Chapter 7 Jace
JACE
On Thursday, after dropping off Milo with Lori, I headed straight to the venue of the comedy show. He and I had finalized the grand plans for Lori’s party, which was going to be in a few weeks. We hired a band, and then Milo and his friends were performing a play for her. She’d love it.
I hadn’t seen Brooke today and was looking forward to a relaxed evening. I loved spending time with her. I’d never met a woman I’d clicked with as I did with her.
She was damn cute the way she kept nagging Coach about his diet, double-checking that he was taking all his pills.
My attraction to her hadn’t subsided one bit though. If she wanted to combine our friendship with some benefits, I was all up for it, though for the first time in my life, I thought sex would complicate things, and I liked them the way they were.
The problem was, I couldn’t stop wanting Brooke.
When she got out of an Uber a few minutes after I arrived, I nearly swallowed my tongue.
She was wearing a tight beige dress and black heels with thin straps around her ankles.
It was that strap that fired up my imagination.
I imagined her wearing nothing but those heels, wrapping her long, toned legs around my waist.
“Good evening, gorgeous.”
She gave an adorable shriek because she hadn’t noticed me.
“Sorry for that. You scared me. Am I late?”
“Not at all. Let’s head inside. “
I walked slightly behind her, keeping my hand at that point where the curve of her ass began.
I’d studied her closely at the gym, but something about this dress was driving me insane.
I couldn’t even say why. It wasn’t too short or too tight or too anything, but I could barely keep my thoughts straight.
I wasn’t the only one. I caught a few guys drooling and knew I was the only reason no one had hit on her yet. My arm went around her shoulders out of pure instinct. It could pass as a friendly gesture to Brooke, but I wanted to send out a signal to everyone else: she was here with me.
I liked having her this close, touching her. She smelled delicious. My thigh was brushing her left hip as we walked, and the desire to touch the bare skin of her legs hit me hard. To grip both her hips, then her ass, and lift her up so she’d wrap her legs around me. Jesus.
Once inside, I led her straight to the front row.
“First row?” Brooke asked excitedly. She seemed a little breathless.
“Course.”
We sat down, and I noticed that the two guys at the next table were leering at Brooke, who seemed oblivious to it all.
“What am I going to do with you, Brooke?”
“What do you mean?”
“Every man here wants to hit on you.”
She waved her hand. “No, they don’t.”
“Every man,” I repeated. Me included. She cast her gaze down, playing with her hands, and I thought I saw a tinge of pink in her cheeks.
We ordered drinks, and the show began almost as soon as the waiter brought our cocktails.
Stand-up comedians could be hit or miss.
Half an hour into the show, this turned out to be such a miss that I wondered if we’d accidentally walked into a rehearsal.
I glanced at Brooke from time to time, searching for signals that she was just as bored, but her gaze was glued to the stage.
I’d almost resigned myself to two hours of hellish boredom when Brooke leaned over the small table. I immediately leaned in too.
“Jace… I hope I’m not offending you, but this is terrible.”
“Thank fuck. I thought I was the only one so bored I wanted to burst my eardrums so I couldn’t hear him. How about we get out of here?”
“Excellent idea.”
The room was semidark as we made our way out. A few viewers huffed with annoyance because we obstructed their view. I slung my arm around Brooke’s waist, leading her through the room. She started laughing the second we were out on the street.
“Oh, that was so bad,” she said. “So. So bad.”
“Awful. And I thought you liked it. Was mentally preparing myself to sit through two hours of torture.”
Brooke tilted her head. “You really would have done that if I’d liked it? Awww… you really are a good friend.”
No, I wasn’t. I was the worst. I moved my arm from her waist to her shoulders, squeezing them lightly. She shivered despite the warm mid-August evening. I pulled her even closer, speaking against her temple.
“Let’s do something else, Brooke. I don’t want this evening to end so fast.”
“Me neither. Hmm… I think we need to watch something good to wash this crap out of our brain.”
“We could go to a movie, but I don’t know what’s playing.”
“I do. Looked over the new releases yesterday. Nothing stood out to me. Hey, I have an idea. Let’s go to my place. We can watch something on Netflix, or one of my DVDs, and I can make us popcorn.”
I wanted to spend time with Brooke more than anything else, but if we were alone… I wasn’t strong enough not to make a move on her.
She was too alluring. Even now, I was fighting with all I had against the urge to cup her cheek and tilt her head just right so I had access to her mouth. I’d pulled her too close, but I’d be damned if I wanted to let go. She watched me with wide, happy eyes. I just couldn’t say no.
“Love that idea. Where do you live?”
“A quiet residential area up north. My neighbors are super nice. Most of them are a little old and like to poke their nose in my business.”
“What are your nice neighbors gonna say when you come home with a man?”
She looked up from the screen of her phone. “They’re gonna think I have great taste in men.”
Brooke’s apartment was an explosion of color. Mismatched furniture gave the place a cozy, lived-in feeling, as did the pictures hanging everywhere.
I laughed, pointing at one picture where she was with another woman—her sister, presumably. Brooke was wearing an eye-mask, and the other woman held a cartoon mustache above her upper lip.
“I have a similar picture with Hailey and Lori.”
“Taken at a wedding?”
“Yes. My cousin Summer Bennett.”
Her jaw dropped. “As in… the one who married the Alexander Westbrook?”
Alex was a very well-known actor.
“Yep.”
“You’re related to those Bennetts that own Bennett Enterprises?”
“The very same.”
“Wow. I love their stuff.”
“I’m not surprised.” Bennett Enterprises produced some kickass jewelry.
My gaze landed on another picture, one of Brooke and a woman holding up cocktails and smiling at the camera.
I’d looked up Brooke on Facebook a while ago, and she had a few pics with the same woman. It was Cami, her ex-best friend.
“I debated taking it down, but….”
“Why should you? Just because something ended badly doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy the good memories.”
There were no pictures of Noah. I was shocked at the relief I felt.
Brooke shrugged, looking at the picture wistfully. “I miss the friendship. I have other friends, of course, and I get along well with my sister, but Cami was my person, you know?”
I moved closer, cupping her cheek. She looked up in surprise, her gaze searching mine.
“I can be your person if you want, Brooke.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting into. I’m a terrible friend. I’ll nag you about stuff, blackmail you into watching the movies I want.”
“I can handle it. Besides, I can be equally vicious.”
“Hmm… well, if you change your mind at any point, let me know. How was your afternoon with Milo?”
“We finalized party preparations. Lori’s going to love it.”
“I bet she will. By the way, I spoke to Hailey on the phone about your contracts and how that could work with the foundation. She had some great ideas.”
I’d given Brooke Paige’s contact information, but she was also in touch with Hailey, who had gotten more involved with the foundation over the past few months.
“You didn’t tell her anything about the party, right?”
“She already knew. But I don’t get why you think Hailey can’t keep a secret. She said you two always prepared surprises for your mom’s birthday and that she never spilled the beans.”
“We did, and it’s true. Maybe Hailey was better at keeping secrets back then.
Or Mom was just really good at pretending she was surprised.
” I felt oddly vulnerable. Hailey spoke as rarely about our parents as I did, and never to anyone outside the family.
Brooke elbowed me lightly, and her easy smile made me pull her even closer.
“You know, Dad had a big role in my soccer career. I used to suck at it as a kid.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“Yeah, I did. But I wanted to be good at it so badly. He and I always bonded over it. He came from Ireland, and soccer is huge in Europe, or football, as they say. He practiced with me relentlessly.”
Maybe it was all those evenings I spent with her brainstorming about the center, or the fact that she listened so intently when I talked about my family, but I felt like I could talk with her about anything.
But tonight, I wanted to keep things light, and talking about my parents always brought a bout of melancholy I couldn’t easily shake off.
“What are we watching?” I asked, to change the subject.
“Are you in the mood for a Game of Thrones rewatch?”
“Would be a first time for me.”
She stared at me. “Wait… you’ve never watched Game of Thrones? At all?”
“Nope.”
“Then you, my friend, are in for a treat.” She rubbed her palms together in excitement.
“I’m going to make some popcorn. Make yourself comfortable.
I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She took off her shoes on the way to the kitchen.
I flopped onto the couch, lying down. When she returned with the popcorn, she glared at me.
I was lying on one side, occupying the entire couch.
“Where am I supposed to sit?”
I patted the space in front of me, then opened up my arm.
“Couch is wide enough for both of us to lie down,” I said.
She smirked but didn’t protest. After turning on the TV, she turned off the light. I’d assumed she would change into something more comfortable, like pajamas or sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt.
But karma hit me in full force two minutes later when Brooke came to lie down in front of me still wearing that beige dress.
With the TV as the only source of light, the room was mostly dark, and the beige color of the dress blended with her skin, giving me the impression that Brooke was naked in my arms. Placing the bowl with popcorn in front of her, she snuggled her body against me.
She shifted a couple of times, and her skirt inadvertently rode up her legs.
Before she rearranged it, my fingers brushed her thighs.
Touching her bare skin sent a jolt straight to my cock, especially when the skin on her legs turned to goose bumps.
On pure instinct, I hooked an arm around her waist, bringing her even closer until her back was against me. This right here? It felt so right that I couldn’t get enough of it.