False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,8

her hair and inhaling. Flowers. Her hair always smelled like some kind of flower, but for the life of me, I’d never been able to figure out which one.

Her fingers trailed along my shoulders, and she suddenly lifted her head up, peering at them. “Your delts are so firm and big.”

My body became paralyzed. “Uh… thanks.”

“But not as big as these.” She cupped my biceps, or tried to anyway. Her small hand didn’t fit over the whole thing.

A dirty joke about what else on my body was big came to mind, but I managed to keep my mouth shut. Barely. When Zizzo had her hands on me, it was difficult to keep my thoughts clean.

She ran her hands back up to my shoulders then rested her head in the crook of my neck.

Guess she’s done with her inspection. I rolled my neck and shook off my temporary paralysis. I exited the bathroom, stopping abruptly at the bottom of the stairs when her hands traveled down to my chest.

Then she pinched my nipples. Hard.

“Shit!” I yelped.

She giggled. “I’ve always wanted to do that. Your nipples are so cute.”

Cute? What in the actual fuck?

She lifted her head again and peered at me expectantly, as if she were waiting for me to say something.

I attempted to gather my wits. “I think you meant manly and rugged.”

She giggled again. “No, I didn’t. I meant cute. They’re small and round and perfect, like peppermints. I want to—”

“Hold that thought.” Jesus fucking Christ. If she said what I thought she was going to say, I might very well lose my shit. I might call her Zizzo, like I called her brother, but I was very much aware that she was a woman, especially when her breast was pressed against me.

Her fingers circled my nipples, and damn if it didn’t make me hard.

“Uh…” I cleared my throat. “Could you please stop?”

“Why? I like it.”

So do I. Too much.

“It’s distracting,” I said instead. “I don’t want to drop you down the stairs.” I would never drop her down the stairs, but in this situation, it was better if she didn’t know that.

She sighed like I was asking her a huge favor. “Fine.”

I carried her upstairs, keeping a close eye on her to make sure I wasn’t startled by another nipple grope. But was it a grope if I kind of liked it too? I looked down at her, and that thing inside me stirred again. Shit. For the first time, I was glad Roman was hundreds of miles away. He would kick my ass if he could see how I was looking at his sister.

So don’t look at her, dumbass. That was easier said than done. Ever since I’d walked into her and her brother’s lives, I could never not look at her.

I hung a left into my bedroom. When I laid her down on my bed, she didn’t unlock her arms. Closing my eyes, I let myself imagine she was clinging to me because she wanted to and not because she was so drunk, she didn’t know what the hell she was doing.

“Why don’t you see me?” she mumbled.

I gently released her hold on me. “What?”

She opened her eyes, but they had trouble focusing, so she closed them again. “I’m right here. I’ve always been right here.”

I had no clue how to respond to her because I wasn’t sure what the hell she was talking about, but it might not even matter. Chances were she either wouldn’t remember this conversation, or she was speaking nonsense anyway. Even though she was drunk, though, she wouldn’t make a comment like that unless something about our relationship was bothering her. That thought felt like a punch to the throat.

I sat on the edge of the bed and brushed her hair out of her face. “I’m here too,” I said finally, but it was too late—she was asleep. I stretched out beside her so she wouldn’t be alone when she woke.

CHAPTER 3

Becca

SOMEONE IS GOING to die. Because why the hell was a flashlight shining in my face? I peeled open one eyelid and immediately regretted it. Trying to find the source of the light, I turned my head and winced as it pounded. There—a crack in the blind. Why couldn’t Carson ever remember to close the blinds at night? Beside me, he lightly snored, making me irrationally pissed that he was still sleeping while I wasn’t.

I sat up, thinking I would close the blind then try to get some more sleep,