I had a good question ready for him. “How come Austin brags about his body all the time, and you never do about yours?”
They all laughed.
“That’s an easy one,” Denver said. “The truth is, I don’t have to. We look exactly the same, so when he’s bragging about his looks, he’s really talking up both of ours.”
“And you thought I was just being self-absorbed,” Austin added, and I giggled.
Next, Denver asked Knox which of his and Austin’s many stripper costumes he would wear if he had to, and we all laughed at the idea of Knox in a fireman’s costume—even though it sounded pretty damn hot to me.
The game continued and got progressively wilder as we drank, ate snacks, and enjoyed each other’s company. I was in the moment, but every once in a while, I’d flash back to how much fun this was compared to the uncomfortable evenings I used to share with Clint. I didn’t think about him much anymore, for which I was extremely grateful.
“My turn,” Austin said, looking straight at me. “I think we’ve let Emma get away with choosing ‘truth’ for far too long.”
“It’s called Truth or Dare, not Dare Emma to Do Something Embarrassing,” his twin said.
“But the whole point of the game is to push people outside of their comfort zone,” Austin responded. “So here’s the deal: Emma, if you choose dare, it’s going to be an easy one. But if you choose truth, it’ll be a hard one.”
A nervous laugh escaped my lips as Austin’s tone and the intensity of his gaze sent shivers up my spine. Should I pick dare? He said it would be easy, but with Austin, you never knew. Still, this would be a safe time to try it—right? But there was a disconcerting gleam in Austin’s eyes as he watched me squirm that I didn’t quite trust. “I pick—truth.”
The others groaned, but Austin looked pleased. Uh-oh. “Maybe I should’ve picked the dare.”
Austin cocked an eyebrow at me. “Maybe you should have. Are you ready for your question?”
Honestly, not really. But the direct look he was giving me made my blood race toward my core. I squeezed my thighs together and braced myself.
Austin was clearly enjoying keeping me on edge because he was definitely drawing this out. Just when I thought I would explode from nerves, he spoke. “My question is… after we’ve been flirting with you, and your face flushes and you run up to the bedroom with a flimsy excuse about needing to fill out job applications… what do you really do up there?”
I froze and stared at Austin in shock. Did he already know? How could he? My mouth opened, but no sound came out. Helplessly, I looked at the others to see if they suspected. Tonio seemed to be trying not to laugh. Denver was glaring daggers at his brother. Knox looked neutral, but as always, I felt he had my back. He’d never put me on the spot like that.
A full twenty seconds passed as I sat there, mortified. Finally, I was able to put some words together. “What do you mean? You know I’ve been searching for a job.”
“Yes,” Austin said calmly. “And I’m sure it does require a lot of work. But the times I’m talking about are when we get you all hot and bothered and then you rush up there in a blind heat. That’s what I want to know about.”
Oh God, tell me this wasn’t happening. I’d thought they hadn’t noticed the way I abruptly disappeared sometimes. This was not good. Belatedly, excuses came to me. Perhaps I should’ve claimed that sometimes, I’d suddenly remember that a job application was due by 3 pm or something. Or that I was late for a webinar about job search strategies. But these were my guys. They’d taken me in. They’d patched up the pieces of me Clint had so casually shattered, and I didn’t want to lie to them.
Tonio spoke next. “Come on, Emma, it’s kind of obvious. You can talk about it with us.”
It was? And I could? But it was so… personal. “I’ve never talked to anyone about it.”
“Not even Clint?” Denver asked.
“No. He thought it was disgusting.” My face reddened.
“He’s an ass,” Tonio said, at the same time Austin said, “We’d never think that.”
“Yeah,” Denver agreed. “We think it’s pretty awesome.”
“You do?” That was hard to believe, but they all nodded, even Knox. “I just… it’s hard to talk about.”
Austin reached out and ran his hand up my bare leg. “You can talk to us about it. After all, we’re the ones who inspire it, aren’t we?”
It wasn’t really a question. From the look in his eyes, he knew that to be a fact. Slowly, I nodded.
Tonio took over. “Let’s start simple. Where do you do it, in bed?”