by Laura Lee
Me too. Although, I’m not just talking about food.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
DREW
“So what’s the deal with you two?” Grant asks.
“Wow, you waited a whole three seconds after she left to grill me.”
Todd throws a dish towel at me. “At least he waited until she was gone. I wanted to ask the second you came back from your little tour.” He uses air quotes on that last word.
I wipe down the table and throw the towel back to him. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Don’t think I missed how much you were flirting with her.”
He laughs. “Can you fucking blame me?”
I shake my head, hiding my smile. Dinner with Charlee and the guys couldn’t have gone any better. She fit right in, shooting the shit while we were eating and watching the game. All five of my teammates adore her. They were smiling or laughing like idiots with everything she said. Yeah, Todd may be giving me shit, but he would never seriously hit on her. You have to have each other’s back in this field, and going after another teammate’s woman, is something that would never even cross our minds.
“Let’s just say she’s not interested in you.” I pat Todd on the shoulder. “Sorry, buddy.”
Jason eyes me questioningly. “Why are you being so cryptic, Summers?”
I shrug. “It’s complicated.”
Grant leans against the counter, crossing his arms. “This I gotta hear.”
I heave a sigh as I drop into my recliner. I’ve been dying to get this off my chest and these guys are trustworthy. The one person I’d normally unload on is the one person that I can’t say a word to.
“You know my friend, Brody?” I wait a few seconds while they nod in acknowledgement. “She’s his sister.”
Connor whistles. “Damn, Summers. Does he know?”
I don’t even need to tell them why this whole thing is such a bad idea. These guys are well-versed in Bro Code.
“Not really. He knows I’m attracted to her. He caught us...uh, kissing a few months back. I promised him I’d stay away from her, which I did, until the other day.”
Grant takes the chair next to mine. “What happened the other day?”
“We...uh...got married in Vegas.”
Several oh shit’s or oh fuck’s fly out of their mouths.
Warren barks out a laugh. “That’s ballsy, Drew. Even for you.”
“Tell me about it,” I mutter.
“So let me get this straight,” Connor begins. “Charlee is your best friend’s sister. A sister that you promised to stay away from. Not only did you break that promise, but you went ahead and made her your wife? How the hell do you explain that? What are you going to do about it? And how did it happen in the first place?”
“We were drunk,” I explain. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. I think. I still haven’t remembered everything that happened that night. We’re filing for an annulment so eventually, it will be as if it never happened.”
“Then what?” Connor asks. “You obviously like each other. Are you going to keep seeing her?”
I scrub my hand over my face. “I don’t know, man. I don’t fucking know.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHARLEE
“Charlee, that dress is perfect on you!” Devyn says.
I twirl in the mirror, watching as the sapphire chiffon sways against my ankles. “You think so?”
“You look hot,” Rainey says. She looks down at her own gown, more specifically the boobs that are spilling out of it. “I can’t believe I have to have mine taken out. My boobs should not be this much bigger so soon.”
Devyn and Riley are getting married the weekend after next. Today was supposed to be our final fitting but when Rainey tried zipping hers up, her enlarged chest made that impossible.
Devyn laughs. “Welcome to pregnancy, Lorraine. The only time in my life I’ve ever had boobs was when I was pregnant or breastfeeding. I went up two full cup sizes before the end of my first trimester.”
“Shit,” Rainey mutters.
I laugh, feeling bad for her. Rainey’s breasts were already pushing double-D limits. I can’t imagine how much worse they’re going to get.
“Oh poor Lorraine,” Devyn mocks. “At least you know yours won’t fully go away after you lose the baby weight.”
Rainey gestures to her abundance of cleavage. “Honey, I’d trade you any day. These things are more trouble than they’re worth.”
Devyn laughs. “I’m sure Brody would have something to say about that.”
Rainey smiles. “Do you know he actually talks to them? When I get home from work, he’ll greet them before me sometimes.”
I hold my hand up. “Okay, we’re fast approaching I don’t need to know territory. Brother, remember?”
Rainey laughs and gives me a thoughtful look. “Speaking of brothers...”
“Yeah,” Devyn tags on. “What really happened between you and Drew in Vegas? He won’t tell me a damn thing but it seems like an awfully big coincidence you both overslept when you claim to have gone back to your rooms early.”
Uh oh. I don’t like where she’s going with this. “What are you implying, Devyn?”
“I’m implying that something happened between you two that night,” she says matter-of-factly. “I know my brother and I know when he’s hiding something from me. So I’ll ask you. What’s he hiding, Charlee?”
I look at Rainey nervously. The last thing I need is for this conversation to get back to my brother.
She seems to read my mind because she waves her hand dismissively and says, “I won’t say a word to Brody. I swear.”
I decide to go with partial truths. “We had a good time. We gambled, had some drinks, walked around. Stuff like that.”
Rainey turns her head back to Devyn. “Devyn, you might want to put your kid earmuffs on.” Devyn just rolls her eyes so Rainey continues. “I want to hear about the D. He’s packing big time, isn’t he?”
“What?!” I sputter. “I never said we slept together.”
Devyn covers her ears. “I do not need to know how big my brother’s penis is!”
Rainey looks over her shoulder. “I warned you.” She turns back to me. “And I didn’t say anything about sleeping. If you need me to clarify, I was talking about fucking. Can you or can you not, personally attest to the size of Drew’s peen?”
Fuck. How am I supposed to get out of this? I usually have no problem speaking openly about my sex life but this situation is pretty delicate and requires a different approach. I look to Devyn for help but she seems to be doing everything possible to disengage from the conversation. I decide evasion is the best course of action.
“Why does it matter whether or not I know the answer to that?”
Rainey’s lips twitch. “Ah, that answer in itself is very telling, dear Charlee.”
I sigh. “Rainey, will you please drop the subject? I don’t want to put you in a situation where you have to lie to Brody.”
She mulls that over. “Okay, I can appreciate that. But I’d like to add that if anything is going on between you and Drew, you need to tread lightly. Give Brody time to warm up to the idea.”
“I don’t understand why he’s being such a pain in the ass about this whole thing anyway,” I whine. “It’s truly none of his business.”
Rainey gives me a sad smile. “He means well. He’s worried about you, Charlee. Drew isn’t exactly known for commitment.”
Ha! Marriage is a pretty damn big commitment.
“Rainey, I’m not exactly known for it either. Brody knows that and he’s never had a problem with it before.”
“Yeah, but Drew’s different,” she argues. “He loves him like a brother. But he loves you more. If Drew ever hurt you, Brody would lose his best friend.”
“It’s not going to come to that,” I assure her. “Drew would never intentionally hurt me.”
Devyn tucks a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. “If anyone wants my opinion, I still think you two would be aw
esome together. You’re so alike and he needs someone like you to keep him on his toes.”
I can’t help but smile at her remark, which does not go unnoticed by either woman. Damn it! Keeping this marriage a secret is going to be harder than I thought.
CHAPTER THIRTY
DREW
“Hey, dickface,” Brody says. “How’s it hanging?”
I look up from the grill and nod. “Hey.”
Brody frowns. “You okay, dude?”
Sure, buddy, I’m great. Except for the fact that I went behind your back and married your sister. Oh yeah, and then I banged her completely sober and have every intention of doing it again, so I can’t even blame the liquor.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I say dismissively. “It’s just been a long week.”
He’s about to say something else but we’re interrupted by my sister.
“Drew, how much longer on the chicken? Charlee just got here and I need a few minutes to review the final menu with her for the reception.”
Fuck. When Devyn invited me over for a barbeque, I didn’t even consider the possibility of Charlee joining us, because I hang out here all the time. I think I’ve already proven that I lack self-control where Charlotte Harris is concerned. How in the hell am I supposed to act unaffected in front of all these people when the mere thought of her gets me hard?
Devyn pokes her head out of the doorway. “Drew? Did you hear me?”
I clear my throat as I flip the chicken over. “Uh, yeah. It’ll be ready in about ten minutes.”
Brody waits until Devyn leaves the back deck before speaking. “Dude, seriously, what’s up? You’re being weird.”
“I’m just tired. I haven’t been sleeping very well over the last few days.”
“Yeah, I can relate to that,” he says. “These pregnancy hormones are killing me. I swear to God, all Rainey wants to do is ride my dick. We did it eight times yesterday. Eight! I think she’s trying to break the poor guy. And don’t even get me started on the state of my tongue.”
I laugh, happy to shift the focus to him. “Oh, how will you ever survive having sex with a beautiful redhead repeatedly?”
He takes a sip from his beer. “I’m serious, dude. I don’t know what to do. It’s not like I’m not giving her a good dicking, because, hello, it’s me we’re talking about here. Why isn’t she worn out? What will it take to wear her out so poor Thor can have a break?”
I shake my head. “Will you please stop referring to your dick by that ridiculous name? Also, you should probably take advantage of it now since she’ll be closed for business for a while after the baby’s born.”
Brody rubs his chin. “That’s true; I didn’t think of it like that. Speaking of a good dicking...what’s been going on with you on that front? You haven’t mentioned anyone new for a while now.”
I side-eye him. “I don’t have to give you the play-by-play with every woman that I fuck.”
“Yes, you do!” he insists. “And you’ve been radio silent for months!”
Don’t look at me like that; dudes talk about sex. And don’t even pretend that ladies don’t, too. I have it on good authority that women can be even pervier than men when it comes to that shit.
I shrug. “I just haven’t been feelin’ it.”
He looks at me skeptically. “Are you honestly trying to tell me that you haven’t fucked a single woman over the last few months?”
Nope. Not gonna go there. Evade. Evade. Evade.
“Maybe I’m sick of the single life. One-nighters just don’t appeal to me like they used to.”
His jaw drops. “Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? Being a one-woman guy worked out for you and Riley. Why shouldn’t I give it a try?”
“Is there someone you have your eye on?”
I try. I really do. But my eyes automatically search for Charlee and get stuck when they find her standing right inside the house.
Brody follows my gaze and scoffs. “Yeah, right. Not gonna happen.”
I almost ask him why the hell not but Rainey walks onto the deck.
“What’s not going to happen?” she asks.
“Nothing,” Brody grumbles.
Rainey rolls her eyes before whispering something in his ear.
“Right now?” he asks under his breath. When she nods, he sets his beer on the railing and turns to me. “Uh, I’ll be back in a bit. I have to go...get something from the car.”
I wave him off. “Yeah, buddy, don’t worry about me. Go bust a nut.”
He grins and practically runs after Rainey to the front yard. It’s only a matter of seconds after the coast is clear before Charlee makes her way outside.
“Hey, you need some help with that?”
The second she speaks, my dick is raring to go. It’s been almost a week since she came to the firehouse but with that one sentence, I’m flashing back to our quickie up against the wall. I’m definitely going to need to keep my distance from her.
I set the tongs off to the side and grab my beer. “Nah, I’m good. I’m nowhere near your level of expertise, but when you eat as often as I do, you learn to cook the basics.”
She props a hand on her hip. “You wanna try saying that to my eyes next time?”
Hey, it’s not my fault she’s wearing a shirt that hugs her tits perfectly.
I clench my fist around my beer bottle and nod to her protruding nipples. “They don’t seem to mind the attention.”
Charlee looks down and laughs. “Well, that’s your fault.”
I raise an eyebrow. “How so?”
She peers over her shoulder to ensure we’re still alone. “Because they can’t stop thinking about what it feels like to have your mouth sucking on them.”
I groan. “Jesus, Charlee. You can’t say shit like that right now.”
“Why not?” she challenges.
“Because we’re at my sister’s house. And your brother is around here somewhere. And I really don’t need a woody in front of all these people.”
She taps her lips with her finger. “Okay, I’ll behave. But what about tonight?”
“What about tonight?”
“You’re off tomorrow and I’ll be out of work around midnight. I can swing by your place on the way home, we can fill out the annulment paperwork, and then bang like bunnies afterwards.”
I smirk. “Is that right?”
“Well, we agreed we had to take advantage of this whole thing while we can, right?”
I nod. “In that case, you should probably pack a bag and stay the whole night.”
“Right.” She raises her eyebrows suggestively. “With the way our work schedules have been conflicting all week, we need to make up for lost time.”
“You make a good point.”
“I do, don’t I?” Charlee pulls her phone out of her pocket and looks at the screen. “Shit, I have to get going if I need to stop by my apartment first. I have to clock in, in an hour.”
I almost bend down to kiss her goodbye but I catch myself. “Have a good night at work, honey. Text me when you’re on your way.”
She gives me a thumbs up as she backs away. “I’ll need your address. Send it to me when you can.”
Right. My wife doesn’t know where I fucking live.
I pull out my phone and open a text window. “Doing it now.”
Charlee winks as the incoming message chimes on her phone. “See you tonight, Drew.”
I nod. “Tonight.”
“What’s happening tonight?” Riley asks.
Shit, how long has he been standing there?
I whip around to face him. I try gauging how much he heard by his expression but his poker face is strong. “Uh...nothing.”
Riley narrows his eyes. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Drew.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He scoffs. “Sure you don’t.”
Shit liar, here. Remember?
I start pulling the chicken off the grill
and loading it onto the serving platter. “I’ve got it handled, Rye.”
“Really?” he challenges. “Because from the look of it, you’re trying to hook up with Brody’s sister. And we both know how he feels about that.”
“You’re with my sister,” I grumble.
He takes a swig from his beer. “That’s different. You and I weren’t friends first.”
Damn, I need to be careful here. Riley is a good guy and he’s about to become my brother-in-law. But Brody is also his best friend. I don’t want to drag Rye into the middle of this if at all possible.
I clear my throat. “Yeah, well...”
“Unca’ Drew!” My nephew, Nathan, comes bounding out the door.
Saved by the five-year-old. Perfect timing, little dude.
I step away from the grill and swing him into my arms. “Hey, buddy! Are you ready to get your grub on?”
He does a little fist pump in the air. “Yes! Give me all ‘da food!”
God, I love this kid.
“A man after my own heart. Let’s go see what your mom has spread out in the kitchen.” I turn to Riley. “Will you bring the chicken in for me?”
He gives me a look that says we’re not done with this conversation. “Sure.”
Devyn, Riley, Nathan, and I all gather in the kitchen to load up our plates before going back to the deck to eat outside. About ten minutes later, Brody and Rainey return, plates in hand, looking freshly fucked.
Riley can’t resist the urge to give Brody shit. “Where’ve ya been, man?”
Brody eyes Nate pointedly. “Uh, I needed something from my Suburban. Took a while to find it.”
“What kind of something needed both yours and Rainey’s attention?” Riley’s lip twitches.
Brody fake coughs, disguising the fuck off thrown in Riley’s direction. Riley just laughs in return. Brody made a vow to be more conscious about his four-letter-words when he found out Rainey was expecting. Or more so when Rainey said she had every intention of implementing a swear jar in their household. Brody said he needs to practice before the kid comes otherwise, he’ll be filling that thing to the brim just like I did when Dev and Nate lived with me. Brody’s even worse than I am, so he’ll likely be broke before his kid’s first birthday.