Hearing my alarm the next morning, I wanted to scream at the son of a bitch. It had been hell falling asleep listening to all the moaning and groaning coming up from my mother’s room. I had no idea how the bed was able to make it through their all night assault. I thought once or twice I was going to be sick just from being in the same house as them. It leaves lasting scars when you hear your mother getting it on right underneath you. I shuddered at the thought. God, it was only six a.m. and I was already going to need a drink.
Donning my running clothes, which consisted of a sports bra, spandex short shorts, and tennis shoes. I made my way down the stairs. A good run would definitely clear my mind. Since it was so early in the morning, I knew from experience that no one would be around at this time. I was glad for that. There was nothing worse than running around the streets in practically nothing and have old geezers look at you like, yeah, if I had my hip replacement already, I’d tap that for sure.
It was downright disgusting to see all the old men on my street in New York ogle me like that. Most of them were suave businessmen that thought their shit didn’t stink; no such luck there. But still, it was revolting just thinking about it. I grimaced, stepping out the front door. I began stretching, putting my butt against the door and reaching to my left ankle first, then my right. I was about to lift back up when the front door opened suddenly, and I found myself falling backward into strong arms.
I glanced up and blushed. It was Henry, in nothing but a damn robe. Oh my … I could have lived my entire life without seeing that. However, it was extremely funny. I giggled at the sight of him in my mother’s pink, bunny-covered robe. It wasn’t too manly, but somehow, he pulled it off. He stood me back up, an embarrassed blush taking over his time-weathered features.
“Nice robe,” I choked out through laughter.
He ran his hand through his hair, his blush deepening. “Ah … thanks. It was the only thing your mother had that was big enough.”
I waved him away. “No need to explain, Henry. It suits you,” I chortled.
It looked like he had just noticed what I was wearing, because his features twisted into a pained look. “What are you wearing? That’s not even considered clothing, young lady,” he admonished.
“Henry, yes, it is. It covers everything, I’ll be just fine.”
His look said that he didn’t believe me, but he didn’t say anything else about it. He grabbed the paper and went inside, shutting the door behind him. I was stretching my arms when he reopened the door. I looked back at him inquisitively. “Yes?”
He chuckled. “don’t go up Maple Street, okay? Trust me.”
I furrowed my brows at his statement, but he just seemed to laugh at something and shut the door. I shook off his weird behavior. Putting my earbuds in my ears, I turned my running playlist on and set out for my morning run. It was so peaceful when I went running. It was like nothing and no one could get to me. The faster I pushed my waking limbs, the deeper the burn set in. It felt good taking care of your body; even doing the smallest things can help.
For it just being six a.m., the sun was already beating down hard on my back. Sweat started to accumulate all over my body, dampening my running clothes. But I pushed myself harder. I was close to turning around, to get ready for the fitting. I had lost track of time while running and listening to music, that I hadn’t noticed where I’d ended up. I was at the crossing of Maple and Vena Streets about to head back when I saw the most hypnotizing sight running toward me. Brad in all his badass, tattooed, pierced nipples glory, running right toward me. He stopped, pushing the button in order to cross the street.
Damn, he looked so fuckable right now. He was wearing low-cut ball shorts, no underwear that I could see—which was a given for him—and his tennis shoes, and aviators shading his eyes from the demanding sun. I salivated at the sight. His body was sheathed in a tiny layer of perspiration. His chest expanded with each deep breath, beckoning my eyes to eat up the body he had on display.
Great, I was now like one of those old geezers. I so need to get laid.
As the light changed, he began jogging toward me. Just as his eyes landed on me, he almost tripped over himself. He stopped dead in the middle of the road, his mouth hanging open. I knew what he was seeing. He was seeing the woman he used to know intimately in nothing more than a bra and panties. I smirked; I knew I looked good. I was toned beyond belief and had the start of a four-pack.
All of my trainers in New York kept wanting me to define my body more, to bulk up. But, I wanted to keep the feminine softness to my body. Men always loved a woman that looked and felt good. He lowered his shades as his eyes ate up my body. He licked his lips just as a horn blared for him to move out of the road. Pushing the sunglasses back onto his face, he moved out of the road and came to a stop in front of me.
“Well, no wonder your dad told me to stay off Maple Street,” I mumbled, breaking eye contact, and taking the earbuds out of my ears.
“My dear God, Claire. What are you trying to do, give everyone a heart attack?” Sexual innuendo dripped from his words.
I could see his shorts beginning to tent, and I lost it. I boomed with laughter, clutching my knees for support. “No, apparently it’s just your cock that’s about to have an attack of his own.”
He shifted his stance, trying to inconspicuously tuck himself in his shorts. “Well, fuck, what do you expect? With the frontal I’m getting now, you’d better be glad I’m not jerking the fucker off.”
That just made me laugh hard. “Well, if you think my frontal is good, don’t look at my ass when I run past you,” I replied, taking off at a sprint past him.
I heard him groaning as if he was in pain. I smiled so wide my cheeks began to hurt. I was almost out of earshot when I heard him yell at me. I turned around and began jogging backwards until the sight caused me to stumble and almost fall down. I was shocked as hell with what I saw, my mouth opened of its own accord. He had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face, the front of his shorts pushed down just enough so he could palm his hard-as-fuck cock.
“By the look of your open mouth, I’d say you like my frontal, too,” he sizzled out, tucking himself back into his shorts before running in the other direction.
I was so fucked. He was right when he said he was going to wear me down. I haven’t been here twenty-four hours yet and I want to jump his bones. I wasn’t supposed to be feeling like this. It wasn’t right. Yes, we were ex-lovers. But damn, he was about to become my stepbrother. It didn’t matter how much history we had. Everyone would see that before they saw the other. Sometimes life wasn’t fair.
When I ran up the drive, I saw my mom walking Henry to his car. I waved at them before making my way into the house. I piddled around in the kitchen for a minute until my mother came back into the house. We seriously had to talk about last night. It wasn’t something that I wanted to talk about, but I felt that I needed to do if Henry was going to be staying here up until the night before the wedding.
We needed to get it out of the way now, so I wasn’t being subjected to weird sex noises all night. I was leaning against the counter, sipping a cup of coffee, when she walked in. A blush rose from her chest to cover her neck. That was the only thing wrong with her and me. If we were embarrassed or turned on or showing any kind of emotion, our faces always betrayed us; and by the look on her face, she got herself a little somethin’ somethin’.
She squeaked in surprise when she saw me standing there staring her down. She went about cleaning the already spotless kitchen, stepping around me in the process. It was actually kind of funny to see my mother in such a frazzled state. So I just leaned back, narrowing my eyes on her. She began scrubbing the stove faster. I just about busted out laughing there. She looked like the little engine that could, but didn’t.
I decided to let her off the hook by smiling, showing her I wasn’t mad. She sighed before throwing the rag in the drainer. “Mom, we need to talk…don’t you think?”
“Whatever for,” she feigned ignorance.
I rolled my eyes and barked out a laugh. “Oh, come off it, Mom. You think I got these bags under my eyes by getting a full night of sleep? Ha. That would be a nope,” I paused in the middle, giggling. “I just don’t get how you don’t look like death warmed over.”
She turned, making her way toward the door, calling over her shoulder, “I am not discussing this with you.”
I put my cup down on the counter, running after her. By the time I got to her bedroom door she was in the process of shutting it, and I pushed against it. Her laughter rang out through her room, just as I chuckled. From the way she was pushing on her door, I knew there was something she was hiding. I just didn’t know what. I pushed harder, her yelling in a laughing tone to quit and go get ready. I pushed just a tad harder, barreling my way into her room.
I saw her standing back next to the closet, looking up at the ceiling with a face redder than a damn beet. But that wasn’t the sight that had me literally on my knees laughing. No. Her bed was completely destroyed. I’m not talking like, oh, it broke in this place and I have to get it fixed. I’m talking headboard was over next to the window, the frame, hell, there was no frame. The mattresses were halfway on the floor, her sheets shredded like a pair of tigers wrestled in her bed.
I didn’t mean to say it, but it slipped out anyway. “Got to love those Titan men.”