“The night of your show.” Zade ran his hand over his mouth, not hiding his smile at all. “It looked a little heated.”
I fought a blush. My body tensed.They can’t know, right?“Guys. It’s kissing. Aaron’s hot. A kiss is just that—a kiss. You could do it with anyone without feeling. I could kiss Callie right now and not feel a damn thing.”
“Really?” Zade’s brows disappeared into his hair. “Callie?”
Callie laughed, pinching him. “Calm down. We aren’t going to fulfill a secret fantasy.”
Zade directed his gaze on me and said right as Aaron walked in, “Prove it, Greta. Make out with Callie.”
Aaron froze at the entrance to the living room, his gaze going straight to me. He looked ready to pounce and that couldn’t happen. I burst out laughing. “Have a good day, Ronnie?”
He chose to sit on the armrest of the chair I sat in, his back as stiff as a board, and I wanted nothing more than to mess with him. I put my foot into his side. “Cat got your tongue, playboy?”
“What did I walk into?”
“Greta was just explaining to me how she could kiss anyone without feeling. Like at your show,” Callie explained, giving Zade a pointed glare.
“I told her to prove it. Like any guy would. She can talk the talk, but can she walk the walk?” Zade attempted again, raising an eyebrow at Callie. I chuckled. “Hmm? Ladies?”
“This isn’tFriends. We aren’t going to make out to win an apartment.” I threw one of the remotes at Zade. He caught it and looked back at me a couple more times. I flipped him off and left them in the room. I needed a damn beer.
“Watcha grabbing?” Aaron’s smooth voice followed me into the kitchen and I ignored how good he looked. It had been two days and my legs turned to jelly. He moved his hand to my hip and I glared at him. “Woah, why the face?”
“Our friends are here,” I whispered at him, swatting his hand. God, it felt good, but they couldn’t know. “Behave.”
“They’re so into each other, they’ll have no idea.” He lowered his voice and tingles broke out on my neck. He cornered me into the nook between the refrigerator and the counter. “I’m not happy with you. I got ten fucking emails about clubs. Ten.” His eyes heated over, flicking to my mouth for a long, drawn-out minute.
I laughed and he shook his head, slow and methodical. I gulped. “Boom.”
“I’m going to get you back.” He ran a finger over my bottom lip. “Somehow, someway.”
Tanner walked into the place, followed by Jeff. I shoved Aaron away. They greeted us and each carried a food item or beer. They were learning—when they ate us out of house and home, it was only polite to replenish our stock. “G!”
“Hey, guys.” I pushed past Aaron and hugged them. I was a hugger. An aggressive one, depending on who it was. “How were your classes?”
“A bitch.” Tanner scratched his neck and nodded to Aaron. “Hilly.”
“Johnson.” Aaron’s tone worried me. It was too tense. I looked back at him and noted his flared nostrils, tight jaw.Uh-oh.
“What did you bring?” I asked, desperate to rid the tension that overtook the kitchen. “Potato salad?”
“No, Greta.” Tanner laughed and put his hand on my shoulder. “I brought extra chicken, rolls and pasta. If Callie’s cooking Italian, I want to overeat. Carb-load for a workout tomorrow.”
“Boys.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed the food from him. “Callie, get your cute ass in here. I’ll help you cook.” I didn’t want to go into the room with Tanner and Aaron. Nope. Not when Tanner clearly knew something and didn’t like it.
“No way, G.” Zade appeared in the kitchen and put on a dorky apron. “I’m her sous-chef. She likes bossing me around. It’s part of the kink.”
“Shut the hell up, Zade.” Callie hit him with a spoon and joined the five of us all squished into the small room. I backed into Aaron’s chest to let her pass and he put his arms around me. Tanner saw. I began sweating. “Everyone out of here or you don’t eat. Out! Now!”
Jeff laughed and held up his hands. “Listen to the woman.”
Aaron kept his hands on me until we entered the living room and I shook him off. This was getting weird. Unease filled every part of my body to the point where I couldn’t relax with him near me, so I chose the single person chair. Aaron couldn’t try to sit on it.
“G, when do you work next?” Tanner sat on the ground at the foot of my chair. Good. It was better that he sat there, not Aaron. His strong back leaned against the footrest and I tucked my feet so they went underneath me and not against him.
“Hmm. Thursday through Sunday. Four nights in a row. Ugh.”Money is hella good, though. Don’t complain.
“You play on Saturdays, right?”
