Leo

I've spent days several times on Nicole's yacht. Mostly I'm alone or Nicole's with me.

But my favorite time has got to be today, with Josephine.

She's just a fun person to be with.

After eating the food I packed with me because I wasn't very optimistic we'd catch any fish—and I was right—we do one last dip in the ocean before we call it a day.

When we eventually arrive at Josephine's building, I help her get down.

"Wanna go upstairs?" She surprises me by saying. "I have freshly made juice to help us cool off."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

I keep my eyes planted on the steps as she ascends the stairs before me.

She unlocks her door and takes off her shoes, so I do the same before I close the door behind me.

My eyes do a quick check of her place. It's small and functional.

When you enter, you land in the living room. On my left, there's a small kitchen. A hip-length wall where the sink is also acts as a divider between the two rooms.

There are three couches where two are two-seats and the last one is a three-seats. The place is neat and there is an array of those fluffy and colorful pillows that every girl's in love with. The window sill, the same window where she waves at me when I drop her off, has a few frames, but they're a little too far for me to see the pictures in them clearly.

"Can I use your bathroom?" I ask, my bladder full.

"Toilet is to the right." She nods to the door that is in the middle of the wall I'm facing.

I relieve myself and enter the living room again. I see her in the kitchen, standing on a step as she grabs two glasses from the top cupboard. She holds them in one hand and opens the fridge with the other to grab a bottle with dark red liquid in it. Almost the same color as wine.

"My mama made this fresh juice with fresh Wild berries. It's really sweet and delicious."

I sit down on the two person couch and she sits down next to me, pouring us juice.

She hands it to me and watches me as I take my first sip. A rich flavor meets my tongue.

Nodding, I take another sip. "Really good."

"You can add some vodka to it if you're feeling a little risky." She whispers, as if she's telling me a secret.

I feel risky. But not the kind of risky where I'd get behind the wheel after I've drunk alcohol.

She puts her feet on the couch and turns sideways to face me better. I adjust my position so I don't have to strain my neck looking at her.

Her face is flushed from spending the entire day under the sun. Even though she reapplied sunscreen every two hours on the dot. She had set alarms on her phone as reminders. She also made me reapply a few times. Saying she doesn't want skin cancer for either of us.

"So, what's your verdict on fishing?" I ask, trying to make small talk and to not stare too hard on her stunning face.

"Well," she squints her eyes, thinking about her answer. "It's not fair to rule it out immediately. So I'll have to do it again to decide."

"That's good to hear."

She takes a small sip and stares ahead of her, contemplating something.

"Leo," my name is said in a hushed voice. My skin prickles with awareness at her tone. "Can I ask you something?" She meets my eyes.

I'm a little scared of what she's going to ask, but I nod nonetheless. I notice my leg bouncing up and down. The first sign of my nerves acting up.

"Why did you join the army?"

I chuckle in relief. Though I expected this question to come up sooner or later.

Setting my glass on my thigh to try and stop fidgeting, I drape my other arm on the back of the couch. "No specific reason, to be honest. I didn't want to go to college. And I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life." Still don't. "And what better to do in the meantime than to serve and protect?"

She sighs, puts her hand to her heart. "That's so deep."

I grin and pull a strand of her hair. She slaps my hand away, but I grasp her wrist and set it on the back of the couch.

My leg immediately stops bouncing.

"How long do you have left?" She asks further.

"I was in the middle of a tour when I got injured." I purposely don't answer clearly.

Because honestly, I don't know if I'm going to reenlist when my tour is done.

I have no idea what I'm doing. At all.

I'm just waiting for a big, obvious sign to tell me what to do next.

"How is your bullet wound, by the way?" She seems truly concerned, her brows furrowed.

"I had an outstanding nurse tend to me, so it's healed perfectly." I give her wrist a squeeze and her teeth sink into her lower lip, but her smile still peeks through.

"Well, thank you. You're not a bad patient yourself." She mumbles her next words. "After you apologized, though."

I laugh. First impressions are hard to change, no matter how hard you try. But I'm confident I've changed her perspective of me. She just caught me on a stressful day.

"Oh," she perks up. "I sneakily took a picture of you today when you were in the water. Let me send it to you." She searches for her phone and before I can tell her it's on a little table next to me, she sits on her knees and hands, reaches over my lap to her phone.

My breath catches because of her position. It's oddly close to someone about to give me head.

On her way of sitting back down, her elbow bumps into my glass, and it tips back. Liquid falls all over my lap to get absorbed by my shorts.

"Shoot." She stands up. "I'm so sorry." She takes the glass from me and runs to the kitchen. She comes back with a towel.

But I'm rooted in place, willing myself not to get a hard-on.

"It's alright." I clear my throat and stand up. Red liquid runs down my legs. "Don't worry about me. Just make sure your couch isn't ruined." I tell her when she gives me the towel to dry off.

I remove a pillow, and she tries to absorb the liquid that's spilled on the couch with the towel. Luckily her couch is black so it won't show.

When she's done, she looks at my crotch area. There's a big red stain, making it look like I peed myself.

"I can be a bit clumsy sometimes." She worries her bottom lip.

"Consider this payback for that time I spilled a drink on you." I offer.

She smiles. "Right." She jerks her thumb behind her shoulder. "My brothers leave their clothes here all the time. Let me grab you something while you clean up."

I follow her to the bathroom. But this time, instead of going to the right, she goes to the left and inside her bedroom. Unlike the living room, it's more messy here. Her bed is unmade and the doors to her closet are open. The chair of her vanity is piled up with clothes.

It's cute how messy her room is. Though I could never sleep here as I'm used to things being in their place all the time.

"This door." She says. I walk through the door to the bathroom. It's pretty big for an apartment of this size.

In the mirror, I see the bottom of my shirt is also stained. I remove it and hold it in my hand as I walk to the threshold of the bathroom.

"Mind giving me a shirt as well?" Josephine turns around from where she's standing in front of her closet. Her cheeks redden when she sees my bare chest.

I guess I shouldn't have taken it off when she's still in the room. I'm used to dressing and undressing whenever and wherever. In the army, you don't care if there are people around you. Because no one is looking at you. Everyone is focused on themselves.

She clears her throat and pulls out some clothes from the bottom.

"Sure, here you..." her head snaps up. I'm about to ask what's wrong when I hear another voice.

"Josie?"

Someone calls out and I'm pretty sure it's from inside her apartment.

And it's a man's voice.

"Shoot." She whispers and walks to me. Her hands push at my chest, walking me into the bathroom. "That's my brother. Just stay here."

She throws the clean clothes in my hands and closes the door in my face.

Her footsteps become softer as she walks back into the living room, I presume.

"Roman!" She says in an overly cheery voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I forgot my work shoes here the other day after I took a shower."

"You took a shower? When?"

"Doesn't matter." His voice grows closer. "They're in the bathroom."

I'm in the fucking bathroom.

"I'll grab them for you." She tells him.

"No, I'll do it. They're dirty."

Well...this can't be good. Though it's not like we were doing anything wrong. She's in her own apartment after all, and she's an adult. So she can have a boy in her bathroom all she wants. But from what I've heard about her brothers, they can be a pain in the ass, especially since she's the youngest.

"It's really messy in there." She tries again. Their footsteps are coming closer.

"Why you being so weird?" Her brother asks her, his voice in Josephine's bedroom now. "I know where I put them."

I'm about to put the clothes she handed me in the sink so I can put the shirt on when the door flies open. I stand still like a statue as Roman stops dead in his track when he sees there's a person in his sister's bathroom.

A half naked one.

I was too busy eavesdropping to put my dress shirt back on. My fault. Oops.

He's a lean guy with dark brown hair and the same eye color as Josephine. He's a few inches taller than her.

His eyes narrow, taking in my scantily clad chest and messy hair from all the salt water earlier today.

Josephine is biting on her lower lip, her eyes wide as she waits for her brother's reaction.

He faces her and crosses his arms. His next words are in Italian. "[Josie. Who is this guy and why is he naked?]"

She answers back in Italian. "[He's a friend. And he's not naked.]" She rolls her eyes.

He continues talking Italian, thinking I don't understand. But I very much do. I keep my face blank as I listen to their conversation.

"[Same thing.]" He counters. "[I've never seen him before.]"

Josephine rolls her eyes again as she tilts her head to the ceiling before meeting his eyes again. "[We've known each other for not a very long time. That's why you haven't seen him. Besides, you don't know all my friends.]"

Her voice turns a little deeper when she talks in Italian and the words coming from her mouth are really sensual.

"[You only have two friends. Candice and Ananya.]"

"[I do not. Those are the only two close to mama and—]"

"[You're changing the subject.]" He cuts her off, but my face doesn't betray how much I hate that. "[Why is he hiding in your bathroom?]"

"[He isn't hiding.]" Josephine says confidently.

He gives her a look.

"[He spilled juice on his pants so he was changing.]" She explains. Actually, it was she who spilled juice on me, but I don't say that. Roman's eyes haven't looked at me since he started interrogating his sister.

"[Then why didn't you want me to get inside the bathroom?]" He raises his brows.

"[Because he was changing, and I didn't want you to walk in on him.]" She raises her arms in the air, then slaps back on her thighs. "[This is exactly the reason I tell you to text or call before you come.]"

"[I texted, but you didn't answer.]" He says.

"[Then at least knock before you enter. What if I was naked?]"

"[While he's in your apartment?]"

"[That's not the point.]" Her voice raises a little, getting frustrated. It shows how many times she's had this same conversation with him.

"[So is he you boyfriend?]"

"[Oh god.]" She groans. "[I don't have to tell you everything going in on my life.]"

"[So he is.]"

"[No!]"

"[Then why were you trying to prevent me from getting inside?]" He asks like he's her boyfriend or something and he caught her cheating.

"[I already told you. He was changing.]"

Now he looks at me again, focusing on the spare of clothes in my hands.

"[He's not your boyfriend, but he has spare clothes here?]" He asks her. Now I understand why she was so angry that time we met at the diner. They meddle too much in her life and don't seem to have a sense of boundaries if he comes barreling in her apartment like he owns it all the time.

"[So what if he was my boyfriend? I don't have to tell you who I am or who I'm not dating.]" She crosses her arms, imitating his posture.

His eyes go smaller, his brows furrowing further.

"[Yes, you do. You're my little sister.]"

"[So what?]" She's baffled. "[You don't tell me anything about your life. So I don't have to either.]"

"[Does mama at least know?]"

"[Know what?]" She exclaims.

"[About your boyfriend.]"

"[Oh my god!]" She says to the sky. "[I already told you he. Is. Not. My. Boyfriend.]"

I have to admit, Josephine getting all worked up is kinda hot. A corner of my mouth lifts a little at how well she's defending herself. And at that exact moment, her brother glances at me and sees my smirk.

"[So he's just someone you're having fun with?]" He cringes at the thought of his sister hooking up with someone.

"[If by fun you mean going out and doing fun activities, then yes.]" She nods.

It's funny how someone as petite as Josephine is talking back to someone a foot taller than her.

"[No. I mean another kind of fun.]" He insinuates.

"[How many types of fun are there?]"

Well, that depends on one's perspective.

If I asked Izzy what fun is to her, her answer without a doubt would be having sex with her boyfriend. Also known as my brother. And he would agree with her.

If asked Nicole that, she'd answer by getting on a plane and traveling to some exotic country all by herself.

But for me, as of late, fun is just hanging around with Josephine.

"[You're too naïve for your own good.]" He says. "[Boys like him only want one thing from girls like you.]"

"[Don't say I'm naïve.]" She points her finger at him and he looks at it with a dark look, but she doesn't drop it. "[And what do you mean 'boys like him?' And 'girls like me'. You don't even know Leo.]"

I love how she's defending me against her brother.

"[I mean you're too dumb to see what he's after. He's only pretending to be your friend to sleep with you.]"

Well, that's insulting. To both Josephine and me.

She's far from dumb and I'm not 'pretending to be her friend only so I can sleep with her.'

My thoughts aren't always pg 13 but that doesn't mean sex is the only thing I'm after.

"[I'm not dumb.]" She takes a step closer to him. "[Just because that's what you do, doesn't mean every other guy does it as well.]"

"[We're not talking about me right now.]" He veers the topic back to Josephine. "[You don't have enough experience with guys to see what he's doing.]"

"[And whose fault is that, huh?]" She chuckles, but it lacks any humor. "[You chased away every guy that came in a ten-foot radius of me and now you're doing it again with Leo. But I'm not thirteen anymore. You don't get to tell me what to do and who my friends are.]"

This conversation took a drastic turn.

And it's not one I think I should hear. I can tell there's some unresolved tension between them they need to talk about.

Ha, look at me turning into a therapist. Mandy would be proud of me.

Before her brother can say something about how stupid she is or something else absurd, I take a step and say in perfect Italian. "[Sorry to interrupt, but I still need to change out of these wet clothes. So if you could step away so I can close the door.]" I grab onto the doorframe, not sorry to interrupt at all, and I don't feel like being polite to him after how he talked to Josephine. I don't care if they're siblings. They're both adults, so they should have a decent conversation without him telling her she's dumb. He surely has other, less demeaning words than 'dumb' and 'naïve' in his vocabulary .

His lips part and his eyes widen a little. But he recovers quickly. He takes a step backwards and gestures with his arms that I can go ahead. I close the door and quickly change. Their footsteps stop at the living room and a few hushed words can be heard, but not clearly for me to make them out.

When I step foot in the living room, they're facing each other, giving the deaths stares.

Grabbing my phone from the coffee table, I head to the door and feel Josephine silently following me. I put my feet in my shoes without tying them off.

I open the door and face Josephine. She has an apologetic face. She even mouths 'sorry' to me. I shake my head at her, highly aware of her brother's eyes on us.

"Call me later, yeah?" I ask lowly. Her face softens, but I can tell she's still very much angry at her brother and how he interrupted our time together.

"Mhmm." She nods, her fingers tightly gripping the door. She's waiting for me to leave so she can release her wrath on her brother. I don't know if I wanna see it or not.

Even though I don't want to leave her, I have to. They should have this discussion without me present.

I don't know what comes over me, but I want to comfort her in some way, letting her know that what her brother said didn't affect me at all. So I palm the back of her head, bend and leave a chaste kiss on her forehead.

It's very quick and very light. My lips barely touched her skin, but my entire body comes alive at the simple touch.

She appears surprised, her cheeks reddening. This time not from being angry.

Her throat clears, and she murmurs a soft bye before she closes the door.

The entire ride back home, my lips tingle.

• ••• •

A/N:

Ugh. Roman.

But beside him, they had their first kiss. On the forehand but a kiss nonetheless 🥰