14. Trying To Test Me

14

TRYING TO TEST ME

T wo weekends later, Phoenix was in the kitchen at eleven thirty at night. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and there was no school this week.

He was going to work in the morning tomorrow and then everyone was off on Wednesday. He’d go back to the office on Thursday. Elsie and Crystal would be on their own and Crystal was probably more excited than Elsie was.

Guess it was working out better than he thought.

There was no reason for him to be up other than he had so much on his mind with work.

The website was getting overhauled with the suggestions from Crystal. Simple stupid shit he should have thought of and didn’t.

He spent too much time with his head in research books and still tried to. There were always things to perfect or try. Even color choices he was working on.

But in order to do those things, he had to give up time on the business and there was only so much time to go around.

He couldn’t even settle his body down to sleep so he got up to see if there was something to snack on rather than trying to watch some mind-numbing show on TV.

He was opening and closing cabinets looking for something when he heard a noise. It sounded like crying.

He moved out to the hall, but it wasn’t coming from Elsie’s room, so he went back to the kitchen and heard it again. It was upstairs.

His step hesitated when he started to climb.

Would she want him to know? But then he didn’t want her alone if she was that upset either. Maybe she was sad that she wasn’t going to see her family this year. She said she wasn’t upset over it, but maybe she was lying.

He moved up a few steps quietly and it was getting louder. By the time he got to the top, he realized it wasn’t crying but moaning.

Oh shit. She better not have a man up there.

He turned the corner quickly since there wasn’t a door, but it wasn’t coming from the TV in the living room. Nope, it was coming from her bedroom.

There was a giggle next, then another moan. The bedroom door was open and he was trying to figure out what to do.

Jealousy flooded through him worse than the fact he’d told her no one could come into the house without him knowing.

There was more moaning and then kissing. He took a step forward, almost embarrassed, then froze when he heard a dog bark.

What the hell?

Shit, she was watching a TV show. Talk about being an idiot.

He turned to leave and bumped into the coffee table and stubbed his toe.

He bit down on his lip to not curse and swear over the pain and tried to be quiet, but the light came on and he turned to see Crystal standing there.

“Phoenix? What’s going on?”

He put his foot down and realized that he was only wearing shorts again. Nothing else. Just like she had nothing more than a white tank top on. Not even a long T-shirt covering the rainbow bikinis she was sporting.

To take his eyes off her underwear, he shifted up...big mistake. He could see her dark hardened nipples through the soft cotton.

Yep, his dick was ready to be introduced.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I heard a noise. I thought you were crying.”

“The TV,” she said. “I didn’t realize it was that loud. You should have said something.”

“I don’t think it was. I mean I was in the kitchen looking for food and heard it. I thought it was Elsie and then realized it might be you. I just thought I’d check in.”

She started to laugh at him. “Then you heard it wasn’t crying?”

“Yeah, as I got upstairs. I’m not spying on you or anything. Please don’t think that.”

“I’m not,” she said. She moved closer to him. “Then you heard it wasn’t crying and maybe you thought I had a man in my room?”

She was closing the distance, almost stalking him. The smirk on her face said she was enjoying it.

Maybe he was too.

“It crossed my mind,” he said.

“I’d never do that. If you heard that kind of noise coming from my room, it’s most likely the little toy that I know you saw I had when my box of stuff fell on your floor.”

He felt the heat in his face hit him hard. Mix that in with the fact he was pretty sure he was sporting some decent wood.

Now this was embarrassing.

He might have wanted to run back downstairs if her nipples were hard and pointed at him. The fact she stopped right in front of him and gave him a nice view looking down at her cleavage hadn’t helped any.

He gulped. He hadn’t been listening all that much to what she was saying but now the word toy registered in his brain.

“Are you trying to test me?” he asked.

“You came to me barely dressed,” she said. “It’s not like I snuck down to your room like this.”

He wouldn’t have cared if she did. “My door is open,” he heard himself say.

She smiled and put her hand out, then ran it down his arm. “The tension between us is pretty thick. I haven’t been able to get the sight of you out of my mind from the last time I saw you like this.”

“The same,” he said. “Though it’s less now than it was then.”

“I threw that T-shirt on over my tank top back then. I always sleep just like this. Do you sleep in shorts?”

“No,” he said. “I lose the shorts.”

She nodded her head. “Do you want to kiss me, Phoenix?”

“I don’t want to lose you,” he said. In more ways than one. But he didn’t have her the way he wanted so no need to worry.

“You won’t,” she said. “Maybe we need to do this and see what happens. Otherwise it’s just more tension while we wonder. Could be that there is no spark and we can move on. Call it an experiment.”

“You know as well as I do the spark is there.”

“Yes, I do,” she said. “I seem to be the only one acknowledging I’m willing to start a fire with it.”

She was baiting him. He wasn’t falling for it.

She worked for him and he wouldn’t make that first move.

Though she’d already been making them anyway. But if they were going to kiss, she was going to be the one to make that move, not him.

“I’m not denying it,” he said. “Men tend to be put in a harder situation here. Not to mention, you work for me.”

“We can wipe that thought away for now,” she said, putting her arms over his neck. “If you want me to back away and you want to sneak downstairs on your sore toe, we can do that. Just say the word.” His lips remained sealed. “I thought so.”

He wasn’t moving anything other than his lips forming a grin.

Crystal let out a sigh and got up on her toes, her mouth going to his. He wasn’t going to not kiss her, but he wasn’t initiating it.

Her hands tightened around his neck, their lips moved back and forth across each other and then he nudged her mouth open, his tongue sliding in.

He kept his hands to his side so she could leave at any point.

She didn’t. She only squeezed his neck tighter and pushed against his body. No way she couldn’t feel what was pretty evident pressing against her hips.

Not much different than him feeling her nipples brushing his chest.

Jesus, he felt like a teen with little to no control over his body.

She finally broke the kiss but didn’t release her hands. “Now I might need my toy even more than that movie.”

“That’s a waste,” he said.

“I think so,” she said. “But I couldn’t even get you to give me a kiss, so you know, not much more I think you’ll do.”

He knew what she was asking and, as much as he needed it, he didn’t think it was wise.

“We should think on it more,” he said.

“I bet you’re a champion thinker. My problem is, I probably don’t think enough.”

“There is more on the line here,” he said.

“You don’t want to lose me,” she said. “I know. I understand. You won’t. But I don’t want this to be awkward either.”

“Too late,” he said, smirking.

“So now what?” she asked. “We both go to our rooms and take care of our problems. Or do we do it for each other?”

“If I touch you any more than I just did, I’m not going to be able to stop until I sink into you deeply. I don’t have a condom on me and if I go downstairs to get one, I’m pretty sure logic and reason are going to stop me from returning.”

“You’re no fun.”

He was secretly hoping that she’d offer up a condom but guess she wasn’t thinking about sex.

“I’ve been told that before,” he said.

“I think you’re a lot more fun than you give yourself credit for. I don’t have a condom here either. There are other things you can do.”

“Again, I won’t be able to stop.”

“Then I guess I know the next move.”

She removed her arms from his body and stepped back. She didn’t volunteer what that move was going to be and he wouldn’t ask.

“Time to get some sleep,” he said. Which he knew wasn’t going to come.

“No snack?” she asked.

“I think that urge is gone.”

“But replaced with another one,” she said, laughing. “I really like you, Phoenix. As a person. Don’t stress over this. We’ll talk about it more when you’re ready. And if you’re not, then don’t stress over that either.”

She turned and went to her room and he knew it was time to return to his.

Just one more thing to have on his mind now.