Out of Bounds(7)

She nibbles on the corner of her lip. “I want that too. Both.”

It’s a promise. Of another time. Another night.

I grab my phone from my back pocket and say, “Give me your number.”

I open my contacts and hand her the phone. She taps in her digits, and as she finishes, my ring tone sounds.

“Shit. Let me grab that.” I swipe the call and say, “Hey man, give me twenty seconds.”

Then, I lean in and brush one more kiss to her lips. “I’ll text you my number later. K?”

“You better.” Gripping my shirt, she tugs me close. She rocks her hips against me, and I nearly throw the phone to the ground, but I’ve got to take this call. It’s my agent, and shit’s been going down.

“I will, Dani Surfer Angel,” I say, then I turn around, head down her steps, and give her a tip of the hat one more time as she unlocks her door and heads inside.

As I walk down her street, I bring the phone to my ear. “What’s the story, man?”

He tells me, and my jaw f*cking drops.





Chapter Three

Dani

I yank open the kitchen cupboard in Ally’s apartment one more time. Maybe it’s my fourth time. Fine, it’s my tenth. But it just yanks so satisfyingly.

“How do you not have tea or coffee?” I shout, irritated, as I stare at the nearly-bare shelves in her tiny kitchen.

“There’s this thing called Starbucks.” Her breezy voice calls out. But don’t let it fool you. She learned sarcasm from the best. “They have them everywhere. You go in, order your drink, and voila. The barista serves it,” she says, and yup, I was right. She’s a chip off the old block.

Her shoes clack against the tiles as she marches into the kitchen, her blond hair swishing in a high ponytail. I give my baby sister a cold stare. “Starbucks is expensive. You shouldn’t go there every day.”

“I have a million friends who are baristas.” She turns her voice to a stage whisper as she spreads out her hands. “News flash. They give me free drinks.”

I toss up my hands, exasperated. “Everyone gives you free everything. Because you’re so pretty,” I say in a hiss, pointing to her gorgeous figure, her lush blond hair, her sky-blue eyes. I slam her cupboard door. I already had a coffee at my own place this morning. But I want another. I want something. Anything. I’m still annoyed that that * hasn’t called or texted. It’s been four days, and while I’m immensely glad I didn’t invite him into my bed, I’m also ridiculously disappointed.

More than I should be. My reaction is probably way out of proportion, but I was so sure I’d be seeing Andrew again.

Ugh. Can someone please punch me and make me stop caring?

Ally makes a clawing gesture. “Meow, kitty cat. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the week today, Dani?”

I heave a sigh and drag a hand through my hair. Breathe in. Breathe out. Realize I’m acting like a complete and total douche. Then let go of my ridiculous anger. I can’t take out a stupid dating annoyance on the person I love most. “Sorry,” I mutter. “I think I woke up on the wrong side of the moon. Maybe even the universe.” I shake my head, frustrated with myself, as I lean against my sister’s kitchen counter. “I wasn’t even terribly nice to Mrs. Fitzsimmons when she watered my plants yesterday.”

“Your neighbor does that?” Ally grabs her phone from the counter and tucks it into the back pocket of her skinny jeans. She wears a pink scoop-neck top, and the color makes her look even younger than her twenty-two years.

I nod. “She’s obsessed with plants. I can’t stop her. So I just let her. She loves taking care of the flowers and the plants and the Chinese food menus that wind up on the porch too. When I saw her watering them this morning—”

“The plants, not the Chinese food menus?”

I manage a smile. “Yes, the plants. And I grumbled something about them needing more plant food. When I’m supposed to . . . you know . . . say THANK YOU for making the flowers on my porch beautiful.” I frown. “I’m a witch, Ally. A total witch.”

“No,” she says, as she drapes an arm around me. “You’re not even a rhymes-with-witch. But you can’t let that dick get you down.”

I wrench back to look her in the eyes. This girl sees through me. “How did you know that’s why I was annoyed?”

She laughs loudly. If a laugh could sound knowing, this one qualifies. “Because I know you. And because you called me the second he left the other night to tell me what an amazing time you had. And he is so not worth this,” she says, then gestures to my face. “Also, that insane thing you just said? Go look in the mirror. We look exactly the same. We could almost be twins.”

“Yeah, if you weren’t eight years younger and the baby of the family.”

She flashes me a big, innocent grin. Then digs the tip of her forefinger into her cheek to adopt an apple-pie smile. “I’m so sweet, mwahahaha.”

I hug her. Because I can’t resist. Because I love her madly. That’s why I’m here at her pad, to pick her up and drive her to class on my way into work, since her car is in the shop. She’s working on her master’s degree as a nurse practitioner and I couldn’t be prouder of my little sister. Especially because she’s mine, and I pay for her school.