She frowns at my vulgar description and I don’t blame her. I’m being a dick and I’m not even entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because I’m angry. Angry at her. At Aria. At the world. At the turn my life has taken in the last month. I drop my shoulder onto the wall beside her, folding my arms over my chest as I take her in from a foot away.
“So is this why you told me it would only be one night? Because you live here? I will be honest; I was pretty disappointed when I woke up the next morning to find you already gone. No name. No number.” She has no idea how many times I went back to that bar hoping to find her again.
Her eyes meet mine in the darkness. “I was moving the next day. Regardless, tomorrows aren’t really my thing.”
Huh. There is something to that.
“They’ve never exactly been my thing either.” You were different somehow, I don’t add.
“So I’ve been told,” she remarks with an unmistakable edge. “I’ve heard stories about you, Brecken Davenport. I just had no idea you were the man behind them.”
I shrug at that. “I’m sure Aria has a lot to say about me. Her one-sided revisionists history does her a lot of justice. Yet she’s now living with my best friend and I’m to stay away from hers.”
“Other than your notorious player existence, Aria’s only ever said how amazing you are. How close the two of you are and how she was always worried about how you’d react when her and Wes got together.”
I laugh bitterly at that. “I’m not the player Aria thinks I am. And anyway, they didn’t exactly give me the option to object. By the time they told me, they were already a thing and in love. Wes is a good man. Always has been. Honest and forthright and loyal—even if he did go after my sister behind my back. He loves Aria, and he makes her happy which is all I want for her.”
She smiles at that, something warm that makes her light eyes sparkle in the Boston night. “Did she tell you to stay away from us? Because she gave us that warning just now.”
Now I growl. “Aria loves to give you all the torrid details of how I ‘ruined’ her friends back in high school. But the truth is, I did no such thing. I was honest with those girls and the few who got attached tried to use Aria against me. Not exactly what I would call good friends. But no. She didn’t even mention anything specific to me other than to say she was excited to introduce me to her people tonight. But I’ve received the warning in the past enough to know it doesn’t have an expiration date.”
A contemplative hum emanates from the back of her throat. “Even though I met you before I knew her, I’d rather you not tell her about us if you’re alright with that.”
“Us?” I quip, making her roll her eyes. I lean into her, nudging her shoulder with mine. “She won’t hear about it from me.”
“Thank you,” she says, only her voice is breathy, and her body is close.
I tilt my head in her direction, angling my face and cutting the already minuscule distance between us by half. I fall silent, watching her pretty face. Curious if she knows how every man did a double take when she walked into the bar tonight.
Myself included.
There is something so irresistible about her.
Her long blonde bangs fly into her face on the breeze and I have the strongest urge to tuck them back behind her ear. Just to feel the silkiness of her hair that I spent a night with my hands up in.
And when she makes no move to do that for herself, I take that as my cue.
Reaching out slowly, giving her time to stop me, I finger the strands, playing with them. Her breath hitches, her eyes growing wide, and I lean in, sweeping my fingers along the velvety skin of her cheek.
Shallow, quick-fire bursts of air flee her lungs. Her fingers tap out a rhythmic pattern against the brick and I move in deeper, nearly nose to nose now. Green eyes stare into mine the way I’m staring into hers. With unrestrained desire. And suddenly I can’t remember any of the reasons I’m not allowed to touch her. To kiss her.
She seems to be having the same problem I am.
My body ignites with that possibility. Burning and buzzing with need. Tucking her hair behind her ear, I linger, my thumb grazing the diamond stud she has in her ear. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip and she shifts her stance, the intoxicating tension swirling between us making her restless.
The warm breeze blows across us again and I catch her fragrance on it.
The same. She smells the same, like roses and vanilla, and I want to kiss her so badly. Just to see if she tastes the same too. If she feels exactly how I remember.
I inch in, her eyes volleying between mine and then down to my lips, reading my intention. The door to the bar opens, a couple exiting, and something about that snaps me out of my Rina-induced daze.
I can’t kiss her.
I’m here for a fresh start, a second chance, and making out with my sister’s friend is the antithesis of that. It’s trouble even I know better than to go near. Fuck!
I right my body and fold my arms back over my chest. It takes every ounce of willpower I have but I tuck down my desire for her and say, “Since I can’t kiss you how about we start over?”
She swallows, licking her lips and smiling with relief as she exhales a silent breath. “Yes. Perfect. Like we actually did just meet tonight. Like that night never happened.”
We can play it any way we want, but we both know the truth. There is no forgetting that night between us and there is no pretending it never happened. But it’s the best we’ve got.
“I’m not sure I can do that,” I tell her. “But for the sake of everyone, I’ll fake it.”
“Now that we cleared that all up, I need to go. It’s late and I have a busy day tomorrow. Have a good rest of your night.”
With that, she tries to brush past me, and I reach out, grabbing her arm before she can flee. She jerks from my touch, her eyes startled and frightened—similar to how they were when I first spoke to her out here—before they tighten, misreading my intention.
I throw my hands up, releasing her instantly. Is she afraid of me?
“I just want to know how you’re getting home. It’s late and I don’t want you taking the T if that’s your plan.” Especially not dressed like sex on legs with fuck-me heels.
“I live around the corner.” She points down the street, and I turn, facing the same direction she is.
“Then I’m walking you.”
“Brecken—”
“Don’t argue with me. I’d never let any woman walk alone at night let alone my sister’s friend.”
“Okay,” she relents on a whisper, her eyes casting warily in my direction. She doesn’t trust me, and truth be told, I don’t trust me either. Just being next to her and not touching her or flirting with her is a challenge.
No matter what I do, I can never catch a break.
Even my second chance is starting off on the wrong foot.
“Why did you move back?” she asks as we stroll, the soles of our shoes and the muted sounds of the city our soundtrack. “You’re from around here, right? Did you move to be closer to family?”
“I grew up about an hour west of here. I had to move to Boston for work, but it’s only meant to be temporary. Just a year assignment. The fact that Aria and Wes and even Josh and Drew are here is a lucky break.”