Chapter 14
Liam
Nate: Drop by our room ASAP if you’re ready
Putting my watch on, I glance down at my unlocked phone on the bathroom counter. He sent that text five minutes ago, and it’s sitting unsettled in my stomach.
It’s my guilt talking.
I’ve jumped between it and euphoria all day.
Anytime I’ve been in the vicinity of Nate today, my conscience has come out to play which I think has to do with overhearing him last night. I already knew I was betraying Nate, but knowing he’s been legitimately worried about Jordan around me hit a nerve.
But fuck, anytime I’ve caught a mere glimpse of Jordan, everything, except her, seems to disappear.
I’m generally a pretty happy guy, full of shits and giggles, but even Quinn thought I was over the top at the pool today.
She asked what the hell had me bouncing off the walls, and where she could get some.
If Quinn knew, she’d run as far and fast as she could. In a lot of ways I think she’s worse off when it comes to relationships than I’ve ever been. Which says a lot.
Not that what’s going on with Jordan is a relationship. Definitely not. It’s a fuck fest. One that ends in less than forty-eight hours.
Am I going home the same man as when I got here?
No. There’s no way I can. Not after last night.
Letting someone in—Jordan, specifically—has me feeling lighter than I’ve ever felt in my life.
Sharing the burden that I’ve carried all these years lifted a weight from my chest and shoulders, and I found myself breathing in a way I’ve never experienced.
All that extra oxygen is probably contributing significantly to the high I’ve been walking around on since I snuck back to my room this morning.
This fucking text has me a bit freaked out, though.
Did Nate notice something at the pool? Did he catch me eyeing his sister one too many times?
Did he notice the couple of touches we exchanged when we thought no one was looking?
Or did he catch us when we hid behind the waterfall and our tongues fucked for a good thirty seconds?
Worse—did someone else catch us and tell him?
Maybe it’s completely unrelated. Maybe it has nothing to do with Jordan and me. Something to do with the wedding, or the rehearsal dinner and after party perhaps.
“Yeah dude,” I tell myself in the mirror. “It’s about the wedding. Maybe he’s gonna tell you that you’re the real best man, and you’re not sharing the duty with Brody anymore.”
Are you really the best one for that job when you’re sleeping with his sister?
“Shut up,” I grumble to my brain.
Swiping my phone off the counter, I slide it into the pocket of my gray dress pants, ditching the mirror.
I’m more of a jeans and dress shirt kind of guy—hell, we all are—but I had strict instructions that tonight we dress up.
Which seems counterintuitive since after the dress rehearsal we’re heading to the adult arcade in the hotel to play games and have one last—early—hurrah.
Pulling my door open, I’m surprised when the one across the hall opens at the same time, revealing a stunning brunette beauty.
I know I’m wearing the dumbest fucking grin, but I can’t help it. It’s not shocking at this point that I find her gorgeous, but she looks extra tonight in a little black dress and those damn heels that drive me nuts. I’m going to have fun fucking her in those later.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I say, stepping out of my hotel room as she does the same. “You’re looking ravishing tonight.”
The smile that lights her up is shining brightly at me. “Handsome as always, Mr. King.”
Throwing mister in front of my last name has my dick twitching. I love when she calls me by my actual name in the bedroom, but there’s something about the formal title coming from her pretty red mouth that makes me envision her on her knees before me, my cock sliding between those perfect lips.
Taking her fingertips, I raise our hands then spin her around, getting a good look at her while she giggles—fucking giggles—at me. Yeah, this’ll be fun to—
“Wait, are these shorts?” I ask, grabbing the bottom hem of what I thought was a dress.
The giggles dissolve into laughter. “Yes, Liam. It’s called a romper.”
“The fuck?” The disappointment I feel is unmatched. Leaning in toward her, I whisper in a low voice, “The easy access I imagined for later just went up in flames.”
With an inconspicuous glance down the hall, she tries so hard to keep her laughter stifled. “I promise it’s easy to take off.”
I still eye the thing like it’s done me dirty.
“Where you headed? Down for an early drink?” she asks, changing the subject. Probably so I’m not tempted to make her show me how easy.
Glancing at my watch, I shake my head. “Nope. Headed to Nate’s room. He wants to see me. Where you going?”
The smile on her face dims, and panic starts to cloud her crystal blue eyes. “I—uh… Nate texted me.”
Her entire throat moves as though she’s swallowing a lump that’s formed. I know the one because I’ve got a similar one clogging mine. That uneasiness I couldn’t shake in the bathroom is rearing its ugly head and judging by the frown Jordan is now wearing, I’d say she’s feeling the same.
But it’s beneficial if only one of us appears to be panicking. It’ll be better for both of us if I remain chill about the whole thing.
She steps closer but then thinks better of it and takes a larger step back, her hand falling away from mine. In a whisper I can barely hear, she asks, “Do you think he knows?”
“How would he know?”
“Last night? Or the pool today? We weren’t exactly careful.”
Because I know I need to act as confident as possible, I take the step she put between us and then some.
With gentle fingertips, I catch her chin between my thumb and index finger.
“If he’d clued in last night, we would have heard about it then.
Especially since he was drunk.” I lean in closer, bringing my lips to her ear.
“No one saw us today. None of our friends are subtle. Someone would have called it out.”
She shivers when I kiss the spot just under her jaw, along her neck. “Liam, we’re in the middle of the hall. We could get caught.”
“Just a friend telling another friend how amazing she looks tonight, that’s all.”
I know she’s right though. I also know that I needed to close the distance between us that her anxiety was creating. Physically and mentally. Taking a small step backwards, I offer my arm to her. “Shall we go see what big bad Nate wants?”
That gets a simple smile out of her as she takes my offer, pushing her shoulders back and tilting her head up. “Nate? Big and bad? Please. He’s a teddy bear.”
There it is. The confidence that I needed to see in her before facing the big brother. Though her confidence may have been generated by cockiness, it’s spurring my own courage. Everything is fine. There’s nothing wrong. Nate knows nothing.
Unless Savanna told him. Would she have spilled? It would incriminate her as well, though considering he’s a lovesick fool for her, I can’t imagine him being that upset with her. Us, on the other hand…
Fuck. No. No, everything is fine. We’re good. I have two more nights of fucking Jordan’s soul from her body. Two more nights of out of this world orgasms. Two heart stopping, jaw dropping, panty melting nights of having her scream my name while…
Nope, that train of thought isn’t going to get me anywhere good either.
Taking a solid breath, I knock on Nate’s door as we reach it. Jordan doesn’t even try to pull her hand away from my arm. It’s innocent enough. I’m just escorting a friend to her brother’s room.
A second later the door opens revealing a well-dressed Nate. “Perfect. You’re here together. Come on in. I want to talk to you about something.”
Jordan and I glance at each other for a brief second as Nate turns and heads deeper into the room. Off to a good start. That wasn’t something a man who knew we were sleeping together would say. Especially knowing how upset he’d be if he knew.
“What’s up, dude?” I ask, following behind Jordan.
Savanna is turning away from the suitcase laid out on the luggage rack. She’s got a smile on her face as she puts an earring in. “Hey guys.”
Another good sign. Savanna is full of ease and calm. If Nate were worked up, she wouldn’t have such a laid back attitude.
“Savanna. Looking exquisite as always.” One side of my mouth is pulled up into my most charming smile.
“You clean up nice,” she comments, giving me a quick glance. Then her eyes dart to Jordan, and the deviousness creeps into her smile. “How’s Bob?”
“Jesus Christ, Sav,” Nate mutters, pushing a hand through his hair.
I have to fight with all my might not to laugh. I may have been there last night, but Nate doesn’t know that. Given Savanna’s comment, however, she suspects I was.
Jordan glowers at her for a moment but seeing Nate’s discomfort, I know she can’t help herself. “I wore him out.”
Wore me out! How dare she.
Biting down on the inside of my cheek to keep from setting Jordan straight, I look between the three of them, trying to seem as clueless as possible. “Who’s Bob?”
Savanna falls into a fit of laughter, covering her mouth to try and suppress it. Sadist. The pleasure she’s getting out of this situation is beyond what I thought she was capable of.
“Man, don’t ask,” Nate grumbles, his neck, face, and ears crimson.
“Well now I gotta know,” I tell him. Giving Jordan a gentle nudge to her arm, I arch an eyebrow at her. “Hot date?”
“My battery operated boyfriend that Nate caught me with last night,” she says, looking nearly as smug as Savanna as she eyes Nate.
“I did not catch you with it!” he bellows, throwing his hands up in the air.
All three of us burst into laughter. It’s clear that he’s uncomfortable as hell right now and his misery is our joy.
If only he knew the truth…
Nate points a finger at Savanna. “You’re going to pay for this later.”
Without missing a beat, Jordan juts out a hip that’s full of attitude. “Would you like to borrow Bob? He’s good at punishment.”