Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
L ana and Priscilla sat as if turned to stone.
“Exactly how much more did you do?”
“I had sex with him.”
Both of her sisters had entirely different reactions.
“Oh my God!” Priscilla shouted then quickly clapped her hand over her mouth.
Lana’s eyes grew wide in concern. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“Did he make you…?”
Larissa hastily shook her head at Lana. “No, I … just lost my mind …” Larissa sniffed, not wanting to break into tears again. “I don’t even know if Moon was the person I had sex with.”
“Oh my G—”
“I swear, Priscilla, if you say that again, I’m going to make you go in the other room.”
Priscilla hopped up from the foot of the bed, ran around it, and then jumped onto the empty side of the mattress, wiggling across to snuggle against Larissa’s side.
“Careful … you’ll hurt her,” Lana warned.
“Psst … Larissa has enough pain meds in her system to Riverdance.”
“It’s okay. She didn’t hurt me.” Tired, Larissa sought to stop the budding argument.
“Fine, then.” Lana threw Priscilla an exasperated glare at her gloating smile. “How do you not know who you had sex with?”
Larissa explained how she had seen the couple having sex. Then, from there, finding herself in the dark bedroom. “I didn’t know what to do when he asked me to take his boots off. He thought I was a girl named Ember.”
“I would have told him to take them off himself,” Priscilla said matter-of-factly.
“I would have left,” Lana reasoned.
“Of course, you would have. I was embarrassed by what I saw the other couple doing that I wasn’t thinking straight. I thought I could get out of there, and he would just think it was Ember.”
“Go on,” Priscilla encouraged raptly. “When did the touchy-feely stuff start?”
Larissa felt herself blushing. “I took his boots off. Then he thought I was a girl called Ember. She must live there, too. Anyway, his feet were freezing cold, so I massaged them to get them warmed. They were freezing.”
“You said all that already.”
“I bet you warmed them right up,” Priscilla joked, then had to arch her head away when Lana swung the pillow toward her.
Larissa jerked it away from her to put it behind her back then continued. “After that … I was going to leave—”
“But you didn’t.”
Her shoulders slumped. “No, I didn’t. He must have figured out I wasn’t Ember and thought I was mad at him because he had called by that name, so he started calling me Echo. Moon must have wanted to make it up to her really badly, because he started kissing me, and I mean really, really kissing me.”
Opening her eyes wide, Larissa tried to explain with nonexistent words just how much effort Moon had put into kissing her.
Lana arched an eyebrow at her. “We get it, Larissa.”
“Sorry…” If Larissa could stand, she would kick herself. She had as gotten carried away describing it as she had when it happened. Mentally smacking herself for being insensitive, she went back to recalling the night before. “Then, the next thing I knew, we were having sex … When it was over, he wanted me to turn the light on. I threw my clothes on instead, terrified he was going to turn the lights on himself and would find out I wasn’t Ember or Echo. I would have died of humiliation. Thankfully, I was able to slip out before he did and ran back to the bathroom. I was still in the bathroom when Winter knocked on the door.”
“Moon has no idea who he actually had sex with?”
“I don’t think so.” Lana put her hands up, as if she were going to give a lecture, then let them drop to her lap.
“At least tell me he used protection.”
“We did.”
“That’s a plus,” Priscilla said cheerfully. “I bet it was Moon. When I saw him at the bar, he seemed the type of guy who could sweep a woman off her feet.”
“From what Larissa said, he’s sweeping more than a couple.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking.” Larissa stared up at the ceiling. “I hadn’t even been drinking.”
“He had been, though,” Lana reminded her. “Was he drunk?”
“No, it was pitch black in the room, but he didn’t sound or talk like someone intoxicated, which is why it never occurred me it could be Moon. He didn’t have any trouble getting my clothes off, or his, either. I can’t believe I had sex with him. I’ve never had a one-night stand.” Larissa started crying again. “I’m sick with myself. Have either of you had a one-night stand?”
“Almost,” Lana said soothingly, trying to comfort her.
“Almost?” Priscilla made a comical face. “I haven’t, but you either have or haven’t. So, which is it?”
Expecting Lana to shut Priscilla down again, she stopped crying when Lana started laughing.
“I wanted to, but my sister snagged him away.”
Larissa couldn’t bring herself to join in on the laughter. “What am I going to do if he ever finds out it was me?” Taking the Kleenex Lana held out, she wiped her damp cheeks.
“We don’t know for sure if it was Moon. Besides, how is he going to find out?” Giving her a reassuring pat on the hand, Lana brushed the damp tendrils away from her face. “Did he ever see your face?”
Larissa shook her head.
“Did anyone see you leave his room?”
“No.”
“Then we’re going to pretend it never happened.”
“That sounds good to me.” Larissa didn’t think she was going to forget how good it felt having sex with Moon anytime soon, but she was willing to give it a go.
“Do you mind me asking before we forget …” Priscilla tentatively asked, as if afraid Lana was going to yell at her again. “How was he? I mean … was he as good as he looks?”
She really didn’t want to answer since Lana had been so interested in him.
Larissa licked her suddenly dry lips. She could have sworn she could still taste him.
“I’m so sorry I screwed that up for you.”
“Literally!” Priscilla crowed.
Larissa lowered her lashes, turning toward Priscilla. “I’m going to—”
Priscilla held her hands up. “Okay, I’ll stop if you answer my question.”
“I’m not going to answer.”
A wide grin spread across Priscilla’s face. “You just did. If he was a dud, you would have said so.”
She dearly loved Priscilla, but she could be such a pain.
“We need to let Larissa get some rest. Let’s go.” Lana stood, saving her from more of their sister’s teasing.
Priscilla gave her a brief hug before sliding off the bed.
“Your cell phone is on the nightstand. Call me if you need help to the bathroom.” Moving the crutches within her reach, Lana reached for the plastic bag that Priscilla had dropped on the bed when they entered the room. The nurse who cut off her jeans had put them in the bag at the hospital.
Lana opened the bag, taking out her jeans and top. “I might as well go ahead and throw the jeans away for you. I’ll put your shirt in the laundry.”
“Thank you. I would appreciate it.”
When Lana opened the plastic bag again, Larissa couldn’t understand what she was doing.
“What are you looking for?”
Lana looked in the bag again, then raised curious eyes. “Where are your panties?”
L eaving Puck and Jesus cleaning the kitchen, Moon went down to the basement to work out. He was still doing a series of warmups on an exercise mat when Echo walked down the steps, carrying a laundry basket.
“Morning, Moon, how’s it going?” she cheerfully greeted him, setting her basket of dirty clothes on the floor in front of the washer.
“Morning.” Swinging his leg back in front of him, he then raised his arm to stretch it behind his head.
“I wish Viper would spring for a new washer. This one is older than me.” Opening the washer, Echo started sorting through her clothes before throwing them into the drum.
“If you’re doing your lingerie, don’t forget the pair you left in my room. I left them on the hamper.”
Bent over the basket, Echo turned her head to look at him with a frown.
“ If you had turned the light on like I asked , you might have found them before sneaking back to Puck.”
Echo straightened, her face filled with confusion. “What in the fuck are you talking about?”
He had never been a person to beat around the bush when he was irritated, and the fugitive way Echo had acted last night irritated the hell out of him. “Since when do you have the need to sneak around to fuck me? Do you and Puck have something going and—”
“Moon, I have no idea what in the hell you’re talking about. Why would I sneak around to fuck you? There’s nothing more going on between Puck and me than any other brother in the club I have sex with.” As she straightened from the basket, her expression turned uneasy, as if he had a screw loose. “The last time we had sex was two weeks ago, after the football game. We were upstairs in the TV room. Nickel, Jesus, and Puck were right there, watching. How in the hell is that sneaking?”
Moon brought his arm back down. Was she shitting him? What mindfuck was she trying to play? “You’re going to pretend you didn’t come into my room last night and we didn’t fuck?”
Echo’s hands went to her hips. “There’s no pretending. I didn’t take one step inside your room last night. I didn’t leave Puck’s room all night, other than to go the bathroom a couple of times, and I didn’t take a detour into your room. If I did, I wouldn’t have to lie about it.” Bending back down, she grabbed the rest of her clothes and shoved them into the washer. “I love it. You must have been so fucked you don’t know who you fucked. I guess you can’t tell us apart as long you get what you need.”
Moon winced when she slammed the lid down on the washer.
“You lame-ass prick,” she snarled. “You having trouble telling who’s who? Try opening your fucking eyes!” As she sharply turned the dial on the washer, Moon heard Echo mutter under her breath, “Unbelievable.” Then, turning back to stare at him from across the room, it was plain Echo was debating hitting him. Storming toward the stairs instead, Echo curled her lips in disgust.
Moon mentally prepared himself for what Echo would say next. Whatever it was wasn’t going to be good. Echo was the most laidback of the women members. That he had made her so angry showed how much he had fucked up.
“You pull this shit on Ember, she’ll rip your balls off. Not that you’ve noticed, you arrogant prick, but I don’t wear underwear. And guess what?”
He was almost afraid to ask. “What?”
“Ember doesn’t wear anything but thongs.”
Fuck…
“Sorry. Let me make it up to you. I’ll—”
“Forget it, Moon. I don’t need you to make a damn thing up to me.”
He felt like a gigantic ass when he saw the sheen of tears in Echo’s eyes.
“Instead, I should be thanking you. You just showed me how low we women are in your estimation. Do the other brothers think that way?”
“Echo, I fucked up, okay? Don’t bring the other brothers into this.”
“Why not? I want to know. Do the brothers in Ohio think like this, too, or just the brothers here?”
Rubbing his fingers across his forehead, he tried to think of something to ease Echo’s hurt. “I’m the only moron in both clubs. Okay? Wizard and Viper would say the same thing. Just let me … make it up to you. I saw an Ulta magazine sitting on the table in the kitchen; you go pick anything you want, and I’ll buy it,” he promised.
“ Anything ?”
Moon recognized the glint entering her eyes.
“Anything,” he confirmed through clenched teeth.
“I don’t know if I could enjoy it if the other women can’t pick out what they want, too.”
Well, that was no subtle hint.
“Give them the magazine, too. Tell them each to pick out five things they want, and I’ll make sure they get it.”
“I want them to have everything they want.” Echo knew she had him over a barrel.
“You’re missing the point of me letting you have everything you want. I want to show you that you’re special.”
“Ah … I must have missed that part. In that case, we can let them pick out six gifts apiece.”
Where was the fucking we coming from? The only credit card number Echo would be using was his.
“Sounds good.”
“Thanks, Moon! You’re the best!”
Moon watched Echo’s ass bounce up the steps eagerly. Waiting until she had gone through the door and shut it, he fell backward onto the mat to stare at ceiling. He had just made a costly mistake because he hadn’t listened to Puck.
As he looked at the ceiling, another thought came to him.
If it wasn’t Echo or Ember, who in the hell had he fucked last night?