“She’d found out that I was helping you with your assignment. She’s in the same class and asked me to help her too. She wanted to study in her room instead of the library, I said no, and she tried to persuade me. It didn’t work.” He shrugs at this like it’s no big deal, but I’m still pouting. I know he’s right and he’s saying he wasn’t interested. Hell, his actions are saying he wasn’t interested, otherwise he wouldn’t be here, he’d be in her room.
“So, get your…” he looks me up and down a moment before his eyebrows come together and he’s giving me that side smile he’s so good at, “knickerbockers out of the twist and hurry up and tell me what you got on your paper. I saw it in your hand.”
I look down at my pajama pants and laugh at his use of the work knickerbockers. They’re my favourite ones, cotton with what almost looks like legwarmers from the calf down. I can see the similarities, but these are my favorite, so I stick my tongue at him, before shoving him away, moving towards my bed to grab my paper.
I can’t keep the grin off my face as he takes it from me and looks it over. The grin he gives me in return has a few of the cracks in the fixture of my being close up just a little bit, and before I know it he’s wrapping me up in a tight hug. I gasp, taken back before wrapping my arms around him and pressing myself into his chest, breathing in his mint and woodsy scent that is so uniquely him.
Releasing him a little sooner than I wanted to, I step back as Peyton demands a celebratory movie night and calls Jack to pick up some pizza and snacks. I stretch out my arms, and flop down in a heap on the couch. Leo’s quick to squeeze in beside me, having grabbed two controllers and shoving one in my hand.
I’ve got the basics down of some multiplayer adventure game that he has me running around trying to complete missions for. I’m starting to get the hang of it and have started hiding my character away from Leo’s, doing some sneak attacks that he keeps calling friendly fire, and giggling when he starts to scowl over at me. I push at the wrinkle in between his eyes to smooth it out.
We stare at each other for a moment before the door bangs open. Nash and Jack walk in, arms filled with pizza boxes and snacks. Jack comes right over, laying the boxes out on the coffee table before he’s gripping my waist and flipping our positions so I’m now sitting on his lap. My eyes widen at him, but he ignores me, taking the controller in his hands. I know I should move; I shouldn’t wait to sit on his lap. I got angry earlier today about Leo and Blakely.
I look over at the guy in question and he’s staring back, his head slightly tilted as he takes me in on Jack’s lap. He doesn’t look mad, just curious. He notices me watching him and shoots me a wink before focusing on the game. I watch them for a few minutes before wiggling my way off Jack’s lap.
Groaning, his hands go straight to my hips to stop my movements, before helping me off his lap. Nash is sitting on the ledge of the window, his foot propped up on the window frame as a cigarette dangle from his fingertips. He’s looking down at his phone with a rare sort of disinterest. It’s a strange expression to see on his face.
He brings the cigarette to his lips and drags in a long breath, blowing out the smoke and flicks his tongue over his bottom lip. I bite down on my bottom lip to hold back the moan that threatens to escape with that move. How do all three of these men affect me so much? There has to be something serious wrong with me.
The sound of swearing breaks our connection, and my gaze is drawn over to Leo who’s cussing Jack out for cheating, the latter looks entirely too smug as he leans back with his arms folded across his chest as he lets Leo go on his tangent.
Peyton is sitting cross-legged on her bed, scowling down at her phone like she’s ready to throw it against a wall, before announcing she’s going a shower. She turns to me to let me know she’s put on coffee and to make her a cup as I make mine. I do just that, if I have to sit in the room with these three gorgeous assholes, I require more caffeine. Something to keep me levelheaded so I don’t try to latch myself on to one, or all, of them. Jesus Christ.
As I’ve finished preparing my sickly-sweet gift from the gods, I’m about to scoop a spoonful of the coffee and toppings into my mouth when Leo trots into the kitchen behind me. He moves at a languid pace and rest his hand on my hip as his chest presses into my back. For a moment, I feel his breath tickle against my hair before he reaches up over me and pulls out a mug for himself, settling it on the counter in front of us.
I turn my head to the side and find him looking down at me. He’s staring at me for a moment before his eyes dart to the suspended spoon in my hand. Leo hand wraps around my wrist and brings the spoon to his mouth. The sound he makes as the mixture touches his tongue is pure sin and my face heats at the time I heard him make a very similar sound.
Releasing the spoon from his mouth with a pop, he drops his hand now cradling both sides of my waist. He bends until his nose scraps down the side of my face until his lips are level with my ear. “Delicious.” The husky tones of his voice have goosebumps pebbling over my skin.
“Make me one?” Although he phrases it as a question, I can hear the demand in his tone that makes me turn my head until I can meet his eyes. I scowl at him, trying to act unfazed by his demand when in fact I’ve damn near soaked through my panties.
He raises an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth lifts. The twinkle in his eye is hard to ignore as he lowers his voice and whispers “please.” I swallow roughly before licking my lips, trying to bring back the moisture from my dry mouth. Freaking hormones. I nod once and back to the coffee machine. Leo gives my hips a final squeeze before drawing me in tighter against him. His warm encompassing me entirely.
“Good girl” he purrs, eliciting a full body shiver from me, and then he’s gone. I think about the last time I heard those words and how sick they made me feel, but when they come from Leo, I want to do anything for him to say it again.
By the time I return to the lounge area, Leo is sitting on the floor having lost his spot to Nash who is now versing Jack in whatever new game they are playing. I place the coffee in front of Leo on the coffee table and move to sit on the armchair. I pull out my phone and frown down when I see a message from Clarke waiting for me.
I know you’re angry right now, but you still have a job to do. Wrap this up, Briar.
Gritting my teeth, I almost start snarling out a response, not that he could hear me and even if I texted it, he would ignore it. I stew in quiet contemplation about how I’m going to get the fuck away from him. I need a plan. A real plan, something more than to just run. He has more people like me on his payroll, he could force me back within the week, no matter how far I run.
Peyton stomps out of the bathroom, whatever is eating at her clearly not over with. She reaches in front of me, grabs my hand, and drags me back into the bathroom behind her. I don’t get a second to ask her what’s wrong before she’s thrusting her phone into my chest and crosses her arms back over herself. I look down at the conversation back and forth between her and Milo.
“What am I looking at?”
“Read it. He’s totally blowing me off. If he didn’t want to come over he should have just said. I thought things were going well, that we could be around each other, even if we couldn’t be together. I just…” Her voice drifts off. Her eyes well with unshed tears and I pull her in close. Taking a deep breath, she claps her hand together.
“Okay. Let’s go out there and watch whatever lame ass movie Nash chooses. You should know he has terrible taste in movies.” I laugh at her, and we head back into the room. I go to return to the armchair but Peyton dives into it first and laughs at me when I see the only choice I have is to be squished between the guys. I shoot her a look and slide in gingerly between them, careful not to touch them, despite how comfortable they’re getting touching me.
Nash brings some B-grade comedy and the whole room groans. He flips them off and we all tuck into the pizza. Apparently they didn’t know what kind I usually ate and ended up ordering four different types. We all eat and watch the screen, relaxing more with every moment. Peyton had clicked the lights off when we’d finished eating, so the only light illuminating the room is coming from the tv.
I shift a little further in my seat, trying hard not to keep bumping the guys but also wanting to get a little more comfortable. They share a look over my head before grabbing me and turning me until I’m laying into Nash with my feet dangling into Jack’s lap. Leo looks back at us smirking before resting his head against my knee from his position in front of me on the floor.
I don’t know what compels me to do it, but my hand comes down into Leo’s hair and my fingers through it. The strands are silky to the touch, and the way that he pushes back against me a little more, letting out the softest of groans, has me never wanting to stop.
The movie feels like it goes on forever but when it finally finishes, I goes to move out of Nash’s hold. His soft snores give him away and when I look over I see him sleeping, the hand that was resting on my back now laying against his chest, the other tugged behind his head like a makeshift pillow. Looking around, I see Leo and Peyton are asleep too, but Jack’s laser focus is on me.
He still has my feet on his lap and has been rubbing this absentminded torturously soft circles on my ankles all night. His grip on my foot tightens for the smallest moment when I try to pull my feet away before he lets me go and clearing his throat.