“Darlings, you’re finally here! I’ve been waiting so long for you. Oh my goodness, look at you all.” She brushes past everyone, her sight laser focused on Harlow, who’s standing with Declan.
“Look at you! Aren’t you absolutely gorgeous? I am so happy to finally meet you.” A wave of her perfume tickles my nose as she gathers Harlow up into her arms, squeezing her tight.
Hope and I can’t control our giggles at the startled look on Harlow’s face before she returns our aunt’s hug.
“Now, did you get my gift? I mean, I’m sure you are perfectly capable of keeping six strapping young men like my nephews interested, but it doesn’t hurt to have a few toys to play with too.” Aunt Mer’s voice carries across the lobby, and Harlow turns as pink as a dragon fruit.
“Oh hush, Merideth, we don’t need to share our private lives with the whole hotel. And I’ll have you know that our Harlow can indeed keep up with our boys, so much so that she’s already carrying their first baby!”
Harlow groans as Nana steps up and gives Merideth a hug. “You’re pregnant? That’s wonderful.” She starts to hug all the boys but stops when she gets to Cole.
“Oh, hello there, you’re not one of my nephews.” She looks him up and down. “But you are a very handsome man. Who do you belong to?” She bats her eyelids at him, and Cole looks to Dad for help.
“Oh, for god’s sake, woman. Keep it in your pants for five minutes. Don’t you dare go scaring off our new head of public relations.” Poppy drags his sister away from poor Cole. Aunt Mer had been running her hand up and down his arm, and he was starting to look a little nervous. I giggle again, unable to stop myself, and of course she hears it. She spins, and now Hope and I are in her sights.
“Fuck, now you’ve done it,” Hope mutters under her breath.
“Ah, there are my pretty girls! Hope, it’s about time they adopted you. I’m so happy I can officially call you my niece now.” Merideth gives her a hug before turning to face me. “Oh, Jazzy. You have been naughty, darling. Your technique looked a little lacking. While you’re here, you should take a blow job lesson from one of our experts. Maybe that’s why you haven’t snared yourself a harem like Harlow has.” She turns to look at Hope, her eyes narrowing. “I should book you both in with one of our experts.”
Before I can reply, Jaxon finally joins us and starts handing out keys.
“Jaxon, dear, there you are. Is everything all organized for our grand opening?” Thank God Merideth gets distracted and bustles off again.
“Thank fuck that woman has the attention span of a goldfish.” Hope sighs in relief, and I snort.
“Please don’t let that act fool you. She’s as sharp as a knife and acts like that so people will underestimate her.”
Jaxon hands us all our cards. Hope and I have rooms below the penthouse where Harlow and the guys are staying after the big party. They’re doing tours during the opening gala tomorrow night, so they have a suite on our floor tonight. Then they’ll move to the penthouse, where they plan on spending the week relaxing and taking a break before returning home.
“Okay, let’s all meet in the dining room in half an hour. That gives you time to change into something more appropriate for dining in.” Merideth turns her nose up at all of us. Every one of us wore something casual and comfortable on the plane—clothes that are not up to her particular standard. Though Dad and the girls and Nana and Poppy changed before we landed.
We escape to the elevators, and I watch Aunt Merideth zero in on Molly and Emma. Of course they’re not going to escape her interrogation. I bet they’ll be wishing they could drink by the end of it. I can’t wait to see what her reaction is to the both of them being pregnant. She’ll probably take all the credit somehow.
Luckily for them, Aunt Merideth hasn’t noticed our security following us yet. I pity them when she does, because Riku isn’t the only handsome one among them. I’m sure she’ll make it her mission to seduce one or two of them before the weekend is over. She does like a younger man.
* * *
I’ve barely been in my room for ten minutes, still trying to decide what to wear to lunch, when there’s a knock at my door. I’m only in my underwear, so I grab one of the silk robes and pull it over me before peering through the peephole. My stomach sinks when I see a rather annoyed-looking Alex, with Jace and Shane behind him. They seem to be trying to calm him down, but Alex looks determined. I heave out a sigh and open the door, prepared to face the music now that I know he and Ashton had been intimately involved.
Alex dramatically brushes past me, followed by the other two. “Come right in, won’t you?” I mutter sarcastically as I close the door behind them.
Before I can say anything, Alex starts ranting. “What is this? Are we not good enough for you? Are you playing us for fools? Let me tell you, that man willnevercommit to you. He will never be happy pretending to be straight for anyone, but he won’t ever be honest because he’s scared to death of that vile grandmother of his.”
“Hey, hey, calm down.” Shane gathers Alex in his arms and squeezes him tight. “Why don’t you give Jacinta a chance to explain? I’m sure she has a perfectly good reason for what happened. Plus, we haven’t really established boundaries within our relationship. We never asked her to be exclusive.”
Alex sneers. “I kind of thought it went without saying.” I can hear the hurt in his words, but I still feel a wave of annoyance.
“Sure, yet here you are encouraging me to spend time with Riku and Cole. So is it only people you’re interested in that are allowed in this relationship?”
Alex flinches like I’ve slapped him. “Those men are completely hetero. There’s no interest on my behalf at all!”
“Oh, so it’s only men that you approve of then? My wants and needs don’t come into this?” He pulls out of Shane’s arms, and he and I are chest to chest much like Cole and I were the other day.
“No, but it would be nice to be consulted if you’re going to bring anyone else into this relationship.”
“And it would be nice to be trusted,” I growl back at him.
“Well, short of having your mouth actually wrapped around his cock, you’ve got to admit the photo is pretty… damaging,” Jace points out as he lowers himself onto the sofa in my room.
