Lex and Axel waltz in looking like the S & M club just let out. Lex has always had a very distinct dom vibe about her, so the leather and chains don’t really shock me. But Ax, well, he’s sort of your straight-laced lawyer type, and tonight he looks as if he’s about to demand I bend over so he can teach me a lesson. He’s every bit the bad dungeon master with his leather jacket and matching leatherpants.
“Dude.” Brody can’t hold back his laughter. “You’re going to need some Vaseline to get out of those sausage casings you’ve locked yourselfinto.”
“You should know,” Axel grunts before demanding a beer. “Levi called.” He looks my way, and I give an open-mouthed smile at the mention of my brother’s name. “He said they’d be home next week. He and Low send theirlove.”
Yes! I inwardly cheer. As much as I miss my brother, I miss my best friend ten thousand times more. It’s taken all of my self-control not to text her a million times by now, and even though she’s sent a steady stream of pictures from paradise, I didn’t have the heart to interrupt their coupletime.
“That’s great!” I smack Lex over the arm and accidently impale my knuckles over the spike strip she wears on the regular. Hey, come to think of it, every day is Halloween with the Wicked Witch of Barnes around. Barnes is the uptight all-girls’ school Lex went to, while the rest of us normal plebs shuffled off to Briggs to minor in debauchery. “I can’t wait to have my bestie back. We’ll have sleepovers, and snuggle up and watch rom-coms nonstop, and popcorn!” I smack her again to my detriment. “Oh, the popcorn we’lleat!”
“I’ll be there.” She gives a sly wink. “But nix the sleepover. Low and I have plus ones we prefer to bed rather than you. No offense.” She looks me up and down and snorts. “As if you’d ever clean acorner.”
“That’s not the point, in the event you don’t get it. Tonight is about celebrating the ironic. And in that respect, I nailed this costume.” I tickle her nose with my feather duster and then move right down to her nether regions. “I hope you suffered an indecent amount of ingrown hairs for the hell you put my girl partsthrough.”
“Ugh.” She looks to the ceiling. “I’ll never do that again. Who knew a little regrowth could burn and itch likefire?”
“I’d get that checked out if I were you,” I tease. It so did itch and burn like fire. I casually glance back in Brody’s general direction, fully expecting him to be carrying on a conversation with Axel, but Ax has done a disappearing act, and in his place stands Little Bo Peep trying to snag herself one handsome bartender. Brody laughs at something foolish streaming from her lips, and I can feel my face growing hot with both rage andembarrassment.
“Whoa.” Lex pulls me back. “Don’t tell me Frenchie here is interested in cleaning out her new landlord’s boxer drawers.” Her eyes bead to nothing as she scours myfeatures.
“He’s not my landlord.” I shake myself loose. “Brody is actually letting me live there for free, unlike some people.” Truthfully, we haven’t even discussed monetary transactions taking place. Brody really is like family, and something about the thought depressesme.
“You didn’t pay a dime,” she’s quick toprotest.
“Okay, but youwantedit.” I glance over to Brody and bite down on my lower lip because, my God, I so wanthim.
“Wait a minute.” Her mouth falls open as she looks from him to me. “You like him, don’tyou?”
“As if I would ever admit that to you.” I avert my gaze. “And, of course, Ilikehim. He’s practically my thirdbrother.”
“Uh-uh.” She shakes her head, that wild stare still pinned to mine. “I can tell by the way you’re acting. You’re jealous of the two ofthem.”
“Oh, would you stop!” I swat her over the arm three times fast, and it feels oddly cathartic. I’ve always sensed beating Lex Maxfield to a pulp would rejuvenate my wary soul. “I get it. You’re psychicandpsychotic.” I scratch the back of my neck because this damn polyester tag is about to eat a hole right through my flesh. Cheap dime store costume. “So, what if I do? It’s not like he’s capable of noticing me. I’m practicallyfamily.”
She makes a face as if agreeing. “You should kiss him. Kisses neverlie.”
“What?” I squawk at what a damn good and bad idea she spewed at the very same time. “And how the hell am I supposed to do that?” Please, dear God, have her spill all the dirtydeets!
Her shoulders bounce to her ears, and she shudders. “You’re the one with the MBA. I’m just a lowly old Barnes girl, remember? Didn’t they teach you that in Wiley Ways101?”
“I don’t remember. Maybe we can ask yoursister.”
Lex gasps, and I can’t help but give a nervous laugh. Lex is mortified by the fact her little sister Serena chose WB over Barnes. It’s been a sore spot for three blissfulmonths.
Axel comes by and collects Lex as they maneuver to the dance floor. Axel isn’t much into music unless it’s slow, and then both he and Lex really get their hip-hugging groove on. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if those two ended up with an entire brood of ankle biters long before the nuptials. But then, if Levi and Low are on their way back, I suppose those nuptials are just around thecorner.
Brody and Bo Peep make small talk the rest of the night. My God, what can he possibly find so fascinating about a woman who chooses to flaunt her barnyard animal fetish among the masses? And, of course, I spend my time hitting hard on Mojo with the baseball bat of my affection and, quite frankly, I’m a little insulted that I don’t get a proposition once the night isthrough.
The evening wraps up, and Brody and I drive home in silence. The tension is so thick you could drive a bloody hatchet throughit.
The web fort we worked so hard on has been dismantled, most likely by an angry mob of toddlers, and even some of the decorations are scattered across the yard as if a tornado hit theproperty.
“While we’re away, the vandals will play,” he says as he unlocks the house and allows me to step in first. Brody and I pause in the foyer just staring one another down as if we were in the middle of a war. “Saw you talking to Mojo tonight,” he grunts. His lids hood low as if he’s good and pissed—or trying his best to seduce me. Let’s go with that one. “You get anywhere withhim?”
I shrug. “Not as far as you got with Bo Peep.” It’s true. Holy hell, the way her arms were traversing his chest, I’m pretty sure it counts as second base in reverse. I glance down at that chiseled chest, those biceps that bulge like balloons—it’s a wonder he can get a shirt on. My mouth waters just dying for a single bite of this beefcake beforeme.
He offers up something between a smile and a frown. “Turns out, she’s up foranything.”
“Oh?” I swallow past the lump forming in my throat. I guess I couldn’t have expected him to go on forever without getting lucky. I’m sure his dick is about to invert from lack of attention. “Anytime you want to bring her by, just give me the heads-up. I’ll camp out at Chip’s for the night.” Lie. Chip and Meredith share custody of baby Maxie, and I’m half-afraid I’ll get stuck with the three a.m. feeding—not to mention the fact who the hell is going to barricade Brody’s bedroom door from roving strippers disguised as a fairytale gonewrong?
