If I Break THE COMPLETE SERIES Bundle (168 page)

“You’re drunk, Zach. Maybe you should come inside and just crash,” I tell him, and he nods.

“Nope, I’m not going to sleep on that jerk’s couch,” he says with a pout.

“He’s not a jerk,” I say defensively.

“Yes, he is!”

He’s so loud I shush him, sounding loud myself.

“Damn it, do you remember what apartment he lives in?” I say, scratching my head.

“That one,” he says, pointing at a door.

I walk over to it and knock and wait. When the door opens across from the one we knocked on, we see it’s Will.

His face is red, and he’s glaring at us. “Are you drunk?” Will’s hair is disheveled, and he has on a wife beater that displays the tattoo on his arm in all its glory.

I feel as if my eyes are glued to it. “No, no, I’m not drunk.” I expect Gia to storm out in full mom mode.

“Okay, brat, I’m out. I’ll be back tomorrow,” Zach says with a slur, heading to the elevator.

“Where the hell is he going?” Will asks.

“He has a date,” I say, walking into the apartment.

Will looks at me with a perplexed expression. “Ugh.”

He’s so cute, and I giggle.

“Okay, you stay here. Let me see where this guy is going,” he says, walking out and shutting the door.

I
can’t believe this Zach guy. He’s drunk as hell and taken off in a cab with a girl he doesn’t even know in a city he’s never even been to. God, was I that stupid at his age? I stalk back to my apartment. I’m so pissed, mainly at myself. I let that little shit take Gwen out by herself, and he didn’t even stay sober enough to know what the hell was going on with him or Gwen.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I make it back to my apartment. So many things could have gone wrong. I’m pissed at him for not being coherent and ditching Gwen, but a part of me is glad I don’t have to stay up all night to make sure he didn’t crawl into Gwen’s bed. Not that I should be worried about that. It shouldn’t bother me. She’s not my little sister, and I really shouldn’t care, but I do, and if I caught him in her bed, I probably would have probably broken his pretty-boy face.

“Your friend is a dumb asshole,” I say angrily.

I walk over and see her slumped into the couch. I can tell she’s been drinking too—not as much as her asshole friend, but she’s definitely tipsy. Thank God I convinced Gia to go home. Hopefully Gwen can sober up before I get her back to her house.

“Come on, I’m taking you home,” I say, trying to keep the edge in my voice, but it’s hard looking at her.

“Where’d Gia go?” she asks, her voice lighter than normal.

Her usually pink lips are stained red. She has on heavy makeup like she did the first day I met her. She looks good as always, but she looks different.

“She went home. I told her you could stay in my extra room and Zach could sleep on the couch since I’m closer to the city. I figured you’d want to hang out downtown or something,” I say, unable to stay mad at her.

“That was thoughtful.”

Her big green eyes are on mine, and I feel my chest warm. I clear my throat from the way she’s looking up at me like she’s willing me to see into her eyes, to get closer and kiss her lips. I shake off the haze. It’s late, and I’m obviously tired.

“I’m gonna go put on my clothes, then I’ll take you to Gia’s,” I say, starting to head toward my room.

“Wait.” She sounds desperate as she sits up. “Why do I have to go home?”

Now her voice sounds almost innocent, but the way she looks in those tight jeans, and she’s put on some type of push-up bra because her breasts look fucking fantastic, and she’s tied her shirt in a knot, showing her belly button… she looks like temptation personified.

“Your friend’s not here.” My voice has a little bit of a tremble in it, and I glue my eyes to the floor. I want to look anywhere but at her. If I look too long, she’ll be able to see the lust in my eyes.

“So you’re going to kick me out?” She giggles, folding her arms across her chest.

I don’t say anything. She stands and walks toward me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was swinging her hips more than normal. She walks over to the table and grabs the glass of water I was drinking. When she’s done drinking it, she licks her lips, and her angelic eyes find mine.

“I’d like to stay,” she purrs.

God, is she serious? Please don’t let her be. I groan and run my hands over my face. Is she trying to be sexy as hell, or am I imagining this?

“Okay, you can sleep in my room. I’ll sleep in the guest room since your buddy’s gone MIA,” I say with a shrug.

I sit on the couch and try to fix my attention on the TV. I hear her behind me, then the lights go off. I look behind me and see that she’s flipped the switch. When we’re at Gia’s house, Gwen’s always turning out lights that we leave on. I expect her to head to the bedroom, but instead she sits on the couch. I swallow hard. The energy that was between us at the carnival seems to have multiplied a hundred times. She’s quiet, but I feel her eyes on me. I feel her move, and my whole body stiffens when she reaches across me and turns on the lamp beside me.

“I could have done that,” I joke to lessen the tension.

She looks at me, her eyes hooded. She only smiles. “What does your tattoo mean, Will?” She sounds more like herself than the little nymph sent here to test my restraint earlier.

“It’s a reminder that even in the dark, there’s light.”

Her lips stay parted, but she smiles with her eyes. I get up and head to the kitchen for another glass of water. It’s getting pretty damn hot in here. If she’s not going to go to bed, I will, because the energy around us, the looks she’s giving me… I know I’m reading things wrong. The way she’s looking at me—it’s as though she wants me, as though she’s willing me to touch her, to do things I need to block out of my mind.

“I’m gonna jump in the sack,” I say.

“Will?”

My heart races.

“Do you ever think about that night at the carnival?”

Then my heartbeat goes into overdrive. Of course I do. I think about it all the time.

“Gwen, you’re drunk. We should talk about this in the morning.” My voice sounds shaky and unfamiliar to me.

She shakes her head. “No, I’m not.” She gets off the couch and walks toward me.

I fold my arms across my chest, and she stops only inches away from me.

“Are you going to answer my question?”

I can see the necklace on her chest moving up and down at rapid speed. Her heart’s beating just as fast as mine.

“I do,” she says, looking up at me with big sad eyes. “I think about it all the time, and I wish I didn’t. Even worse, I wish that ride would have never started back up. If it hadn’t started, I would have kissed you, Will.”

I look down at her, not knowing what to say.

“I think you were going to kiss me too,” she says nervously. She inches toward me. “I have to get that night out of my mind. What if you had kissed me? I want to stop imagining what it would have felt like. I’m sorry, but I have to know.”

She brings her lips to mine. The moment they touch, I feel something,
everything
. I know I should pull away, she’s been drinking, but I can’t. Because as much as she wants this, I’ve wanted it too. Her arms wrap around my neck, and she presses herself into me more firmly. I pull away slightly, and she sighs.

“Kiss me back, please, Will. Do this, and I’ll never ask you again,” she pleads.

It’s like time’s stopped. I know what I do next will change everything. Even now with what she’s done, I can tell her she’s drunk and to go to bed, and in the morning, things can be the same as they have been. But do I want them to be the same? I’ve never felt this way about anyone, even her sister.

“I understand,” she says.

I hear her voice break as she lets go of my face, and I see tears in her eyes. I won’t let another one fall. I pull her toward me and make her lips mine. We move together, consuming each other as the room spins. My body’s on fire when she sucks on my tongue. The wall between us was crumbling, but now it’s collapsing. I pull her as close as I can get her.

She moans in response, and I lift her. She wraps her legs around my waist in response, and I carry her to the couch. I pull her onto my lap, and her hands run up and over my chest as we continue to kiss, each one deeper than the last. She pulls away, gasping for air, and I do the same, our foreheads resting against each other’s. She holds my hand on her cheek and kisses me softly. This one is slow, tender, and innocent, and I can feel her emotions. I wrap my arms around her back, pulling her as close as we can be.

“What happens now?” she asks. It’s dark, but I know her eyes are on mine, searching for answers.

“I-I don’t know. What do you want to happen?”

Her hands leave my chin and slide down my chest and stomach. She begins to unbutton my pants, and I lose my breath.

“We can stop now. It’s not too late to stop,” I say. I try to be strong, even though my body is weak and already giving in. I know she can feel how much I want her.

“I want this,” she says. She leans back and pulls her shirt over her head, revealing a pink lacy bra holding her breasts up perfectly. “Do you want this?”

I bring her lips back to mine. For the rest of the night, I show her that I want her more than anything.

E
xecuting this plan was a lot easier in my mind than it has been in reality over the last three weeks. Amanda unwittingly planted a seed that I doubt she would have had she known who my mystery man was. There is no way she would have encouraged me to kiss a married man. I know she wouldn’t have, but it was good advice all the same, advice I needed to hear. Now I have a plan, something to get me out of the blue period I’ve been stuck in for the past month.