2
GAbrIELLA
“They did what?” Ellie gasps, her hands flying to her mouth and her eyes bugging out.
“Do I need to say it again?”
“They came into your room while you were…” Ellie wiggles her eyebrows and I cringe all over again.
“While my vibe was doing what vibes do best,” I say, groaning as the image of Kain, Blake, and Dalton barreling into my room floods my mind in all its terrible glory.
“Why were they there? I don’t get it.”
“Apparently my asshole brother wanted them to clear his room to help Mom before she redecorates. He’s never been thoughtful before, so my guess is he had something sketchy in there that he wanted to hide.”
“Probably a monster porn collection, although who has physical porn anymore when you can access it all online?”
I sip my black coffee and lick my lips. “My brother has always been a collector. He started with comics and probably downgraded to smutty mags.”
“It’s always the quiet ones.” Ellie smiles and glances over her shoulder at a rowdy table of football players. I know she’s probably missing her own rowdy team. It was weird when she wasn’t around last year and I’m bummed that we won’t graduate at the same time, but it’s awesome she’s managed to come back and finish her studies, despite having a baby and a whole new life with her three sexy stepbrothers.
“Yeah, well, my three nosy neighbors left with their mouths hanging open.”
“I bet they did. It’s not every day you stumble across your friend’s sister with her legs open.”
I cringe again and then shake my head, frustrated. Yeah, it wasn’t ideal to be caught out like that, but I’m a woman with needs that I’m perfectly able to take care of. I shouldn’t be embarrassed about it. I’m sure their right hands are busy most nights if they’re not dating. The thought of those three fine men handling their junk sends heat pooling in places I’d rather weren’t warm right now.
“I guess it’s Kain you’re most bothered about.” Ellie says. “You know, because you might bump into him. The other two work, don’t they?”
“Yeah. Blake works over at Ink Factor and Dalton’s their father’s right-hand man at their construction business.”
“Construction and tattoos. Those are some seriously sexy jobs.”
Ellie isn’t wrong. Dalton’s always been a big boy, but over the last year, he’s filled out to ridiculous proportions. He’d give the Hulk a run for his money! I’m not a petite woman and I reckon he could lift me above his head with one arm. And Blake has always been wickedly sexy with his mischievous half-smile and steely gray eyes, but now he’s half-covered in ink, he’s practically sinful.
“What are you going to do when you see him?” Ellie asks.
I shrug because I haven’t really considered it. “Glare angrily, I guess.”
Ellie’s lips twitch. “You know, Colby used to tutor Kain. He always talks about him like he’s a stand-up guy, and that means a lot coming from Colb.”
“Stand-up guy, huh? He probably had one main body part that was standing to attention after yesterday.”
“You know they all went home and jerked off over you!” Ellie chuckles and pulls off a section of chocolate muffin, popping it into her mouth with a flourish.
“That’s the only orgasm they are getting from me,” I snort.
Ellie leans forward, studying me with narrowed eyes. “Kain’s a very good-looking man and if his brothers are anything like him, that’s a trio of hotness right there.”
“Your point?”
“My point is that once upon a time, you dared me to do something, and it changed my life. I’m wondering if fate is turning the tables on us here. I’m wondering if I should be daring you into action, too?”
I swallow the last of my bitter coffee and shake my head. “You know I don’t need dares, sweetie.”
“So, why have you never hooked up with any of them?” she asks. “Because if I ever had a hot neighbor, I know I’d been tempted…you know, before the triplets.”
“Oh, I’ve been tempted.” I don’t elaborate because the details of how much I’ve lusted over the Nowak brothers would probably blow her mind. Ever since I was a little girl, and they were scrawny boys with dirty knees and torn T-shirts, I’ve had a crush on them. I even used to write about it in my diary. But Travis drew a line in the sand many years ago and reiterated it when I went through puberty. No messing around with his friends.
Maybe he could sense something between us all. Maybe he was worried about his friendship. Most likely, he thought it was his role to step into Dad’s empty shoes to protect me. It doesn’t seem to have sunk into his skull that I can stand on my own two feet perfectly well.
Ellie frowns, confusion twisting her lips. “You’ve been tempted and not done anything about it? That doesn’t sound like you.”
She’s right. It doesn’t. I would have gone to at least first base with anyone else by now.
“My brother has made them a no-go zone.”
“And you listen to your brother? That would be a first.”
She’s right. We love each other, but we both have stubborn as our middle names and that leads to a whole lot of disagreement.
“I guess it’s ingrained that they’re off-limits.”
“You’re all adults,” Ellie muses, then grins. “And I was going to ask which of the three is your favorite, but as I know from experience, it isn’t always necessary to choose!”
“Yeah, you’re just greedy.” I snaffle the last bit of Ellie’s muffin to make a point, although I’m not sure what that point is.
“Greed is good. My whole life proves that point.”
She’s right. It does. She has three awesome men who worship the ground she walks on, a baby boy who’s cute as a button, and a home she’s turning into a perfect family dwelling. It makes me want to be greedy too, but the Nowak brothers are too close to home. I mean, they’re so close we used to toss paper airplanes with messages inside through each other’s windows.
So close that I’ve caught Kain changing in front of his window a few too many times.
Those were good days.
My poor vibe had a lot less work to get me off on those days.
That chiseled jaw, broad chest, rounded biceps and abs like a Greek hero hewn from marble. I’ve never cursed a window ledge more than when it blocked my view of all the good stuff below the waist. Damn, Kain is fine.
And then there’s Dalton. He’s bigger than his brother in a burly, lumberjack kind of way. Thicker muscle to Kain’s leaner build. His brows are darker too, and his beard is thicker. His hands are so big, I swear he could tear trees from the ground and not break a sweat.
And Blake? He has an edginess to him. He’s all smiles, but there’s a darkness behind his eyes that tips him into devilish territory. Tattoos have always done it for me, and since Blake started work, he’s slowly covering more of his gorgeous, ripped body with ink.
“You’re thinking about them, aren’t you?” Ellie says, grinning and shaking her head.
“I might be,” I admit, pressing my lips together to stifle my smile.
“You know, there’s a saying that I’ve always really liked,” Ellie says.
“Oh yeah, and what is that?”
“While the cat’s away, the mouse will play, except in your case, Travis is the cat and you are the mouse. You have nothing to lose.”
She’s right, of course. I don’t really have anything to lose. Since we all traipsed through the awkward years of puberty, I haven’t hung out with the Nowak brothers much. They’ve always been there, as Travis’s buddies, though.
Now Travis is adulting in Germany, maybe it would be possible to find out if my brother’s best friends are everything I’ve fantasized they are. Travis never has to find out. When he returns home, things can go back to the way they were.
We could go back to being neighbors who nod at each other as we cross paths. And whatever we do could just be relegated to memories we recall in the future when we’re old and gray and feel better for reminiscing on the stupid things we did in our youth.