I instantly sit up, my black comforter already kicked to the edge of the mattress. On this unusually hot October night, I almost considered sleeping naked. But middle-of-the-night security emergencies basically tell me,don’t.Unless I want to be the guy who trips over himself while putting on underwear.
And that’s just not me.
I put the phone to my ear. “Maximoff.”
His long pause spikes my pulse, and just before I ask what’s wrong, his deep voice fills the line. “Come over.”
Damn. My cock strains against my black boxer-briefs, and more heat gathers in my attic bedroom. I wonder if he intended forcome overto sound that blistering and erotic.
I wait to jump at his command. For one reason only. “Don’t you have a girl in your bed?” I found out fast that the nights where Jane and Maximoff are alone in the townhouse—no friends-with-benefits, no one-night stands—they somehow end up asleep in the same room. Same bed.
Platonically.
It’s a little strange. A lot strange when Ireallysit and think about it, but I also understand how open and uninhibited these families tend to be. And how Maximoff and Jane’s shared experiences from birth bond them together like fraternal twins. Much closer than just being cousins.
I’ve never dated a twin, and I honestly question how I’m supposed to fit into their dynamic.
Before he replies, I ask, “Have you told her about us?”
“Not yet.” He plans to let her in on the secret.
I already agreed to that stipulation. See, Jane Cobalt comes first in his life, and it’ll take a lot more than a five-minute ass-grab and lip-lock in his Audi to change that.
“She’s asleep,” Maximoff says, voice hushed. “I left her room. I’m in mine now.Alone.” His hot impatience strokes the long length of my erection.
Aroused knot in my throat, I stand, bare feet on the floor. I use my shoulder to free my hands and push my phone to my ear. Just so I can wrap my wire around my radio and collect my holstered gun. I’m about to sayI’ll be over, but I want his voice in my ear.
“Is this your first booty call?” I ask.
“Is this your first time being propositioned by a celebrity?” he effortlessly flings back.
I smile. He’s such a little smartass. “I think you meanHarvard Dropout.”
“No, I meancelebrity.” He could easily add:internationally famous, overwhelming adored and revered, but he just stops at celebrity.
I joke about Maximoff dropping out of Harvard, but I know the true reason he quit. It wasn’t because he couldn’t hack it. He needed three bodyguards during his first and only semester. Students bombarded him. Snapchatting. Instagraming. Taking selfies before, during, and after the lecture. The disruption his presence caused wasn’t just pissing off his professors, he felt like he was ruining the education of his peers.
So he quit.
And he could’ve finished out his degree with online courses like Jane, but instead he threw himself into his career. It’s all public knowledge.
I pull on my black cotton pants, and with my gun and radio in one hand, I’m out of my room faster than Maximoff probably thinks. Descending the narrow flight of stairs. Quietly passing the second floor where Quinn is passed-out asleep.
I reach my living room, and I open my mouth to speak. But he fills the line first.
“Try not to come before you get here,” Maximoff says and then hangs up.
Damn.
I slip my phone in my pocket, my neck pricked hot. I subconsciously palm my dick, up and down twice.I want him.
Shit, I want him badly.
By my fireplace, I open our adjoining door.
“Walrus, you little bastard,” I whisper and snatch the scampering kitten. Gently, I kick the door shut and then release Walrus in Maximoff’s dark living room. No lights on.
The hot tea aroma is pungent tonight, the Earl Grey scent reminding me of him. I’ve seen Maximoff fill 16oz thermoses with hot tea like it’s black coffee.
