My fingertips brush her skin as I carefully unfasten the delicate clasp, and she draws in a soft breath, goosebumps coasting down her bare legs. It’s hard to ignore how intimate this feels. It’s even harder knowing I can’t act on it.
“Are you sure no one will come downstairs?”
“No one ever does.” It’s an unspoken rule. The only exception is when we’re having a party and people are playing beer pong down here. Even then, I rarely allow it.
When I’m finished, I head for the closet to change. I tug off my jeans and T-shirt—which is still damp from her tears—and toss both in the hamper. Then I grab a pair of black athletic shorts and pull them on. Briefly, I debate whether I should put on a shirt too, but my bedroom runs stiflingly hot and I suspect Sera doesn’t care.
“Scale of one to ten,” she says, absentmindedly dragging her bare toes along the gray carpet. “Ten being the worst. How much of a mess do I look like right now?”
“Zero.”
A breathy laugh escapes her lips. “You’re sweet but you’re a liar.”
Her gaze shifts to my bedroom door, and her nose crinkles. She pushes to stand, still slightly off balance. “I need to wash my face. I feel icky.”
Taking Seraphina by the elbow, I help her to the bathroom. We both brush our teeth, then I wait outside while she finishes up before guiding her back to my room. Once I’m convinced she’ll be okay on her own for a minute, I jog upstairs to grab water for myself and a sports drink for her. Thankfully, the house is still otherwise empty. Maybe Chase and Dallas will crash at the girls’ place tonight. That would make handling this so much easier.
Handing her the plastic bottle, I lower to sit next to her on my bed. “Drink this.”
“Why?” She looks at me, her brows knit together.
“Because both cannabis and alcohol are diuretics, which—” Catching myself, I stop before I launch into a science lecture I’m sure she has no interest in hearing, least of all right now. “Just drink some for me, Ser. You’ll thank me tomorrow.”
“Fine.” She unscrews the cap and takes a few sips before resealing it. Her phone lights up from where it’s charging on the nightstand next to us, and a text from Abby appears.
I snort. “How nice of her to finally check in.” The words slip out before I can censor myself. I can’t help it—I’m pissed at her and her snake of a brother.
“Ty.”
“She had no idea where you were, Tink,” I say, softening my tone. The last thing I want to do is pick a fight with her on top of everything else. “What if some creep had found you?”
“It’s not like I was passed out.”
“Abby didn’t know that.”
She presses her lips together and studies me for a beat, scrutinizing me like a puzzle she’s trying to fit together. The annoyance on her face gives way to amusement.
“You like me,” she says in a singsong voice.
Obviously. But what can I do about that? Sweet fuck all, that’s what.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Her mouth tugs into a grin. “Because you like me.”
“Yeah, Ser. I do.”
A door slams upstairs. Someone barges into the kitchen, stomping like a goddamn elephant. The TV switches on, volume up high, followed by a burst of female laughter. Shit. Dallas and Chase just got home, and they brought Shiv and Bailey with them.
“Shit!” Seraphina clamps a hand over her mouth, frantically scanning the room like she’s looking for an escape route. “What the hell am I supposed to do? I can’t see my brother like this.”
There’s a loud crash above us that sounds like a kitchen chair tipping over. Based on the racket they’re making, they’re probably too drunk to realize she’s higher than the International Space Station, but I understand her concern. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t want to face them, either.
Racking my brain, I land on the only solution I can think of. “You can sleep down here. In the morning, change into your robe before you go upstairs and pretend you were in the shower. If anyone asks, say you got home after everyone else was asleep.”
“Yeah…” She nods slowly. “That’ll work, right?”
“I’m sure it will,” I tell her, turning away to set my water bottle on the nightstand.
It’s a lie to keep her calm. There’s a non-zero chance this sleepover could backfire. At least the basement door squeaks like a motherfucker. It annoys the shit out of me, but it makes for a good early warning system.
Seraphina pushes to stand, fanning herself. “Oh my god, it’s boiling in here.”
My mouth goes dry as she unzips her dress at the side and slips it off one shoulder, evidently unfazed that I’m standing right in front of her. I hate that I have to stop her, but I do.
“Whoa, Tink. Let me give you—"
She lets the fabric go and it drops to the floor, revealing her perfect, full breasts and a tiny pair of see-through black panties. My cock stirs as I suppress a groan, and I immediately tear my gaze away. Even from the split-second glance I got, the image has been permanently etched into my memory. Pert, rosy nipples pebbled and begging to be touched; the dip of her waist leading to the swell of her hips; and the outline of her pussy visible through the thin fabric of her underwear.
Under normal circumstances, this would be too much temptation to handle. Right now, it verges on torture.
“What’s the big deal?” Playfulness tinges her tone. “Nothing you haven’t seen before.”
No need to remind me. I only replay it in my head a hundred times a day.
“You’re not wearing a shirt,” she adds. “With how hot it is in here, I assumed clothing was optional.”
“In that case,” I manage, voice strained, “maybe we should both put on shirts.”
I open my closet and find a worn black concert T-shirt, handing it to her. It’s slightly faded, but it’s broken-in and the fabric is softer than the rest. I may or may not have fantasized about her wearing it, albeit under dramatically different circumstances. Then I grab a white T-shirt for myself. Fair’s fair, I guess.
Making no attempt to hurry, Seraphina leisurely pulls on my shirt while I channel every shed of my self-control to keep myself from looking directly at her. Once she’s dressed, I know I’m really in trouble. She looks just as hot in my shirt as she did naked.
My dick perks up again as she walks over to the bed with the dark fabric draped perfectly over her body, hitting at mid-thigh. He clearly hasn’t gotten the memo about sex being off the table tonight, and he’s in for a world of disappointment.
I pull back the covers, sliding over to make room for her. She crawls all the way to my side and wraps herself around my torso, clinging to me koala-style. Her neediness is one reason I’m glad she’s not around Rob right now. I’d never take advantage of her, but I doubt the same can be said for him.
“You smell nice.” She sighs, resting her cheek on my chest. “You always do.”
She always smells edible, but I can’t say that out loud.
It suddenly occurs to me that I don’t know what to do with my hands. Even snuggled up together like this, I’m trying to be respectful. Not touching her seems weird but touching her too much seems opportunistic. It might also give my overly optimistic cock the wrong idea. I settle for resting one palm on her shoulder, placing the other on the bed beside me.