Deacon shoots Drew a flinty look. “Likewise.”
He still has my arm in his grip, so I yank it free and fold my hands over my chest, communicating my disapproval with this entire endeavor.
“So…hypothetically,” Deacon continues, “if you were at a club or somewhere and you saw a guy who looked exactly like Jackson—would you be interested?”
Understandably, the question is met with a whole bunch of raised eyebrows.
“Why are we answering this?” Cole asks awkwardly.
“It’s purely hypothetical,” Deacon reiterates.
Charlie lets out a disdainful snort. “No it’s not. Just ask what you actually want to know—do we think Jackson’s hot? The answer is yes. Absolutely.”
“Seriously, dude, bemoreadamant,” Sully drawls.
“What, I’m supposed to lie?” Charlie protests. “It’s not like I’mactuallyattracted to him, but I’m not fucking blind.”
“Yeah, I have to agree,” Paxton says, rubbing a hand thoughtfully over the silver stubble covering his jaw. “He’s a hot guy. If I didn’t know Jax and I saw this hypothetical doppelganger out somewhere, I’d be interested.”
“I’m not sure I’d want to actually go there—hypothetically, obviously,” Cole rushes to clarify, “but I can definitely see the appeal.”
“Same,” Sullivan agrees. “Not my type—way too big and bulky and tatted up—but objectively he’s an attractive guy.”
“He says as his six foot tall, two hundred pound, pierced and tattooed fiancé is standing next to him,” Drew says wryly.
Sully offers Drew an adoring smile. “I keep telling you, babe, you’re the exception. And I think one beard is enough in any relationship.”
Spencer turns to Will, eyebrow raised in question. “Am I allowed to answer this?”
Will just shrugs. “Go for it, I’m going to—he’s fucking hot.”
Spencer lets out a soft laugh and leans over to press a kiss to Will’s bright blond hair “Okay, then. If we’re talking hypotheticals, then yeah—if I saw someone who looked exactly like Jax at a bar or something before I met Will, I’d have definitely been interested. But the real Jackson is like a marshmallow-eating teddy bear, which is very unappealing to me.”
“I’m not a teddy bear?” Will asks, his face arranged in mock-hurt.
Spencer just grins at him. “Babe, you eat teddy bears for breakfast.”
“And let’s not forget the real Jackson is straight,” Cole points out.
Finally, I’ve had enough. “Fucking hell, stop objectifying him,” I growl, glaring at each one of my friends in turn.
The response is a bunch of wide eyes and awkward glances. At each other. At Deacon. But no one is looking at me.
“Um, okay, sorry…that probably ran away from me a bit,” Deacon says. “But it proved my point, so thanks for your help.”
“And what point was that, exactly?” Will asks.
Deacon offers a dismissive wave. “It’s kind of a long story. Come on, Sky, let’s go get a drink.”
I send some more frosty looks around the group, prompting Cole to raise his hands in innocence, proclaiming, “Hey, I said hewasn’thot.”
I told my arms over my chest and narrow my eyes at him. “Oh, so he’s notgood enoughfor you? What’s wrong with him? Do you not like amazing guys?”
“Okay, come on, Skyler,” Deacon cajoles, grabbing my arm and dragging me away while Cole stares around helplessly, getting a few commiserating pats on the back from the other guys.
“Here, drink this,” Deacon practically orders, grabbing a beer from the ice bucket that’s sitting on the dining table and shoving it against my chest.
I don’t really feel like another drink, but I shrug and snap the cap off, taking a generous swig. “Why did you do that?”
