Can't Let You Go: A Wheeler Brothers Novel Read online

  "I don't boss you around. I look out for you. I try to keep you safe."

  "Which I don't need you to do." I look him in the eye. "Why did you come here tonight? Was it just to keep me away from other guys?"

  He glances to the side. "Why do you keep asking that? What the hell difference does it make?"

  "I want to know. So answer me."

  His eyes return to mine. "I just wanted to see you."

  "You see me all the time." The alcohol is hitting me hard now and I feel my brain giving up control as the words spill out of my mouth. "Just admit it. You came here because you didn't want me with some other guy. Which makes no sense because I'm not yours. We're friends. That's it. Because that's how you want it to be. So stop trying to keep me away from other guys."

  His eyes are dark and heated as he stares at me, inhaling deep breaths through his nose. He takes my drink, downs it, and slams the glass on the bar. Then he takes my hand and drags me through the crowded club.

  "Bryce. What are you doing?"

  He keeps walking, going fast. I hurry to keep up in my high heels. We reach a hallway that leads to an open staircase that goes to the upper level of the club. He goes down the hall, stopping behind the staircase. He backs me into the wall, his arms on either side of me, and sets his eyes on mine, breathing hard. "I can't fucking take this anymore."

  "Take what?"

  He leans down and presses his lips hard against mine, the intensity and urgency of the kiss proving just how much he's been holding back all these years, wanting to kiss me just as much as I've wanted to kiss him. I grab his shirt, keeping him close, not wanting this to end. He eases up slightly, waiting for my lips to part. When they do, he slips his tongue in my mouth and his hand wraps around the back of my head, pulling me closer. I sink back against the wall, loving every second of this, wanting more. I grasp the back of his neck, and he steps forward, pinning me to the wall. I arch my body into his, feeling his hard length against my thigh. It turns me on even more and I grind my hips into him.

  "Fuck," he groans, his mouth breaking from mine as he catches his breath. His head is dropped and he's watching my hips move.

  "Don't stop," I whisper, gripping his hair, tugging it so that he'll lift his head.

  He looks at me for just a moment, then kisses me again, cupping the back of my neck as his other hand grips my ass, then slides down to the hem of my dress. His fingers graze the back of my thigh, and sparks of pleasure explode between my legs, throughout my core. He lifts the back of my dress up just enough to sneak his hand up my inner thigh, and just as I feel his fingers along the seam of my panties, some girls come clomping down the stairs, their heels making a loud dinging sound on the metal.

  Bryce quickly takes his hand away and tugs the back of my dress down. His lips break from mine as the girls disappear into the bar. He's breathing fast and heavy over my mouth, his hands bracing the wall on either side of me.

  "Why did you kiss me?" I ask.

  He closes his eyes, then opens them again. "Don't make me explain."

  "You're not doing this to me again. We're not repeating graduation night. You owe me an explanation this time. So tell me why you did it."

  He shakes his head. "I don't know."

  I push on his chest. "That's a lie. Now look at me and tell me the truth."

  His eyes move up to mine. "We're more than friends, okay? That's why I did it. I like you as more than a friend." He drops his head and mutters, "Fuck."

  "I already know that," I tell him. "I knew since the last time you kissed me. So why have you been denying it the past four years?"

  He sighs. "Do we have to do this right now? Right here? Tonight?"

  I've had too much to drink to fully comprehend whatever he'd tell me. It'd probably be better to wait, so I say, "No, but we're talking about it later." I glance to the side and see girls rushing to the dance floor as a new song blasts through the speakers. I turn back to Bryce. "You want to dance?"

  "I don't dance." He slides his warm hand up and down my arm.

  "Then what do you want to do?"

  He puts his lips to mine and whispers, "More of this."

  He holds the sides of my face and kisses me, his tongue going deep into my mouth. I melt back against the wall and we remain there, kissing, for I don't even know how long.

  When we finally break apart, we make our way back to the bar, Bryce's arm around my waist, holding me close to him, like he's making sure everyone around us knows I'm his. But am I?

  I don't know what's going on here. Are Bryce and I a couple now? Or was this just a one-time thing? After tonight, will he go back to just being my friend?

  CHAPTER TEN

  Bryce

  I broke my own damn rule. After we kissed on graduation night, I told myself I'd never kiss Jen again, and then I did. And not just once, but over and over again, for a long damn time. Maybe a half hour. I don't even know. And I touched her. My hands were all over her body, even under her dress. What the hell was I thinking?

  I wasn't. I wasn't thinking, at least not with my head. I'm still not. From the moment she showed up at the house looking hotter than hell in that tight red dress and those sexy high heels, I lost all control of my brain. That's why I made such a scene at dinner. My emotions took over. I couldn't stand the thought of other guys putting their hands all over her. The girl I love. My best friend. The girl I don't want anyone else to have.

  I'm not playing fair and I know it. Jen should be free to be with whoever she wants, except that twice tonight, she told me she wants to be with me. She's never actually said that before, and although tonight she didn't actually say those words, she made it pretty damn clear.

  Now what do I do? I fucked this all up. And the thing is? I don't fucking care, at least not at this moment. Because at this moment, my mind is too relaxed to care. And my body is soaking up how good it feels to have Jen wrapped in my arms, her back molded into my chest, her ass rubbing against my crotch as she moves to the music. It's pure fucking heaven. I bury my nose in her soft hair, breathing in the flowery scent, and kiss her. She tilts her head back at me and smiles.

  "How you feeling?" she asks.

  "Fucking awesome. You?"

  "Same." She turns around in my arms, pressing her hands against my chest and smiles. "Kiss me."

  I do as she asks, and we keep it up until some girl bumps into us.

  "Sorry," she says, then yells her drink order at the bartender.

  "We should probably move," Jen says.

  "There's no place to go. The place is even more packed than when we got here."

  "We should at least move away from the bar. But first I think I'll get another drink."

  I order us both one and we find a place off to the side to stand. I've had a lot of drinks tonight, way more than I normally do, and I usually drink beer, not hard liquor. But the liquor is keeping my mind relaxed and that's what I need right now. Tomorrow, I'll be beating myself up for what I did tonight with Jen, trying to figure out where we go from here, but right now, I don't want to worry about it. I just want to enjoy this for a few more hours, because once my brain is back to functioning, I won't let myself do this again.

  We hang out by the bar, drinking and talking and watching people dance. An hour later, Ivy steals Jen from me and the two of them go to the dance floor. I haven't seen Callie and Nash. Maybe they went up to the second level.

  Jake makes his way over to me, a beer in his hand. "I don't know how they dance to this shit."

  Techno music is pumping through the speakers, vibrating the floors.

  "Yeah, I know. I hate it."

  He takes his phone out. "Shit. Just missed a call. It's this guy I'm trying to hire. One of the best framers in the city. I gotta call him back."

  "Go ahead."

  He heads to the exit and goes outside to make the call.

  I feel a hand snake up my arm, then notice a set of black nails crossing over my chest. I look to my side and see a girl with a tight b
lack dress standing next to me. She smiles. "Hi. I'm Jackie."

  "Hey." I move away from her and check the dance floor for Jen.

  "Bryce Wheeler, right?"

  "Yeah." I look back at her. Her eyes are coated in so much black eyeliner that she reminds me of those girls who dress up as cats on Halloween. "Do I know you?"

  "No. But you could get to know me later tonight." She runs her tongue over her lips. "What do you say?"

  "I'm not interested." I swig my drink.

  "I bet I could make you interested." She comes in front of me and rubs her hand down the front of my pants.

  I yank her hand away. "What the hell?"

  Her eyes go to my neck. "I love your tats." She gets close to me again and I move to the side to get some distance.

  "I said I'm not interested."

  My gaze returns to the dance floor. Jen spots me and waves, then notices Jackie, who has latched onto my arm again. I try to push Jackie away but she's like a damn leech. She won't let go. And I don't want to shove her away and end up hurting her.

  Get over here, I mouth to Jen.

  She hurries over. I keep my eyes on her the entire time and when she finally reaches me, I grab her with my free arm and kiss her. "Hey, babe. I missed you."

  Jackie immediately lets go of my arm. "You're with HER?" She eyes Jen, who even in that hot red dress, looks sweet and innocent compared to Jackie, with her jet black hair, overdone makeup, skintight dress, fishnet stockings, and spiked heels.

  I kiss Jen again, and keep kissing her, knowing it will eventually drive Jackie away. And also because in the few minutes Jen was away, I'd already missed kissing her. So what am I going to do after tonight? When we go back to being friends and I can't kiss her anymore?

  "Did you know her?" Jen asks once Jackie is finally gone.

  "No, but she wouldn't leave me alone."

  "So you used me to get rid of her?" she asks kiddingly.

  "That was only part of the reason. The other reason was because I wanted to do this again." I kiss her, just once this time.

  "That's it?" she asks, smiling. "I left the dance floor for that?"

  I spot a small booth that just opened up on the far side of the club. "Come on." I take Jen's hand and lead her over to the booth. She slides in and I sit beside her.

  "Why are we over here?" she asks.

  "You said I had to give you a better reason for leaving the dance floor."

  Her lips turn up and I cover those beautiful lips with my mouth, and leave them there, kissing Jen until the waitress stops by for our drink order. We order another round, then I continue kissing Jen, and we stay there in the booth until Nash shows up, hours later.

  "What time you guys want to leave?" he asks, supporting Callie on his arm. She seems drunk, her eyes half-shut. "It's after midnight. Callie's getting tired. I kind of am too."

  "What about Jake and Ivy?"

  "They're ready to go. Austin's not, but he needs to get his ass to bed. Otherwise he won't show up to work. What time you want us there in the morning?"

  "I was thinking seven, but that doesn't give us much time to sleep so maybe eight-thirty?"

  "Works for me."

  I put my arm around Jen. "You ready to leave?"

  She rests her head on my shoulder, her eyes heavy. "Yeah. I'm tired."

  "Okay, let's go," I say to Nash. And then I realize he didn't even react to seeing me with Jen. Neither did Callie. I'm sure they saw us making out by the bar, but they're not even acting surprised. Did they expect this to happen? Because I sure as hell didn't.

  Nash texts Jake and Austin to meet us outside, and within five minutes we're all loaded up in the SUV. I hold Jen next to me in the back seat and nobody says anything about it. What the hell? For years they've been nagging me to get together with her, and now they see us together and don't even make a comment? Maybe because they know it won't last. Shit, that's probably it. I wonder if Jen is thinking the same thing. She's been quiet since we left the bar but that might be because she's tired. She's lying on my shoulder, her eyes shut.

  "See you guys tomorrow," Nash says as Jake and Ivy get out of the SUV. Next we drop off Austin, who still lives at our dad's house. He keeps saying he's going to get his own place but then he never does.

  As Nash turns down the street that goes to my apartment I say, "Take Jen home first. She's falling asleep back here." That's not the only reason I suggested we drop her off first. The other reason is because her apartment is way across town, which will give me another half hour of having her in my arms. Tomorrow we'll go back to being friends and I'm not ready for this to end yet.

  "I don't feel so good," Callie groans. "I think I drank too much."

  "Shit," Nash says, as Callie bends over, holding her stomach. "I've gotta get her home. Jen, would you mind staying with Bryce tonight? I don't think Callie's going to make it all the way across town to your apartment."

  "Yeah, that's fine," Jen says, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "I'll just sleep on the couch."

  So she knows tonight was a one-time thing. That's why she suggested the couch.

  "You can have the bed," I say quietly to her. "I'll take the couch."

  Nash stops in front of my building.

  "Callie, I hope you feel better," Jen says.

  "Thanks." Callie yawns. "I'll call you tomorrow."

  Jen and I get out of the SUV and I help her to the door. When we get inside, she shivers.

  "I'm freezing. When did it get so cold outside? It was warm when we left."

  "Guess that cold front came through." We get in the elevator and I hold her against me, trying to warm her up.

  As soon as we're in my apartment, I go to the thermostat and turn the heat up to high. If it were just me here tonight I wouldn't even need the heat, but Jen gets cold.

  "Can I get you anything? Are you hungry at all?"

  "No. I think I'll just go to bed." She stumbles to the couch.

  "Jen, no. You're not sleeping there. It's not comfortable."

  "It'll be worse for you. You're too tall. You can't stretch out on it."

  "I'll be fine. Come on." I help her up and take her to my bedroom.

  I have a king size bed, so we could easily both fit and still keep some space between us but it's not a good idea. It's too tempting, especially after what we did earlier.

  She yawns and kicks off her heels, then collapses on the bed. "I'm so tired."

  "You're going to sleep in your dress?"

  She laughs. "Oh, I forgot I was wearing it. I think I'm a little drunk." She laughs again. "Or maybe more than a little."

  That's another reason we shouldn't sleep in the same bed. I'm feeling a little drunk myself. Two drunk people who are extremely attracted to each other in the same bed? Yeah, not a good idea.

  "Can you help me?" she asks, holding her arms up.

  Shit. She wants me to help her undress. Okay, I can do this. I've seen plenty of naked women over the years. Just not Jen. But I've seen her in a bikini, which is not that different than a bra and panties.

  I lift her dress up over her head and she takes it and tosses it aside. She's left wearing a red lace bra and matching panties. Okay, this is not the same as a bikini. It shows off a lot more skin and is hotter than hell.

  "Jen, I think I'll—"

  I stop when I see her turn her back to me and unhook her bra. As it falls to the floor my eyes lower and land on her bare ass. She's wearing a thong. Fuck. I need to get out of here before I grab that perfect ass of hers, which is taunting me, begging to be touched.

  The excuse of my brain being too drunk to function is the excuse I use for why I'm not leaving, but the real reason is that I can't stop staring at this beautiful sight. She's perfect. Her body, her skin, her long wavy hair. I've never seen her like this, but I've imagined it about a million times and the real thing is so much better.

  She goes over to my closet and takes out one of my t-shirts. She slips it on, then walks back to me.

  "Ar
en't you going to change?"

  "I'll go in the bathroom and do it."

  "Bryce, I've seen you in your boxers before. It's no big deal."

  When did she see me without pants? She must've meant back in high school. She was always at my house and accidentally came in my room a couple times when I was changing.

  As I strip down to my boxers she goes in my bathroom and brushes her teeth. She keeps a toothbrush and some other stuff at my place because she's here so much.

  When she comes out of the bathroom, I'm searching through my drawer for something to sleep in. I usually just sleep in my boxers but I think pajamas are a better option tonight. At the bottom of my drawer, I find some pajama pants I didn't even know I had and put them on.

  "Can you get the light?" Jen asks, curled up in my bed.

  "Yeah." I turn it off. "Goodnight."

  "Where are you going?"

  "To the couch."

  "Bryce, you're not sleeping on the couch. It's not big enough. Now get in here. There's plenty of room."

  "Jen, I—"

  "Hurry up. I'm tired."

  If she's tired, she'll fall right to sleep, preventing anything from happening between us. At least that's what I tell myself when I climb into bed beside her. I keep to my own half of the bed, lying on my back.

  "I'm still freezing," she says, and I feel the bed move as she shivers.

  "Get over here." I hold my arm out and she slides over until her body is pressed against my side, her head on my chest. Having her this close, in my bed, nearly naked, has me hard as a rock, ready for action. But it's not going to happen so I try to ignore it.

  "Bryce?" she whispers.

  "Yeah."

  "Thanks for tonight."

  Is she just making a comment, or is she saying it because she knows we'll never do this again?

  "Goodnight," she whispers.

  I kiss her head. "Goodnight."

  In the morning, I wake up on my side with Jen in my arms, her back nestled against my chest. I like it. Too damn much. But this never should've happened. She shouldn't have spent the night here. Now that the alcohol has worn off, I'm realizing what a huge mistake this was. I can't have Jen thinking we're anything more than friends.