by Lanee Lane
When he walked back into the bedroom, Melanie was already snuggled under the covers. He slid in behind her. Melanie turned to face him.
"What are you doing?"
"Going to sleep; the same thing you're doing."
"We can't both sleep in the bed. Can't you sleep on the floor? Isn't there another room you can sleep in?"
"All the other rooms are taken by my siblings and family. No, I can't sleep on the floor when there is a perfectly good bed right here. It's a queen size bed. There's plenty of room for both of us."
Melanie didn't look satisfied with that answer. He thought she would argue, but instead she took two of the pillows and placed them in the middle of the bed.
"You stay on your side."
"Yes, ma'am."
* * *
Melanie felt the sun shining on her face. She didn't want to open her eyes. The bed was comfy, and she was still tired. Her body felt heavy. She assumed it was from all the drinks she had the day before. Her head hurt, and she wouldn't be surprised if she ended up nursing a hangover for the better part of the day.
Pulling her eyes open, she drew in a huge gasp of breath when her eyes focused on what was in front of her. Skylar's face lay inches from hers. Her head rested on his shoulder, and his other arm was draped around her and cupping her butt. No wonder her body felt heavy.
Before she could move his arm and shake him awake, there was a knock on the door. Melanie began to panic. She didn't want anyone, especially his parents, coming in and getting the wrong idea. Another knock sounded at the door.
"Skylar, are you in there?"
It was Sam. Shouldn't she be on her honeymoon or something? Why the heck was she knocking on Skylar's door at, well, she didn't know what time it was, but still. Skylar started to stir. When he opened his eyes, a smile crossed his face. She wanted to wipe the smile off of his face. He shouldn't be smiling when they were two seconds from someone walking in and getting the wrong idea.
"Morning," he said to her. He didn't move his arm from around her.
"That's all you have to say? Your sister is on the other side of the door, and we are in bed together."
"We aren't kids, Mel, and all we did was sleep." Not that he wouldn't have wanted to do more if she hadn't been drinking.
"Skylaarrr!"
"What, Sam? Good grief, why are you yelling?"
"Are you decent?"
"Yeah."
Melanie tried to pull away from him, but he wasn't letting go. She gave him a dirty look, but he just smiled in return. He was going to pay for this. He wouldn't know what hit him.
The door swung open, and Sam stood there in a white off the shoulder sundress and tan wedge sandals.
"Mom wanted me to wake you up so..." her words trailed off.
"So what?" Skylar prompted.
Melanie wanted to pull the covers over her head and hide. Instead, she waved at Sam.
"This isn't what you think it is, Sam. We just slept; nothing else. Your brother refused to sleep on the floor."
Sam looked between the two of them for a moment and then grinned. "I knew it," she said more to herself than to them. "Mom wanted to make sure you made it to brunch on time."
"What time is it?"
"It's ten-thirty right now, and brunch is at eleven."
“Ok, we'll get changed and be down there."
Sam gave them one last grin and headed out the door.
As soon as Sam was gone, Melanie pushed his arm off with force and sat up.
"Why didn't you tell her that nothing was going on?"
"Because it's none of her business, and you made it pretty clear. You sure know how to bruise a guy’s ego."
"Yeah, but some backup would have been nice. I'm sure your ego will be fine. It's big enough to withstand quite a bit."
"It doesn't matter what I say. She's a romantic, so she will take whatever idea she has and run with it."
Melanie just crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him.
"I don't have anything to wear for brunch, Skylar."
"Just shower and put on your dress from last night."
"Ugh, that's like doing the walk of shame right in front of your family."
"It's not the walk of shame if there was no sex and you took a shower."
Melanie rolled her eyes at his man logic. She didn't have much choice, so she showered, styled her hair, and put her clothes from the wedding back on. Once she was as ready as possible, they headed down to the dining area where his family was waiting.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Everyone was seated at the table when Skylar and Melanie walked in. Melanie could feel her cheeks heating. Once again, her brown skin came to the rescue; hiding her embarrassment.
"Morning everyone," Skylar said in a sing-song voice as he pulled a chair out next to Sam and motioned for Melanie to sit.
She slid into the chair and mumbled her own greeting to the table. Skylar sat in the chair on her other side. He grabbed the plate of bacon and started to pile it onto his.
Glancing over at Melanie he said, "Go ahead, and dig in."
Melanie chanced a look around the table, and she saw Skylar's mom smiling at the two of them.
Crap, she thinks we did more than just sleep last night. She averted her eyes back to her plate. Skylar passed her the bacon, and she placed a few pieces on her plate.
"Melanie, how was your stay? I hope you were comfortable. I apologize that my son was so rude and didn't have you bring anything with you. I swear I raised him better, but sometimes it's hard to tell."
His mother gave Skylar a disapproving look, but Melanie swore she saw a hint of a smile.
"Everything was great. Thank you so much for having me."
"They looked pretty comfortable to me," Sam said.
Melanie wished the floor would open up and swallow her. Could this get any freaking worse?
"We were very comfortable. I slept like a baby. I may need to sleep with Melanie more often," Skylar said and shoved a fork full of French toast in his mouth.
Melanie choked on the sip of water she'd taken. She started to cough to clear her throat. Skylar patted her back, which was no help, while Sam snickered beside her. She was able to catch her breath.
"It-it's not what you think. We didn't sleep together. I mean we slept in the same bed, but we didn't sleep together. I put a pillow in the middle of the bed. There was nothing but sleeping going on."
When she finished her explanation, Melanie glanced around the table again. Skylar's dad read his paper oblivious to his surroundings. His mom grinned like her son hadn't just implied he had sex in her house. Sam smiled at Skylar, and he smiled right back like they were sharing a secret. Was the whole family loony?
Somehow, Melanie got through the rest of brunch without any more embarrassment. The conversation turned to yesterday's wedding, and she was thankful. Sam was excited to leave on their honeymoon and talked non-stop about their plans.
When brunch wrapped up, Skylar and Melanie got ready to go home. Melanie was happy to get home so she could take a nice, long bath and change into her comfy clothes. They said their goodbyes to Skylar's dad, Brendon, and Landon. His mother and Sam followed them out to the car. Sam hugged Skylar and then turned to hug Melanie.
"I'm so happy you came. When I get back from my honeymoon, we have to get together! You can come with me to my monthly book club. It's an excuse to talk about our book crushes and drink wine," Sam said.
Before Melanie could answer, Skylar piped in, "Mel prefers sparkling grape juice."
Sam smiled ear to ear and looked back and forth between the two. "Duly noted, bro."
"I'd love to join you at your book club, Sam. Goodness knows I love a good book, babe."
Skylar rolled his eyes behind her.
Arabella pulled her son into a hug and spoke quietly so only he could hear. "I really like her. I'm glad that you finally realize that you do too. She's good for you. You treat her well, and don't go embarrassing her and scaring
her away."
"How did you know?"
"I'm your mom. No matter what you think, I know you better than anyone."
Arabella released Skylar and walked over to hug Melanie.
"We loved having you. You make sure that son of mine brings you back soon, ok?"
"I enjoyed myself. I will see what I can do. He doesn't like to listen to anything I say."
"I think you have the power to make him listen more than you think."
With a final squeeze, Arabella released her.
Melanie shook her head. She knew that Skylar didn't comply with anything she said.
When Melanie and Skylar finally made it home, she told him she was going to go home and relax. They were riding the elevator to their floors when Skylar moved to her and wrapped her in a hug. She was a little surprised at first, but she hugged him back.
"Thank you for coming with me. I hope you had fun. I was happy to have you as my date."
"I did have fun. Your family is great. Plus, I got a potential date out of it."
Skylar frowned and Melanie wondered what was wrong. When the elevator reached his floor, he stepped out and gave her a quick wave before the doors closed. Skylar's mood had done a one-eighty. She was halfway surprised he didn't try to bombard his way to her apartment. She was thankful because she needed time to decompress.
After Melanie took her much-needed soak in the tub, she called Claudia and Jade to tell them how things went. Claudia wanted a play-by-play in person, so they were all sitting in Melanie's living room with Real Housewives of Atlanta playing in the background while they talked about the wedding.
"I met a guy. We exchanged numbers and are supposed to get together soon."
"Yes, it's about time you go out with a normal guy. If you play your cards right, he might put out on the first night."
Leave it to Claudia to always take it there. Melanie rolled her eyes.
"I'm not giving it up to him on the first night. If that were the case, I could've done that at the wedding."
"That would have been kind of rude, since you were there with Skylar," Jade said.
"Oh please, Skylar wouldn't have cared. I was just a guise. It wasn't a real date."
"If you would have spread-"
"Claudia!" Jade yelled.
Jade never yelled.
"What? I'm trying to help her."
"More like pimp me out."
There was a knock on the door. They all looked in the direction like they would be able to see who it was through the wood. Melanie didn't need to super powers to know who it was. She opened the door not bothering with the peephole.
"Hello, Skylar, to what do I owe this visit?"
Skylar was standing in her doorway with Brendon in tow. They both looked nice in button up shirts, jeans, and boat shoes.
"We came to take you out. We're going to a place with a live band and drinks."
"No can do. Claudia and Jade are here, and we're hanging out."
Skylar walked past her into the living room. Brendon gave her a little smile and followed after his brother. Melanie fell in step behind them knowing there was no point in arguing.
"Hey, beautiful ladies," Brendon said.
"What are you two doing here?" Claudia said.
This time Skylar spoke up. "We came to see if you ladies wanted to go out with us. We're going to a bar that has live music."
"Hellz yeah, we're down!"
Curse Claudia and her big mouth. Melanie looked over at Jade to see her reaction. She gave Melanie a knowing look and just shook her head as to say ‘what are ya gonna do?’. They both knew they were headed out to some bar with the Stillman brothers.
Claudia and Jade rode together, but Skylar insisted Mel ride with him and Brendon because they would be going back to the same place. When they walked into the bar, a band was already playing on a small stage in the corner. It sounded like they were doing covers of the top hits from the 80s and 90s.
"Want to grab a drink and find a table?" Skylar asked in her ear.
She nodded, and he placed his hand on her lower back as he guided them to the bar.
"What'll ya have?" the bartender asked.
"Jack and coke for me and," Skylar looked at her for her order. "Sex on the beach," she supplied.
The bartender handed them their drinks, and they made their way through the crowd to find the others. They had already snagged a small, four-person table and were gathered around with drinks. The bar was full, so there was only one seat left at their table and no other available chairs for them to grab.
"We can share," Skylar offered.
"How are we going to share that tiny chair?"
Skylar sat on the chair and then motioned for Melanie to come closer. When she did, he grabbed her drink and sat it on the table. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her down onto his lap.
"There, perfect."
Melanie struggled to try to get up from his lap.
"Skylar, let me up. I'm too heavy to sit on your lap."
"Quit acting crazy. You aren't too heavy to sit on my lap. You feel just fine to me; relax."
What must people be thinking seeing her on his lap? They weren't a couple, but she imagined it probably looked that way to someone that didn't know any better. Skylar picked up his drink and took a sip. He started talking to Brendon about something. Melanie looked at Jade and Claudia for help, but Jade gave her signature shrug and Claudia was making lewd gestures. No help at all.
The band was pretty good, and the girls decided to hit the dance floor. They danced to song after song. Between Skylar, Brendon, and random guys they always had a drink in one hand. Mel took her time nursing just a couple of drinks. She'd had plenty to drink at the wedding.
"We need to come out with them more often," Claudia yelled over the music.
Melanie didn't know how many songs passed before they retired from the dance floor. When they reached the table, the guys were standing up.
"You ladies ready to get out of here? I have to work in the morning," Skylar said.
The trio all agreed they were ready to go. Melanie hugged Jade and Claudia and then headed to Skylar's car. Back at their apartment complex, Brendon hopped into his car to go home. Melanie and Skylar made their way into their building. On the elevator, Skylar pushed the button to Melanie's floor.
"I'll make sure you get in safe."
Melanie bobbed her head in acknowledgment. She was too tired to do anything else.
At her door, she fished for her keys in her purse. As her door unlocked, Skylar caught her hand before she could open the door. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his body. He only had one drink at the start of the night, but Melanie could smell the faint scent of whiskey on his breath. He was so close. He looked down at her for several moments not saying anything. He looked like he was trying to work something out in his head. She was about to ask when his lips pressed into hers.
Instinctively, her arms laced around his neck. His hands moved down her back to cup her butt. His tongue licked the seam of her lips before parting them. She let out a soft moan. Her brain couldn't fully process that she was kissing Skylar, but it felt good.
After several more seconds, Skylar broke the kiss. His breath was coming out heavier than before. He stood behind her and turned her toward her door. He then reached around her and pushed the door open.
Leaning down close to her ear he said, "You taste even better than I imagined. This isn't over but, for the sake of my self-control, it is for tonight."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Melanie woke up to a banging sound. Her eyes opened and immediately closed. The sun coming in through her window wreaked havoc on her sleepy eyes.
The dreadful pounding came again.
Who the heck would be pounding at her door at, she looked at the clock to see the time, seven am on a Monday?
She buried her head under one of her pillows and prayed they'd grow tired and go away. Less than a minute later, her cell phone r
ang.
Why was the universe against her?
When she didn't answer the first time, the person called back; just as the door knocking resumed.
She snatched her phone from the bedside table wanting to deal with whoever it was quick.
"Hello?" Her voice came out in a rasp.
"Morning, sleepy head. You must sleep like a log. Don't you hear me knocking at your door?"
Melanie pulled the phone from her ear to confirm what she already knew.
"Why are you at my door, Skylar?"
"Come let me in, and I'll tell you.'
"Go away. I'm going back to sleep."
"No can do."
She now knew him well enough to know that he would, in fact, not leave her front door until she opened it. She hung the phone up without even saying goodbye. She sat up and rubbed her eyes to clear the sleep when a memory from the previous night came flooding back.
Oh crap; Skylar had kissed her. She couldn't go and face him. What would she say? How would she act? She needed to talk to Claudia and Jade. It was too early to bother them. Although, this was an emergency of sorts. Skylar banged on her door again; impatient man that he was.
Melanie realized she had no time to talk to the girls. She went to her closet and pulled out a hoodie and put it on over her tank top. Next stop was the bathroom to check her face. Thankfully, she had managed to take her makeup off and wrap her hair before falling into bed the night before. She splashed some warm water on her face and took the bonnet off of her hair.
Act natural, Mel. You can do this. If he doesn't bring it up, you don't have to either. Maybe they could act like nothing ever happened. With Skylar, she figured the chances were slim, but she could dream.
"Quit your knocking. I'm coming, crazy!" she yelled as she headed to the door.
"What took you so long?" were his first words when she opened the door. She was tempted to slam the door back in his face but, in true Skylar fashion, he was already walking in.
"Um, let's see... You knock on my door at seven a.m. when I'm still asleep. That should be explanation enough."
"I need to be at the office by nine, so we needed to head out early."
"Head out where? I don't have anywhere to be until eleven today."
