Feel That Fire

A loud banging woke Emmalyn the next morning. Turning over in the bed, she tried to focus her eyes on the ceiling. She could hear Brian’s bedroom door bang against the wall as he opened it and stormed down the stairs. Emmalyn thought it best to get up to see who was disturbing their slumber. As she walked down the stairs, she heard her brother’s loud voice mixed with Brian’s softer one.

“Where is she?” Matt demanded.

“She’s upstairs in the guest room asleep. You’re going to wake her up if you don’t stop yelling. She was really drunk last night and she needs to sleep it off,” Brian replied. Matt noticed her coming down the stairs at this point because his jaw dropped and his eyes turned hard. Emmalyn stared at him confused.

“Oh HELL no!” he screamed. “Where the fuck are your clothes?” Emmalyn’s eyes dropped to her body. She was only wearing a Syn Gates’ t-shirt that hit about mid-thigh. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

“This is not what it looks like, Matt. Brian was telling you the truth. I slept in the guest room,” she said coming to rest on the bottom stair. Brian had been quietly moving closer to her as if he wanted to protect her from Matt’s rage. He was now standing directly in front of her.

“Where did he sleep then, Em?” Matt asked walking closer to the pair.

“In his room.” This caused Matt to stop. He looked at his baby sister and then his best friend. Both of them had very honest eyes and he could tell when they were lying. Stopping his pursuit, he sighed.

“I’m sorry. It just looks like something happened. Em, could you please go put some clothes on so we can home?” Matt asked as he turned around towards the door.

“No, you go on home. Brian will bring me by later,” Emmalyn’s voice drifted to his ears. Matt paused and turned slowly. Brian had now turned around to face Emmalyn. They were staring at each other intently. It was all Matt could to do to not go over there and rip Emmalyn away.

“I’m here now. Just go get--”

“No, Matt. I’m staying here right now. You go home. I’ll see you later,” Emmalyn responded making her eyes leave Brian’s to look at her brother. His stature was taut and strained.

“Whatever. Brian?” Emmalyn watched Brian turn his head to look at Matt. “Bring her home safe, please.”
Brian turned his head to look at Emmalyn again. “No problem, Matt. We’ll see you later.” With that, Matt walked out the door. Neither Brian nor Emmalyn noticed, though, because they were too busy staring at each other. Brown eyes clashed with hazel ones. Slowly Emmalyn brought her hands up to rest on Brian’s shoulders. The step she was on brought her to eye level with him. Brian’s hands lifted to rest on her hips.

Emmalyn’s heart was beating so fast and hard that she could swear that Brian could hear it. Why was she doing this to herself? No matter how much her brain told her to pull away, her heart and body kept her rooted in place. Her hands reached up to run across the back of his head. His hair was soft to the touch.

Brian took this opportunity to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer to him. He was glad she was standing on the step because he had better access to her eyes and lips, which he had every intention of kissing. Both of them kept their eyes open as their lips softly made contact. Brian added the slightest amount of pressure and Emmalyn’s eyes drifted closed.

Moaning, Brian ran his tongue over her lips. She responded by opening her mouth and meeting his tongue with hers. Their kiss was slow and sensuous. Their heart rates picked up quickly and before long they were both breathing hard. Wanting to get closer to her, Brian picked her up in his arms and moved to the chair in the living room. Sitting down, he situated her on his lap so she was sitting across him.

Their kissing resumed and within minutes Emmalyn was twisting her body so she could straddle his legs. Brian’s hand roamed over her body while hers danced across his torso and neck. He broke the kiss so he could place kisses down the side of her neck and across her collarbone.

Emmalyn’s brain finally caught up with her body. Pulling away slowly from Brian’s lips, she sat back to stare at him. His hands rested on her hips and his eyes made contact with hers.

“What are we doing?” she asked him.

“I believe we were kissing,” he smirked. She smiled briefly at him before turning serious again.

“I’m serious, Bri. What’s going on with us? You’ve told me before that we’re just friends, but friends don’t do what we just did. I know you’re still hurting over Michelle, but I don’t want to be the rebound,” Emmalyn said with tears in her eyes.

Brian’s heart softened when he saw her unshed tears. Pulling her head down, he rested her forehead against his.

“I’m sorry. You could never be a rebound, Em. Never. Not for me. You see, the thing is I’ve been attracted to you for quite sometime now. Even before Michelle and I broke up. I think she could tell I was. She always got really quiet when you were around. It upset me that I felt these feelings for you. You’re my best friend’s baby sister and I shouldn’t want to touch you or kiss you all the time. You’re so beautiful. It really hurts me when I can’t be with you. Do you want to know why I came to Matt’s house after Michelle left?” Emmalyn pulled back slightly to look at him better.

“Why?”

“I wanted to see you. You were all I could think about. I was upset that I had hurt Michelle and I wish I could have spared her the pain I caused her. When I was alone in this house, all I could focus on was seeing you,” Brian said as he reached up to kiss her again.

“Bri, I don’t know what to say. Where do we go from here?” Emmalyn asked as her hands rubbed his arms.

“I’d like to spend more time with you. Alone, if possible. I’m not expecting anything, but I want to get to know you on a more personal level. I know we’ve known each other since we were kids, but I don’t want us to be Matt’s sister and Matt’s best friend anymore. Let’s be Brian and Emmalyn. Two people who have feelings for each other and want to see where those feelings lead us,” he said hopeful.

Emmalyn nodded her yes. “Ok, Bri. I’d love to.”