Hate to Love You (Strong Brothers 4)

“Do you?”

“Let’s just say I like the way you look in your swim shorts,” I said. I cringed but he laughed. It didn’t sound quite so pervy in my mind but he didn’t seem to take it the wrong way. I felt his hand on my arm, stopping me. I turned, looking up at his face in the dark. He faced the direction of the bonfire so some of the light was illuminating his face in this ghostly, almost angelic way. The hand that was on my arm came up to my jaw and his other one joined it on the other side of my face.

Our lips met. It was soft and gentle but it was him. Charlie was kissing me. I was stuck for a few seconds; I couldn’t believe what was happening. I felt him pull away. He looked at me, his blue eyes wide and worried like he had done something wrong. I pulled him back in and we kissed again. I felt some of the tension leave his body. The kiss got deeper. One of his hands went to the back of my neck and the other one grabbed my waist, not so gentle anymore.

Thank god we were alone.

He pulled away again. My lips tingled. “What?” I asked him.

“No, nothing,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “I just… you wanna get out of here? Go back to my place?”

“Yes.” He grinned which made me grin too. I wasn’t drunk. This was what I wanted. We were alone but there was only so much that could happen on the beach.

“Come on.” He took my hand and we went up the beach further in the direction that we had been walking. I saw some lights ahead on the back of a house that had steps from a patio down to the beach.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Just up there,” he said, pointing at the house that I was looking at. Woah. Was that where he was staying? I let him lead me up the stairs to the patio and unlock the door.

“Oh my god,” I said when he turned the light on. We were standing in a huge open plan living, kitchen and dining room. There were floor to ceiling windows so you could see right out to the beach when you were inside. The couches and furnishings were classic white and tan with nautical kitsch here and there for décor. The television on the wall had to be at least sixty inches. “This is nice,” I said.

“Thanks. It’s a relative’s place, I’ve been staying with them this summer. You want something? Water? Soda?” he asked. I flopped down onto one of the couches.

“Nope.”

He sat down next to me. “No?”

I shook my head and turned to face him, sitting on the couch. He cupped my face and leaned in to kiss me again. I leaned into him, pressing my chest into his. He groaned. I let my hands run down his body and pulled his shirt up. We parted and he took it off. He grabbed my waist but then he froze.

“What?” I asked.

“We should stop,” he said.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing. I want to. I really want to but I don’t want to pressure you.”

“You’re not,” I insisted. I saw him swallow and look down at me. He didn’t believe me. I had to do something. “Do you have condoms?”

“Upstairs.”

“Let’s go upstairs then,” I said. This was it, the moment when we either went upstairs or he turned me down. Him saying no to me would feel like a punch in the gut but even if he did, nobody could say I didn’t put myself out there. I felt my heart pick up again, waiting for his response.

“Come on,” he said. He got up and offered me a hand. I took it. He picked his shirt up off the ground and we went up the stairs. We walked into a high-ceilinged bedroom with similar décor to the living room, only with a massive bed in the middle of it. Charlie told me to wait there while he walked through a door that I assumed was the bathroom. I sat on the bed. On the wall above it was a huge, mounted marlin. I wondered if it was real. I was about to ask him whether it was when he walked out of the bathroom with a small box in his hands. He was unwrapping it which meant he hadn’t used any while he was here… or he had gone through countless boxes already and this was a new one. He took a condom out and put it on the bedside table before joining me on the bed. We stretched out, him on top of me.

He started pulling my hoodie off. I arched my back then raised my shoulders off the bed so he could get it off of me. It was a warm night so all I had on underneath was my bra. He stopped, looking down at my chest. I felt a little proud that I had that effect on him. I had never been naked with a guy before. I started wiggling out of my shorts and he helped me, pulling them off. He brought his hands to the waistband of my underwear, then stopped and looked up at me. I nodded. He pulled them off. I leaned on my elbows so I could unhook my bra and took it off.

“Jesus Christ, Brenna,” he said. I felt hot all over. I loved that he liked the way I looked. I was curvy, had been since puberty. It wasn’t every guy who was into that. He was kneeling between my spread legs. He stood briefly and pulled his shirt and underwear off. I swallowed looking at him. He was perfect. Every inch of him was solid muscle. Between his legs, his cock was already stiffening. I had never seen one in real life. Not on a guy that I was about to have sex with.

We kissed again, this time, all of him pressing against all of me. He reached for the condom. I looked up at him as he slid it on. He looked at me again.

“Are you sure?” he asked. I nodded and reached for him. He covered my body with his. Tonight was going to be the most exciting night of my life.