Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Marcus
“ I ’d bet hard money they’re talking about us.” I tilt my head to where Hallie and Erica are in deep conversation on Julian’s back porch.
I don’t know what had gone through my mind earlier today, but it’d ended up with me inviting Hallie to our monthly family dinner. A dinner I’d never invited anyone to. It could’ve been the defeated slump of her shoulders when she’d had to let go of so much of her past. It could’ve been that I wanted more time to antagonize her in person. One really couldn’t know.
“I’d bet you’re right,” Julian replies, not even bothering to look up as he passes me another freshly rinsed plate to put in their dishwasher.
The newly renovated home Erica and Jules had moved into is stunning and a project I’d work on. The kitchen’s concrete countertops and sink are features Jules and I had designed together. You wouldn’t think that two guys would care much for doing the dishes, but as kids, we didn’t have a dishwasher in the house. Every time we’d asked our parents if we could get one, they’d simply told us they’d had children for that—one to wash the dishes and another to dry them and put them away. Years later, it was the one task we found ourselves doing together as brothers, no matter whose house we were at.
We work together in silence for a moment before Jules lifts his head and asks, “It’s not horrible Hallie’s staying with you, then?”
“It’s a little too late to ask for permission, isn’t it?” I reply, a single brow raised in his direction. I move to pick up my beer for a mouthful in between the rinsing of plates.
“That’s not what I was doing.”
“Asking for forgiveness, then?”
“Maybe something like that.” He keeps working, and for a moment, the only sound is the running of water and the knocking together of dishes.
Having Hallie stay with me has yet to become a full-blown disaster, but there’s still time. “You know you’re going to lose spare-key privileges after this.”
“I can live with that.”
“But you couldn’t live with the thought of Hallie staying in a hotel.” The comment is offhand. To be honest, the words leave my mouth without my full consent, but I’m curious about my brother’s motives. His need to have Hal stay in my direct proximity makes little sense.
“I couldn’t live with the thought of her staying alone.”
There’s never been a moment when I’ve forgotten or underestimated the strength of the friendship between those two. If he were this protective with anyone else, I’d probably be bitter about it. I can only hope Hallie keeps her word and takes our agreement more seriously than the one we’ve made with Julian, because Lord knows there’d be little forgiveness for me if he found out.
“Oh. Well, then, throwing her into the lion’s den seems like the most sensible decision you could’ve made,” I say, nodding through my slightly sarcastic response.
Julian is contemplative. “I’d have provided her a ringmaster’s hat and whip if I thought it would’ve helped.”
He’s such a smart-ass.
Gathering two freshly washed and dried pans, I move toward their cabinet, calling, “Hallie doesn’t need the help of a whip, although I’m sure she’d enjoy it immensely. Her in tight leather pants with a top hat, and me in a cage? I bet it’s what her wet dreams are made of.”
I hear a small sound of disgruntlement. “While I do have a thing for well-fitting leather pants, I have to say your presence in my dreams is unlikely to make me wet.”
If I could have gotten away with it, I would have gently smacked my head against the cabinet door.
I pull myself together and turn around, leaning back against the countertop with what I hope is a relaxed smirk. “Tears don’t count?”
Hallie is propped against the doorway to the veranda with Erica right behind her, a wine bottle and glasses in hand.
Hallie pretends to think about it. “Potentially?”
I shrug disappointedly. “I’ll take what I can get.”
Julian makes a disgusted sound, his eyes bouncing between the two of us. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I kind of like it.” Erica pops in, rising onto her tippy-toes to place her chin on Hallie’s shoulder in solidarity.
Julian’s on her in a heartbeat. “Of course you do; you didn’t have to live through it the first time. Just as sarcastic but with a whole host of adolescent sexual tension and angst.”
Hallie’s shoulders tense, but only lightly, and I wonder what Erica notes it down to.
“Well, that’s something we don’t have to be worrying about,” I say, trying to cover any tracks before they start to show.
“Why? Have you finally decided to remain celibate until marriage?” Hal asks, playing along more smoothly than I could’ve imagined.
“I would never put womankind through such an ordeal. There would be protests in the streets, mass depression…I could never.” I play into the words, voice earnest, hand on heart. The act is for them; the foreplay of the banter is, I hope, for us .
Hallie steps forward into the kitchen, her eyes alight and smile feline. She drags her finger up my chest before gently tapping it against my chin.
“I wish you’d get your penis trapped in a cock cage.” Her words are as sharp as they are sweet, but as long as it’s my hard cock she’s picturing, I’m not complaining.
The private little smile she flicks at me as she steps back doesn’t hurt. Neither does her apparent lack of awareness when it comes to just how often she touches me.
I turn with a laugh, instantly pointing at Julian. “I told you she’d like it with me in a cage, Jules!”
I smirk, playing along, even as my balls shrink at the imagined pain.
As if to prove we’re from the same genetic pool, he turns and smacks his head gently against the nearest wall, releasing a sound of absolute frustration. I smile at his actions, and Erica’s cheeks flush pink with giddy happiness as he turns around, pointing at Hallie and then me. “You both need to leave my house.”
Erica coughs ever so delicately, her brows rising as she corrects him. “Our house.”
Julian’s eyes move to meet hers. Most likely taking note of her happiness, he says in a more relaxed voice, “Our house.”
The high intensity of the moment is broken as Hallie laughs and makes her way over to grab her leather jacket and bag from the couch. She isn’t tense. Instead, she looks relaxed, at ease with our banter, and I’m relieved. I can only hope Julian notices the same and attributes it to us getting along in a banter-filled yet platonic way.
“Same time next week, everyone?” Erica asks as she packs up containers of leftovers for Hallie. Generally, I’d get them, but I have a distinct feeling I’ve moved down in my level of importance on this food chain.
“I thought family dinner was a monthly event?” Hallie asks as I pick up my car keys and phone off the kitchen counter.
“Oh, it is, but this was fun enough to warrant a repeat. And anyway, Hal, you’ll be off again soon, and I want to make the most of it.” Erica brings the tote bag full of food containers over to where Hallie and I now stand together. “Can I trust the two of you to share this?”
Julian opens his mouth to say something, but Erica hushes him.
I roll my eyes at Erica before looking over at Hallie, expecting her to have a similar look of skepticism, but she doesn’t. Instead, she looks almost thoughtful, her eyes locked on Erica’s as she replies with a small, apathetic shrug, “I’ll send you the photo evidence to prove it.”
“Good, and I’ll see you all at the wedding venue tomorrow before lunch, right?” Erica confirms, as if we haven’t had the appointment tattooed onto our brains for the last week.
“ Oui , chef,” Hallie replies, and I give a little two-fingered salute to convey my own acknowledgment as we walk out the front door.
“A cock cage, huh?” I ask to break the weirdly comfortable silence that has settled around us.
Hallie laughs. “Either that or a ball gag.”
I make a tutting sound, shaking my head slowly. “How are you ever going to be able to remain on your best behavior around me tomorrow?”
She reaches down to lower the volume on my truck’s radio as she replies, “Luckily, being on my best behavior around you isn’t expected. As long as I don’t try to light you on fire, Jules won’t mind what we do.”
“Hallie, Hallie, Hallie. Are you really going to be able to be around me in public all day and not touch me?”
“Thinking a little highly of yourself there, Mr. Scott?” she asks, even as she reaches out to trace a single finger along my forearm.
“You’re tactile, Hal. I don’t mind it. I just don’t want you to get us busted tomorrow.” I smile, thinking of all the ways we can “almost” get busted tomorrow.
“If anyone is going to get us caught, it’ll be you.”
“It’ll be me that gets us caught, only after you’ve tormented me until my breaking point. I was just a good brother trying to do the right thing until you showed up and corrupted me with talk about cock cages.”
I smile into the darkness of the car, turning my head toward her, only to catch her looking my way.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she says, gesturing vaguely at my face and the way it probably seems to be telling the world I’m thinking about sex.
Her and sex, if we are going to get into specifics.
“You don’t like it?” I run my fingers down the cut of my jaw. “I thought you liked my face.”
“To be honest, I’d rather not have to look at it,” she says, faking disinterest.
Oh, she is a lying liar who lies.
“You could always sit on it,” I suggest good-naturedly, as if I’m being nothing more than thoughtful and considerate of her wants and needs. Which, if she were being honest, would probably include that exact proposition.
“You could always take a flying leap off something steep.”
I laugh at her unrelenting ability to let me find satisfaction in this conversation. It annoys me to think that Erica was right. I don’t know the last time I’d had so much fun just being with anyone.
I can feel Hallie’s gaze still on me, even after I’ve moved my eyes back to the road. “At least I can say I’ve officially banged one of the bridesmaids.”
She reaches over, squeezing my upper thigh a little too close to the family jewels. “I wish you wouldn’t say anything.”
I continue speaking as if she hadn’t said a thing. “The true fantasy is fucking a bridesmaid up against a wall in the coatroom, midway through the wedding reception. Dress hiked up around her thighs, teeth pressing into my neck as she comes, leaving just the tiniest bit of lipstick on my collar, all before the best man’s speech has even happened. Fingers crossed there are no panties involved, but either way, she’ll feel where I was for the rest of the night.”
There’s only quiet in the car, the sound of our breathing obvious in the small space. I know she’s thinking about it. Imagining it. Hopefully, wanting it. Wanting to set every single rule on fire right along with me.
“I’m ready to sit on your face now.”
She shocks a laugh out of me, the sound rich to my own ears as I reach down to turn the radio up. I have to admit, no matter what happens next, this time between us hasn’t been boring.