Love Surfaced Read online

  He links his fingers with mine and escorts me through the throng of people, heading back to the kitchen where—thank God—Taylor has disappeared from.

  Tanner begins arranging the bottles of his choice across the countertop, and I wait for him to make me a drink he thinks is awesome. Tanner has always thought of himself as a mixologist. Unfortunately, I’ve given him false hope on the title many times, only to dump my drink in the nearest plant.

  “Really, Tanner, I’ll just have a beer.”

  He ignores me, perusing all the bottles.

  “I should probably call it quits anyway.” This excuse earns me a glance, but still no response.

  Inching closer, he pushes his body against mine, backing me up to the counter, and my lips part.

  “You never let me do things for you. Why is that, Piper?”

  He places his hands on my hips, and my breath catches in my throat. Gripping tightly, he hauls me up to sit on the counter. Then, his hands graze the inside of my thighs, and he pushes them apart to make space for himself.

  “Tell me,” he urges on.

  My voice gets lost somewhere in the midst of this affectionate maneuver. My mind can’t stop obsessing over his warm hands on me again. Things between Tanner and me have always been tense in certain situations, but we’ve never crossed the line. Maybe we’re too afraid that things might go south because it would ruin the dynamic. Maybe I fear that Tanner would use me for a night and toss me aside. Maybe, from a fear of rejection, I always keep my feet planted on the safe side of things. Tanner fetters on the edge of danger, and I can’t see him ever taking us seriously.

  “Piper?”

  I blink, and Tanner is an inch closer to me. My breath sinks deeper.

  “You know I hate that whole white-knight-save-me crap,” I lie.

  When it comes to Tanner, this foreign princess persona surfaces, fawning over the man who sweeps in and saves me from creeps like Jake.

  Tanner’s eyebrows rise, and he studies my face for a second. “You should try it, and you might enjoy it.”

  When he creeps closer, I will my legs not to disobey me and wrap around his waist.

  “I’d make a pretty great prince.”

  Then, he scoots back from me, and I suck in a huge breath when he circles around.

  My face heats with a flush, my hands shake, and my thoughts fixate on having Tanner McCain in my bed tonight, regardless of the end result tomorrow morning. His head twists to my direction, and I bite the inside of my lip, my signal that I’m thinking hard about something.

  He pours a zillion splashes of alcohol from every bottle.

  I think to myself, My first drink was better.

  He returns to me, occupying the space between my legs again, and holds the cup in front of me. I grab it with my hand, and he releases it.

  “Try it.” He pushes the cup toward my mouth.

  I clear my throat, and concentrate on the contents in the red Solo cup from how unnerved I’m becoming by being his sole focus.

  The drink is surprisingly good, much better than my own. Tanner must notice my smile because he backs away from me with his own smile in place.

  “Told you, I’m a mixologist.”

  He swivels his hips with his hands in the air, and I giggle from his absurd ego.

  “You made a good drink here.” I lift the cup in the air and then down another sip.

  “Did I hear, a good drink?” A redhead with her gang of two copycat versions of herself walk in.

  My infectious laugh dissipates, and I quietly begin drinking while watching the redhead cozy up to Tanner. I question everything he’s told me up to this point. Is this the girl Jake accused him of making out with? Tanner doesn’t skip a beat, walking over to me. “I made Piper a drink, and she loves it, which is a first in our book.” He’s still happy and giddy with excitement.

  The redhead eyes me up and down, clearly comparing me to herself.

  Bitch.

  “Oh, will you make me one?” she asks, sauntering closer to us.

  I so want to place my palm in the air and say, This isn’t a threesome, bitch. But I stop myself because Tanner isn’t mine.

  He smirks over at me and then turns her way. “Sorry, it was a Piper Special. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m taking her to dance.”

  He holds his hand out to me, and I jump off the counter.

  “Hey, Jake,” Tanner calls out.

  Jake shoots him a get-lost look.

  “Why don’t you make this girl a drink?” Tanner points to the redhead.

  Then, his hand lands on the small of my back, leading me to the makeshift dance floor in the living room. Unfortunately, we don’t make it because my wonderful brother, Brad, is too busy punching some guy in the face. Tanner’s hand grips my forearm, silently asking me to stay put, but he knows that’s a request I won’t fulfill. I rush after them to break it up when I find Taylor crying in the chair next to the brawl.

  “What the hell happened?” I ask her, now witnessing Tanner and Brad in the throes of fists.

  “That guy came up behind me, and I thought it was Brad.” She grabs my arm, yanking me down to her level.

  I roll my eyes. This is the last thing I need tonight.

  “I swear, Piper. I should have turned around,” she pleads with me. From the amount of tears she’s shedding, she’s telling the truth, or she’s a damn good liar.

  I’m a fairly good judge of character, so I’m opting to believe my intuition. She kisses my ass way too much to not be into only Brad.

  “It’s okay, Taylor. I believe you.” I pry my arm from her grip and weave my way through the witnesses to break up this nonsense. The only result will be the two of them being kicked off the swim team.

  By the time I reach them, fists are flying, and blood is smeared across the wall. “Stop it, guys!” I scream.

  But I receive no response from any of them. From the corner of my eye, I catch two other teammates, Greg and Drew, on their way to protect their swim brothers in the reckoning.

  “Guys!” I yell at the top of my lungs, only earning an eye from Tanner, who then gets blindsided by a punch. “Shit.”

  “Piper, get the hell out of here,” Tanner screams, taking his one arm and pushing me to the side.

  “No!” In defiance, I slam a foot on the hardwood floor. “Do you guys want to not have a spot on the team? What do you think Coach will say about this?” I ramble out questions to get the drunken alpha males to stop and think. Wrong way. I do the next best thing.

  Once Tanner’s opponent backs up and glances my way, I jump in between them and into Tanner’s arms. Straddling him, I clench my legs around his waist, and although I’ve thought about this scenario much differently in my head, it’s still a nice place to be—in the arms of the guy I desire.

  “What the hell, Piper?” Brad calls over, knocking his guy in the gut.

  “Stop fighting, or I’m going to kiss Tanner.”

  Brad is the protective twin, and I’m positive this stunt of mine will end the stupid fight. He’s never refrained from vocalizing his objection to Tanner and me dating.

  “Keep fighting, Brad,” Tanner jokes.

  I twine Tanner’s curls at his neckline around my fingers. Peering over, I notice the opposing guy is just as confused as Brad about the distraction I’m causing.

  “I’m going to use tongue.” I keep acting, until I catch Tanner staring at me . My shoulders fall when I notice Tanner’s engaging fix on mine.

  “Punch him again, Brad.” Tanner doesn’t stop egging on Brad.

  I’m not sure if Tanner wants me to kiss him or if he’s playing along. The hope that he secretly would like more surfaces, and I wish it would drive back down to where it belongs. If the mere blissful thought isn’t true, I’d be crushed.

  “I’m inching closer.”

  Tanner’s hands squeeze my ass, pulling me into him, and I lean in to his chest. Shit, I’m about to actually do it. My whole body tingles from his hands being on my body,
and my blood pumps faster as I lean closer to him. I’m so consumed by Tanner that I lose track of what’s going on outside of our bubble. Brad could be right behind me, and I wouldn’t know it because Tanner has me all to himself right now.

  “Give it up, you two.” Brad pushes the guy in front of him, knocking him into the wall. “Stay the fuck away from my girl from this point forward.” He points a finger at the guy.

  Taylor runs over. “Your girl?” she questions, practically swooning over his declaration.

  “Yeah,” Brad admits with a crooked smile.

  Taylor throws herself into his arms.

  When he looks our way, he cringes. Then, as though remembering how I manipulated him to stop fighting, he pushes Taylor off of him and stalks over to us. “Put her down, Tanner.”

  “What if I don’t want to? Maybe I want a kiss.” Tanner winks at me.

  “She’s my sister, Tanner. You guys barely get along. Just put.her.down,” Brad demands again.

  Tanner cocks an eyebrow at me. “Nah.”

  Brad inhales a deep breath and slowly releases it. “Tan, I really don’t want to fight you.”

  “You’d fight me over kissing your sister? Because I hate to tell you this, but I’ve kissed her before.”

  I try to wiggle free of his hold because my plan is about to end horribly. Tanner winks at me, and I melt into his hands again.

  “What? Piper?”

  My head rotates his way, and Brad stares in disbelief at me. I’m not quite sure what Tanner is trying to pull here. Divulging our secret kiss when we were fourteen will only infuriate my brother. But my stomach flips with the fact Tanner remembers those two seconds of bliss that cross my mind all too often.

  “Long time ago,” I counter. I wish I could shut my mouth. I’m divulging way too much truth.

  “Not that long ago.” Tanner continues to fuel the fire.

  I swat his shoulder, squirming to get out of his grip. If only I truly wanted him to release his hold, then maybe my body would fight harder.

  “High school, Brad,” I admit.

  Tanner shakes his head. I’m sorry to disappoint Tanner with my revelation, but he was the one who didn’t talk about our secret kiss the next day.

  “Really, it was last week, Brad.” Tanner chuckles.

  Brad’s nostrils flare, his face turning redder by the second.

  “He’s joking. Don’t listen to him.” I smack Tanner’s shoulder.

  He drops me to the ground. “Or am I?” He shrugs his shoulders to my brother.

  Brad tosses a hand in the air between them. “I’m not worried. I know you’d never betray me.” He is confident that Tanner would abide by his wishes.

  At his declaration, my stomach plummets with the thought that Brad won’t accept a relationship between Tanner and me. Brad likes the two to remain separate, and I’m not sure I blame him. If it didn’t work out, I could never be around Tanner again.

  Tanner turns to me, swinging his arm around my shoulders. “Just take Taylor home. I’ll get Piper home.” He doesn’t mention anything else about our relationship, and he doesn’t toss Brad a false pretense about ever dating me in the future.

  “I can trust you?” Brad steps closer.

  Although Tanner doesn’t answer, they give each other a one-armed hug.

  “You okay, Piper?” Brad asks me.

  I nod. “Yeah. I have to find Bea, and then we’ll be right behind you.” I search to find my best friend, who is more than likely in a bedroom right about now.

  “Okay, let’s after-party at our place.” Brad hugs Taylor to him.

  Tanner and I grin.

  “But, Brad,” Taylor whines. Then, she whispers something in Brad’s ear, making his face light up in mischief.

  “All right, babe.” He pats her arm, which seems to appease her.

  “By that little exchange, I’m thinking that I’m spending the night at Piper’s.” Tanner’s finger motions between the two of them.

  Taylor giggles. “Maybe you should.” Her lips pull into a secret smile.

  I scrunch my eyebrows to dissipate any beliefs. “You could spend the night. Wendi went back home for the weekend,” I add.

  Tanner licks his lips, making a flutter take flight in my stomach. Are we silently agreeing to something here?

  “Sounds like a plan.” Tanner’s eyes dive into mine and don’t let up.

  “Awesome. Let’s go, baby.” Ignorant Brad leaves with Taylor.

  Neither Tanner or I glance over to them.

  “Let’s find Bea, get her home, and go to your place.” Tanner smiles.

  I can’t help but allow my own happiness to shine as well. I nibble on the inside of my cheek and take a deep breath.

  Tanner closes the distance for the umpteenth time tonight, making my heart skip. “Don’t overthink this,” he softly says, his hand gingerly grazing down my arm until my hand is tucked away in his grip.

  As he leads me through the crowd in search of Bea, I can’t help but overthink his meaning of what’s about to happen. Does he mean it’s only for one night and I should enjoy it? Or is he telling me my heart is safe within his hands? Regardless, I’m following because I’ve waited too long for him to toe the line my brother has drawn between us.

  two

  “GOOD NIGHT, BEA.” I HUG her good-bye and watch her stagger up the stairs to her house before I proceed toward my apartment building with Tanner.

  Two seconds later, my cell phone dings.

  Bea: Hmm . . . curiosity will kill me tonight. Do the deed, and worry later.

  I hammer back a quick response, shielding the lit screen from Tanner.

  Me: Don’t worry about me tonight. Have fun with Roger Rabbit.

  I giggle, and Tanner suspiciously eyes me but asks nothing.

  Bea: Just take notes, smart-ass.

  Letting the texting cease, I tuck my phone into my back pocket.

  Tanner and I don’t talk much on the short distance back to our apartment building. Yes, we live only two floors away from one another. It was a must for my parents. In order for me to have my freedom, I had to be close enough for Brad to watch me. I’m not sure there’s been a time in my life when my parents didn’t put the responsibility of my safety on Brad.

  “You sure you don’t mind me crashing at your place?” Tanner breaks the silence.

  Goose bumps rush up my spine when his hand brushes mine as we walk side by side.

  “Yeah, it’s fine. I doubt Wendi would want you in her bed—”

  Tanner quickly interrupts me, “I wouldn’t say that.” He cocks his head to the side and lifts one shoulder.

  I roll my eyes and continue, “So . . . I’ll sleep there, and you can have my bed.” I inwardly cringe. I should have waited to bring this up later instead of planning our play-by-play for the night. Why can’t I be the take-charge girl who seduces a guy into what she wants? I’m constantly surprised by how I can be outspoken to others, but Tanner McCain quiets me every time.

  “I can take the couch if you’d like.” He’s so matter-of-fact, it’s hard to tell what his expectations are tonight.

  “Okay.”

  We reach the apartment door, and Tanner swipes his key card along the sensor before pulling the door open for me to walk through first. Steadily stepping past the archway, I press the Up button on the elevator. It’s eerily quiet in the lobby. I guess it’s still early, being only one in the morning. Most college students haven’t even made their trip to the Euro Gyro, the after-hours restaurant, yet.

  Once in the confined space of the elevator, we separate like strangers to opposite corners. Why is it incredibly weird now? We appeared to have some sort of silent conversation back at the party. Did the plans change because the alcohol is wearing off? Now thinking of it, I never saw Tanner with a drink, which isn’t like him. He has to be as tipsy as I am to spout all those sexual innuendos toward me, right?

  We exit into the dim hallway, and I dig my key out of my front pocket, ready to open the do
or before heading into what I’m positive will be more awkwardness. He leans against the wall, and my heart thumps from him watching me while I nervously fiddle with my key in the lock.

  The damn super sure is taking his own sweet time to fix it after Wendi’s call last week.

  “Having a hard time fitting it in?” Tanner teases.

  My face heats up from the double meaning of his words.

  I glance over at him, and a smile engulfs my face due to his smirk. Tanner and I have always maintained an easy friendship, but maybe it’s because he’s so likable.

  “Maybe you’d have better luck,” I prod him, holding the key up in the air.

  He pushes off the wall and plucks it from my hand. “I’ve never found a hole I can’t fit in.” He chuckles loudly at his own joke.

  As much as I don’t want to hear about the girls he’s been with, I prefer this banter side of our relationship rather than the uneasy one from seconds ago.

  “First of all, ew. Second, spare me your sexual escapade stories.” I roll my eyes.

  Tanner’s laughter never falters as he easily twists the key and opens my door to silence. Without warning, the vacancy of my apartment makes everything more real.

  He steps back, allowing me to pass through first, but places his hand on my wrist to stop me just past the doorframe. When I turn around, his hands are on either side of the door, and he leans his chest forward. I hold my breath, afraid to release it with him so close.

  “You have a dirty mind, Piper Ashby.”

  He lingers with his feet in the hallway, and I’m just about to let out my breath when he grips my wrist tighter.

  “Breathe now,” he whispers.

  The air deflates from my lungs while our eyes fix on each other.

  What are we doing? Playing with fire—that’s what.

  I should deny him further entrance because once the door shuts, nothing will stop the chemistry brewing between us.

  Quickly, I step away, and, Tanner hesitates for a second in the hallway. I wonder if the same questions are swimming through his mind. There’s no going back if his foot crosses over the metal piece separating the hallway and my living room. Just when I think he’s changed his mind, I watch his hand splay on the door, pushing it open. He walks across the threshold, and my pulse quickening. As fast as I questioned if he should come in, trepidations surface that I won’t be enough for him.