Page 4 of The Brothers Next Door

Chapter 2

Nate

I’d been eyeing Layla and her friend for a little bit, deciding which one would be warming my bed tonight before making my move. While Layla’s friend looked like she would be a good romp, there was something about that dark-haired vixen that drew me in. Her long, black hair flowed halfway down her back and shone under the lights. And her body, hot damn, it was smoking. That red dress she was wearing accented the curves of her breasts and full, round ass. She was a little on the thick side, but I loved a woman who had curves in all the right places.

But she seemed a little uptight, and she was clearly uncomfortable being here. And there was a sadness in her eyes when she looked at me, despite the smile on her lips.

I stopped on my way back to her, at roughly the halfway point. Was I taking advantage of her? Maybe she’d just been dumped and was just looking for a rebound lay. Did it matter? It never mattered to me before. If she ended up in my bed by the end of the evening it was her choice, not mine. I was hardly forcing her into anything, and was only giving her the option of having a night to remember.

But nothing more…

She smiled at me, catching my gaze. When her friend noticed me heading towards them, she scampered off before I reached their table. Sliding onto the stool beside Layla, I passed her the drink I’d picked up for her.

“I was told one of the cardinal rules of meeting people in bars was to never allow them to get you a drink without watching it being poured,” she said with a teasing gleam in her eyes as she fingered the dainty straw.

“That’s a good rule, but I ran out of roofies on the last girl I tried to pick up so I only have my charm and conversational abilities to get you into bed tonight.” Holding my breath, I waited to see if she’d laugh or be offended. With the chick sitting across from me, I guessed it could go either way. But that was part of the appeal. If there wasn’t at least a little bit of a challenge, it wasn’t as satisfying.

For a moment, her expression was unreadable, but then a wide grin broke out onto her lips and she laughed. “I’m not sure if I should read you as being cocky or confident.”

Giving her my patented sheepish grin that caused dimples to appear at my cheeks, I shrugged. Women loved my smile; nine times out of ten they fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. “Perhaps a little of both.”

“I just got out of a long-term relationship.”

“I just got out of numerous short-term relationships, and a few one night only events. Breaking up hurts, that’s why I don’t get involved.”

She lowered her mouth to the straw and took a long drink, closing her eyes as if savouring the fruity flavour. Boy, did I have some ideas of where I’d like to have those lips. With a little bit of luck I’d be making those fantasies a reality within the next few hours. Seeing her on her knees worshipping my cock would be a beautiful sight indeed.

“That’s a pretty sad way of looking at things.”

“Why sad?” I was genuinely perplexed. The last feeling I would have expected a woman to have for me was pity. There was nothing worthy of a person’s pity. I’d made a mistake many years ago, when I was young and foolish, of falling into the love trap, and that just wouldn’t happen again.

Lowering the glass and setting it back on the table, she shrugged. “Going from woman to woman with no real connection or bond beyond the physical. Forgoing the intense connection that comes with being with someone, for what, a parade of women and meaningless sex? It’s sad.”

Her words hit a nerve that I didn’t even think existed and my jaw clenched. This wasn’t turning out nearly as well as I expected it to. I wanted to get laid and feel good, not delve deep into my deepest emotions and lay them out on the table. If I wanted to do that I’d go to a fucking shrink.

My eyes scanned the crowd behind her; there were tons of women to choose from. “Well…” I smiled at her again, but my smile wasn’t nearly as bright. “Thanks for the chat.” As I turned to leave, I was surprised to feel her delicate hand wrapping around my upper arm, holding me back.

“Wait. Nate, hold up.” Her grasp loosened as I turned to face her again, the semi-hard-on that had been shrinking suddenly filling out once more. “I could really use some stress relief right now.”

My eyes narrowing, I stared hard at her to see if she was serious or just playing some sort of game. She looked serious. There was also pain in her eyes. Many people might have considered me a pig for my behavior, but even a pig like me had limits and blatantly taking advantage was one of those limits—no matter of fucking sexy this woman before me was.

“All I can offer is tonight, baby.” Reaching out to her, I twirled a lock of her hair around my index finger. Damn, her hair was like satin. It would feel amazing draped across my thighs. She closed her eyes and I could hear her sighing, despite the loud music blocking out the sound. “That’s all I ever offer.” Broken or not, she was an adult and from what I could tell, not intoxicated. She was capable of making an informed decision.

There was a slight hesitation, but it was so slight I was easily able to dismiss it as my imagination. My dick had made it easy to overlook a lot of things in the past.

“Then how about we get out of here?” she finally said.

“You wish is my command.”

~*~TT~*~

Layla

“Excuse the moving boxes. I moved here without much notice and had to settle for this place until I could find a new one.” Truthfully, I would have preferred going to his place. This apartment—shit, the entire building—was a complete dive. I fully expected to come home one day and find a homeless person camped out in the lobby. I hadn’t yet, but eventually… Luckily, this was my last week in this shithole.

“It’s cool.”

He didn’t seem to be bothered by the building or the disarray of the apartment. It made me wonder about his place, to be honest. Or perhaps he was so horny that he didn’t care. Most likely the latter.

---