All of this sounds like a terrible idea, and yet, my body moves closer. The joint is hanging between my lips when I pinch her cheeks using my thumb and index finger to bring her closer. With my free hand, I flip over the joint so the cherry is in my mouth and the end is pointing into hers. The air squeezes from my lungs, as her eyes dilate and her breathing stutters. There’s an exchange of silent instruction between us; her perky lips turn into a perfect ‘o’ as I blow the smoke directly into her waiting mouth. Trying my best not to give her too much, her brows furrow, and that’s my queue to stop.
So I do…
The only thing is that I hover, pulling the joint from my own lips. I purse my lips so I can drag the smoke escaping from her perfect mouth with my gaze locked on hers—one that grows heavy given her sexy siren eye look.
Creak!
The sound pulls me out of my thoughts. The door opening from behind me alerts me of her presence as Ronnie steps out, plucking the pre-roll from my fingers before I have a chance to take another hit. She smiles softly before bringing it to her lips, her eyes never leaving mine.
Really making me feel all‘hoa, hoa, hoa’ deep inside.
“Good shit,” she says, her lips curling up into a playful smirk as a cloud of smoke billows from between them.
“I always have good shit,” I reply while inhaling the smoke, wishing it were a tongue that curled around her perfect lips. I really try not to make things weird between us, to not show her the love that has long consumed me, but that’s harder than asking me not to breathe. How can you look at your heart and force it to desist? Ronnie passes the pre-roll back to me, her fingers lingering on mine for just a moment longer than necessary.
“You okay?” I ask, knowing that she’s not, something is bothering her, and she’s begging for someone to acknowledge it. So I do.
She shrugs, trying to play it off. “It’s nothing. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“You can always talk to me, you know that?” I take another pull of the blunt before passing it to her. We are so close that I can feel the heat from her body. All of a sudden, the urge to close that distance—to wrap my arms around her—is so overwhelming that it takes all of my self-control to keep from doing so.
“I know, just not in the mood to talk about it. Okay?”
She takes the blunt, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. My hand moves to her cheek, startling her. “I’m here if you just need someone to listen. I might not be good at it at times, but I’m here.”
Her stormy gray eyes lock on mine, and I lean in, inhaling the smoke coming from her lips before pulling away slightly. Sucking her breath into my lungs, getting high off the best drug to my heart. Her gaze is intense, and I find myself caught in it. My lips brush hers, and, for a moment, I consider crashing my lips into hers, tasting the intoxicating mix of sour diesel, moon dust, and the sweetness that is her. But I pull back, my eyes searching hers for signs of resistance or unease. All I see is desire; it’s like looking into a mirror that reflects my own want.
“I don’t think Nixie would appreciate us making out,” she teases, pulling away from me to pass me back the blunt. I raise an eyebrow at her, a smirk playing on my lips as I retort, “I will beg to differ. She called us Izronie today.”
She snorts. “Sure.”
“I mean it,” I drawl, the smirk still on my lips. “She thinks we’re a vibe.”
That earns me one of Ronnie’s infamous eyerolls. “A vibe, huh?”
I shrug, taking another pull of the blunt. “ A total vibe.”
Ronnie chuckles lightly, her laughter setting off an echo in my heart. My eyes track every movement as she pulls away from where she’s standing and inches closer to the edge of the deck, before leaning onto the railing. “You shouldn’t… Max.”
“I guess I should hide it better,” I say, watching her. Ronnie snickers at my words, already replacing the walls around her that have been impenetrable to climb.
“Hide what?”
“What you do to me,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper, forcing my eyes and thoughts away from the tempting view that’s my fucking stepsister. I personally never saw her as that, but she’s always made it a fucking point to remind me of it any chance she can.
“Don’t do that. Respect Max.” She quips. I push off from where I’ve been leaning against the deck and shift towards her, stopping just short of touching her. But man, do I want to. My hands twitch at my side. The need to tuck that loose curl dancing in the wind behind her ear is too much to bear. The air betweenus crackles, and all I can muster to say is. “Then again, where is the fun in that?” I inch closer, breathing her in like a drug. “I like watching you squirm, Ronnie. Pissing off Max is just the cherry on top.”
She clicks her tongue loudly. “Grow up.”
The way she clips out the word tells me she wants me to end the conversation or at least redirect it. So, I do. Well, not entirely like I said, I like watching my precious little butterfly squirm.
“Plus, our baby sister is team us, actually. She thinks you and I would have been a dream team.”
Vero swallows hard, pretending that it didn’t bring some sort of joy knowing someone we love would accept us. Accept our love, but as always, logic wins with Ronnie.
“Iz…” Her voice trails off into the wind, her stormy eyes meeting mine. “We’ve been down this road before.”
“No, we haven’t,” I reply with a shake of my head. “Not as adults. Not when it matters.” For a second, we just have a silent standoff. Neither of us looks away. The sparks between us crackle, setting off a storm of our emotions that pulsates in the air. Until finally, she breaks away, pretending that her overgrown grass is more interesting than anything I could say. Joke’s on her if she thinks she can fool me with it. I know she’s deep in thought. I can tell by the way her shoulders tense and her brows pinch together, forming a small triangle. Plus, she’s biting the inside of her cheek.
