Forever After All by Kaylee Ryan

Chapter 4

McKenna

When Rip’s lips press against my shoulder, I can’t stop the smile that takes over my face. Not that he can see it in this position. We’re still in his bed, and from the looks of the light coming in through the blinds, the sun is high in the sky. His arms are wrapped tightly around me, and his hard cock is pressing into my ass.

It’s not a bad way to wake up.

Speaking of waking up, I should slide out of his arms and head home. He was saying things last night that have my mind all jumbled. I was buzzed, but I knew what I was doing when I asked him to kiss me. It was that or ask him to explain what he meant when he said I was it. He said I was the one and only woman in his bed.

My heart leaps in my throat as the teenager in me who crushed on him appears with full sixteen-year-old giddiness. I would never have expected to be staying the night in his bed, let alone in his arms. Top both of those things with his words, and I’m a swoony, girly mess of twisted emotions.

“Morning,” his deep raspy voice greets me.

There’s a flutter in my chest at the sound of his gruff, sleep-laced voice. Turning in his arms, I don’t try to hide my smile when I see his long hair mussed and his eyes still heavy from sleep. He’s a sight to behold. “Morning.” My hands have a mind of their own as I reach out and push his hair out of his eyes.

“What’s the plan for today?” he asks.

“Uh… I’m not sure. I’m sure Laramie is going to want to talk wedding plans.”

His grin grows wider. “I’m sure you’re right. Is there anything you want to do?”

“I need to study for the bar exam.”

“Today?” he asks, and is that disappointment that I hear?

“I should.”

“Kenna.” He leans in and presses his lips to my forehead. “Give me today. I promise I’ll do whatever I can the next two weeks to help you study, but I just… you’re here, and I’m not ready to give you back to books just yet.”

“You gave me up to books, did you?” I tease.

Something crosses his face, but he quickly masks it. “I missed you. Please.” He juts out his lip in a pout, which is needless. He had me at “I’m not ready to give you back to books.”

“Fine. One more day, but if I fail, it’s on you.” I point at him, trying to sound stern when we both know I’m anything but.

“Thank you.” He leans in and presses a kiss to my lips. I didn’t know what to expect in the light of day. It certainly wasn’t more kisses, and him holding me as if I’m precious to him. “And taking a break will help clear your head. What would you like to do? Anything you’ve been wanting to do?” His hand on my back pulls me a little closer, which is fine with me. I don’t think I’ll ever be close enough to him to meet my satisfaction.

“Not specifically other than just relax. That’s not something I’ve done much of the last five years,” I confess.

His brow furrows. “Tell me what you want to do, baby. Whatever it is, as long as it’s not studying, I’ll make it happen.”

I’m able to pretend to not be affected. I pretend that lying here in his arms, his kisses, and his whispered terms of endearment aren’t affecting me. This isn’t us. We’ve always been close. There’s not much to do in small-town Texas, and since his sister is my best friend, we naturally became close as well. Not this close. Not the kissing kind of close. A hug here or there and a hand offered to help me out of the truck or off a stump sitting around a bonfire, not sharing kisses that leave me breathless, and not sleeping in each other’s arms.

This is new for us.

I don’t hate it.

I just don’t know what it means.

“You hungry?” he asks.

“Yes. And I need a shower and a toothbrush.”

“You can use my shower, and there are spare toothbrushes I get from the dentist in the bottom drawer.”

“I uh… just assumed I would go home for those things. I need clean clothes.” Something crosses over his face but leaves just as quickly as it appeared.

“You could do that,” he says cautiously. “Or I could give you some of the clothes that Laramie leaves here for nights like this. You shower while I make you breakfast.”

“Rip, you don’t have to do that. You already took care of me and let me stay here last night.”

“Neither of those things were a hardship, Kenna.” His eyes are soft as he waits for my answer.

Kenna.He’s the only person who calls me that. Everyone else uses my full name or calls me Mac. Rip is the only one, and I’ll admit being here with him, hearing the name only he calls me rolling off his lips, is affecting me more than it should. I’ve really missed him.

“You sure?”

“Spending more time with you? Yes, beautiful, I’m sure.” His chocolate eyes are watching me intently, waiting for my reply.

“Depends. What are you making for breakfast?” I ignore the fact he called me beautiful. That’s new as well. This softer side of Rip is not something I’m used to. He’s always been nice to me, but this… this is an all-new level.

“Anything you want,” he counters.

I pretend to be thinking about what I want when I already know what sounds good. “Pancakes and bacon. Extra crispy.”

“Deal.” He pulls me close and kisses my forehead. “Go shower. I’ll send Laramie in with some clothes.”

“What’s she going to think? I mean, I slept in your bed. Now I’m showering in your bathroom, and you’re making me breakfast.” I know Laramie isn’t going to say a word, except maybe encourage me to go for it. She knows I used to think the sun rose and set with her brother. She’s always had this theory that Rip and I would live happily ever after, and we could be sisters. At least she used to.

Rip throws the covers off and climbs out of bed. I watch as he stretches, his muscles rippling, giving all new meaning to his name. It’s fitting. I wonder if that even crossed his parents’ minds when they were naming him.

I watch as he moves around the bed and tugs the covers off me as well. He offers me his hand to help me stand. Once I’m steady on my feet, he pulls me into his arms in a hug that rivals all hugs. I can feel his morning wood pressing into my belly, and I swallow hard. He’s not hiding it, and I can’t help but wonder is it more than just the “morning,” or is that rocket in his pocket for me?

“What do you think, Kenna? You’re the only one I’m worried about,” he says, pulling out of the hug, keeping his hands resting on my hips.

“What is this, Rip? What’s going on here?”

He smiles, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “This is us, Kenna.” His lips find their way to mine, and morning breath be damned, he kisses me like I’m his. “Now. Go get in the shower. I’ll send Laramie. Be thinking about what you want to do today.” He taps my hip and releases me.

I stay rooted to my spot as I watch him walk out of his room. Part of me wants to call Laramie and give her a heads-up. I know she and Colby are in one of the guest rooms. The other part of me just needs time to process this. I don’t know what’s going on. Rip has never acted this way with me before. Not that I’m complaining. I’ll take his attention, his hugs, and his kisses any day of the week. Then again, I remember when Laramie called me last night, and I told her I was in Rip’s room watching a movie. I believe her exact words were “Finally” before she hung up the phone.

“Knock knock.” I hear Laramie say before she pushes the bedroom door open. I’m still standing in the same spot, trying to process the last twenty-four hours. My best friend’s grin is huge as she wags her eyebrows. “The man of the house requested some clothes for his lady friend,” she says in an exaggerated Southern drawl.

“Stop,” I say, spluttering with laughter.

“What’s with this”—she waves her hand in the air around me—“statue look?”

“Nothing. Just needed some clothes to take a shower.”

“These?” She holds up a stack of clothes.

“Thank you.” I reach for them, but she pulls them away.

“First, let’s set some ground rules.”

“What kind of ground rules?” I wasn’t expecting rules from her. “Never mind, I should just go home to shower and change.”

“Oh, no, you don’t, sister. You’re staying.” She grins wickedly, and I brace myself for what she says next. “We have one rule and one rule only.”

My hands settle on my hips, and I mock glare at her. “Let’s hear it.”

“All future conversations regarding you and my brother, we shall refer to him as Hans. When it’s not directly related to what happened in this room last night, he can be Rip.”

“What?” I ask, holding in my laughter.

“I should have prefaced this with I love that you spent the night in his room, and I need all the details. But… he’s my brother, and eww, I don’t want to hear about his moves, so when you talk about your sexy times, he shall be referred to as Hans.”

“You’re crazy.” I shake my head.

“You love me,” she sings, dropping to the bed with a bounce. “Wait, maybe I shouldn’t be sitting here.” She scrunches up her nose.

“Stop. Nothing happened.”

“You mean to tell me you had my brother all to yourself in his bed, in his clothes”—she points to the shirt I’m wearing—“and nothing happened?”

“That’s what I’m telling you.”

“Mac,” she exhales. “I was kidding about the Hans thing. You know that, right? You can talk to me.”

“Nothing happened. Well, I mean, I woke up with his arms around me, and his, you know, pressed against my ass, but that’s it. We might have kissed a few times,” I confess. “Oh, and he hugged me before he went downstairs to make me breakfast.”

“He didn’t try anything?”

“Nope.” I’m not the least bit shocked. Rip has never been a player. He’s always respected the women he’s dated. Maybe he changed while I was away at school, but something tells me he didn’t. That’s just not who he is.

“Huh.”

“Huh? What do you mean, huh?”

“I just… thought that he would, that’s all. He’s always asking about you and just thought there might be something there. I expected more than a few kisses and a hug.”

“He asks about me?”

She nods. “Yeah, pretty frequently. I thought maybe he was finally pulling his head out of his ass and claiming you as his.”

I don’t know why I’m fighting this attraction. I guess I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. It always does. “We both know that’s not going to happen.” I’m not sure what’s going on between us, but it feels too good to be true. I don’t want to get my hopes up.

“I guess we’ll see.”

I can tell she’s not convinced that’s not what’s happening. However, I was here in the moment, and a hug and some tonsil hockey and words spoken in the moment isn’t exactly what futures are made of. Even him dropping the word beautiful isn’t enough to justify what she thinks might be happening.

“These should work.” She points to the clothes on the bed. “What are you doing today that you needed to shower here?”

“I— Nothing that I know of. He did mention hanging out. He just told me he could get me some of your clothes that you keep here and that he was going down to start breakfast.”

She wags her eyebrows. “He’s into you.”

“Stop it. You’re going to get my hopes up. Besides, we both know Rip could have any woman he wants.” I hold up my hand when she starts to argue. “You know I’m right,” I tell her.

“Whatever you say, Mac. I’m going to shower with my fiancé. I’ll see you downstairs.” With a wag of her eyebrows, she jumps off the bed and leaves the room.

Grabbing the clothes she brought for me from the bed, I lock myself in his bathroom. His scent surrounds me.

I can’t believe, after crushing on him as hard as I did, that I’m finally here, in his room. That I slept in his bed, in his arms last night. The teenager McKenna would be thrilled at this turn of events.

Who am I kidding? The adult McKenna is too.

* * *

After my shower, I took my time getting dressed. Luckily Laramie and I are the same size, just like we’ve always been, and we have the same taste in clothes. She gave me a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a tank top. Some might think it’s weird to wear your best friend’s bra and panties, but they’re clean, and this is Laramie, my very best friend. There are worse things I could be wearing. The outfit is perfect for the Texas summer heat. Knowing I’ve stalled long enough, I pull open his bedroom door and make my way downstairs.

“There she is. I thought you fell back asleep,” Rip says as soon as I enter the kitchen.

“Sorry, the shower was too nice not to indulge.” I take a look around the room. The long kitchen island has six barstools. Colby and Laramie are occupying two on one end, while Rip and Corbin take up two on the opposite, leaving two in the middle. I spy a plate full of crispy bacon and pancakes and have to bite down on my cheek to keep from smiling.

“Kenna,” Rip says, my name pulling my attention away from breakfast. He’s standing with a plate that I assume is for me as he places it on the island next to where he was sitting. “Come and eat.”

“Why didn’t you make my plate?” Corbin asks.

“Because you don’t have legs like McKenna,” Colby fires back.

“Is that how it is?” Corbin chuckles.

My eyes are locked on Rip. He smiles and shrugs before pulling out the barstool next to him, motioning for me to sit.

My eyes flash to my best friend, who’s grinning from ear to ear. She mouths, “Told you,” before turning back around and focusing on her plate.

My feet carry me to the seat Rip insisted that I take, and I sit.

“What do you want to drink?” Rip asks.

“Oh, I can get it.” I start to stand, but his hand on my shoulder stops me.

He bends close, his hot breath brushing across my face. Goose bumps break out on my skin when he says, “Tell me what you want, Kenna.”

You. The deep timbre of his voice and the way that his hand traces down my bare arm tells me he’s not just asking what I want to drink. At least I don’t think he is. I’ve not dated much. I wasn’t kidding when I told Rip the guys at school were not my type. Give me a man in boots and well-worn jeans any day over sweater vests and loafers. “Juice is fine.”

“You want some coffee too?”

“Um… sure. I can get it,” I offer again.

“Let me take care of you,” he says, his voice low and only for me. He stands and walks around the counter, pulling a mug out of the cabinet and pouring me a cup of coffee. “Black?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” I take the offered cup when he hands it to me. I sip the nectar of the gods while I watch him also pour me a small glass of juice and slide it across the island. When he takes his seat next to me, I set my coffee down and settle down to eat. Just before I take my first bite, his large hand lands on my thigh. I pause and glance over at him out of the corner of my eye, but he’s just taken a huge bite of bacon, his head turned toward Corbin, listening to whatever it is he’s saying.

Turning to my left, I look over at Laramie, who’s ignoring me for her fiancé. I get it. They just got engaged last night, but I need backup. I don’t know what’s happening here. It’s as if I came home to the twilight zone. Every dream I’ve ever had about Rip wanting me is suddenly the only thing I can think about. Five years ago, before I left for college, I would have given anything for him to notice me. Here I am five years later, and I’m preening from his attention. I don’t know what any of this means.

“You not hungry?” Rip asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“No. It’s good. Thank you.”

“You okay?” He gives my thigh a gentle squeeze.

No. I am not okay. Why are you touching me? Please don’t ever stop. Instead, I say, “Yeah, just still tired, I guess. Thank you for this.”

He leans in close. “You’re welcome.” He pulls away and digs into his breakfast as though nothing has changed. Like he’s not spinning my mind or my heart in circles. I want to ask him what all of this means. I want to know if his kisses, and his tender touch, mean something to him, like it does to me, but part of me thinks this attraction between us is all in my head. He’s just being flirty and friendly.

That’s all it is.

Right?