More Than Friends Read online

  MORE THAN FRIENDS

  By

  Celeste Anwar

  Copyright 2013 by Celeste Anwar

  Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright January 2013

  www.celesteanwar.com

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

  Other titles from Celeste Anwar:

  Carnal Appetite

  Carnal Knowledge

  Carnal Thirst

  The Color of Twilight

  Her Every Desire

  Resurrection

  Pleasures of the Flesh

  Indecent Proposition

  Project Nemesis: Wolfen Domination

  Project Nemesis 2: Island Fever

  Cajun Heat

  Voyeur

  Revenge Sex

  Pinned and Punished

  Chapter One

  Jake, Brent, and Lizzy had been friends with each other since grade school. They couldn’t remember a time when they hadn’t been together.

  To them, it seemed only natural that they become roommates at some point in their lives. When they’d finished most of their college and were tired of living in the dorm rooms, they decided to rent a one bedroom beach house on the lake together to save their money for grad school, student loans, and to get out of the dorm life and adjust to the outside world.

  They’d never actually lived together, but they’d been friends for so long, they’d slipped into a routine with one another that went smoother than any of them had imagined possible.

  To Lizzy, life was perfect. Probably too perfect if she thought about it. Sure, the guys had their problems, mainly, that they didn’t like picking up after themselves, but it wasn’t a big deal to her.

  She’d been sick of the constant partying and interruptions to her studies that living in a dormitory had been to her, hated having strangers as roommates, and moving back to her parent’s house wasn’t an option. She didn’t like the controlling nature of her mother and father. She was a grown woman and could make decisions for herself, whether good or bad, and she was capable of handling any situation that might arise.

  Moving from a tiny bedroom to an entire house with a huge front and back yard and access to the lake gave them the room to move and finally feel free.

  The one rule was they never brought anyone home. It wasn’t a big deal for Lizzy. She’d only had one boyfriend after high school, and that had ended badly. Actually, technically, it’d never really ended for her—he’d just stopped calling and coming around and moved on without breaking it off with her. She’d moped around for a few weeks after discovering she’d been abandoned/dumped. It hurt her pride, but she’d poured herself into school and other activities that took her mind off romantic troubles. After that, she’d decided that most men were emotional cowards.

  Jake was a ladies’ man. There were times when they didn’t see him all weekend. Lizzy didn’t know what he was up to, and frankly, she didn’t care as long as he didn’t bring any drama back home with him. Brent was more like her—quiet and reserved, into studying to be a lawyer. She couldn’t imagine Jake and Brent both working as lawyers, but they’d decided to go into it together and were going to start a law firm with each other one day when they were done with school and internships.

  It just made Lizzy mentally shrug. She’d never understand men. Honestly, she didn’t even feel like trying.

  At any rate, living with Brent and Jake, she had the best of both worlds. She got someone to snuggle in the giant king-sized bed at night, without all the worries and hang-ups and work of having to please a boyfriend. She had someone to share the bills and responsibilities of up-keeping the house. She couldn’t imagine a more perfect situation.

  They’d never given any indication that either of them were interested in being more than friends with her, and she’d never hinted at anything either. That didn’t mean she didn’t find them attractive. On the contrary, she hadn’t noticed it when they were younger and still kids, but as Jake and Brent had filled out in adulthood into full grown men, she most definitely had noticed they had the looks to attract any number of women. Unfortunately for her, they’d had plenty of time and experience with women.

  It used to hurt her that she escaped their notice, but she got used to it after a while. She figured she just wasn’t their type, or that they couldn’t imagine getting involved with a friend.

  Jake was tall, blond, with the most gorgeous green eyes she’d ever seen on anyone. He had the look of a beach hunk with sculpted abs and a sensuously full mouth. He was tan all over, muscular from years of playing football in high school, and spent his free time helping her out in the garden getting more tan and beautiful. His muscles rippled whenever he moved, hypnotizing her, and she found that she often stared into space when near him. He always acted like he didn’t notice. The tattoo on his bicep accentuated the muscles of his arm and always seemed to draw her eyes when he was hand-working the rows or digging out a trench.

  Brent was the exact opposite of Jake—dark and dangerous looking, with thick black eyebrows that cut low and sexy over his brown eyes. His aquiline nose and high cheekbones, combined with the nearly constant five o’clock shadow across his defined jaw and chin meant he was full of testosterone, and she could feel it any time she was around him. He was just as muscular since he’d also played sports his entire life and hadn’t lost any of it in the years since.

  She knew this, since they all shared the same bed when they were all staying at the house and not off chasing some strange.

  Brent had the ability to make her breath catch in her throat, even after all this time. Maybe it was worse now being surrounded by them at every turn—she couldn’t know. She often felt like she’d made a mistake in housing with them, that it would only leave to trouble and heartache for her. She didn’t know if she could stand to see the day when they finally found someone to settle down with. It was coming, without a doubt.

  Lizzy looked up from digging the hole she was working on to transfer her potted tomatoes to where Jake was crouched by the fence, pulling weeds from around their beans. She froze when she spotted the snake that Jake hadn’t seen, his focus completely on the task at hand. He didn’t have anything on him to kill it with, and he was bare-chested and barefoot.

  Without a word, her adrenaline pumping, she sprinted the short distance and shoved Jake out of the way against the fence. The snake hissed and struck at her, feeling threatened. Lizzy brought the edge of her shovel down on the snake, chopping off its head.

  “Jesus!” Jake yelled, gripping his chest where he’d hit the fence. “I didn’t see that fucking moccasin at all. Thanks, Lizzy.”

  The adrenaline was still pumping hard through her veins. She couldn’t believe she’d had the guts to kill that snake, but she hadn’t wanted to risk Jake getting hurt. She hadn’t taken the time to think about it, only react. “No problem. You okay?”

  He grimaced, pulling his hand from his chest. He looked down his nose at his chest. “Just got this huge splinter from the fence. Can you see it? I can’t get a good angle on it.”

  “Hang on.” She set the shovel against the fence, stepped over the dead snake, and moved to kneel beside him. “Ouch. That’s a big one.”

  Carefully, with her short fingernails, she picked at the splinter and tried to slowly pull it out.

  Jake yelped like a little boy, squirming under her touch. “Ow! That hurts!”

  She chuckled. Men always turned into babies when they got hurt. “Don’t be such a baby. Hold still or I won’t get it all. Dammit. I said hold still.”

  “Yes, mom,” he muttered, leaning back against the fence, looking
beleagured while she tried to get a small piece out without success.

  “I’ll have to get this part out with my mouth,” she said, looking down at his grimacing face. He made it seem much worse than it actually was.

  “Just do it and stop torturing me,” he groaned.

  Lizzy bent over his chest, placing one hand on his stomach and the other on his side. She latched on to the wound, sucking at the spot with all her might until she thought she’d gotten the tip of the splinter out. She sat up and spat, checking the wound to see if it was free of wood. It looked good.

  “I think I got it,” she said, looking up at him, pleased with herself for saving the day.

  He was giving her a strange look she’d never seen before. She felt a little taken aback by it.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, puzzling him over.

  He cleared his throat and jumped to his feet. “Nothing. Thanks. Let me take this damn snake off and bury it so no one will step on the head.”

  With that, he was off, leaving her feeling like she might’ve done something wrong.

  * * * *

  Lizzy had left to get groceries for the house, leaving Jake and Brent alone. Brent was in the kitchen, fixing himself a sandwich when Jake came in.

  He leaned on the counter, watching his long-time friend, wondering if he should say something or not and finally decided he would.

  “I want to sleep with Lizzy,” Jake said.

  Brent choked on the bite of sandwich he’d just put into his mouth. He swallowed with an effort, then coughed for a minute before trying to speak. “What did you just say?” he said, looking at Jake as if he’d just sprouted another head.

  “I said I want to have sex with Lizzy. Just thought I’d give you fair warning.” Jake crossed his arms over his chest, frowning and waiting for a fight.

  Brent laughed and set his sandwich down on the counter. “You’re fucking nuts if you think she’s going to go for that. We’re in the friend zone. There ain’t no getting out of that once you’re in it. Besides, she’s our roommate. If she was the least bit attracted to us do you think she’d sleep in the same bed as us? Walk around in her panties and t-shirts like we’re just her brothers? I like the eye candy, but c’mon. She’s been our friend forever. You wanna fuck that up just for some sex? Aren’t you getting enough from other girls?

  Jake waved Brent’s words away like flies. “This is different. I can see myself with Lizzy. More than just sex. It’s not just that she’s hot and doesn’t know it. She’s smart and funny. She’s a good friend. Why wouldn’t I want to take it to the next level?”

  Brent frowned, considering what he’d said. “Where the hell is this coming from all of a sudden?”

  Jake shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I got that she wants me. Besides, something happened that sort of woke me up.”

  Brent snorted, then guffawed with laughter. “All right. What? You can’t keep this to yourself, obviously.”

  “She killed a snake that just about had me, then sucked a splinter out of my chest and had her hands all over me. I’ve never been so turned on in all my life. It felt…right.”

  “Hmmm. What makes you think she’d even go for it?”

  “Like I said, it’s just a feeling I’ve got. Remember that game we used to play as kids? The kissing one?” Jake asked, eyeing his friend.

  Brent chuckled. “Catch and kiss. We were supposed to run after her and if we caught her, we had to kiss her. Only she was too damned fast. She never let us catch her, and at that time, I didn’t really want to kiss a girl.”

  Jake smiled. “I’m thinking she’d let me now,” Jake said.

  Brent grinned back at him. “So you say. Well, if you sleep with her, then I’m going to too. We need to keep this fair and even, after all.”

  Jake furrowed his brow. “I don’t think she likes you like that. I know I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “And I don’t think she likes you like that! Why wouldn’t I pursue her too if you are? I’ve known her just as long, and I’ve always had a thing for her. I just thought we were too close to do anything about it. Plus, she’s never once acted like she wanted something else from either of us. I think we’ve made it too easy for her to stay with things just like they are.”

  “You got that right.” Jake scrubbed his blond stubbled jaw. “What are we gonna do about it then? Test her? Test the waters to see if she likes us more than friends?”

  Brent rubbed his temples. “I don’t know. I’d hate to fuck up what we have and lose her completely ‘cause we’re both idiots.”

  “Speak for yourself.”

  “We’ve both had plenty of girlfriends and flings. You know how complicated women make everything. I’ve never seen her do anything like that, though. It just might work. Hell, when’s the last time she had a boyfriend?”

  Jake widened his eyes. “She’s had a boyfriend? You sure she ain’t a virgin?”

  Brent shook his head. “Hell, I hope not. It’d make it that much harder. At this point, I ain’t sure of anything. But I’ll tell you what, you ain’t going to get in her pants before I do. That shit ain’t happening.”

  Jake snickered. “Wanna bet? Think what you want. I know how it’s going to go down.”

  “All right then. It’s on,” Brent said.

  Chapter Two

  When Lizzy got home, she thought she’d walked into the wrong house. The living room, usually littered with Jake’s and Brent’s clothes, was empty of socks, underwear, pants, and trash. Their empty beer bottles and cans had been put into the recycling bin. They’d even vacuumed!

  Lizzy dropped the bags of groceries on the floor in the kitchen, astonished to see the dishes had been emptied from the sink. The hum of the dishwasher greeted her ears.

  A wild hair had crawled out of the guys, if the cleanliness of the house was any indication.

  Jake walked in, flashing her his pearly whites before giving her a hug. “Hi, beautiful! Do you need some help bringing anything in?”

  “Brent’s already outside loading up his arms,” she said, returning the hug and giving him a look. “Who cleaned up?”

  “I got most of it. Brent got the kitchen. I better get out there and help him bring in the bags.”

  Jake took off outside. Lizzy pinched herself, shaking her head. Usually, they just ignored her walking in with anything, continuing to play video games or doing guy stuff. She figured it was because they never really paid much attention to her comings and goings. That’s not to say they never helped her, but this combined with the cleaning... Maybe they were on something.

  She laughed at that and went to use the bathroom. It wasn’t until she walked in to use the toilet that she decided they must be on something. The shower was clean, the wastebasket had been emptied and a new liner put in. It even smelled clean, like they’d gone to the trouble of mopping the floor and cleaned off the counter.

  Lizzy relieved herself, washed her hands and dried them off on a fresh clean towel. She walked outside and saw the guys had gotten everything in and were stocking the pantry and the refrigerator. “All right. What’re y’all on? Did y’all score some drugs or something? Where’s my roommates? Have y’all been replaced by body snatchers, cuz something ain’t right here.”

  Brent and Jake stopped in their tracks and exchanged a look with each other, looking guilty in her mind.

  Jake laughed, diffusing the situation. “We can’t help you when you do so much for us?”

  Lizzy narrowed her eyes. “Y’all usually don’t do this much at any one time. God help me if I’m a little suspicious. You sure you aren’t on drugs?”

  Brent laughed then. “Like we’d give up our careers before they even get started? We’re not just a couple of dumb guys like you think.”

  Lizzy huffed and sat down on the couch, flipping on the TV. “Well, I can’t help it y’all aren’t acting normal. I do appreciate the fact that y’all went on a cleaning rampage, even if you won’t tell me why you’ve
done it. If you think I’m going to agree to a party tonight or inviting girls over, you can think again. You can’t butter me up to get your way. Not like that.”

  Jake and Brent looked affronted. “We’d never do something like that,” Brent said. “Besides, I haven’t had a girlfriend in a long time.”

  “I haven’t either,” Jake said.

  Lizzy chuckled. “Whatever. Tell that to someone who’ll believe it.”

  Brent knocked over a glass of water when he set a bag up on the counter. Water sloshed over the granite and splattered on the floor. “There’s towels under the sink,” she said, pointing.

  “We’re out,” Brent said. “It’s all right. I’ve got this.” He peeled his old t-shirt off and used it to wipe up the water off the counter.

  Lizzy watched the play of his muscles as he moved, spacing out at his back. She sighed. Jake shot Brent a killer look, which Lizzy didn’t fail to notice.

  She chortled. “Y’all are buggin’. I’m gonna go change and go outside to work in the garden.”

  Coming back out of the bedroom a few minutes later dressed in a bikini top and some shorts, she headed out the back door.

  Jake gaped at her on the way out. He’d forgotten what a killer body she had. Why hadn’t he paid much attention to it before?

  “You finish up here. I’ll help out Lizzy in the garden,” he said, leaving Brent stewing behind him. They both knew gardening wasn’t something Brent enjoyed doing and had never shown any interest in. It’d look suspicious as hell if he went out there too, though he had half a mind to go anyway just to cock block Jake.

  Jake shut the door behind him and followed the beaten down path to their garden. The heat of the summer sun was waning, but dusk was still about two hours away. The heat and humidity hit him like a slap in the face, instantly beading his skin with a sheen of sweat.

  Ahead in their small garden, Lizzy was bent over picking out weeds from her tomatoes. She made a delicious picture that he stopped to admire for a minute.

  He felt himself hardening just watching the sway of her breasts barely caught in her red bikini from his side view of her. They were just big enough to overflow his hands, should he ever get a chance to grope them. Her waist was small, flaring out into generous hips, but it was her backside he’d always found the biggest draw. It looked firm and round, jutting out from her waist and begging for a good grab. He wanted to sink his teeth into that juicy ass.