Tonio scoffed, but suddenly I could see the twins as hot older men with a tinge of white at their sideburns. They’d definitely be DILFs or even GILFs well into old age.
“At least,” Denver said. “Got to hit the shower. Enjoy your lunch.”
He winked at me as he headed to the upstairs bathroom and Austin to the downstairs one. For a moment, my mind was preoccupied by the image of the twins peeling off those super tight shorts and stretching their naked bodies under the hot, steamy water…
“Hungry?” Tonio asked, interrupting my thoughts. I blushed, trying to rein in my overactive imagination. From the way Tonio was smirking, I figured he had an idea of what thoughts had crossed my mind.
“Yes.”
He jerked his head in the direction the twins had just gone. “Does that kind of thing bother you?”
“What kind of thing?” I did my best to look innocent.
“Their in-your-face sexuality. I’ve been best friends with those guys since high school. I know how they are, Austin especially.”
I sat down in the seat Denver had just vacated. “I’m just not used to it.”
Tonio cleaned up some of the mess we’d made while he talked. “Some people aren’t comfortable with the way they’re so open with their bodies. Especially good girls like yourself.”
Though it was probably true, it was also insulting. “Who says I’m a good girl?”
“Pretty much everyone who’s ever met you, I’d bet.”
That made me smile in spite of myself. “Probably.”
Tonio reached over and smoothed my hair away from my face. “The real question is, do you want to be?”
My smile faded as I thought about that. The man across from me waited, giving me time to think, and I appreciated that. “I kind of don’t know what I want anymore,” I began. “I thought it was Clint, and marriage, and a house and kids someday, but now I just don’t know. I mean, maybe that wasn’t ever what I really wanted—maybe it was just what I thought I should want?”
Tonio nodded. “It’s something worth thinking about. Everything else in your life has changed. You’re new in town. Newly single. Looking for a job. Perhaps you should take some time to think about what kind of other experiences you want in your life, too.”
“What do you mean?” It was a genuine question even though his words made my pulse quicken.
“Let’s just say that if you want to experience something quite different than what you had with your ex, you’ve come to the right place.”
I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but the thought made my heart pound faster and kept me off balance throughout the meal. And pretty much for the rest of the day.
As the week went on, I continued to get to know the guys. I did the grocery shopping and helped with the cooking when I could. Tonio hadn’t been lying that first morning when he’d said they needed help. I wasn’t exactly Martha Stewart, but I helped to keep the living room and kitchen neat. The guys ate a ton of food and were often too busy with their various jobs and classes to help out with it themselves. Even Tonio gave up on cooking when things got busy with his classes, and then I took everyone’s order and arranged for takeout. But when we did cook together, it was fun and easy to talk to him.
Tonio told me as much about his business classes as he did about the mismanagement issues at the club. He had a lot of opinions about how it could be run better, and it was easy to see him as the manager of his own business someday.
When I asked him about it, however, he just shook his head. “I’ve already made the rounds to the banks, and no one’s willing to loan me the money. It’ll be years before I can open up my own business.” It was a shame because I could see he’d be good at it. He was already pretty much the de facto manager of this house.
The twins remained flirty and fun, and every day I learned more of the subtle differences between them.
The one who remained a mystery, however, was Knox. Whenever the five of us were together, Knox seemed to fade into the background. It seemed physically impossible given his size, but that’s the impression I always got. He was there, he was paying attention, but he seemed… separate somehow. Even a week after moving in with them, I still didn’t know what he did during the day. He was the only one who hadn’t mentioned a day job, though he went out a lot. When he and I were the only ones home, he often stayed in his first-floor room with the door closed.
The thing that finally helped me learn more about him started off as a nightmare—literally. One weekday morning, I woke up in a panic, reaching for something that wasn’t there. My heart raced as my fingers clawed at the sheets. The dream faded too quickly to hold on to any one thought, but I was pretty sure there’d been a car accident in my dream—possibly the one that had claimed my parents’ lives.