At some point, I pass out on the bed, still wearing my towel. Stupid. My eyes are bleary as they take in the soggy covers and sheets beneath me. I groan as I strip the bed, unsure of whether or not I should take everything downstairs and throw it in the washing machine or not. Chances are if I go downstairs again I might run into one of my stepbrothers, and God knows what will happen if I do.
But glancing at my phone, I see it’s already one in the morning. Maybe I’ll get lucky and no one will be downstairs. Behind my eyes, my brain is throbbing, my temples pounding. Looks like I don’t have much of a choice in the matter. I desperately need some water and painkillers for this stupid hangover I’m already nursing. I shake my head as I find some pajamas and throw my hair up into a messy damp bun.
Before I open the door, I listen closely to make sure I don’t hear anything from downstairs. There’s no light coming from underneath my door. Maybe I’m right and everyone is already in bed.
I tiptoe down the steps as carefully as I can, not wanting to wake anyone up just in case. I even slowly pull open the cabinet to search for the aspirin I know mom keeps around here somewhere.
The kitchen is completely dark, but I fumble around until I grab a glass and reach for the refrigerator to pour some water. I didn’t realize I was so damn tired. I guess the wine didn’t help much.
Standing at the kitchen island, I look out over the rest of the kitchen and dining room, clear through to the other side of the house where the living room is. Taking a few more sips of water, I can’t help but wonder what in the world could’ve been going through Drew’s mind today.
Sure, there is always been plenty of teasing from the guys ever since our parents got together, but never anything like this before. And why me? I’m just some sophomore in college who hardly resembles any of the usual types of girls they chose. Why would they be interested in someone like me? Is this just some kind of huge joke there playing on me? Because if it is…
Suddenly a pair of eyes are regarding me from the end of the couch in the living room, and I realize I’m not alone. I nearly dropped my glass of water and trying haul ass out of the kitchen, but the couch groans as one of the guys hop up out of it, quickly following behind me. I barely manage make it to the steps when I feel a large hand take mine in it, tugging me backward.
I turn to see Drew’s face only inches from mine. The expression on it is so intense, I swear to God I can see the fire in his eyes reflected back at me.
“What are you doing, Drew? Let me go.” I try to yank my hand out of his, but it’s clear to me he has no plan to let me go just yet.
“There’s no need to get scared and run off, Mills. It’s just me.”
It might just be him, but that means something a whole lot different right now than it did 24 hours ago.
He edges me back until I’m up against the far kitchen wall, gazing up at him. Stuck between him and the wall, I can’t help but feel vulnerable. He’s so much taller than me. So much bigger. His thick arms, the ones that led him to becoming a star quarterback on the field, are like iron bars on either side of me. He’s pinned me up against the wall and there’s nowhere to go from here.
Drew’s breath ghosts across my face, his warmth radiates from his huge toned body. In the dim light filtering in from the kitchen window I can just make out the lines of his face, and his eyes trained on my mouth.
I can’t let him win again, not this time. “I said let me go.” My voice is quiet, my tone not really as definite as it should be to match my words.
Drew just shakes his head. “Don’t pretend like you don’t want this, Mills. I can feel your heart beating. I can see it in your eyes.”
Huffing, I try to look away from him, but he’s everywhere, completely taking over my field of vision. He’s right though. My heart is pounding and when I look at him I can feel the intensity in my own gaze. There is too much desire in my heart to conceal. The only way to deal with this safely is to stay the hell away from my stepbrothers which isn’t gonna be easy at all.
“I don’t get this, Drew,” I say. “I don’t get what you’re trying to do here. I’m not some toy you can pick up and play with whenever you feel like it.” The words come out cool, but on the inside, I’m shaking. With every breath, I take in his scent. Whichever way I turn, he’s there, looming over me with his huge, gorgeous chest and arms that are like perfectly sculpted marble. This close to me, in this intimate of a position…well, I don’t know if I can stand it much longer not touching him the way he touched me before.
Drew shakes his head, a frown forming between his eyebrows. “I don’t get how you can think that way, Mills. Don’t you feel this?” He bends and skims my cheek with his lips.
I feel it everywhere and shiver like a bitch in heat. I’m so mortified.
“I know you feel it,” he continues. “I know you want it too…the way you let us kiss you…” He presses himself up against me until I can feel his heart beating against me. It’s racing just as fast as mine and that scares me even more. We can’t do this. I can’t let this go further. I just can’t.
I fix my jaw, even as my hands itch to touch him. “You don’t know a damn thing about what I want, Drew. I would never… I could never…” I finally shake my head and try to slip out from underneath his arms. I need to get away but he’s not giving up. He’s not buying my argument even a little bit. My heart is pounding faster than before, and as Drew pulls me back to where he had me pinned, my body feels like it’s coming alive for the first time.
I meet his gaze slowly, taking him in inch by inch. There’s so much of him, and he knows it, too. His sheer dominance over me in this moment is exactly what I want deep inside. In my darkest fantasies, I imagine his hands gripping my wrists, his thighs nudging mine apart. I’ve seen this man on the football field. He’s a force to be reckoned with, even up against the biggest opponents. I don’t have a chance in hell if he won’t let me go. The corner of his mouth quirks up until he’s smiling down at me, melting what little resolve I have.
I pull up an image of my mom in my head. What would she think? “This is wrong,” I hiss at him, weaker than I want to sound. “All of you were wrong. What were you thinking?”
Drew sighs, as if he’s already thought it over. “You have no idea. Ever since you moved into the house I can’t think about anything else. Just you, Milly.”
It’s damn near impossible to push away what he’s said when his voice sounds so sexy and his eyes look so earnest. He thinks about me? If he’s thinking the kind of things that I find myself fantasizing about then we are in deep trouble. Family breaking trouble.
I try and pull away again. “You can’t say things to me like that, Drew. You mustn’t.”
His eyes scan my face again as though he’s trying to read whether my expression matches my words. He must see that it doesn’t because he gently tilts my chin up again. “But I have to, don’t you understand? I want you to know how I feel about you… I want to show you how I feel about you. Just let me show you, Mills.” He whispers my name at the end and I shiver at the way it sounds. Like chocolate dripping from his full lips. We're standing so close, and as he bends down I feel myself turning to putty. The hand I have on his chest should push him away but it doesn’t. My mouth should tell him not to do what I can tell he’s about to do, but it doesn’t. I stand as still as a statue and wait as his grip on my waist tightens and his lips find mine in the half-light.
It’s too much.
It’s not enough.
Soft yet demanding. I melt against him as he takes over all control and shows me exactly what he’s been wanting to do.
My fantasies were nothing compared to this.
I moan as he pushes me harder against the wall, his hips grinding against me, his mouth parting my lips with ease. Everything about him is so damn hot, so powerful, it leaves me feeling both vulnerable and safe all at once. I kiss him back greedily, the thrill of the forbidden racing through me and lacing every touch with delicious guilt. My hands have a mind of their own, seeking out his biceps, loving the way his smooth skin is pulled so tight over his bulging muscles. As his hands slide up my waist, under my tank top, I quickly draw in a breath. They are searingly hot, blazing over my skin as I lose myself in the slide of his tongue against mine.
It’s so much that I can barely keep myself standing, and when he pulls back to take a breath, I slump back completely dazed.
“You see,” he says softly. He should sound smug. That’s what I’d expect from Drew, but he doesn’t. He sounds kind of filled with awe and a little dazed. He sounds a lot like I feel.
I shake my head. This is denial at its finest, but he ignores me.
“And it’s not just me, Mills. It’s Dylan and Dane, too. They feel the same as I do,” he says next to my mouth, his lips teasing mine so gently that my knees go to jelly even as my mind reels.
All of them?
Going this far with Drew is bad enough, but if he thinks that I’d be happy to do this with his brothers too, he’s crazier than I thought. I yank myself out of his grasp somehow, breathing hard. Drew looks confused and I get it. One minute I’m going along with his seduction and the next I flinch away from him like I’ve been scalded, but I don’t give him time to question me as I turn around and run up the steps.
I might have been a fool for one brother, but there is no way I’m going to be a fool for all three, no matter what my filthy fantasies might be.