Best Friend's Brother #4 (Best Friend's Brother Romance Series - Book #4) (6 page)

CHAPTER
NINE

IAN

Just before noon I walked to the pizza parlor,
dragging my feet. I was late and she probably thought that I wasn’t coming. I
could picture her sitting there, thinking what a gutless son of a bitch I was
that I couldn’t even break up with her in person…and she would be right. The
thing she had wrong though was that I wanted to break up with her. That’s why
this was so fucking hard. I never wanted anything less in my life.

I pushed open the door to the crowded little pizza
parlor in the brick building, buried and almost invisible in the heart of the
city. It was one of those places that attracted locals and got a lot of
delivery and take-out business, but someone from out of town would probably
never see it and walk inside because of the outside décor. They were missing
out though. There was nothing better than their pizza. The crust was crunchy on
the outside but it didn’t taste like cardboard. The toppings always tasted
fresh where sometimes at other places, the cheese could taste a little bit
overcooked or congealed. It was casual and laidback, but the food was good
enough that you could get away with taking a girl there on the first date. I
knew, because I’d done that more than once.

I saw Alexa sitting near the back. She was sipping
on a Coke and she hadn’t seen me yet. She had on a pair of jean cut-offs and a
pink T-shirt with white roses or something on it. Her shiny red hair was down
around her shoulders and she barely had any makeup on. She was the prettiest
thing I’d ever seen and I suddenly felt like I wanted to throw up again. I was
so close to turning around and walking out…but then she looked up and noticed
me and it was too late. Taking a deep breath and trying to man up, I went over
to where she was sitting and sat down.

“Hi,” she said. Her eyes looked sad or nervous or
something and I felt bad.

“Hey,” I said, sliding into the seat across from her.
“Did you order?”

“No. I’m not really hungry. I just wanted to talk.”

“What about?” I asked her. I couldn’t do this. I
couldn’t tell her that I didn’t want to be with her. It would be the biggest
lie I ever told.

She sighed loudly and said, “Really, Ian? This is
ridiculous. We’re not kids. Can you please just tell me what has been going on
with you, like an adult?”

I took a little bit of offense at that comment. I
may have taken more, if she hadn’t been right. “I’ve just had a stressful week.
You want pepperoni or just cheese?”

“I just said I’m not hungry.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” She looked at me like I
was crazy…and again, I don’t blame her. I got up and went to order a pizza that
neither of us wanted. I was stalling as much as I could. While I was up there,
I got myself a drink and went back to join her again. I sat the number plate
they gave me at the edge of the table and she watched me until I was settled
and then she said,

“Got everything you need?” Her tone was sarcastic,
obviously annoyed. I nodded and she went on to say, “I wasn’t mad when I left
the other night. I was…annoyed, I guess and I let myself wonder if you and I
were doing the right thing by being together. I thought about all the ups and
downs that we’ve already had…but Ian, I decided that right or wrong didn’t
matter, because I really want to be with you…”

God, she was fucking killing me. I wanted to reach
across the table and pull her towards me and shove my tongue in her mouth. I
wanted to take her in the bathroom and push her up against the wall and rip
those little shorts right off of her. I wanted to tell her that as much as she
thought she wanted me, I wanted her more. Instead, like the chicken-shit I was
turning out to be, I said the opposite.
 

“Alexa, I know you weren’t mad. You asked for space
and I gave it to you.” I tried to will the vision of her naked against the
brick wall in the bathroom away. It wasn’t easy.

“I appreciate it, but I don’t need it any longer.
I’m sitting here telling you that I want to be with you. You say you’re not
ignoring me and you don’t want to break up with me, so why are you pushing me
away?”

“I’m not pushing you away. I told you, it’s just
been a really stressful week. I’m still not sleeping well, and then there was the
stuff with you and crazy Kristie. I have a champion ship fight coming up too and
I need to focus.”

“And I make you lose focus?”

The pizza arrived. I let the server set it down and
ask if we needed anything else. Then I did what any coward would. I picked up a
slice and shoved a big bite in my mouth
.
 
Alexa stared at me the whole time I
was chewing it. When I swallowed and took a drink of my Coke she said, “Are you
going to answer me?”

“I’m not sure what you want me to say.”

“I don’t want you to say anything. I want you to
tell me what’s wrong, honestly. It’s not much to ask…at least I don’t think it
is. You keep saying nothing, but I don’t believe you. I know you well enough
now to know that this behavior is not you. Something is going on. Why won’t you
just tell me what it is so we can talk about it and move on?” Her tone changed
then. I could tell she was trying to keep it steady, but it quivered a little
as she said, “If you don’t want me, I’m a big girl, I can take it. But I
deserve for you to tell me that to my face.”

I choked on those words. I couldn’t tell her that I
didn’t want her. Even if I managed to say the words, there was no way they
would come out sounding sincere. She was sitting here telling me that she
wanted me. I want her. Why is what her father said so much more important than
that? Maybe he didn’t know what he was talking about at all.

“That’s not it,” I finally said. No matter what I’d
promised, I couldn’t give up any chance I had with her. “I already told you.
I’m just feeling stressed.” Maybe that excuse would buy me some time to figure
out what I could do.

I could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t
believe me…probably because I was lying. I choked down two more pieces of
pizza, just to avoid conversation.

Finally, she said, “Do you want to walk over to
Rotary Park with me?”

“I’m sorry, where?”

“To the park,” she said again.

“Why?”

“I just want to be somewhere louder than my thoughts
for a while. And I want to be with you.”

Shit. She was trying to kill me, I think.

“Okay, yeah.”

The park she was talking about was a few blocks
away. They had a lot of stuff for little kids and a Ferris wheel and water
slides for the older ones. There was also a duck pond where you could rent
little paddle boats and an inside arcade. She was right about the noise…even
outside by the duck pond it was loud. I relaxed a little bit just because it
was too noisy to talk. Alexa insisted on taking the leftover pizza and when we
got near the pond, she sat down and started tearing pieces off and throwing
them to the geese and ducks. The geese came right up to us and if she didn’t
throw one fast enough, they would honk at her really loudly. At one point, I
thought they were plotting our demise and I suggested to her that we move on.

“Okay,” she said, “I want to ride the Ferris wheel.”

“Really?”

She kind of laughed, “Yeah. You’re not afraid of
heights, are you?”

I was afraid that with all that pizza sitting in my
stomach like a lead weight, I was going to puke. I didn’t tell her that though.
I just said, “No. I’m not afraid of heights.”

We bought tickets and rode the Ferris wheel. It didn’t
do anything good for my stomach and sitting thigh-to-thigh with her made that
part of my imagination that wanted to pin her to the bathroom wall earlier,
stand up and pay attention. I wondered what she
would do if I
just kissed
her…hard. What would she think if I slipped my fingers
underneath the edge of those shorts and felt just far enough to see if she was wet?
I wanted to know if she wanted me. I mean, I know that she says she does…but I
wanted to feel it. I wanted her so bad that my extremities were tingling with
the urge to touch her, or the lack of blood since it was all collected
somewhere else at the moment.
 

I breathed a sigh of relief when we got off the
Ferris wheel. The quarters were too close. Any longer and I wouldn’t have been
responsible for my actions. After the Ferris wheel we played a few midway
games. We played the one where you shoot water in the clown’s mouth and pop the
balloon. She beat me two out of three. I redeemed myself on the shooting game.
She missed every shot.

“Show me how to aim it, “she said. I hoped that she
wouldn’t notice my hands shaking as I stood behind her with my pelvis arched so
that my erection wouldn’t poke her. I put my arms around her and my hands on
her wrists and situated the gun for her. Her hair was in my face and she felt
so damned good that only a paper man would not be aroused being this close to
her. God, I don’t think I can do this….

She got a funnel cake and tried to make me eat some
of it. I was sure I would puke if I did, so I politely declined. When she was
ready to go, she grabbed my hand.

“Walk me to my car.”

 
I know I
should have, but I didn’t pull it away. I actually gripped hers back so tightly
that she told me I was hurting her
.
 
I loosened my grip, but I didn’t let
go. I never wanted to let go. When we got back to her car I was finished
holding back
.
 
I
didn’t care how pissed her father was at me. She was fond of telling me that
she was a big girl. She could make her own decisions and I had a feeling that
she wouldn’t let me get away with much even without her father backing her up.

Every fiber in my body was screaming at me to touch
her. I pressed her into the side of the car with my body and trapped her there.
She wasn’t resisting anyways, but I was partially acting out my bathroom fantasy.
I put my hand on the side of her face and pulled her into a kiss. Our tongues
mingled and her lips tasted so sweet…she moaned and I nearly came in my pants.

“Do you want to come back to my apartment?” I asked,
panting. I had to have her. I felt like I would die if I didn’t.

“Yes.”

No hesitation. No worries. If I
was
hurting her, why would she be so willing to be with me?

We left her car at the pizza place and walked the
two blocks to my apartment. It took us a while to get there because every wall
or fence we passed was more fodder for my fantasies. I loved the feel of her
body pressed between me and the wall. I was tempted to take her in the alley
behind my apartment complex and take her right there. That would be really hot.

There was no question left about whether or not she
wanted me too. We were barely inside the door when she was on top of me…kissing
me, licking my lips and sucking my tongue into her mouth. My resistance was
completely gone, and when I kissed her back…it was on.

CHAPTER
TEN

IAN

I had my hands on her waist and as we kissed, I
pushed her back into the wall. She was sucking my tongue into her mouth and I
instantly had a raging hard-on. This girl turned me on like nothing I’ve ever
imagined or experienced before. I broke the kiss and pulled back just far
enough so that I could look at her face. Her eyes were glazed over and filled
with lust. I let my lips graze across her cheek and then fall down to her
shoulder and kiss her there. I let my hands slide down her arms until I reached
her wrists and I grabbed ahold of them. I raised her arms above her head and
pushed my body in tighter against hers effectively pinning her against the
wall. She didn’t protest or resist, so I kept on going. I was lost in it all.
My fantasy was coming to life.

I brought one hand down while I held her wrists with
the other one and I unbuttoned and unzipped the top of her sexy little shorts.
I pushed them until they scaled her round butt and fell down around her ankles.
I let my fingers stroke her inner thighs and I felt her squirm against my hard
cock that was pressed through my jeans and into the soft part of her belly. She
was breathing heavy and her eyes were closed. I let my fingers pass over the
center of her panties, right across her pussy. She was wet and when I touched
her there, her body convulsed. I pressed my lips into her shoulder and began
kissing and sucking there again and I let one of my fingers find its way
underneath the elastic leg band of her panties. Once I was inside there, I
could feel that she was soaked. She’d missed me too.

I let my knee come up and used it to push her legs
further apart. I ran my finger over her swollen clit and up and down her slit
until I thought she was going to shoot right off the wall and across the room.
Then I slid it up inside of her and started moving it in and out.

“Oh Ian…oh God, that feels so good!”

I love it when she talks to me. It’s not like when
some women try and talk dirty during sex. They seem like they’re trying to
sound like porn queens and it just sounds fake. That’s a turn-off. But when
Alexa does it, it was just like she was genuinely trying to express how she
felt and what she wanted. Her voice got deep and sexy and just the sound of it
made my cock throb.