All of a sudden, he pulled over to the side of the road and slammed his hands against the steering wheel, making me jump.
“Chloe, I can’t take this shit anymore! I want my friend back, damnit!” he roared, his words and the tone of his voice making me shrink back in my seat and eye him warily.
He took a deep breath and ran his hands roughly over his face before looking over at me again. “Look, I didn’t mean to yell, but Jesus, there’s only so much I can take! You and I can’t be in the same room together anymore without the tension being so thick you can cut it with a knife. Unless there’s other people around, and then we manage to act normal…sort of. So we kissed…big fucking deal! It shouldn’t ruin our friendship…I won’t let it ruin it. Can we go back to the way we used to be? Please?”
I stared at him, his eyes pleading with me, and all I could do was nod. Just nod like a dumbass, even though it felt like I’d just taken a sledgehammer to the gut. I don’t even know why it felt like that, honestly, because there was nothing more between us, just a misplaced case of hero worship or flat out lust on my part.
“Good.” He nodded sharply and pulled back out onto the street. We were both silent until we got to my house and he dropped me off, waving and smiling jovially at me as he pulled away, but even I could see that it was a bit forced.
Like a sad sap, I stood in the driveway and watched his truck get smaller and smaller in the distance, until anger at myself took over. Christ…get a grip, sorry ass, I told myself. Shaking my head, I sighed and went inside, determined to find something to do to occupy my Saturday, since Allie had told me to take the day off.
With my conversation with Allie running on a loop through my head, I cleaned and organized every inch of my house ruthlessly, attacking every task with fervor until the only thing left was to sweep the kitchen tile and the tile in the foyer. Since it was such a nice day, I opened up the windows and blasted my iPod, dancing around as I cleaned.
I grabbed the broom just as I’ve Got You Covered by Sugar and the Hi Lows began playing, the smooth tones taking me over as I swept and danced along, singing the words at the top of my lungs. Not thirty seconds into the song, I quit pretending to sweep and just danced around with the broom, still singing, lost in the lyrics.
I dipped the broom, came up, and spun around, shrieking in surprise when I collided nose first into a hard male chest. My eyes traveled up until they clashed with the stormy, blue-grey eyes of Brandon, who was grinning down at me. Without a beat, he grabbed the broom out of my hand and tossed it away, pulling me into his arms and dancing me around the kitchen.
Unable to resist, I followed his lead, my knees getting weak when he began to sing the words softly by my ear, pulling me even closer. A shuddering breath left my lips as I melted into him, letting myself just feel for once, even though I knew I could never have more. He shifted me in his arms and I looked up, my pulse racing when I saw that he was looking down at me, all trace of playfulness gone.
I felt his breath hitch, felt the air charge suddenly with desire, and wondered if I was hallucinating. But no…I wasn’t, to my utter surprise.
With a muttered curse, Brandon leaned forward and captured my lips in a searing kiss, stealing my breath and lifting me up in his arms at the same time, which was a good thing as my knees buckled.
He ate at my mouth, biting, sucking, and licking…taking the kiss deeper and deeper until my head was swimming and I couldn’t tell which way was up. After what seemed like an eternity, he pulled back, placing a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. I kept my eyes closed, unwilling to open them and break this wonderful moment.