Fuck—she’s beautiful. She’s at least eighteen now—god, I feel a dirty old man and I’m only four years older than her.
“Thank you.” I nodded, but my eyes stayed fixed on the gorgeous brunette. “Hey, are you dating anyone?”
“Me?” Her nose wrinkled as she shook her head. “No, I’m trying to focus on keeping my grades up. I don’t have time for dating.”
“You’re young—this is when you’re supposed to be dating.” I grinned and chuckled under my breath. “That’s the whole point.”
“I’d like to believe the whole point is to get a good education.” She shifted her weight slightly. “I’m more concerned about my future than my love life.”
“You can have both, you know.” I shrugged and narrowed my eyes. “Why don’t you let me take you out some time?”
“Um, I think Billy would kill you!” Her tone became hurried, and her eyes opened wide.
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen him anyway—it’s not a big deal.
“Maybe—but it might be worth it.” I chuckled again. “Come on; you can’t spend the entire holiday break studying.”
“I should get back to work.” She nodded, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips.
Rachel didn’t agree to go out with me before I left the candle shop, but I went back the next day—and the next day. By the time she finally agreed, I had so many candle warmers that I was going to be able to send some to relatives that I barely spoke to. I knew Billy would freak the fuck out if he knew I asked his little sister on a date, but she wasn’t so little anymore. I barely even recognized her, but that smile—it was the same one I had seen on her face when she was younger—before she had mesmerizing curves. Back then, she seemed more obsessed with our other best friend, Liam, but she was way too young for us to see her as anything more than Billy’s kid sister. That wasn’t the case anymore. She had become a beautiful young woman—and I couldn’t help but notice. I wanted to do a lot more than notice too.
Billy will definitely lose his mind if he finds out, but it just might be worth it…
Present day
“Holy shit.” Liam blinked in surprise. “How did I not know that you dated Billy’s sister?”
“Because you were spinning the pussy roulette wheel at the time and I barely saw you unless we were at work.” I chuckled under my breath. “That was right before you met—her.”
“Ah.” Liam nodded. “Yeah, things were moving a little fast around that time.”
“You were in love.” I reached for my beer. “I get it.”
“I was in the middle of a fucking mistake—my biggest one ever.” Liam exhaled sharply and took a drink of his beer.
“Not that it matters at this point since we probably won’t see Billy again unless he wants the ass-whooping he has coming, but—he doesn’t know about Rachel.” I sipped my beer. “It probably should stay that way.”
“Yeah, I’m not going to say anything.” Liam put his beer down on the table. “So, now that she’s moving in, do you think you’ll try to hook up with her again?”
“Nah, that ship has sailed. I’m surprised she didn’t slap me across the face when she saw me. I wasn’t really looking for a relationship, and I never called her—after we…” My words trailed off.
“Got it.” Liam understood without me having to fill in the blanks. “Well she’s hot as hell now—I might not have been thinking about Billy either if I was in your position.”
“Rachel deserves someone a lot better than either of us anyway. She’s fucking amazing—I just wish I had realized that when I had an opportunity.” I sighed and put down my beer. “What’s done is done though…”
“Yeah, just like fucking Billy,” Liam growled under his breath. “I’m going to punch that asshole in the face if I see him again.”
“I’d like to, but we both knew that Billy was a fucking basket case—it’s not the first time he’s screwed us over.” I leaned back against the couch. “Hopefully he’s happy at least, wherever the fuck he ends up.”
Liam and I made another trip to the bank later that afternoon and withdrew some more money, so we could pay our share of the rent for the second time. I wasn’t happy about it, but I really didn’t want to have to hunt down another apartment when we were desperate. Liam’s ex-girlfriend had left him with a lot of debt, and he was struggling enough as it was. Billy’s decision to run off with the rent money was going to put him further in the hole, but so would a new apartment. My finances were in better shape, but I wasn’t eager to blow a bunch of money unless I had to. Rachel’s offer was a quick fix to the problem at hand, but I doubted she would stay long. We needed to find another roommate and convince the landlord to switch over the lease or spend the next month looking for a new apartment that we could move into when we got paid again. Either way, it was going to be an exciting month.
A few days later
“You didn’t bring much stuff.” I peered into the back of Rachel’s car.
“Nah.” She shrugged and opened the back door. “It’s not like I need furniture or anything. I just need a lot of disinfectants, a new set of sheets, and some essentials.”
“Yeah, not like you’re going to be staying very long.” I shrugged and grabbed one of her bags.