Off Limits

You push open the front door and drag your duffel bag inside behind you. You’re only home from college for the weekend, but after the drive back, even two nights in your own room sounds pretty good. The house is quieter than you expected when you drop your bag beside the stairs. Your dad’s car wasn’t in the driveway, so you already figured he wasn’t home, but another car was. Kelly’s.

You pull out your phone and find a text from your dad waiting for you.

Running errands. Be back later. Kelly’s home. Make yourself comfortable.

You shake your head. Of course he waits until you actually get here to mention that part. It isn’t like being around Kelly is unusual. She’s lived here long enough that you’re used to seeing her when you come home, and you actually saw her a few weeks ago. Still, there is something different about walking into the house knowing your dad is gone and Kelly is here by herself.

Before you can head upstairs, you hear the refrigerator open somewhere down the hall. A bottle knocks against something, followed by the sound of a drawer sliding shut. Then you catch the faint smell of whatever Kelly has apparently been making in the kitchen. Between the drive and not eating much since earlier, you’re hungry enough that the kitchen immediately wins over unpacking. You start down the hallway, hearing Kelly moving around before you actually see her.

When you round the corner, you find Kelly halfway inside the refrigerator. She apparently hasn’t heard you come in yet. She’s bent forward, one hand braced against the open door while she digs through one of the lower shelves.

Kelly is wearing a light cream-colored tank top and a pair of faded denim booty shorts. The tank fits closely around her waist and hugs her curvy figure, while its low neckline leaves plenty of cleavage visible even from behind her shoulder. The denim shorts fit even tighter around her hips and backside, their frayed hems ending high on her thighs. Bent over like she is, the shorts ride up just enough for the lower curves of her ass to peek beneath the denim.

You stop in the doorway for a moment before she notices you. You saw Kelly only a few weeks ago, so there shouldn’t be anything surprising about seeing her again. Somehow, that doesn’t make it any easier to pull your eyes away. Maybe part of it is just that you’re pent up and horny. You haven’t exactly been getting much play at school lately, so having a woman who looks like Kelly standing in front of you dressed like that is probably hitting harder than usual. Then again, Kelly has always looked sexy to you. It was one of the first things you noticed about her when you met her a few months ago, even if you knew better than to say it out loud. Maybe it’s the outfit. Maybe it’s the fact that you’re twenty-one now and increasingly aware that the way you notice Kelly isn’t quite the same as it used to be. Whatever the reason, you have just enough time to realize you’re staring before she finally straightens.

Kelly is your dad’s girlfriend. You first met her a few months ago, and sometime between then and now, things between them got serious enough that she moved in with him. You haven’t spent enough time around her for having her here to feel completely normal yet, especially when you’re coming back from college.

It probably doesn’t help that you’ve thought she was hot as hell from the first time you met her. Kelly is curvy in all the ways that immediately caught your attention—a full chest, a big ass, and the kind of figure your eyes naturally want to follow when she walks past. You’ve always tried not to make it obvious, considering she’s your dad’s girlfriend, but that hasn’t stopped you from noticing. If anything, living away at school has made it easier to forget about the attraction until you come home and see her again.

Kelly finds whatever she was searching for and stands with a bottle in her hand. When she turns and spots you in the doorway, she jumps slightly before immediately smiling.

“Jesus, how long have you been standing there?” Kelly asks.

“Long enough to see you lose a fight with the refrigerator,” you reply.

“I was looking for something,” Kelly says.

“Clearly,” you reply.

Kelly pushes the refrigerator mostly closed with her hip and turns completely toward you. Your eyes immediately threaten to betray you again. The pale tank top contrasts against her skin and fits snugly across her full chest before narrowing around her waist. You let yourself look for a second before bringing your attention back to her face.

Kelly notices.

There’s a tiny change in her expression when your eyes meet again. Not embarrassment. If anything, she seems amused by it. Then her own eyes begin traveling over you. Unlike you, Kelly makes absolutely no attempt to hide what she’s doing. She looks across your shoulders, down your chest and arms, then slowly returns to your face.

“Come here,” Kelly says.

“What?” you ask with a laugh.

Kelly sets the bottle on the counter and opens both arms.

“Don’t ‘what’ me,” Kelly says. “You come home and don’t even give me a hug?”

“I’ve been standing here for about ten seconds,” you reply.

“Ten seconds too long,” Kelly says. “Come here.”

You grin and walk toward her.

“Bossy,” you say.

“Hug me,” Kelly says.

You wrap your arms around her, expecting the usual quick hello. Instead, Kelly wraps both arms around you and squeezes, deliberately pulling herself snugly against your chest. Her softer curves press into your athletic frame, and you’re immediately aware of her chest against yours. It makes what should be an ordinary hug suddenly feel considerably less ordinary.

You keep your hands around the middle of her back, but Kelly doesn’t immediately let go. Instead, she seems to settle into the hug for another second. When she finally starts to pull away, her hands remain on your arms.

“Okay, hold on,” Kelly says.

“What?” you ask.

Kelly pulls back just enough to look at you but leaves her hands resting on your upper arms. She squeezes one of your biceps through your shirt, then does it again as if she’s testing it.

“You’ve gotten bigger,” Kelly says.

“You saw me three weeks ago,” you reply.

“I know what you looked like three weeks ago,” Kelly says. “You’ve been working out.”

“Maybe,” you reply with a grin.

“Maybe?” Kelly asks.

Kelly gives your arm another squeeze before sliding her hand toward your shoulder. Her eyes openly travel across your chest again. This time, you’re the one who catches her doing it.

“You’re checking me out pretty hard for someone who’s giving me shit,” you say.

Kelly looks back into your eyes without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

“Maybe I am,” Kelly replies.

You weren’t expecting her to admit it that easily. For a second, the two of you simply look at each other. Kelly sees the brief surprise on your face, but rather than letting you recover, her smile slowly widens.

“What’s wrong?” Kelly asks. “You can look, but I can’t?”

“I didn’t say that,” you reply.

“No, you definitely didn’t,” Kelly says.

There’s enough emphasis behind her answer that you wonder if she caught more than the glance you thought she did. Kelly holds your gaze another second before finally releasing your arm and turning toward the refrigerator again. You watch her walk the few steps back and your eyes drop again. You tell yourself it’s because she’s directly in front of you. While that’s technically true, it doesn’t explain why you’re still looking when she opens the refrigerator and bends down again.

Kelly spends another few seconds moving things around inside the refrigerator while you lean against the counter. After the drive, you realize you’re thirsty, and the bottles of water sitting on the shelf behind her look increasingly appealing. The problem is that Kelly has planted herself squarely in front of them.

“Can you grab me a water while you’re in there?” you ask.

Kelly glances over her shoulder at you, then looks directly at the bottles. She could grab one without even moving her feet. Instead, a mischievous little smile forms on her face.

“Nope,” Kelly says.

“No?” you ask.

“You have two perfectly good arms,” Kelly replies.

“You’re standing right in front of them,” you say.

“Sounds difficult,” Kelly says.

You laugh, realizing exactly what she’s doing. Ever since you walked into the kitchen, Kelly has been testing how easily she can distract you, and apparently catching you looking at her has only encouraged her. There’s something else to it now, though. She knows you’ve noticed her. You know she’s noticed you. Instead of either of you pretending otherwise, Kelly seems determined to find out just how far she can push that new awareness without either of you actually saying it aloud.

She turns back toward the refrigerator and conspicuously leaves herself directly between you and the water.

“You’re really not going to grab one?” you ask.

“Get it yourself, college boy,” Kelly replies.

“You’re blocking the entire fridge,” you say.

“Am I?” Kelly asks as she glances down at herself, then back at you with a grin.

“Yes,” you reply.

Kelly shifts her weight from one leg to the other, but instead of moving aside, she somehow manages to take up even more of the opening.

“There,” Kelly says. “Better?”

“You moved the wrong direction,” you reply.

“Oops,” Kelly says.

The smile on her face says there was absolutely nothing accidental about it. You push away from the counter and start toward her, and Kelly watches you approach without giving up an inch. Her eyes briefly travel over you again as you get closer, and something about her expression changes when she realizes you’re actually going to call her bluff.

“Last chance to move,” you say.

“Or what?” Kelly asks.

“Or I’m getting my water anyway,” you reply.

“Then get it,” Kelly says.

You stop directly in front of her. Kelly looks up at you, clearly waiting. There is enough room that she could easily step aside, but she doesn’t. The challenge is obvious now. She’s spent the last few minutes trying to get a rise out of you, and she wants to see whether you’ll actually call her bluff. At the same time, you’re starting to wonder whether getting a reaction is the only thing she wants.

“Fine,” you say.

You lean past her and reach toward the shelf. Kelly stays put until your chest brushes her shoulder. Then, rather than finally moving away, she turns toward you. The movement brings the front of her body directly against yours, her chest pressing firmly against you through the thin fabric of her tank. You can feel the warm, soft pressure of her breasts flatten slightly against your harder chest, making it impossible to pretend the contact is accidental.

Your hand stops halfway toward the water. Kelly feels it happen, and the corner of her mouth lifts. Her eyes immediately search your face, watching for the reaction she has been trying to pull out of you since you walked into the kitchen. When your gaze involuntarily drops toward where her chest is pressed against you, Kelly catches it.

For just a second, you expect her to tease you about staring. Instead, Kelly looks down too. When she sees exactly what caught your attention, she looks back up at you with a knowing little smile and subtly leans closer. The added pressure makes your breath catch just enough for her to notice. Her smile grows.

“Problem?” Kelly asks.

You bring your eyes back to hers.

“You know exactly what you’re doing,” you reply.

“Do I?” Kelly asks.

“You could’ve moved five minutes ago,” you say.

“You could’ve asked nicer,” Kelly replies.

“I did ask,” you say.

“Maybe I wanted to see how badly you wanted it,” Kelly replies.

“The water?” you ask.

Kelly’s smile grows.

“That’s what we’re talking about, isn’t it?” Kelly asks.

You shake your head, but you don’t retreat. Kelly doesn’t either. With her still between you and the refrigerator, your bodies remain pressed together and your faces are suddenly only an inch or two apart. The teasing smile stays on Kelly’s lips at first, but as neither of you backs away, it slowly fades.

Her eyes hold yours. Then they flick down to your mouth.

You notice immediately.

Kelly looks back into your eyes as if she knows you caught it, but a second later her gaze drops to your lips again. Her expression has changed completely. For the first time since you walked into the kitchen, she doesn’t look like she’s trying to make you squirm. Her lips part slightly and her eyes flicker between yours and your mouth, giving you the unmistakable impression that the thought of kissing you has crossed her mind.

For one suspended second, you wonder if she’s actually going to do it.

Neither of you moves.

“Found it?” Kelly asks quietly.

“Haven’t really had a chance,” you reply.

Kelly’s eyes drop to your mouth once more before she answers.

“Whose fault is that?” Kelly asks.

“Definitely yours,” you reply.

Kelly lets out a quiet laugh, but she still doesn’t move away. The sound breaks some of the tension without getting rid of it. Her eyes stay on yours, and when you glance down at her cleavage again, she notices immediately. This time her reaction isn’t to call you out. She looks down at the way she’s pressed against you, then slowly back up, almost as if she’s confirming exactly what has your attention.

“Caught you again,” Kelly says softly.

“You’re making it pretty difficult not to look,” you reply.

“Maybe that’s the point,” Kelly says.

That answer hangs between you. For the first time, she has stopped pretending all of this is accidental, and the realization sends a completely different energy through the moment. Kelly isn’t just tolerating you looking at her. She likes that you’re looking. More importantly, judging from the way her eyes keep returning to your mouth and the way she hasn’t moved her body away from yours, looking might not be the only thing she’s been thinking about.

You hold her gaze for another second before finally reaching around her and taking the water from the shelf. Kelly remains pressed against you until you pull your arm back, forcing you to stay close longer than necessary. Only then does she slowly slide sideways and give you room.

“There,” Kelly says. “Was that so hard?”

“You made getting a bottle of water a ten-minute process,” you reply.

“And yet you survived,” Kelly says.

You twist the cap off your water while Kelly closes the refrigerator. There’s a brief silence afterward that wasn’t there before. You take a drink, and when you lower the bottle, you find Kelly still watching you. She catches herself this time and looks toward the counter, but not quickly enough to hide it.

“Your dad’s going to be gone for a few hours, by the way,” Kelly says.

“Yeah, he texted me,” you reply.

Kelly leans back against the refrigerator. The information shouldn’t mean anything more than what she said, but after the last few minutes, you’re both suddenly aware of what it means. Nobody else is walking through that door anytime soon.

Kelly folds her arms beneath her chest again, deliberately recreating the exact pose that distracted you before. This time, she doesn’t even bother pretending it’s accidental.

Your eyes drop.

Kelly catches you.

You look back at her face without any attempt to deny it. Something about the refrigerator moment has changed the game. Earlier, you were trying not to get caught. Now Kelly clearly wants to catch you, and you’re beginning to realize you don’t particularly mind giving her what she wants.

Her eyebrow rises.

“What?” you ask.

“Nothing,” Kelly replies.

“You’re doing it again,” you say.

“Doing what?” Kelly asks.

Kelly gives her chest another deliberate squeeze between her arms and smiles when your eyes betray you once more.

“That,” you reply.

“I still have no idea what you mean,” Kelly says.

“Sure you don’t,” you say.

Kelly laughs softly, but there’s a faint flush in her face now that wasn’t there when you arrived. She holds your gaze for another second. The teasing is still there, but it isn’t one-sided anymore. You came into the kitchen thinking Kelly was just messing with you like she always does. Now you’ve caught her looking at your body, felt her deliberately press herself against you, and watched her eyes repeatedly fall to your lips when she thought you might kiss her.

Whatever is happening between the two of you, you’re not imagining it anymore.

Kelly picks up her bottle from the counter and takes a drink without taking her eyes off you.

“This weekend might actually be fun,” Kelly says.

You lean against the opposite counter and take a drink of your own.

“It’s been five minutes,” you reply.

“I know,” Kelly says.

The smile she gives you afterward makes it very clear that’s exactly her point. This time, though, you smile back, and Kelly’s eyes linger on you just a little longer than they need to.

Instead of letting the moment die there, Kelly sets her bottle back on the counter and pushes away from the refrigerator. She walks toward you slowly, watching your face the entire time. You stay against the counter, refusing to give her the satisfaction of backing up when you already know she’s trying to get another reaction out of you.

“What?” you ask.

“Nothing,” Kelly replies.

“You have that look again,” you say.

“What look?” Kelly asks.

“The one where you’re about to fuck with me,” you reply.

Kelly laughs, but she keeps coming until she stops directly in front of you. There’s barely any space between your bodies now. She looks up into your eyes for a second, then deliberately takes one final step forward and presses herself against you.

Her chest pushes into yours again, her breasts soft against you through the thin tank top. This time there isn’t a refrigerator or a bottle of water to use as an excuse. She chose to walk over here. She chose to get this close. More importantly, she knows exactly what part of her body she’s pressing against you.

Your eyes drop automatically.

Kelly immediately catches you.

“Again?” Kelly asks with a grin.

“You’re literally pressing them against me,” you reply.

“Am I?” Kelly asks.

She subtly pushes her chest against you a little more, completely destroying whatever innocence the question was supposed to have.

“Yeah,” you reply. “Pretty sure you know that.”

“Maybe,” Kelly says.

She doesn’t step away. Instead, Kelly lifts her chin slightly and brings her face closer to yours. You can smell her perfume now, and when she shifts against you, your attention threatens to drop again. She notices the struggle and seems to enjoy every second of it.

“You’re really having trouble keeping your eyes up here today,” Kelly says.

“You’ve spent the last ten minutes making that as difficult as possible,” you reply.

“Excuses,” Kelly says.

“You want me to look,” you reply.

That wipes some of the teasing smile from her face.

Kelly studies you for a moment. Her eyes drift down toward your mouth again before slowly returning to yours. She moves closer until your noses are almost touching, leaving barely an inch between your lips.

“Maybe I do,” Kelly says quietly.

This time, neither of you can pretend the moment happened by accident. Her body is pressed against yours, her face is inches away, and her eyes keep flicking between your eyes and your mouth. She looks like she’s waiting to see what you’ll do, almost daring you to finally stop playing along and make the move she’s been teasing you toward.

But that’s the problem.

You still can’t tell whether Kelly actually wants you to kiss her or whether she’s convinced you’ll chicken out and is seeing how far she can push the joke before you do.

Her eyes drop to your lips one more time.

“Well?” Kelly asks softly.