Skin to Skin (Skin Deep #3)

I rolled over, my hand reaching for Brandon, but encountering empty sheets. I sat up, my hand going to my head immediately. Oy. Damn that hurt.

The bedroom door pushed open and Brandon came in holding a tray. “Hey, sunshine!” he called, brightly.

I squinted and groaned. “Headache, babe. Please…” I whined.

He chuckled and came to the side of the bed. “Scoot up so I can put the tray down.”

I complied, breathing in the scent of fresh coffee and buttered toast. I looked at the tray and discovered a cup of coffee, toast, scrambled eggs with cheese, a glass of ice water, and two Tylenol.

“Mmmmm…” I sighed, sipping the rich, hot coffee and then inhaling it like the nectar of the Gods it was. “Thank you.”

Brandon came around the bed and laid beside me, propping himself up on his elbow. “How are you feeling this morning?” he asked. I could hear the mirth in his words.

I rolled my eyes at him and picked up a triangle of toast, loaded a spoonful of eggs on it, and bit in. I chewed thoughtfully for a minute and then answered. “I don’t remember getting home. Everything before that, I’m good. I think.”

“You don’t remember the drive home?” he scoffed. “Sure about that, sunshine?”

I swallowed the Tylenol and downed most of the water before I continued eating while I racked my brain, trying to remember. I finally gave up and shrugged. “Nope. Don’t think so.”

Brandon reached over and stole a piece of my toast, biting into it as he said, “Hmmm.”

“What do you mean, hmm?” I asked. “What happened?”

He made another noncommittal noise in his throat and continued eating my toast. When he was done he said, “Oh, I don’t know. I figured you would remember the festivities in the truck on the way home.”

“Festivities? What the hell are you--” I paused, thinking hard. “Oh, shit! I totally gave you road head!” I crowed, my jaw dropping in shock.

“Now she remembers,” Brandon said exasperatedly. “By the way, I’m pretty sure that the truck driver we passed gave me a thumbs up.” He winked at me.

“Oh, God…” I groaned, closing my eyes in mortification.

The bed shook with Brandon’s silent laughter, which turned into loud laughter when I gave him a wry look. I finished eating without saying another word. It’s not that I was embarrassed that I did that…seriously, I do that for him all the time. But the fact that I did it shit faced and someone saw me do it? Oy.

Brandon laid beside me, fingers lazily tracing random patterns on my hip while I finished my coffee. That done, he jumped up, took the tray from me, kissed my forehead and ordered me to get dressed while he cleaned up.

Feeling marginally better, I took a quick shower, threw on some clothes, and padded barefoot into the living room to see what Brandon was doing. He met me in the hallway, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me deeply.

“Now that’s a proper good morning,” he murmured against my lips.

I smiled and kissed him again, finally breaking the kiss to snuggle into his arms. I felt his chest rumble when he spoke.

“Luke and I aren’t going to be that busy today. Why don’t you just stay home?”

I tipped my head back and looked at him. “Why? You trying to get rid of me?” I asked playfully.

“Maybe,” he said thoughtfully. “My other girlfriend is coming in today, so I figured I’d keep you two apart.”

I growled at him and smacked his chest, smiling as he chuckled and hugged me tight to him again. “Maybe I will stay home today,” I replied. “Might think of a surprise for you or something. You know, something I’ll actually remember?”

His hands tightened reflexively. “Yeah?”

I shrugged one shoulder and pulled away from him, putting a little extra sway in my hips as I walked into the kitchen, leaving him standing in the hall. “We’ll see.”

I grinned to myself and danced on the inside when I heard him swear under his breath as he stomped down the hall to the bedroom to get ready. I started to pop another k-cup into my machine when the doorbell rang.

I glanced at the clock, noticing that it was only quarter after eight as I went to open it. Brandon was coming down the hallway, looking at his watch as he did. “Who the hell is coming over this early?”

“I don’t know.” I opened the door and gasped, hitting my knees as the room spun and started to go dark.

“Mother fucker!”

I heard Brandon curse, but his voice was distant, seeming to get farther and farther away as he called my name and then…nothing. The darkness swallowed me down.

A hand shaking me woke me up. I didn’t know how much time had passed, but as soon as consciousness hit me, a scream worked its way up my throat, piercing the air around me before my eyes even opened.

I struggled against the hands touching me, fighting against memories, against the panic, against the pain. Brandon’s voice finally cut through the terror coursing through me and my gaze landed on him, my hands latching onto his shoulders as he shook me gently, his hands gripping my upper arms, trying to calm me down.

“NO! No, no, no, no, no…” I was mumbling, my whole body shivering on the floor.

“Baby, listen. Calm down. It’s okay, I promise. Shhh…shhh…” Brandon soothed, bending his face down close to mine, pressing his lips to my forehead.

“I saw-”

He cut me off. “Chloe, listen to me. I know what you saw. But it’s okay. It’s not what you think. I need you to sit up; there’s someone here to see you.”

I took a deep breath and let him help me up, my head swiveling to take in the stranger sitting on my couch. Except, he was no stranger. Not really. He couldn’t be…because he looked just like Greg.

But Greg was dead. Right?

He lifted a hand and gave a small wave. “Hey, Chloe. I know this must come as quite a shock, but I’m Gage. Greg’s twin brother, as I’m sure you’ve deduced by now.”

Brandon reached his hand down to me and I took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet. He helped me over to the chair, my legs barely steady enough to support me, as I stared at Gage.

“I…I thought…” I hedged, uncertainly.

He nodded slightly. “I know. I’m sorry for that; I really am. I didn’t know how else to do this so I just hopped on the plane, rented a car, and, well, here I am. Showing up at your door very early on a Friday morning to scare the living daylights out of you.” He sighed and shook his head ruefully.

I clasped my hands together in my lap and took a deep breath. “So why are you here? No offense to you, but I didn’t know he even had a twin. He mentioned a brother when I first met him, but said your parents were dead and that he didn’t talk to you.”

“My parents are very much alive and extremely horrified by what transpired with Gregory. As for he and I, we hadn’t spoken in quite a while because I didn’t much care for things he was getting involved in.” He blew out a breath, looked like he was steadying himself. “I know there’s no way to atone for what you went through. But please, accept my deepest and sincerest apologies, and that of my parents.”

He stood and pulled something out of his pocket. He moved closer to me, stopping when I backed away instinctively, but reached out his hand for me to take what he had. I opened the long rectangle of paper, musing that it almost looked like a check, before I gasped and dropped the paper to the floor in front of me.