Kenna nodded. “He even drove out here, about a month ago. Called me after and said Grant wouldn’t even come to the door. Said your mom cried over it.”
Kieran’s vision went fuzzy on the edges. Every breath suddenly felt too big and too small at the same time, his heart pounding loud enough to nearly drown out everything else. It was all so much further gone than he had realized. And the acute disappointment he felt was the worst of it all. Kieran had always idolized his father, had always seen him as the man he himself should strive to be.
A hand was on his arm, tugging gently until Kieran let himself unfurl, unfolding the arms that were a vice over his chest. Sammie wrapped her fingers around his, holding onto him, tethering him. Kenna watched the moment appraisingly.
“I know it’s hard to hear,” she continued. “But I think you should know. You’re one of the only people Grant might listen to.”
Kieran nodded. “I’ll try to talk to him about it.” Just one more thing to add to the list of uncomfortable conversations he wouldneed to have with his parents in the near future. Conversations that he couldn’t just continue to put off in the hopes of another solution presenting itself.
“I’m gonna go in and get Kellan so we can head home.” Kenna pushed away from the railing. “I’m only in town for the weekend, Mom will get sad if I don’t spend enough time with her.” Kieran reached out an arm for a side hug, at which Kenna frowned before acquiescing. She then turned to Sammie. “It was good to see you. Tell your friend I said hi.”
Sammie’s eyes were wide as Kenna left. “Oh my god,” she said quietly. “Ivy doesn’t stand a chance.”
Kieran laughed. “Kenna’s all bark, she’s not scary once you understand the way she operates. If Ivy has the balls to argue with her, I think she’ll be fine.” He paused. “If they combine their powers, though, none of us stand a chance.”
“It’s like a sexy, feministCaptain Planet.”
Kieran winced. “Don’t call my cousin sexy.”
“Everybody in your family is too goddamn good looking,” Sammie dead-panned, but Kieran could see the pink tinting her cheeks, even under the dim back porch light.
“So you think I’m good looking?” He smiled wide as she glared at him.
“What are you, twelve?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s kind of nice hearing you say it out loud.” Kieran really didn’t know what he was doing, teasing her like this. He wasn’t much for trading jabs. But Sammie was too easy to rile up, to fluster, and even he had to admit that it was pretty cute.
Sammie rose from her chair, closing the distance between them faster than Kieran could keep up with. In a blink she was standing before him, leaning into his space. The wood of the railing dug into his back as she pushed closer, until the thinnest gap separated them.
“What is it that you want to hear me say out loud?” Sammie began, her voice low, silky, her stormy eyes never leaving his face. “That I’ve always been attracted to you?” She reached out, her hands falling to the rail on either side of him, caging him in. Fuck, Sammie wasn’t small, tall and long-limbed, arms thick with muscle. Kieran had never felt her size more than he did now, with her presence surrounding him, forcing him to focus on nothing but her. It wasn’t like when she’d been in his lap. He’d still be in control then.
“Do you want me to tell you that I’ve always been so good,” she continued. “Never thinking about you in ways I shouldn’t. No matter how pretty I thought your eyes were or how good I thought you looked in those tiny shorts you boys like to wear while you’re bouncing around a volleyball.”
Kieran’s mouth felt too dry, his tongue too thick. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from her, couldn’t see anything but Sammie standing in front of him, pinning him in place. His heart beat faster, building toward a crescendo he didn’t think he was ready for.
And that was when she pulled back, just enough for Kieran to breathe. “But since we’re currently at your parent’s house, I won’t tell you about how watching you spike a ball makes me feel like there are sparks under my skin. How I’ve always wanted to know what it would feel like to have your arms around me, your hands on me.” A pause as she waited for Kieran to catch up. “I think I’ll wait a little longer to tell you all that stuff.” A yawn that seemed half real, half for show. “Right now I think I’m ready to call it a night. We’ve got a long drive in the morning.”
Well.
Fuck.
Kieran knew Sammie had always had a thing for him, but the cool, sharp desire he saw in her eyes now? His body couldn’t help but react. Fire seared along his skin as a simmering burn litup low in his gut. Before he could wrap his mind around any of it, Sammie had crossed the porch, turning back toward him as she reached the door.
“Night, Kieran,” she said, her lips tilting into a smile that was a little more feral than any he’d yet seen from here.
What the fuck had he gotten himself into?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SAMMIE’S BACK PRESSED hard against the door, her shirt catching as she slid down it. She pressed her palms to her cheeks and let out a long, slow breath.
What had she just done?
As her words played on a loop, over and over, a tormenting melody, Sammie bit back a groan. She stretched out her legs before her, arms falling to her sides as her head tilted back to rest against the guest room door. She could hear faint footsteps approaching, stopping with the click of the restroom door that was closest to her room.
Coming on to Kieran like a mother fucking creature in heat wasn’t exactly a great way to hide her feelings.
Sammie had entered a fugue state the moment Kieran had begun to tease her. All thoughts left her brain except for those pertaining to what she wanted to do to him. The Sammie that had pinned him back against that porch railing? That wasn’t a Sammie who knew how to be chill and calm.
