Strung (Seaside) by Rachel van Dyken

if he was breathing? I shrugged. “Besides having a headache and the black eye I promised, yeah, he’ll be fine.”
    Nat was still frozen in place.
    “Come on.” Alec held out my hand. “Let’s go upstairs and get you into bed. I don’t care what you say. I’m sleeping on your floor just in case the drunk wakes up and decides to apologize again.”
    “Okay.” Her eyes were still on Demetri. Feeling somewhat guilty I stomped over to where he was laying on the ground, picked him up and deposited him on the couch throwing a pillow at his face in the process.
    “Happy?” I swore.
    “Yes.” Nat shifted on her feet. Great, now I was scaring her. Had she any idea how important she was?
    I led her down the hall to my room. No way was I leaving her in Demetri’s bed like a present just waiting to be opened. My curtains were pulled back letting in a light breeze that would lull me to sleep in seconds — had it not been drenched in Nat’s scent.
    “I’ll just grab you some sweats to sleep in, kay?” I scratched the back of my head then went to a walk-in closet and turned on the lights.
    “Will these work?” I tossed her a pair of sweats that would hopefully hide every curve of her body.
    “Yeah, they’re fine.” She pulled them close to her chest and swallowed.
    I looked down at the floor. “Do you want to shower?”
    “Kind of, I mean, if that’s okay. If not, it’s totally fine. I can just go to sleep and—”
    “Nat, stop talking so fast, you’re making me nervous.” At least that part was honest.
    She snorted.
    Okay fine. So we made each other nervous. “I’ll just sit out here and read for a bit. There’s fresh towels hanging up, and you can use whatever’s in the shower.” I stretched my arms above his head and could have sworn I heard Nat moan or something.
    When I looked at her she quickly turned around and nearly collided with the wall.
    “Careful.” I chuckled. Was it possible? That she was attracted to me? Even just a little bit?
    She blushed and slammed the door behind her. I was waiting for the lock to turn.
    It didn’t.
    Damn it. Did the woman have no self preservation? For the love of God! All I had to do was walk in! And I’d see her naked.
    Great. That wasn’t helping my current state of arousal.
    I snatched a book off the nightstand and tried to focus on the words on the page, but the shower turned on.
    And my imagination went into overdrive as I imagined water droplets falling off her body — soap sliding down her skin.
    “Shit.” I closed the book and briefly thought about taking a dip in the ocean. I hadn’t had sex since the incident.
    I wasn’t a freaking saint!
    I needed to throw something, break something, kill something.
    The shower turned off — and that was when I realized I had actually been sitting there sweating.
    With a growl I peeled my shirt off and started rummaging through my dresser for something else.
    A hand touched the skin on my back.
    I jumped a foot. “Crap!” My body slammed backwards against the dresser. That will teach me to lust. “Sorry, Nat, I was lost in thought. Dind’t see you.” Nope I was too busy fantasizing about you.
    Her eyes were trained on my collarbone. “What does this mean?”
    Had the girl never seen a tattoo?
    Nat’s hands slid over my skin. And I knew — I knew in that instant. I would do anything to keep her hands there.
    History was going to repeat itself. And I was sorry — sorry all over again. Sorry that it had to be Nat, sorry that I was going to take her, sorry that I was going to break my brother’s heart.
    Sorry that in order to keep mine intact — I needed her.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
    Demetri
    I WOKE UP wishing I were dead. How much did I drink last night? I grabbed the water from my nightstand — the water I’m sure Alec put there — and chugged the entire thing then tried to stand.
    My legs were wobbly but other than that I was fine.
    Damn it.
    I slammed my hand against the mattress. What the hell was