Shane: an Avery brother novel

Chapter Three

Eight Years Earlier

Summer

"Go!" Taylor urges me. "Just go for it."

I meet her bright blue eyes and grin. Taylor has a way of making me feel like I can do anything. I've never felt butterflies in my stomach like this before. If I open my mouth, I'm sure that they'll fly right out.

"You'll regret it if you don't." She nods her head like she knows that she's right, and I know she is. But that's the thing with Taylor. She's always been so sure, with such a seize-the-moment attitude that some of it had actually managed to rub off on me.

The breeze blows my hair off of my shoulders. The cool air on my summer sunburn feels good and the stars sparkle above me. I feel like it's now or never. What is it about midnight at sleepovers that cause you to reveal your deepest secrets and make you feel invincible?

My eyes slide back over to Shane. He's lying on a part of the roof right outside of his bedroom window, staring up into the night. He's wearing his normal summer attire: swim trunks from earlier in the day. No shoes. No shirt.

"What if he freaks out?" I leave off the part where I'm actually the one freaking out.

Taylor rolls her eyes. "He's not going to freak out. He likes girls. Too many of them. But I know for a fact that he likes you best. Besides," Taylor raises a brow, "a dare is a dare."

I chew my tongue, sincerely regretting the fact that I didn't just choose truth when I was given my options.

"Fine." I stick out my jaw and give her my bravest face, pretending that my knees don't feel like Jell-O.

"You're welcome." Taylor says, but I say nothing. We both know that otherwise, I'd be too chicken to act on how I feel, probably ever. There is no Truth or Dare police monitoring me, other than the fact that I don't want to let down my best friend. So I stick out my chin and act like I hate her as I move towards the window, because that's what good friends do during a game of Truth or Dare.

Taylor throws back her head and laughs as I smooth my brown hair in my ponytail. The window is already open, so I climb out of Taylor's window onto the roof too, praying that I make it look a little sexy instead of clumsy like I feel.

But Shane doesn't notice. He doesn't even turn as I approach. Finally, when I'm next to him, he speaks.

"Hey Cam," he greets me, without taking his stare off of the sky. His eyes are the same bright blue like his sister's. They're almost unnaturally bright. Except his, have dots of icebergs in them, such a bright, clear blue that you're certain that you're staring into a miracle.

"Hi," I manage back. I'm going to throw up. I know I am. I'm not sure I can do this. If I can't talk to him, how the hell am I supposed to kiss him?

The night is clear and warm, with a gentle breeze that blows, rustling Shane's hair.

I stare at his lips. They're plump and his cupid's bow is perfect and defined. The only word I can think of to describe his lips is "kissable." So kissable. And only a few feet away.

"Here," Shane says. He pats the spot on the roof next to him. I swallow hard. He lifts his head, giving me a smile before staring back up again at the stars.

My eyes travel down, from his lips to his chest, to the muscles on his arms and to the six pack of his tanned abs, and even farther, down to the tanned happy trail of brown hair that meets his trunks and the white skin that peeks out from underneath.