Bro Code(28)

Her eyes widen, watching me, and I know instantly it was the wrong move. She's so fucking sexy and she tastes so good—sweet and feminine and completely aroused. Knowing that I was the one who did that to her does something to me. Something primal and animalistic.

“I...I've got to go clean up,” I mutter, throwing off the blankets.

A seductive light spills into Ava's eyes, and both hands leave my shoulders, caressing down my chest and starting to go lower. “I could clean you up.”

The only way I can refuse is by looking straight up at the ceiling, knowing Nick is right up there. I blow out a slow, tortuous exhale. He'd kill me for going this far, much less letting his sister give me a handjob in their den.

“Code still applies,” I add under my breath, and Ava sighs before letting me go. She might think I'm stubborn, but it's critical that at least one of us is trying to keep us safe.

I manage to sneak to the bathroom to wash my hands, but a brief glance in the mirror is enough to prove the tent in my pants isn't going away. Unable to hold back any longer, I push my pants down to mid-thigh and start working myself in quick strokes, one hand braced against the counter. My cock is so hot and stiff in my palm, I know I won't last long.

Each time my eyes fall closed, all I can think of is Ava so mercifully tight around my fingers, and what it would be like if I could really have her. And not just her body, but her, all of her.

A quick orgasm makes another mess of my hands, but at least my cock starts to back down while I wash up one more time. The logical thing to do would be to go back to bed—my bed—and stay away from Ava, but it's crazy how drawn I am to her.

I don't remember the last time a woman made me feel this way. If it was just sex, this would be cut and dry, but it's not. There's her family, there's my entire life hanging in the balance. Ava isn't some one-night hook-up I'm happy to see leave once the deed is done.

Shaking my head, I decide to go down to the kitchen and make some coffee. If I'm going to be awake, I might as well get my day going.

The coffee begins dripping into the carafe when I hear distant footsteps, and I'm bracing myself to see Ava again when Nick walks into the kitchen, yawning and stretching his arms up over his head. It's a damn good thing I didn't call to her by name and say something very inappropriate.

“What are you doing up so early?” I ask, trying to keep my tone casual.

“Slept weird. Decided to give up on trying.” Nick spies the coffee in progress and looks deeply relieved. “You feeling better, man?”

I am, actually, and that's a surprise. “Way better.”

“Must have just been a one-day bug or something,” he declares, leaning against the counter while waiting for the water to filter through.

I nod, and it's the hardest thing in the world not to be honest with him. Nick is my best friend, without question, and if he had come down twenty minutes earlier, he might have seen me with my hand in his sister's panties. I don't know how I'd justify it to him, even if some part of me wants to, knowing how I feel about her.

“You went over to your mom's the other night, right?” Nick asks, snapping me out of that train of thought. “Things still pretty rough?”

“Yeah.” There wasn't any point in lying about it; he's known about the situation with my mom. “It really is a full house.”

I was the oops baby, the teenage pregnancy she was never proud of, and I felt every bit of that growing up. It's one of the reasons I always insisted on a condom. I never wanted to put a child in the situation I grew up in—feeling unwanted and unloved.

He gives my shoulder a friendly smack, his smile wide. “Hey, you're family here and always will be. Don't let that get you down when you've got so many amazing things in your life.”

Nick's right, and because he's right, I can't tell him the truth. After his divorce and everything else, the last thing he needs is finding out Ava and I nearly hooked up. I've just got to man up and get over her.

I'll be gone after the party tomorrow. One more day and we can pretend this never happened.



*

“Love is a sham,” Nick says, taking a sip of his beer. “I get now why you're so anti-commitment.”

We're seated at the bar of a local restaurant, where we came to grab some burgers and catch up. Nick's been uncharacteristically quiet about his split from Vanessa, but I have a feeling that's about to change.

“I'm not anti-commitment, for the record,” I say, pushing away my plate, suddenly no longer hungry.

At this, he laughs. “Bullshit. You have a different girl in your bed every weekend.”

That may have been the old Barrett, the horny college kid enjoying his freedom for the first time, but honestly that's not me anymore. It hasn't been for a long time, but it's interesting to know that's how he still sees me. Yes, I like to blow off steam, and yes I love sex, but I'm not a player by any means. It’s more than not having the time at this point. It just doesn't interest me anymore.

I shrug. “I usually work at least eighty hours a week, I just don't have time for a relationship right now, but that doesn't mean I don't want one someday.”

Nick shakes his head, swallowing the last bite of his burger. “Take it from me, man. Avoid that shit like the plague.” He nods to my fries. “Are you going to finish those?”