Page 39 of A Little Bit Reckless
It felt like Wells was directing us. Bru’s fingers dug into my waist. I noticed a heat was flushing his face as he shifted his attention between Wells and me. Bru gripped my hand. “Got it.”
He certainly had, his direction firm. Bru’s fingers moved, and suddenly, Wells’s fingers were between the spaces. Like Wellswas fighting for real estate. Wells’s fingers brushed mine, and I sucked in a breath.
“Don’t let go,” Wells said, his voice an octave lower. Pressure moved into my waist, and though it was Bru’s hand, I wasn’t quite sure if the action had been made by Bru. Wells eased out a slow breath, the warm current sending tendrils of awareness across the back of my neck. “Hold her steady, bro. Firm frame.”
“I’m not letting go.” Bru’s voice had deepened too. It’d gottenhusky, and, even though he was talking to Wells, Bru was looking at me. Bru’s hand moved, and, suddenly, it was at the small of my back. This meant Wells’s hand was too, and Wells stilled.
We stopped moving.
It was like I was frozen in a Bru-and-Wells sandwich but tendrils of awareness hit me again when Bru’s finger played at the space where my top brushed my leggings. There was a sliver of skin there, and Bru managed to find it. My nipples beaded as his index finger touched my spine. This meantWells’s fingertouched my spine because both boys’ hands were definitely still together.
It was Wells that sucked in a breath behind me. His hand instantly gripped Bru’s, but he didn’t let go.
“I guess your hand can go there too,” Wells said, his voice gruff, and I fought the gasp in my throat when he pressed Bru’s hand to the small of my back. “Just like that.”
Something of a low rumble occurred in Bru’s chest, but I may have been the only one who heard it. Bru was right in front of me, and his pupils had dilated, his eyes hooded, lidded. He looked nearly sex drunk, and I wondered if that was because Wells was touching him. He was looking at me though… Bru wet his lips. “Mmhmm.”
Wells continued to put pressure into my back and swayed us again. Wells wasn’t touching me. He’d only done so that onetime, and that had obviously been an accident. “You’re doing so good.”
Warm heat moved the top of my hair. Like Wells had spoken those words downtoward me, but that wasn’t possible.
“Um, this is interesting.”
Wells put distance between Bru and me. In fact, he was halfway across the room when the three of us were joined by not one but two people. My brother, Thatcher, had spoken, and he wasn’t alone.
Aspen Davis, his girlfriend, was with him. She was beautiful, with dark skin and hip-length locs that framed her heart-shaped face. She had one of those sweet faces and also had an amazing sense of fashion I could only hope found me in the next life. Her wrap dress hugged her shapely curves, and, even with her stiletto heels, she didn’t quite reach my brother’s height. He had his arm around her, but he dropped it upon studying Wells, Bru, and me.
Thatcher’s head cocked. “What’s going on?”
My brother’s look was curious between his friends. He kept looking back and forth between Bru and Wells, but it was Wells who stepped forward. Wells pushed a hand through his hair. “Bru and I were just teaching Squeak how to dance.”
Squeak.
And just like that we were back. I was the kid sister who annoyed him. I was the pipsqueak he hated.
I was the girl who ruined his life.
Casually, Wells leaned back against the wall. He tucked his hands under his arms. “You know our parents made us take all those etiquette classes.” He lifted a shoulder. “I was just helping out I guess.”
Nothing about what he said was false, but it just shot reality into what I was to him. I just caught him in a brief moment of kindness. He’d been happy I helped him out with his math andmade me an omelet and taught me how to dance. Nothing had changed. He didn’t like me and never would.
“Yeah,” Bru said, and I didn’t know why that hurt more. Maybe because Bru didn’t hate me. But he didn’t like me either. He liked Wells, and that was why whatever weird tension had just happened between the three of us. Bru braced his arms. “Bow and I were watching a show, and she mentioned not being able to dance.”
“So you two were teaching her.” Thatcher directed a finger between both of his friends. He looked hilarious standing next to Aspen, considering his mighty size. He was built like our dad, which basically meant he was the size of a small truck. Thatcher fastened his attention to me. He had two earrings in his ears, and they dangled when he eyed me. “That true?”
I nodded. My brother smiled.
“Well, that’s good,” Thatcher said, mostly to Wells. My brother actuallygrinnedat Wells. “Really good. Nice.”
“Yeah, I told you things were different,” Wells continued. He was such a good liar, and I almost believed him.
For a second there, things did feel different. It wasn’t just that he didn’t hate me though. It felt like something else, somethingmore.
You’re dumb.
I was surprised to see Aspen. I thought she was on tour.
I smiled when she waved at me, then hugged her. I missed her. She was so sweet and made my brother happy. I was also a huge hugger, and she laughed when I got her in a big, tight one.
