Page 26 of Broken Bridges

“Fuck.” She placed her cell phone on the coffee table. “That breakup tops mine.”

“I don’t know about that.” We’d both failed in the love department. “Mine was hard to comprehend when there was no prior warning.”

“Yep. Mine was out of the blue too...kinda. We both had issues letting go of our exes.”

“Every breakup hurts. The depth just varies and the time to heal differs.”

“Yeah.” She half-giggled as she pointed to her knee. “You saw my leg, right?”

“Yes. I did.” I ran my hand up the back of her calf, over the top of her sweatpants. “And there is nothing wrong with your scars. They tell a story. They’re you. They show that you are strong and a survivor.”

“Thank you.” Her small smile hinted at gratitude. She slid her other foot up the inside of my thigh and wriggled her socked toes. “Can you give this foot a rub too? It’s feeling left out.”

“Can’t have that now, can we?” I placed her sore foot on the sofa between my spread thighs and set to work on her other foot.

Her little moans returned as I massaged the ball of her foot. Each one struck something strange inside my system. What was it about Tia that shook the wiring in my brain? She was beautiful. Broken. Intriguing. And I liked her wicked sense of humor. Was that wrong? No. So why was I unnerved? I didn’t need this shit storm to brew any further.

I rested her heel on my thigh and reached over to grab my drink off the coffee table. But as I leaned sideways, her foot slipped into my groin. Shit. My dick twitched and throbbed. If she wiggled her toes, she’d know the effect she was having on me. And that wasn’t good. I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. Should I just pretend that my cock wasn’t hardening? Sure.

Straightening, I wriggled back onto the seat and sipped my drink.

But as our gazes locked, electricity charged the air. Her expression was as blank as an unpainted canvas, but the intensity in her eyes scalded me. She slowly licked her lips.

Flexing her toes, she brushed the side of my dick.

Shit!

I froze. My heart pounded against my rib cage. I liked her touching me when I shouldn’t. I liked her looking at me when I shouldn’t. This was wrong. So, so wrong. I grabbed her foot and moved it onto the sofa. “Tia. No.”

I couldn’t mess around with Cole’s sister. I might not have believed in the dibs rule, but I didn’t need to play with fire. I couldn’t jeopardize my chances with the band. And I wasn’t into her.

The door swung open and in strode the guys, shaking the snow from their coats and beanies. They stamped the snow from their shoes and left them by the door.

I leaped to my feet and charged into the kitchen to hide the strain in my jeans.

My skin prickled as Cole glanced from me to Tia as he hung up his coat. “What have you two been up to?”

The baffled look on Tia’s face reflected the same chaos pummeling inside my head. But with a flick of her hair back over her shoulder and a sigh, she sank deeper into the sofa. No trace of our spark remained. “Lewis just gave me a foot massage to ease my sore ankle. We’ve had a couple of bourbons while we’ve waited for you to come home.”

“That all?” He questioned Tia, his eyes narrowed.

Shit. Had Cole sensed the unexplainable vibe between us when he’d walked in? Fuck.

“Yes,” Tia chided. “That’s it. I can’t do much else.”

“I’m just teasing you.” His gruff laugh filled the air as he ruffled her hair. His carefree smile returned. “Sorry you missed the slopes. The snow was awesome.”

“Fuck you,” she groaned and smiled and slapped his hand away.

Crap. Had I imagined the buzz between Tia and me? Or was she a damn good actress, convincing her brother that nothing had happened? Wait. Nothing had happened. I’d given her a foot massage. We’d talked. Her foot had slipped and accidentally hit my dick. That was nothing, right?

“Well, rack up those hot drinks, Lewis.” Slip yanked off his gloves and tossed them on the table. “We need to warm up.”

“Sure.” With aching balls, I grabbed mugs from the cupboard and begged my semi to disappear. I put a jug of milk in the microwave. While I waited for it to heat, I downed a shot of bourbon. So much for this vacation not screwing with my head.

“We missed you out there today, Tee.” Flint hung up his ski jacket. “You would’ve loved the half-pipe.”

“My skiing days are over.”

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