Page 19 of Trustfall

“Okay, touché.” He takes a small step toward me. “I’m not mad, anyway. I don’t mind being objectified by you.”

“Again with the flirting. Luke, you’re driving me cra?—”

One minute we're arguing, and the next, his lips are on mine. Our mouths connect in a soft, gentle kiss. It's cohesive, like two pieces of a puzzle finally coming together. But just as quickly as it begins, it's over. His lips leave mine, and I instantly feel the loss of his warmth. Not just the physical warmth of his lips, but the warmth of his soul. Because somehow, during the mere seconds we were connected, I felt his entire being flood my veins.

“I—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” He backs away a step.

“Then why did you?”

“Because I’ve wanted to do that for the past ten years,” he mumbles.

Ten years?Ten years?

Luke Collins has wanted to kiss me since I was fourteen? He can’t possibly mean that. Or maybe I didn’t hear him correctly.

“Okay, buddy, I think that’s the blood loss talking. Maybe you need to sit down again.”

“It’s not the blood loss,” he mutters.

I gaze up into his eyes. Gram always said eyes never lie, and Luke's are honest—two blue pools of pure, naked, vulnerable honesty. I take a step forward before I can think twice. It feels like I'm outside my body, looking down at the scene from above. I close my eyes as our lips meet again. He opens his mouth, and our tongues intertwine, the kiss no longer gentle or soft, but heated, messy—possessive. His hand slides up, tugging off the elastic in my hair, and it falls in waves around his face. Then he's sitting on the chair, pulling me onto his lap. I straddle him, tracing soft circles on his bare back. Something hard digs into my belly as his erection strains against his sweatpants.

“We should stop,” I say, breaking the kiss. Disappointment flashes across his face.

“This definitely counts as strenuous activity,” I tease with a giggle, but it doesn’t quite meet my face.

“Yeah—” he starts to say.

And then there’s the sound of a door opening.

A latch undoing.

A slight creak.

A voice.

“Hey, man. You here? Sorry it took me so long to stop by.”

8

EMORY

I swingmy leg over Luke's body and climb off him, like he's a bomb about to detonate. Grabbing the elastic from the floor, I tie my hair back into a ponytail as Luke gets up, adjusts himself, and hurries toward the door. Luckily, Nate didn't open it all the way. I suppose he has some limits. If he had opened the door, he would have seen his little sister straddling his half-naked best friend.

“SG?” Nate calls again. “You decent? Can I come in? I tried knocking. I’m picking up my sister for lunch and thought I would pop in and say hi.”

I glance around the corner and spot my brother, all six foot three of him, standing by the door. He’s a dead ringer for my dad—same jet-black hair, same blue-grey eyes, same lean build. Although Nate’s put on more muscle over the years. When he’s not working or annoying the ever-loving shit out of me, he’s either running or lifting weights. And, of course, he’s got that same disapproving scowl my father has mastered. He lost the childish twinkle he had when we were kids—the one he had when he wandered off to read comic books in the middle of the city or when he taught me how to climb a tree so I could see the world how birds see it. He was always so curious—carefree. But after Opa died and Gram went away, he hardened. He grew up too quickly. The only time I saw that spark again was when he came home from college one year. He’d finally let someone see behind his walls. It ended badly, I’m guessing. He never talked to me about it. Anyway, I’m pretty sure Nate would be disturbed to know how alike he and my father are, so I won’t bring it to his attention.Yet.

Luke grabs a shirt from a laundry basket and throws it on before he opens the door all the way.

“Nate. Hey, man,” he says as he goes in for a bro-hug-back-pat combo.

“It’s been too long, SG,” Nate says playfully, slapping Luke on the back.

“I know, I know. Hey, speaking of your sister…” Luke says, oh so casually. “She’s, uh—here.”

“What?” I hear Nate’s guard go up instantly.

“Hey, big bro.” I peek out from my hiding spot in the corner of the kitchen and walk over to them.

---