My Best Friend's Brother: A Standalone Friends to Lovers Romance (Soulmates Series Book 2) (14 page)

Chapter 25: Andi

The
glowing barn just looked like another star on the horizon after a while, and
the hum of the tractor engine became hypnotic in its monotony.

To
be honest, I probably could've taken a nap if Shane didn't have his arm over my
shoulder.

And
as guilty as it made me feel, I didn't want to push him away and pretend I
thought he was gross. Because I didn't.

I
thought he was funny and handsome and kind, and I didn't want to overthink
things and deny myself a moment that any other woman would just enjoy.

And
to think I'd spent the whole afternoon convinced I'd made a mistake saying I
would come to this thing.

I
worried that he'd leave me alone in pits of sorority girls and that I'd be
forced to make superficial small talk with people while everyone around me did
choreographed dances that I couldn't pick up the steps to.

But
he hadn't abandoned me at all.

On
the contrary, he'd stolen me away, and he seemed as happy as I was about it.

After
all, having him all to myself was such a rare treat, and I was finally getting
a chance to know what it felt like to be the center of his attention, which was
akin to drinking sweet tea- warming and energizing and good for my soul.

I
took a deep breath, letting the earthy scent of the hay fill my chest without
lifting my head off his shoulder.

Shane
shifted the arm that was around me and turned his face so his lips spoke
against the part in my hair. "You fading on me?"

"No,"
I said. "Just enjoying the moment."

"Care
to drag it out or do you want to head back?"

I
lifted my head and looked at him.

His
face was so close to mine and so handsome in the way it caught the moonlight.

"Is
dragging it out an option?” I asked.

"Of
course."

"Well,
as long as you don't think I'm lame for keeping you from the party…"

He
pushed against the hay bales behind us and rose to his feet, causing his cowboy
hat to fall from his lap down beside me. "Trust me. We're not missing
anything that doesn't happen every night of the week on campus."

"It's
your big senior dance," I said. "I'm just along for the ride so it's
your call."

He
nodded and climbed over the bales at the front of the trailer. "Bobby!
Bobby!"

I
shamelessly stared at the panty wetting view I had of his butt.

"Turn
off the engine!" Shane called.

The
tractor engine clicked to a stop.

"Did
I do something wrong?" Bobby asked.

"No.
Just put the parking
break
on and come around to the
back of the trailer." Shane climbed down off the stacked bales, picked up
one of the unopened 40’s, and went to meet him by the stairs.

"Everything
okay?" Bobby asked, barely tall enough to see me over the truck bed.

"Everything
is great, thanks." Shane took a knee and handed him the beer. "You’re
relieved for the night."

"You
driving back then?" Bobby asked.

"I
am."

I
heard Bobby screw the cap off his beer.

"But
you're walking,” Shane said.

"What?"

"And
in exchange for you not whining like a pussy, you get a beer for the walk and
your choice between fifty bucks or a free poker lesson."

"I
guess I could use the lesson."

"Good
choice,” Shane said.

"Is
it true that you won a grand at the tournament on Wednesday?"

"Yeah,
but keep that to yourself."

"Wow."

Shane
held a hand out, and Bobby tossed him the keys.

"Now
take a hike," he said. “And if anyone asks where I am, you haven't seen
me."

Bobby
took off down the dirt road, and Shane rose to his feet.

"A
grand huh?" I asked when he turned around. "No wonder he chose the
lesson."

He
shook his head. "For just one second, I'd like to feel like not everyone
knows my business."

"Maybe
you should conduct all your business in cornfields?"

He
laughed. "Based on how things go tonight, I might consider it."

"And
how would you say they're going so far?" I asked, watching him take a seat
beside me again. 

"
Mmm
." He held his chin in thought. "Are you
looking for a letter grade or a score out of ten?"

"If
you even think about ranking me on any type of scale, I will kill you."

"That's
what I thought," he said. "But to answer your question, I think
they’re going great."

"Because
my pigtails are adorable?"

He
smiled. "Among other things."

I wanted
to ask what things, but I would’ve only been digging for compliments, and the
fact that he chose to spend the whole evening with me alone was compliment
enough.

"I
noticed your lip is better," he said.

I
touched the place where the cut used to be. "Yeah. I
Neosporined
the shit out of it all week."

"That
is your signature move."

"God
I hope not. Talk about the least cool signature move ever."

"I
think it's a pretty good signature move for someone so accident prone."

I
cocked my head. "Am I really that accident prone?"

He
raised his eyebrows. "Is that a joke?"

"I
mean, like, more than other people?"

"Let's
see,” he said. “Your mom sent you to school with a bagel cutter and enough
ShamWows
to open a warehouse."

"Hey-
you’ve benefitted from those, too."

“Your
dad put extra locks on your door to increase the likelihood that you’d remember
to actually use one of them.”

I
shrugged. “He’s always been overprotective.”

"And
you’re the only person I know that has a loyalty card for the dry
cleaners."

I
craned my neck back. "Is that not normal?"

"In
college? Are you serious?"

"Fine.
Maybe I'm a little clumsy sometimes."

"It
doesn't matter," he said. "I only mention it because sometimes it's hard
to tell whether something is an accident with you or-"

"Like
what?" I asked, leaning against the hay behind us.

"Like
kissing me back last weekend."

I
glanced down at my lap. "Oh, that."

"Yeah,
that."

"That
was-" My eyes searched his face. How could he look so calm when my whole
body felt so squirmy? "Unexpected."

He
raised his eyebrows.

"I
think Steph had to take a cold shower after that."

"So
did
I
," he said.

I
swallowed.

"To
be honest, part of me felt guilty for getting carried away like that after the
weekend you had-"

"Don't
feel that way," I said. "It was nice."

"Well,
fuck, Andi. I wasn't going for nice."

I
smiled.

"If
I was only going for nice, I wouldn’t have even bothered."

I raised
my eyebrows. "You thought it was better than that, did you?"

He
fixed his eyes on mine. "Didn't you?"

My
lips fell apart.

"I
was hard all week just thinking about it. About you."

The
shock of his words made my throat close up.

"Sorry.
You didn't need to know that."

I
angled my body towards him. "Maybe it was better than nice." I laid a
hand on his cheek and dropped my eyes to his lips. "Remind me."

He
kissed me with an urgency that flooded my body with warmth. And as he sucked
the breath from me, I lost my mind in his mouth.

He
was right. It was better than nice.

It
was the kind of kiss that needed its own backing track, the kind of kiss that
could save your life.

He
reached over and pulled my hips towards him.

It
was only after I straddled his lap and felt his thick fingertips sink into my
thighs that I realized my skirt was up around my waist.

I
hung my arms on his shoulders and settled in, letting the kisses I'd wanted to
give him for fifteen years pour out of me.

But
it wasn’t a friendly exchange.

He
kissed me like he was two seconds away from pulling my hair and stretching me
open, and when he pulled my ass towards him so my thin white underwear was
right against his hard shaft, I knew it wasn't in my head.

He
wanted me, too, and there was no one around to stop us from having each other,
from going too far, from making the biggest, most glorious mistake of our
lives.

I
tilted my hips just enough to feel the length of him against my clit.

He
moved his mouth to my neck, pushing my pigtail out of the way so he could kiss
the delicate flesh behind it.

I
tried to catch my breath then, but my whole body was flickering like a flame.
"Shane," I whispered when his fingers found the buttons of my shirt.

I
let my head fall back and looked at the sky.

And
as I rocked against him, I lost myself in how solid he was and how free I felt
in his arms.

Chapter 26: Shane

I
shouldn't have been so surprised at how much I liked hearing her whisper my
name.

I’d
always loved her voice, her laugh.

But
this sound spurred me on and filled me with a singular focus.

I
wanted to make Andi come.

She
was always so stubborn and independent. I wanted to make her surrender. I
wanted to see the look on her face when she gave in to all the good feelings
she deserved to enjoy.

And
I wanted to make her say my name again and again and again.

I
pushed her shirt off her shoulders and cradled the base of her neck as I kissed
my way down to her collarbone.

When
I unhooked her bra, she inhaled sharply, and I reached under it to cup her
breasts.

"Shane-
I-"

"
Shhh
," I said, grazing my thumbs across her nipples
until they puckered for me.

She
wiggled her arms from her shirt and dropped her bra to one side.

"You're
so beautiful," I whispered, pushing a stray wisp of hair out of her face.

Her
eyes were shiny, and I could see by her expression that she trusted me. It was
a trust I knew I wouldn’t dare betray, no matter how much I wanted from her.

I
lowered my face to one of her breasts and pulled her tight nipple into my
mouth, listening as a soft groan escaped her throat.

With
every flick of my tongue, I ached and swelled more for her.

She
put a hand on the back of my head and pulled it to her chest, arching her back
towards me and letting herself go.

I
laid a hand across her lower back and felt her delicate muscles flicker against
my palm as she writhed. She felt so good in my hands, tasted so
good
all over.

I
rolled her over, laid her on her back across the blanket, and propped myself up
alongside her.

She
stared at me through half closed eyes. "You're right," she said.
"That was better than nice."

I
laid a hand against her inner thigh and slid it up towards her center. I could
feel the heat coming off her before I even made contact with her underwear.

A
growl escaped my throat. "You're already wet for me."

She
swallowed and watched me pull her underwear down to her knees.

I
lowered my lips to hers again, dragging my fingertips along her wet slit until
she moaned into my mouth.

Then
I spread her open, working my thick fingers inside her as she tensed around me.

"Shane,"
she whispered again, her voice so soft I might’ve thought she was dreaming if
her pleading eyes hadn't been on me.

My
fingers were drenched after a few twists of my wrist, and when I found the spot
that made her breath stutter, I hit it again and again, burying my fingers
knuckle deep inside her.  

"You're
going to make me come," she said, rolling her head to the side.

I
lowered my mouth to her nipple and sucked it between my teeth, churning her
insides even faster.

A
few moments later, her whole body curled up and melted over my hand.

I
pinched her nipple in my mouth as she came, relishing the way she tightened
around my fingers.

It
was the most fun I’d ever had making a woman come.

I
lifted my head to look at her, keeping my fingers where they were so I could feel
ever surge of her pleasure, every drip of her tension relieved.

Her
face looked open and happy and tired.

I
slipped my fingers from her and trailed them down her inner thigh.

She
lifted her head. "I'm sorry I used the word nice."

I
smiled.

"I
promise it won't happen again."

I
slid my hand over her waist and laid it between her breasts. I could feel her
heart beating.

"I
feel like a mess," she said.

"In
a good way?” I asked, plucking some stray pieces of hay from the top of her head.

She
smiled. "In the best way ever."

My
balls ached from wanting her and my cock was still bursting against my fly, but
I was reluctant to cut short her blissful reverie.

Unfortunately,
my phone rang in my pocket and cut it short anyway.

She
pushed her skirt down. "Are you going to get that?"

"Absolutely
not."

It
rang again.

This
time I looked at it. "It's Kevin. He's probably just bored of holding
Brittney's hair back or something."

"Who's
Brittney?"

"No
one."

A
text came through from him a moment later.
"Where the hell are you? The
last bus is coming soon."

"Fuck."

Andi
raised her eyebrows. "What is it?"

"We
have to head back. I lost track of time."

"That’s
funny. I just stopped caring about it."

I
reached for her bra and handed to her. "Get dressed," I said, downing
the rest of the forty in the hope that it might take the ache out of my blue
balls.

I
watched her wiggle her underwear back up and put her bra on. It was a brutal
low after such a glorious high.

"You
want to stay back here or would you rather ride up front with me?" I
asked.

"Is
there room up front?"

I
nodded.

"I'll
ride with you then." 

I
set my hat on her head. "Sounds good."

She
kept her eyes on me as she buttoned her shirt.

If
only I’d made a move earlier.

There
would’ve been more time to hold her, more time for her to get used to the idea
of us.

But
the moment had passed.

And
while all I had to remember it by was her sweetness on my fingers and an aching
sack, I still couldn't believe my luck.