“Old? You are not old.”
“I’m four years older than you.”
“Are you serious right now?”
She pinches her lips together and glares at me. This is the first time I’ve seen her flustered, and I like it.
“When I was twenty, you were only sixteen.”
“Well, you’re not twenty anymore, and while I still have the stamina of my sixteen-year-old self, I assure you I’ve matured physically and emotionally.”
She swallows, all humor gone from her face as she looks down at my erection nestled between her legs. “I know.”
I’ve never seen nervous Claire either, and I like her just as well—although the last thing I want Claire to be around me is nervous.
“Is that why you never told me? Because of our age difference?” Not that it matters, but I want to know.
“Mostly that—and because you’re Rhett and Coop’s little brother.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’ll want to kill me when they find out about this.”
“You don’t look too worried.”
I grin. “I’m not.”
“What now?”
Now comes the hard part, sweetheart—the words that will likely kill me to say. “Despite how both of us feel, we can’t act on it.”
She blinks, and then blinks again. “We can’t?”
I shake my head. Pressing my palm against her cheek, I move my fingers through her hair and curl them around her head. Slowly, gently, I pull her face to mine. Her eyes dart to my lips, and the need to taste her, one last time, is too strong. My lips find hers, and Claire’s eyes flutter closed as she falls against me. Her lips are soft, and she tastes so damn good, but that’s all this is—all it can be—a taste.
Claire peels her eyes open when I pull back. “Are you sure you don’t want to change your mind? Because I’d really like to explore that a little more.”
I groan, pressing my lips to hers again, wanting her to feel how hard this is for me, to know that walking away from her is the hardest thing I’ve had to do in a damn long time. She opens to me on a sigh, and I stroke her tongue with mine until her body relaxes against me.
“I’ve got to admit, Trevor, I’m not sure where you’re coming from,” she mumbles against my lips.
I place my forehead to hers and smile. “You’re making this so hard.”
Her body wriggles against mine. “That’s not a bad thing.”
“It’s a very bad thing,” I say, watching her smile die. “Because we can’t be together.”
“Remind me again why that is.”
Because I’m a coward. Because I don’t deserve your attention, let alone your affection, although I crave it more than you’ll ever know. “There are so many reasons I don’t even know where to start.”
“Humor me.”
“There’s Rhett and Coop for one.”
“I can handle them.”
“How about the fact that you’re relationship material, and I’m the farthest thing from it.”
“Who said anything about a relationship?”