Kiss Is a Four-Letter Word Read Free Page A

slightly smaller and more finely boned than Eli, she had the feeling he was the more dangerous of the two men. She scrambled to finish the introductions.
    "Simon, Eli, this is my brother Zeke and his partner Eric." No sooner were the words out of her mouth than both Eli and Simon relaxed. Hmm. She thought it might have something to do with the way Eric touched Zeke's shoulder. It was obvious the two men were involved. Of course, Sherry noted that her brother's frown had deepened. Not surprising. He was usually cranky and over-protective around her boyfriends. Or in this case, the two big strangers sitting extra close to her. She pinched her brother's leg, trying not to laugh when he jumped and sent her a glare.
    Be nice , she thought at him. Sibling radar worked. He gave her a look, but sighed and sat down, sliding a hand up her leg to inspect her wound more closely. The faker. Sherry knew he wasn't concerned about her cut. He just wanted to knock Eli's hand away from her calf.
    "Zeke, seriously, I'm fine," she said, her voice warning him off. He ignored her and held out a hand to Eli. Hmpf . Of course he'd pick Eli first. Her brother was rather perceptive. Butter up the more obvious predator before handling the other one.
    "Hi. Thanks for giving my little sister a hand," Zeke said.
    Eli nodded and shook Zeke's hand, then Eric's. Zeke turned to Simon next. "Thanks."
    Simon nodded shortly and shook hands as well. "We were happy to help." He stood up and brushed the dust off his shorts then grabbed his and Eli's helmets. "Anyway, we've got to get moving. We have a dinner thing we can't miss." He sent Eli a look, then tossed his helmet over. For a moment Sherry thought Eli was going to throw it back at Simon's head, but then he shrugged and stood up as well, strapping the plastic onto his skull.
    "Yeah, we promised my mom we'd be home for dinner. We don't visit her often enough, she says."
    Simon grinned suddenly. "You don't. You're a terrible son."
    Eli rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Like you visit your dad a lot?"
    "He lives in the middle of Pennsylvania. It's a three, three and a half hour drive," Simon protested good-naturedly.
    "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Eli had his bike back on the trail. "Excuses, man. Nothing but excuses."
    "I'm going to tell your mother you were picking on me," Zeke said, clipping his right shoe onto his pedal. Sherry watched, slightly irritated and a lot disappointed. Stupid Zeke and Eric . She was sure she could have gotten another kiss if her brother and his lover hadn't caught up with her. I might even have managed to get hold of their phone numbers. She licked her lips, wondering if maybe she'd hallucinated those kisses. It didn't seem real. Were they really as earth-shattering as she thought? She touched her mouth absently.
    "Sherry, it was nice meeting you. I'm glad you weren't seriously injured," Simon said, turning to her and holding her gaze for a moment. She allowed herself one last sigh as his blue eyes flashed over her body.
    "Yeah, me too." Eli smiled at her and Sherry shifted her eyes to him. Such a handsome man , she thought, looking him up and down. Oh well. She briefly wondered what it would be like to have the two of them naked on her bed at the same time then let the daydream drift away. Not everyone fell in love. She knew that better than anyone. Just because they were good kissers didn't mean they would be any different than the other losers she'd dated. Not everyone got to be happy.
    "Bye," she said, lifting a hand. They waved and a few seconds later were halfway down the side of the mountain. Sherry swallowed, disappointed. Get a grip , she told herself for the thousandth time.
    "Those guys didn't try anything funny, did they?" Eric asked her, sitting down where Eli had just been.
    She gave him her death glare.
    "Okay. Okay…just making sure." Eric held a palm up as if to ward off her temper.
    "They were perfect gentlemen," Sherry said. More's the pity. She wished she'd managed to