The Girl Next Door - Emma Hart Page 0,27
be on super low volume.”
I harrumphed and rolled over.
Big mistake.
My face was right in front of his abs, and my movement had caused his t-shirt to rise up, exposing the soft skin of his lower stomach. Including a hint of ab.
“That didn’t go well for you, did you?” Kai asked, amused.
“Not particularly.” I rolled back over and closed my eyes with another humph of annoyance.
He shifted the tiniest bit. His fingertips brushed over my hair, more than once. He ran his fingers through my loose locks, brushing it all away from my face, stroking my hair in a rhythmic motion that was completely hypnotic.
A shiver ran down my spine when he brushed a sensitive spot behind my ear, and he paused for the briefest second before he went back to the previous rhythm.
It felt good—too good. It was the kind of gentle, casual touch that was designed only to be comforting, yet it was filled with the type of heaviness where you knew there was more than a simple caring feeling behind it.
But I was too tired to dwell on my half-asleep thoughts.
So I gave in and fell asleep to Kai stroking my hair.
***
“You are so stupid,” Tori said, sipping on a margarita.
Unlike everyone else in my life, my best friend had no qualms about drinking in front of me. Apparently, neither did my sister and her best friends.
They were lucky I was working, or I might have drowned all four of the bitches in their drinks.
“I am not stupid,” I insisted, wiping down the bar next to Tori.
“I don’t know,” Saylor, one of Holley’s best friends and bookstore co-owners replied. “It’s pretty obvious.”
Kinsley, the final member of their trio, nodded emphatically. “I wouldn’t know a chat up line if it slapped my ass and asked for my number, but I have to agree here.”
I turned to Holley. “I suppose you agree with them all, too.”
My sister shrugged. “I can’t say I care, if I’m honest.”
“How can you not care?” Tori asked, leaning forward so she could see past Kinsley. “It’s so obvious. Men don’t just stroke people’s hair and let them sleep on their laps. Not to mention he stayed over the other night and literally cuddled her until morning.”
I paused. Well, she wasn’t supposed to bring that up. “I fell asleep on him and he didn’t want to wake me,” I said quickly. “When we woke up it was easier for him to crash at my place and not wake his sister.”
“That makes it a little harder to agree with you,” Holley admitted. “But I think I do.”
“What? How?” Saylor asked. “How can you know all this stuff and not think for a second that he has feelings for her? This isn’t normal.”
My sister shrugged. “I don’t know. This is hardly a normal situation. I mean, she’s so scared of our grandmother—”
“Rightfully,” Kinsley added with a shudder.
“—That she lied about being married. Plus, they’re neighbors. They’re friends, or they were friends before all this. Friends care about each other.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking her empty glass to refill it with her favorite Merlot. I wouldn’t drown my sister today. “That’s all it is.”
“You’re insane.” Tori shook her head. “Absolutely insane. He’s clearly got feelings for her.”
I didn’t have to listen to this.
“You’re insane,” I shot back, handing Holley her wine. “Do you hear yourselves? My sister is the only one talking sense, and that’s something I never thought I’d say.”
“Thanks,” Holley said.
“You’re welcome.”
Saylor snorted. “Sure, okay, let’s assume that it’s completely platonic between Kai and Ivy.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
“There’s one big issue with that assumption.”
Tori grinned.
Saylor looked at me. “You’re pregnant. Platonic relationships don’t get people pregnant.”
Shit.
That was a good argument.
“One night stands happen in platonic relationships,” I started.
Tori held up a finger. “I am here to corroborate that. They do.”
“Fine, but it’s still valid to my point,” Saylor continued. “The relationship obviously isn’t completely platonic.”
“She has a point,” Kinsley added, stirring a cherry around her glass with her straw. “I mean, my relationship with Holley is platonic, but we’re not accidentally having sex.”
“Why did you have to use me?” Holley muttered.
Kinsley rolled her eyes, tucking her dark brown hair behind her ear. “I’m just saying that there’s obviously something going on between you two even if you don’t want to admit it.”
“No, I don’t,” I said, putting another pitcher of margaritas in front of them. “My life is crazy enough right now without adding anything else into it.”
“You can’t use the baby as an excuse for everything,”