Adrian's POV
I almost kissed my best friend’s little sister tonight.
The thought repeated in my head the entire drive home.
Over and over again.
Like punishment.
My hands tightened around the steering wheel as rain slammed against the windshield harder, city lights blurring past while all I could still fucking see was Sienna standing against that kitchen counter looking up at me with flushed cheeks and parted lips.
Jesus Christ.
I should’ve left earlier.
The second Ethan walked away, I should’ve grabbed my jacket and gone home.
Instead I stayed.
Stared too long.
Touched her.
And worst of all?
I knew exactly what I was doing.
A rough breath left me as I stopped at a red light.
I could still feel her waist beneath my hand.
Still hear the small breath she made when I touched her.
Not fear.
Fuck no.
That was the problem.
She wanted it too.
That realization had completely destroyed whatever control I still had left.
I leaned my head back briefly against the seat.
This had to stop.
Now.
Before I fucked everything up.
Before Ethan realized the way I looked at his sister wasn’t normal anymore.
Because Ethan trusted me.
That was the part making this feel worse.
We’d been friends for years.
Built businesses together.
Bled together.
Gotten arrested together once in college after a fight outside some club none of us even remembered the name of anymore.
Ethan trusted me with everything.
Including her.
And I was standing in his kitchen imagining what Sienna would sound like if I finally kissed her properly.
I laughed once under my breath.
Yeah.
I was fucked.
My phone suddenly rang through the car speakers.
ETHAN.
Of course.
I answered immediately. “What?”
“You sound irritated already,” Ethan said.
“That’s because you’re calling me at one in the morning.”
“Cry about it.”
I shook my head slightly while turning onto the next street.
“What do you want?”
“You busy tomorrow?”
My jaw tightened automatically.
“Why?”
“I need someone to pick Sienna up tomorrow evening.”
Fuck.
“No.”
Ethan laughed. “You didn’t even hear the full sentence.”
“I heard enough.”
“You’re literally free.”
“How do you know?”
“Because all you do after work is go home and ignore women.”
I stayed quiet.
Mostly because if Ethan knew the actual woman currently ruining my life, he’d probably try to kill me.
“You there?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“So?”
I exhaled slowly. “Why can’t she drive herself?”
“She’s dropping her car off tomorrow.”
Of course she was.
I rubbed my jaw roughly.
This was a bad idea.
A really bad fucking idea.
“Ask someone else.”
“Bro, stop acting dramatic and just pick her up.”
“No.”
A pause.
Then Ethan laughed slowly.
“Wait.”
Fuck.
“What?”
“You’re not uncomfortable around Sienna now because she caught you bringing that blonde home last month, right?”
I frowned immediately. “What?”
“She’s been acting weird around you too.”
My grip tightened around the steering wheel.
“She has?”
“Mhm.”
Jesus Christ.
Ethan continued talking casually, completely unaware he was actively making my life worse.
“She probably thinks you’re corrupting the apartment atmosphere or some shit.”
If only he knew.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah. Probably.”
Another pause.
Then Ethan sighed dramatically. “So are you picking her up or not?”
Every logical part of my brain screamed no.
Absolutely fucking not.
But then Sienna’s face flashed through my head again.
Those lips.
That tiny breath when I touched her waist.
The way she looked at me like she wanted me to lose control.
I closed my eyes briefly.
“Send me the address.”
Ethan laughed immediately. “Knew you’d stop acting like a son a bitch eventually.”
“Go to sleep.”
“Night.”
The call ended.
I dropped my head back against the seat again for a second.
This was a mistake.
A massive one.
And somehow I was still going to do it anyway.
…..
The next evening was somehow worse.
Because now I knew exactly how she reacted beneath my touch.
I knew what her breathing sounded like when she got nervous around me.
I knew she looked at my mouth too.
That knowledge ruined me the entire fucking day.
Work became impossible.
Every meeting irritated me.
Every woman who flirted with me annoyed me.
Every text notification pissed me off because none of them were from her.
By the time evening came around, my patience was already hanging by a thread.
I parked outside the café Ethan texted me and checked the time again.
Seven minutes late.
Good.
Maybe she changed her mind.
Maybe she got another ride.
Maybe God finally decided to help me out for once.
Then the café doors opened.
And every coherent thought immediately disappeared from my brain.
Fuck.
Sienna stepped outside wearing tight black jeans and one of those soft oversized sweaters that somehow looked more dangerous on her than tiny dresses did.
Her hair fell around her shoulders loosely while she looked down at her phone, completely unaware that my entire body had just gone tense at the sight of her.
Jesus Christ.
How was one woman this distracting?
Then she looked up.
Saw my car.
And smiled slightly.
That tiny smile hit me harder than it should have.
I unlocked the passenger door immediately before I could think too much about it.
She got inside quietly.
And instantly the car smelled like her.
Vanilla.
Perfume.
Something soft underneath it.
“Hi,” she said softly.
I kept my eyes on the road. “Hey.”
Then a heavy silence.
I could feel her looking at me.
That somehow made everything worse.
“How was work?” she asked eventually.
“Fine.”
“You look kind off tired.”
I glanced at her briefly.
Big mistake.
Because now I noticed her lips again.
Fuck.
“Don’t start,” I muttered.
Her eyebrows lifted slightly. “Start what?”
“You know exactly what.”
A small smile pulled at her mouth.
And just like that, irritation mixed dangerously with attraction inside my chest.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” she said.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
“For good reason.”
“Because of last night?”
My jaw flexed instantly.
“Sienna.”
“What?” she asked innocently.
That fake innocence almost made me lose my mind.
“You really wanna talk about last night while sitting alone in my car?”
She shifted slightly in her seat.
I noticed that too.
I noticed everything about her.
That was the fucking problem.
“I just think it’s funny,” she murmured.
“What is?”
“You keep acting like you were the only one affected.”
Those words settled low in my stomach immediately.
I looked at her sharply.
Her cheeks were slightly pink now, but she held my gaze anyway.
Brave.
Reckless.
Dangerous.
Exactly the kind of girl a man like me should stay away from.
Instead I wanted to pull over and kiss her until neither of us remembered why this was a bad idea anymore.
A notification suddenly lit up her phone screen.
Some guy’s name appeared across it.
RYAN.
You looked good today btw.
Something ugly moved through my chest instantly.
Sienna scrolled through the phone casually.
“Who’s Ryan?”
The question came out rougher than I intended.
She glanced at me briefly. “Why?”
“Answer the question.”
That soft little smile appeared again.
Like she enjoyed this.
“Are you jealous?”
I laughed once.
Cold.
Dangerous.
“You really don’t wanna play that game with me.”
