My brain blanked, and the simmering heat that had boiled in me earlier with Rowen and Cillian blazed to life in my belly, confusing me. I stuck out my pointer finger and traced a line between the defined ridges of his ab muscles. “Your skin is very soft. I don’t think I’ve ever touched anyone who feels like this.”
“I keep it smooth that way so people want to put their lips on me.”
“On your stomach?” I glanced up fast and met his intense gaze.
“And lower.”
I stared at him and my cheeks heated. Was he flirting? It seemed like maybe he was? I wasn’t sure. “Uh....” I got distracted and danced my finger along the top of his pants and to his side. He rested his hand on mine and drew my finger back to beneath his belly button. “You say you wax everywhere?” I squeaked out.
“Fallon, what the hell? Why are ye molesting him?” Cillian barked, and I jumped. When had he gotten here? He stood with his arms crossed not too far away, glaring. The white undershirt and suit pants he wore were filthy, and the attractive dip in his chin stood out prominently as his jaw hardened.
“He was showing me that he waxes,” I volunteered.
The front door slammed shut and Rowen came in to stand beside Cillian, his red hair glinting under the overhead light. He appeared to be damp, maybe with sweat. “Fallon does what now?”
“Like a woman,” Cillian drawled.
Rowen bit at the inside of his lip and shared a not so nice look with Cillian.
“Do ye go to the salon to have that done, Fallon? Do ye put on yer heels first,” Cillian asked.
“That’s not very kind,” I murmured. “What if he does? It’s not good to make fun of people for the way they dress. Everyone can do whatever they want these days. I know some people in the administration at the university who have told the man who teaches Medical Ethics not to wear his skirt anymore, but that wasn’t necessary. It’s not distracting.” I crossed my arms and tried to get them to stop. “It’s okay if you like to wear heels or dresses or anything else.” I made sure I met Fallon’s gaze as I spoke so he would know I was sincere.
Fallon glared around the room like he wanted to murder someone, and Cillian and Rowen began hooting with laughter.
“Fuck you, and you too,” he spat, pointing at them in turn. “Who cares if I did go to a salon? Vail’s right. I can still knock you the fuck out. You think it’s cool to have hair everywhere so you gag someone with wild pubes? That just makes you disgusting. No wonder you have to share. You can’t convince more than one person to fuck, you ungroomed motherfuckers. Vail took pity on you.”
They only laughed harder.
“I have pubic hair, but I trim,” I offered up, but for some reason that only had Fallon’s face turning pink, and Rowen and Cillian holding their stomachs as they nearly died with laughter. Fallon stormed away but made sure to bump Rowen hard with his shoulder on the way past. Cillian chased after him with a scowl and shoved him into a wall, which had Fallon pulling back to punch him, but at the last second he only showed his palms and growled. That sent Cillian back into peals of laughter.
“Watch yerself,” he called after Fallon as he went through a doorway to the left I thought might lead to the living room.
All the meanness between them had me feeling uncomfortable. “I didn’t expect to see you again,” I said quietly to Rowen. There was something all over him and I squinted. Rusty dirt?
“Why?” he asked, with a frown taking over his face.
“Probably the same thing I told ye,” Cillian said. “We were just a fuck to him.” He shrugged, but his expression hardened. “We’re men. That’s that.”
My face heated, and I stared at the half-eaten slice of pizza on my plate, unhappiness growing in me.
Rowen sat down near me in the chair Fallon had abandoned and glared at Cillian, then transferred his attention to me. “Were ye thinking ye didn’t want more with us than tonight?”
“I wasn’t considering anything much, really.” I rubbed my palms along my thighs and made myself look at him. “I don’t get to decide if you two want to see me again or not. You do. It seemed unlikely you would want more time with me. It’s impossible for me to be like everyone else. I’ll irritate you and hurt your feelings without meaning to do it.”
“Who told ye that ye were a pain in the arse?” Cillian asked, eyebrows lowering.
My gut clenched. “Is that blood on you?” I startled toward Rowen. “Both of you? You changed your clothes. That blue suit is nice with your eyes, Rowen.”
Cillian’s chest expanded and he stood taller. He walked over and smacked the back of Rowen’s head hard enough that he jerked forward from it. “Me clothes go with me eyes, too.”
Rowen shook his head and glared at Cillian before glancing back at me. “It’s—uh—not blood. We had a friend who needed emergency help.”
“Oh, is that why you rushed off? Fallon said you were called in to work. He must have been confused.”
Rowen groaned. “Yeah, this isn’t blood, it’s... uh... paint.”
Frowning, I tried to make sense of what he was saying. “You changed into suits to go and paint?”
