Skin to Skin

by J. M. Stone

  I opened my mouth to interject, closing it without saying anything when he continued.

  “Anyway, I think I would have ended up resenting the closeness that Allie and Jackson have. And I shouldn’t have to resent anything, especially if we are all three supposed to be making it work. I would have hated myself if I had stayed and things went south…and then I’d have nothing, not even their friendship.”

  He looked over at me. “Does that make sense, or am I just a complete and total asshole?”

  I shook my head. “No, I think you did what was best for you.”

  We stared at each other for a minute before he blew out a breath and said, “You know, I take back my thanks, by the way. Nosy little witch…”

  I gasped in exaggerated affront and reached up to smack him playfully. He dodged my limp-wristed smack, jumping off the bed and laughing when my momentum toppled me over on the mattress.

  With a groan, I pushed myself up and glared at Brandon, who was still standing about four feet away, chuckling softly. I couldn’t hold my glare and ended up smiling at him until he came and sat beside me again.

  “So you ready to talk about your deal, yet?” he asked me quietly.

  I shook my head quickly. No one really knew the whole story except Jackson, and he really didn’t even know the whole thing. I’d left out some choice details that I wasn’t even ready to discuss with myself, let alone anyone else.

  Brandon inclined his head and said, “Okay…that’s fine. But you know you can talk to me, right?”

  I nodded.

  He patted me on the shoulder and stood, stretching his arms over his head. “Get some sleep, Chloe. And take some Tylenol before you do so you won’t have such a nasty hangover in the morning.”

  I stood and nodded again, yawning and then grinning up at Brandon when he laughed at me. I swatted at him and, unsteady as I was, I lost my balance and fell into him with a muffled ‘oompf’ when my nose connected with the hardness of his chest.

  I felt the vibration of his laughter against my face and pushed back to look up at him. As soon as I did, our eyes locked and my breath caught, a strange headiness taking over my senses, awareness prickling over every inch of my body. In slow motion, almost like I was watching myself outside my body, I reached up and caught the back of Brandon’s neck, pulling his head down and crushing my lips to his.

  I felt him hesitate and, not sure just what the hell I was doing, I sucked his bottom lip between my lips, nibbling at it before sweeping my tongue along the seam, moaning when he instinctively opened, letting me inside.

  I kissed him like I was starving, a small cry wrenching from my throat when his hands came up and framed my face, and then I was lost as he took control of the kiss, drowning me in ecstasy. Lost in the moment, I moved my hands down his sides and fumbled with his shirt, pulling it up and sliding my hands along the hot, taut flesh of his stomach. His hands left my face and grasped my hips, pulling me flush against his body, the hardness of his length prodding the softness of my belly.

  That’s when I froze, when reality came crashing into me with the force of a runaway train. I tore my mouth from his and pushed away from him with a whimper.

  “I…I’m so sorry…we can’t…oh, God!” I cried.

  He looked at me and I could see the emotions warring over his face…lust, guilt, remorse, and…something else that I couldn’t define.

  I sighed. “I’m sorry, Brandon. I shouldn’t have done that. Just…I’ll see you in the morning.”

  With that, I turned and made my way into the bathroom, completely sobered by the moment. After I closed the door behind me, I heard the door close behind Brandon as he left my room, headed for his.

  In the morning, we headed for home, the tension so thick between us you could cut it with a knife. And it hadn’t ever gone away.

  Chapter 2

  I stared up at the ceiling in the almost-darkness of my bedroom, the soft glow of the night-light that I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of just yet casting shadows around the room. My mind was racing, words tumbling over and over in my head.

  I’d told Allie everything about that night. About the whole trip, actually, not leaving anything out. She never punched me like I’d expected; instead, she’d completely floored me more than she already had before I’d spilled all the details.

  She’d finally pounded it into my head (she thought…I still felt like shit even though I knew she was technically right) that I hadn’t done anything wrong and then she’d cried and laughed and even admitted that she’d been jealous of me, but that she couldn’t ever really find a reason why.

  I’d promptly told her that she obviously was wrong, fretting over it again, which earned me a growl and quick slap upside my head. Who knew pregnant women were so abusive?! But the words she’d uttered next are the ones that are still running through my mind. She’d hesitated a bit, choosing them carefully, maybe. I don’t know. Honestly, I was still shocked by them.

  “Chloe…have things…changed for you when it comes to Brandon?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well, you guys have been friends for so long and then there was that kiss…I just wondered if maybe the things that you might have felt for him before have evolved.”

  I shook my head, unwilling to even think like that. “No.” My voice was firm…or so I thought. All she did was give me a curious little smile.

  The conversation had finally wound down after that and we’d been talking about other things and watching Allie’s belly move when the baby had hiccups. Out of the blue, she had turned to me, her eyes wide and sparkling.

  “On a scale of one to ten, what was the kiss? I know he’s a good kisser, so that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about hotness factor…toe-curler?”

  I gasped. “Allie! No! No way, no how am I talking about that with you! I’m still not over the fact that you aren’t pissed to the tits at me for even kissing him to begin with, so…” I broke off, still shaking my head vehemently, denying her question.

  Allie sighed and patted my thigh. “Chloe, seriously. I’m your friend, and soon to be sister-in-law. Take my advice and get over it. So there’s a little history between me and Brandon...who cares? I’m telling you that everything is fine and that you need to get your cute little ass out there and decide if that kiss was good enough to change things between the two of you. I think you’d be good for him. And he’d be good for you. So spill it, woman! Toe-curler or just ehh?”

  I threw back my head on a groan, knowing that, Allie being Allie, she wouldn’t stop until she got her answer. “Ten-toe curler with a side of panty-melter and a half,” I sighed out in resignation.

  When I looked at her again, she was smiling that same curious little smile and just staring at me.

  “What?” I asked defensively.

  “Time to shake things up, girlie,” she said mysteriously.

  On a sigh, I shook my head to clear it and rolled out of bed, padding to the kitchen to get a drink. Obviously there was just too much going on in my head for me to even try to sleep, especially because I couldn’t get Allie’s advice to quit looping endlessly like one of those little gif thingys that everyone is so fond of using these days.

  I leaned against the counter, sipping at an ice cold bottle of water, still thinking about everything Allie had said. The last words she said to me definitely had the wheels spinning in my head, wondering just what she had in mind. I mean, on a good day she’s devious enough on her own, but now she’s pregnant and has all those extra hormones surging through her…God only knows what the hell she had up her sleeve.

  My cell phone rang on the counter and I jumped, the sound startling me in the silence. I picked it up, glancing at the clock on the wall to see that it was after midnight. Dread pooled in the pit of my stomach. Calls this late at night are rarely good…

  Without looking at the name, I answered. “Hello?” I said anxiously.

  “Hey…uh…it’s Brandon.”
r />   “Oh, umm…hi?”

  He cleared his throat and said, “Look, I know it’s late, but I just got done at the shop. I had some late night appointments, people that made arrangements with me because they didn’t have time earlier, and…uh, your house is closer than mine and I’m exhausted. Can I just crash there in the spare bedroom tonight?”

  Huh. That came out of left field. I pressed my hand to my stomach, cursing the butterflies that had taken wing the second his voice came through the phone, and stuttered, “Y…yeah, sure.”

  “Sweet, thanks!” he replied and the phone went silent in my hand.

  I laid my phone down on the counter and jumped again, letting out a little squeak when the doorbell rang. Seriously? What the hell did he do, call me from driveway? I headed into the living room and opened the door.

  Brandon pushed past me and shut the door behind him, locking it and turning the deadbolt before facing me and scolding, “You didn’t even check to make sure it was me before you opened it. It’s after midnight, Chloe, and you’re here by yourself. You should know better!”

  I opened my mouth to defend myself but closed it again immediately because he was right.

  He paused for a minute and looked at me closer. I was standing there in a pair of short shorts and a tank top with no bra, my standard pajamas, and I knew my hair was a mess from tossing and turning. He cleared his throat. “You are alone, aren’t you?”

  I rolled my eyes and walked away from him to curl up on the couch.

  He followed, collapsing into the recliner, sighing before he sat forward to take his boots off, then slouched back into the recliner again before he said, “Okay. So I lied. Nah, I didn’t really lie, but I didn’t tell the whole truth. I’m fuckin’ beat and your place is closer, but honestly?”

  He paused and looked over at me. I cocked my head and nodded, silently urging him to continue.

  “I just wanted a break from the lovefest I live with. Jesus, Luke already knocked her up and I swear they fuck like rabbits now, worse than they did before!”

  Laughter burst from my lips, sounding loud in the silence, but I couldn’t help it.

  He smiled wryly at me and shook his head. “Yeah, you laugh, but you don’t have to hear him try to pound her through the floor.” He groaned, thumping his head back into the chair. “I just need to get my own place, I guess.”

  I made a non-committal noise in my throat and shrugged. A huge yawn caught me off guard and I glanced at him sheepishly when he chuckled.

  We looked at each other for a minute before I jumped up and asked in a rush, “Do you want anything to drink? Or do you need anything to sleep in? I think I have a pair of basketball shorts that I stole from Jackson a few years ago…” I broke off on another yawn. Wtf? I couldn’t sleep for shit before he called and now I’m ready to pass out?!

  He nodded. “Sure, that’d be great. Thanks.”

  I turned and retreated to my bedroom, finding the shorts in the back of my dresser. They were a little wrinkled, but hey, he was only sleeping in them. I made my way back into the living room, tossing the shorts at him as I turned to go to the kitchen to get him something to drink, pausing only long enough to ask what he wanted.

  After grabbing a bottle of cold water from the fridge, I handed it to him and bent to grab his boots, moving them to the tile by the doorway. He made a garbled sound behind me and I rolled my eyes again where he couldn’t see me, sure that he was laughing at the fact I couldn’t leave his boots in the middle of the floor. I’m slightly OCD, so what?

  I glanced at him as I bent to put his boots down again, shocked to see that he was definitely not laughing. In fact, his eyes seemed to be glued to my…Oh, shit! I straightened quickly, tugging down my shorts that I’m pretty sure had given him quite the view when I bent over.

  “I…uh…” I stuttered, trying to think of something to say but coming up blank.

  I blinked in fascination as Brandon shifted, the tight front of his jeans looking decidedly tighter. I heard him make another noise in his throat, this one seeming born out of desperation as he shot forward in the recliner, shielding his lap by resting his arms on his knees.

  “Well,” I tried again, still at a loss, the butterflies battering my insides back in full force, but stopped when he jerked his head side to side, a cutting movement that had coldness quickly replacing the warmth that had started to seep through me.

  “Go to bed, Chloe. I’m sorry for waking you up, but thanks for letting me crash. You’re a great friend…” he said distractedly, his words trailing off as he realized what he was saying. I could almost hear him swallow hard, like he wanted to take back the words immediately after he said them.

  And just like that, the awkwardness and tension was back. I sighed, nodding half-heartedly at him before I made my way down the hall. I heard him mutter and then curse softly and my heart broke just a little bit more at the fact that we can’t even talk to each other anymore, that things had changed so drastically between us. All because I couldn’t keep my stupid, drunk lips to myself.

  I shut my bedroom door quietly, the soft click echoing with finality, and curled up in my bed, praying that sleep would come quickly…but I should have known better.

  Morning came after what seemed like six days of tossing and turning in my bed that suddenly felt like a stone-cold slab of concrete. I shuffled into the bathroom and groaned at the sight of the dark circles under my eyes; hell, you could go on vacation with the bags under there, too.

  I turned away from the mirror and grabbed my robe before making my way into the kitchen, intent on getting some caffeine in my system by way of my best friend, Kuerig. Ten minutes later, I was tucked into a chair on the back porch, sipping English toffee cappuccino and enjoying the sunny Saturday morning.

  The door to the spare bedroom was still closed when I’d walked by and I resisted the temptation to peek in. And by resist, I mean like, seriously had to force myself to keep going and not touch the door.

  Shit…what the hell was wrong with me that I can’t quit thinking of him all of a sudden? It was a kiss, just ONE kiss and now…ugh.

  “It can’t be that bad, can it, sunshine?”

  I jumped and let out a squeak as Brandon’s gravelly, deep voice broke the silence surrounding me, small drops of my cappuccino sloshing over the rim of my mug and spattering my hand. Cursing under my breath, I shook the burning liquid off my skin and glared at him.

  He chuckled. “Sorry. Forgot you were so jumpy…” His words trailed off on a huge, jaw-cracking yawn. He stretched, his arms reaching up high as he arched his back, causing his shirt to ride up and reveal a perfectly delicious expanse of taut, tattooed and tanned skin and the beginning of that hot-as-sin “v” peeking out of the top of his low-slung basketball shorts. No sign of boxers or briefs…so did that mean…?

  “Chloe!” Brandon sounded exasperated and a little desperate, like he’d been calling my name for a minute.

  I jerked my gaze up to meet his face, feeling the scalding heat of embarrassment rise over my cheeks because I’d been caught staring, and staring hard.

  “Uh…yeah? What’s up?” I stuttered, trying to smooth over the moment and doing a really shitty job of it.

  He smirked and asked, “Wanna go get some breakfast? I just talked to Luke and he and Emma are going to go down to Cracker Barrel because she’s craving pecan pancakes again.” His smile turned genuine and his fondness for his sister-in-law was evident.

  “Sure,” I answered, getting to my feet. “Just let me get ready.”

  I moved to walk past him and he grabbed my arm, peering into my face intently. “Hey,” he said gently. “Are you still having nightmares? You look like you haven’t slept in a week, sunshine.”

  A shiver made its way down my spine at the intimate tone of his voice, and the fact that he called me sunshine again. I know the old nickname shouldn’t make the butterflies go crazy in my stomach again, but it’d been so long since he’d called me that, with the exception
of when we were in California, I couldn’t help it.

  “I’m fine.” My voice was husky, soft, and- to my ears- entirely too telling. Shaking him off, I moved past him and made a beeline for the safety of my bedroom, glancing back only once to see him staring after me.

  An hour later, I was laughing so hard I was crying, listening to Luke bemoan the fact that Emma was turning out to be the stereotypical pregnant woman.

  “You laugh like it’s funny,” Luke groaned, shaking his head. He shot a pained look to his wife, who was sitting there with a shit-eating grin on her face, rubbing her protruding belly affectionately.

  “Awww, Daddy is being mean, isn’t he, jelly-bean?” Emma cooed to her stomach before shooting Luke a loving look, her eyes sparkling with happiness and adoration.

  Luke smiled back at her and winked before he continued his list of her transgressions. “She woke me up two nights ago at two a.m. saying that she needed some chocolate-peanut butter ice cream. I tried to tell her that we didn’t have any, which only got me yelled at. She said she knew we didn’t have any, that’s why I had to go to Meijer’s and get it. At two in the morning! And then last night it was nachos from Taco Bell at eleven!”

  Brandon slapped him on the back and said, “Well, at least it was only eleven instead of two again, brother.”

  Luke just rolled his eyes, grinned, and then started asking Brandon something about the inventory list at the shop.

  With the guys engrossed in their own conversation, Emma turned to me, a sly smile creeping across her face.

  “Sooooo…” she began, drawing the word out dramatically.

  “Oh, Lord…what?” I asked her warily.

  She leaned in closer and whispered, “I’m in.”

  “In what?” I whispered back, thoroughly confused.