Forbidden Love

Chapter 16

Everybody knows that I am far from a morning person. Awakening from a serene slumber into a blurred sense of reality, is definitely not my ideal.

Luckily, I had fallen asleep in my comfortable bed last night and not anywhere ridiculous. Swiftly, I yanked the covers back and swung my legs out of bed. I didn't exactly remember a lot of what happened last night, besides the fact that the house got destroyed. My head swirled at the thought of cleaning the house all day.

It's fun to drink and forget about all the problems that are heading your way but you'll soon wake up and reality will hit you ten times harder.

I filled my bath up with boiling hot water and stripped naked before climbing in. My skin burned red as I dozed off. What exactly happened last night? Why do I have this awful feeling that I did a lap dance for Aiden? Shit. How did I let it get that far?

After scrubbing my body clean, I quickly washed my hair and conditioned it before pulling out the plug and stepped out the bath.

Today felt like a lazy day. With that thought in mind, I grabbed my extra large hoodie with a pair of yoga pants and slipped them on before applying my usual amount of make-up. I scooped my wet hair up into a messy bun and headed downstairs.

I was horrified when I got to the bottom of the staircase. Red plastic cups littered the floor, along with vodka bottles. Cigarette buds lay on the dinning room table, along with their lighters.

Dylan had passed out on the couch, shirtless. My eyes trailed down his muscular figure until they reached his ass. Damn, his ass was perfect. Better than mine. His arm hung limply off the couch with a red cup held firmly in his hand.

I shuffled to the kitchen and grabbed two pans out from the cupboard. There was no way I was going to clean this mess up by myself while he slept all day. Making my way back to the couch, I slammed the two pans together. "Wake up Dylan!" I yelled and banged them together once more.

His eyes shot open in a panic. He hastily sat up and fell off the couch, knocking his head on the coffee table with a loud thud. Frowning, he massaged the spot on his head and glared daggers at me. "What the hell is wrong with you?" His fingers slid down to his bruised lip, brushing against the ring. His mouth parted as his tongue slid across it. "I have a piercing?" He asked in disbelief.

"Get up." I threw a broom at him, which he caught. "This house is a mess."

He reluctantly got up and gazed around the house. "What's up with you this morning?" He teased. "They only coming back in like two days."

"Yeah and are you going to explain to them how Lisa's vase broke?"

He smirked. "I have it all figured out." Bending down, he started gathering all the cups and staking them up.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah," he grinned, "You nocked it over when you came home drunk on Friday night." He smiled.

"Ha, very funny." He released a breathy laugh before chucking a filthy cup at me.

°°°

Two hours later, when we finally got the house back to normal, we plonked down onto the couch, exhausted.

"Well, I'm gonna take a shower." Dylan stated before selecting some music and disappeared up stairs to his bedroom.

I was suddenly very aware that I was going to be spending the entire weekend with Dylan in this house, alone. What are we going to talk about for two days straight?

I'd noticed boxes of puzzles stacked on one of the shelves in the store room. I'd never done a puzzle before, and I was intrigued by the thought. It seemed like a thousand pieces would be distracting enough. I wouldn't have to think of anything other than finding the right ones to fit together.

I chose a box with a mountainscape displayed across it and sat down, pulling the coffee table until it was placed against the couch and spread out the pieces.

Dylan emerged from upstairs smelling like the axe spray he would normally use, his wet black hair swept back, like he'd just run his fingers through it to stile it. I shifted my eyes down when he caught me looking at him and continued flipping the pieces over.

"I haven't done a puzzle in years." Dylan said, standing beside me and picking up the box cover.

"I've never done one." I admitted.

"Really?" He asked surprised. "Want help? Or do you feel like putting a thousand of pieces together all by yourself?"

"You can help if you want."

Dylan settled in on the cushion next to me with his legs crossed. He began separating the edge pieces from the middle pieces. When he leaned forward, his knee brushed against my thigh, sending a shiver along my skin.

"You okay?" Dylan asked, noticing my stiffened posture.

"Uh, yeah." I choked, coughing to clear my throat.

We spent the afternoon in silence except for the music that filled the room. We slid pieces around the table, working in unison without an utterance of communication. I was very aware of his every move. Heat floated off him when he reached across the space between us, his long, slender fingers connecting pieces, pausing to press the edge of one against his full lips as his eyes narrowed in contemplation, searching for its placement. The skin along my arm hummed when he'd brush against it, reaching around and over my hands as we shuffled through the pieces.

"Hungry?" His voice broke through the silence, making me jump.

"Um, yeah I could eat." I raised my arms up and over my head, stretching them as far as they would go. My back was awfully stiff from being hunched over for hours.

Dylan cautiously moved the table away and stood up, bending his back until he heard the satisfying click of his bones. His shirt crept up to reveal a hint of the defined muscle beneath. Calvin Klein underwear hung just below his v-line. I caught myself looking and turned my head. What is wrong with me?

"I think I will go for a run." I needed time to detox from being around Dylan all day.

"I'll throw something on the grill," he announced. "We'll eat when you get back."

I disappeared down the beach, leaving him on the deck, heating up the grill. I hated the effect Dylan had on me. What made it worse was the fact that he was my step brother.

You can't hide forever.
I dug deeper into the sand and forced myself forward, needing to silence his voice. I fought for the control that continued to evade me with each pant, but even as I stumbled to a stop, I knew I couldn't outrun who I really was. A coward.

"You really push yourself." Dylan noted as I stood below the deck, breathing heavily. "I'm cooking chicken. Thought we could make sandwiches. Is that okay?"

"Sure." I responded, trying to regain my breath. I trotted up the steps and kicked my sandy sneakers off on the deck. Continuing into the spare bedroom to shower, I hoped to rinse away the emotions that were twisting inside me.

°°°

We sat on the deck with our attention on the ocean. Suprisingly, he was comfortable in the silence and so was I. It was as if he had a different side to him when we were alone. A more toned down personality.

Sitting next to him without the distraction of a conversation made me all too aware of everything about him: his relaxed posture. His effortless strength his body exuded. There was an energy between us, wrapped in silence, that communicated in a way I had never experienced before.

It was intoxicating.