by E. L. Todd
“Day shift.” Finn’s voice still sounded from the kitchen. “I’m going to head to the gym. I’ll see you later.”
I preferred to wait until Colton went upstairs, but if Finn was going for it now, I didn’t have a choice. Colton might look in the pantry to make something to eat, so I couldn’t stay there too long.
“Bye,” Colton said.
Finn opened the pantry door and the garage door at the same time to mask the sound of both doors. Then he stepped aside so I could go first.
I darted into the garage like my life depended on it.
When we got into the truck, I lay flat with my head on his thigh just in case Colton came outside.
Finn grinned as he backed out of the garage. “I like this position.” He hit the button on his visor to close the garage before he pulled onto the road and drove away.
After a few seconds, I sat up, the adrenaline pumping in my heart. “Oh my god, that was close.”
He shrugged. “Colton is pretty clueless when it comes to his surroundings.”
“But all he had to do was open the pantry door, and we would have been screwed.”
“You give him too much credit.” He kept brushing off the event like it wasn’t a big deal.
But it was a big deal. “Finn, that could have been really bad.”
“But it wasn’t.”
“Still…” This couldn’t happen again. I would have felt terrible if Colton had opened the door and seen my horrified face. It would have only taken a few seconds for him to realize what happened, that his brother and best friend were getting it on behind his back—and we were lying to his face every day. “It can’t happen again. That was the last time.”
He kept his eyes on the road, one hand on the wheel. “Alright…the last time.”
16
Colton
“How’d it go with Stella?” I sat across from Zach in the booth at the bar. Finn left to get drinks, but he’d been gone while.
“Pretty good,” he said. “She paid for the drinks, talked to me about work, and then she invited me to her place afterward.”
“Whoa, you guys already slept together?” I knew Stella wasn’t a shy woman, but since they were friends, that seemed a little fast.
“No. But we had a hot make-out session on her couch.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“That’s one hell of an apology.” I looked over my shoulder and searched for Finn. “Where the hell is he? I need my beer.”
Zach narrowed his eyes. “He’s got two women fighting over him. God, he’s such an asshole.”
I saw two blondes standing with him at the bar, both wearing tight dresses and heels. With smiles plastered on their faces and gentle touches gracing his arm, they were both available and interested.
“Anytime that guy is out in public, he’s getting pussy.” Zach shook his head. “I should have gone into the military…”
“You wouldn’t have been able to handle it.” I turned back around and faced him. “Maybe I should just get my own beer from now on.”
“I couldn’t?” he asked incredulously. “To get hit on like that all the time, I’d definitely go to war.”
I knew he was joking, but it was still insensitive. “Don’t say things like that around Finn. It bothers him.”
“Noted.”
When I watched a group of girls walk inside, I recognized Pepper and her friends. Pepper wore a deep purple dress with black pumps, and Tatum and Stella looked just as eye-catching. They obviously had no idea we were there because they moved into a booth and kept talking.
“What?” Zach looked over his shoulder.
“Looks like they’re having a girls’ night.”
He whistled quietly. “Stella is looking fine in that dress.”
And Pepper wouldn’t be single much longer looking like that.
“Should we go talk to them?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe they want to do their own thing.”
“Stella won’t be doing her own thing dressed like that for long.”
Finn finally returned from the bar with the beers. “Drink up.”
“Took you long enough.” I snatched my beer and scooted in so Finn would have room.
“Got sidetracked.” He drank his beer then looked at the TV.
“You aren’t going to hook up with them?” Zach asked incredulously. “They’re two tens. That means they’re a twenty.”
Finn shrugged. “Just not in the mood.”
“Not in the mood?” Zach couldn’t comprehend the statement. “You’re a young guy. You’re always in the mood.”
“It just gets old after a while. It may be a different partner, but it’s always the same thing. No talking, just sex. It’s the introduction, the same flirting. There’s never anything interesting about them, we fuck, and then I have to deal with kicking them out.”
Zach rolled his eyes. “I feel so bad for you…”
Pepper left the booth then strutted across the room, indifferent to our presence because she had no idea we were there. Her hips swayed back and forth, and heads turned in her direction. She had the perfect figure, gorgeous legs, a plump ass, and a narrow waist.
Finn was about to take a drink of his beer, but he slowly lowered it as she walked by, his neck craning as he stretched his ligaments to epic proportions. When she arrived at the bar, he completely pivoted in his seat just to look at her.
Zach whistled under his breath. “Your ex cleans up good.”
I watched every man gawk at the woman who used to be my wife, even my own brother. But I couldn’t get angry when she was single and gorgeous. That would be like screaming at the clouds every time it rained. It was pointless.
Finn scooted out of his seat. “Excuse me.” He stood up and walked to the bar.
Zach watched him go. “Sometimes I wonder if Finn has a thing for Pepper.”
“No. He wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Then why did he ditch us like that?”
I shrugged. “He’s protective of her the way I am. Probably wants to make sure the guys don’t bother her.”
Zach stared at me for a few seconds before he took a drink. “Yeah…maybe that’s it.”
17
Pepper
When I reached the bar, I ordered a vodka cranberry, something strong but also sweet. After the week I’d had, I needed something that would spike in my bloodstream. I was obsessed with a man I couldn’t have, when I should be moving on with my life. Once I got a divorce, I was free to do whatever I wanted, but for some reason, I wanted to do stupid things.
Like sleep with my ex’s brother.
There were a million guys out there. Why did I have to choose the one guy I couldn’t have?
I was about to pay for the drinks when Finn appeared at my side, looking sexy as hell in his t-shirt that showed off his battle ink. A beer was in his hand, and he stood close to me like he was staking a claim in front of all the other guys at the bar. Since there was no man who could possibly compete with him, they steered clear.
When I smelled his scent and looked into those gorgeous eyes, my legs felt weak in my heels. He always took my breath away, stole it directly from my lungs. When the girls and I decided to go out tonight, I’d promised myself I’d at least try to meet someone new. But when Finn appeared out of nowhere, that made it impossible.
He stared at me without saying a word.
I didn’t say anything back, as was customary.
The staring continued as the conversations erupted around us. The TV had a replay of the game, and the sound of glasses tapping against hard surfaces composed the background noise.
I gave in first. “Having a night out?”
“With Colt and Zach.”
“Ooh…didn’t see you.”
“I definitely saw you.” His eyes trailed down my body, looking at my curves in my skintight dress.
We’d agreed that we were finally over, but this scorching chemistry was impossible to ignore. Anytime we were alone togethe
r, it was rampant and hot, like we were standing right next to an inferno. I changed the subject to keep things safe. “I was hoping to meet someone tonight…”
“You can have any guy you want in here. They’re all staring at us, wishing I would drop dead.”
“You give me too much credit.”
“And you don’t give yourself enough.” He stood close to me at the counter, so close that we looked like lovers more than friends.
“Because I’m not cute, right?”
He shook his head. “Not at all.”
I turned back to my glass and took a drink.
“So, which guy do you like?”
“I don’t know…I haven’t even looked.” How could I look, when the sexiest man in the world was right beside me?
“Do you even want to look?”
He already knew the answer to that. “You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”
“I find that unlikely. It can’t be any harder.”
He might be right about that. “How many women have made passes at you so far?”
He held his beer and stared at me.
“You aren’t going to answer me?”
“I don’t see why it matters.”
“You’re asking me which guy I want to hit on. You can’t tell me who’s hit on you?”
“That’s because you don’t want to hit on any of these guys,” he said. “And I couldn’t care less who’s hit on me. They’re always nothing compared to you. And I’m afraid they’ll always be nothing.” He leaned his arm against the counter and stared at me, his powerful gaze burning through me with its intensity.
I came out here tonight with the intention of moving forward, not getting caught up in the sexual tension with this man. After hiding in the pantry, I realized I didn’t want to be that person—a liar who snuck around. I felt like someone having an affair, sleazy and deceitful. It could be exciting at times, but mostly, I felt shady. “Finn, this needs to stop.”
“It has stopped.”
“No, it hasn’t. We’re fucking in the middle of this bar right now—with our eyes.” We weren’t touching, but that didn’t mean we weren’t wrapped up in each other. The room felt empty because we were the only people inside. This connection made us block out everything else but each other. It wasn’t healthy, not when this would never have a future. “You should go home with someone, and so should I. This is never going to work, so we need to start acting like friends…real friends.” I grabbed all the drinks and prepared to carry them back to the girls. “Don’t make this harder on me than it needs to be. It’s the first time in my life where I’ve found a man who actually feels right for me…but I can’t have you. I’m not going to torture myself anymore. I don’t want you to torture me either.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, the sadness heavy in his gaze. He didn’t reply to my comment, maybe because my admission made him uncomfortable. Maybe that was the key to putting distance between us—by putting my heart on my sleeve.
I grabbed the drinks and walked away. “Goodnight, Finn.”
I walked in the door at midnight.
I slipped off my heels right away, tossed my clutch on the table, and then sat on the couch with my dress almost up to my waist. I should have gone into the bathroom to wash the makeup off my face, but I was too bummed to care about skin care.
My plan was to meet someone tonight, even if it was just for the evening, but Finn’s appearance unnerved me. It reminded me there was only one man I truly wanted, a man I wanted even more than I ever had wanted my own husband. When we moved together, it was perfect, like the best sex in the world on drugs.
He was my drug.
But he wasn’t an option. Even if he were, he never wanted to get married or have kids, so it wouldn’t go anywhere anyway. He was just a heartbreaker who distracted me from the path I was meant to walk.
I shouldn’t have slept with him in the first place.
Now we would never be friends.
But then again, were we ever really friends?
My eyes closed as I sat on the couch. I should get up and go to bed, but I was too tired to move. It was easier just to lie there, to let the exhaustion creep into my veins like an intravenous drug.
Another option would be to bust out my vibrator and think about the man I couldn’t have, but that would only lead to self-loathing when I was finished. My fantasies never compared to reality anyway.
Just when I was about to get up, there was a knock on the door.
I rose to my feet and stared at the entryway, immediately assuming Finn was on the other side. There was no reason for Colton to stop by at this time of night without warning, and I doubted it would be my new neighbor across the hall.
I peeked through the peephole and saw Finn’s handsome face looking back at me, unafraid to stare down the hole in the door. His eyes possessed that fire he usually wore when he was inside me. His intentions were obvious, even with a solid piece of wood in between us.
If I didn’t want this to happen, I should just walk away and pretend I was asleep.
But I did want this. I wanted this man for more than just sex. I wanted him because he chased away the loneliness, made me feel sexy when I doubted my appearance. He reminded me that I was worth something, even if my husband left me for other men.
I unlocked the door and opened it.
He hadn’t blinked since he knocked, and he continued that fierce stare now. With his muscular arms resting by his sides, he stood six foot three of pure masculine perfection. His strong chest rose and fell slowly with his breathing, and without expressing his desires verbally, he expressed them physically.
I knew it was a bad idea to open that door, but I did it anyway.
I had no chance against this man.
He allowed himself inside, crossed the threshold, and then dug his hand into my hair as he kissed me. His leg kicked the door shut behind him, and he gave me a searing kiss that made me forget all my doubts.
He made me forget everything.
His hand gripped the back of my dress and slowly bunched it up my waist, making my ass hang out in the seamless thong. One large hand gripped both cheeks as it made a bridge over my crack. His kiss continued at the same time, devouring me like a man should consume a woman.
A man had never kissed me like this, had never handled me with so much desire. Finn had had more partners than anyone I knew, but he made me feel like I was the only one who mattered, the only one who could make him as hard as steel.
My hands snaked under his shirt and felt the powerful abs of his body, the grooves that were so hard they could break a nail. I worshiped him with my fingertips, slowly pushing the shirt over his head and revealing his chiseled physique.
He grabbed the front of my dress and yanked it down, causing my tits to pop out the top.
My fingers undid his jeans and pushed them to his thighs.
Like it was the first time we’d ever been together, we yanked on each other’s clothes and feasted on flesh.
He pushed me back to the bedroom, his jeans and boxers slipping to his ankles as his cock pressed against my stomach. He kept kissing me until we reached the foot of the bed in my bedroom.
He turned me around and lifted me onto the bed so I was on all fours. Then he grabbed the back of my neck and pushed it against the sheets, making my ass pop high into the air. He yanked my dress to my waist and pushed my panties to my knees.
His hand guided his cock to my entrance. He slowly pushed past my lips and sank inside me, collecting all the slickness as he entered as deep as he could go. Once he was fully sheathed and wet, he gripped my hips and fucked me hard.
Fucked me like a whore.
His hand flattened against my lower back, and he kept me in place as he slammed his dick deep inside me, moaning and grunting as he fucked my pussy like it belonged to him.
I moaned into the comforter, my hands reaching between my legs to grip the insides of his thighs.
“I’m the only man wh
o fucks this pussy,” he spoke as he jackhammered me, pounding me so hard, it actually hurt a little bit. His long cock kept hitting me deep, tapping me all the way to my cervix. “You understand me?”
Logic didn’t matter anymore. I could keep fighting to restrain myself, but I’d already lost that battle a million times. Maybe it was wrong, but it didn’t change the truth. Finn and I were together. We were going to stay together and keep fucking like this—for better or worse. “Yes.”
He thrust hard inside me, making my body jerk. “Say it again.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
I was completely at his mercy, unable to fight the fire that ignited us both. “You’re the only man who fucks this pussy.”
There was something innately comforting in defeat. All the stress disappeared because it didn’t seem to matter. I did my best to do the right thing, but that never seemed to work. Finn crossed the line so many times, and I didn’t bother fighting him anymore.
I just accepted it.
We lay together in the darkness of my bedroom, my leg hooked around his hips, while his arm draped over my waist. Face-to-face, we stared at each other while the night deepened into morning.
It was almost four a.m.
We didn’t spend time talking about what just happened or the fact that we’d chosen a path that would end terribly for both of us. We entertained ourselves with silent stares, with fucking and lovemaking.
He’d been staring at me for a while, showing no signs of fatigue.
My fingers moved to his chest, feeling the military dog tags that constantly adorned his hard body. “You never take these off?”
He shook his head slightly. “Never.”
“May I ask why?” My fingers felt the hard metal of the tags, seeing his name engraved in the material.
“You can ask anything, baby.” His hand glided across my back until he reached my hip. His fingers dug into the skin lightly, the touch comfortable and warm. “I wore them every day for ten years. It’s a habit I don’t want to break.”