Chapter Eleven
Abby
Levi runs his hands up and down his bare chest, washing off most of the remaining mud. My heart is pounding, my mouth watering, and my eyes glued to every ab gloriously defined in his tanned skin. There’s like eight of them. Did you know guys could have more than six? Seriously. It’s magnificent, the freezing cold water cascading down his stomach, wetting his shorts.
“Abby, reel your tongue back in your mouth, honey,” Grandma remarks with a straight face.
“What? I’m not…no…it’s not hanging out.” Smooth, Abby. Real smooth.
I don’t look up, but can feel Levi’s eyes on me. Instead I take the time to finish wetting my hair. We’re the last two to get the shower, and I’m pretty sure all of the hot water will be long gone by the time it’s our turn. Not our turn, our turn. We’re not, like, showering together or anything.
And now I’m thinking about showering with Levi. My best friend. That would mean we’d be naked together, his impressive erection that I’ve felt against me twice in the last week, very prominent in the shower with us. All week long I’ve thought about how it felt to wake up in his arms with that erection between us. Now that I’ve gotten a little taste of it between my legs–albeit with clothes on–I’ll never get the image out of my head.
Stupid, pesky, unwanted crush!
When he’s fairly clean, he turns off the water and steps forward. Gently, he takes my chin and side of my head in his hands, and turns my head to get a better look at the lump near my forehead. I’m not gonna lie. Getting nailed in the head with a volleyball wasn’t a Sunday afternoon picnic. Oh, it hurt. It just didn’t make me faint the way I portrayed. That little part of my plan just kinda happened, and it worked out perfectly.
“You’ll have a knot on your head for a few days,” he says, his breath fanning across my face making me shiver.
“I’ll be okay,” I croak.
“Of course you will. You’re badass.” His eyes remain locked on mine, his hands unmoving from my face.
“Shower’s yours,” Lexi hollers as she comes out of the house, breaking the moment again.
I take a step back, putting a little distance and breathing room between us. Glancing over at my friend, we both pull out our hands and form a fist. “One, two, three,” Levi counts as we both pound our fists in beat with the counting before throwing out our hand.
“Paper wraps rock! I win!” I exclaim, reaching over and wrapping my hand around his, demonstrating how my paper beats his rock in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
“You cheat,” he says with a smile before nodding towards the back door. “Go. Save me a little hot water.”
I turn to head to the house when I realize my hand is still wrapped around his. “Sorry,” I grumble, dropping his hand as if it were something that slithered. Turning around, I make my way to the house as quickly as possible.
“There are some shirts and shorts sitting on my bed,” Jaime says. “Throw your dirty stuff in the washer. I’ll start it before we eat.”
The hot water feels amazing as I wash the slime and grime from my body. I use my sister’s shampoo and rinse the rest of the mud from my hair. As I wash my body, I can’t help but notice how tingly and sensitive it is. My nipples harden as I run my soapy hand along my body, picturing someone else’s hand as I go.
I should feel guilty thinking about my friend while I shower, but I can’t seem to find the gumption to stop. Instead, I picture how those hazel eyes blazed into my soul when we were lying in the mud. I recall exactly how his body felt against me, his large erection pressed against my center. There was something else to that, but I can’t put my finger on it.
Instead, I go ahead and put my finger on something else. Me. My body is humming with need and wet with want. Between the water and my own juices, my fingers slide easily over my swollen clit. I almost groan with pleasure as lust slams through me. With my eyes closed, my fingers start to move quicker, my breath labored and choppy. It’s his face I see, his touch I feel. It’s the image of my best friend with his hands between my legs, and maybe his mouth too, that causes me to fly over the edge.
Yep, I just had an orgasm in my sister’s shower, with my entire family outside in the backyard. Shame slams into me as I try to control my breathing. I can’t believe I just did that. Not only in someone else’s house, but with images of my friend to carry me over the orgasm threshold. I’m such a loser. No wonder I’m single.
Getting out, I notice the flush to my cheeks. I grab one of the last fluffy towels from the closet and quickly dry off. I didn’t pay attention to what I grabbed from Jaime’s clothes on her bed, and I’m starting to regret that decision now. Glancing in the mirror, the neckline of the tank top hangs down, showing off several inches of cleavage. The shorts are comfy, but much shorter than I normally choose. I should probably switch them out when I leave the bathroom.
Throwing a brush through my hair, I pull my long locks up into another high ponytail. My makeup is all but scrubbed clean, but instead of stealing my sister’s makeup, I opt to just go all-natural. Even though I think my skin’s blotchy, it’s just going to have to be fine for the rest of this evening.
Grabbing the towel and throwing it in the full hamper, I open the door and slam into a wall. No, not a wall because this unmovable object has arms and legs. Levi wraps his arms around me to keep me from falling. “Woah, angel,” his deep voice croons.
“Sorry,” I mumble, pulling back and getting a look at him.
His eyes bore into me with an intensity I’ve never experienced before. My cheeks start to heat up again as I think about what I just did in the shower. His smile starts small and slowly widens into something almost predatory. I swear he knows what just went down in there. It’s like it’s written on my forehead with black magic marker. Diddled to thoughts of you.
“Shower’s yours,” I say, slipping around him and practically sprinting for the doorway. His soft laughter follows me down the hall and all the way down to the kitchen. I’m outside like the hounds were nipping at my heels, and maybe that’s a good analogy for Levi. A hound.
The guy has been sleeping around since he was old enough to figure out what that thing was used for. He lost his virginity as a freshman at fifteen to a girl three years his senior. I know because he bragged about it. Not to anyone, just me. I’m lucky like that. I got to hear about all of his conquests over the years.
Except for recently. He hasn’t mentioned them in a while. Thinking about it, I can’t remember the last one he brought up. Susie, maybe? God, she was last summer. I know he still gets around. The proof is in the pudding; or in the way that gorgeous woman snuck out of his apartment not too long ago. But he didn’t brag about it; didn’t even mention it.
That makes me glad that I don’t have to hear about all of the women he’s sleeping with. Until this pesky little crush thing goes away, I’m not sure my heart can stand the details. But should I also be worried that he’s not bringing it up to me? I mean we tell each other everything. Does this mean something has shifted, potentially changing our friendship?
Now that hurts my heart to think about.
That’s why I need to keep my distance. No more mud wrestling or flirty banter. He can’t help it, but he also doesn’t know the effect it has on me. The best thing I could do is not engage in teasing and not touch him. Touching him is bad. It leads to dirty thoughts and self-induced orgasms in your sister’s shower.
By the time dessert rolls around, everyone is relaxed and having a great time. Well, most everyone is relaxed. I’m tense and fidgety. There’s a pair of hazel eyes that have been glued to me since dinner. Levi sat beside me on the picnic table, which isn’t a big surprise, but I couldn’t help but focus on the way the hair on his leg tickled mine. As soon as I was finished eating, I got up and went to sit under the tree by Brielle. He watched me as I moved and has been observing me ever since. It’s like he noticed my nerves and could sense that I was hiding.
I can feel those eyes on me. He’s sitting in a lawn chair across our makeshift circle, which gives him the perfect line of sight to gawk. I do my best to ignore him, and the crazy way my heart beats in my chest, but it’s difficult. Brielle and I are playing with dolls and it takes everything I have not to glance up and look at him.
“Who wants dessert?” Grandma hollers from the back door.
Jaime jumps up to help her carry out two containers of homemade ice cream that she and Ryan made the night before with Brielle. Bri had spent the night so Dean and Payton could go have dinner with some of his friends who were in town. Since it’s July, they spent the night making several batches of flavored homemade ice cream in a churn that he picked up at the hardware store. Bri loved it, I’m told; especially taste-testing every flavor.
The dolls and I are left behind as Bri jumps up and heads towards the table. I know Levi brought a dessert, one I didn’t get a chance to try ahead of time since I haven’t really seen him much lately. Not since we woke up on the couch last weekend. Yeah, Bri isn’t the only one who is used to taste-testing all of someone’s creations.
“Levi, what are these?” I hear my sister Meghan ask from the table.
“They’re mini crepes. The ones on the left are blueberry, the middle ones strawberry, and the ones on the right are raspberry with a yogurt glaze.” My ears perk up instantly.
“Raspberry?” I ask as I stand up, my tongue surely hanging on my chin.
I don’t even hear him approach. I’m too busy watching which ones everyone else takes, hoping that there’ll be lots of raspberry ones left for me to steal. I mean take home. “Of course I made raspberry ones,” he says quietly behind me. His voice is low and husky as he leans in and adds, “I know you love them.”
A shiver sweeps through my body as goosebumps pepper my skin. Wrapping my arms around my midsection, I wonder if the temperature dropped suddenly. You know, maybe with the sun getting ready to set has made it about twenty degrees cooler than it was a few moments ago?
Or maybe the temperature rose a good twenty degrees.
I can feel his breath against the nape of my neck, and another tremor races through me. My breathing is shallow and my body very much aware of his close proximity. In fact, I can practically feel the material of the shorts he borrowed from Ryan graze against the back of my thigh. God, he’s so very close.
“Come on, angel. Let’s get some ice cream before it melts and fill you up on the raspberry crepes before they’re gone,” he says. Levi places his hand on my lower back and applies a little pressure, which causes me to move. As we approach the table, I notice the warmth still firmly planted against my lower back. Again, cue the shudder.
He doesn’t let me get far after our bowls are full of dessert. I try to sneak away and sit over in a chair by my dad, but it doesn’t work. Apparently, Levi doesn’t understand my need for space or the fact that he’s causing me sexual anxiety. Well that, or he doesn’t care. Every time I glance his way, I find his eyes on me. They’re…different. They’re darker and laced with something I’m not used to being directed towards me. They look almost lustful.
Again, this is all new to me. Sure, I’ve had boyfriends, but none of them looked at me the way Levi is right now. Like he wants to forget his ice cream and gobble me up instead. It’s making my brain go haywire. I know I’m reading more into it than what is actually going on. I’m crushing on him, therefore seeing things that aren’t there. Namely, his desire for me.
Suddenly, Grandma comes out of the kitchen with a large butcher knife. It’s so out of place that it draws just about everyone’s attention. I watch as she walks over to the ice cream and starts to scoop some into a bowl. Then she adds two crepes on top of her sweet treat, grabs the knife and walks over to the picnic table to sit beside Grandpa.
“Uh, Grandma? Why do you have that knife? You know you don’t need it to cut ice cream, right?” AJ asks nervously from across the table.
“Of course I do, sweet girl. This knife isn’t for dessert,” she says, setting it down in front of her. “This knife is to cut the sexual tension floating around Abs and Levi. It’s so thick, I’m afraid it might choke someone.”
Speaking of choking, the ice cream I’m eating goes down the wrong pipe and I all but sputter and spit chocolate ice cream all over myself. I’m probably even drooling it down my chin right now as I gasp for air. Levi reaches over and pats me on the back as all eyes focus on me.
Kill. Me. Now.
When I finally find words, I glance at my grandma. “There’s no tension, sexual or otherwise. We’re friends,” I say lamely.
“Keep telling yourself that, dear.” And with that, she turns back to her dessert and eats like she didn’t just embarrass the crap out of me in front of my entire family. Including Levi. Everyone snickers around us.
I’m divorcing my family.
Later that night, as everyone is cleaning up the backyard before we leave, I find myself alone with my twin. Something has definitely been off with her lately, but I can’t quite peg what it is. Stress, I’m sure. She’s been evasive for a while now when it comes to Chris and their struggles to conceive. I feel horrible for her, especially in light of Payton’s confession a few months back. What if Lexi has the same thing – that PCOS – and even though all of the tests she’s had done lately don’t lead in that direction. In fact, all of the tests came back clear.
Is it Chris? Is there a problem with him? Not that I want to think about my brother-in-law’s sperm count, but maybe it’s low and his little swimmers just aren’t getting to where they need to be? I’m no doctor, but I do know he hasn’t yet been to see any one of the physicians she has been recommending. That’s one thing she has told me.
“Where’s Chris?” I ask as I pick up any cans or bottles still lying around from the gathering.
“I don’t know. Probably at home.”
Glancing over, I give her a look. “You don’t know?”
“Nope,” she says in a huff as she picks up a doll dress from the ground. “I don’t know because I left without inviting him.”
“You didn’t invite him? Today?”
“Nope. He barely shows interest in going anywhere with me anymore, so I just decided to avoid the entire discussion. I would have just gotten some stupid excuse that he has a policy to write, or a client to take to lunch. I’m over it, Abs. Like really, really over it.” She finally stands up and looks at me. Her eyes are filled with tears and my heart breaks a little more for her. My twin sister has had her share of ups and downs with her husband, but lately, there seem to be a lot more downs.
“What are you saying?” I whisper, making sure no one is around to overhear.
“I don’t know,” she grumbles, throwing the doll dress down on the table. “I just…I don’t know how much more of this I can handle. He won’t talk to me, and when he does, he just keeps assuring me that everything is fine. It’s not fine, Abby. Not by a long shot.”
“You know I’m here for you if you need me, right?”
“Of course, I do,” she says, wrapping her arms around my neck. After a brief hug, we both pull away. “How’s the Internet dating going?”
Glancing around again, I turn my attention back to her. “It’s going. I’ve talked to a few guys who seem nice. There’s potential there for a date. One is really pushing for it. But there’s this other guy, SimpleMan, and I don’t know, I just really feel a connection with him.”
“Yeah?” she asks, her green eyes brightening for the first time since we started our conversation.
“Yeah. We haven’t talked about meeting up or anything, but I can see it leading there. We talk every day. Like multiple times every day.” I can’t fight the smile on my face.
“What about Levi?” my sister whispers, glancing over her shoulder.
“What about him? We’re just friends, and even if I wanted more–which I don’t–he’s not interested in me that way.” I throw in a shoulder shrug for good measure.
“Well, I think you’re wrong, but I guess time will tell. I will say that this dating thing must just be the kick in the ass he needs, Abs.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if he sees you dating, he just might realize that his feelings for you go way deeper than just friendship.” She crosses her arms at her chest and gives me a pointed look.
“Or he may realize that we’ll always be friends and he’ll be just fine with me dating,” I reply, mimicking her pose.
Her smile is the only comment I get. We stare at each other for several moments, my face remaining impassive and stern, while her face becomes brighter and full of mischief. “Levi!” she bellows over her shoulder. It doesn’t take long before my friend walks up to where we stand.
“Yeah?” he asks, concern written all over his handsome face.
“You’re okay with Abby dating, right?” His entire body tenses. “I mean, you guys are friends and you’d never want to deny her the happiness she deserves, am I correct?”
What a horrible, evil sister she is.
“Uhh, yeah,” he says, running his hand through his hair like he always does when he’s nervous or upset. “Sure. Abby’s happiness is the only thing I want.” It’s like the words bite him as he says them.
“See! Levi wants you happy like I do. Schedule those dates with all of those guys you’ve been talking to.”
“Guys?” Levi asks, turning those hazel eyes my way.
“Oh, yeah. Lots of guys. Tons of them. She’s been inundated with date requests lately, and has been a little nervous to go. I think she should reply to them all. Every one of them. Don’t you?” she asks my friend, her face dripping with sweetness.
Levi, on the other hand, looks like he’s caught between horror and anger. Both emotions battle for the lead, and I’m not sure which one is out front. “All of them?” he whispers hoarsely.
“All. Of. Them.” I stare, dumbfounded, as my sister manipulates my best friend.
“I mean, you don’t want to seem too eager,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
“Maybe, but you don’t want to let any of the good ones get away either. I mean, you date lots of different women, and I might be wrong, but it seems like the girls that are the most eager get moved to first in line.” Lexi smirks at him because she knows she has him. Levi never has to work for a “date.” Women are always throwing themselves–and their panties–at him.
He looks as uncomfortable as a hooker in church as he runs his hands repeatedly through his hair. There’s a flush to his cheeks and he’s struggling to keep his temper in check. Why, I’m not sure, but it’s something that I don’t miss nonetheless. Unless there may be something to what she was saying earlier…
“I guess if she wants to date, she can. I mean, she should. She should be happy,” he concedes, looking completely defeated, yet trying to put on a brave smile. But I see it. I can tell it’s fake.
“Good,” Lexi says, turning to face me. She’s smiling widely, while I can only stare back at her completely in awe and shock. “As soon as you get back tonight, you should message them all!” she exclaims.
I can’t answer her, so I just raise an eyebrow. There’s also no need to worry about Levi seeing my response since he’s staring a hole into his shoe. Without another word, my ornery sister winks at me, and heads to gather her belongings.
There isn’t much speaking between us as we follow suit and head towards our cars. He helps me load my empty slow cooker in the passenger seat and turns to face me for the first time since the awkward conversation in back with Lexi. “I’ll follow you.”
Direct and to the point.
“Okay.” After giving my family hugs, I pull out of the driveway, my best friend hot on my heels.