Come to Me Quietly (Closer to You #1)(16)
Author: A.L. Jackson

Her eyes grew wide with feigned worry. “Oh, Jared, please tell me you aren’t falling for Christopher’s games. You know he never outgrew the whole cheating thing.”

I laughed hard as I slammed my palm down on the table. “I knew it, you ass**le!” I stretched my entire body over the table to retrieve his winnings, opening my arms wide to drag the pile of money back in front of me. “You’ve been cheating me this whole time, haven’t you?”

“Hey, now, hey, now, let’s not get hasty. Aly has her own tricks, Jared. Don’t let her fool you.”

His smile was all warm with the easy affection that swam between the two of them. It was odd, seeing how different they were and still so very much the same.

She smacked him on the back of the head. “Watch yourself.”

A short chuckle wobbled up my throat and I brought my bottle to my mouth, but I outright laughed when Christopher pointed at me. “Don’t you two start ganging up on me. It was always the two of you against me.”

“What are you talking about?” Aly asked, her brow lifting in defense.

“Pah. Are you kidding me? I couldn’t get you out of my hair for five minutes when we were kids. And you want to know why?” He lifted his chin in my direction. “Because this ass insisted you go everywhere with us.”

“And was I all that bad?” Aly attempted a pout, which looked absolutely ridiculous on her because it was so obviously faked. The girl was too nice, too sweet. I kind of wanted to reach over and smooth it out.

“Hell yeah, you were, just because you breathed.” He offered her this mocking smile that earned him another smack to the back of the head.

“Whatever, you loved me, and you know it.”

Aly laughed as she disappeared down the hall and into the bathroom. He turned around in his chair, shouting down the hall. “Hey, Aly, you want to join us for the next hand?”

“Sure,” she called back from what sounded like her room. “Let’s eat first, though. I’m starving.”

A few minutes later she returned. She’d changed out of her work clothes and into the same sleep shorts she chose to constantly taunt me with night after night.

God, the girl had the best legs I’d ever seen.

She was twisting her long hair up into a high ponytail as she walked barefoot into the kitchen. The mixture of her skin and the food she’d brought smelled like heaven.

She cracked open the fridge. “Either of you want another beer?” she asked as she bent down to dig through the fridge.

In my head I was screaming at myself to close my eyes or to look up or to look down or to just look the f**k away.

I didn’t.

Instead I watched.

A curl of lust twisted my stomach into the tightest knot, so tight I had to struggle to get a breath of air into my lungs.

Christopher’s voice broke my trance. “Yeah, I’ll take one.”

I cut my attention in his direction, and eyes so much like Aly’s stared back at me.

I dropped my gaze and mumbled, “Sure, I could use another.”

Aly stood and knocked the door closed with her hip. She had three beers woven between her fingers, their caps pressed together. Maybe there was something inherently wrong with me, but I thought it had to be one of the sexiest moves I’d ever seen.

She set them down on the table. “One for you.” She passed one to Christopher and grinned as she slid one across the table to me. “And one for you.”

“Thanks,” I said.

She twisted the cap off the third and plopped heavily into the chair as she tipped it to her mouth.

“Long day?” Christopher asked as he arched an eyebrow at her.

“Oh yeah.” She released a long breath. “It was superbusy.” A little shrug lifted her shoulders. “Made good tips, but I couldn’t wait for my shift to end.” She began opening the take-out box lids. My mouth watered when I was hit with the heavy aroma of thick red meat sauce and pasta.

I stood. “Here, let me grab some plates and forks.”

She threw a soft smile up at me as I passed. “Thanks, Jared.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

Even though it was only three feet away, I stumbled into the kitchen as if it were some kind of oasis in the desert. For a second, I dropped my head as I pressed my hands into the counter and filled my lungs with the deepest breath of air I could find.

Get a grip, Jared.

I gathered myself while I gathered the plates and forks. I walked back out with everything, sat down across from Christopher and Aly, the only true friends I’d ever had, and forced myself to relax.

We all ate together, like we did it all the time – like we’d done so many times before. Our conversation was light, and the food was awesome. We drank a few more beers and played some cards. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so good.

But I did. I felt too damned good.

From across the table, I tried to suppress my amusement. Aly was obviously a lightweight. After three beers, her speech was beginning to hint at a slur. “I need another beer,” she announced, draining the last few drops in her bottle, wobbling a little as she stood. She kind of staggered into the kitchen.

God, she was cute.

“Grab me one, too, would you?” Christopher called.

She emerged with two. “Nah, but Jared can have one.” She winked at me as she slid it across the table to me.

I couldn’t help but smirk.

“Oh, uncool, Aly, uncool,” Christopher mocked, pressing his hand to his chest. “You always liked him better than me, didn’t you, Aly Cat?”

Aly’s mouth puckered in defense. “Oh my God, don’t you dare, Christopher. You two just about gave me a complex when I was little. I can’t tell you how much time I sat in front of the mirror, worrying I looked like some mangy cat. One day Mom found me crying, curled up in a ball in my room. It took her, like, two hours to convince me it was about my name and not what I looked like.”

Aly Cat.

A smile pulled at my mouth, at my thoughts, and a wave of nostalgia slammed me, threatening to knock me off my feet. It washed over me with warmth, and things I didn’t want to remember. Fear tightened my throat. I pushed it down. I’d leave soon, before I could f**k it all up and leave them hating me.

I stood and drained my beer. “I’m going to grab a smoke.”

I was hit by a wall of stifling night air when I escaped outside through the sliding glass door. I closed my eyes and sank to the balcony floor, resting my back against the wall. The concrete floor was still hot as I pulled my bare feet up and bent my knees. I dipped my head to the side to light a cigarette. I drew it in, felt it expand in my lungs, welcomed the mild calm it pulsed through my agitated veins. I rushed my free hand through my hair.