A Naked Light

I groaned into my pillow as muffled squeals crept under the door frame and into my particularly sensitive ears. My eyes forced themselves open as I heard the doorknob turn and padded footsteps race against hardwood.

"Addison Lauren Rossdale! How dare you be in bed when we should be out wedding dress shopping!"

I wept melodramatically into the flannel before looking back up at my flawless sister. Her perfectly lined eyes, her perfectly washed, cut and straightened hair, her perfectly glossed lips; I wanted to gag.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I groaned, sticking my leg out from under the covers and rolling over on my other side. I could practically hear the frowning she was trying to lure me in with. I swore under my breath and threw the covers up, swinging my feet over the side of my bed.

"Yay!" she screeched, clapping. "Okay, downstairs, 10 minutes. We'll eat and run."

"How about, downstairs, half an hour, we'll eat, chill, and then drive?"

But it was no use. She was off in her own little world and already half way down the stairs.

"The shit I put myself through," I muttered, attempting to fix my bed sheets. As I fluffed my shamelessly flattened pillowcase, I heard the floorboards creak, and the house murmur, indicating a body leaning against an oak door frame. I smiled.

I wonder who has one of those.

"Do you always lurk in your fiancée's sister's doorways?"

"Only if they're worth lurking at."

Alex chuckled before approaching the bed. I caught my breath as he leaned in close and smiled, grabbing a stray edge of the comforter. He backed away and outstretched his arms, tossing the emerald green bedspread in the air. I watched, mesmerized as it landed on top of the bed perfectly.

"Okay... mind teaching me how to do that?"

He laughed. "It's a 'tall people' thing."

My mouth hung open. "You did not just play the 'I'm-taller-than-you-so-I'm-going-to-tease-you-mercilessly-about-it' card!"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I just did."

I stared down at my purple thigh-high socks and smirked. "Oh boy. At the rate things are going, my sister might not have somebody to marry."

"Now wouldn't that just be a crying shame."

His words reeked of contempt and cockiness. It wasundeniably garishly attractive.

"Oh? How so?"

He lay down on the bed and crossed his legs, propping his head up with his arms. I leaned against the mattress, trying to hide my smile as my tank top snagged lower, revealing my chest a little more. I could feel his eyes wandering, roaming the curves of my body; I liked it. It had been a long while since a man had watched me, followed me, undressed me with his eyes. The control that came with the ability to make guys squirm was almost too much fun to abuse. Almost.

"Well then, paramour. Care to enlighten me?"

He chuckled and reached over, clutching my teddy bear in his large palm. "Overlooking the fact that you just called me a womanizer, I meant in the simplest of terms, that I'm your only hope."

My brow rose slowly but my heart made up for that. My pulse quickened as he got on his knees, then stood back up, his body nearly pressed up against mine.

"My only hope? For what?"

Sandwiched between an attractive musician and my desk was a place I never thought I would be. Sandwiched between an attractive musician - who just so happened to be my sister's fiancé - and my desk was a more elaborately painted picture of where I never thought I would be. That didn't mean it wasn't just as fun.

"Call me crazy, but something tells me you don't like your sister too much." At this, my eyes rolled, but he kept going. "And, the way I see it, is I'm the one with nothing to lose and everything to gain."

My chest heaved, from his body heat, from his breath on my lips, from his hands by my hips, from his eyes on me. "Go on. You have my attention."

"Peeked your interest, have I?" He leaned in even closer, his lips parallel to mine. My eyes grew wide but he just smiled, relishing his advantage in the situation. "It's just as well. I'm kinda wondering if I should tell you or not."

In a moment of insanity, I grabbed at his hoodie and brought him even closer to my face. If that was possible or not, I wasn't sure, but clearly, it had happened. I looked him right in the eyes. "Explain, Gaskarth."

Was he afraid?
Of course not.

Was he amused?
Without a doubt.

"I can get her away from here. Once we're married, we'll be gone." He smiled devilishly. "She'll be gone. That's what you want, isn't it? For things to be the way they used to be, before Lindsey waltzed back into town."

I bit my lip.

"You don't even need to admit it, you know that? I can read you." He went to continue but stopped short. His hand lifted slightly, and then landed right by my face, propped up against a nearby shelf. I could feel him studying my face. "It's so easy for me to read you."

"Lucky you. But you're wrong."

"Wrong about what?"

I smirked and tilted my head up, my lips parted victoriously.

"About Lindsey. Sure, you can whisk her away, out of Baltimore, and out of my life. Sure, you can drag her out by the ankles right now if you wanted to. But you wouldn't. Because the hand you've been dealt isn't as good as you think it is. There are better cards out there, and you're about to gamble everything away on a bad bet."

"Poker analogies for morale. And here I thought I'd seen it all."

"Your cocky bullshit can only buy you so many life experiences."

Alex grinned. "But I've already told you. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I can only win."

I confronted him by taking a step forward and watched as he stepped back, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Think that all you want, but you're wrong, Alex Gaskarth. Desperately wrong. You have everything to lose."

"Oh really, Ms. Rossdale? And what would that be?"

"Addy! Are you ready yet? I wanna get to the bridal shops early!"

Our attention turned to the hallway as Lindsey's booming voice echoed up to my room. I looked over at Alex as his head spun around. His confidence was dwindling as it suddenly hit him.

"My sister coming back might just kill me, but not as much as losing her might kill you."

As I headed towards the bathroom, I stopped, my hand on the doorknob, turning it out of nervous habit. He stared at me sheepishly, wondering what else I could say to wound him. A list of sarcastic, cynical remarks bounced around my head like rubber balls. I could've left him there with his heart on his sleeve and his ego battered within an inch of its existence. Instead, I took pity on him.

Because he was kind.
Because he was honest.
Because he deserved better.Because he was growing on me.

"Watch out, Alex. Not everybody's worth dying for."