Chapter 9
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We stared at each other as the thunderstorm raged outside, the thunder cracking so loud it rattled the windows. The storm mirrored what I felt inside. My fingers still tingled from where I’d touched her, and her cheeks were flushed, eyes still shining with bliss.
Dammit, I was harder than a rock.
I wanted to go to her, but she stumbled a step back and hastily drew the dress on over her head. Once she had it situated, she swallowed hard as she looked out the windows. Rain pounded the deck. “God,” she said, voice scratchy. “Syd and Kyler are out there in this.”
“They’ll be okay. Kyler will make sure of that.”
She cast me a quick look over her shoulder. The passion had faded from her gaze, replaced by a keen wariness. “So will Syd. She can take care of herself.”
“I didn’t say that she couldn’t.” I scrubbed my hands through my wet hair and then grabbed a towel that had been left on the back of a bar stool. I soaked up as much water as I could and then dropped the towel on the puddle I’d created. The dress Andrea wore was soaking up the wetness and clinging to her curves in a way that made my mouth water, but she had checked out of the fun and naughty stuff.
I didn’t blame her. I hadn’t planned on that happening. Okay. Maybe I’d planned on kissing her, but I hadn’t expected it to go that far, especially when we hadn’t even kissed. Now I had no idea what she was thinking as she turned around, her gaze bouncing off mine.
“I think I’m going to go nap,” she said, not meeting my gaze.
My chest tightened. “Andrea, what happened—”
“It’s okay. I mean, it was great.” Her cheeks flushed as she edged around the island, steering clear of me. “We don’t have to talk about it or anything.”
I frowned as I tracked her across the kitchen. “But I want to talk about it.”
She neared the living room and the stairwell. “No guy wants to talk about that…whatever that is. I don’t have crazy expectations, so you don’t need to set me straight or anything like that.”
My mouth flopped open. “What?”
Her face matched her hair. “I know that what happened doesn’t mean anything. I know it doesn’t—”
“Excuse me?” My voice rose as irritation flooded me. “It didn’t mean anything?”
Confusion pinched her pretty face as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Did it?”
Did it? Holy fuck, I stared at her, and the only good thing I could think at that moment was the fact that I no longer had a raging, rock-hard boner. “Of course not,” I snapped.
Andrea flinched—fucking flinched like I’d hurt her feelings or some shit. She nodded jerkily and then turned, racing up the steps in her bare feet. I stepped forward, partly worried she was going to fall and break her neck and also to run after her.
But I stopped myself, knowing I was too damn angry to have a normal conversation that wouldn’t end in us screaming at each other. Whirling from the stairs, I stalked back into the kitchen, stopping at the glass doors with my hands on my hips.
What the fuck? That didn’t mean anything? What did she think I did? Went around randomly getting chicks off for shits and giggles? Well, actually, she probably did think that.
“Shit,” I groaned, dipping my chin.
Based on what she knew about me—what she’d seen from hanging out with me—I was an equal opportunity fucker. Hell, why would she think she was any different than the slew of girls that had come before? But she was different, and damn she had to know that. I wouldn’t just fuck around with a friend of Sydney’s. That was obvious, because if that was the case, I would’ve tried to get between those pretty thighs the first time she’d mouthed off at me.
I heard the front door open and I turned, spying Kyler and Sydney. They looked like they’d swum in a river to get there, but both were smiling.
“Holy shit,” Kyler said, dropping his backpack by the glass door. Laughing, he shook the rain out of his hair. Droplets of water flew in every direction. “That storm is crazy.”
“Yeah,” I murmured, heading to the fridge. “It came out of nowhere.”
Sydney moved to the sink, where she wrung her hair out. “We checked the weather. Wasn’t calling for anything until this evening.”
“We didn’t even get far,” Kyler complained. “As soon as we saw those clouds rolling in, we started to head back.”
I pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and tried to force myself to pay attention to the conversation, but honestly, I didn’t give a fuck.
Sydney straightened and turned around, frowning. “Where is Andrea?”
“Taking a nap.” My hand tightened on the water bottle until it crackled.
Her brows rose. “I think I’ll go check on her.”
I raised the bottle to my mouth, having no idea what Andrea was going to say to Sydney. God only knew. After her steps faded, Kyler eyed me from where he stood. “What’s up?”
“The sky,” I replied.
He rolled his eyes. “Did we miss anything interesting today?”
Like I was going to go there with Kyler. “We hung out in the pool for a while, before it stormed.”
“Uh-huh.” A knowing look crossed his face. “I guess Andrea was just worn out from the exertion of hanging out in the pool?”
“Guess so,” I muttered, finishing off the water. “I’ve got to get out of these wet clothes.”
Kyler said something, but I wasn’t paying attention. I headed upstairs as the thunder continued to rumble outside. I almost started toward Andrea’s bedroom, but figured Sydney was with her. Stripping off the swim trunks, I grabbed a pair of shorts and dragged them on. I sat on the edge of the bed, blowing out an aggravated breath.
Rubbing my temples, I closed my eyes. Maybe I was off when it came to Andrea. Yeah, she wanted me, and today proved that, but it didn’t mean she wanted more. Wait a second. Did I want more? I already knew the answer to that.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
That was pretty much the only word that summed it all up.
Andrea
The storm subsided briefly and then came back with a vengeance. Rain pounded the roof and the pool was starting to overflow. Water lapped over the edges, seeping through the deck boards. Lightning cut through the black sky and thunder shook the cabin.
I stood by the window, watching the sky light up like someone was setting off fireworks from the cusp of Seneca Rocks. I blew a breath out and watched it fog the window.