“Wewouldn’t, as in me or Langston,” West muttered under his breath. “Now, if someoneelsein our community might losehis head and plot this poor unknowing bastard’s murder? Yes, that is a concern I have.”
While they bickered back and forth about how Dax would react to Finley’s date, an idea hit me. This thing building between me and West, tipping our friendship closer to the “more than friends” category, was terrifying. Add in how my body reacted around him and Langston both, and I needed a distraction.
“Does this guy you’re going out with have a friend?” I blurted before I lost my nerve.
The cabin went silent. It was so quiet I swear I heard West’s blood pressure as it ticked higher and higher, a flush creeping up his neck and face, reddening his naturally tan skin.
“A friend?” Finley asked, drawing my attention from West. Her lips pulled into a wide, playful grin as her gaze bounced between the two of us. “I’m sure he does. A double date is a great idea. Are you sure?”
I blew out a raspberry, lips tingling with the vibration. “Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve been on a first date, so that part sounds horrible, but I think I need the… after part.”
“You mean you need to get laid,” Finley laughed. “You don’t want a date; you just want the fun that comes with it.”
Muttering a string of curses, West shoved out of the chair, sending it careering backward a few inches, and stormed out the front door, slamming it shut behind him.
I blinked at the solid wood, shocked at his palpable frustration and that he’d left without even saying goodbye.
“He’ll be fine, Juno. He probably just needed to leave before he said something to mess up”—she gestured between me and the direction West vanished—“that.”
“What does that mean?”
“Come on,” she sighed. “We all know it’s only a matter of time before you three figure out you’re absolutely obsessed with each other and start bumping uglies.”
Picking up a piece of discarded popcorn, I threw it at her face. “Do you really want to talk about unspoken obsessions, Finley Jane?”
She swallowed hard and shook her head. “Had to toss out the middle name, did ya?”
“I’m just saying, I’ll stay out of your complicated mess if you stay out of mine. I don’t know what’s going on between me, West, and Langston. All I know is….” I blew out a breath.
“You’re scared of what it could be,” she whispered.
“And losing myself in it.”
“And what would happen if it didn’t work out?”
We sat in silence, both mourning relationships we wanted but knew could never happen. She and Dax, me and the two men who made me feel alive and all me.
“So,” I said with a clap to redirect our thoughts, “when and where is this double date?”
I was playing with fire, going on the date with West—and undoubtedly Langston, soon—in the know.
Only time would tell if it was them, or me, or all of us who would get burned.
5
LANGSTON
The skin around my knuckles pulled and burned with every slam of my fist against the punching bag I’d been working for the last thirty minutes. The muscle-memory motions combined with the sound of skin slapping the red leather and the smells of the gym soothed me in a way no amount of running or other cardio could. It was also a perfect outlet for my mounting frustration, which made coming to Oliver’s gym a necessity after West’s announcement yesterday.
Several feet away, in the far corner among the dust bunnies and spider webs, my best friend’s feet pounded on the ancient treadmill, glaring at the cracked wall like it was the one who asked Juno out on a date. It took a lot to make him this angry, but somehow she’d accomplished it. We both had pent-up frustration that needed to be worked out before we exploded on each other or someone else, not only because of Juno’s date, but for me the two hours I’d worked side by side with her earlier, helping her with the information she needed for the scheduling system.
It was hell sitting beside her, her gorgeous eyes squinting in concentration, her naturally soft scent wafting off her fair skin every time she moved or flicked her hair. When she spoke, I couldn’t help but stare at her lips, wondering how they would feel on me. Plus, watching her work, her fingers flying over the keyboard and the determined focus she had while coding, was sexy as hell. Not only was the woman feisty in how she pushed my many buttons and turned me on, but she was also a computer genius, funny, and the most strikingly, naturally beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
Our size difference made me want to pick her up and carry her around. Almost a foot shorter than me, with wide, sexy hips and thighs, and an ass that I wanted wearing my handprint on both cheeks, she was soft and feminine in all the perfect ways.
The subtle shift beneath my shorts from just thinking about Juno had me grunting in annoyance and slamming my fist harder into the bag. It wasn’t smart to think about her while wearing nothing but a pair of thin shorts; everyone in the gym would get an eyeful of my massive dick standing at attention.
Even as a horny teenager, this never happened to me. Juno was the only woman who could make me hard as steel just by thinking about her. But even if my body reacted to her without my permission, it didn’t mean I was ready to let my guard down, not yet. I still had to uncover what she was hiding from her past. And now with the mystery couple coming to surprise her tomorrow, I needed to be more cautious than ever around her.
