“Luca, you’re way the fuck off base. I’m not trying to bang your sister.”

  Not tonight, anyway.

  “Shut up and just let me say this. You fuck my sister and hurt her, I’ll fuck you over. Are we clear?”

  I throw my hands up in the air. “Crystal. Got it. She’s not even my type,” I lie.

  She’s exactly my type.

  “The way this ends between you and Lexi is with either a diamond ring or a black eye.” He pauses to let that sink in. “We both know you won’t commit, so lay off before I have to beat your ass.”

  The crunch of tires on gravel distracts me as our buddy Desh Martin rolls up in his Honda civic. In all the panic I forgot he was planning to come early with the booze supply, curtesy of his older cousin.

  Luca notices Desh’s arrival out of the kitchen window, too.

  He comes around the counter and pats me on the shoulder. “Now let's get fucked up tonight, because I do not want to think about this day ever again. My sister almost died. Then, I had to threaten my best friend off of her. Overall, worst day of my life.” He shakes his head as if that’ll wipe his memory clear, then puts a cold Coors to his lips. “Let's get the fire raging before people start showing up.”

  Desh walks in a few minutes later.

  “What’s got you two fuckers in a shit mood? Someone run over your cat or something?”

  “Something like that,” I say as Luca and I walk out through the double doors that lead to the patio.

  Luca turns to me as Desh trails further behind.

  “Business as usual, nothing happened.”

  “Nothing happened,” I repeat, but too much has happened.

  How do I move forward after this? Can I honesty ignore these new feelings for the beautiful girl, laying upstairs with an ice pack and thirty stitches on her forehead.

  If I had a choice, I wouldn’t be preparing for a party tonight. I’d be upstairs with Lexi, laying as close to her as she’d let me.

  I’d stay awake all night listening to her breathing, reminding myself that we made it out of a bad situation. That I was given a second chance to see what’s been in front of me all these years.

  Tomorrow will bring new complicated scenarios. After all, Luca is right; I have plans. Plans that don’t include a girlfriend.

  Football is LIFE.

  What will it be like now that my eyes are open to Lexi? Can I continue to stay at the Benson’s house night after night, week after week, as I’ve done for the last ten years, knowing that Lexi is only a couple doors down?

  Will I be able to resist not sneaking into her room at night. Can I honestly keep my resolve when she walks around the house in Chicago in her thin, short pajama bottoms.

  The idea that the dam won’t break one day, is becoming less and less realistic. One day I will snap. One day, I won’t be able to keep my hands to myself.

  How could I have missed this?

  How could I have missed her?

  Chapter Two

  One year later

  Lexi

  As I stand at the end of the long dock that jets out from the beach of our own slice of paradise, I set my gaze out on a small sailboat miles away from our private alcove and admire the weather.

  I’m brought out of my comfortable silence as I hear loud footsteps quickly approaching. The steps get louder as the dock begins to bob slightly with the additional weight.

  As I turn to face the noise, I see Tucker Evans running full speed towards me with my brother, Luca, a few strides behind him. Tucker dips his shoulders down like a linebacker preparing for a tackle.

  My heart picks up pace quickly. Excitement blooms and a giggle barely passes through my lips as Tucker eats up the short distance between us in a matter of seconds.

  He scoops me up by my waist, laying me over his shoulder. He takes four more steps and leaps off the dock into the water— me along with him. I scream before we hit the water. Luca jump in too, with a large swan floaty wrapped around his waist.

  I should have concerned myself with how I was going to hit the water. At the very least, I should have remembered to hold my breath. But my mind was consumed with the thought of how Tucker didn’t even slow down after picking up my body and tossing it over his shoulder. As if I was as light as a feather.

  I come up for air almost instantly. I’m the first one to resurface. I wait for the two boys to reemerge, ready to unleash my disapproving squeals and thorough splashing fit.

  Only Luca breaks through the glassy lake top. He throws his arm on top of the girly swan floaty and then pulls his body on top with his arms wrapped around the swan’s neck. I look at Luca and we both laugh.

  Adrenaline still coursing through my body, I suck my bottom lip between my teeth to keep the wide smile from forming. A smile I’m worried might give away that I actually love Tucker’s crazy antics.

  But when Tucker doesn’t emerge right away from the deep green water below, my chest squeezes tight.

  I can sense Luca is feeling the same way; a little uneasy at the absence of Tucker. We both know what this means. Luca looks at me and grins. He starts singing the Jaws’ music score. “Dodo, dodo, dodo…”

  “Stop!” I say, laughing and splashing at him. But he’s too far way for my splashes to have any impact.

  “Hey!” Luca shouts as his swan is tipped over and he flops back into the lake.

  “Ok, Tucker, you can stop now!” I yell, looking around me as if I can see through the dark, emerald green waters.

  Luca swims after his floaty that’s had enough and is trying to make a break for it.

  Tucker’s been under too long. He’s always been able to hold his breath longer than Luca and me. And since he’s spent every year at our lake house vacationing with us since my brother and Tucker met in first grade, each year he seems to build up his lung capacity.

  Being the youngest of our threesome and the subject of so much of Tucker’s teasing, I know I won’t make it out of the lake without getting taken under. The anticipation is why my heart is beating, right? I feel an odd sensation around my ankles where I know Tucker’s hands will be at any moment. Is it anticipation or is it something else? It’s as if my body has memorized the exact print on each one of his fingertips. Like a fingerprint scanner on a locked door. Once they connect, something opens inside me.

  A second later, I feel the water swishing around me. I can’t deny there’s a small instance of unrealistic fear of an unknown fish with large teeth the size of a small boat swimming around me. Before I can think too long on the impossible, a strong-arm wraps around my waist and Tucker breaks through the surface. He tries to regain his breath but he’s smiling at the look on my face. I’m sure it’s quite threatening.

  “Tucker Brennen Evans! Don’t you even think about it!”

  I push against his chest. His strong, capable, and drool-worthy chest. The action only earns me a tighter squeeze. The sensation of his tighter grip causes tingles from my belly all the way down to my toes. It feels like a reward instead of a punishment.

  His mouth is close. His full lips near enough to lean in and touch with my own.

  I shake the idea instantly.

  Absolutely no way am I going to allow this stunt to result in the usual giggling and googly eyes Tucker is used to receiving from girls he has done this with every summer for years.

  After a few seconds, Tucker’s flirty smile dissolves and his face turns serious. It’s a look I’ve seen a million times and always while he’s holding onto his next victim. Victim being the girl who falls for the cat and mouse game that ensues for a few days until Tucker stops showing interest. Afterward, the poor girl usually looks like she has experienced an extreme sense of whiplash.

  Tucker doesn’t do relationships. It’s a known fact around the high school campus. It doesn’t stop every female in our school district from hoping to be King Arthur- pulling the sword from the stone.

  Good luck, ladies.

  His eyes dart to my lips for a split second. When his eyes connect with mine again, they’re filled with a look I’ve never seen directed at me, or anyone else, for that matter. They are full of longing and loss. I’ve only seen the look a couple of times; when he talks about his mom who passed when he and Luca were in third grade.

  “Tucker.” I say it softly, almost too afraid that speaking will break the connection.

  Sure enough, his eyes sober and his serious stare turns into a mischievous smile.

  “Hold your breath,” he says as he sucks in a large breath and pulls us both under the water.

  I try to squirm out of his arms but I’m no match against the hours Tucker puts in at the gym.

  Soon we submerge, and he pulls me down with him to the bottom of the lake. It’s only a few feet below us. Tucker pushes off the loamy bottom and jets us back to the surface, releasing me as we break through the water.

  “Evans!” I yell at him, trying to make my way towards the dock before he gets any more ideas.

  Luca’s already standing on the dock, drying off with a towel and watching for me. Tucker sails right past me with his long arms and powerful strokes, cutting through the water. The kid should be a mermaid instead of a footballer.

  “You’re slow, Baby Benson. Come on, catch up,” he eggs on.

  “Shut up,” I shoot back.

  He laughs. He’s enjoying this entirely too much.

  Tucker makes it to the dock before me. He waits at the bottom of the metal steps for me to arrive.

  Tucker is my tormentor on the regular and Luca is the overprotective brother, trying to get me out of trouble instead of in it. However, they both have a strong “brotherly protection” disposition when it comes to my safety.

  I’d like to remind Tucker just how much I’m not his sister. But I know my place in Tucker’s life. I’m not the girl he’ll see as dating material – I’m the best friends little sister, now and forever. I’ve come to terms with it. I’ve even made peace with it.

  “Weak Lex. Weak,” he says as I finally reach the dock.

  Tucker pulls my waist to him; practically seating me in his lap. His heart is beating a mile a minute as my back connects with his rippled chest. He hoists me up to Luca, who takes my hand. Is this necessary? NO…no, it really isn’t. But the accident from last year still seems to have them rattled.

  In all honesty, I don’t remember much except Tucker pulling me out of the lake and then carrying me to the truck. Luca drove us to the ER at record speed. But I have no real memory of how the accident occurred and neither of them like to talk about it.

  Ever since then, climbing the stairs is something they refuse to let me do on my own. Luca takes my hand and pulls me up to the dock as Tucker guards the bottom of the stairs in case I fall. The absurdity! But I’m past arguing anymore. It’s a waste of my breath at this point.

  “I’ve got it from here,” I say over my shoulder to Tucker.

  His eyes catch mine and there’s something in the way he’s looking at me but he glances quickly at Luca and whatever was there before is gone, as quickly as it appeared.

  “Yeah, I’ve got her Tuck,” Luca shoots back as he makes sure I’m stable on the dock before letting go of my hand.

  I walk to the end of the dock and head for the shore. I grab the few items I had left on the dock before being sacked by the starting high school running back and thrown into the water. My ear buds, sunglasses, and tanning oil are right where I left them on a freshly washed towel.

  I lay the towel out in line with the upcoming sunset and prepare my things for easy access to my fingertips.

  The sight of Tucker catches my eye. He’s standing still at the end of the dock, dripping wet and staring at me.

  My heart twinges. I wonder how long he’s been watching. And more importantly, why? He looks deep in thought.

  If this still has to do with the stair incident last year, he really needs to let it go. I already have an overly protective brother. Do I need two? Seems a bit redundant.

  Disappointment attempts to rise in me at the thought of the way Tucker probably sees me. Not a blip on his radar. But like I said, I’m at peace with it.

  Right?

  I give him a quick smile and continue with my task. I look back down as I kneel onto the towel to adjust my perfectly organized sunset viewing station. I’m suddenly aware that while I’m kneeling on all fours to flip the far corner of my towel back into place, I’ve given Tucker an eye-full of my breasts. Breasts that are now trying to make an escape from the tight-fitting bikini top that now barely covers my chest. I really need to buy a newer one; this one is a couple years old.

  I don’t need to look up to confirm whether he’s looking at me. I can feel his gaze still. The heat on my cheeks is starting to burn from the attention.

  “Tucker! Let’s get all this lake gear packed away tonight. I don’t want to do it tomorrow before we head home.” Luca yells from up the hill as he starts to reorganize the shed to make room.

  In my peripheral vision I see Tucker snap awake from wherever his mind had gone. He jumps into action to help.

  “Yeah. On my way,” he says as he jogs off the dock towards Luca.

  I put in my earbuds and drift off into a world all my own. To a world where there are no confusing heart palpitations or sexy stares from a boy you’ve known all your life. A boy who’s too old for you. Too experienced for you. And too hot for you.

  Now, completely alone with my thoughts, I finally convince myself that I am making something out of nothing with Tucker.

  That is right up until Tucker’s six foot-one stature and broad shoulders block the sun with his back. My eyes scan the hard curves of his six pack and then settle on the reflection of me in my teeny bikini on his Ray Ban aviators.

  Ok, I’ll give myself a compliment.

  I look damn good.

  Chapter Three

  Lexi

  “Hi Tuck,” I say, my ear buds still in my ear

  He tries to say something, but Sublime’s “Doin’ Time” is blaring in my ears. I can only see his lips moving.

  “What?” I ask as I pull one rose gold ear plug out of my ear.

  He smiles.

  “Should be a good one tonight.”

  He gestures behind him towards the location of the upcoming sunset.

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  I smile as I start to put my ear bud back in my ear. Before I can drown him out with the end of the song, he takes a step closer.

  “What are you listening to?”

  “My usual playlist.” I grin.

  Tucker’s always given me a hard time about my music choices. He says I listen to “stoner” music. It’s a far cry from the country music he listens to. Just another wave in an ocean of our incompatibility. As if I needed anything more incompatible than him being my brother’s best friend.

  Who dreams of dating their buddy’s kid sister? And better yet, why would they want to when they could have any girl in our school, or from any neighboring districts. I’m not exaggerating about that in the slightest.

  He pulls off his sunglasses and his gorgeous hazel eyes peer at me.

  “That stuff’s shit.” He grins and then looks down at the little space next to me on the towel. ”Can I listen?”

  “Well now that you put it that way, sure why not,” I say sarcastically.

  He bends down to occupy part of the towel. I scoot over quickly, a little surprised he took my last comment as an invitation. Can’t he just get his own towel? Wouldn’t he rather grab a lawn chair so he can keep drinking that Coors he’s nursing?

  He plops his beer in the sand and lays next to me. It’s a large towel but it requires us to lay shoulder to shoulder. He pulls his arm across his massive body and reaches for the ear bud I still have in my hand.

  He untangles it from my fingers as his touch warms my entire body. I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. Seriously, since when have I ever cared that Tucker is hot? I would have to be blind not to notice but I thought I’ve done a decent job of keeping him in the brother category in my mind.

  He works the ear bud into his ear, as we lay there without another word. The breeze tickles my skin as we watch the colors of the sunset paint the sky.

  A new song starts up and my stomach jolts as I know what’s coming next on the play list.

  Please don’t let this be awkward.

  311 “Love Song” comes on…I close my eyes and try to get out of my head.

  Why should I care if I’m listening to this song with Tucker? Luca and I have listened to this a million times.

  The sky starts to change. The beautiful oranges and reds are beginning to reach out into the sky and Tuckers fingers brush against my hand.

  A rush hits my chest, and my blood starts pumping faster than I think it ever has in my life. My fingers heat up, and for reasons I don’t understand, a rogue shiver shoots through me.

  It doesn’t mean anything!

  His head turns towards me, and I can feel his eyes on me again. I’m pretty sure I’m stress sweating. What is happening?

  My hand plays dead. I don’t move a single finger. There’s no way in hell I’m making any assumptions as to what Tucker is attempting to do. Is he just messing with me? Another joke? If I reach out for his hand too, and he pulls away, I’m confident that I’ll die of mortification.

  He doesn’t pull away though. Instead, his fingertips slowly move in and begin to wrap themselves between my motionless ones.

  I don’t want to look at him, but I can’t help it. I have to read his face.

  Reluctantly, I turn my head to face him. As our eyes lock, he glances down at my lips like he did earlier in the lake. He sucks in his lower lip and a million butterflies fill my stomach. But I can’t figure out what his facial expression means. I slowly slip my hand out of his, desperate to keep my now sweaty hands to myself.

  “Lexi…” he whispers.

  He pulls himself to his side. His huge six-foot body hovers over me slightly. His perfectly toned chest. His strong arms. That beautiful olive tanned skin he seems to hold all year. Even in the dreary cold winter months of Chicago.

 

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