Not My Type Ch. 07

I tried to kiss him again, to distract him and myself from my clumsy attempts at freeing his cock, but Adam froze, stilled my fumbling efforts, and with his hands on my shoulders he held me out at a distance from him.

"What?" I gasped. The absence of his mouth on mine made me realize how hard we'd been kissing. My lips were numb and tingling.

"I don't think we should do this now," Adam muttered.

"Fine, it's chilly out here, we'll go inside," I suggested. I tried to rise up off the swing, but his firm grip held me still.

"No, Lilly. I don't think we should do this at all. Not now. You've been drinking and I…" he trailed off and an uncharacteristic flicker of uncertainty crossed his face.

"I'm sorry?" I sputtered. I was so confused and the rapid thudding of my heart made it difficult to hear, to understand. It felt as if the pit of my stomach had just dropped away completely, leaving nothing but a gnawing ache "Don't you want…?"

Adam sighed. He rubbed my upper arms, his touch earnest. "Of course I want you Lilly. Why wouldn't I? Look at you! But I don't think this is a good time. I think you'll regret it later."

"I'm not drunk," I retorted automatically, feeling my temper rise.

"Well you're not sober either," Adam countered. "You should go home, go to bed. Give us a few days apart and then we can talk about what we want."

His grip on my arms slackened and I stood, ignoring the dizziness that washed over me at the change of altitude. I was mad. I was embarrassed. I didn't want Adam to see either.

"Fine," I said, hoping I sounded nonchalant and not hurt. Maybe there was something to the idea of putting a little distance between us. I'd apologized, but I still hadn't gotten an apology in return, still hadn't heard the story I'd come to hear, still hadn't gotten the truth.

I moved towards the stairs to the yard and tried not to wobble on the damned high-heels I was wearing.

"I'll walk you home," Adam offered. "It's late."

My mind flashed quickly to the image of Joe drunkenly sleeping it off in my apartment. I might not have been thinking straight, but I knew getting the two of them in the same room was a bad idea.

"I'll be fine," I murmured as I carefully navigated the rickety steps.

"Don't be silly, Lil. You can't go wandering around the city by yourself. If you don't want me to take you, at least let me call you a cab."

I didn't have any money with me, but I didn't want to admit that to Adam. It had been a stupid mistake for me to make, but when the evening had begun all those hours ago, I hadn't anticipated it ending in the quite the way it had.

"I'll be fine," I repeated stubbornly. "It's not that far."

Adam rose, righted the fly of his pants, and moved swiftly to grab hold of my wrist. It made me mad that the contact of his fingers against my skin was electric. I wondered if he could feel my pulse quicken.

He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and by the eerie blue light it threw off I could see the immovable line of his jaw. It only took a few words for him to order me a cab and I couldn't bring myself to argue with him. I was cold, tired, and disappointed; suddenly getting out of the damn dress and shoes and curling up on my sofa for a good cry seemed like a very good idea.

The silence that stretched between us while we waited for the cab was awkward and it seemed like a million minutes before we heard the car pull up to the curb out front and honk. Adam took my arm and guided me through the dark side yard and out onto the sidewalk where the cab idled. He opened the door and sat me down before he gave the driver my address and a twenty-dollar bill. It was more than enough money to get me halfway across the island.

"Good night, Lilly. I'll call you on Friday and we'll talk," Adam offered. He leaned down to kiss me quickly before closing the door without giving me a chance to respond. The cabbie pulled away from the curb slowly and I turned my head to watch Adam as he stood on the sidewalk and watched me go.

The lights were all off at my place when I stumbled up the stairs. Joe had the foresight to leave the door unlocked and I barely remember stripping off the detested dress, bustier, and stockings before I bundled myself under the afghan on my sofa. I was tired - bone-wearily, head-achingly tired, and already I could feel the prickly edge of sleep dance behind my lashes.

The door to my bedroom was closed, but from behind it I could hear the faint rumble of Joe's snores. I wondered how much longer he'd stayed at the bar and how much more he'd had to drink. I hoped he'd called Mum to tell her where he was spending the night so she didn't worry about him.

Every time I closed my eyes Adam's face swam in front of me and I'm not ashamed to admit I let more than a few tears fall before I drifted off to sleep.

The first thing I noticed when I awoke was that someone had thrown another blanket over me at some point in the night. My cat, Lucy Maud was snuggled up against my hip and purring happily, and for a little while I let my mind wander, skipping back over the previous night's events. I hated to acknowledge it but Adam had been right; if I'd slept with him I would have regretted it. We hadn't fixed anything between us and sex, no matter how good, doesn't solve any problems. Distance and time to think was what I needed – that, and coffee.

The deep timbre of Joe's voice from the kitchen stirred me to full wakefulness. There was a hushed quality about it that was odd, and for a brief moment I wondered if he was on the phone with Mum, apologizing for not being there for morning chores, until I heard the distinctly feminine cadence of the person who replied.

I froze.

There was a husky laugh from my brother and an answered giggle. My temper flared and I rose, wrapping my mostly naked self in an afghan. Joe had brought someone home from the bar! Home to my apartment, to my bed. Whoever the floozy was, she was going to regret it; it had been a long couple of days and I was in no mood for some random woman taking advantage of my big brother in a vulnerable state. Once I'd gotten rid of her I was going to take Joe to task too. He said he'd wanted a sister with backbone and he was going to get one.

I rounded the corner to the kitchen, fully prepared to give them both hell, but froze at a dead stop as my jaw hit the floor.

Joe was standing in his boxers, his broad chest bare, with his arms wrapped around a tall, curvy brunette. They were kissing passionately and his hands were kneading her ass, lifting her off the floor. She had her back to me and was wearing nothing more than his t-shirt, her own arms wrapped around his neck, her hands buried in his hair. It was obvious they were completely unaware of my presence and I was so shocked by the scene it took me a moment to remember myself.

I couldn't think of anything to say but I must have made some sort of noise because the two of them broke apart with a guilty start, and the woman spun about to face me, blushing prettily.

"Lil!" Rhiannon gasped. "You're awake!"

To be continued…