17. Lennox
17
LENNOX
“I need to talk to him. Alone. Give me a second,” I tell Jensen, jumping off the couch and rushing after Nick. I reach his car door, grabbing hold of the window trim. “Please, can we talk?” I am 100% aware I’m standing outside in only a T-shirt and it’s cold as hell, but I can’t let him leave like this. I pull on the hem of the shirt before pleading again. “Please.”
Nick scrubs his hands down his face, but complies, climbing out of his car. “I can’t fucking believe this,” he seethes as he paces back and forth in front of me.
“We wanted to tell you. Hell, he was the one who kept saying we should let you know.”
“You know, you’ve always been one to pick the absolute worst men, but this is the icing on the cake. Picking a man who’s only ever been with women? It’s like you’re trying to get hurt.”
“He’s your best friend. Do you really think he’s going to hurt me?”
“Exactly!” Nick screams, stepping farther away from me. “He’s my fucking best friend, and the two of you decided to act like immature little brats and keep this a secret from me. If there was nothing wrong with what you’re doing, then why hide it? Why not tell me what was going on?”
“Be-because I knew this is how you would react.”
“Bull fucking shit, Lennox! Of all the people in the whole damn world, why Jensen? All you do is fuck up your relationships or pick the shittiest men. Why go after him?”
The tears are flowing freely down my face, and I can’t get them to stop. I knew Nick might be angry, but I never imagined it would be this bad. And I guess I didn’t realize how little he actually thought of me. “I fell in love,” I whisper, dropping my head to my chest.
Nick laughs, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. “I don’t believe this shit. Get out of my way, Lennox.”
“Let him go, Lennox.” Jensen’s deep voice cuts in, and both Nick and I look in his direction. He and Nick stare at one another, a filter of emotions covering both of their faces. Shock, anger, betrayal.
“Okay,” I say quietly, retreating from the car and heading toward Jensen. I keep facing forward until I hear the slam of his door and the squeal of the brakes as he races out of the driveway. “I’m s-s-sorry,” I hiccup, trying to brush away the tears that won’t stop falling.
“Hey, hey,” Jensen coos, coming to stand next to me. “It’ll be okay. I promise. He’s just upset.”
“He’s livid, Jensen. This level of anger from Nick is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and trust me, I’ve seen him plenty angry. I don’t know what to do.” I fall forward, instantly feeling the safety of Jensen’s arms around me.
“I know he’s upset, but he’ll get over it. He only wants what’s best for you.” With soft lips, he kisses my forehead, then reaches down, placing his hands under my ass. He lifts me into the air, my legs instinctively encircling him. I place my arms around his neck, holding on securely as he walks us toward his house. I snuggle close to his neck, my sobs slowing down. His touch continues rubbing up and down my back, reassuring me he’s here for me.
He places me down carefully on his bed before blanketing my body with his. “Are you okay?” he asks, one hand coming up to rub my cheeks. “I’m so damn sorry, Lennox. What he said and how he acted…” He blows out a breath, shaking his head. “That wasn’t my best friend. And you know that wasn’t Nick. Once he gets home and really thinks about it, he’ll realize how badly he reacted.”
“And if he doesn’t?” I ask, knowing I’ll never make Jensen choose between me and Nick.
“We’ll figure it out. I promise. Give him some time to come around. He’s never been able to stay angry at either of us for long.”
“Yeah, but he’s also never been mad at us at the same time for the same thing, sooo.”
“Everything will be okay. Trust me.”
“Okay,” I say, sitting up to place a kiss on his lips. The problem is that I’ve trusted a lot of men in the past. They always said exactly what I wanted to hear. Well, when they weren’t belittling me, anyway. But Jensen is different. When he tells me to trust him, I believe him. I want to have faith that he knows things will be all right. That I won’t lose both my boyfriend and my brother.
“What’s the smile for?” he inquires, kissing my neck.
“Huh? A smile?” I ask, turning my head to give him more access. He kisses my pulse point and my leg twitches. I giggle loudly as he does it again, moving from left to right, nuzzling my throat. “I was just thinking about something, and I guess it made me grin.”
“And what were you thinking about?”
“Are you my boyfriend? I mean, you don’t have to say yes. I just assumed because I haven’t been seeing anyone else and I don’t think you are either. Shit, are you with someone else? God, I hope you’re not ’cause then it’d be really bad if I was calling you my boyfriend.”
Jensen places his finger on my lips, silencing me. “Shh. I haven’t been with anyone else. You know that. I already called you mine and told you I loved you, but I guess you need the label. So, yes, you are my boyfriend Lennox. And all of this with Nick, we’ll figure it out. Together.”
“Together,” I echo, snatching him around the neck and pulling his lips to mine. We spend the next hour tumbling in his bed, getting lost in one another. There’s nothing I can do about Nick right this second, so for now, I let it go.
“You don’t have to stay and watch,” I tell Jensen, as we close the doors to his car. It’s raining out tonight, so we decided against riding on the bike. We’ve spent the whole day lying in bed, taking breaks to watch a movie and eat and, of course, make out. When he offered to take me to work, I didn’t say no, knowing that I’d be wanting to come back to his place right after, anyway. Both of us have sent numerous texts to Nick, and I’ve called him a few times, but he’s ignored every attempt we’ve made to talk to him. I know it’s only been a few hours since he stormed off from us, but I thought he would have come back right away, realizing he was wrong. But he hasn’t and I’m trying not to think too much about how badly I’ve hurt him.
“I want to see you dance. I need you to go up on that stage and get all those men so riled up that they fantasize about fucking you, but I’ll be sitting in the back knowing none of them will get their hands on you. You’re mine. And I don’t know why that turns me on so damn much, but it does.”
“Fuck, you’re pretty kinky, you know that?” I tell him, putting my backpack over my shoulder and guiding him toward the employee entrance. Peaches has been open for a few hours now, but my shift doesn’t start for another twenty minutes. Jensen holds the door for me as we walk into the back of the club.
“I’m pretty fucking feral when it comes to you. I’m not a jealous man, but I love the idea of watching you from afar. Seeing you turn all these men on, but knowing you will come home to my bed. You’re going to let me put my hands and tongue in places those other men can only dream of.” He pushes me up against the wall, blocking me in with his thick arms. “And then once I have you in my grasp, I’m going to turn you into a whimpering mess, begging and pleading for my cock like the good fucking boy you are.”
“Fucking hell, Jensen,” I whisper, closing my eyes and grabbing hold of his waist. I pull his body closer to mine, grinding against his erection that’s digging into me. “Now I’m going to be a horny mess as I get onto the stage. My dick will be rock hard. Do you know how challenging it is to dance with a hard-on?” I whine, turning my head when Jensen starts placing kisses along my throat.
“I want you to think of me when you’re on that stage. Think of how fucking good it’ll feel to have my fingers inside you at the end of the night. Can you do that, sweetheart? Show me how badly you want me from up there.”
“I can do that.” He kisses me for a few more seconds before we’re interrupted by a loud cough. I turn my head to see Jonas staring at us. “Hi.” I wave happily, smiling when he rolls his eyes.
“I thought someone was breaking into the club. But then it dawned on me there’s no way two intruders trying to rob the place would stop midway into the hallway to make out.” He raises his eyebrows at me, and I can’t help but giggle.
“It’s not my fault my boyfriend couldn’t keep his paws off me.”
Jonas steps forward, offering his hand out to Jensen. “Nice to meet you, man. I see you’ve got your hands full with this one.”
“Don’t I know it?” Jensen replies, shaking Jonas’ hand and giving me a soft smile. “Keeps me on my toes. I’m Jensen.”
“Jonas. I’m going to go check out the rest of the building, but it was nice to meet you.”
Jonas takes off down the darkened hallway back toward the bar. Once his broad back is out of sight, I direct my attention to Jensen. “Are you sure you’re okay? With everything that happened earlier?”
“Sweetheart, I promise I’m all right. Are you?” I nod my head sullenly, trying to muster up a small smile. “Don’t think about Nick right now. Just picture going out onstage and showing all those people out there your dance moves. We’ll worry about Nick another day.”
“Okay.” Standing up on my tiptoes, I plant a kiss on his cheek. “Walk me to the dressing room?”
I take hold of Jensen’s hand, walking toward the room. There’s a chorus of laughter echoing around the corner and we end up at the door at the same time as Declan, Preston, Tristan, Bash, and Cole.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Declan asks, smirking at Jensen and me.
“Damn, he’s hot. Look at those muscles,” Bash pipes in, twirling his lollipop in his mouth seductively.
“Oh no. Nope. Back off. All of you,” I play-hiss, staring at them all with wide eyes. “He’s mine.”
“Bringing the boyfriend to the club. That’s a big step,” Tristan says, eyeing Jensen skeptically. I don’t blame him after the list of my horrible exes. Which means I need to bring Jensen around more, so my friends get to know him better.
Cole’s eyes bounce from me to Jensen, to the rest of the group, obviously confused. “I might have bad luck with men,” I tell him, shrugging my shoulders with a smile.
“Might have?” Declan pops up, rolling his eyes.
“Okay, so I did. Whatever. Sue me. It’s different this time.”
Jensen slides his arms around me, pulling me close to him. “I like your friends, sweetheart.”
Bash pops the lollipop out of his mouth and places his hand against his heart. “Aw, sweetheart,” he coos, puckering his lips.
“All right, all right, let’s go get ready,” Tristan says, ushering Bash into the room.
“Has anyone seen Jonas? I only headed down this way to get his help. There’s this heavy-ass box downstairs that I need to be brought up. I’m not even going to try to lift that thing,” Preston asks as everyone else starts walking into the room.
“Yeah, we just saw him head down that way.” I point in the direction that Jonas took off in, and Preston waves bye before taking off, too.
“All right, I’m going to head out and find a spot while you get ready. Don’t forget about what I said. Dance your heart out. Put on a show for me.” Jensen kisses my cheek, chuckling when there are whoops and hollers from the guys. He turns and walks away as I make my way into the dressing room.
“Holy shit, Lennox. That man was fine with a capital F,” Bash gushes as he stares at himself in the mirror. He does a little twirl, flipping his skirt up before speaking again. “Where did you meet him? Does he have a brother? Hell, does he have a twin? That would be hot as fuck.”
“No, no brother or twin. Sorry. And uh—he’s actually my brother’s best friend.”
“Hold up,” Tristan cuts in, turning around in his seat to face me. “Your brother’s best friend? Damn, that’s drama.” The morning flashes through my mind, and I wince, thinking about how right he is.
“Yeah, it hasn’t gone so well.”
“What?” Declan says, rushing to my side. He grabs hold of my hand, squeezing it tightly. “What happened? I thought you weren’t going to let him know.”
“We didn’t mean to. Well, actually, we talked about telling him and we decided it was time to come clean. But before we got the fucking chance to tell him, he walked in on us.”
Bash gasps, while Tristan and Declan both mutter, “Fuck.”
“Luckily, I wasn’t completely naked, but it was still me in a pair of panties riding the hell out of Jensen’s lap. So, not only was he betrayed, he saw it with his own damn eyes. Yelled at the both of us. Said some really fucking hurtful things, and then he stormed out. We’ve both tried texting and calling him, but he’s ignoring us.”
“And how was Jensen when this all happened?” Declan asks, his hand in mine comforting.
“He’s been beyond amazing. Of course, he heard every single word Nick said. But he didn’t react. At least not negatively. He backed me up and stood by me as Nick freaked out. Then we both watched him walk away. Instead of chasing after him, Jensen stayed back with me to make sure I was okay.”
“Wow. And he’s here to watch you? Not sit and watch and ensure you’re not talking to any men, but here to see you dance. Just enjoy you?”
“Wild, huh?” I smile, shaking my head. “He’s the one who asked to come watch and get this…” I push at his shoulder, chuckling loudly. “He told me to make sure I turn the other guys on. Get them all hot and bothered and then go home tonight to him and get it all out of my system.”
“First, I want to say that I’m really fucking thankful to Jensen right now. The fact he stood by you while Nick freaked out. Also, that he’s here supporting your dancing and isn’t trying to get you to quit or belittle you for wanting to dance. I love that for you, Lennox. I really do. And second, I fucking told you how hot it is after a night of working to go home and fuck it out!” he yells the last part excitedly, and I shush him, trying to get him to lower his voice.
“We uh—we still haven’t done that yet,” I admit, my cheeks warming from my admission. It’s dumb to feel embarrassed, but I’m proud of waiting and not settling for the first guy who wanted in my pants. But I always find myself the odd one out when it comes to the guys and their conquests.
“And third, that right there is all I needed to know. The fact you’ve been seeing him for a month, and you haven’t once brought up that he’s trying to pressure you and is supporting your decisions. I truly think he might be the right one for you.”
“I agree,” I reply, giddy. “He’s different from the rest, Declan.”
“You know what this means, right?” Bash cuts in, sticking his head between Declan and me. “Game night!”
“What’s game night?” Cole asks, tying up the laces on his shoes.
“Oh, you’re going to love it. We take turns holding it at each of our places, but it’s just a fun night of hanging out, playing games, and sometimes drinking,” Bash tells him, vibrating with excitement. Bash is always the life of the party, plus he loves to play board games and kicks our ass any chance he gets.
“Fine. This Saturday. Game night at Lennox’s.”