Damn her fucking brother. Why did Ty have to be one of his best goddamn friends?
Frustration and anger continued to gnaw at him, mixing with the almost uncontrollable desire to touch.
Through a haze of lust, Ethan heard the back door opening and he knew at once that Ty was coming to find him. He didn't care if Ty was her brother, he'd be damned if anyone would see her like this. A wave of fury encompassed him when he thought about whether anyone had already seen her like this. He tried like hell not to take it out on her, but he couldn't control his reaction. His lips opened as he heard the pissed, sarcastic question shoot from his mouth, "Do you know how to close a fucking door?"
Her face paled, and Ethan felt bad for snapping at her, but that's all the time he had left. He reached down and took the doorknob into his fist and slammed the door shut, with her safely inside, where no one else could see her tempting little body.
Two seconds later, Ty rounded the corner and saw him standing still, loitering in the hallway. "What are you doing?" he asked with an unmistakable edge of suspicion.
Fuck. "Nothing. I heard a noise. It was probably just your sister. Let's hit it." Wanting nothing more than to escape the situation, he pushed passed Ty and went through to the kitchen, pulling the Cokes from the fridge.
They left through the back door and drove to the lake, joining Josh and a bunch of other kids from school.
Ethan should have had fun the rest of the day. There was no reason he shouldn't have.
Except for the knowledge that Ava Anderson was probably going to come between him and one of his best damn buddies.
So yeah, the day sucked and infinitely so.
****
The summer before Ethan's senior year continued to fly by and he managed not to have to see Ava for several more weeks.
But he knew it wouldn't last, and it hadn't.
Ethan and Ty were both on the high school football team, and when they started practicing twice a day, in the mornings and early evenings, Ethan began driving Ty home at night. Since Ava's near-naked body was now a memory he could conjure any damn time he felt the need, he found it harder and harder not to think about her.
Hell, it was a memory that haunted him even when he tried to suppress it. So he attempted to keep from going inside Ty's house as much as possible. Staying away from Ava was now something he attempted all the time but sometimes it didn't work out the way he planned.
On this particular day, he pulled his truck in front of the house like he always did. Ty turned to him with his hand hesitating on the door. "Dude. Come inside and check out my new laptop."
Ethan bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood, but replied, "Sure."
Ty walked ahead of him and through the back door. "Grab us a couple of water bottles, okay?"
"Yep." Ethan closed the door behind him and stood a moment, holding his hand on the doorknob behind him, bracing himself. He heard Ty grunt out a greeting as his friend walked past the laundry room. Ethan took two steps inside the kitchen and looked to his right, into the smaller room, wondering if Ava was in there. His muscles clenched as he saw a perfectly formed backside covered in ridiculously thin denim as its owner bent down to pull clothes from the dryer.
Coils of heat ran down his spine as he pictured himself taking her from behind, right there in the damned laundry room. She'd be tight. Her ass was perfect. She wasn't skinny, her butt cheeks were lush and curvy, something he fantasized about on a continual basis. And she'd be tight.
Shit. He was such a perverted fuck. She was Ty's little sister and he needed to get that information to process through his slow moving, shit for brains.
Held frozen, unable to move a muscle, he stood still and watched her, the blood pooling to his dick. She glanced his way and then quickly turned and stood upright, facing him. Her eyes flared as she blushed, her cheeks turning a soft pink. She licked her lips and when she did, his eyes fell to her mouth before he could stop himself.
He wanted to taste that mouth. If it was the last thing he did before he died, Ethan promised himself that he'd suck her bottom lip into his mouth and hold it between his teeth while he pushed inside her body.
Trying to figure out a way he could have her, he began making up scenarios in his head. Maybe Ty would die before he did—the dude smoked cigarettes. Yeah, maybe his buddy would die first and then Ethan could have his little sister. Shit, that was fucked-up; he loved Ty like a goddamn brother.
"Hey." Ava's soft greeting lashed him like a thousand pinpricks along his spine.
"Hey," he answered, clearing his throat. He did answer her, right? Yeah, that had sounded like his voice. Hopefully he wasn't standing with his tongue hanging out like a complete imbecile.
"How . . . how was practice?" she asked, a soft huskiness bleeding into her tone that made him begin imagining all sorts of erotic shit.
Ethan ripped his eyes from her lips and lifted them to hers. She'd just asked him a question, right? He'd distinctly heard the rise in her voice at the end of her words. It had been something about football practice. "Okay." That was a safe answer, wasn't it?
While he waited for her to speak again, his eyes roamed down her legs and landed on her feet. They were bare and her toes were painted a dark color, almost black. Maybe dark purple? Whatever, they looked good. Shit, even her feet were pretty, soft, and feminine. She didn't have an ugly spot anywhere. Her body was freaking awesome: smooth ankles, perfect thighs, those amazing breasts. He began sweating where he stood.
"Ethan." A hard-edged, male voice suddenly broke into his fevered thoughts.
He turned to look at a scowling Ty. "Yeah?" he managed to ask as if he wasn't standing like a dumb fuck with his head up his ass, drooling over the dude's sister.
"Come on. Water, remember?" Ty shook his head and opened the refrigerator to get the bottles himself, while he asked, "What the fuck's been wrong with you lately?" His buddy straightened back up and then looked toward Ava as his voice sharpened. "I warned you about bothering my friends."
A wave of jealousy hit Ethan between the eyes. Ava had been bothering Ty's friends? Which ones? If it wasn't him, that meant it had to be Josh. Motherfucker—had he been right? Was Josh hot for Ava? Fuck. He'd have to kill the dude—no way he'd let him have her. And killing Josh would be sad, because then he wouldn't have any friends left at all.
"I'm not bothering anybody," Ava announced, sounding both embarrassed and angry. "And when did you warn me? When I was ten years old?"
At her sarcastic question, Ethan felt himself relax. His muscles slowly uncoiled, and his uncalled-for jealousy, for the most part, drained away. He gave her one last lingering look that would hopefully be enough for a few more sessions in the shower, and then he followed Ty from the room.
Chapter Two
Summer turned into fall, school started, and with it came the football games. Ethan was pretty good, and even as early as the year before when he'd been a junior, a couple of college scouts had noticed him. His coaches had been all over that shit.
He needed to stay on top of his game this season, because he needed a football scholarship if he wanted to go to a four-year university. His parents made a semi-decent living off the farm, but they'd been warning him for years that if he wanted to go to college then he needed to get a scholarship.
Yeah, so easy.
But he had to say, so far, so good. The year started out fantastic. Redwood Falls High had decimated their opponent at the opening game of the season. The second game was an away game, and it had been a close call, but his team had persevered, so the season now stood at 2 and 0.
And, son of a bitch, that deserved a party.