door. She should have kept her back to the hallway longer, because seeing Tanner and Jonas leaned close to two girls, as if they had orchestrated their identical actions before coming to school, was like a kick to the balls. Well, it would have been if she had any. Why couldn’t she like a guy her own age, one who was just as geeky as she was?

  ****

  2007

  The music was blasting, and Sasha couldn’t even hear herself think. The house was packed with more people than she even knew, mainly because Tanner, Jonas, and Rian had invited everyone they knew to her graduation party. The had planned it while her parents were out of town, like some kind of secret covert ops, but she couldn’t be upset, not when they had done it all for her.

  “Here.” Dani shoved a plastic cup out to her, and some beer sloshed over the rim. “You need to get drunk and quit walking around like you got a stick up your ass.” Leave it to Dani to give it to her straight. “We just graduated, and you just turned eighteen.” Sasha stared at the redhead who had become her friend on the first day of her freshman year. That seemed so long ago now. Sasha looked around and took a sip. Wrinkling her nose at the bitter flavor, she was about to set the cup aside when Dani lifted it to her mouth.

  “Damn, Sasha. Just drink one cup. It’ll help you enjoy your graduation party.” Dani scanned the crowd, and even with the music blaring through the house in loud, angry beats, Sasha heard the pleasurable sigh leave her best friend’s lips. “I mean, if three of the hottest guys on the planet threw me a graduation party, you better believe I’d be thanking them all. Night. Long.” Sasha scrunched her nose. “Okay, minus Rian since he’s your brother and all, but Tanner and Jonas…” The names left Dani on a blissful sigh. Sasha rolled her eyes and drank a couple more swallows of the nasty, bitter liquid. She followed her friend’s gaze and sighed herself when Tanner and Jonas made their way through the crowd.

  It was clear Tanner was already three sheets to the wind by the way he swerved and was overly jubilant. Jonas said something into his ear and veered off in the other direction. The girls split up, half going toward Jonas, and the other half going to Tanner. It was a familiar scene, and one Sasha still hated witnessing. It didn’t matter that Tanner and Jonas were now in their third year of college. They came home just as much as Rian did, and her feelings for the twins had only escalated with the passing years. But Sasha wasn’t a fool to think they would ever want anything more with her, especially when they had cheerleaders and gymnasts throwing themselves at them. Rian had disappeared upstairs with some brunette over half an hour ago, and she did not want her thoughts going there. Washing her mind clean of Rian with a deep swallow of beer, she focused her attention on Tanner. Here she was, with her dull brown hair and blue eyes that weren’t as pretty and vibrant as she’d like, wanting brothers that saw her as Rian did. Like their sister. She also didn’t have the overflowing busts like half the girls she was sure Jonas and Tanner were used to. Throw all of that together with the fact she was plain old Sasha Marsh, their best friend’s little sister, and she knew she was screwed on all accounts.

  “I’m gonna get another beer. You want one?”

  Sasha was just about to shake her head, but she finished off what was left in her cup, handed it to Dani, and nodded. This was her graduation party, so why the hell shouldn’t she enjoy herself? Dani smiled widely and was gone a second later. Sasha leaned against the wall and enjoyed the view of Tanner. As if he felt her gaze, his head turned toward her, and his eyes held hers. His smile was lopsided, and then he was pushing off the wall and moving toward her.

  Her reaction was instantaneous: pulse racing, sweaty palms, and a tingling sensation located right between her thighs. He stopped right in front of her, and she nearly groaned with the concentrated aroma of a mixture of his cologne and the natural scent that was everything Tanner, along with whatever hard liquor he had been drinking. That last shouldn’t have been attractive, but it was dammit.

  “Hey.” He still wore that goofy smile. He placed his forearm on the wall beside her head and leaned in. He was close enough that his warm breath teased the side of her face. “You enjoying the party?” His voice was clear and smooth despite the fact he was obviously trashed.

  “Yes, I am.” Sasha looked anywhere but at Tanner, because frankly his close proximity made her feel on edge.

  There was so much action and commotion around them, yet Sasha felt like it was only them in the room.

  “Look at me.” Those three words were soft, but deep and filled with a kind of command. Sasha turned and looked into his hazel eyes, and felt like the situation was different from any other time before. Neither said anything for several long moments, and then he leaned in another inch, and she held her breath. “You look real pretty tonight, Sasha.” The way he said it held a note of heat that she felt all the way down to her toes. Suddenly the room was overly hot, and she couldn’t catch her breath.

  “I can’t breathe.” Tanner held her gaze, and his grin kicked up a notch, but he still didn’t lower his arm and allow her to escape, which is exactly what she wanted to do. He finally straightened and let his arm drop to his side. Sasha hurried past him and out the back door. God, she felt like a little kid running away. The fresh air hit her as soon as she stepped on the back patio. There were a few people outside, but the majority of the partiers were inside doing keg-stands or playing strip poker.

  “Killer party, Sasha.” A drunken girl in a mini skirt wobbled over to her. Sasha had seen her once or twice, thought her name was Kristen or Kirsten, but smiled regardless and thanked her. Who was she kidding? Sasha knew about a handful of people personally at this party, and since she was being honest, she felt uncomfortable with the whole scene. This had never been who she was. All through high school she stayed under the radar. If not for her brother and the twins being so popular and lavishing her with attention that first year, there was no doubt she would have been labeled a nobody. As it was, no one messed with her because she was associated with the three guys. Once they had graduated she faded into the background, and the last few years of school had passed in a blur of her immersing herself in schoolwork.

  “You feeling okay?” She tensed when she heard Tanner’s voice behind her. Like right behind her.

  Sasha took a deep breath and got her bearings. When she turned around and looked into his face her body lit up like a firecracker. “I’m good, Tanner.” His dark brown hair was messy around his head, like he had been running his fingers through it. The t-shirt and faded jeans fit him so damn perfectly it was no wonder the girls flocked to him and Jonas like there was no one else in the room. Her reaction to him and his twin was inappropriate and wouldn’t lead anywhere, yet she couldn’t help herself.

  “You know.” He took another step forward. “Since Jonas and I came
back for the summer you’ve been acting strange.” He took another step forward, and another, until he was toe-to-toe with her. She had moved over to the side of the house, partially away from everyone else. Right now she regretted that, especially with the arousal that coursed through her like a freight train. “You know what I think?” He leaned in so close that only an inch separated their mouths. The side of the house was hard and cold behind her, and Sasha placed her hands flat on the siding, needing to feel something stable. “I think you like hiding behind a façade, but guess what?” She forced her eyes open when tendrils of her hair tickled the side of his face from his breath.

  She licked her lips and breathed out, “What?” He looked down at her lips then back at her eyes.

  “I know that you want me as much as I want you.” And just like that the world fell away until the only thing she was aware of was Tanner’s body pressed against hers. He slipped his hand behind the heavy fall of her hair and gripped her neck. His thumb brushed along the side of her jaw, and then he tilted her head back and slanted his mouth on hers. The taste that was all Tanner bathed her tongue in a spicy, intoxicating flavor. A moan surrounded her, but she couldn’t tell if it came from him or her. He pulled away just enough that his lips barely touched hers, and said, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you.”

  She had to be dreaming, because things like this just didn’t happen to her. She wanted to ask him what he meant, and why he never said anything, but Sasha couldn’t form a coherent word. He took hold of her hand and placed it right over his chest. The steady thump-thump of his heart was strong and steady. He moved their conjoined hands over his hard, rippled abdomen and right over the very prominent and hard erection that pressed against his jeans. Her eyes widened, and her heart stalled.