Before I leave the bathroom, I check the master closet and find that the movers grabbed what looks like all of Gracie’s clothes, however, there are still empty shelves we’ll need to fill for her. The other side of the massive closet has only the clothes I brought with me to New York, so our closet looks a little weak at the moment. We’ll fix that soon.
Back out in the kitchen, I rummage through the refrigerator to see what Shannon and her staff purchased. She mentioned she was having food staples delivered and I saw in the pantry an assortment of crackers, canisters of flour, sugar, pastas, bread, and all the things a kitchen should have. There is a slender cupboard full of spices and seasonings and the fridge has every condiment known to man. Ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, along with milk, cheeses, lunch meats, eggs, and even fruits and vegetables. It’s been so long since I’ve cooked, I don’t even know what to make, but it’s going on nine o’clock, and I know Gracie must be starving.
Just as I’m about to Google food delivery, I hear a knock at the door. It has to be someone from Shannon’s team or the movers because this is a secure building and those are the only people I’ve given access to.
I weave through the living room and out to the foyer to get the door just as I hear Gracie holler from the bedroom, “Who’s here?”
“Not sure,” I respond, then the bedroom door closes.
Opening the front door, I find Aaron, his face buried in his phone and a large brown bag sitting at his feet.
“’Bout time you answer the fucking door,” he says, bending down to grab the huge paper bag by the handles. He shoves it at me and shoulders his way past me and right into the condo.
“Come on in,” I say sarcastically. However, the smell of garlic quickly takes over and my stomach rumbles. “What is this?” I kick the door closed behind me.
“Dinner. Figured you’d be hungry, so consider this my housewarming gift.” He smirks at me. “Lasagna, salad, and garlic bread, so don’t get too excited.”
Excited isn’t exactly what I’d say I am feeling, but hungry is. The gesture is also nice and that doesn’t go unnoticed. “Sit.” I gesture to a seat at the kitchen island, and he finally pulls his face from his phone and sets it next to him.
“You didn’t have to do this,” I tell him as I set the bag on the island so I can fish out some plates and utensils.
“I wanted to.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Figured eating was the last thing you were thinking about.”
“You couldn’t have shown up at a better time,” I explain. “I was just digging through the fridge, wondering what to make.”
“Hey.” Gracie’s voice calls from behind us. She joins us in the kitchen, wearing a pair of yoga pants and a tank top, her long, wet hair falling over her shoulders. She walks over to Aaron and offers him a courteous but short hug. Two days ago, that would have bothered me, but not today.
“Brought you guys some dinner.” He gestures suavely to the bag like he’s trying to impress. I roll my eyes but let it go. It’s like he can’t help himself sometimes.
“It smells amazing.” She peeks inside the bag. “What’s all in here?”
Aaron drags the bag over to him and starts pulling containers from it. “Lasagna, salads, bread, and I think there’s dessert too.” As he’s pulling the containers out, Gracie starts opening them.
“You’ll join us, right?” I ask Aaron, surprised at how non-begrudging I sound.
He hesitates before shrugging. “If you don’t mind the company.”
“Stay.” Gracie grins. “We’d love to have you.”
Taking the three plates from me that I’ve pulled down from the cabinet, she sets them on the small round table that sits off the kitchen, our informal dining space. There’s a large formal dining room off the other end of the kitchen, but I don’t foresee us using it often, maybe for entertaining or for holidays if we have guests.
While they’re transferring the takeout to the table, I gather some utensils and napkins, then join them. We all sit down and pass around the food, filling our plates. Gracie and Aaron fall into easy conversation and something inside me stirs. Not rage, like before. Not jealousy. Not possessiveness or protectiveness. No, it’s something else.
Peace.
Never did I envision this. My brother, my girlfriend, and me all sitting down together in my house.
“What’s wrong with you?” Gracie asks when she finds me staring at my plate of food—a weird expression—something between a cheesy grin and confusion spread across my face.
“Nothing.” I pause. “Just happy.” I look between Gracie and my brother and I finally relax in my seat. “Just happy,” I repeat.
Gracie reaches for my hand. “So am I,” she says quietly, her eyes twinkling.
Just as I take a bite of the lasagna that smells like heaven, I hear Aaron chime in, “Me too.”
Eighteen
When I wake up, Drew is still sound asleep. I can hear the light sound of his snoring coming from his side of the bed, and in this moment, I’m thankful Shannon had blackout curtains made for the bedroom. With almost an entire wall of windows in here and French doors that lead out to the terrace, this bedroom would be bright as hell without them.
I put myself to bed last night after dinner when Aaron and Drew moved to the living room and started talking about one of Aaron’s more difficult clients. Aaron was asking Drew for advice and it was nice to see them interacting and not beating the shit out of each other. Aaron still has a slight purple hue under his eye from the escapade the other day, but it’s hardly noticeable if you didn’t know it was there.
I know Drew wanted to “christen” our bed the first night here, but within seconds of my head hitting the pillow, I had fallen asleep. I barely remember brushing my teeth.
Usually, he’s the early bird, but it’s nice waking up to him still in the bed. I decide to let him catch up on some much-needed rest, so I tiptoe quietly across the room through the bathroom, and into the closet, then slide on a silk robe before sneaking out of the bedroom and closing the door silently behind me.
I’m so thankful it’s Saturday and we can relax. It’s my turn to explore the condo and see what I can drum up for breakfast for Drew. Little does he know I can’t cook to save my life, but I can bake the hell out of some pastries. Cookies, cakes, muffins, rolls; you name it, I can make it.
On the way to the kitchen, I stop by the office and just take it all in again. I know I originally didn’t want my bookshelves here, but now, seeing them anchoring both sides of the chair, I can’t help but feel happy. I was hesitant to have Drew move the bookshelves from the apartment, but when he told me it was because he wanted a piece of me here, my heart melted. It was such a touching gesture and I’m glad he didn’t let the mover listen to me.
Next, I peek inside both guest rooms. They are each complete with a bed, dresser, and a small chair in each corner. Each room is set up exactly the same, just a different style of bed and color scheme. Each room is tasteful and beautiful in its design.
The laundry room has a state-of-the-art washing machine and dryer that I’ll definitely need an instructional manual to use, and the storage this place has is insane. Built-in cabinets fill the entire perimeter of the laundry room. There’s a small utility sink in the corner and even a built-in ironing board. I’ve never seen a place have everything one would need. My time spent in shitty laundromats has definitely made me appreciate having a laundry room in the condo.
Finally making it to the kitchen, I pull up Pinterest on my phone and find a recipe for homemade blueberry muffins with a crumble topping. Fortunately, all the ingredients I need are already here. I get to work pulling the mixer from the pantry and washing the fresh blueberries, allowing them to dry on a kitchen towel. I mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, including the flour, sugar, and baking powder, and the liquid ingredients in another.
I find a muffin pan in the cabinet next to the stove and I pre-heat the oven, greasing the muffin tins before I mix eve
rything together. I love spending time in the kitchen and hope to learn to cook more meals. Warming up cans of soup and Easy Mac is getting old, but I can’t complain, it’s kept me alive since moving to New York City. Funny how you learn to appreciate what other people snub their noses at.
Finally mixing all the ingredients together, I then fold in the blueberries. I spoon the batter into the muffin tins and mix up the crumble topping, sprinkling the brown sugar and butter mixture on top of the batter before I slide the tins into the oven and set a timer.
Coffee sounds amazing, but I stare in bewilderment at the large machine that looks like it belongs in a coffee shop and not in a private residence. There’s no way in hell I can figure out how to make coffee with that contraption. I make a mental note to save some money to buy one of those easy drip coffee makers.
“Smells good.” A groggy voice startles me and I yelp in fear.
“Jesus Christ!” I turn around, my hands flying to my chest to cover my pounding heart.
A low, rumbling laugh fills the space and I find Aaron’s light brown messy hair and blue eyes peeking over the back of the sectional couch.
“Sorry to scare you,” he mumbles, rubbing his eyes. He pushes himself up to a sitting position.
“I didn’t know you were here,” I respond, feeling oddly self-conscious. Especially after realizing I’m in a short, silk robe with nothing on underneath it. I tighten the belt and hold the top closed with my hand. And I obviously didn’t look around the condo hard enough to notice the sleeping man on our couch.
“Obviously,” he responds with a chuckle. “You know you talk to yourself, right?” he asks, joining me in the kitchen. “I thought I was dreaming because I kept hearing a girl talking and then I realized it was you talking to yourself.”
I roll my eyes. “You and your brother have both pointed that out to me.”
“It’s kinda cute,” he says, tapping the tip of my nose with his forefinger as he walks past me. He’s shirtless and built exactly like Drew. Broad shoulders and a muscular chest that narrows down to a taut waist. I try not to look, but dear God, you can’t not look at him. His jeans are slung low around his hips and his perfect V is on display.
“Coffee?” he asks, running his hand through his mussed-up hair.
“Machine is right there.” I point to the industrial-sized beast. “But I have no idea how to use it.”
“I’ll figure it out,” he mumbles and starts twisting knobs and pushing buttons.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell him and scurry down the hall to the bedroom to throw some clothes on. If I had known Aaron stayed here, I would have been dressed more appropriately.
I put back on the same clothes I was wearing last night and pull my messy, wavy hair into a bun. Drew is still sound asleep, and I rejoin Aaron back in the kitchen. Of course, he figured out how to work the coffee machine. To my utter relief, there are two cups of piping hot coffee on the island, right next to where he’s sitting on the counter. Like literally on the counter. His denim-clad legs hang off the edge of the island with his bare feet dangling.
I do my best to ignore his Adonis form and reach for my cup of coffee.
“Drew and I stayed up late talking,” Aaron says, picking up his own cup of coffee. “He told me to crash in the guest room, but I didn’t quite make it there,” he says, blowing the steam off his coffee.
“It’s your brother’s place. I’m sure you’re welcome here anytime,” I tell him with a shrug, “and thank you for the coffee.” I raise the glass in a show of thanks before taking a long, soothing drink. Nothing beats the feeling of caffeine in the morning.
He nods just as the timer goes off for the muffins. “Muffins are done,” I tell him, setting down my coffee before I pull the hot potholders from the drawer. I open the oven and pull the warm muffins from the rack and slide them on top of the stove to cool for a minute.
“I want one while they’re warm,” he says, sliding off the island. He pulls some small plates out of the cupboard and offers me one. “Is there butter in the fridge?” he asks, yanking the huge stainless-steel door open.
“Middle shelf,” I answer, dumping the muffins carefully from the pan onto another kitchen towel. I arrange them carefully so they can cool.
Aaron grabs two of them and splits them open, slathering each side with a ton of butter. He pushes himself back up onto the kitchen island and takes a giant bite. “There’s nothing better than fresh muffins,” he says around a mouthful. He looks like a little kid, all messy and talking around a mouth full of food. I can’t help but laugh.
“Dude!” Drew’s booming voice pulls my attention away from Aaron. I turn to see him sauntering down the hallway in a pair of joggers and tight grey t-shirt. “Put a damn shirt on.”
Aaron smiles and winks at me. “Nah, I’m good, man.”
When Drew is close enough, he smacks Aaron upside the head. “And get off my kitchen island.”
I’m laughing again. These two. Watching their dynamic shift so quickly the last few days has been a rollercoaster, but it makes me happy.
Aaron doesn’t budge from his perch on the island. He smirks at Drew and shoves another piece of muffin in his mouth.
Drew slides right up to me and presses a kiss to my lips. “Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you to tell you he was staying,” he whispers against my lips before kissing me again.
I wink at him and smile, letting him know I’m not upset. In fact, I’m elated these two seem to be mending bridges. He pulls away from me and grabs a coffee mug from the cupboard.
“How do you work this thing?” Drew asks, jiggling knobs on the coffee machine.
“I got you,” Aaron says, sliding off the island. He brushes his hands on his jeans and shows Drew how to make the perfect cup of coffee.
I settle onto the couch, a muffin in one hand and my coffee in the other. I was so resistant to moving in here, but waking up next to Drew, in his bed, is a routine I could easily get used to. I can see us making breakfasts and enjoying mornings on the terrace.
To my utter relief, Aaron picks his shirt up off the floor and puts it on before joining me on the couch. He cradles his coffee cup in both hands and sinks into the oversized cushions. Drew is still in the kitchen opening drawers and cupboards, obviously looking for something. I’d offer to help, but I’m useless at this point. I also have no idea what we have or where it’d be.
Aaron reaches for the remote control that sits on the large ottoman and turns on the TV. Drew joins us on the couch and promptly puts himself between Aaron and me, even though there is another entire side of the couch. Now we’re all three squished into one small section and I can’t help but chuckle. Possessive Drew can be awfully adorable. Well, when he’s not trying to convince me to leave my apartment behind.
Aaron smirks but doesn’t say anything.
“What are our plans for the day?” Drew rests his hand on my thigh, giving it a little squeeze.
I have to think about it for a second. He’s always the one who makes plans for us, so my side-eye glance and deafening silence must explain my confusion.
“I mean, do you have any plans today?” he asks me.
I shake my head slowly. “I never have plans. Not really.”
I don’t know why, but Aaron huffs out a laugh. I’m not really embarrassed. It’s been my life for so long, I don’t really care. Until Drew, my weekends usually consisted of the New York Public Library and the laundromat. Not wanting to actually embarrass myself, I don’t tell him the details.
Drew grins. “What do you say we show my brother around New York City?”
Aaron snaps his head in our direction and looks between the two of us, like how could we possibly want to spend a day with him.
I shrug. “I suppose we can if we have nothing better to do.”
Drew tips his head back in laughter just as a throw pillow hits me in the face.
“Hey!” I yell and toss it back at Aaron, who is obviously faster than me and catches it
with his giant man hand.
“You know you’re dying to spend time with me,” he counters with a sarcastic tone.
I roll my eyes.
Drew sits between us laughing and pulls the throw pillow from Aaron’s hand. “Go back to your hotel and shower and change. Meet us back here in two hours and we’ll give you the ten-cent tour.”
* * *
Aaron has barely closed the door to our condo before Drew is suddenly ripping my clothes off of me. In less than ten seconds, he has me completely naked and spread out on the couch, drooling over me like I’m a feast before him. I’m all for it.
His lips twist into a sly grin as he settles between my legs and his tongue finds that spot on my neck just below my ear that he loves to torture. “You have no idea how much I wanted to do this last night,” he mumbles between kisses, nipping at the sensitive skin on my neck. How he manages to undress himself and drive me wild with his mouth and hands at the same time takes true talent.
Before I can collect my thoughts, he’s disrobed and plunging deep inside me. My body accepts him fully before he starts making love to me. The room is cool, and goosebumps prick my skin.
“You’re so warm,” Drew murmurs, capturing my lips in his. His thrusts are slow and deep, every nerve of mine on high alert. “Every. Room,” he says between kisses. “We’re doing this in every room.”
I smile, biting my bottom lip as he works my body into a frenzy. Every stroke, every brush of his lips, every graze of his fingertips has me on sensory overload.
“And I’m going to bend you over that kitchen island and fuck you so hard from behind.” His rhythm picks up, and good god, that does it. Every part of my body shudders around him. My fingers grip his ass as he slides in and out of me.
“Promise?” I respond and he slams into me harder, causing me to see stars as he hits that bundle of nerves he knows how to expertly work. I’ve never been able to come as fast and as hard as I have with him. Drew knows how to work my body and he takes advantage of that.
Unexpectedly Yours Page 17