Missed Notes: A Brother's Best Friend Romance (Rixon High) Page 5

  “Way to act cool, Bro.” Ezra brushed past Aaron and we all followed, walking straight into the frat house.

  It was loud.

  Really loud. Bodies were crammed everywhere. Music blasted out of hidden speakers, drowning out the various conversations going on all over the house.

  A beefed-up guy in Panther blue and gold appeared, drinking out of a Solo cup. “Bennet, my man. Didn’t think you’d make it. And you brought friends, nice.” His eyes moved past everyone, lingering on me.

  “Eyes off Sofia, asshole,” Aaron greeted Jordan, the two of them fist bumping.

  “She your girl?”

  “Try sister.”

  “Oh shit.” He chuckled, the deep, throaty sound reverberating through me. “And your girl?” He nodded to Poppy, and she smiled.

  “Hi, thanks for inviting us.”

  “Anytime. Come on, let’s get you all a drink.”

  Aaron and Poppy went on ahead, Ezra and Leigh following. Leaving me trailing behind with Cole.

  “You’re seriously just going to freeze me out?” he said as we wandered down the hall.

  “Let’s not do this tonight.”

  “So when? When are we going to talk—”

  “Bennet’s sister, get over here.” Jordan grinned. “Just because you're off-limits doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun, am I right?” He held up a bottle of cherry sours.

  I wasn’t a party girl.

  I didn’t usually get drunk or high. But tonight, I wanted to forget.

  I wanted to be somebody else.

  “I’m in,” I said, moving around my friends to get to Jordan. He gave me a wide smile as he twisted the cap and poured us each a shot.

  “To new friends.” He winked, pushing a cup toward me.

  “New friends.” I brought it to my lips and braced myself.

  “Sofe,” someone said from behind me. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea.”

  But I was already downing the shot, wincing at the sharp burn as it slid down my throat.

  The burn was good though.

  It meant I was alive.

  Feeling something.

  “You good?” Jordan asked, his eyes heavy-lidded as he watched me.

  “Yeah.” I grinned back, sliding my cup toward him. “Another.”

  “Fuck yeah.” He chuckled.

  It was a bad idea, getting drunk at a college frat party, with our parents less than a mile away in a hotel.

  But sometimes bad ideas were the best kind.

  The only kind to get you through.

  “Seriously, Sofe, you need to relax on the drinks.” Aaron’s eyes narrowed as he tried to snatch the drink out my hand.

  “Get your own drink, Dad.” I waved him off as I turned to keep dancing. I loved this song. In fact, I’d loved almost every song since I finished off the bottle of cherry sours with Jordan.

  He was fun.

  Charming and hot… so freaking hot. But Aaron had ruined any chances of him making a move, laying on the sister card so thick I could feel the invisible wall between us.

  Besides, I wasn’t even sure I wanted Jordan to hit on me. But after my week of hell, as I was now referring to it, everything seemed urgent.

  I hadn’t lived enough for an eighteen-year-old. I hadn’t made out enough at parties or hooked up with enough guys, and I definitely hadn’t hooked up with enough guys who looked like Jordan Handell.

  Seize the moment.

  Right?

  Right?

  “Sofe, I’m not joking.” Aaron leaned in closer, his jaw clenched tight. “You need to calm down.”

  “Relax, Bro. Relaaaax. It’s a party.” I threw my hands up in the air waving them wildly as I rolled my hips to the beat.

  “You’re going to give him a heart attack,” Poppy whispered as she danced beside me.

  “Who, Aaron?” I snorted, waving her off. “He’ll get over it.”

  “Not Aaron, babe.” Her brow arched as she slid her gaze to where Ezra and Cole were chatting to some guys in Panther football jerseys.

  “Ezra doesn’t care. He’s not—”

  “Are you really that dense?” Poppy snapped. “Cole, babe. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since we got here.”

  A fact I was choosing to ignore.

  I glanced at him and sure enough, he was watching me. Something crackled in the air between us, the invisible thread I so often felt around him stretching taut.

  But it was frayed with betrayal now.

  His betrayal.

  And maybe it was petty, but I couldn’t let it go, I couldn’t—

  “There she is.” Strong arms wrapped around me from behind and lifted me up.

  “For fuck’s sake, Handell, put my sister down,” Aaron groaned.

  “Nah, Bennet. She’s the hottest girl in the room, and she promised me a dance.”

  I had, but it had been the cherry sours talking.

  Seize the moment. The words rattled through my hazy mind.

  I was drunk. Enough to giggle when Jordan carried me through the kitchen into the huge living room where most people were dancing. He lowered me to the floor, and I turned in his arms.

  “Fuck, you’re hot.” He toyed with the ends of my hair, one hand anchored around my waist. “It’s a real shame you’re Bennet’s sister—”

  “Twin sister,” I corrected.

  “Shit, so kissing you would be like kissing him, huh?” Mischief sparkled in his ice-blue eyes, sending a shiver down my spine.

  “We’re not kissing,” I stated with a smirk.

  “No? But it would be so fucking good.” Jordan tugged me closer, our bodies pressed together while his hands slid down to my ass. “This okay?”

  I nodded, lost in the way I felt cocooned in his arms. My eyelids fluttered as he moved us to the heavy beat. Boy had moves, rolling his hips and grinding up on me. Sweat trickled down my back as we lost ourselves in the music.

  He dipped his head, brushing his lips over my bare shoulder, tasting my skin and I dove my fingers into his hair, loving the way his mouth felt.

  “Yeah, not sure I can stop,” he rasped, his voice thick with desire.

  For me.

  Jordan wanted… me.

  Because I was hot and sexy and of all the girls here—and there were a lot—I’d captured his attention.

  Liquid confidence coursed through me as I threw my arms around his neck and pressed closer.

  “Feel that?” he whispered, his lips moving closer to my mouth. “I’m rock fucking hard for you.”

  He rolled his hips and I felt him hard and thick at my stomach. Heat blossomed inside of me, making my stomach curl.

  I’d never danced with someone as bold and brash as Jordan before. Unapologetic and more than willing to go after what he wanted.

  “Kiss me,” I breathed, touching my head to his, gazing into his heavy-lidded eyes.

  “Bennet won’t like—”

  “I don’t care about my brother. And I don’t need his approval.”

  “Shit yeah, okay.”

  My body trembled as Jordan cupped my face, his fingers sliding over my jaw to angle my mouth right where he wanted it. But the second his lips touched mine, my head spun.

  And not in a good way.

  “Whoa there.” He gripped my shoulders as I swayed. “You good?”

  “I… I don’t feel—” I yanked out of his hold, panic slamming into me as the room began to close in on me.

  Breathe, Sofia. Just breathe. I tried repeating the mantra over and over as I stumbled through the sea of bodies, desperate to get out of here.

  Usually, when the world spun, I woke up on the floor in a heap of confusion and embarrassment.

  This was different.

  You drank too much.

  Maybe I had gone a little overboard. But I’d needed to get out of my head. It was too much. Dr. Peters’s life-changing news. The lies and secrets. The overpowering fear I felt every time I let the word sneak into my mind.

  Leukemia.

  “Watch it,” someone snapped as I staggered through the door into the hall.

  “Sofia, wait,” a voice called.

  Not any voice.

  Cole.

  “Go away,” I murmured, right as my stomach churned.

  Shit.

  Picking up the pace, I staggered toward the front door, spilling out of the frat house with my hand clapped over my mouth.

  No, no, no.

  Not here, not—

  I managed to rush over to a nearby bush just in time to puke up my insides.

  “Fucking gross,” someone muttered.

  “Take a walk, asshole.” Cole gathered my hair away and gently rubbed my back. “I got you,” he said. “I got you.”

  “Ugh,” I retched again, my stomach turning inside out as my body purged itself of all the liquor.

  “Fuck’s sake, Sofe,” Aaron shouted from somewhere behind us.

  “Babe, not now.” That was Poppy. My best friend. My brother’s girl. God, part of me hated that she had to be loyal to him now.

  “Guess I’ll call an Uber,” he grumbled.

  “Sorry, I—” Another wave of nausea crashed over me, and I retched into the darkness.

  “Somebody get me some water,” Cole said, still rubbing my back. I wanted to tell him to get the hell off me, but the truth was, I wasn’t sure I could stay upright without his steadying hands.

  Finally, I stood, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. Cole kept one arm around my waist as he offered me the bottle of water.

  “Here,” he said. “Little sips.”

  “Thanks.” Shame flooded my cheeks, but I was too out of it to care. Everything was spinning still, the ground uneven beneath me.

  “Uber’s here,” someone said, and Cole
guided me gently toward our ride.

  “How do you feel?” Poppy asked me, and I mumbled some incoherent response.

  Truth was, I felt drained. Completely exhausted. I just wanted to get into bed, pull the covers over my head, and forget this ever happened.

  Everyone piled into the SUV. Ezra waited, helping Cole get me inside and then Cole climbed in behind.

  “Well, that was a fucking shitshow,” my brother muttered.

  “Babe, cut her some slack.”

  They obviously didn’t realize I could hear them or didn’t care. Cole turned to me and captured my chin in his fingers. “You think you can manage the ride back to the hotel?”

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

  Not sure I could.

  Everything was hazy, spinning around me.

  “Come here.” He gently eased his arm around me and tucked me into his side. I wanted to tell him I didn’t need his support or offer of comfort. And maybe I would…

  When the world stood still again.

  “Shh,” someone hissed. “We need to make it past Coach Mac’s room.”

  “Maybe we should stick to our own room assignments?”

  “Not happening, Poppy Star. I need you in my bed.”

  Someone snorted. I tried to open my eyes, but everything felt heavy. My eyelids, my arms and legs. But my stomach… God, it felt like something had crawled inside me and died.

  The air shifted around me as I clung to Cole as he carried me down the hall.

  “Someone needs to watch her,” he said, his deep voice rumbling through me.

  “I can.” It sounded like Ashleigh’s voice, but everything felt distant. Like trying to hear under water. “And Cole can room with E.”

  “I’ll watch her.”

  “You sure, bro?” Aaron asked. “Maybe I should—”

  “It’s fine. No point in ruining everyone’s night. I’ll make sure she’s okay, I promise.”

  “W-what?” I murmured, trying to come back to the land of the living. But it was too difficult, too easy to give in to the heavy pull of exhaustion and intoxication.

  But I heard his voice somewhere on the edge of my consciousness.

  “Shh, Sofe. I got you.”

  I got you.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Cole

  I managed to get Sofia into my room, the one I was supposed to be sharing with Aaron.

  She was a dead weight in my arms as I carried her over to the bed and laid her down.

  “C-Cole?” she murmured, her eyelids fluttering.

  “Shh.” I brushed the hair out of her face, my chest tightening as I touched her.

  Fuck, she was beautiful. Big blue eyes, tan skin, and those soft pink lips. Lips that had been two seconds away from kissing Jordan Handell while I stood there, wishing it was me.

  But it was more than that. I’d seen past her party girl effort right to the lingering pain in her eyes. Sofia was hiding something. The more I watched her, the more I felt it. And the more I thought about it, the more I came to the same conclusion. If she was hiding things from Aaron, it was bad news.

  Really fucking bad.

  My cell vibrated and I dug it out of my pocket.

  Aaron: You sure you’re okay with her?

  Me: Yeah, don’t worry. Enjoy your night with Poppy.

  He texted back a winky emoji.

  Lucky bastard. He had the girl of his dreams in bed with him.

  I had—

  “B-bathroom.” Sofia bolted upright, a strange gurgling sound coming out of her as she staggered off the bed, almost losing her footing.

  Without thinking, I scooped her up and rushed her into the bathroom, gently lowering her down onto the tiled floor.

  “Oh Go—” She started puking again, the sounds making my own stomach churn.

  Grabbing a small hand towel, I dampened it under the faucet and crouched down beside her. Gently pulling her hair over one shoulder, I placed it on the back of her neck.

  “That feels good,” she groaned, reaching up to pull the flush.

  “What do you need?”

  “To never drink again.”

  I smiled. “Famous last words.”

  “I don’t think I have anything left to puke up.”

  “You want a shower?”

  “Yes. God, yes. But I don’t think I can stand; my whole body is trembling.”

  Scanning the bathroom set up, I rose to my feet. “Don’t move.”

  “Cole, what are—” Sofia groaned again, dropping her head onto her forearm over the toilet bowl.

  Shucking out of my hoodie and T-shirt, I kicked off my sneakers and hit the shower button. “I’m going to help you up, okay?” She nodded, letting me pull her to her feet. “Arms up,” I said.

  Sofia complied, letting me strip her out of her puke-splattered clothes.

  “Hold tight.”

  Before she could protest, I scooped her up and carried her into the walk-in shower.

  “Cole, what the hell?” Her protests were drowned out by the stream of water blasting down on us.

  “Think you can stand now?” I asked her, and she gazed up at me through surprised eyes.

  “Yeah.”

  I gently lowered her to the floor.

  Reaching around her, I grabbed the mini bottle of complimentary shower gel and flipped the cap, squeezing some into my palm.

  “Cole, you don’t need to—”

  “Let me take care of you.”

  The fight in her eyes flickered out as she nodded slowly.

  It was impossible to keep my eyes off her body. Even though she was still in her underwear, the way the water ran off her ample curves was enough to make my dick ache behind the confines of my jeans which were now plastered to my legs.

  Inhaling a sharp breath, I slathered my hands together and then began to clean Sofia up, taking care not to linger in places I shouldn’t.

  “Turn around,” I said, my voice thick with lust. Because she was half-naked and wet, standing before me like every guy’s fantasy.

  There was no telling how many times I’d imagined Sofia like this. But I’d never tried to act on it, and I wasn’t about to start now. That didn’t stop me from drawing her body back into mine as I soaped her skin, rubbing away the evidence of the night.

  Sofia’s head dropped back on my shoulder as she gave into me, her body melting against mine. I wasn’t a player. I didn’t sleep my way through class like some guys on the team. But I wasn’t a saint either, and having Sofia so close, her soft curves taunting me, was a serious test in restraint.

  Until I remembered the reason we’d ended up here.

  “Let me do your hair, okay?” I said.

  I took her silence as compliance, reaching around her to grab the shampoo. Sofia hadn’t inherited her mom’s thick spiral curls, but her dark hair was thick and wavy.

  “Mmm, that feels good,” she moaned as I ran my fingers through it, massaging her scalp.

  I’d never washed a girl’s hair before. Never showered half-dressed with one either. But I was starting to realize there wasn’t a lot I wouldn’t do for Sofia Bennet.

  Except keep her secrets.

  A bolt of guilt went through me. But that was different. She was sick. She’d needed help.

  I did the right thing; I didn’t doubt that. Even if she hated me now.

  Once I’d rinsed off her hair, I reached around her again and turned off the shower. A shiver went through her, and I said, “Wait here. I’ll grab you a towel.”

  Sofia let me drape it around her body and help her step out of the shower. “How do you feel?”

  “A little better, thanks.” She could barely meet my eyes.

  “Come on. You can take the bed.” There was one queen and a couch.

  I hadn’t turned on the main light, only one of the nightstand lights, so the room was bathed in a soft amber glow. When her gaze found mine, there was so much swirling in her dark depths that I wanted to beg her to tell me all her secrets. But she didn’t trust me anymore.

  “I’ll get you some water and find you a clean t-shirt to sleep in.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Her voice cut through the stilted air like a knife.

  I glanced back at her and gave her a thin smile. “Because we’re friends.”

  Nothing.

  She said nothing.

  My stomach dropped.

  After giving her the water and t-shirt, I excused myself to clean up in the bathroom. Really, I needed a second to catch my breath. Being with her like this wasn’t easy. Not when all I wanted was to pull her into my arms and tell her everything was going to be okay.