14. Skyler

Nobody thought twice about my announcement that I’m taking Reese home. Josh even gave me a grateful nod, which just makes me feel like the biggest turd. An elephant-sized turd.

Because I was just very hard for his little sister. And if good sense hadn’t prevailed, and my lizard brain had its way, I’d be balls deep in her at this moment instead of driving home in very uncomfortable silence.

Ice cold silence.

It gives me time to think. To piece apart the tangled mess in my head. Granted, her scent is filling up my truck. Sunshine and coconut and distinctly female invading the new truck smell, but it just serves to keep me on task.

She’s always struck me as petite, but right now, she’s positively microscopic. Curled up on herself, frowning out the window. I made her feel that way, by bungling that heart-to-heart, by attacking her like a slobbering caveman.

If I’m honest, her thinking is far more sophisticated than mine.

I’m protecting her virtue the same way men have guarded female virtue since the dawn of time. But why? These are modern times. Reese is on equal footing with me. Hell, she’s got more education than me and more potential, too. She’s a grown woman. If she wants to go out there and see what the world has to offer, who am I to get in her way?

By the time I pull up to the floral shop, I’ve come around to her way of thinking. I glance up at the shop and see her apartment right above it. She’s got plants in the window. White curtains.

I put the truck in park and hustle around to open the passenger door for her. If she wasn’t so lost in her own troubles, I don’t think she would have let me. She looks a little put out as I help her down. Even more uncertain as I walk her up to the little side door that leads to her apartment.

I pause there, clearing my throat. “I didn’t convey myself very well back at Josh’s.”

She holds up a hand. “Spare me, Skyler. I get it. You’re not attracted to me. Don’t belittle me with a long explanation.”

I frown. “I think it was very obvious I find you attractive.”

A reluctant smile tugs at her lips. “Very obvious? Pretty sure of ourselves, aren’t we?”

Busting my balls already. That’s a good sign. “I’m not talking about that kiss. I’m talking about what you said. About equality and sexuality and all that.”

I look up and down the street, feeling exposed. “Can I come up? I’m not done talking this over with you, but the sidewalk hardly seems like the place.”

She bites her lip, which just serves to remind me how sweet it tasted and how I’m wishing I was the one biting that lip. Maybe I should turn around. March back to my truck and take a cold shower. A couple of cold showers.

But she’s shrugging, leading me up the rickety steps to her apartment. She swings the door open, and a very Reese smell rolls over me. Clean and cheerful.

I step into the apartment, taking off my boots. It’s small, but cute. A lot like Reese.

She gestures at the couch and works her way to the kitchen. “Something to drink?”

“I think I’ve had enough…”

She rolls her eyes again. “Water, then?”

“Water.”

Bringing two glasses of water to the coffee table, she sits on the couch. And just like that, we find ourselves in the same position, but this time, there’s no threat of angry big brothers marching in on us.

“So, what revelations did you have?”

The shyness she had back at the house has been replaced with something far more dry. She shared her thoughts with me in a whirl of passion and vulnerability and my response was to ask if she was drunk.

Yeah, this reserved version of Reese is completely my doing.

“I think you have a point about women. It’s not equal. It’s not fair. And that’s really fucking stupid. So, even though you don’t need it, you have my support in your quest.”

Her expression softens marginally. “Okay.”

She drawls the word out.

“Just not with Tyson Kyle.”

She snorts, flopping back on the couch. When she looks at me, there’s an easy smile on her face, a twinkle in her eye that makes my stomach lurch and my cock wake up.

She looks me over and I study her in return. A few wisps of hair have escaped her braids. She looks a little breathless, fiery even, but there’s a confidence there that I didn’t notice before. I’m reminded, yet again, that she’s no child. Hell, she’s only a few years behind me.

“So, what about you?”

Her gaze is steady, searing my skin.

“What about me?”

“You said I should go on this quest with someone I trust. Why not you?”

I was afraid she was going to go there.

And deep down, I was desperately hoping she would.

My cock is hardening, enthusiastically agreeing with this idea. But my head is still in control and it’s reminding me that relationships like these are very fraught. I like being friends with Reese. The idea of seeing the light go out of her eyes whenever I walk into a room kind of kills me.

But I also really want to slip my hands under that big, stupid sweater.

She tilts her head. “You just said that you’re attracted to me. Can’t we do a friends with benefits thing?”

Her fingertips trail across my knee. It’s a touch that barely skirts the boundary between friendly and teasing.

“That never works.”

Fucking voice is betraying me, dropping, sounding all raspy.

“Why not?”

“In this particular case, your brother is a big part of the problem.”

“Josh isn’t here right now.”

I swallow as her hand tentatively slides across my thigh, giving me a chance to move it away. I don’t.

“Damn it, Reese. You’re making it very hard for me.”

Her hand slides inward, fingertips feathering over the perimeter of my stiff shaft. “Seems like it.”

She’s so playful and cute and sexy. How did her loser of a boyfriend ever deny her anything? Or worse, how could he make her feel bad about herself for wanting something so natural?

It pisses me off to think about her being rejected like that.

If I strip away all the noise, it’s pretty simple.

She wants me, and I really fucking want her.

And whether I say yes or no, the situation is already complicated. There’s no going back from here. Might as well give in and enjoy the ride.