Love and Chaos: A Growing Pains Novel (14 page)

He looked Peter’s way for a brief moment before shifting away from her again. “Nah, that’s okay. I think I’ll go help my mom prep for dinner. Or watch the kids or something. Make myself useful.”

“Tough task. Good luck with that.”

He laughed softly. “Thanks.”

Cassie got a pang of longing as he moved away. Although the view of him moving away wasn’t so bad. That broad back, a great place to land after a girl had been thrown over his wide shoulder, and that
butt.

A fantasy of him moving over her rocked her mind. His hard chest rubbing against her nipples. His delicious weight pushing her down into the mattress.

Good God. I’ve gone pervert with someone else’s property.

“Cassie, lovely, you did great!” Peter stood as she approached, swayed, and then sat back down. “Count that as a hug, honey.”

She plopped
onto the grass beside him. Rachel and Jenn leaned forward to smile over Peter at her.

“The boys got beat by a girl!” Rachel clapped. “That’ll teach them to be so cocky.”

“I don’t know if that’s a compliment for Cassie, or a put down.” Peter frowned at Rachel. “Hear the woman roar for Christsakes.”

“Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
Jenn reached over Rachel to slap Peter’s arm. “She knows it was a compliment.”

“So, you guys having fun?” Cassie
watched as Jace reemerged from the house. He headed in the direction of the kids, at the far end of the grass playing with one of the whiffle balls.

“Yes! Best time ever!” Rachel held her hand up to block the sun so she could w
atch Jace squat next to the children. “And it looks like we’ll have the evening off from the kids, so smooth sailing.”

All three kids started squealing before sprinting away from Jace. He hopped up and ran after them, growling like a bear. He scooped up Lesley
when she faltered on a tuft of grass, and continued running after the boys, yelling, “We’re going to get you!”

Cassie picked at the grass. She thought about going over to that bench
overlooking the valley, but the point was to put in face time with Peter, and he was having a great time right where he was. Dinner wasn’t for another few hours—hasty sandwiches had been consumed during the whiffle ball game—so that chore was finished, and they probably wouldn’t let her help with dinner prep, anyway, since she was considered a guest. She should chat with the three next to her, but they had boarded the buzzed train and weren’t making much sense. She could drink to catch up, but she wasn’t in the mood.

So
not many options then.

She bit her lip and hugged her knees. She’d just have to wait it out. At least she could watch
Jace’s muscles play as he chased the kids around the yard. That was something.

She ignored the tightening of her body, asking her
to get up and get closer to him. The throbbing of her body wasn’t as easy to disregard, but she’d manage. For Peter’s sake, she’d manage.

At bedtime, after brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed, Cassie found Peter tucked in the sheets. His eyes drooped but were still open. The light blared.

“You want the light on for some reason?” Cassie asked in confusion. She let her hand hover over the switch.

“I opened up with Jenn and Rachel more,” Peter blurted in a light slur. He’d kept his buzz through the afternoon and then turned it into drunk at dinner. “Let my bitch out a little. They just laughed harder. Didn’t even quirk an eyebrow.”

Cassie smiled and crossed the room to stow her toiletries. “
So you think you’ll go through with your announcement like you’d planned before the trip?”

She could hear the famous Peter sigh. “They’re great, and so much fun, but they’re not the ones I’m worried about. My dad overheard me call
Jenn
doll
at dinner and glowered. Not stared, but glowered, Cass.”

Cass went back to the light with a quirked brow, got a nod, and switched it off. She crawled in beside Peter. “Maybe give him a bit more credit. He’s a smart guy—maybe if he knows the truth, he’ll come up with different expectations.”

Peter huffed and lifted the sheet over half his face. “We don’t touch enough, either. Do you think they notice?”

Cassie got a squirming in her gut. She’d thought of that, too. It was hard to remember to act like a couple when they were just friends.
Sure, they touched and hugged and things normal friends did, but she didn’t kiss him. She didn’t stare longingly into his eyes. She didn’t crave a lingering touch or an overly affectionate embrace. No matter their level of friendship, faking real intimacy was hard. And she wasn’t great at acting.

All things she really should’ve pointed out before agreeing to come along.

Plus, there was the distraction of Jace. He was gorgeous and funny and awesome—it was hard to step away from him and pretend to love Peter. She had a gay man on one side and a taken man on the other. Her luck couldn’t get worse if she broke ten mirrors. “I’m trying, Peter, I just—“

“It’s not your fault,” he interrupted quickly. “I forget, too. And then there’s…”

Cassie waited for the rest of the sentence. When she didn’t get it, she angled her head toward him. The darkness covered the half of his face the blanket didn’t. “What?”

“I don’t know, this just all sucks.” Peter rolled over away from her, snuggling into his pillow.

Cassie rubbed his back. “I know, but we’ll make it through, okay? We’ll make it through this.”

“Kay,” he said softly.

A
fter everyone had gone to bed, Jace sat on the back deck, watching the night. Crickets sang and night birds chirped as the breeze softly caressed his skin. He let images flit through his head of the most beautiful woman he could ever remember seeing—her smile, her throaty laugh, her startlingly vivid blue eyes. He’d sat next to her at dinner—he couldn’t help himself—and realized they had no end of things to chat about. Even stupid things, like favorite colors, became an interesting topic to hash out.

He tried to keep it to a minimum, chatting
with her only if other people were involved in the conversation, but after a while he lost track of everything but her. Each smile had his heart hammering. When she reached her hand out to lightly brush his forearm or shoulder, trying to share a moment or get his attention, his groin tightened and his chest constricted.

Peter was one lucky bastard. But yet, they rarely touched. When they hugged, it looked like friends. When they talked, it was light and easy, but not overly engaging. Jace couldn’t really believe they l
oved each other. Not really. And it seemed mutual. They had respect in plenty, but love?

Maybe they just weren’t sure yet.
Maybe Peter was pushing the envelope to get her here in hopes of forcing love’s hand. But then, why wouldn’t he dote on her? Also, after a couple had sex, there was a certain level of intimacy in their touch, in their looks. He just didn’t see it.

Jace leaned forward to get up.
As he stood the sliding glass door opened slowly, a long, shapely leg the first to cross the threshold. Cassie’s body followed, wearing the pajamas she had on last night. Before he could help himself, Jace’s gaze settled on those perky, round breasts, her hard nipples straining against the fabric of her tank from the chill in the air. He yanked his stare upwards and sat back down to keep his hard-on from showing through his pajama bottoms.

“Oh hey,” Cassie said quietly as she stood next to his chair in the darkness. “I didn’t know anyone was out here.”

“Have a seat.” He motioned for her to sit in the deck chair next to his.

She pushed the door closed with her elbow and took the offered seat, holding a book and a flashlight in her lap. The darkness masked her lovely features, but he could tell
she was facing him.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked quietly.

“No. Peter basically fell into bed and now he’s snoring. I figured I’d read for a while since I’m awake.”

“Oh. Sorry, do you want me to head in?”

“No, no. No, that’s okay. Hang out.”

He felt a rush of warmth at the conviction in her voice that then turned to guilt. He leaned back anyway, though. He couldn’t help himself. He didn’t want to part from her. And he didn’t know how to deal with that issue.

“Did you have fun today?” he asked, trying to get the conversation flowing. Trying to make this situation friendly and not…what he felt at the moment. Trying to think about something,
anything,
other than her body so close. So supple.

He cleared his throat and leaned forward
again, dropping his elbows to his knees. A tent in his pants was not what he was going for at the moment.

“Definitely, yes. I had a lot of fun. You?”
Cassie leaned forward, too, engaged in their communication. Passing him the baton to keep it going.

“Yes.”

Nice work, cave man
. Way to dazzle her with your linguistic skill.

He didn’t know what else to say
, though. At dinner they’d found so much to talk about, but now, in this setting, he had no words. Only feelings. Foreign, deep feelings for someone he shouldn’t be feeling anything for.

A hush descended, blanketing them in comfort. They stared out at the night,
sharing the silence. The longing, though, to touch her, to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, or to pull her onto his lap, chafed. Before long he couldn’t help squirming, itching for her.

“I should go in.” He half stood,
turned mostly toward the door. That hard-on would turn things awkward in a hurry.

“Oh. Um…”
She half stood, too. “What about ping pong? Do you want to play ping pong?”

Yes. He did. Or just sit here longer.
Or maybe just stare at her. Hell, he nearly wanted to go up to her room, grab Peter, and throw him out the window.
That’s
how crazy his thoughts had turned. The addiction to her had his heart racing and his gut clenching.

It also had his penis straining against his pants, so that wasn’t good.

“Maybe tomorrow. We’re going to be wine tasting, so I think I’ll hydrate and hit the hay.”

“Another hour’s sleep isn’t going to keep the drunk at bay.
I didn’t mean that to rhyme.”

No, but seeing your breasts freely bouncing isn’t going to keep my erection at bay, either.

“Here’s to great ideas.” He threw her a stupid wave, because he didn’t know what else to do, and opened the door.

“What time do we leave tomorrow? And who’s going to watch the kids?”

He paused halfway through the exit. “Leave at ten, I think. And my parents never go on the wine tasting trips.”

Once again he turned to leave, and once again she stopped him with a question. “But who drives?”

“A limo is coming. Weren’t you at dinner when we were talking about it?”

She fidgeted with her book. “Oh yeah. I just forgot.”

“Have you written anything for your work?”

“I wrote some notes about the beauty of this place before dinner. I’ll probably go for a run early tomorrow to
reflect a little more. I’m hoping the wine tasting goes well so I can write about that. Otherwise, I’ll need to go out to eat somewhere or something.”

“Or you could write about renting a house in the countryside
...”

“Oh.” The outline of her head t
ilted right. “That’s a great backup idea. Nice work, Ace.”

“Ace?”
He chuckled as he leaned forward, bracing his elbow against the doorframe. He felt the tip of his erection poke the wood, sending pleasing sparks up through the base of his stomach. He shut his eyes, which called up the image of her in the glowing afternoon sunshine, her face and chest glistening with sweat, her smile triumphant from getting the last out in the whiffle ball game. He cut off a moan and slipped further into the house.

“Okay, well, see you tomorrow.” Before she could ask another question, he was gone.

He had to make sure to stay away from her tomorrow. That was the only way to beat this.

Cassie checked her watch and glanced around the deserted road. Nine o’clock in the morning. She should be back by now. She’d gotten up at the crack of dawn, after dreaming of a dimple and shining muscles all night—when Peter wasn’t keeping her awake with the snoring—to head out for a run. She’d taken to the trails first, and when she worked toward a road, she took that for a while until she found another trail leading back into the countryside.

While she usually had a great sense of direction, somehow she’d gotten turned around, thinking about the
scenery around her—or other more impressive scenery burned into her brain. So now she stood at the side of a narrow road near a large oak tree, waiting almost patiently for her stupid phone to find her so it could map her back to the house.