“Shoot.” I give her hip a lightpinch.
The air grows still between us as she leans up until we’re just about nose-to-nose. Raven Masterson has the most beautiful crystal cut eyes I have ever seen, and tonight it feels as if I’m falling right into them, falling intoher.
“Do you think of me as a littlesister?”
And here it is—the moment of truth. Raven wants to know if I see her as another version of Colby, and for the life of me I can’t remember a time when I everdid.
“No,” I pump it out lower than awhisper.
Her face brightens, and her eyes widen as she blinks back tears, a vixen-like grin blooming on herlips.
“Good. Because I think I want to kiss youagain.”
Everything in me screamsdon’t do it. I am playing with fire. Messing around with Raven is tantamount to juggling live grenades. Every action has an equally explosive reaction with her, and as I’ve often learned the hard way, each one of those comes with its own set of consequences. And God knows if I kiss Raven again there will beconsequences.
“Come here.” My lids hood low, and I lean in. “I’m going to show you exactly what I think ofyou.”
My lips crash to hers as my fingers dig into the back of her butter soft hair. I can practically see the lilacs shaking out of it. Raven moans as she straddles me with a knee on either side of me and her mouth lingers over mine, soft and pliable, up for anything, up for staying right where they’re at all nightlong.
I pry my way into that beautiful mouth of hers and make a home for myself in there, touching, exploring, penetrating her as deep as I can because I cannot get my fill of this girl. Raven lets out a riotous groan right in my mouth, and I swallow it down with a laugh. But I don’t dare break our stride. I keep on keeping on—molding my mouth to hers, our tongues engaging in a dance for what I’m hoping will be the rest of the night. My hands ride up and down her back, bumping over her bra, and now it’s my turn to moan as we indulge deeper into this wild ride that neither of us is willing to get off of. If this were any other girl, I would have gone for second base by now. Hell, I would have scored a homer, too. But this isn’t any other girl. This is Raven. My Raven. The real reason I hung out at the Masterson home. The one I turned down Yale for so I could stay close to home. The one I turned down a sure thing for tonight so I could curl up on the sofa, watch an old game, and do exactly this with.Raven.
I’ve never thought of her like a little sister even when I shouldhave.
Our kisses grow more feverish. Raven is ravenous, and soon these heated kisses won’t be enough for either of us. Where does it end? Where do I draw the line? Hell, I think at this point we both know tonight we’re coloring outside the lines. But Raven says she’s a virgin. I’m pretty sure this isn’t how she should give it up, on my sofa, just for kicks. Nope. Raven needs a forever, a happily ever after. Most likely with someone from Wall Street who can whisk her to Paris for brunch the nextmorning.
She deservesit.
She deserves far more than someone like me—someone barely keeping his head above financialwaters.
Her tongue does a playful revolution of my lips as she pulls back and looks at me with a drugged-up smile. That look right there is what I’ve been seeing in my wet dreams for the last few weeks. It’s nice to know the real deal is ten times sweeter. My God, I love thisgirl.
My head pushes hard into the sofa as I look up at her, startled like a deer in the headlights. Shit. I do love her. My heart thumps wild as if applauding the fact I’ve finally come to realize this. My God, I’ve loved her all along, and it feels like a relief to admit it tomyself.
She falls back over me, and we start allover.
Raven’s kisses are like a fine wine, and I plan on getting drunk off them well until the sun comes up. It’s the sun that always seems to bring the pall of reality along withit.
But in our reality, I’m not the one Raven truly wanted to come home withtonight.
And it makes mewonder.
Dirty Little Secret
Raven
Brody Wolf is my kryptonite.His lips melt against my own like snow falling into the waiting arms of the Witch’s Cauldron. We’ve kept up our routine of lazy mornings filled with pancakes and copious hours of scanning our laptops, me riding in with him to The Sloppy Pelican, going home with him and pretending to be up for a movie when what we’re really up for is each other. Brody and I have made first base our new favorite place to be. I never knew that kisses alone could be so magical, so monumental, so outrightnecessary. And, even though he insists it’s fine that I’m not contributing to his mortgage, an immense amount of guilt has clouded me as of late, and I’ve made sure to do all the grocery shopping for the two of us, thus dwindling down my savings to just about nil. So as much as I don’t want to do it, I’ve begun to send my résuméout again. The only real problem is, just about all of my job prospects require me to travel an insane amount of time, and I wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of living out of my suitcase the last time around. More than that, I can’t imagine saying goodbye to Brody and those steamy lip-locks. I wonder how long it would be before someone like Jessie filled the void? And more to the point, hisbed.
It’s Thanksgiving, and The Sloppy Pelican is open to one and all. And that being said, most of the staff begged for the night off so it’s pretty much a skeleton crew. So to make sure things run smoothly, Levi, Axel, and Brody all agreed to spend their Thanksgiving at the restaurant. Lex and Axel are celebrating at The Pelican with their respective families. And my mother, my brothers, their shared wife-slash-girlfriend and baby Maxie will all be there, along with Brody’s parents and sister. The Mastersons and the Wolfs have spent more than one celebratory event together, but tonight is going to feel about as comfortable as a bed of blistering hotnails.
Brody and I drive out to The Pelican together, and that alone feels like a crimetonight.
We get to the oversized mahogany doors that lead into the establishment, and I pause a moment to pull him back. He’s so painfully handsome in his sports coat, his dark inky jeans, and his hair slicked back. The three-day old scruff he likes to tease me with has even been trimmed for the festive occasion, and for a second I think this is what it would feel like to be a couple, to be headed somewhere hand in hand, unafraid of the fact my brothers could gift him a lobotomy at anymoment.
“We probably shouldn’t mention that whole kissing thing.” I wince because that’s not exactly how I envisioned this conversationstarting.
“Darn it, you just ruined the little surprise I was going to sneak in during the toast.” He frowns. “Relax. Our dirty little secret is safe with me.” He gives my hair a slight tousle, and I feel about twelve again. “It’s not dirty, Raven.” His eyes bear hard into mine, and the moon highlights those lawn green flecks. “But I promise not to stick my tongue down your throat until we’re at least six miles out of range.” He takes a breath and sags, and suddenly the moment grows all too serious. “I also think that maybe when we get home we should talk a little about what’s been going on between us.” His eyes widen just a notch when he saysus. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt, and when I say anyone, I meanyou.”
“Good.” My insides seize because I’m half-afraid I’m going to get the emotional boot once we get back to the house. Of course, I am. I don’t put out. I’m so stupid. Brody isn’t going to make out with me forever. This isn’t high school and, for God’s sake, Brody most likely did way more than that in high school, too. I’m just wasting his time, and he’s done with it. Done withme.
