Chapter 30
THIRTY
I’m too warm.
There’s a thumb tracing the seam of my lips, stroking the soft skin rhythmically, and when I shift, the arm around my waist tightens.
I open my eyes to find Harley staring at me in the darkness, the blue of his eyes barely visible in the shadows.
Ash’s breathing is deep and steady on my neck, so I know he’s asleep, and Blaise’s gentle snores are still the only noise in the room.
Harley moves to brush his fingers over my cheek and my heart does a little dance in my chest. I want to know what time it is but I don’t want to speak or move in case we wake the others. This little moment is just for us.
His eyebrows do that thing where he’s asking me a question. I’m not entirely fluent in the language yet, but I nod. Whatever he wants right now, I’m ready to give him.
His lips pull into a slow, lascivious smirk and then he presses a finger to them, telling me to stay silent. I nod, just a little, so Ash doesn’t wake up, before he shifts forward to cup my face in his hands and he kisses me.
It starts out sweet, all light touches and gentle sweeps of his tongue on mine, but he’s been hungry for me for a long time and I’ve been starving for him longer.
He pushes and pushes until he’s pressed up against me, pressing me back into his sleeping cousin, and I’m shaking.
I hold his wrists just so I have an anchor because I’m drunk on his mouth and rapidly forgetting that we’re supposed to be quiet.
His thumbs stroke my cheeks reverently even as his mouth is a hot, demanding brand on my own.
“Avery is going to fucking murder you,” whispers Ash, and I startle away from Harley’s lips.
Oh God.
I know they said they were going to share me but I don’t know if this was what they were intending.
I’m tangled in Ash’s limbs and making out with Harley like his lips are an oxygen tank and I’m fucking drowning.
My entire body flushes scarlet and I squirm with shame.
Harley leans forward and breathes, “Shh…” onto my lips as he kisses me again.
I wiggle to pull away from him but then Ash’s lips graze my neck and his arm across my waist tightens to keep me where I am.
Harley swallows my sigh and Ash grins against my skin before sucking and biting the soft curve where my neck meets my shoulder.
As he pulls my shirt collar to find more skin he mumbles, “I’m blaming you if she catches us. ”
Harley only pulls away from me long enough to whisper back, “Fucking worth it,” and then he’s sucking my bottom lip into his mouth and dragging his hands down my throat possessively.
It’s a move that would send me spiraling if any other person were to do it, but with Harley it sets my blood on fire and I start to squirm all over again.
Ash grunts and plants a hand on my hip to stop my movement and Harley pulls away again, panting.
“Fuck. I’m going to be late for training. I was supposed to be at the pool ten minutes ago,” he says, scowling and staring at my lips. I lick them without thinking and he groans.
“That sound had better be an oh-I-hate-waking-up sort of sound and not a my-dick-is-so-hard kind of sound, Harley éibhear Arbour,” Avery snaps.
I am mortified.
The two idiots in my bed are not.
Harley rolls out and when Avery screeches and throws a pillow at him, he stalks to the bathroom laughing. “I can’t help having morning wood, Aves. Better get used to it because me and my blue balls will be here all week.”
Avery levels Ash with a vicious glare and his face shifts into an innocent mask. I snort at his attempt to placate her.
“Don’t you dare get out of that bed until you have your dick under control or I will cut it the fuck off. I know how, Lips taught me,” she hisses, and then throws herself out of bed and stomps to the coffee machine.
“Good morning, my beloved sister, I hope you’ve slept well. I’d love a coffee, thank you for asking.”
Avery starts slamming cups onto the counter and cursing us all out.
I choose to plead the fifth and keep my mouth shut.
Harley emerges from the bathroom dressed in his sports gear and kisses Avery’s cheek with a grin.
She cusses him out too but hands him one of her reusable cups to take down to the pool.
He ducks back to the bed and pecks me on the cheek too, sending me one final wink before he’s out the door.
“What time is it and why the fuck are we awake? It’s the weekend, for fuck’s sake,” Blaise grumbles.
“How is your dick this morning, Morrison?” Avery asks as she stomps into the bathroom and slams the door.
Blaise blinks and then turns to face us. “It’s too fucking early for this shit.”
He rolls off the couch and stumbles over to my bed, slipping into the side Harley just climbed out of.
“Getting in here is just going to piss her off more,” I say, but I’m secretly swooning.
Ash scoffs at me and kisses my neck again before untangling his limbs from mine and sliding out of the bed.
He starts rummaging through Avery’s drawers and grabs a pair of his jeans to pull on.
It must be nice to have so many clothes you can just leave them everywhere, just in case you need them. Sigh. Rich kids.
“I’ll walk her to ballet and then we can all meet for a late breakfast in the dining hall. Morrison, you have one hour. Use it wisely.”
Blaise is already snoring.
I laugh at him and stretch out like a cat in the sun. I’m content. I’m nervous as fuck about… dating, I guess… three guys, the three hottest guys at Hannaford, but I’m still so happy I could scream.
I get up and drink my coffee, even though it’s on the colder side.
Avery squeezes my hand as she passes with a little grin, which I return.
I know she’s being a tyrant about the guys so they take things slow with me.
She may be the master manipulator but I’m getting pretty good at spotting her work.
Blaise is still asleep when I’m out of the shower and ready to eat. If I were bold I’d go climb on top of him and wake him with a kiss. Or more.
I’m still pathetically nervous about this.
So I stomp around the room like a herd of elephants, only to find that Blaise could sleep through the apocalypse if need be. Great. I send a message to the group chat to confirm the time we’re heading down and he doesn’t wake for his phone either. Fuck’s sake!
I pull my big girl panties on and give him a little shake. He moans obscenely and I blush. He’s made that noise for me before but I was sucking on his tongue at the time.
“If you want to join us all for breakfast you need to get up now.”
He cracks one eye open and squints at me. His voice is rough and delicious. “Why can’t we eat here? In four hours like normal people?”
“I want French toast. Avery will have fruit and yogurt, Ash will get pancakes, and you and Harley will have mountains of scrambled eggs and bacon. I’m not cooking four different breakfasts and Avery will stab you if you ask her to. Come on, we only have a week left of catered breakfasts.”
He pushes himself up and I have to squash the urge to run my hands through his hair. His arms flex invitingly as he leans back to look at me. He grins and jerks his head at me.
“Get over here. I want a good morning kiss, then I’ll get up.”
I scoff at him and arch an eyebrow but his grin just gets wider. I lean down to give him a quick peck on the cheek and he snaps his hands out to jerk me into his lap. I’m not at all proud of the squeal that comes out of me but I manage to tamp down my reflexes so I don’t punch him in the throat.
I should probably warn them all about that.
“A proper kiss, Mounty, don’t cheat me.”
We’re going to be late for breakfast.
Blaise tucks me under his arm as we walk down to the dining hall and I decide I’m never going to get used to being this close to him.
He didn’t shower, just threw a pair of jeans on like Ash did, and yet he smells incredible.
I kind of thought guys were supposed to be dirty and smelly, but these three, my three , are obviously the unicorns of the species. Lucky freaking me. No, seriously.
We find Avery and Ash waiting outside the dining hall for us and when we slip into the line, Harley texts to say he’s on his way.
Ash grabs food for Avery, Harley, and himself, and Blaise organizes ours.
Again, it’s something I’ve seen them do for each other a hundred times and finding myself included is still jarring but in the best way.
Avery scares the shit out of some freshmen sitting in our usual seats and we sit. By the time we have the plates set out Harley arrives, his hair dripping and his eyes a little red from all the chlorine.
“How are the blue balls?” Avery asks sweetly.
I groan, burying my face in my hands.
Harley gives her a haughty look. “I’ll worry about my own balls thanks, Floss.”
I abandon my French toast and grab my apple. Ash’s eyes narrow at me and he pushes the plate back in front of me. Great. More food police.
“Well, my balls aren’t blue. Harley will just have to learn to jerk off a bit more often,” Blaise drawls, and Ash snorts at him.
Avery’s eyes reach subzero temperatures. “Not in my shower he won’t. Keep those activities in your room.”
Blaise grins and hands me his iPod. I have a mouthful so I nod in thanks and scroll through the playlist. He’s titled it ‘Starlight, Starbright’, the cheeky asshole, and I kinda wanna throat punch him.
He laughs at the face I pull and says to Avery, “It’s fine, we’ll just tempt Lips into our room for the rest of the week. ”
Lord have mercy on my fucking soul.
I tense and Harley, who’s watching me carefully, kicks Blaise in the shin so hard his chair scrapes back. Blaise grunts and curses Harley with such vehemence that the students around us take notice. Ash joins Harley to glare at him.