Page 2 of Off Limits

“My mom’s still so broken. I don’t blame her really, because they’d been married almost thirty years. Suddenly, he’s just…gone.” Part of me feels like I should have more emotion behind this sentiment. Instead, I feel numb. “Thank God for Chelsea. I really don’t know what I’d have done without her this past year.”

Feeling a squeeze on my hand, I turn my dark brown eyes to him. “What do you say we have some fun the rest of the summer? Try to take your mind off things?”

My heart flutters when he sayswe. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“What are your thoughts on things like, I don’t know, skydiving?”

My eyes widen. “Um, not so good.”

He chuckles. “How about bungee jumping?”

“I’m sorry, have you met me?” My eyes narrow, the fingers of my free hand pressing against my chest as I lean forward slightly in my chair.

I’ve never known Lochlyn to be that much of a daredevil. In fact, I can’t think of a time he’s done anything he shouldn’t do, aside from attending a party or two. Right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was just aiming to make the conversation lighthearted.

His chuckle turns into a laugh. My pulse speeds up at the sound. “Okay, so no crazy stunts. How about the shore? Would you want to drive down to shore one day?”

“A beach day sounds great, but I’m not sure I should leave my mom. I told her I’d be at the store every day to help out.”

He nods, running his fingertips along his bottom lip, drawing my attention to his mouth and how much I wish he’d press it against mine. Heat crawls through my body, and I just hope it doesn’t reach my cheeks as I think about what his lips might feel like.

I shake my head at the thought.Off limits. There’s also the glaring fact that he doesn’t look at me that way.

Pulling his fingers away from his mouth, he throws his hand in the air. “Welp, I guess that just means we’ll have to find things to do at home, like lounging by the pool. Maybe a few parties…?”

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

He nods. “I know, you’re not much of the party girl. But it could be worth trying, at least this summer while you’re feeling off.”

“Lounging by the pool sounds nice.” Especially because then I’ll get to see him without his shirt on. The tattoos he’s gotten since he turned eighteen make him even sexier. Especially the lyrics he has scrawled along the side of his left rib cage. It was the first tattoo he got, quickly adding other lyrics on his inner right bicep, and a sword down the back of his left forearm.

Damn it. I shake my head again, trying to disperse the thoughts, as though they’d tumble to the ground in chunks of words. “Okay, I don’t want to talk about me anymore. Tell me about you, about school.”

His hand pulls against mine slightly as his shoulder rises and falls. “Not much to tell, really.”

“Oh, come on. You just finished your second year. What’s it like?”

“It’s fun. It’s nice to have fewer responsibilities. My dad can’t check every report card for grades or call the teachers. The freedom’s nice, the parties are pretty awesome.”

“And the girls?” I’m painfully aware of Lochlyn’s reputation as being “a sex god,” so even though I asked the question, I don't really wish to know his answer. According to the rumors, which he has neither confirmed nor denied, he slept his way through the entire girls’ volleyball and field hockey teams, andearnedthis title from them at school. I’m sure college has been no different.

My insides twist as he smirks. “The girls are nice.” He shoots me a sideways glance, causing heat to rise to my face. I’m not sure how much Chelsea has shared with him in terms of my entirely nonexistent sexual history. She’d told me she keeps me out of most conversations. But I don't believe her. Not wanting to know more, I don’t press. Lochlyn and I are worlds apart in this area.

He can have any girl he wants, he knows it, and often does if the rumors are to be believed. And he doesn’t want me. Why would he? I’m his little sister’s best friend. She’s also forbidden it. She’s told us both, several times, that she is absolutely not at all okay with it.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to enjoy his presence—one that I’m acutely aware is missing when he’s at college—while I have it. He is the star of my dreams, after all.

We sit watching the flames for a few minutes, the only sounds the crackling of wood and the occasional distant chirp of a cricket.

“Can I tell you something I haven’t told anybody?” My voice is so quiet I’m not quite sure he heard me until he intertwines our fingers. For a moment, I stop breathing and turn to look at him. His eyes are on me, waiting for me to share.

I take a deep breath, preparing myself. “I feel horrible for thinking this, but I almost feel like it’s better my dad’s gone. He was in so much pain, so miserable. It was awful seeing him like that.”

“I remember.” Lochlyn had come by every time he was home while my dad was sick. Since we’d grown up together, our families had always been close. He came to see him before he left for school, just a few weeks before my dad passed.

Tears spill from my eyes without warning. I reach up to wipe them away, but Lochlyn beats me to it, leaning over in his chair, keeping his hand in mine while also gently swiping a thumb across my cheek.

It may just be my imagination, but his hand hovers against my jaw for a moment before he settles back in his seat.

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