Page 68 of Can't Be Love

“We have an eight o’clock class tomorrow, but we should be back around ten. Just make yourselves at home. The kitchen’s stocked. I went shopping this afternoon. I’m so excited you’re here,” Jenna said, hugging me.

Chase and Jenna had come home for the summer. They both were working at Westin Foundation, and Jenna had started making a name for herself taking portraits—families, couples, and especially children. She was so passionate about her photography that I often envied her.

She and I spoke on the phone several times a week, which was way more than I called Chase, and I was happy to add her to my list of sisters. I knew she would be confused, and maybe even a little hurt that I hadn’t mentioned Thomas to her, but I was also certain she would be happy for me, for us.

It seemed weird to think we were in Chase’s home. My baby brother shouldn’t be old enough to have settled down and bought a house, yet here we were. It was totally surreal.

As I busied myself, unpacking and us settled into the room, I knew Thomas was watching me.

“What?” I finally asked.

“You really didn’t tell them?”

“I wanted to surprise them,” I defended.

“Oh, you certainly did that. Poor guy didn’t know what to do when I walked in.”

I laughed. “He’s family. He’ll be fine.”

I did put my foot down and refuse to have sex in my baby brother’s house when Thomas tried to make a move my way. I just couldn’t. Instead, I snuggled up next to him. I liked using his chest as my personal pillow. He sighed contentedly and was soon snoring. I let the sounds of his breathing lull me off to sleep.

The next thing I remembered was the glorious feel of Thomas’s tongue. That man had a magical tongue and I was the lucky girl who got to wake to it every morning. I moaned and stretched as my body convulsed in shock waves of ecstasy. Every night I went to sleep wondering if he’d wake me again the next morning and so far, he hadn’t disappointed. I had never been a morning person, but it was by far my favorite time of day now.

“How long you think you’ll be able to keep this up?” I asked.

He leaned down and kissed me. “How about for the rest of your life?”

“You are too good to be true,” I said, running my hands through his hair. A conscious thought began to upload to my brain and I remembered where we were. I shot up and looked around the room. “Oh my God, are they home?” I mouthed.

He looked at the time on the clock next to the bed and shook his head. “It’s nine, so they should be at school still. Want me to hunt up some breakfast?”

“I have a better idea,” I said, waggling my eyebrows at him and pulling him closer to me.

My breathing was still erratic as we lay naked in bed after a morning quickie when I heard Chase’s Jeep coming up the driveway.

“Shit, they’re back,” Thomas said.

“My thoughts exactly,” I confessed. “I thought we’d get at least one more round in.”

“Dammit, Lily. I swear you’re going to be the death of me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, at least you’ll die happy,” I said as I got out of bed and started to dress, tossing him clothes and loving the simple things in life, like just seeing our clothes in the same drawer.

Our lives had intertwined so quickly, yet in some ways they’d always been that way. We just hadn’t known it yet.

Jenna and Chase were just walking in when we descended the stairs, hand-in-hand.

Chase stared up at us, still looking confused. “You know, Jenna had to convince me this morning that I hadn’t dreamed this up,” he said, pointing to my hand linked with my mate’s. “I just don’t know how this could have happened, and you never even bothered to tell me.”

I sighed, and Thomas threw his hands up in surrender. “This is a sibling issue, slugger. He’s your brother, talk to him.”

“Have you two eaten yet?” Jenna asked as we both shook our heads.

“Um, okay, I’m going to make breakfast then.”

“I’ll help,” Thomas offered, letting me go and following Jenna into the kitchen.

“He’s your brother now too, traitor,” I mumbled under my breath, but all it did was earn me a wink before Thomas disappeared from sight.

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