Chapter 3
Billie
“Billie!” The moment I hear my brother’s voice, I unlock the bathroom door and run toward the sound.
“You okay?” There’s a murderous look on his handsome face, and though his overprotectiveness usually drives me crazy, I’m grateful for it tonight.
“I am.” I nod but I’m probably lying.
I’m still a little shaken up. I can take care of myself but tonight’s events were disconcerting, to say the least.
“Get your shit,” Bodi growls at me, giving my roommate Becky’s boyfriend a thunderous glare.
“Nothing happened!” Becky says, throwing up her hands. “It was a joke. Jesus, Billie, you’re making a big deal out of nothing.”
“Nothing?!” I demand, whirling to glare at her. “Ben came into the bathroom naked and tried to get in the shower with me! That’s not nothing.”
She rolls her eyes. “It was a joke. What, are you still a virgin? Does the sight of a penis scare you?”
“The sight of an unwanted penis, while I’m in a vulnerable position, doesn’t scare me—it pisses me off.”
“Oh, stop overreacting.”
“Are you trying to gaslight me into saying nothing happened?” I demand, frowning. Nothing irritates me more than this kind of bullshit.
“No one is gaslighting you—it was a fucking prank. Ask everyone.”
“I don’t have to ask anyone,” I say. “I was there. And I know what he did when he came into the bathroom uninvited while I was showering.”
“Did he touch you?” Bodi growls, his face darkening.
I almost laugh at the panic in Becky’s eyes as she shifts from one foot to the other.
“Only with the shower curtain between us.” I smirk at Ben, who’s standing on the other side of the room with a terrified look on his face. “Then I kneed him in the nuts. He puked.”
“Good girl.” That voice.
I’d know it anywhere. It’s soft, so much so I almost didn’t hear it…but my body remembers it. My skin tingles with awareness—memories of our dance. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him but it’s not possible he’s here… is it?
I turn my head and my mouth falls open.
What the hell is the man that’s been haunting my dreams doing here? I’ve wondered if there was a way to find him a dozen times since that night—and now he’s standing in my apartment. With my brother, of all people.
Fate is weird sometimes.
“You’re leaving. Tonight.” Bodi points to the door. “Go wait in the truck.”
“Okay, relax, King Bossy Pants,” I say, snapping back to the situation at hand. “I need to get dressed and pack my shit.” I march toward my room, tossing a quick look over my shoulder at Rome.
Our eyes meet and his are filled with a mixture of amusement, pleasure, and concern.
Yeah, Bodi won’t like the idea that I danced with one of his friends.
Hell, he won’t even let me attend his hockey games because he doesn’t want his teammates hitting on me.
We’ve argued about it more times than I can count. It’s one of many reasons I moved out.
Christ, I don’t have time for this.
“You can’t just move out with no notice,” Becky interrupts my thoughts, following me into my room. “We’re counting on you for rent.”
“Last I checked, we don’t have an agreement in writing,” I say with a shrug. “And I didn’t sign up to be Ben’s party toy.”
“Oh, lighten up. Geez. Ben was just kidding around. It was a joke.”
“Sexual harassment is not a joke—it’s illegal and inappropriate.” Rome’s comment gives me goose bumps.
That damn voice .
Sweet Jesus, my panties—if I had any on—would be dripping right now.
“And who are you, her dad?” Becky gives him a derisive once-over.
“None of your fucking business.”
“What can I do?” Bodi brushes past Becky, coming to stand next to me.
“There’s a box in the kitchen,” I say. “We can use it to put my books in.”
He nods, nudging Rome. “Stay with her.”
I want to protest but I’m not really in any position to.
This whole situation is my doing.
If I hadn’t been so fed up with Bodi’s rules at the townhouse, this wouldn’t have happened.
But what’s done is done.
I’m already dreading the lecture that’s coming, but what choice do I have? I certainly don’t want to stay here. I’m stubborn, not stupid, and this situation was bad from the get-go. I thought I could handle it. Obviously, I can’t.
“Can I help?” Rome asks quietly.
“Uh, grab the books on my desk and put them in the box Bodi’s getting,” I say. “And by the way, how do you know my brother?”
“We play together.”
I freeze, staring at him. “You’re on the Phantoms?”
He nods. “Got traded here a few days before that night at the club.”
Holy crap.
It’s really a small world sometimes.
“This?” Bodi comes in with the box.
“Yes. Everything on my desk.” I point.
Bodi and Rome start filling it as I stuff my things into my two suitcases. I’m already keeping a couple of boxes of things in Bodi’s garage, so that part of this mess works out okay. The rest… well, not so much.
Fuck.
Living with my brother again is going to be a nightmare.
But it’s a lot more affordable than living anywhere else.
I’m just not sure the headache is a fair tradeoff.
“Are you seriously leaving?” One of our other roommates, Trina, stands in front of me as I shove a suitcase at my brother. “Over Ben’s prank? Come on, you can’t be serious.”
“I didn’t think it was funny,” I say.
Trina wrinkles her nose. “He wasn’t trying to have sex with you—it was meant to be a joke. Something we could all get a laugh over.”
“Did I sound like I thought it was funny?” I meet her gaze steadily. How can they not see what he did was wrong? The situational blindness is mind-boggling to me.
“I think we can get the desk in the back of the SUV,” Rome says to Bodi, who nods.
“Yeah, and her chair.”
I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress, so that’s deflated now and I stuff it into its carry case. I look around at what was my room thirty minutes ago and it’s kind of sad that almost everything I own can fit in my brother’s SUV.
“What else?” Rome asks quietly, looking around.
The two crates I used as nightstands can stay and the shade on the window came with the apartment.
“Just my toiletries, and we’re out of here,” I say. I hurry to the bathroom, stuff everything into my toiletry bag and look around.
I never really wanted to live here—I just needed to get away from Bodi.
Obviously, they aren’t my kind of people.
“You really suck,” Becky mutters. “We’re going to be short rent this month.”
“Maybe Ben should donate,” I offer. “He sleeps here every night.”
“I don’t have a job!” Ben protests.
There’s a surprise.
“You.” Bodi points at him. “Apologize to my sister.”
Ben blinks.
“He’s not apologizing for making a joke!” Becky rolls her eyes again.
“He will if he wants to continue walking after I leave,” Bodi snarls.
My brother is great, truly, but he can also be a total drama queen.
Usually, it annoys me. Tonight, it’s kind of fun.
I toss my backpack over my shoulder and cock my head, watching the play of emotions on Ben’s face. He’s nervous, no doubt about that, and he keeps looking to Becky for guidance.
“I’m waiting.” Bodi folds his arms across his broad chest.
He’s my brother, so I try not to notice his physical attributes, but you’d have to be blind not to see how big and strong he is. Ironically, Rome is bigger. More muscular. The two of them standing together is pretty damn intimidating.
“How many times do we have to tell you he didn’t mean any harm?” Becky demands, throwing up her hands.
“ You don’t have to tell us anything,” Bodi says. “I’m waiting to hear from Free Willy over there.”
I snort, covering my mouth to keep from laughing.
“I’m sorry!” Ben blurts. “We thought it would be funny. I wasn’t actually going to do anything to you.”
“Damn good thing,” Bodi snaps. “And let this be a lesson to you—whipping out your dick to a woman who isn’t interested isn’t a prank. Grow the fuck up.” He turns on his heel and motions for me to walk out ahead of him.
“Bye, bitches,” I mutter, walking out of the apartment.
We file down the stairs and get into Bodi’s SUV.
I squeeze into the back seat, where my suitcases are stacked, and Bodi pulls into traffic.
“Thank you for coming,” I say after a moment. “Seriously. I had no idea how fucked up they were.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t come?” Bodi asks, meeting my gaze in the rearview mirror.
“No, I knew you would. But I still appreciate it. You too, Roman Emperor.”
Rome chuckles. “Any time, Billie.”
There’s an awkward beat as Bodi looks from Rome to me and back again.
“How the fuck do you two know each other?”
There he is, my overprotective big brother.
Well, this ought to be fun.