“Georgia.” Logan stepped toward me, looking a little shell-shocked. But not nearly as much as I was.
My lips had just attacked Reece’s little brother. I’d gone beyond wild tonight and descended into things you should never ever do.
“Stop.” I held a hand out like a shield.
He stopped, looking from my hand to my face.
“Let’s just forget this happened.” And never tell a soul.
He looked like he was on the verge of saying something but I never gave him the chance. I did the mature thing.
I ran.
I SLEPT LATE INTO Saturday morning, waking to the stillness of my room. Sunlight poured in through the slats of the blinds, tiny motes dancing on the sunbeams. I lifted my long hair so that it wasn’t trapped under me and stared up at the ceiling. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I dropped my arms from above my head with a gust of breath.
A door opened and shut somewhere outside my room, echoing down the hallway. A full ten seconds passed before the memory of last night hit.
A sharp inhalation escaped me. My fingers flew to my mouth, tracing lips that still felt swollen. Impossible, of course. You couldn’t feel a kiss into the next day.
Except I did.
Logan Mulvaney’s mouth had branded mine. I’d been kissed by a total of four guys in my life. I had dated two guys, briefly, before Harris. I couldn’t even remember those kisses. I could barely remember their faces. That’s how much of an impression they had left. Then there was Joshua. No need to elaborate there. I only remembered him because he was so recent—and slobbery.
I had been with Harris since I was sixteen, and he wasn’t much for kissing. Maybe in the beginning there had been some heavy kisses, but once we started having sex, he didn’t waste a lot of time on foreplay.
But that kiss . . . Logan . . .
A full-body shudder swept through me. I had felt it down to my toes. Deep in my very bones. It had gone on forever and yet it hadn’t been long enough because I still longed for a repeat. I scrubbed both hands over my face as if I could rid myself of these thoughts. Even if I was open to a physical-only relationship with a guy—a fling—I couldn’t go there with Reece’s little brother. That was wrong on so many levels.
A glance to my left revealed Emerson’s bed exactly as it had been the night before. Same clothes strewn about. Clearly she hadn’t come home. She’d spent the night with Shaw. Again. A sigh escaped me.
Most nights she spent at Shaw’s these days. I tried not to let this bother me. Not only were they a couple, but they were working together now. She had started airbrushing the bikes he built. He’d turned half his work shed into a studio for her so she could even work on her paintings there, too. Still. It didn’t stop me from feeling lonely. Shaking my head, I reminded myself that I’d be home in a few weeks. Back in my old hometown. In my old room with my mom and dad and Amber. I wouldn’t be lonely then. It would be impossible to feel lonely with my parents breathing down my neck. With my sister barging into my room to invade my closet and wax on and on about her boyfriend, Jeremy, and whether she should follow him to Vanderbilt where he was hoping to get in the year after next. In short: misery.
Pepper and Emerson were staying at Dartford for the summer and I felt a stab of envy. Pepper was taking classes and Emerson was going to work with Shaw and help him get his garage up and running. As little as I saw of them lately, I wish I could stay here, safe from my prying family. I could see my summer in Muskogee unfolding so clearly before me. It would be worse since the breakup with Harris. Mom would want to talk about Harris all the time and what went wrong. Every time I bumped into someone in town, they would ask about him. Groaning, I forced myself from bed. No use dreading it. This was the plan. Even if I wanted to stay here, I couldn’t. I’d have to suck it up and put my big girl panties on and start packing to go home soon.
Still groaning, I grabbed a bottle of juice from the small fridge and tore into a breakfast bar. Deciding the endorphins from a run might make me feel better, I changed into my running shorts and top. It was still a little chilly in the mornings, but my muscles soon heated up as I ran across campus to the nearby cross country trail that cut through some wooded acreage.
After my run, I showered and grabbed a quick lunch before settling in to study for my Statistics final. Anything math related wasn’t really my thing, but I was a business major so I couldn’t escape the requisite courses. I tried to focus on my notes in front of me but the formulas swam and blurred after a while. Sighing, I leaned back in my swivel chair and pressed the heels of my palms to my eyes. For once, studying wasn’t working to distract me. When the door to the suite neighboring mine opened and shut and Pepper’s and Reece’s voices floated through the wall, I was more than ready to take a break.
I knocked once on the partially cracked door, pushing it open as Pepper’s chirped, “Come in!”
She bounded over to me and gave me a hug.
Reece waved at me from where he lounged in the bed before tucking his arms behind his head. My chest flipped a little at his resemblance to Logan. After last night, the memory of Logan’s face was fresher than ever. They had the same piercing blue eyes. The same square jaw. My gaze drifted to Reece’s lips and then jerked away. I would not check out my best friend’s boyfriend’s lips to see if they resembled his brother’s lips. Just. So. Wrong.
“Hey! How’s your weekend?” Pepper asked. “Didn’t you have a date last night?”
I wrinkled my nose and made a face. “The last.”
“Oh, that bad?”
“Just no . . . sparks.” I slid a glance to Reece’s polite stare. Polite yet intense. Like his brother. These guys didn’t just look at you. They looked at you. Like they were seeing directly into you. Maybe it was embedded in their DNA or something.
“Oh, well. Then better not waste your time there anymore.”
I nodded, noticing then that there was a buzzing energy that seemed to cling to Pepper. Like she was a kid who had just been told she was going to Disneyland, but was trying to keep her act together and not totally explode from excitement.
I looked back and forth between her and Reece. An elusive smile clung to his lips. “What’s going on?”
She and Reece shared a look before she blurted out with: “I’m moving in with Reece.”
I stared for a moment, equal parts happiness and something else filling me. “Wow.” I pulled her in for a hug and then moved to hug Reece. “Congratulations. You’re moving into the apartment above Mulvaney’s?”
My lips had just attacked Reece’s little brother. I’d gone beyond wild tonight and descended into things you should never ever do.
“Stop.” I held a hand out like a shield.
He stopped, looking from my hand to my face.
“Let’s just forget this happened.” And never tell a soul.
He looked like he was on the verge of saying something but I never gave him the chance. I did the mature thing.
I ran.
I SLEPT LATE INTO Saturday morning, waking to the stillness of my room. Sunlight poured in through the slats of the blinds, tiny motes dancing on the sunbeams. I lifted my long hair so that it wasn’t trapped under me and stared up at the ceiling. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I dropped my arms from above my head with a gust of breath.
A door opened and shut somewhere outside my room, echoing down the hallway. A full ten seconds passed before the memory of last night hit.
A sharp inhalation escaped me. My fingers flew to my mouth, tracing lips that still felt swollen. Impossible, of course. You couldn’t feel a kiss into the next day.
Except I did.
Logan Mulvaney’s mouth had branded mine. I’d been kissed by a total of four guys in my life. I had dated two guys, briefly, before Harris. I couldn’t even remember those kisses. I could barely remember their faces. That’s how much of an impression they had left. Then there was Joshua. No need to elaborate there. I only remembered him because he was so recent—and slobbery.
I had been with Harris since I was sixteen, and he wasn’t much for kissing. Maybe in the beginning there had been some heavy kisses, but once we started having sex, he didn’t waste a lot of time on foreplay.
But that kiss . . . Logan . . .
A full-body shudder swept through me. I had felt it down to my toes. Deep in my very bones. It had gone on forever and yet it hadn’t been long enough because I still longed for a repeat. I scrubbed both hands over my face as if I could rid myself of these thoughts. Even if I was open to a physical-only relationship with a guy—a fling—I couldn’t go there with Reece’s little brother. That was wrong on so many levels.
A glance to my left revealed Emerson’s bed exactly as it had been the night before. Same clothes strewn about. Clearly she hadn’t come home. She’d spent the night with Shaw. Again. A sigh escaped me.
Most nights she spent at Shaw’s these days. I tried not to let this bother me. Not only were they a couple, but they were working together now. She had started airbrushing the bikes he built. He’d turned half his work shed into a studio for her so she could even work on her paintings there, too. Still. It didn’t stop me from feeling lonely. Shaking my head, I reminded myself that I’d be home in a few weeks. Back in my old hometown. In my old room with my mom and dad and Amber. I wouldn’t be lonely then. It would be impossible to feel lonely with my parents breathing down my neck. With my sister barging into my room to invade my closet and wax on and on about her boyfriend, Jeremy, and whether she should follow him to Vanderbilt where he was hoping to get in the year after next. In short: misery.
Pepper and Emerson were staying at Dartford for the summer and I felt a stab of envy. Pepper was taking classes and Emerson was going to work with Shaw and help him get his garage up and running. As little as I saw of them lately, I wish I could stay here, safe from my prying family. I could see my summer in Muskogee unfolding so clearly before me. It would be worse since the breakup with Harris. Mom would want to talk about Harris all the time and what went wrong. Every time I bumped into someone in town, they would ask about him. Groaning, I forced myself from bed. No use dreading it. This was the plan. Even if I wanted to stay here, I couldn’t. I’d have to suck it up and put my big girl panties on and start packing to go home soon.
Still groaning, I grabbed a bottle of juice from the small fridge and tore into a breakfast bar. Deciding the endorphins from a run might make me feel better, I changed into my running shorts and top. It was still a little chilly in the mornings, but my muscles soon heated up as I ran across campus to the nearby cross country trail that cut through some wooded acreage.
After my run, I showered and grabbed a quick lunch before settling in to study for my Statistics final. Anything math related wasn’t really my thing, but I was a business major so I couldn’t escape the requisite courses. I tried to focus on my notes in front of me but the formulas swam and blurred after a while. Sighing, I leaned back in my swivel chair and pressed the heels of my palms to my eyes. For once, studying wasn’t working to distract me. When the door to the suite neighboring mine opened and shut and Pepper’s and Reece’s voices floated through the wall, I was more than ready to take a break.
I knocked once on the partially cracked door, pushing it open as Pepper’s chirped, “Come in!”
She bounded over to me and gave me a hug.
Reece waved at me from where he lounged in the bed before tucking his arms behind his head. My chest flipped a little at his resemblance to Logan. After last night, the memory of Logan’s face was fresher than ever. They had the same piercing blue eyes. The same square jaw. My gaze drifted to Reece’s lips and then jerked away. I would not check out my best friend’s boyfriend’s lips to see if they resembled his brother’s lips. Just. So. Wrong.
“Hey! How’s your weekend?” Pepper asked. “Didn’t you have a date last night?”
I wrinkled my nose and made a face. “The last.”
“Oh, that bad?”
“Just no . . . sparks.” I slid a glance to Reece’s polite stare. Polite yet intense. Like his brother. These guys didn’t just look at you. They looked at you. Like they were seeing directly into you. Maybe it was embedded in their DNA or something.
“Oh, well. Then better not waste your time there anymore.”
I nodded, noticing then that there was a buzzing energy that seemed to cling to Pepper. Like she was a kid who had just been told she was going to Disneyland, but was trying to keep her act together and not totally explode from excitement.
I looked back and forth between her and Reece. An elusive smile clung to his lips. “What’s going on?”
She and Reece shared a look before she blurted out with: “I’m moving in with Reece.”
I stared for a moment, equal parts happiness and something else filling me. “Wow.” I pulled her in for a hug and then moved to hug Reece. “Congratulations. You’re moving into the apartment above Mulvaney’s?”
