Chapter 8
I’m relieved that both men drink their beer slowly, even though they surely must have worked up quite a thirst at Club Red tonight.
At one point, a cocktail waitress comes by, asking if we’re ready for refills, but none of us are. Even after our responses, the woman lingers. “You look familiar.”
Her eyes scan back and forth between Felix and Jasper, then trail lower, taking in what can be seen above the table. “Wait a minute! Do you dance at Club Red?”
Neither of the men responds at first, but when she continues to stare, Felix nods once.
“I knew it! Oh my god, you’re so hot! I only saw the show one time, but I remember both of you.”
Jasper’s jaw tightens, an almost imperceptible movement, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Can I get a picture with you?” The woman plops her payment device down on our table and reaches around to her back pocket to pull out her phone.
Felix shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he tells her. “We’re on a date, and that wouldn’t be fair to our friend here.” He nods toward me. “We’ll see you next time you come to Club Red.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. Have a good evening. Let me know when you’re ready for more drinks.” She leaves with a friendly wave and a look aimed at me that seems to say, Aren’t you lucky?
These men do know how to make a woman feel special.
“Does that happen a lot?” I ask them, and they both shrug in the exact same way, reminding me of how I thought they were twins when I first saw them.
We don’t talk much after that, since the environment doesn’t make it easy, but I’m comfortable in their presence—well, as comfortable as you can be when you want to crawl into two men’s laps simultaneously.
“Want another?” Jasper nods at my glass when it’s nearly empty.
“No, thanks. I’m good.” When I’m with them, it seems particularly important to keep my wits about me.
“You want to take off?”
“I’m ready whenever you are.” I suppose it is getting late, though I’ve lost all track of time, among other things.
Jasper helps me up from my chair and doesn’t let go of my hand until we’re at the bikes and he’s getting my helmet. More specifically, we’re at his bike. He gets the helmet from where it’s strapped to Felix’s, but it’s clear he plans for me to ride with him.
I’m not sure if the two brothers are competitive with one another, or if they just like sharing a woman, and as soon as that thought enters my mind, all sorts of explicit images follow.
Do they share women in the bedroom? I can’t even let myself think about it, though once I climb on behind Jasper and wrap my arms around his body, it’s hard to think of anything else.
No amount of December night air can cool me off right now.
Back at my house, as they walk me to my front door, Felix says, “Sorry to cut the night short. We have an early morning.”
“Do you have to work?” I realize I have no idea whether or not Club Red is their only job.
He shakes his head. “We agreed to go to church with our gran.”
“Your grandma?”
Jasper nods and flashes a rare grin. “We let her guilt us into it every so often.”
It’s an intriguing image, these sinfully handsome men accompanying their grandmother to church. I wonder what she thinks about them taking their clothes off at Club Red, or if she even knows about it.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” Felix asks.
“I’m hoping to put my tree up, but first, I have to get a tree. I love having a real one.”
“Want help?” Felix says. “We have a pickup.”
His offer is almost as surprising as the thought of the men going to church. “You do? That would be great, actually.”
“Is one o’clock good?” he asks.
I hesitate as I run time estimates in my head. “I have dinner plans tomorrow … with Nick and Rudy.”
He frowns. “How about noon?”
“I don’t want you to cut your time short with your grandma. One should be fine.”
“Still seeing those guys, huh?” Jasper’s scowling, but my god, he looks so attractive doing it.
We’re on my porch now, my back to my door, both men in front of me. Why is this always such an awkward moment, even when the date was really good?
“Would you like to come inside?”
“Do you want us to?” Felix counters. We both know we’re not just talking about them coming in to pet Cupid again.
As my body and mind go to war, I say, “I’m not sure.”
Felix gives me a sexy smirk. “When you’re sure, then we’ll come inside.” And, oh fuck, he said come inside, and my brain has turned into that of a fourteen-year-old boy.
“We’re never going to push you,” Jasper says, “but we want you, and when you’re ready, we’ll be here.”
My mouth rounds into a little oh that’s mostly silent, and it’s like that when Jasper cups the back of my head in his big palm and descends on me. He doesn’t kiss me—he just hovers there, not much more than an inch from my mouth, his dark eyes fixed on mine, searching, asking me wordless questions.
As soon as I stretch to meet his lips, he pulls me closer, his other hand spanning my lower back, pressing us together.
When I first taste him, it’s like someone’s taken a blowtorch to gasoline. A fiery desire, hotter than anything I’ve ever felt before, hits me so hard that my knees buckle.
Luckily, Jasper’s got a firm hold on me.
His lips are softer than I imagined, and he’s gentle at first—but not for long.
He angles my head just how he wants it, and he takes me like I’m his.
As I kiss him back, he goes deeper. His fingers slide through my hair, and he backs me up against my front door, covering my body with his, kissing and kissing me, until his erection presses into my belly.
The massive bulge I caught a glimpse of at the park today pops into my head, but that was Felix’s, and now I’m kissing Jasper, and it’s all so dizzying.
Jasper pauses to take a breath, and I gasp as if I’ve just run a marathon. “Holy shit.”
He chuckles as he steps back and swipes at his lips, smug about the effect he’s had on me.
I’ve never had a goodnight kiss anything like that. And there’s another man waiting for his turn.
With Jasper no longer holding me up, I’m unsteady. I reach for the doorframe to brace myself.
“You okay?” Felix looks mildly amused.
“I’m not sure my legs work.”
Full-on laughing now, in a way that makes me smile, Felix reaches for my hand and brings me over to the top step, where he sits down and pulls me onto his knee.
A stray thought passes through my mind, what will my neighbors think?, but at the moment, I don’t care. If I take these men into my house for privacy, things will progress far beyond kissing, and based on how Jasper’s just made me feel, I’m not sure I can physically survive that!
Felix frames my chin in his hand and strokes his thumb over my cheek, then my bottom lip, slowly back and forth across it, his eyes on mine all the while. He’s still smiling at first, but his expression grows darker the longer we look at each other.
I’m bracing myself, because there’s a strong indication that his kiss is going to be just as potent as his older brother’s, and when he finally bends his head to mine, I’m not disappointed.
His mouth moves on mine like a dance. He takes the lead, but allows for back and forth, and I do my best to give as good as I’m getting.
Emboldened by the time I spent pressed against him on the bike, I slide my hands under the collar of his jacket and use one to grab a handful of muscle on his back, while I tangle my fingers into the hair at the base of his neck with the other.
He captures my bottom lip between his teeth, and I moan involuntarily.
I’m quickly rethinking my decision not to invite them into my house, but Felix pulls back, separating in a way that tells me we’re done … for now. He smooths my hair back, then leans in to press one last kiss to my lips, before he lifts me off of him and helps me to my feet.
“We’d better let you get to bed.” His voice is thicker and deeper than it was before we kissed. “We’ll see you tomorrow at noon, Holly.”
“One … is fine,” I manage to say, even though I’m not sure I’m ever going to catch my breath after those kisses.
“We’ll come at noon,” Felix says.
They wait for me to go inside, and Jasper reminds me to lock my door just before I close it.
I quickly pull off my boots, then hurry to the picture window just in time to watch the men mount their bikes and ride away.
As the rumble of their engines does things to me once again, I regret being so levelheaded.
When I collapse onto the couch, still in a daze, Cupid jumps up beside me and meows. “I know. What have I done?” I groan. “I should know better than to play with fire.”