Chapter 11
RILEY
"Looks like we got off light." I inspected the last of our snowboards and leaned it up with the rest. "We were lucky. Only a couple need repair."
"It's not luck. We take care of our stuff." Connor glanced at me as if I shouldn't forget that. Like he'd let me. "Saves us a ton of money in the long run. And hassle."
"Are we still talking about snowboards?" I asked. I picked up a snow boot and started to look it over carefully, before putting it aside with the snowboards. "Or are we talking about Leah?"
"All of the above," Connor said. "I want to have a conversation with that Brooks asshole. He seems to have a chip on his shoulder bigger than mine."
That was saying something. Chip was Connor's middle name. Literally, his middle name was Charles. Which, when you thought about it, was pretty funny.
"I noticed that about him." I inspected another boot and put it beside the first. "He seems high maintenance.
" Smoking hot, but a lot of work. Like Leah, but she didn't walk around like she thought the world owed her anything.
Brooks seemed to think the world owed him everything. Yeah, apparently I had a type.
Connor snorted. "That's one word for it. I'm half tempted to put him on a toboggan and drop him off at the top of a slope. The kind that ends in a cliff." His eyes glazed for a moment, like he was picturing Brooks' rapid descent, flying off the end into the abyss and disappearing.
"I thought that's what you meant," I said. My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. "Speak of the devil. Holly said he's staying at the Snowbank Hotel. Room twenty-one."
"Do I want to know how Holly knows that?" Connor handed me another pair of boots to put in the pile that didn't need repairs.
"Probably not." I sent off a thanks to her and put my phone back. "For what it's worth, I don't think she's fucking Brooks."
Connor shrugged. "It'd make life easier if she was. Then he wouldn't want to get his dick wet in Leah."
"Yeah, he definitely wants to do that." The way he looked at her, like he wanted to tear off her clothes and bury himself deep inside her.
Who could blame him? She had the most perfect pussy.
And mouth. And…everything else. I had no problem admitting I was head over heels for the woman.
I was gone from the moment I saw her sitting in front of her easel.
Absently, I rubbed my nose where I'd gotten paint on it from 'accidentally' getting too close.
I'd wanted to see her reaction and she hadn't disappointed me.
I also hadn't missed the fact neither she nor Connor said they loved me when I told them, but that was okay. I knew how they felt. They'd say it soon enough.
"I think we're done here for the day." He straightened up, his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. "Let's go and talk to this dickhead."
"Are you going to punch him?" I shoved Connor out the door and closed the storage shed behind us before locking it carefully.
"Only if it becomes necessary," Connor said. "Wouldn't want to damage his pretty little nose."
"You think his nose is pretty?" I pocketed the keys and followed Connor out to the road.
Connor punched my bicep. "Not as pretty as yours, asshole. Stop fishing for compliments."
I rubbed my bicep and grinned. "I wasn't fishing, just asking a question.
" I was totally fishing. I wasn't jealous of Brooks or any feelings Leah or Connor might have toward him, but I wanted to know where they stood with him.
If the vibe I was getting was right. It seemed to me like everyone wanted everyone else. After we cleared a bunch of air.
Connor rolled his eyes at me. "I know you better than that. You practically had your rod in your hand, bait on the hook."
"And now you're thinking about having my rod in your hand." I grinned. I could almost feel his calloused fingers wrapped around me, stroking slowly, coaxing me toward orgasm. His eyes dark while he watched me draw closer and closer to the edge. Me decorating his hand with my cum.
He rammed his shoulder into mine without slowing the pace. "Later. We need to deal with this guy first."
"And by deal with him, you mean…" I teased. Connor was the one who brought the word rod into the conversation. If he didn't want me aroused, he shouldn't have gone there. Even if he did it unintentionally, the result was the same.
"I'm not going there to fuck him," Connor said bluntly.
"We owe it to Leah to know what his agenda is.
He didn't follow her all the way here for nothing.
And I don't think he followed her here so he could fuck her either.
A guy like that, he could get pussy whenever he wanted. No, there's more to it than that."
"Guys have done less for a certain pussy," I pointed out. "And he saw hers who knows how many times? I've seen it less often and I'm addicted." Honestly, I was addicted to hers before I saw it, because of the way Connor described her to me. The reality was even better.
"Imagine seeing her pussy and never touching it." If anything was going to drive me crazy in life, it would be that. Never being able to touch her and make her come… No wonder Brooks was so uptight. I would be too, in his situation.
"Nightmare material," Connor said.
"Exactly."
We walked the couple of blocks to the small hotel on the edge of town.
Little more than a handful of rooms over two levels, and a reception office, it was one of the cheaper places to stay in Aurora Hollow.
From this time of year on, it'd be booked solid.
Brooks must have been lucky to get a room here at all.
I followed Connor carefully up the steps to the second floor, and over the landing to room twenty-one. He hammered on the door and we both stood outside and waited.
After a minute or two, the door swung inwards and Brooks stood inside, glaring at us.
"Oh look, it's the dickhead twins," he said sarcastically. "What the fuck do you want?"
Connor shouldered him out of the way and stepped inside. "To talk."
I smiled at Brooks before stepping past him, into the tiny room.
A queen size bed took up most of the space, the covers faded, but cosy.
Another door led to a small, neat bathroom.
A bright green suitcase sat against a wall, the lid open.
The contents were neatly folded inside several packing cubes, which were also open.
The guy hadn't packed in a hurry. And he took his time to carefully repack.
Fair enough, this room would get overrun with stuff in a blink if he let it.
Brooks sighed and closed the door, keeping the warmth in. "What do you want to talk about? The weather? Wait, let me guess. You want to compare cock sizes."
"I mean…" I raised my eyebrows at both of them. "What? A guy gets curious." My gaze dropped to their groins speculatively. If I had to guess, I'd say they were both as big as each other. Nice. I bet Brooks knew what to do with his too. Connor sure did.
So did I, of course.
"We're not here to compare cock size." Connor slid me a look. "I'd win anyway. We're here to talk about Leah."
"No shit." Brooks leaned his back against the door and crossed his arms. "If you've come to tell me to stay away from her—"
"We haven't," Connor said. "That's up to her."
"Then why are you here?" Brooks closed his eyes as if that might make us disappear. Good luck with that, since he was blocking the only exit.
"We want to know why you followed her here," I said bluntly, since they were only going to beat around the bush anyway.
"You seem angry with her because your parents were assholes.
" Was Leah actually related to any of them?
Not Brooks, obviously, not his father. What about her mother?
This whole situation was complicated. And yet, at the same time it wasn't. She was still Leah, when it came down to it.
Still the woman I loved. The woman Connor loved.
"She's impulsive," Brooks said. "She took off up here and I wanted to know why. What's the big deal about Aurora Hollow?" He jerked his head back toward the door, making a blonde curl fall over one eye. He shoved it back impatiently.
"Hello? Have you looked around town?" I cocked my head at him. "This place is special."
Brooks scoffed. "I don't see what's so special about it. It's fucking snowing outside."
"Congratulations, hammer, on hitting the nail right on the head." I smirked. "That's just one of the things that makes it special. So you came here because you were curious about where Leah was living?"
"I don't buy it," Connor said. "If you resent her so much, why would you give a shit about where she is?
" He tucked his hands into his pockets again and leaned back.
His hazel eyes were intense, wanting the whole truth, or at least some blunt honesty.
As much as Brooks was willing to give right now.
Brooks narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't resent her. I fucking hate them. I hate what they did to both of us. But her…" He shook his head slowly.
"You're in love with her," I blurted. "You were watching her, and you followed her because you love her. But you're sure she doesn't feel the same way."
He slid me a resentful glance. "Why should she? I've always been an asshole to her."
I shared a silent look with Connor. "Maybe this is your chance to not be an asshole to her."
"What are you talking about?" Brooks pushed himself off the door.
"Leah has gone through a lot," I said. "I was thinking of doing something nice for her tonight. Something romantic. If you agree not to be a dickhead, maybe we'll invite you to come along."
I'd taken Connor by surprise with that, but he rallied quickly and nodded.
"She deserves to be spoilt. We're the guys to do it.
" His expression was challenging, as if he was suggesting Brooks wasn't up to it.
Of course in doing that, he knew the other guy wouldn't have a choice.
If only to prove Connor wrong, Brooks would go along with it.
I didn't miss the way the front of Connor’s jeans was tighter. We would spoil her like that too, but I had something else in mind first.
I briefly thought about Josiah, but tonight was not the night to try to make amends with him.
We’d have to figure that out soon though.
If he'd even let us. If I was him, I'd probably tell us to fuck all the way off.
For Leah's sake, we'd have to try. If he wanted nothing to do with us, we'd figure that out later too. One step at a time.
"What sort of spoiling?" Brooks still looked doubtful, but curious in spite of himself. He knew he was being played, but for now we had an understanding. How long would it last? That was anyone's guess. Hopefully long enough for my fantasies to come to life.
"Well…" I started.