by E. L. Todd
I grabbed one and twisted off the cap.
Everything was carried back into the living room, and we sat on the couch together. We both watched the game, him sitting on one side of the couch while I stuck to the opposite side. The limited distance between us wasn’t enough for me to stop thinking about how sexy he looked shirtless.
I could never stop thinking about it.
“You know, it’s cold in Seattle,” I said. “You should put on a shirt.”
He kept his eyes on the TV. “I run hot.”
Hot was an understatement.
Whenever the game became really intense, he sat up and rested his elbows on his knees. He wasn’t afraid to call out the ref for the fouls, and he only seemed to make conversation during the commercials.
“Good game,” I said.
“It’s gonna be close.” He finished the rest of his sandwich before he sat back against the couch. Even when he was sitting, his stomach was perfectly flat. He just ate a huge sandwich and he was on his third beer, so I didn’t have a clue where he stored the calories.
“Do you work out a lot?” I blurted.
He turned to me, a cocky grin on his face. “Yes. Why?”
“Look at you.” I pointed to the table. “Three beers and a large sandwich. Where does it go? You have no body fat.”
He chuckled then turned back to the TV. “I run every morning then lift weights in the afternoon.”
“That doesn’t sound too crazy.”
“It’s about two hours a day of work.”
“Whoa…” I couldn’t do anything for two hours—besides nap. Walking to and from work was the only exercise I got. “That’s commitment.”
“I’ve been doing it for the last ten years, so it’s routine at this point.”
“Well…that’s a really good routine to have.” I lifted boxes in the back of the store and was on my feet all day taking care of customers. By the end of the day, I was tired—and I hadn’t really done much.
The commercial ended and we returned to the game. We were both Seahawks fans, so there was no issue with who we were rooting for. If you lived in Seattle and you weren’t a Seahawks fan…you were in trouble.
Finn moved on to his fourth beer.
“No scotch today?”
“It’s Sunday,” he said with a shrug. “Trying to take it easy.”
“By drinking a six-pack by yourself?”
He turned to me, a slight smile on his lips. “You’re one to talk. You’ve already had three.”
“That’s only half a six-pack—and I’m stopping for the day.”
“Come on, you can do more than that. You strike me as a woman who can hold her liquor well.”
“I can hold it better than most…”
“I would love to drink a bottle of scotch with you.” His arm moved over the back of the couch, and instead of watching the game, he had eyes for me instead. His playfulness slowly subsided, and a dark gleam emerged in his eyes. As always, he stared at me with an intensity that rivaled the sun. No man ever looked at me that way. Not Jax or even my ex-husband. But Finn did it flawlessly, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
My pulse quickened in my neck, and I felt a thrill creep down my spine. My breathing changed slightly, but hopefully not enough for him to notice. He suffocated me without touching me, invaded my space without even leaning in close. Finn had a paranormal effect on me. He took the path through my eyes to reach my body and soul. Jax and I never had these staring contests. Even Colton and I didn’t.
But Finn and I certainly had something.
It’d been there since the beginning. Was it lust? Was it infatuation? Was Finn just bored and wanted something he couldn’t have? Or was there a genuine connection between us, a synchronization of our bodies, hearts, and minds. “Am I the only one who feels something here?” It was a bold thing to say, to blurt that out right to his face. But I felt comfortable with him, like I could say anything at all with no repercussions. I’d just asked my former brother-in-law if he felt the chemistry between us, and if he said no, it would be humiliating. But if he said yes, that might be even worse.
He set his beer down without watching his movements. Then he slowly shifted on the couch closer to me, his eyes unblinking throughout the entire exchange. He stopped right beside me, and the only time he pulled his eyes away from mine was when he glanced down to look at my lips.
I stopped breathing.
He held my gaze again, searching my expression for my permission or denial.
I had no idea what my expression looked like, but I could easily get up if I wanted to. I could just say it was a bad idea. I could have not brought up the subject in the first place. I didn’t realize how much I wanted this until our eyes were locked like this.
“No.” His voice was deep, masculine, and so sexy it didn’t sound real. “You aren’t the only one.” He brought his face close to mine as his hand moved to my thigh. His large fingers squeezed me through my jeans, his grip tight and his veins protruding. His other hand snuck up on me and gently pulled the strands of hair away from my face. For a man so rough, he was so gentle. His fingers dug into my hair and pinned it back from my cheeks, just so he could get a better look at me.
He hadn’t even kissed me yet, and it was the best I’d ever had.
He directed my head against his and rested his forehead against mine. He was dead silent, his warm breaths falling over my cheek. Pine needles were even more fragrant in my nose. It was the closest I’d ever been to him. I hadn’t even hugged him before. Now I was cradled against him like he owned me.
He stretched it out as long as he could, teasing both of us with the unbearable wait.
It only made me want to kiss him more. The logical woman inside me knew this was wrong. He was Colton’s brother—and there was no way he would be okay with this. But that reasonable woman wasn’t available at the moment.
She was too busy waiting for that kiss.
Finn finally went in for the kill and pressed his lips to mine. The landing was soft and gentle, his full lips fitting perfectly against mine. His hand tightened around my hair, and he released a moan so quiet I wasn’t sure if I heard it. It resembled the quiet growl of a bear, a carnal sound that emerged deep in his throat.
My eyes closed, and I felt the static of electricity between our lips. When he gently pulled my bottom lip into his mouth, I nearly forgot to breathe. My hand immediately went to his shoulder, and I flinched when I felt how strong he was. There were rocks under his skin, not muscles. My other hand moved to his chest, feeling the searing-hot skin that made my lips tremble.
Jesus.
His hand fisted my hair tighter as his movements became more aggressive. He breathed into my mouth deeper before he took control of my mouth. They opened. Closed. Sucked. Licked. He gave me his tongue and breathed into me again.
There wasn’t a single thought in my head. I fell into the kiss, experiencing a high that was borderline Zen. My fingers explored his body freely, tracing the outline of the muscles of his shoulders all the way down to his hard chest. My palm pressed against him, and I could feel his beating heart. Slow and steady, it was a beautiful drum. My fingers fell farther and savored the grooves of his eight pack. He was a beautiful man, but he felt even more beautiful by touch.
“Pepper.” My name had never sounded so sexy on a man’s lips. His voice was full of desire, full of lust and unbridled longing. He suddenly ended the embrace then grabbed my legs. He pulled them down the couch, forcing me onto my back. Then he moved on top of me, his heavy weight making me sink into the cushions. He yanked one leg over his hip and held himself on top of me with one arm as he kissed me again.
My head was in the clouds, and I savored the greatest kiss I’d ever received. My fingers slid into his short hair, and I moaned into his mouth. Our lips continued to move together like this wasn’t our first embrace, like we’d been doing this our entire lives. His tongue danced with mine before he pulled it away and sucked my bo
ttom lip hard into his mouth. I was smothered with his heated kisses, his sexy physique, and the lust that made us both pant.
When he changed his position on top of me, I felt it.
All of it.
Thick. Long. Unmistakable.
I gripped his lower back and pulled him harder into me, wanting to feel that length right against my clit.
Oh god, that felt nice.
His hand cupped my face as he continued to kiss me, showing me the moves he must have put on so many other women. It was no surprise he got action whenever he wanted it.
Who would turn him down?
Poor Stella. She had no idea what she was missing.
The sound of the doorknob turning was audible over our heavy breathing, and then the door swung open.
Finn stopped kissing me but remained absolutely still. The back of the couch blocked us from view from the doorway. Maybe if we were really quiet, we would get lucky and Colton wouldn’t spot us.
Oh god, Colton. He would flip if he saw this.
A betrayal—from both his brother and his best friend.
“Finn?” Colton called into the apartment as his footsteps tapped against the hardwood floor.
Finn kept his eyes on me, but he didn’t move.
Even now that we’d been caught, I wanted to keep kissing him. What was wrong with me?
Colton’s footsteps disappeared down the hallway.
Finn quickly hopped off me and helped me to my feet. He took me by the hand and guided me to the front door. Then he opened it and closed it like we’d just walked inside. “Follow my lead.”
My heart was beating so fast. I was terrified Colton would figure this out and storm out of the apartment. I’d never been a good liar, and I wouldn’t be able to start now.
“Oh good.” Finn spoke a little louder as he walked into the apartment. “The Seahawks are still winning.”
“Oh yeah,” I said in forced agreement. “Look at that.”
He walked to the fridge and opened the door. “You want a beer?”
Yes, I needed alcohol. “Please.”
Colton walked back into the living room. “Oh hey. Did you just get here?”
“Yeah.” Finn twisted off the cap to both beers. “We went down the hall to get more beer from Pepper’s fridge.”
Colton bought the story instantly. “Good. She mooches off me all the time, so it’s nice to get something from her.” He grabbed one of the beers that had already been in the fridge and twisted off the cap. “Were you guys watching the game?”
“Yeah. I came looking for you, and then we just started watching it.” I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as the guilt suffocated me. I felt like he could see right through me, and now that the heated moment had passed, I realized how wrong it was.
I couldn’t believe it happened at all.
“I was watching the game at Zach’s,” Colton said. “But then his TV kept cutting out, so we decided to come back here.”
“Where is he now?” I asked.
“Picking up more beer,” he said.
Good thing they didn’t walk in here together. Zach would have headed right for the couch, and we would have been caught in the act.
“You guys wanna order a pizza?” Colton asked as he pulled out his phone. “I haven’t eaten lunch today.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said weakly, even though Finn and I already split a sandwich—and a kiss.
“You can invite Jax over too if you want,” Colton said. “I just like to watch the guys in the tights, but I’m sure he actually appreciates the sport.”
I hadn’t thought about Jax once in the last few hours. All I’d been thinking about was Finn, and now I knew the exact definition of his package. A single afternoon could change your life so permanently. “I think he already has plans…”
Colton walked to the couch and sat in front of the TV. “I wish they didn’t have to wear all those pads. Their muscles would be easier to see.”
Now that Colton’s back was turned to us, Finn stared at me with the same heated expression—along with a dash of relief.
I still didn’t know how we’d managed to pull that off. Colton was either really dense, or he trusted us so much that the thought didn’t even cross his mind. I grabbed my beer and joined my best friend on the couch—wanting to put as much distance between Finn and me as possible.
14
Pepper
Finn and I didn’t cross paths for a few days.
I was busy at work, and when I wasn’t at work, I didn’t stop by Colton’s apartment.
I wasn’t necessarily avoiding Finn, but I wasn’t going out of my way to see him either. At some point, we’d have to talk about what happened, but it seemed like neither one of us was in a rush to make that happen.
How would that conversation even go?
What exactly did he want from me? Just an easy lay? Did he want something more?
I really had no idea.
Jax asked me out a few times, and when I couldn’t dodge his calls anymore, I agreed to have dinner with him tomorrow night. There was no reason to feel guilty for kissing Finn when Jax and I were just fooling around, but I still felt like I’d done something wrong.
I hadn’t decided if I was going to tell him or not. It wasn’t like I’d slept with Finn.
Would I have slept with him if Colton hadn’t come home?
I’d like to believe I would have put a stop to it, but at the time, I couldn’t even recite the alphabet if someone asked. My mind was completely filled with the sexy half-naked man on top of me. The second I felt his long length pressed against me, all I could think about was having that monster cock inside me.
I was sitting on my couch staring at the TV without really watching it when someone knocked on the door. It was a single knock, loud and distinctive. If it were Colton, he would just walk inside the way I welcomed myself into his apartment.
That meant it was Jax or Finn.
But I suspected it was Finn.
I was just in my sweatpants and a loose-fitting sweater, but I didn’t have time to change and make myself more presentable. There wasn’t a drop of makeup on my face because I’d been in a hurry that morning and hadn’t had the chance.
It was biting me in the ass now.
I opened the door and came face-to-face with the man I’d been expecting.
Finn was dressed in his blue scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck. His satchel was hooked over one of his large shoulders. The deep cut in the front of his scrubs showed some of the muscles of his chest—along with a hint of his ink.
I kept my hand on the doorknob and stared at him, unsure what to do next. Once those blue eyes were fixed on me, it was hard to think logically. At least I wasn’t jumping into his arms and wrapping my legs around his waist.
Wordlessly, he invited himself into my apartment. He dropped his satchel on my couch then turned to look at me, his hands resting on his narrow hips.
I shut the door and faced him, surrounded by the silence that alerted us we were completely alone together. I crossed my arms over my chest, like that would somehow protect me from this powerful man.
He still didn’t say anything.
I didn’t say anything either. Where were we supposed to start? We’d spent the last four days ignoring each other, but dodging each other couldn’t last forever. Neither one of us wanted to lay our cards on the table—because we both had terrible hands.
Finn went first. “I’m not going to apologize for what happened. You were the one who provoked me.”
That was the last thing I’d expected him to say. “Whoa…excuse me?”
“I never would have kissed you if you hadn’t asked that question. You were begging me for it.”
“Begging?” I asked incredulously. “Asshole, if I wanted a kiss, I would have just kissed you.”
“Are you saying you didn’t want me to kiss you?” He stepped closer to me, crossing his arms over his chest as he cocked his head to the side. He wore his a
uthoritative expression, his eyes narrowing on my face. “What did you think was going to happen when you asked that question?”
“I…I don’t know.” I got a hit of his cologne when he came that close to me. Seeing him dressed in his scrubs and stethoscope only added to his sexy persona. The tattoos just made it worse. “I wasn’t thinking when I said that.”
“And I wasn’t thinking when I kissed you.”
“So maybe we should give each other a pass.” There’d always been this electric chemistry between us, but I’d never thought we would combust like that. It wasn’t just a short kiss, it was full of tongue, and I’d ended up on my back with his dick pressed against my clit.
“I guess. But what are we going to do about Colton?”
“I don’t know…” I felt like I’d betrayed him by fooling around with his brother. I preferred to come clean about my actions and not harbor any secrets, but I also wasn’t entirely sure what telling the truth would achieve. “I’m all about being honest, but it was just a kiss. It’s not like we slept together.”
“And it would just piss him off.”
“Then he would feel uncomfortable being in the same room with both of us.”
He stared into my eyes, his expression still just as hard. “And he would always worry about it happening again.”
“Yeah…” I could understand why.
“I know Colton would be furious with me if he knew. He doesn’t want me involved with you.”
“He said that?” I asked.
“Pretty much. I was asking about you, and he asked if I had a thing for you. Because if I did…he wouldn’t like it.”
When I thought back to my previous conversation with Colton, he’d said something similar. “Yeah…he said the same thing to me, that it would be the weirdest thing in the world if something happened.”
“I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks. If I want something, I go for it. If there’s a woman I want, I take her. But…you’re off-limits. I believe in loyalty above all things…and I felt like I betrayed my loyalty to my brother. That’s not the kind of man I want to be.”