Chapter One
Olivia
“Move your butt, bitch. You’re gonna be late.” I jingled my keys at the human blur darting around our small apartment. “Chlo?”
Chloe threw her hands in the air and flapped them around. “I swear I had everything ready last night! Where the shit did my hairbrush go? China?”
“Maybe it decided to go home for summer. Visit its parents, do a bit of sightseeing. Great Wall, terracotta warriors...”
Chloe paused her headless-chicken routine mid-coop. “Not helping, Liv.”
I sighed. As much as I adored my BFF, her pre-travel anxiety kicked in the moment she found out she’d picked up a bangin’ internship. “It’s a hairbrush, Chlo. I’m pretty sure they have some of those in the Big Apple—but give it another minute and the same won’t be able to be said about Chloe Wallis.”
My ice princess heart melted a little as I realized how nervous Chloe was, so I walked over to give her a hug. “Besides, you’re gonna knock ’em dead, ’fro or no.”
Chloe pursed her lips to stifle a smile. “Ugh, you know I hate it when you’re right.”
I snorted. “Hey, what’s so wrong with me being right?” I tried to look offended as Chloe stuffed a final few items in her bag, zipped it up, and wheeled it toward the door.
“Nothing, I guess. Maybe I’m just not used to how it looks on you.” My stomach warmed as Chloe winked at me. “You’re right though, we need to go.”
I loved how even though we only met a couple of years ago, Chloe and I were so close we were practically sisters. I threw my keys in the air, caught them, and closed the door to our apartment behind us.
“Uh...no. Nuh-uh.” Chloe looked me up and down. “I mean, you do you...but also, have you looked in a mirror this morning?”
“Nope.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to?”
“Yup. I’m trying out a new look today.”
“Uh, yeah. It’s very... Netflix and chill. In the literal sense.”
“Chloe, honey, I understand your concern, but I’m just gonna drop you at the airport and come straight back. Pajama bottoms and a Hello Kitty shirt are fine.”
“Yeah, sure...” Chloe looked uneasy. “But aren’t those the pants with the hole in the, you know...?” Chloe gestured vaguely to my groin.
“Yep.” I puffed my chest out. “These pants are so worn-in they’re practically crotchless.”
Chloe did the weird clucky thing she does with her lips. “I don’t know whether to be disgusted or impressed.”
We started walking toward the car. “Hey, I’m still in mourning. My best friend is leaving to get all Lena Dunham and I’ll be here, all alone, in our shitty apartment, with no one but Siri and Mildred to keep me company. Let a single woman grieve.”
Chloe shrugged. “You’re saying a virtual personal assistant and an elderly neighbor aren’t enough for you? Sheesh, so needy.”
“Oh, god! It burns.” I pretended to fall down the stairs. Chloe pretended that she was sick of my shit.
“Well, it’s not like you won’t have stuff to do. Won’t you be working?”
“Yeah,” I sniffed. “But showing my ass to a bunch of dudes on the great, glorious internet does not count as a stimulating social life.”
Chloe sighed. “As great as that ass is, I still don’t know how you do it.” She looked at me wide-eyed. “All that ass. Immortalized; forever gyrating...”
I snorted. “Maybe you just haven’t mastered the art of not giving a damn about what anyone else thinks.”
Chloe’s mouth twitched. Something was up. She’d been plotting—I’d had an inkling that she’d been keeping something about this trip from me for a while.
When we reached the car, I raised an eyebrow at her to let her know that I knew that she knew something I didn’t, and she quickly looked away.
“Aha! I knew it!” I pointed a waggly finger at her.
“Knew what?” Before I had a chance to respond, Chloe snatched her bag and spun away to shove it in the back.
“You’re hiding something.” My gut churned.
Chloe cleared her throat. “I have no idea what you mean.”
I tried to make eye contact with her, but she kept her face downcast to avoid my evil stare as we jumped in. My hands started to clam up as I gripped the steering wheel. It’d be just like Chloe to surprise me with some horrible secret before she left.
Maybe she’d asked Mildred to check in on me.
Or rented out her room to a traveling circus performer and his pet bear.
Or—even worse—maybe she’d secretly pilfered our coffee machine and stashed it in her carry-on.
Whatever it was, I knew I wasn’t going to like it.
* * *
I grumbled every inch of the drive to the airport. Although I was totally fine with Chloe leaving—and super freaking happy that she’d hustled to get a remote internship with one of the best online media companies in the damn world—there was still a part of me that wished I could go with her while she was doing her induction. Chloe and I did most things together, or we had done ever since she moved in with me straight out of high school, and this would be my first time alone in ages.
Chloe’s phone binged for about the hundredth time since we got in the car.
So much for a sentimental goodbye.
I humphed as we pull up at the airport drop-off zone.
“What?” Chloe asked, looking at her phone and still on the defensive about the thing she knew that I didn’t know.
“Nothing. I’m just gonna miss you, is all.”
“Uh-huh.” Chloe was only half listening as she typed out a message. I swear, I was only eleven months older than her, but sometimes I felt like her mom.
“Ahem!”
“What?”
“So are you going to tell me about whatever it is you’re scheming? Hmmm?”
“Um...maybe?”
This time I raised both eyebrows, her phone binged a-freaking-gain, and Chloe read the message and smirked.
“Oh dear God, just tell me!”
Chloe looked at me with innocent puppy-dog eyes and my veins pumped ice. “Well...let’s just say I’m glad that I’ll be out of cell contact for the next couple of hours...but I’m sure you’ll have fun.”
I freaking knew it.
“And I’m kinda betting on the fact that you’ll have to forgive me eventually. I do buy the clear majority of the toilet paper in this relationship.”
Lying tart.
“What the shit, Chloe?” I squirmed in my seat.
Chloe bit her lower lip. “I may have invited my brother to stay at our place for the next week while his apartment is remodeled.” Chloe had grace enough to look guilty.
“Oh. My. God.” My stomach betrayed me and started to flutter. Damn it! Why did Nate Wallis have to be so built my panties caught fire when I thought about him?
“Hey, you two practically drool over each other. It’s annoying. Besides, you should really be thanking me.” Chloe sighed and grabbed her bag, turning to face me. “For the love of all that is holy, Olivia. Please. Get boning my stick-in-the-mud brother out of your system while I’m out of town, so that I never have to hear about it again. Please.” She scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue in a pretend-gag.
“Because I swear, if I have to hear about how chiseled my brother is one more time—”
“Okay, okay. I get it.” I cut Chlo off as my cheeks started to burn.
“And thanks for the lift, Liv.”
She turned to leave but did a double take. “Oh—and I think Nate will be at our place within half an hour, so you might want to run home and change into something intentionally crotchless.”
I looked down at the fleecy pajama pants I was wearing. The ones covered in swearing kittens. With the massive hole in the crotch.
“You minx!” I yelled at her retreating form. But although I was horrified, I was also not-so-secretly a little thrilled. Because, yeah, I was woman enough to admit that Chloe was right, I’d had a raging lady boner for Nate’s washboard abs since he slept on our couch shirtless for a week when Chlo had mono. The man was built like a tank. I swear he made such a killing from personal training because women were willing to bust their asses just to see him in a fitted tee.
My traitorous body shivered at the thought.
“Love you, bai!” Chloe turned to grin and pull a finger at me as she entered the terminal.
I tried to look wounded, but it was getting increasingly harder to suppress my grin.
Thank God for best friends.
Nate
I knocked on Chloe’s apartment door, turned the spare key in the lock, and entered. It was weird being in here when Chlo wasn’t around. It felt almost forbidden.
“Anyone home?” Silence—and clothes strewn everywhere.
Looks like Chloe’s left, then. That was my sister, alright, always forgetting something, always leaving things to the last possible minute.
I ninjaed through to the lounge, not daring to touch anything. Growing up in a house full of women had taught me that even if the floor was drowning in clothes, if you moved anything, you were signing your own death warrant.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I found a clear corner of carpet for my bag. I grabbed the remote and collapsed onto the couch—only to be accosted by the spikes of a hairbrush digging into my ass.
“Ouch, what the fuck?!” I yelped, pulling the vicious little porcupine out of my ass crack.
I was half hoping to catch Chloe before she left to wish her luck. That, and to ask her what the hell she was playing at. I still didn’t know why she was so insistent on me staying—Liv was capable of looking after herself for a week.
More than capable, if history was anything to go by. When Chlo had been struck down with mono her first year away from home, Liv had almost single-handedly taken care of her—and she’d covered Chloe’s retail shifts at work—all while I had flapped around like a useless piece of dick skin.
I flicked through the channels, hoping that they’d have what I needed to watch the Nebula league while I was here. Sure, my apartment was due to be renovated, but God knew what was I doing here when I could be watching the games on Chase’s widescreen instead of on this tiny shitbox.
I had a suspicion that Chloe was setting me up here to torture me. She must have figured out how hot I was for Olivia. There was no denying the half-chubs I’d get when I’d catch Liv walking around their apartment half-clothed—especially when I’d come by on my way home from visiting a PT client in my fitted gym gear.
Liv was gorgeous—curved, self-confident, and sexy as hell. What could I say? My dick knew what it wanted, even if it was well and truly off the table.
Rule Number One: Never screw your little sister’s best friend—especially not when you had a business to run, part-time study, and a blacklisted athlete to train for a second chance at the NBA.
My shoulders tensed up again. I tried to stretch them out. Once I had unwound a little, I took my things through to Chloe’s room. With half her wardrobe scattered across the rest of the apartment, at least she’d tidied up in here. She had even left some space in the closet for me. Looking around the room, I noticed a note on her desk.
Nate,
Thanks for keeping an eye on Livvy for me. Don’t get mad, but it’s obvious that she’s had a thing for you for a while...and from the sounds of it you could use a little stress relief.
Perhaps you could organize some kind of ‘mutually exclusive arrangement’ while I’m far, FAR away?
Love you!
P.S Touch my stuff and I will end you.
P.P.S IF YOU HAVE SEX ON MY BED, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.
Chlo xx
My cheeks burned. Oh FUCK no. This was a setup? What the hell was she thinking?! I swear that girl had as much subtlety as Miley Cyrus with a jackhammer.
I screwed up the note and threw it into the trash. It was one thing for my darling little sister to ask me to keep an eye on her BFF for a week, but this? Chloe had gone full nutso—and I was getting the fuck out of here before Liv came back and figured out her best friend had just thrown us under a fucking bus.
I picked up my bag and tossed it over my shoulder. If Chase’s place was out then I’d find a hotel, or I’d sleep at the gym, or I’d pay an Uber to take me to New York so I could kick Chloe’s ass—any way you sliced it, there was no way in hell I was staying here.
I threw the front door open. On the other side, Liv barely dodged out of the way in time to avoid a concussion.
“What the hell?”
“Balls, you’re here already.” My heart started to pump double-time.
“Jesus, do you always treat doors this badly?”
Liv closed the door gently behind her. We both hovered awkwardly in the entranceway for a minute. Throwing Liv off balance wasn’t an easy task, and slicing through the ball-clenching terror of seeing her here was the enjoyment of watching her usually composed self scramble for once. She pieced herself back together and strolled towards the kitchen.
Flicking the coffee pot on, she ruffled her hair, and a cascade of soft black waves shimmied down her shoulders.
Damn, she was sexy.
Wait, what was I doing following her around like a damned dog? Wasn’t I just about to leave?
“So... Chloe’s just left. And you’re staying for a week while your apartment is renovated.”
It was more a statement than a question, like she was still trying to get her head around it. But wait...did she know that Chloe was throwing us together like two horny teenagers in an apartment-sized closet?
Well, there was no point in running away with my dick in my hand now. “I am.”
“Cool. Well, what’s mine is yours. Mi casa, su casa.” She pulled the creamer from the fridge.
Wow, this wasn’t going to be awkward at all.
“Question,” I stated, raising my eyebrows. “Do you always go out in pajamas at 2 p.m., or do you reserve that exclusively for fuck-it Fridays?”
Liv’s eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. My dick twitched in response. Damn, this was a bad idea. My body responded to her like she was my remote control, and a sick part of me was looking forward to living with her—even if it was going to be difficult to remember that I was one hundred percent too busy to be fooling around. I bit the inside of my cheek. And what part of “don’t sleep with your sister’s BFF” did my dick not understand?
“No, smart-ass, I usually only save my glad rags for important guests.” She raised an eyebrow sarcastically. “I guess you’ll want a tour then, huh?”
“Sure, I’ve only stopped by about a million times before.”
Liv cleared her throat, pouring a cup of coffee and distinctly ignoring me. The edges of my mouth twitched upwards into a smile. It seemed like she was determined to act like I hadn’t existed before now.
Yep, totally not awkward...
“Well, the bathroom’s down the hall and to the left, the right room is Chloe’s, and the one this side is mine.”
“Yeah, I put my bag in Chlo’s room earlier.”
Liv nodded.
“What about cable? I’m hoping to catch Chase.”
“Cable? So old-school. You’ll have to stream. New Wi-Fi password is on the fridge, and we have a Chromecast, so you can watch it on the TV.”
I grunted a response as Liv handed me a cup of coffee, her emerald green eyes resting on mine for a moment before flicking away to the side.
“Yeah...so...everything the light touches, as you see.” Liv’s eyes darted toward the spare room, the one at the very end of the hallway. Her gaze almost froze on it, like she was afraid I’d ask.
“What about that shadowy place?” I nodded towards the spare room and Liv snapped out of whatever trance she was under.
Liv smiled, surprised I’d caught her reference. “None of your business, Simba.”
I shrugged. “You can’t escape Disney films with three younger sisters.”
Liv shifted from one foot to the other. “It’s just a home office—I store a bunch of stuff there for my Etsy shop.” She shrugged. “I don’t have to work retail anymore. It pays the rent.”
Drumming her manicured nails against her coffee mug, Liv quickly turned from me, her black waves bouncing over her shoulders.
It was a clear giveaway—She’d obviously realized that she was spending too much time discussing something she didn’t want to, and now she was on a direct trajectory with a lightning-quick subject change. What was it that always made Liv so defensive about talking about her work?
“I didn’t know Chase was back playing again. Is it a big game?”
“Nah, he’s not playing—he’s gone to watch. I think he’s hoping to mend a few bridges with his old team.” I clenched my jaw briefly to dispel the tension pooling there.
Liv’s mouth twitched upwards. “It’s a shame he’s not playing. Chloe used to enjoy watching him.”
I could feel the crease forming between my eyebrows as they knitted together. It used to be my life’s mission to keep Chase away from my sisters. I grunted an uneasy, non-committal response. Truth was I’d put Chase on a secret training regimen the moment he’d stepped back into my gym, barely two days ago—and he didn’t need me to tell him what chasing tail could cost him.
Neither did I. With a few personal training clients still on my list, a gym to manage, and part-time business school, I barely had time to eat properly let alone commit to anything beyond a quickie with righty in the shower. Fuck, it had been at least a month since I’d even had a Tinder hookup.
Liv yawned, her hands stretching above her head and her perfectly weighted breasts arching forward. Beneath the thin fabric of her shirt, her nipples were starting to pebble.
Fuck me. She wasn’t even wearing a bra.
I sighed, the force of the air leaving my lungs coming out more as a groan.
I tried to remind my dick about the whole “no time” thing. And the “little sister’s best friend” thing. Man, this week was going to be torturous.
In the best possible way, my dick reminded me. Despite Chloe’s awkward suggestion, touching wasn’t an option, but I had to admit that I was damned glad that looking was.
Liv broke the silence. “Well, I’m working nights, so I’m going to go back to bed for a while. Make yourself at home.”
Liv stalked off into her room, leaving me with a half-chub and half a cup of lukewarm coffee.
Balls. I ran my fingers through my hair. There was no way I was going to manage here for a full week without losing my mind. But leaving now would just make things super weird.
Frustrated, I grabbed my phone out of my jacket pocket and sent a message to Chloe.
Chloe Wallis, you are SO dead
The tension holding fast to my shoulders dissipated a little, but for some reason, I still felt uneasy, like something wasn’t quite adding up.
What kind of Etsy store owner needed to work nights?