My Brother's Best Friend (Crazy in Love Book 1) (3 page)

              I get to the locker room and hear the guys asking Wallace when his sister was getting back. “She’s getting back sometime tonight, assholes, but I don’t know exactly when. She’s coming home today is all I know.” Now, I’d heard a lot about his sister this week. Girls talked about her all the time. About how gorgeous she was, how she could be a huge bitch, but most seemed to be jealous of her but like her all at the same time. Guys all had one major opinion of her. She was the fucking hottest thing that they’d ever seen.

              I didn’t know what to think about her. I knew that I liked Wallace. He was quiet and intense but a cool guy that really wanted the team to do well on and off the field. Harrison, who was on the offensive line, says, “I’m so glad she’s getting back. This week of school was so damn boring without her.”

              Another guy, Daniel, adds in, “Yeah, I can’t believe she missed the second week. Is she coming to the party at your house tonight?” Wallace nods and says, “Yeah, she should, but I have no idea what time she’ll show up. You know Reagan. She’ll be there when it suits her, but she’s been gone for seven damn days. I’m starting to miss the hell out of her.”

              Curious, I ask him, “You don’t get annoyed or irritated by her. Most brothers think of their little sisters as pests.” That’s what I’d always heard from my friends, but Wallace shakes his head adamantly and says, “Nah, I love her more than anything else in the entire world, man. She’s the best sister a guy could ever ask for. She’s my best friend.”

              Another guy, Blaine, that’s normally right with Wallace at lunch and practice nods in agreement, “Reagan’s the coolest chick you’ll ever know, man. Always has been. She’s never been too girly to not play football with us in the mud or dump one of us in the pool. You’ll see when you meet her how Wallace could never be annoyed with her.”

              Practice moves along, and I get my chance to run some plays. I’ve actually passed a few balls and helped make some practice touchdowns. I’m feeling more and more confident that I can be a quarterback. Plus, the team running and weights has really helped get me in shape to play.

              At the end, Wallace leans in and asks me, “Are you riding with me?” I nod, and he says, “Great, Blaine’s following us to my house, and we can order food and hang out till the party gets started.” I nod and say, “Sounds good, man.”

              We climb into his car, and he asks me, “Got your eye on any girl at the school yet? Is there anyone that you’re interested in getting with?” Thrown, I look at him, and he shrugs apologetically, “Sorry, if the question threw you. We always talk about football, but I wanted to know where you’re other interests lie. We’ve worked damn hard all week. This party is to be the reward for working so much.”

              “Honestly, no one’s caught my eye in particular. I think there are some hot girls at school, but I haven’t had time to even think about one in particular.” I tried to act nonchalant about it. But I’d been a scrawny nerd at my old school. We didn’t really scope out the girls to pick one that we wanted. And I wasn’t one to torture myself with what I couldn’t have.

              I didn’t think of myself as a jock yet that could pursue who he wanted with a strong chance that he wouldn’t get rejected. But I had noticed that girls were trying to talk to me more at school, but with football on my mind all week, I hadn’t given any of them my full attention. Now thinking about it, if someone was willing, I wouldn’t mind hooking up with a pretty girl tonight.

              “Do you have your eye on a certain girl, tonight?” I ask Wallace, and he shrugs casually. “Reagan’s friend, Brit and I hook up at parties a lot. We have a casual understanding, but a certain blond senior has been extremely flirty this week. So I might see about her if she’s here.”

              He seemed so certain that he would get some tonight. How would that feel? To know that you could have sex whenever you want with whoever you want. How insane would that be?

              Wallace pulls in to a massive house that’s at least four times the size of my stepdads. It’s all stone and marble with a courtyard and fountains. His family must have an obscene amount of money. I guess Wallace notices my slack jaw stare because he chuckles and says, “Over the top, right? My sister calls it the house our family sold their souls for, and she means it. The amount of money they have didn’t come from them all being upstanding citizens. But we enjoy the benefits that we can.”

              For a second, his eyes had hardened as he spoke, and I wondered what had made this easy going guy go bitter. But before I could even ask him about it, Blaine pulls in beside us. He gets out of the car and hustles up to us. “Are you both ready to fucking party?” Wallace smiles and says, “Hell, yeah, we are, but let’s order some pizza before the kegs arrive. I feel like drinking hard tonight.”

              I take a deep breath as we enter the house. I want to enjoy this night but not make a damn full of myself. I’ve never had but a few drinks before that my friends and I had snuck from our parent’s cabinets. We were too scared to drink a lot, and I don’t want to get sloppy drunk and piss in Wallace’s million dollar pool with the entire school looking on. I was planning on holding myself to two or three drinks to begin with so I can hold on to my control and keep my pride intact.

              A few hours later, I can’t believe the kind of party that Wallace can host. I walk around the pool and take in the view that’s right in front of me. It looks like I’m on the set of a music video with all the bikini clad bodies and dancing going on around the huge pool and hot tub areas. I have my third beer in my hand and was searching the area for Wallace, Blaine, or any of the other guys I know on the team.

              Eventually, I spot them around the back hot tub with a bunch of girls that are dancing and moving on each other while the guys enjoy the show. I start that way and observe the group as I approach them. Wallace, Blaine, and Mitchell are at the center of all the football team. All the other jocks and girls circle around the three of them. I can see Wallace watching the blond I saw him sitting beside at school, that must be the senior he spoke of being interested in earlier.

              She was watching him stealthily as she kept moving her ass back and forth and waiting for his reaction. I reach the group, and Wallace waves me over to him and makes everyone shuffle and make some space. “Hey, Colin, I wondered where the hell you got off to.” Everyone looks at me, and I almost stumble over my words as I reply, “Needed another beer, man.”

              He nods in understanding, and everyone takes their focus back off of me. Relieved, I slide lower in my seat and try to enjoy the wild atmosphere around me. But as I try to settle into this new world, Blaine yells, “About fucking time, gorgeous. It feels like forever since I’ve seen your beautiful face.”

              I hear a happy squeal and a tiny blur jumps into Blaine’s open arms as everyone around starts talking at the same time. As I catch a better look at the blur, I see it’s a girl in a pink bikini being squeezed to death by Blaine and then Wallace as everyone else looks on. Finally, Wallace releases her, and she turns to smile at the crowd of people around her. As I get my first good look, my heart feels like it suddenly stops beating in my chest. My brain doesn’t process the sounds around me, and I stare at the vision standing in front of me.

              Nothing anybody at school said could have prepared me for the impact of her face or body. She looked like the most innocent angel with high cheekbones and wide bluish almost violet eyes. But her lips were so full and curved in a way that made you think of sin. Her hair floated around her in full waves and curls almost to her ass, and it was so dark that it was nearly black. She was tall for a girl, at least five seven. She had a model like frame but with defined breasts and a perfectly tight ass. My body, even with all these people around, had immediately responded to her physically in front of me.

              Before I could even get a hold of myself, her stunning eyes met mine, and she moved towards me quickly. As she got closer, I saw the fire banked inside of her and understood that there was so much more to her than mere physical perfection. She was alive, more than anybody that I’d ever seen before.

              “So you must be the new guy that my brother has taken a liking to. I’ve heard good things about you, and now I can see some good things about you too.” Unembarrassed, she studies me leisurely as dozens of people around us watch. Her eyes linger on my lips and chest before she says, “I’m Reagan, and it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you.” She sticks out her hand, and I manage to choke out my name before I take her hand in mine. As we touch, my skin burns in repsonse.

              She studies me as I realize that I’ve held her hand in mine for much longer than is polite or normal. I force my muscles to obey and open, and they finally do. My behavior doesn’t seem to scare her off though, she eases closer to me. Her breasts are almost sitting in my face before she says, “I hope we can be friends, Colin. Because my brother and I are tight, and I know he counts you as a friend. We all hang out a lot together, and I know Wallace wants you to feel comfortable in our group.”

              I nod in agreement cause anytime with this bewitching creature sounds good to me. Hey, I might even move into the house if Wallace would let me. She starts walking away from me then, and my eyes follow her every graceful movement. Her skin is smooth and perfect, and her bikini is miniscule but fits her to perfection.

              She talks to some of the girls that had been dancing for the guys until she slowly makes her way up on the pool deck. My gaze hasn’t left her since she walked away, but I realize as the party quiets down and I glance around that I’m not the only one aware of her every movement. Almost everybody here has their eyes focused on her.

              “Hey, everyone, I’m back in town, and I want to dance. Wallace, get them to turn the damn music up.” With that, I watch Wallace go over and talk to the guy that was working the music for the outside speakers. And Blaine gets up and heads to Reagan as a lot of people start walking up onto the pool deck and all around it.

              A song comes on that has Reagan jumping up and down and yelling, but I can’t hear what’s she’s saying over the pulse of the music. As I watch, Blaine grabs her waist and pulls her into him as she starts moving her body in perfect rhythm with his. Her every move is confident and sexy, and from observing her, I know she’s a trained dancer. And I can also tell that they’ve danced together before. Jealousy hits me hard, and I start to despise Blaine for being able to touch her so intimately.

              Blaine’s expression is happier than I’ve ever seen him as she rubs and slides against him to the sounds of the song. He’s probably known her for forever, and I only met her tonight. But I’m pissed that he thinks he has the right to rub his hands over her body so easily. They look perfect together with her being so dark and beautiful, and him being blond and good looking. I haven’t heard any rumors of them being a couple, but in that moment I wonder if I missed that piece of gossip.

              As I stand, I know I’m torturing myself but can’t seem to look away until a strong hand clasps my shoulder hard. I look up into Wallace’s clear blue eyes, and I can see the concern and pity that he’s feeling for me. He must see this all the time. His sister could make a monk lose his mind over her much less a high school sophomore with no experience.

              I start talking before he can warn me off her. “Look, man, I know you don’t want me to make a move on your sister. She’s too good for me, and I know that from only just meeting her. But she’s so beautiful and with so much fire that I can’t force myself to take my eyes away from her. I’ll try though in a minute.” He chuckles and shakes his head at me, “Colin, that wasn’t even close to what I was going to say to you. She’s my sister, and I know she’s beautiful and a danger to all males with a pulse except her brother. If you look around, everyone here is fascinated by her and don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame anyone for it. But I wanted to warn you that she can hurt you. She doesn’t want a boyfriend, and she doesn’t do commitment. Even if she shows interest in you, don’t expect a lot from her. I don’t want her to tie you in knots and damage you. Just know that anything that happens with her doesn’t mean a lot. She’ll eat you up and spit you out before you even realize what’s happening.”

              Surprised, I don’t know what to say to Wallace. He isn’t worried about his sister but me. The most important part of what he said was that he thought she could even want something casual with me. Anything that she offered, I knew I would take eagerly. She’d slayed me at my first glance, and I haven’t been able to force my eyes off her yet. “Uh, Wallace, I appreciate the concern and the warning, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

              I gesture to Blaine and Reagan who are still going strong on the dance floor. They look almost indecent while rubbing and dancing on each other with only their bathing suits on. “Blaine and she seem pretty close to me.” Frowning, he looks to where I’d pointed and groans. “Shit, that isn’t good. Blaine’s been drinking himself into a stupor these last few weeks because she made out with him twice over the summer. She warned him that it didn’t mean anything, but he hasn’t stopped talking or thinking about her since then. I’ll go see if I can break them up. Damn it, this is what I’m talking about man. She’s already got Blaine in her trap, and I don’t want her to accidentally hurt you too.”