Chapter 8
Jonas
“Mrs. Kennedy, this is seriously the best baked mac and cheese I’ve tasted in my entire life.
” Marcus, seated to my left, set his plate on the dining room table after Bronwyn had scooped more onto it for him.
“Thank you.” Her baked mac and cheese was award-winning.
Literally. She’d won ribbons at the fair several years with this recipe.
“Oh, you know how to flatter a lady, don’t you?
Go right for her cooking skills. Works like a charm every time.
” Bronwyn playfully shook the spoon in his direction.
Marcus winked at her, and the apples of her cheeks reddened into a rosy shade of pink.
“And please, call me Bronwyn.” To my right, Phoenix stabbed at his salad plate with his fork and took a rough bite, chewing it aggressively.
Bronwyn walked around the table to her seat and held up the serving spoon. “Would anyone else like more while I’ve got this? How about you, Jonas? You only took the tiniest of scoops, and you’ve left three-quarters of it on your plate. Are you feeling okay?”
Do not blush. Do not look at Phoenix. Do not react.
There went the pink across my cheeks and down my neck anyway.
Damn it. I snuck a glance to my right, and Phoenix was looking very smug suddenly.
Clearly, my subterfuge was not very subtle, at least not to him.
After we’d gotten back from hiking, I’d jumped into the shower to clean up, and was now eating a light lunch in case there was to be a repeat of this morning’s sunrise activities.
I reached over and squeezed his knee under the table.
His leg shot out—a literal knee-jerk reaction—and banged against one of the support beams on the underside of the table.
He cursed under his breath and shot me a heated glare, which morphed into more of a heated smirk when he reached his left hand over and cupped my dick in his palm, over my shorts.
“Jonas?” Bronwyn prompted me again.
Phoenix squeezed me gently but firmly, rendering me breathless. “No,” I squeaked out. “I mean, yes. I’m feeling okay. And no thank you. I don’t have much of an appetite this”—Phoenix rubbed down along my balls, and my voice cracked on the next word—“afternoon, is all.”
Her face scrunched up in concern. “Are you sure you’re okay, dear?”
In my peripheral vision, I saw Marcus look over in my direction and do a double-take.
He coughed once and held his plate up. “I’ll actually take a tad more, Bronwyn, if you don’t mind.
I just can’t get enough of your home cooking.
No offense to my mom, but the kind from the box just isn’t the same. ” Bronwyn chuckled good-naturedly.
I poked Phoenix in the hand with one finger, trying to get him to move before his mom caught a glance of him copping a feel, but he just pressed down more firmly, refusing to budge.
I could grab my napkin and drape it over my lap, but that might look even more obvious if she spotted an arm extending from it.
Just as she made it back to this side, I scooted my chair in another inch or two and hoped for the best. My muscles remained tense until she returned to her seat and sat down again. I let out a quiet exhale and relaxed.
Everyone scarfed down the rest of their lunch. Amberly and James excused themselves to put Maddie down for a nap.
“Brooklynn,” Amberly stopped by her chair and spoke in a low voice. “Is it okay if we stick the Pack ’n Play in your room for Maddie to nap? James and I are going to watch a movie in our room and don’t want to disrupt her.”
Brooklynn gave her sister a sly look and winked at her.
“Sure, sis. You do that.” With a quick thanks, they rushed off, probably so that Bronwyn or Garrett wouldn’t catch on to the quiet conversation that had just taken place.
They were busy picking up dishes and carting them to the kitchen to clean up.
“I actually was planning on taking a nap myself,” Brooklynn said. She set her elbow on the table and propped her chin on it, fluttering her eyelashes at Phoenix and me. “I don’t want to sleep on the couch. Can I chill in y’all’s room for a while?”
“Of course,” I said while Phoenix said, “Absolutely not.” He and I looked at each other. I gestured like, Hey, this is your sister and my best friend, while he just blinked silently and gave a subtle shake of his head.
“It’s fine, Brooklynn,” I reiterated. “I need to ask Marcus some hiking questions for my article anyway, and we can do that in the family room. No biggie.” Phoenix slowly withdrew his hand and, not gonna lie, that paired with the hardness that had just settled into his jaw stung a bit.
She reached across and ruffled my hair as she stood, then grabbed her and Marcus’s dirty dishes.
“Thanks, boo.” She glanced down at Marcus and smiled.
“Would you mind terribly helping me in the kitchen for a few minutes before you and Jonas get to it? My dad won’t say anything, of course, but I can tell his back is bothering him after our hike, and my mom dirtied probably every dish in the house preparing lunch and could use a little help. ”
Marcus stood and hovered near the table. “Oh, of course, unless, Phoenix, you wanted to—”
“Thanks, man,” Phoenix interrupted. “I need to borrow Jonas for a little while anyway, so that works perfectly.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me to my feet. “Appreciate the assist and all.” It seemed like he was still speaking to Marcus, but he looked at Brooklynn when he said it.
“Ah, okay,” I said. “I guess I’ll talk through my questions with you in a bit then, if that’s okay?” I glanced at Marcus with my brows raised. He nodded, looking like he realized he’d somehow been duped but didn’t exactly know how or why. He followed Brooklynn into the kitchen.
Phoenix stood there holding my hand and looking around like he was trying to make a decision. “This way,” he said.
We made a beeline through the side hallway and toward the garage, which seemed odd. “Where are we going? Do you have some secret Narnia entrance in your garage that I’ve never known about?”
“Nope.” He stopped in front of the entrance to the garage with his hand on the door and looked over at me. “Even better.” He twisted the doorknob, and we stepped inside…the garage, of course.
A small amount of light filtered in through the rectangular windows within the garage doors. The space held three cars, and the first bay was occupied by Garrett’s sleek, black SUV. I looked around, brows furrowed and mouth slightly open. “Are we going on a little joy ride?”
“Something like that.”
But we kept going past the second bay and into the third, smaller bay that was used mainly for sparse storage.
I had not been out here all that much over the years, not having had a reason to.
There was a grill and a few old plastic deck chairs, an old cornhole set, some Christmas decorations, and a few random plastic storage bins. The space was clear otherwise.
Skipping the fluorescent overhead lights, he pulled the chain near an empty workbench, and the single, dim bulb above it switched on. It was bright enough to see without being overbearing.
Phoenix made a quick sweep of the space, then walked me over a few feet with his arms on my biceps and stopped at the end of a workbench. “Stand here, but watch out for Frosty,” he ordered. To my left and his right was a snowman with a top hat and carrot nose.
I chuckled and shook my head. “We just went from lunch, to groping, to stealthily weaving through a dark garage full of Christmas decorations. What’s next? A lap dance from Santa?”
Phoenix leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips. “We’re moving on to dick-sucking next. Totally natural progression.” He jutted his chin toward the door when I looked up. “How long you think we have until Marcus gets nosy and wonders where we are?”
A whoosh of breath rushed from my lungs.
“Come on, don’t be rude. Besides, it seems Brooklynn is temporarily on Marcus duty.
” I liked Marcus; he was a nice guy. But I’d still have to thank her later because I would take all the alone time with Phoenix I could get.
And that thought made me realize that she was likely not in the dark about what was going on between us.
Phoenix’s eyes smoldered as he stepped into me and pressed gently on my shoulders, indicating his wishes. I dropped faster than small-town gossip, wincing a little as my knees landed on the concrete, but declining when he asked if I wanted to put something under them.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m good.” I pulled his sweatpants and boxer briefs down, and once he stepped out of them, immediately took him into my mouth, gagging when he entered my throat.
“Fuck. Okay. Yeah, you’re good at this all right.” His legs spread as he widened his stance a little.
A devilish smile met my wide eyes as he yanked his T-shirt over his head with one hand and tossed it aside. “Put your hands behind your back.”
I clasped them behind me and pulled off his dick. “Can I—” I hesitated. My brain was frantically trying to keep up with where we were headed, but we were traveling at the speed of light now.
He stroked my cheek. “What, Jonas? You can ask me anything. Tell me what you need.”
My heart thumped so hard it felt like it was knocking around in my chest, ricocheting off my ribcage.
“Can I,” I gestured toward my clothing, “take these off?” At his nod, I stood and stripped while he leaned against the workbench and watched me with a keen eye.
“This would go a lot faster if you helped,” I teased, pulling my T-shirt over my head.
Of course, I had to use two hands, no doubt looking nowhere near as sexy as him.
He lifted one sculpted shoulder in a shrug. “Then I’d miss the view.”
I tossed the shirt aside with the rest of our discarded clothing and returned to my previous position—on my knees, hands behind me. “And did you enjoy the view?”