Free Secret in a Suitcase: His Forbidden Desire by JJ Simone

When I heard
the honk from Dad's car, I was still swimming laps. Was it 4:30
already? Time flies during summer break! I jumped out of the pool and
threw a white t-shirt over my still-wet bikini. I had spent all
afternoon swimming with friends, talking about how excited we were to
start college in a week. Excited to live on our own, to go to parties
and meet boys.
    “Guess who dropped by for a surprise visit?” Dad asked as
I climbed into the passenger seat.
    I wrinkled my nose, trying to think who could possibly have come to
visit. One of my various aunts and uncles? Grandparents? Old friends?
Huh. I couldn't even guess. Unless – but it couldn't be, I
hadn't seen him in years …
    “I don't know,” I said.
    “Brock from next door!” Dad replied happily. “He
wanted to see you off to college! Isn't that nice?”
    “Brock!! Brock is in town?!” I practically screamed.
    I was so excited! Brock was my next door neighbor that I grew up
with. He was four years older than me, so I always kinda tagged along
for whatever trouble he was getting into. But I always felt safe with
Brock around, and he never let anyone make fun of me. Even when it
wasn't “cool” to have a younger friend – let alone
a girl – he still treated me with respect. And my
parents loved Brock, too – his first job was as an apprentice
in my Dad's woodworking shop! His home life was kinda crazy, so he
was always over at our house. My parents really fell in love with
Brock.
    But then Brock went to college four years ago. And since he went to
school on the other side of the country, I hardly ever saw him.
Between his schoolwork, job, and his band always being on tour, he
only got to visit once before … and even then, it was his
freshman year. After that, his parents divorced and moved away, and I
didn't think I'd ever see him again.
    I couldn't wait. I was excited just to actually see him in
person. It felt weird to not have Brock around the last four years –
it felt like I grew up into a woman without him even around to see
me. I wondered if he'd even like to be around me, or if it'd be weird
now?
    Dad pulled up into the driveway, and I sprinted out of the car and
barged through the front door. There was Brock, on the living room
couch. Wow, I hadn't seen him in so long! He looked like a man now. I ran up to him and gave him a huge hug.
    “Jules! I missed you,” he said.
    “Aw, Brock!” I squeezed him tight, pressing my face
against his big, manly chest. His smell filled my nostrils,
triggering a flash of memories of running around, playing outdoors
with my best friend.
    “Jules,” he said, “you're soaked !”
Brock pulled back with a funny expression and tried to brush the
water off of his clothes. Poor guy! I hadn't even bothered to towel
off, and now he was all wet. He stared me over, probably studying how
different I looked.
    Mom looked at me with eyebrows raised. “Did you even bother to
towel yourself off, Julie?” she asked. “Brock doesn't
need to see that. Go upstairs and change!” she commanded.
    I laughed and giddily ran upstairs. After a quick shower, I threw on
a cute little romper and ran back downstairs to be with Brock and our
parents. We talked for hours until it was late, when Brock mentioned
that he was going out to see his friend's band play. He went into his
room to change.
    After a while, Brock still hadn't come out of the guest room, so I
went to find him. I opened his door without knocking, which must have
frightened him – he was writing in a small black book, and he
scrambled to shut it and then sat on top of it.
    “Whatcha writin', Brockie?” I asked, and playfully sat
next to him.
    “Nothing, just my journal. Stay out of it, okay? It's private.”
    “Aw, you keep a diary!” I teased.
    “Oh, shutup, willya?” He started to tickle me and I
screamed, fighting back. I hate being tickled, always have!
    “Leave me alone!” I yelled and ran for the door. At the
doorway, I turned and posed, dramatically