There is an incessant buzzing in my ear. I want to swat it away like you would an annoying fly, but it gets louder and louder and -
Oh, wait a second.
"What?" I feel myself groan, turning over and pulling the blankets up higher, covering my face.
This is just like high school all over again.
"Get up. We're going out for breakfast." Cam's voice penetrates my ears, so I continue to groan at him. "Unless you don't want a greasy sausage and egg McMuffin right now? With an extra hash brown?"
I pull one of the blankets from my face, squirting at the sunlight coming through the blinds. Cam and Noah stand side by side against the counter in the kitchen, eyeing me.
I automatically feel a blush rise through my cheeks as I meet Noah's eyes. He looks down at the sofa I'm splayed across, and I follow his line of sight to one of my legs, exposed in the open, looking smooth and lanky, and just as pale as ever in the sunlight.
I pull myself into a seated position, tipping my head back and stretching my arms up above me.
"This couch is not comfortable, Cam. for the record." I groan, frowning at my big brother.
"Hurry up and get ready," he snorts.
Both he and Noah look away as I stand up, talking quietly amongst themselves, as I scramble through my various bags to collect together a passable outfit for a lazy Sunday.
I go upstairs to the bathroom to get changed, taking my hair out of the plaits I'd put in the night before and let it fall around my shoulders. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I try to see myself through Noah's eyes. I wonder if he would like my pale skin, my crimson hair that I'd got from my mother. I wondered if I'd compliment his tanned bad buy look if I hung off of his arm.
"I have it bad," I whisper to myself.
As I'm brushing my teeth, I'm hoping that he's an asshole. I hope that his personality is a huge turn off, but that killer smile last night is telling me otherwise. Surely, Cam wouldn't befriend someone who is an asshole to his sister. It's not in his nature.
"Are you ready?" Cam shouts from the bottom of the stairs.
I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear and make my way downstairs. Noah is stood against the door frame, fiddling with his keys.
"I'm driving," he states.
"Shotgun," I reply, and the grin that spreads across his face makes me giddy.
Cam is gutted that I've called the front seat once we get through the door. Accepting it like a child, whining about being pushed aside by his sister as he climbs into the black seat.
I slip into the leather of the passenger seat, breathing in the musky scent of the car that I hadn't fully appreciated the day before.
Noah is almost too big for the car, his seat lies all the way back to accommodate the length of his legs, but he gets in comfortably. Immediately making a fist around the gearstick as he presses the key into the ignition.
"Jesus Christ," I whisper to myself, staring at the size of his hand around the stick; the faded clock tattoo staring back at me.
How does someone look that good doing something so monotonous as driving?
My brother is kicking the back of my seat, still moaning about being in the backseat as I meet Noah's eyes again.
He smiles at me, putting an arm around the back of my seat and twisting his body to start reversing out of the driveway. I allow myself to look back at his flexed arm once and I swallow heavily.
"How was your date, Cam?" I force myself to ask.
"Give me the front seat and I'll tell you," he leans between the seats as Noah drives down the road. "Homewrecker."
"Is that why mum's never met Noah? Because he's your boyfriend?" I ask. Noah's laugh is deep.
I part my hair at the back, pulling it over my shoulders, smiling to myself.
"I should definitely get to meet your mum," Noah grins.
Cam reaches forward to hit his shoulder. I watch Noah expertly drop the gears down as we drive through a roundabout and pull into the drive-through.
When our order is in and we've driven through to pay and collect our food, Noah taps his card against the machine and hands me the greasy looking bag, looking as happy as he has all morning.
I notice how unruly his hair is when we start driving again because he's left his window open and it's blowing in every direction. It's curly and messy and I'd put money on my fingers getting tangled in it if I tried to thread them through. Some strands of his hair are even a little golden in the sun.
Cam's phone rings then, he answers almost immediately - most likely a pretty girl. I don't let his blabbering distract me from admiring Noah.
"You're staring again,"he says quietly, in that soft raspy voice I'd first heard last night. He glances back at me, a smile tugging at his lips, and looks back towards the road when I look away.
We pull into a nearby car park as I whisper back, "I think you're just trying to embarrass me."
"I'm stating facts." He says with that killer smile etched onto his face.
We pull over and I hear Cam say a quick goodbye in a dismissive tone. He reaches forward and snatches the food from my lap as if he hasn't eaten in days, practically throwing the bag back to the front once he's got what he wants.
Noah hands me my McMuffin, and I begin eating. As does Noah.
"I'm surprised you don't care about getting crumbs in your car." I say.
He grins into his wrapper, "I do." He states, eyes twinkling. "But I'm not completely neurotic."
"That's a big word for a mechanic," I tease.
"Mackenzie!" Cam raises his voice, the word muffled through the food in his mouth. I'd forgotten he was there, honestly. "Noah is very smart, aren't you sweetheart?"He leans forward to stroke Noah's face, the pair of them sharing a look before he slaps Cam's hand away.
Noah then stares me down, repeating, "I'm very smart, Mackenzie."
A shiver runs over me and my mouth fills with saliva. My name out of his mouth sounds . . . too good. So good that I instantly wish I could get more air because my body suddenly feels like he's reached over and tightened my joints like they're on springs.
His jaw ticks. All the moisture in my body floods south. I fold my arms over my chest and his eyes follow the movement, down to where I've pressed my breasts up against my t-shirt.
I continue eating despite being hungry for something else entirely, and he turns up the volume of the once quiet music playing in the car.
"I believe in a thing called love' by The Darkness is playing through the speakers. Noah's iphone is connected to bluetooth.
Of course he has good taste in music.
"Have you figured out how you're going to get to work yet?" Cam asks.
"What?" I croak, repeating myself after clearing my throat.
"Work?" he repeats. "You're not exactly within walking distance anymore, Kenzie."
"Oh," the realization suddenly dawns on me. "Oh fuck. Work. Uh - I'll get the bus or something. It's only for a few weeks."
"I could drive you, if you wanted?" Noah offers.
"I really couldn't as-"
"Isn't Noah great?" Cam smiles. "You're a star man."
Noah is great. He's too great. He's I-want-to-rip-your-clothes-off great, which is not what I think my brother means, but it's what I'm thinking once he's said it.
It's only lust though.
Lust, I can control.
====================================================================
Noah and Cam disappear into their rooms when we get home. So, I get my work laptop out and lazily prepare for the week ahead, while a music channel fills the room with noise.
An hour passes before one of them appears. It's Noah, wearing a fitted cotton t-shirt and workout shorts. His legs are also filled with tattoos, and as muscular as I'd expected them to be.
My mouth waters.
"The more of your skin I see, the more I think you have a tattoo addiction." i say. Eyes not leaving his legs.
His head tilts back with a smile. He rolls his neck to look back at me as i peer over the back of the sofa.
"You wanna see some more?" He grins. Two of his fingers loop under the bottom of his t-shirt.
"Oh," I tease. "So you're a flirt?"
"What?" His voice is an octave higher. "No!" A blush creeps up his chest, his neck turning redder by the second.
He huffs and walks into the kitchen, making up his pre-workout. Shaking the bottle, he turns and leans against the counter, looking at the TV as he drinks it.
I look him up and down again, biting my lip.
"Do you wanna come to the gym with me?" He asks suddenly.
I look at him. At his body, again.
I imagine his arms flexing as he lifts weights and watching him bend over doing squats.
I nod my head - not trusting my mouth to say anything that isn't perverted.
I'm going to need a very cute gym outfit.
It takes five minutes of destroying my neatly packed bags, and Noah laughing at me, to find my gym shorts and the matching sports bra to accompany them.
I stick my middle finger up at him and head upstairs and into the bathroom to get changed. I tie up my hair and wink at myself in the mirror, skipping down the stairs two at a time.
Noah is still standing where I left him, browsing through his phone when I leap into the room.
He chokes when I enter, spluttering, nodding.
"Are you alright?" I ask. A giggle leaves my mouth involuntarily.
"No. I mean - yes, yeah. Sorry, yeah. Are you okay? I mean, are you ready?" He stutters, looking a little flustered.
I walk towards him, around him, grabbing Cam's hoodie from over the back of one of the island stools. He stares at me as I pick it up, still drinking his pre-workout. I slip into it with his wide eyes watching me, pulling my ponytail out from the hood.
It's too big, covering my bum easily, and it smells like Noah's car. I see it in his eyes then.
It's not Cam's hoodie. It's his.
I have two options now: double down or fumble to get it off. If I go with option one, it's a power move - I've put on his hoodie in front of him and there's nothing he can do about it. Option two is obviously the realistic option. So, with trembling hands, I reach for the hem at the bottom and start to pull it up.
He reaches out and gently smooths it back down, pursing his lips.
"I'ts alright," he says quietly.
"I thought it was - "
"I know," he smiles.
He steps back again so he's an arms length away and picks up his keys from the counter.
"My hoodie looks better on you anyways." He teases. Killer smile on show.
I put my hands into the front pocket and smile at him, cheeks blazing. I follow him out of the front door and over to his car.
My jaw almost drops in awe when he leans down and opens the passenger side door, signaling for me to climb in.
"Is this a line too?" I tease, slipping into the leather seat.
He smiles, biting his lower lip.
"I'm just a gentleman." he says before closing the door gently and walking around the car, climbing into the driver's seat.
Quiet music plays as we drive and I force myself to watch the road.
"So," I turn to him, catching a scent of his aftershave against the neck of his hoodie. I snuggle into it, blinking up at him. "Did you sell your soul for this BMW?"
"No," he laughs. "I bought it second hand and did it up myself."
He runs his hand up the steering wheel, obviously reminiscing over his relationship with the car. I find myself feeling jealous.
If only I could wrap myself around the steering wheel . . .
"You don't drive?" he asks.
"Jack tried to give me lessons," I sigh. "They didn't go so well."
His lips curve, but he says nothing else on the subject, so i dont elaborate.
We separate once at the gym. I steal glances towards the weight lifting section whenever I can whilst I do some cardio. He tips some water over his face, fingers brushing the liquid through his hair. I groan, collapsing into the stair master.
It's only lust. I just have to stop giving into it.
====================================================================
When we return from the gym, Cam is laying on the sofa, cuddling a pile of wool.
"Cam!" I hiss, looking at the ball of synthetic fur he's holding. I can feel Noah's presence behind me, hovering, looking.
"I completely forgot about Squish," Cam says, breathing deeply.
Why hasn't the floor swallowed me whole yet?
"Squish?" Noah repeats.
Cam holds the stuffed toy up above his head, turning so it faces us.
Squish had been in the family a long time. He's a tattered-looking stuffed sheep with eyes that look slightly lazy. His eyelids are purple, his body a baby blue. I don't ever remember getting Squish, but Cam continues to tell the story of how he came to be, to embarrass me.
Noah sits on Cam's feet, grinning ear to ear.
"I would love to hold Squish," he beams, giving me a look asking for permission.
I snatch the toy from Cam's hands, holding it to my chest, wishing for Squish to sink into my body and disappear.
"Oh, she's very protective," Cam beams, holding back a laugh.
"You're such a little shit," I point a finger at him and look back at Noah with a sigh. My mouth opens, then closes again.
His eyebrows raise.
I huff and hand him the toy, looking back at the front door. Flirting with the idea of running very far away.
I walk around the sofa and sit down on the rug in front of them, leaning my head back against the TV table. I pull my sleeves up over my hands, throwing the hood over my head. Pouting at both of them.
Cam laughs and Noah smirks at me, leaning back into the sofa and spreading his legs. As if he owns the room.
It dawns on me then that I'm still wearing Noah's hoodie. I curl into it a little more to smell that musky scent that seems to cling to everything that he touches. Subtly though, because I don't want either of them to think I'm weird.
"I think Squish is cute," Noah utters. His voice is somewhat deeper, just a hint of teasing behind his words. The look in his eyes makes my toes curl.
"Kenzie just had to have him," Cam begins. I groan as he launches into the familiar story. "So, we were visiting Northshore beach . . ."
I listen, smiling softly, as Cam recalls the entire tale from memory.
Eventually, he gets to the punchline.
"- and then I watched her steal Squish from the kid on the sli-" Noah's laugh cuts Cam's story off.
"He's stolen?" he tuts and shakes his head. "So you're a bit of a bad girl then, really?"
I feel the blood rush into my face, the throbbing between my legs instant. Noah smirks, as if he's fully aware that I find him hot. As if he knows exactly what just happened to my body.
"Our dad realised she took him," Cam continues. "But he said as long as we didn't tell mum, she could keep him. So, Squish was born."
"I'm sure you've given him a long, happy life." Noah smiles. I take the toy from his hand happily, shoving him into the front pocket of the hoodie.
Cam laughs at me, but changes the subject, talking about the score of a recent football game. He shoo's me away from the TV as he reaches for the remote to switch over to the sports channel.
Noah glances at me and I look away, still feeling the heat in my face.
"I'm gonna go shower," I state, Cam waving me away again, a non-verbal response I became very familiar with in high school.
I feel Noah's eyes follow me as I walk around the sofa, avoiding his line of sight. As I round the doorway and take the first step, I hear the patter of his footsteps behind me.
Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away . . .
I take a few quick steps, pretending like I don't hear him round the corner too. I pretend I don't feel him looking at me from the bottom of the stairs.
The doorway separating the hallway and the living room clicks shut.
"Mackenzie?" He calls.
"Yes?" I squeak, turning to face him. I set my eyes on his chest.
"Look at me," the grin in his voice is infuriating, but I do follow the instructions. "I just wanted to say that you don't need to be embarrassed."
So, he'd figured bringing it up would be less embarrassing?
For a second, I'm speechless.
"Maybe you should tell me something embarrassing too," the words tumble from my lips.
He rubs his jaw, still grinning.
I take a few steps towards him to let him know that I'm serious.
"I think it's only fair."
"Do you?" He teases.
I take a seat on the step I'm standing on, stretching my legs out in front of me.
He frowns slightly, " I'm struggling to see the relation between you and Cam."
Maybe Cam doesn't see you as the sexiest person to have ever graced the earth.
I say nothing. He sighs, and I watch as my silent treatment technique clicks in his mind.
"Something that would embarrass me . . . hmm. I don't embarrass as easily as you, it seems." I scoff and his smile widens. His pause seems to be for dramatic effect. "I cried when Simba's dad died in The Lion King." He groans, clutching his chest. "It's a weight lifted - I'm so glad I could finally tell someone."
His eyes twinkle under the dim hallway light, and he's giving me that killer smile.
====================================================================
I pull my hair out of its ponytail and sink against the bathroom door. I can't live in the same house as this man. He's going to drive me insane.
I try to shake out the image of his messy hair and glossy eyes as he had looked up at me, waiting for my response to his terrible joke, but it's stuck there in the forefront of my mind.
I huff as I start undressing, seeing how beet-red my cheeks are in the mirror. I had been biting the insides of my cheeks.
"Why have you got to be so hot?" I whisper into the empty room.
Stepping into the spacious shower, I let the water run through my hair and over my shoulders as I tip my head back.
His smile is stuck behind my eyes. With his perfect teeth and his tousled, just-woke-up hair and his long, muscular legs. Fuck him.
I mean, I would if I could.
"Christ, Kenzie," I groan, reaching between my legs.
This is absurd. I met this person not even twenty four hours ago, and I'm already a mess over him. I don't think I've ever been so attracted to someone.
I run my hand from my inner thigh up to the crease of my groin, collecting a pool of water in my palm, dragging it up to my waistline before letting it drop between my open fingers.
I think about the way that his jaw clenched yesterday when I had reached up and touched his face.
I allow myself, in this moment, to think of him as my hand strokes over one of my breasts, and then the other, before I reach down once more and press my hand against the warmth between my legs.
I lean against the tiled wall. It's freezing compared to the heat still lingering over my body. I can hear their muted voices downstairs, muffled by the doors and the water and the TV that they have got a tad too loud. They're laughing with each other about something or other and it's reassuring that they're not here, in the space upstairs.
I slip a finger between the folds of my pussy and lightly run it down to my entrance, knowing that I'd find it already wet. I'd been soaking ever since he's fucking looked at me with that smirk and called me a bad girl.
I release a shaky breath and close my eyes.
I deserve this.
I deserve to think of someone hot and get myself off, and I am not guilty that Noah Romano is that someone; despite him being in this house and being my brother's best friend.
Alright. I'm a tad guilty.
Although, not guilty enough that i stop myself from pushing that finger up to my clit.
The sensitivity washes over me, more so than usual, and I have to actively relax my body as I begin rubbing small circles with the wetness that still coats my fingertips.
He's dancing all over my mind.
I imagine pulling one of those curls away from his eyes, tugging with my finger. If I squeeze my eyes closed hard enough, I can picture him smirking at me, those emerald green eyes growing darker.
I lean back again and let out a shaky breath fall from my lips.
The water rushes over me, my hair slick to my back. I look down to watch it flow down my body.
My finger gently turning in circles, my legs spreading a little wider. I feel the pleasure begin to build, my eyes fluttering open, then closed. As I lose myself in the feeling. The water rushes over my face, leaving my skin hot and pink.
The way his arm flexed when he put his hand behind my seat in the car. The bulge of his bicep. The tick of his jaw.
Two of my fingers press together and I firmly press them down against my clit, before sliding further down, feeling the slick heat at my entrance.
"Kenz," Cam's voice pulls me from my orgasm.
A small whine leaves my lips without my permission, and my shoulder smacks against the tiles as I try to correct my posture.
I know Cam wouldn't come into the room - it's locked anyway, but my breath is heavy and my eyes are wide as I reply.
"What's up?" I shout back. The words are off, but he doesn't seem to notice.
"Dinner will be ready in ten, alright?" he says, slowly getting quieter as he descends the stairs.
"Sounds good." my voice shakes, and i hear the TV get louder and then quieter. Signalling that he's gone back into the living room.
I feel too interrupted to finish what I started now. Too guilty in Cam's house. So, I wash up as quickly as possible. I dry off and get changed, trying not to think about it.
It probably would have done me well to finish before seeing Noah again.
Fawning over him is going to get me nowhere.
My mother would have a field day if she knew the effect that Cam's friend was having on me. She had always teased me about his friends growing up, saying what a cliche it would be if I were to fancy one of them; luckily I never did and none of us had the hassle.
I don't fancy him.
I just need to get how fit he is out of my system once and for all, and then continue on with my life.
I put on my fluffy pajamas this time, covering up the pale skin underneath. My fluffy socks have Santa Claus on them, although it's only November.
Once I'm downstairs, the smell of fried food hits me like a brick wall. I almost melt into the carpet of the living room. Noah and Cam have their backs to me, sitting at the island on the metal stools. There's another opposite them that I assume cam has pulled out so we can all eat together. So, I slink over and climb onto it.
"What, you're a chef now?" I tease.
Cam laughs as I get comfortable in my seat, golden-coloured chicken half-chewed in his mouth.
"You're funny," he says. "We have an air-fryer."
I roll my eyes, but my stomach rumbles at the sight of the freezer surprise in front of me. So, I dig in and peer around them to look at the football match still playing on the TV.
"Are you ready for work tomorrow?" cam questions, eyes still glued to the screen.
"Hm? - oh, yeah." I smile up at him as he turns to look at me. "We're about to start prepping the Christmas campaign, so I should be pretty busy. Might even get to plan the Christmas party this year."
"Christ! Good luck to them." he turns to Noah. "she used to throw these ridiculous parties when we were in high school - all out, every time. For absolutely no reason. One time this boy broke up with her and she threw a divorce party"
Noah laughs and I smile between them both.
"You had fun, didn't you?" I laugh and poke him with my fork.
"The divorce balloons were too much," he states. "What time do you need to be at work?" he asks, changing the subject back.
"Nine. You really don't have to take me though, Noah." I say, looking down at my plate.
"Oh, it's cool," he smiles up at me. " I love driving, and I can start work whenever, so all good."
I return his smile.
We pick at our food for a short while, all peering back at the TV intermittently.
Noah is quieter tonight, reserved and soft-looking in joggers and a baggy t-shirt.
There's a gentle patter of rain against the kitchen window, and I notice that there are droplets of water clinging to Noah's hair.
Cam clears his throat.
"We have people coming round on Tuesday," he tells me. "Game night. It's a weekly thing."
I nod, smiling. My mind whirs immediately, wondering where I can scurry off to if they need the house.
"I can work late, it's cool," I tell him. "Do your thing."
Noah's eyebrow raises and then they draw together, as if pulled by a string.
"Kenz, you're invited," Cam scoffs. "God, you think I'm gonna kick you out to get pissed with my mates, you twat?"
I throw one of my chips at his forehead.
"They're nice. From uni. I'd say you'll like them, but she never likes any of my mates." He directs that last part to Noah who chuckles, running a hand through his hair as he glances at my brother before shaking his head.
"That so?" He smirks.
"Mum always wanted her to get with one of them." Cam frowns.
My fork scrapes against the plate, unable to help the laugh that leaves my lips: "I didn't know you knew that!"
"Your mum tried to set you up with one of his friends?" Noah asks.
"Not set me up," I smile around my fork. "She just wanted me to date someone smart."
"Smart or not, I didn't like it," Cam huffs. "Can you even imagine? I think i'd genuinely kill myself." I roll my eyes at him. "I'm not even kidding Kenzie, the thought of you getting it on - no. absolutely not. Gross."
I eye Noah for a split second, but he's looking down at his food, pushing it around the plate.
"Remember Liam?" Cam asks me.
I nod.
Liam was one of those friends in high school. He was sweet, with his dirty blond hair and puppy eyes, and he was always talking about electronics and some equation or another. He told me once that he wanted to be an engineer. It was in Cam's final year of school, at the start of the year, and then I didn't see much of him around the house after that.
"He had a thing for you." He says, staring at the screen.
My head shoots up.
Noah is grimacing.
"He told Brad, who told Lindsey, who told me," he continues.
The information turns in my head and I feel a tilt in my neck as I look at the scowl on his face.
"You stopped speaking to him," I realise.
It's not even a question, because I already know the answer.
I couldn't place my finger on it until he'd said it, but Liam had suddenly stopped coming around the house. Those puppy eyes were no more and i'd barely even noticed at the time.
Cam shrugs. I swallow the food in my mouth.
"You wouldn't want your mates shagging me, would you?" i gulp, copying Noah and pushing the food around the plate.
Suddenly Noah doesn't seem so panty-dropping gorgeous anymore, because he's not Noah Romano. He's Cam's best friend.