Page 3 of A Touch of Heaven

Nate walks over to me, grinning—those dimples melting my heart—and raises his fingers to my cheek, pulling a loose strand of my hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear softly.

“You’re away with the fairies again, beautiful,” he whispers, staring at me intensely, keeping his hand on my hair. Those bright blue eyes search deep into my soul, but for what, I’ll never know. I smile, inhaling him as he keeps me close; he smells like sunshine and fall. I know it sounds stupid, but you know when you’re outside as the summer winds down, but it’s still beautiful weather, and the first leaves begin to fall? Well, that’s when you know fall is here, and you can smell it in the air, and well, that’s what he smells like.

Anyone looking in on this action would see a couple having an intimate moment together, but not us. This is just how Nate is with me. He and his brother are weirdly tactile. I laugh, pushing him back.

“I was imagining the ocean, dick. I can’t wait.”

I playfully punch his shoulder, and he acts wounded. Holding his arm and pouting at me. That only gives him two reactions from me—a classic eye roll and a grin.

He chuckles again, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me up against his rock-hard body, spinning me around a few times. I laugh again, feeling free. I throw my arms out, enjoying it. He always gives me that feeling. I know I can be myself around him.

While he is six foot, I am only five-two, and when he picks me up, I feel like I am experiencing the world from a different viewpoint. One a lot more carefree and fun. As he drops me to my feet, I rest my hands lightly against his chest. His chest moves heavily, and the palms of my hands are rising and falling with each of his breaths. God, I swear every time I see him, he seems more muscular, with more abs, hard lines, and broader shoulders.

When I was younger, I willed myself to like him. His deep, bright blue eyes are like pools of water you can lose yourself in. His muscled and defined figure causes most girls to drop to their knees in worship. Football has made him built and ripped. Muscles ripple down his arms as he moves, and he’s amazing because of it.

He could have had a football scholarship anywhere for college, but for some reason, he chose to go to the same college as me. It’s just an hour’s drive to the nearest city—if you could call it that—which is madness to me. I didn’t even want to go there, but when it came time for college, my dad got sick with cancer, and I needed to be close to home. I sometimes wonder if he stayed because of me. He always says he has everything he wants here whenever he is asked.

Weird.

His soft, floppy, barely styled hair always looks perfect despite using very little product. Most days, he doesn’t even bother. I hate that about him. He can just run his hand through it, and it is perfect. I love running my fingers through it. I can get to my knuckle before it disappears out of my hands. But the truth is no matter how gorgeous he is, how sweet and funny, I can’t do it. I only have eyes for one man, and holy hell, what a man he is.

Chase freaking Anderson.Nate’s off-limits older brother.

Six foot three, a wall of muscle, and a mystery to any girl he meets. He is hot. As. Sin. He is twenty-six years old, making him seven years older than me. Usually dressed in tight jeans and just a simple tee paired with a leather jacket. He always looks like he stepped out of a bad boy’s GQ photoshoot. His eyes are bright green and almost crystal-like. They remind me of sea glass. They are haunting and draw you in.

Where Nate has taken after his mom, Chase has taken after his dad with dark brown hair that looks almost black at night. It’s shaved a little at the sides, but the top is just a mess of hair. I’ve imagined gripping that hair multiple times and not in an I’m just your brother’s friend kinda way.

His body looks like it was carved from a god’s marble, and even though I love him in winter because he looks hot on his motorbike with his jacket and dark hair, I love him in the summer more.

I know he is out of my league, but watching him every year at the pool at Nate’s house fuels fantasies that will last for years to come. Water dripping off his cut abs, his hair soaking wet, and that cheeky grin is utter perfection.

Last year he got a tattoo on his ribs, and holy fuck, I wanted to run my fingers across it, but I can never get close enough to figure out exactly what it is. But, needless to say, seeing a guy like him tatted only makes him sexier. That level of hotness should be illegal.

Rule one of the best friend code is you don’t fuck your best friend’s brother… At least, I’m sure there’s a rule somewhere like that, and I had just said yes to spending six weeks in a beach house with him, his best friends, Nate, and Harper.

It was going to be a long summer, but the truth was, I missed him. He hadn’t been around much lately, always traveling for some unknown reason, and I missed sitting under the stars with him like we used to. Growing up, he was always sweet to me, but lately, he has distanced himself from me, and I don’t know why. Another thing I have to find out about this summer. I was starting to feel a little like Nancy Drew.

“Hey, Tink… Leave the fairies alone, yeah, and come join me here.” Nate’s voice breaks me from my fantasy of running my tongue up Chase’s abs under the night sky, and I find my eyes meeting his. He’s tapping my temple and giving me a strange look.

“I’m sorry, I’m just excited!” He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me close. Picking up my suitcase, he leads me to his sleek black truck before loading it into his trunk. He loves this truck more than anything. It was a present from Chase for his eighteenth birthday, and it’s his pride and joy. I’ve never seen him love anything more than his truck. It’s an F-150 Raptor. Dark black with a custom glaze on it that almost makes it look holographic. It’s a beast, and I love the roar of the engine whenever I’m in it.

Harper, Nate, and I often drive up to the mountains on weekends. My father bought a cabin up there for us to escape to. We could have rented, but my father is crazy and sees it as an investment. Personally, I think he just likes to treat us.

As I put my hand on the truck door, Nate spins me around to face him, taking my hands and raising them between us near his heart. His dimples show again as he smiles. Those dimples are why many girls fall for him, and I can see why, even if I can’t make myself feel it.

“This will be the best summer ever, Brooke. I can feel it. This summer is going to change things forever for us.” I feel my breath catch as he stares at me with such intensity in his eyes, like he has a purpose, a mission, a secret I’m about to find out. He looks like he wants to say more, but he drops my hands instead and presses his lips to my forehead softly. “Now get your ass in the truck, beautiful, before I leave you here.”

I laugh softly, wondering what he meant about this summer changing things for us and what else he was going to say before getting in the truck. I connect my phone to the stereo, browsing through my playlists before finally settling on one. I look out the window as the engine roars to life, and a shiver of excitement runs through me as we drive to Harper’s house to pick her up.

Little did I know he was right when he said this summer would change things for us. He was so fucking right, and I never could have prepared myself for the things ahead. I wasn’t ready and don’t think I ever could be.

CHAPTERTWO

CHASE

Iwas fucked. Well, and truly fucked. How am I supposed to spend six weeks living with this girl and actually keep my hands off her? Brooke was my weakness, and my friends knew it.

I tried to stay away from her, yet somehow, while discussing the vacation I had planned a few weeks ago, I stupidly let those fateful words fall from my lips to my brother.

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