His Sister ➣ s.m

t w e n t y - o n e

"Happy birthday, Maddie!" everyone says as I slice through the cake. I start to cut it into even square slices and put them on plates for people. Cameron is kind enough to pass out the plastic forks for me, too.

After cutting a large portion of the cake and plating it, I stop, leaving it as someone else's problem.

I decide not to have any cake yet, so I go over and dance with my friends instead.

I look around at my party, enjoying all of the happiness and all of the people.

-

At around ten o'clock or so, we kick everyone out, with the exception of my three best friends and the guys.

At that point, we scramble around and pick up crushed red cups and half-eaten food off the floor the best we can. When we're done, we leave the building quietly, trying not to disturb any other occasions that were still going on.

We cram into our cars again, and Cameron blasts the heat in our car. It was a little chilly for a summer night.

I'm almost asleep when I feel Shawn's fingers dance up my thigh and gently lace through my fingers. He kisses the back of my hand lightly and rests it in his lap, tracing my knuckles with his thumb.

He knows I love when he does that.

-

I don't fall asleep at all on the way home, somehow not able to fall asleep, even after consuming my body weight in sugar. I do, however, remain half-conscious. Conscious enough to know when Cameron parks the car.

I keep my eyes closed, not quite ready to move yet. I feel my door open, and a pair of strong arms slide under my knees and back as the arms pick me up. I can tell its Shawn, just by the way he smells.

A mixture of cologne, and cinnamon spice.

Don't ask me why he always smells like cinnamon, but he does.

As Shawn closes my door and starts walking into the hotel, I think of our moment earlier.

Every time I though about our kiss, my heart beat a little faster.

I kissed my best friend.

No, I didn't just kiss him, I had a heated make-out session with him.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Shawn. Probably more than myself, actually, but I didn't think of him in a relationship kind of way until tonight.

Was I growing feelings for Shawn?

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of our hotel key clicking into the key hole.

"Hey, Shawn, the guys and I are going down to the pool to swim in a bit. You can come down if you want, after you put her to bed." Nash mumbles to him.

"Thanks, Nash, but I think I'll stay up here with her. She's had a really long day." Shawn replies. Nash says something else, but I can't hear what he says. Shawn laughs and Nash walks away, closing the door.

Shawn lays me down on the bed gently, untying my shoes for me and throwing them on the floor somewhere.

I hear him walk over to the dresser and close it. I feel chills race down my spine as Shawn's fingers find the hem of my shirt and lift it over my head in the darkness, before slipping one of his long shirts over my head. He unbuttons my jean shorts and slides them off my legs when the shirt is covering my thighs, also tossing those by my shoes, dressing me in my usual nightwear. After a couple moments, I don't hear anything, so I peep my eyes open just enough to see Shawn take his shirt off in the darkness, throwing it in the corner. I close my eyes so he can change, my cheeks heating up. I feel the mattress sink behind me as he crawls in. He pulls me to him, spooning me so I'm warm.

"Goodnight, beautiful." he whispers. I smile to myself as he doses off.

I wait until I can hear his light snores before I try to leave. I carefully untangle his strong arms from around me, being careful not to trip in the pitch dark room.

I pad down the stairs, just outside the pool room. I go to open the door, but hesitate when I hear my name. I press my ear to the door and listen closely.

"-he's been acting strange all day." I hear Jack G say.

"Yeah, after he went to talk to Maddie." Jack J agrees.

"Do you think they have a thing going on between them?" Matt asks.

"Yeah, obviously. I just think Shawn's too scared to make a move." Nash replies, laughing.

"Maybe they're secretly dating and they just haven't told us yet."

I hear a door close in the lobby, so I run up the stairs as fast as I can, back to Shawn. He's still sleeping, so I just slide in the covers again and pretend to be asleep.

Shawn shuffles a little bit, groaning. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him.

"Where'd you go?" he whispers in my ear.

"I heard the guys talking about us downstairs." I say. I flip over so I was facing him, his warm breath washing over my face as he exhales. He frowns.

"Oh?" he questions.

"Yeah." I mumble.

"What'd they say about us?"

"They think we're dating." I say, looking him in the eyes. As dark as it was in the room, the nightlight from the bathroom and the hallway light from underneath the door was just enough to illuminate the room so I could see Shawn and the gentle smile slowly spreading across his face.

He pauses for a second, examining my face.

"Is that really such a bad thing?" he asks.

"Maybe not, Mendes. Maybe not." I whisper.

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Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading. Don't forget to vote and comment and share to all your buds. Every single comment and vote means a ton to me ❤️

Also, as I'm pretty sure you already know, I'm writing my second book currently. It will be published soon, so get excited for that! Ily guys! 😊❤️😘

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