Was he going to let me back in?

His hand grabbed the doorframe above his head. Leaning there, that pose accentuated how lean he was. He was the image of a panther stretching. “I know it’s dumb, but Turner got you in trouble. You finally called for help. I know you were calling your brother, but I was here, and he wasn’t. I was happy, but I was damn mad at you. Mad at him, too, for putting you in that position. A lot of the shit inside me from the past few years came out, and I’ve been a dick since then. I kept waiting for you to go back to him, but you didn’t, and I don’t know.” He let go, and his arm dropped back to his side. He was lost in thought, and his hand raked through his hair again. “I’m sorry. For everything. I should’ve shut down Emerson more than I did. I should’ve done a lot of things.”

My hands curled into the blanket, pulling it tighter around me. I wasn’t sure what to say to that. It was…my heart was right there, pressed against my chest. My throat swelled up, and I managed out, “Thank you.”

He let his arm drop a second time. “Yeah. I know I said a while back it was sex or nothing, and you’ve been nice, really nice, actually.”

“What are you saying?” I sat further upright. The blanket was wrapped so tightly around me now, but I pulled even harder on it. A red mark was going to stretch across my chest soon.

“Nothing really.” He gave me a half-grin. “It doesn’t have to be just sex or nothing. I don’t know if that’s why you followed me here last night. I don’t want you to feel…I have no idea what I’m saying. I just wanted to apologize for being an asshole since you came back around.”

Now I was really confused. “Luke.” I shook my head. “We just had sex.”

“I know.”

“A lot of sex.”

The other corner of his mouth twitched up. “I’m aware.”

“I didn’t fuck you so you’d be nice to me.”

His eyebrows shot up. “I know. I know. I’m not saying—Bri. I’m not saying that.”

“Good.” My hand let go of the blanket, just a bit. The material loosened around me, but I was still clutching onto it. “I didn’t know where you were going with that.”

He grunted, and his hand rested on the back of his neck. “Neither did I. This whole thing, you and me, I have no clue what’s going on. You’ve got me spinning. Then again, you always did that to me before. I’d be wound so tightly, I didn’t know if I was up or down some of the time.”

“So?” My lips were suddenly dry. My tongue darted out to wet them, and I gestured to the bed. “What does this mean?”

He straightened from the doorway and took a step closer to me. His hand hooked on his jeans, hanging there. “That’s what I’m saying. I’ve got no clue, but I won’t be a dick anymore.”

“Oh.” I was confused. “Well…thank you?”

He gestured to the ceiling. “Listen, let me get some coffee. I’ll come back down, and we can figure our shit out.”

That sounded wonderful. I closed my eyes, relishing the sound of Luke heading upstairs. He was going to get something for me. He was coming back. We were going to talk about ‘us.’ My hand curled into the sheet. Us. I hadn’t thought…I blinked back a sudden onslaught of tears. I hadn’t thought this would ever happen. An emotion was filling me, but I didn’t want to figure it out. I’d let it simmer there. I didn’t want to deal with whatever the emotion was, because if I did, and if it didn’t work out with Luke, I couldn’t handle it. I needed to stop myself from jumping too far ahead.

There was an ‘us.’ That was enough.

For now.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

“Hey!”

Someone knocked again.

“Bri? Luke? Let me in!” A voice yelled through the back door as they kept pounding on it.

I had tensed at first and went to the basement doorway, but I held back. Recognizing Braden’s voice, I relaxed, but when Luke walked across the floor for the door, my muscles tightened once again. He wasn’t—I thought he’d call through the door, but not let him in. Nope. It was in slow motion, like watching an accident happening, but I couldn’t stop it. His hand unlocked the door and wrapped around the doorknob. It twisted to the right, and yes, I sucked in my breath. He opened the door.

But nope.

His foot acted as a doorstopper. With only his head and shoulders in the doorway, Luke still blocked Braden from coming downstairs. I scurried from the doorway and grabbed my clothes. I could hear the murmur of conversation, but it was only a matter of moments before Braden pushed his way through, or Luke would let him inside. Either way, I knew my brother was going to see me in my post-coital glow. As I ran my hands through my hair, trying to smooth it out, I tried to tell myself this wasn’t a walk-of-shame. I had nothing to be ashamed of, and I wasn’t walking anywhere. Still. It was embarrassing.

“Yeah?” Braden’s voice was clearer now.

The door opened.

He stepped inside, and Luke moved back, allowing him to enter. I double-checked my appearance in the mirror. I thought I looked okay. Rolling my eyes, I knew this was ridiculous. Like Braden wouldn’t know what we had done?

The steps creaked under their weight. They were both coming downstairs.

“…we have to go. It’d be good for the band.”

Luke replied, “She crashed here tonight. You can ask her.”