As the ladies hooted and hollered, Bodie whispered in my ear. “Babe, what are they talking about?”
I buried my face in the crook of his neck, shaking my head back and forth. “You don’t want to know.”
“Something tells me it might be good.” His warm breath tickled my ear sending goosebumps rippling over every inch of my skin.
“Oh Lord, you two get in here before you give all the neighbors a show,” Alley said.
Bodie released my legs and my body slid down his massive frame, enjoying all the toned muscles as I went. I rested my head on his chest for a minute and sighed in contentment. Then I jumped, startled by the male voice that spoke from behind Bodie’s back.
“Do I get to come in too? Or get a hug?”
Holding onto the sides of Bodie’s sweatshirt, I peeked around him to find Paxton standing there smiling at me.
He’d kept his promise and come back.
Unclenching my hands from the soft cotton of Bodie’s shirt, I ran around him to give my brother the hug he’d asked for. “You came back,” I said softly.
He pulled back and gave me a dimpled smile that once again reminded me of our father. My heart hiccupped a fraction at the sight but warmed at Paxton’s words.
“I keep my promises, Sis. We still may need to get to know each other, but we’refamily.”
“Thank you.” I was feeling emotional so that was all I managed to get out. But Alley broke in and saved me from floundering.
At the sound of her voice, I released my brother and turned back toward the door.
“I don’t think your brother should go downtown with you two so how about you all come inside,” Alley said with a smirk.
I let out a huff walking toward Bodie, with Paxton following me. Once inside with the door closed, both guys looked at me puzzled and asked what the hell this downtown shit was about. I covered my face in my hands as it heated, knowing I was in trouble.
“It’s just girl talk,” Teal said from the couch. “We were in the middle of a very important conversation. Let’s just say downtown is a code word as we explained to your lovely lady there.” She pointed at me and I wanted the floor to swallow me up.
It was as if the lightbulb went off in both Bodie and Paxton’s minds at the same time and the expression on their faces were priceless, though each was different. My guy looked at me with a lust-filled gaze, while my brother looked like he was about to run right back out the door.
Everyone must have noticed what I did and it caused another fit of giggles to wash over the room.
Bodie stalked toward me and pulled me against him. “I think a trip downtown tomorrow night, sounds fucking perfect.”
My body caught fire, blazing with anticipation. The fact I had to wait twenty-four hours to take that trip downtown might just kill me.
“Dude, that wasn’t quiet. I heard that and you’re talking about my sister for God’s sake,” Paxton told Bodie.
I found that hilarious but it sent a warm and fuzzy feeling over me that my big brother was already taking his role seriously. However, little did I know that later when the tables were reversed and I was hit with the sister bug, I wouldn’t be laughing so much.
* * *
Sayingbye to Bodie was hard.
Once I had a taste of him after he kissed me on the porch before heading back to his car, I wanted more. Knowing he was only a hop, skip, and a jump away helped. If I needed my fix, I could always text him and I knew he’d come running.
I must have had a goofy smile on my face as we all sat on the couch, floor, and chairs, shoving our faces full of pizza because I looked up to see Jurnee watching me.
“That dreamy expression looks good on you, girlfriend,” she said.
I was shocked to see a tear slip down her cheek.
Abandoning my food by sitting it on the coffee table, I rushed over and sat on the floor next to her. “Why are you sad about that?”
She sniffled as a few more tears fell. “These are happy tears, silly. You have been my little sister since walking into that foster home and when I left, leaving you stuck there, it killed me.”
