12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Molly
I thought Lucas would never leave.
Don’t get me wrong—I loved having my brother over and it was a nice transition having him here as I was moving in. But I desperately needed to lay down some ground rules with Preston and Emmett, and I was also dying to know exactly how Emmett planned on teaching me about romance.
Neither of those conversations were topics I wanted my brother present for.
We got all my stuff in pretty quickly. It was fast work, with the four of us passing Henry around as we unloaded the cars.
Preston was careful to bring the box with the contraband in when my brother was feeding the baby, giving me time to get my vibrators tucked away safely.
The smile he gave me when I thanked him was one of the softest, sweetest smiles I’d ever seen from Preston Ledger, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to ever get it out of my mind.
That smile would come crashing to the surface whenever I heard his name.
It didn’t even bother me how it meant he figured out what was in the box—that did something else entirely to my body.
Lucas finally left, and I was officially living with two of his friends.
It should have felt weird, but I was surrounded by boxes and bags in a room that immediately felt like it was made for me.
The soft blue walls were accented with fake wainscotting, the rectangular pattern filled with a medium blue wallpaper covered in roses.
The honey oak floors were softened by a thick blue rug with fresh vacuum lines on it—no doubt curtesy of Emmett.
And the bay window opposite the door had a built-in reading bench.
The sunlight streamed in, casting an ethereal glow over my new room, and I sighed. This house, coupled with the two men ordering lunch downstairs, was better than any apartment I could have hoped to find.
I stepped back, snapping a picture from the doorway to send Juliet.
She called the second it went through. “I’m so jealous I’m not there right now.”
“Come over when you get off work.”
“I’ll bring dinner.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I insisted.
“I do, though. I wasn’t there to help you move in—”
“Preston and Emmett were—”
“And that’s exactly why I need to stop by with dinner,” she cut in. “When Romeo and I move, we might need their muscles.”
I laughed and put her on speaker so I could hang my clothes up. “Lucas also helped. Are you going to recruit him, too?”
“Definitely. How did all the moving go?”
“We had it done pretty fast and now I’m putting everything where it goes.”
“I’m surprised Lucas came,” she said, and I could hear the frown in her voice.
“Why?” I perched on the edge of my bed and flopped back, convinced my bed felt different here. Better.
“Rebecca got back this morning.”
“Are you sure?”
“I saw her at Roxie’s Café.”
I ran my fingers along the stitches of my comforter and shrugged, even though Juliet couldn’t see me. “She probably needed a nap after traveling. Lucas had Henry with him. He’s babbling so much, and I’m convinced his first word is going to be my name.”
Juliet laughed. “What does Lucas think about that?”
“What Lucas doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” The truth of that sent a flutter of nerves through me. It was spot on for so much of what was going on in my life.
I had just lined up the trinkets on my dresser when Preston called up the stairs and said our food had arrived.
“Coming,” I yelled back.
Living with Preston was going to be good.
It would be dramatically different from living with Juliet, but I felt like I was right where I was supposed to be.
Just thinking about being under the same roof as him gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, like slipping my feet into buttery soft socks.
No. Maybe a little more than just that, especially when I factored in Emmett.
Living with both of them was more like thrusting my toes directly into a fire.
Or somewhere in between.
I wasn’t sure.
“I really appreciate you guys using your day off to help me move,” I said, grabbing a plate from Emmett on my way to the table.
His thumb covered mine, and I gasped, my cheeks instantly red.
“Do you even know how responsive you are?” Preston asked. His voice was low and rumbly, and I felt it in the depths of my soul. A place that Preston had never inhabited but was quickly becoming a reoccurring guest.
“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice choked with confusion and something bigger I didn’t quite recognize.
His eyes darkened for a split second before he shook his head, replacing the strange, smoldering look with his best smile. “It’s nothing. Come, eat.”
Okay. Yeah. Sure. I could just saunter over to the table, plate up my food, and dig in like my whole body wasn’t on fire.
I couldn’t believe moments ago I felt like I was right where I was supposed to be. Living with Preston was going to be so hard, and I wasn’t even sure I could articulate why if someone asked me.
It was lust.
That was it.
Maybe I was ovulating. I did some mental math, counting backwards and—nope. I couldn’t blame it solely on hormones. Although they had to be at least part of the cause. Being in such close proximity to Preston and Emmett was affecting me more than I thought it would.
This was good, though. I could work with it. As long as I didn’t climb out of my skin first. It was the exact experience I needed for my manuscript. The motto sex sells was famous for a reason. Maybe it wasn’t love I needed to be able to write about, but lust.
Pure, primal, rip-off-his-clothes lust.
I glanced at Emmett, ripping my gaze away the second it felt like he could read my thoughts.
Preston sat across from me, his eyes still a little too dark as he smiled and dug into his food.
At least he could eat. That was good. It didn’t mean we were going to tear each other’s clothes off and go at it on the table.
I sucked in a deep breath, willing my body to cool off before I made a fool of myself. I was in way over my head.
“This is delicious,” Emmett said, spearing broccoli with his fork and closing his eyes as he took a bite.
I took a tentative bite of my own broccoli. It was good. Salty with a hint of sweetness. I focused on each of those little green clumps, chewing them longer than I’d ever chewed anything. I had to do something to get Emmett’s satisfied face out of my mind.
A knock at the door startled me out of my thoughts—the ones that were definitely not trying to work out how being with two men would even go.
These were my brother’s friends. One of them was my brother’s best friend in the whole world. That made him so far off-limits, I needed to pull myself together and forget he even existed.
Would they kick me out if they knew I was covertly pressing my thighs together, trying to ignore the heat pooling between my legs as Preston got up and walked past me on his way to the front door?
“Hey! Welcome,” he said, as I heard someone walk in.
Twisting in my seat, I embarrassingly groaned when I couldn’t see the front door.
“Want to go out there with me?” Emmett asked, putting his hand out.
What was I supposed to do with that? I looked at his hand and then up at him and was about to take him up on the offer, waltzing out to the front room like we were at a ball, but then Preston walked in with Juliet.
My eyes widened, and I got to my feet, pulling her in for a hug.
“Miss me?” she teased.
More than you know. “I didn’t know you were coming over,” I said, squeezing her tightly before letting go.
“I was in the neighborhood—oh, who am I kidding?” She smacked my arm. “I couldn’t wait until tonight. I had to see the new place the second I got off work.”
A huge grin split my face until my cheeks hurt. I needed something to distract me from how intimate our meal was feeling, and she was the answer to my prayers.
Her eyes raked over the table, and she winced. “Oh, you guys are eating? I can wait.”
“No. I’ve been dying to show you my room.” I turned to Emmett, nerves fluttering through my arms. “Is it okay if I show her the rest of the house, too?”
“Absolutely.” He smiled, and the nerves fluttered through my entire body. “It’s your place, too, Rookie.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, the nerves threatening to engulf me.
“Rookie?” Juliet mouthed as I pushed her out of the dining room.
“It’s just a thing he calls me,” I whispered when we were out of earshot. “Because I’m new to love.”
“And?”
“And I’m showing you the house.”
She stood in the center of the room, scanned from floor to ceiling, and clapped her hands. “Great. I’ve seen everything I need to see. What do you mean he knows you’re new to love?”
“Come on.” I tugged her upstairs. “At least give me the decency to tell you this in my room.”
As we rushed down the hall, she pointed to Emmett’s room. “Have you been in there yet?”
“Of course not.”
“What about—” She grinned when she saw the small plaque outside of Preston’s room, announcing its occupant. “That one?”
“Yes, but just to get something for Lucas earlier. It’s not like that—”
“You want it to be, though.” She wiggled her eyebrows obnoxiously.
“Juliet!” I pulled her into my room and shut the door behind us, slumping against it as I covered my face. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
She stood in the center of the room and gave it the same once-over the living room got. “Beautiful room. So, about this nickname?”
I groaned from my spot on the floor. “I might have told them about Marcus Kent and how I’ve never been kissed, and how my manuscript hinges on me successfully telling a romantic story.”
“Molly,” Juliet breathed.
My stomach flipped. “What? How bad did I mess up?”
She shook her head, eyes wide. “You didn’t mess up at all.”
“Are you sure? Now Emmett’s convinced he can teach me about love, and he’s got some plan we’re going to talk about after we eat—”
“And I interrupted your meal.” She grimaced. “Geez, Moll. I’m so sorry—”
“Don’t apologize. I wasn’t sure I could handle another second of watching Emmett eat broccoli.”
“Does he chew with his mouth open?”
“No. Worse. He took a bite and made this little sound and closed his eyes.”
Juliet’s eyes widened again.
“What?”
“You have feelings for him.”
I laughed and shook my head, my hair bristling against the door. “Nope. I never have feelings for anyone.”
“You’re blushing.”
“I just met him.”
“Not really. You’ve known him for a while,” she said, as if piecing a puzzle together. “You’re getting to know him better and you’re realizing he’s worth getting to know even more.”
Something in her words made my heart take flight, but the second it threatened to burst from my chest, it sank with a resounding thud. I couldn’t have feelings for Emmett. Where would that leave Preston?
And why did that bother me so badly?
Wait. Juliet was wrong. I didn’t have feelings for Emmett. He was just someone I was getting to know. Maybe it was the start of a beautiful friendship. My quest to learn more about romance had me all jumbled and confused.
“Why do you look like you just ate something rotten?” Juliet asked.
“I don’t have feelings for him. I feel exactly the same about him as I do about Preston.” I crossed my arms, not attempting to hide my smugness at being right.
Juliet laughed so loud—hooted, really—that I was worried Preston and Emmett would run up to check on us.
“Quiet,” I hissed. “What’s wrong with you?”
“You mean Preston? As in Preston Ledger? The guy you’ve been crushing on hard forever?”
“I have not—”
“Oh, Molly. Wake up, my friend. You have it bad and you’re only on day one of being their roommate.”
I shook my head, laughter bubbling up from me, too. “You are so wrong. Just because you think you found love doesn’t mean that’s something we’ll all find.”
“Because I think I found love?” She frowned and my stomach flipped. “Since you’re my best friend and so incredibly misguided, I’ll let that go. But Molly, you’re going to have to face the music. You like both of them.”
“Well, Emmett has a plan to teach me about romance, and I know it won’t work. I mean, I’ll use what I learn to write my book, but it won’t work on me.”
She smirked. “We’ll see.”
“I’m serious—”
She grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the door. “We’ll see,” she repeated, opening the door and racing down the hall before I could stop her.