More With You (9 page)

I throw the water and ice that’s left in the cooler onto the fire to make sure that it’s out.  I then place my hand on the small of Hailey’s back and lead her back to the house.  Stepping into the kitchen from the patio, I stop to make sure the door is secure.  I turn back and find Hailey waiting for me.  The house is dark, but the moon is bright and she looks gorgeous bathed in its light.  I reach my hand out to her and she takes it, lacing her fingers through mine.  I gently squeeze her hand, letting her know that I’m happy she accepted.  I lead her up the stairs and stop in front of her room.  I wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her neck, breathing her in.  “Sweet dreams, angel,” I whisper. It takes more strength than I knew I had to pull away from her and continue down the hall to my room without her. It’s getting harder and harder to keep my distance, to not tell her and show her how much she means to me.  I’m pushing the limits of our “friendship,” but I can’t seem to stop myself. I’m a fucking train wreck waiting to happen.

I decide on a cold shower to wash off the day and clear my head.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.  All I can think about is Hailey and those mesmerizing blue eyes, the feel of her in my arms, holding her by the fire. 
Fuck!
My arms ache to hold her. This is going to be a long night. I grab my phone and headphones from the nightstand and hit my music icon. Music is always a good distraction.  I select shuffle and Nickelback begins to play, so much for my distraction.  I lay there and listen to “Trying Not To Love You
.
”  It’s perfect really.  The more I fight my attraction to her, this overwhelming need I have for her, it only makes me fall faster and harder.  So, what do I do?  Well, I hit repeat and fall asleep thinking about Hailey and how I have tried not to love her, but failed miserably.

I wake up to the sun shining through the windows. I use the restroom, brush my teeth, throw on a t-shirt, and head downstairs.  As soon as I open my bedroom door, I can smell sausage cooking.  My mouth is watering.  Hailey makes the best biscuits and gravy
.  Please, let her be making biscuits and gravy. 

My nose leads me to the kitchen. Allie and Hales are both there, dancing around to the radio and rolling out the dough for homemade biscuits. 
Yes! 
“Have I told you lately that you both are amazing?” I ask them.

They both jump at the sound of my voice, but reward me with warm smiles. “Good morning,” Allie says.

“Yes, we are well aware that we are amazing, but you can continue to tell us,” Hales says with a wink.

My girl is flirty this morning.

“Well, you’re both beyond amazing and breakfast smells delicious,” I tell them.

“Did you happen to hear Liam moving around yet up there?” Allison asks me.

“Nope,” I say, pouring myself a cup of coffee.  “How the hell did you manage to slip away from him?” I ask her.  I really want to know.  Very rarely do you see one without the other, at least not just hanging around the house.

Allison blushes.

Hailey bumps her hip into Allie’s. “She wore the guy out last night.” She laughs.

Allison is now crimson. Before she can respond, Liam enters the room and heads straight for his girl.

“You left me, baby,” he says as he softly kisses her good morning. I turn my head to allow them some privacy, and my eyes meet with Hales’s. She was watching me watch them. She offers me a small shy smile and I wink at her.

Last night lying in bed, I came to the conclusion that I need to be flirty friend Aiden at all times.  I cannot let us share any more intimate moments like last night by the fire.  Nope, no way.  The only way I’m going to be able to keep my sanity in her presence is to fight my heart and be the friend that she has always known me to be.  Yep, it’s totally going to suck ass, but I can’t take the chance of acting on these feelings and losing her. 

“Breakfast was great! Thank you so much,” I tell the girls.

“I’m glad you feel that way, Emerson,” Hailey says sweetly. “You and big bro get to clean the kitchen while we go and get our suits on. We have a beach calling our name,” she informs us. 

Allison raises her hand for a high five. “Good plan, my bestie,” she tells Hailey. 

The girls disappear up the stairs, laughing the entire way.  I can’t help but smile at seeing them both so happy and carefree.  If things were to not work out with Hales and me, this would not be the case.  This morning reinforces my decision, even though it’s going to be one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.

Liam and I make quick work of cleaning the kitchen.  The girls appear just as we are finishing up.  They bounce down the stairs and out the door, headed straight for the beach.  Like the lovesick fools that we are, we grab our towels, Liam grabs the cooler and I pick up four of the smaller beach chairs from the storage cabinet on the deck, and follow them.

The MacCoy’s house is nestled at the end of what they call Beach Row.  The beach dead ends into a mass of rocks and a cliff.  This makes it nice for us, as not many people make it this far down the beach. 

Once we reach the spot the girls have chosen, I begin setting up the four chairs while Liam places the cooler underneath the canopy the girls brought down. Once I have the chairs set up, I turn around, and what I see just about makes me swallow my fucking tongue.  I turn just in time to see Hailey raise her arms and pull off the black cover thingy that she had on over her suit.  No scratch that; she had on over her scraps of material she is trying to pass off as a suit. 
Holy fucking shit!
Hailey is wearing a barely there blue bikini.  It’s the same exact color of her emerald blue eyes.  I can’t take my eyes off her.  I take my time, letting my eyes roam every inch of her.  Once I reach her face, I see that she is staring right at me.  Her blue eyes are sparkling and there is a hint of a smile on her lips.  Those lips.  Hales has lips of an angel, so soft and sweet. I feel myself getting hard and I know if I don’t stop staring at her, there will be no hiding how much I want her.  Liam will so kick my ass.

I feel a hard smack to the back of my head.  “That’s my little sister, fuckstick!” Liam says.

Rubbing the back of my head, I explain, “Yes, but she is not little anymore and she’s fucking gorgeous.”  The words are out of my mouth before I realize what I said.  Oops, I need to be more careful.

“Yes, she is,” is all he says in reply. However, he is looking at me trying to figure out if there is a hidden meaning behind my words.  If he only knew.

“Hales, what the fuck are you wearing? You need to go change,” Liam barks at her.

“Uh, no!  Not happening.  I bought this for this trip and you are not dad. You don’t get to tell me what to do. I will be twenty next week.”

Liam mumbles to himself something about stubborn females.

I laugh as I turn my back to Hales, because I have no other choice. I need to get myself in check. This leaves me facing Allie. She smiles at me and winks. Yep, she is totally onto me. I hope she can keep it quiet. Allie pulls her shirt off also and has the same fucking bikini on as Hales. Except hers is green, the same green as her eyes. These two are going to be the death of me. I hear Liam growl behind me and my face breaks out into a huge grin. This is going to be fun.

“Hell, no!  You can’t wear that out here, beautiful.” He is trying to be nice, but I can hear the anger in his voice just waiting to be unleashed.

Allison smiles sweetly and pats his arm. “Sure I can. Hales and I bought these just for this trip.” She tries to act all innocent, but she knew that Liam would go nuts. 

Liam wraps his arms around her as if he is trying to shield her from the world. “Baby, I won’t be able to handle other guys seeing you in this…this thing you call a suit,” he whines. 

Allison smiles and places her hand on his cheek. “It doesn’t matter; I only have eyes for my fiancé.”

Liam pulls her tight and crushes his lips to hers. I feel Hailey step beside me. “Catastrophe averted,” she says, laughing.

Without thinking, I reach out, put my arm around her waist, and pull her against my side.  I bend down and whisper in her ear.  “What are we gonna do with the two of you?” I ask her.  She laughs and I tickle her side.

Hailey twists and turns to get away from me, and then takes off for the water.  I hear Liam laugh and I turn to look at them.  “What?”

“She’s a handful, that’s what.” He laughs.

“Oh really?” Allison asks.

“Yes, really,” he counters.

“Well then.” Allison wiggles out of his arms and takes off running after Hailey.

Liam just stands there shaking his head, with a huge smile on his face.  “That’s my future wife,” he tells me.

I laugh. Liam has changed so much since meeting Allison. Dude is whipped.

I wiggle out of Aiden’s arms and take off running for the water. I have to get away, get some distance. When he pulled me into his arms, it took everything I have in me to remain standing. Aiden does that to me, makes me weak in the knees. I make it to the water and dive straight in. The water is warm and inviting. I love the ocean, being on the beach.

I surface and see Allison has joined me. “Those two are ridiculous,” she says, laughing.  “They know we don’t want anyone but them. Can they not cool the alpha male bit?”

My mouth drops open and I can’t speak. I know Allison has suspected that I have feelings for Aiden for a while now, but she said Aiden knows. 
Shit!

Allison is still laughing; this time, it’s at me, not with me.  “You seriously thought I didn’t know?  Hales, you are my best friend, of course I know.”

“But you said
they
know.  Aiden can’t find out,” I plead with her.

“Relax. It was more for your benefit; I just wanted you to admit that you like him.  My plan was flawless,” she says with a wink.

Ugh.  “Please don’t say anything to Liam or Aiden.  I know he doesn’t feel the same and I have to get over this, but…” I stop myself before I divulge too much information.

“But?” Allies prods me.

“I more than like him.” I raise my head to look her in the eyes. “I love him, Allie. I have for a while now, and I know that I need to get over this, but I just can’t.  I am dreading when you all leave for Charlotte and leave me here, but really, I think it might help me.  I need to move on, and being with him all the time makes it pretty much impossible,” I tell her. 

“What makes you think he doesn’t feel the same way?” she counters.

“Come on, Allison. I am his best friend’s little sister. He’s always taken the big brother role right along with Liam.  I like how we all hang out all the time and get along so well.  If Aiden were to find out that I have feelings for him, that will all change.  I don’t want things to change.”

“Change is not always bad. What if he does feel the same? The two of you could have what Liam and I have.”

Poor Allison.  She is living in a world of blissful happiness with my brother.  Her vision is clouded by the blanket of love that Liam surrounds her in.  “Trust me, okay?  It has to be this way.  Distance will help me get over him and move on.  I can’t lose what we all have.  The three of you are important and I love how everything comes so easy for all of us.  I’ll work through this, just please don’t say anything,” I beg her with my eyes to understand where I’m coming from.

“Oh, all right. I won’t say anything, but let it go on record in that stubborn head of yours that I think you are making a big mistake,” she chastises me. 

“Noted,” I say, and hope that this is the end of our conversation regarding my feelings for Aiden.

Allison and I swim and splash around in the ocean until we decide that we are pruned enough.  We make our way back up the beach and settle in our seats beside the guys.  Liam immediately wraps a towel around Allison’s arms and throws his over top of her as well. She laughs at him and throws it back at him. He growls. This earns him a laugh from all three of us.

Liam and Allison are now both on one lounger with a towel covering them.  I have to hand it to my big brother, that is a creative way to get what you want.  Allison can never really say no to him, nor he to her.  I lie back on the lounger and decide to soak up some rays and dry out a little.  I hear a low growl from beside me. I look over to find Aiden staring at me with his jaw clenched. “What?” I ask him. I have no idea what his issue is.

Aiden leans in close, bringing his lips to my ear.  I am so distracted by his nearness that I miss the fact that his hand is inching towards my breast.  “You need to pay closer attention, angel,” he whispers as he gently pulls my bikini into place.  Apparently, I was on the verge of a major nip slip.

I feel my face blush with embarrassment that Aiden was the one to notice, and fix it!  He kisses my temple and sits back on his lounger as if nothing happened.  My body is still humming with the electricity of his touch.  Good God, he is a sexy beast. The way his fingers brushed against my breast, it almost felt deliberate. I know that’s not the case; he was just helping me.  Preventing me from major embarrassment and from my brother catching the show.  EWWW!