All or Nothing(8)

I grabbed a towel off the heated rack and ran the plush terry cloth over my skin before tucking it under my arms and heading through the bathroom door to the bedroom.

“Did you decide to save some water for the rest of the town after all?”

I jumped at the sound of Kennedy’s voice and clutched at the towel wrapped under my arms. “Holy shit! You scared the daylights out of me!”

He kept his eyes on my face. Of course he did. But I was standing there in a freaking towel, and I would have thought he’d at least look at my legs or the way the towel clung to my breasts or…something. There I stood, weak in the knees just because he didn’t shave this morning, and he didn’t have the courtesy to sneak a peek?

I was pathetic.

So. Pathetic.

“Get dressed. Mom is pacing the floors. She won’t sleep until she knows you’re safe in under her roof.”

“Seriously?” Once, shortly after Mom had left, our house had been robbed while Dad was out of town and I was in my room. I’d heard them downstairs, scrounging through our stuff, and I’d called the police with shaking hands. After that, I’d started staying at the Hales’ while Dad was away.

“Seriously,” he said, crossing his arms and not once dropping his gaze to my better assets.

Paws, I thought, I totally get you.





Bree was gorgeous. A goddess. This wasn’t news to me. Despite what she thought, I’d noticed. Fuck, had I noticed. I’d noticed before seeing her in that little towel, and I’d noticed before she’d climbed into my bed in October.

After her mom skipped town, she’d slept more of her high school nights in the room next to mine than she had in her own home. What guy in his right mind wouldn’t notice Bree? What teenage boy wouldn’t lie in his bed and imagine her sleeping in hers? What hot-blooded male wouldn’t notice the want to slide into bed with her and explore her tight curves?

Yeah. I’d noticed. I’d noticed the way she arched her back when she yawned and that she didn’t sleep with a bra. When she’d stay at my parents’ house, I’d see her light on at night and make up an excuse to come to her. She had no idea how hard I had to fight not to stare at the way her nipples pebbled under her T-shirt. And the nights one of her nightmares would wake her and she’d climb into my bed?

Fuck, yes. I’d noticed everything, down to the look in her eyes when I’d told her to get dressed. Was it hurt? Vulnerability? Whatever it was, it had hit me hard, like a red-hot fist to the solar plexus.

God, she was gorgeous. Icy blue eyes framed by thick, dark lashes. The hard angles of her jaw only accentuated the plump pink softness of her lips. Even the glint of the little stone in her nose piercing was sexy. She was always changing her hair, but this week it was dark with thick platinum streaks in the curls that hit her shoulders—plus, of course, her signature red streak through the bit that was perpetually falling into her eyes.

Wanting her was nothing new. But somehow, until she’d shown up unannounced at my dorm, I’d always missed the way she looked at me.

Eventually, Bree was going to quit moving around the country like a lost soul and move back to Abbott Springs. When that happened, we’d both be glad we hadn’t ruined our friendship by acting on this attraction between us.

“You know how Mom feels about you staying here alone,” I explained awkwardly, struggling to act like her semi-nude state was no big deal as she scrounged through her bag for clothes.

“Okay, okay,” she muttered. She strode back into the bathroom, and I squeezed my eyes shut, half-hard and wishing I hadn’t noticed the few drops of water slowly trailing their way down her thighs.

By the time she emerged, I was already scooping her bag off the floor and throwing the strap over my shoulder.

“Kennedy,” she objected. She tried to grab the bag off my shoulder, but I held fast. “Fine, Macho Man. Carry the damn bag.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Girls were always trying to be so proper and sweet around me. Not Bree. Never Bree. I missed that. Didn’t she get that I needed that? I needed people in my life who would give it to me straight. I needed Bree, who lived life on her own terms. I needed her to stand by me while I took a stab at doing the same.

My smile fell away as she walked down the hall and my eyes glued themselves to the sexy swish of her ass in those tiny black pants she slept in.

I gritted my teeth and averted my eyes. I wasn’t going to add another nail to the coffin of our friendship by letting her catch me ogling her ass. I was pretty sure feeling her up during that stupid dance contest had pushed my limits enough. And having her sleep in my bedroom tonight? I was contemplating a night on the couch.