Page 6 of Vegas with my Brother’s Best Friends

I can’t take my eyes off her. She thinks that she’s a bad dancer, but she’s entrancing. Everything pops out at me.

The slope of her throat. The rise and fall of her chest as she breathes with me. The sway of her hips.

Holy shit. We have all grown up.

My forehead lowers to hers as my hand slides up her back to rest on her nape under her hair. Our faces hover inches apart to the point where I can feel her breath brush my lips.

We’re so close. So in sync.

I tilt my head down a little, my eyes falling to her slightly parted lips. They glisten from the pink lip gloss she has on.

Does she taste as sweet as she smells?

The song’s last few notes echo throughout the club, the bass shaking my chest with every thump. Our movements slow down until we’re just standing there, foreheads together and arms around the other.

Kissing her would be as easy as taking my next breath.

“Delivery!”

Cassidy breaks away from me as Marcus and Jackson approach with all of our drinks. She tucks her hair behind her ear and takes her drink from Marcus, looking beautifully flushed. “Perfect timing.”

Maybe they could’ve waited just a few more seconds.

Chapter three

Chapter 3: Marcus

As if the club wasn’t hectic enough, we decide to explore the Strip once we finish our drinks.

It’s only ten o’clock, and I want to spend as much time with Cassidy as possible before we turn in for the night.

I don’t know if I’ll get the opportunity to hang out with the first and only girl I’ve fallen in love with like this again.

“This is amazing,” Cassidy says, all the shining lights and signs glistening in her eyes as she looks around at the different restaurants, bars, and attractions.

I can’t help but watch her, my heartbeat getting faster and faster every time she smiles. Sheesh. I thought I’d shake the feelings I had for her as a teenager by now, but everything came flooding back the moment I saw her.

Sure, we’ve grown up a lot, but I can tell there are still things about her that haven’t changed. Things that made me fall for her in the first place.

Her humor. Her smile. The way she laughs with her whole body.

I could go on all night, but there’s so much that I want to do with her before we have to go back to acting casual with her. At the end of the day, she’s Ryan’s little sister, and he made it clear to us that she’s off limits.

Even if he gave his blessing, I think she could do better than me. And certainly better than Derek.

“Hungry?” Jackson asks her.

Cassidy smiles. “Starving.”

Now that we’re all a few drinks in, none of us are particularly picky about what we want to eat. We choose a casual burger joint that has a diner vibe, the four of us piling into a booth with blue leather seats and immediately ordering.

“How’d you get into tattooing?” Cassidy asks as she sits across from me, plucking a French fry off her plate. “I remember you drawing a lot in high school.”

“I knew I wanted to do something involving art,” I explain, setting my half-eaten burger down to grab a napkin. “I got my first tattoo on the night of my eighteenth birthday on a whim, and I remember being in awe of all the artwork in the artists’ portfolios. They all had their own styles, and you could see their personalities in their work.”

Cassidy’s expression brightens in interest.

“So, I started making my own portfolio. Some of my friends let me practice on them, and now I’m booked all the time,” I tell her, giving her the short version.