Just benefits?

Three

After Clay took my stuff and placed it in the trunk of his car, he opened the passenger door and made a bow gesture to me to get in. God this kid is an idiot, but I still laughed at his antics. Once he got in we made eye contact then both burst out laughing at the stunt he had just pulled.

"Jeez, I'm sorry, your brother would just absolutely kill me if I didn't act at least a little bit like a gentleman." He is probably right, even though he is about a year younger than me, he can still be quite over protective. He thinks I need to be treated a certain way, and what Clay did is exactly what he has described to me in the past.

"You deserve someone to get the doors for you Cora. For someone to kiss your hand and remind you how beautiful and pretty you are." He said that to me once after I had just gotten out of a pretty toxic relationship. Damn, I missed my brother. My best friend. But now after months of him being gone, I get to see him again for a whole two weeks. And seeing Clay everyday for those two weeks is definitely a bonus.

The thoughts of seeing my brother for the first time in months gets me excited and bouncing in my seat. Clay looks over and chuckles at my antics. "Calm down Cora." when I don't stop he places his hand on my thigh to get me to stop bouncing and jeez does that work. I immediately stop moving around. His hand is so warm and my thighs look tiny compared to his hand, despite me having rather thick thighs.

When I stop cold in my tracks, he realizes that he has his hand on my thigh and starts to move it away. "Shoot, I'm sorry. I-i-" i cut him off by taking his hand and placing it back there. "It's okay, it feels nice and is helping a little bit with my um, my anxiety." I could feel my cheeks heat up a little at the confession but it is true, I'm not sure why but him being there is helping to calm me down. It's probably because he is my brother's best friend and that I know since he trusts him enough to pick me up, I should too.

"So, how was your flight?" He asks and starts moving his thumb a bit in soothing patterns, making me flush a semi bright pink again and causing me to lose focus for a moment. Only for a moment though, I can totally keep my composure.

"Oh um, it was good. No turbulence or anything like that. Just an annoying baby who wouldn't shut up for about an hour." he chuckles at that, instantly causing a smile to appear on my face. I like his laugh.

"That sounds like Hell. at least it was only an hour." I nod. "An hour out of a three hour flight is quite a lot though." This time it is his turn to nod. "Yeah, definitely sounds like Hell." he chuckles a bit, then the car is silent. The only sounds being the slight roar of the engine and my erratic heartbeat from his hand still being on my thigh.

I look down and stare at it for a moment, just taking in every vain that can be seen, every ring, the wrist bands, all of it. Without thinking much, I bring my own hand down and start playing with the rings on his hand, seeing his cheeks tint a light pink and a smile playing at his lips. I'm not really sure what it is but men who wear rings are very attractive. I said what I said, come after me if you must.

After a few minutes I subconsciously stop playing with his rings, letting his hand just rest on my thigh, which he quickly adjusts so that rather than his hand being limp like it was while I was playing with his rings, he is gripping onto my thigh. Honestly, it feels kinda nice. If only he weren't my brother's best friend.

"You excited to see your brother again?" I instantly light up at the thought of him. "Yes! I am super excited to be able to see and hang out with him again. Even if he has only been gone for a few months it feels like it has been years since I've last seen him. It really is weird and a shame I haven't visited sooner, I only live a few hours away. And he has insisted a million times that he can pay for my tickets or for gas but i always deny it because he doesn't need to and-"

His chuckling cuts me off. Shit, I didn't even realize I had started rambling. I feel heat rise to my cheeks as I look away, out the window. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble."

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw him shake his head and feel him squeeze my thigh a tiny bit (Which felt very nice may I add) "It's okay. I like the fact that you can so easily ramble about him. It means you really care for him."

I finally look up at him to see him already looking at me and a smile (along with a little bit of blush) appears on my face. "Yeah. I guess it does." I've never really thought about it like that, but I guess I do only really ramble when talking about things or people I care about.

A comfortable silence falls over us and I find myself really not minding his presence which is odd considering we have only just met and I do have high anxiety.

"You really don't mind me staying with you, right?" That was one of my biggest anxieties about this whole trip, I didn't want to be a bother to anyone, I don't need to stay in their house, I could always stay in a hotel if they need me to.

"Of course I don't mind! You're my best friend's older sister, I wouldn't mind you at all. Besides from what I can tell and what I have heard, you are really cool so don't you worry your pretty little head about being a bother because I promise you, you are not a bother." that brings a smile to my face. Not only did some insanely attractive guy just indirectly call me pretty, but I also believe him.

Clay just has this warm aura around him that makes you feel warm and welcome. Secure. His hand still placed on my thigh shows just how much he cares about me alone. Or just how touch starved he is, I haven't figured that much out yet.

We continue to make small talk, getting to know each other a bit more before I spend two weeks with him and my brother.

And everything was going fine! Until he moved his hand up my thigh a bit. That is a distraction I just do not want nor need.

He doesnt move it up much, just a few inches but it is still enough to make me stop breathing. And thinking. And functioning in general. "Sorry, it was just getting really hot in that one area. Is this okay?" Not trusting myself to speak, I only tightly bite the inside of my right cheek and nod, hoping he can see it. Jeez I should not be this bothered by someone I hardly know. I am not about to catch feelings for someone too fast again and get my heart broken even more. I've learned.

I see a ghost of a smirk play on his lips as he continues the conversation. "So, would you ever consider streaming like your brother, his other friends and myself?" I scoff a bit. "You're a streamer?" he rolls his eyes and moves his hand up on my inner thigh a bit more, causing me to gasp quietly.

"I stream occasionally. It just isn't often." This time it is my turn to roll my eyes. "Yeah, okay dreamer boy. But no, I don't think I ever would personally stream but I might do something like your sister has done and play on his account for a little bit of a stream or something like that." I don't wanna cause myself to have a panic attack, but he doesn't need to know that.

"So I see you're a fan of me. You know the streams I've done with my sister, you know I don't stream much. I bet you're secretly a diehard fan.'' I sarcastically laugh at his comment. "No actually, I heard all that from Tommy's. I've also only heard some stuff about you on my brother's streams, never seen any of yours." lies.

He looks offended at the Tommy part then plays it off with a smile. "Yeah, alright. Sure." And with that he gives my thigh another squeeze, while moving his hand up. This man is testing my self control.

I've never felt this conflicted before in my life. Half of me wants to do the rational thing and push his hand away, tell him to never touch me again. To remind him that he is my brother's best friend and anything physical between us is taboo. But the other half of me wants him to test me further. Slide his hand up, touch me, see how far we can go without being caught.

I'm not sure how long I am lost in my own sinful thoughts for, but with one last squeeze on my thigh his hand is gone and he is taking off his seat belt. "We're here sunshine." Getting out he sends wink my way causing me to stay frozen in my seat. Is it possible he was thinking the same thing I was?

If so, this is going to be a very long two weeks.