#FinishLine (GearShark #5)

by Cambria Hebert

  “Down, boy,” Joey muttered. “It’s me.”

  Hopper blinked at her, glanced at me to make sure I was fine, then dropped back onto the mattress like nothing even happened.

  “Holy shit, Joey! How did you get in here?” I exclaimed, not feeling the same lax attitude toward this situation as my lover.

  Muffled laughter from the other room floated through the door.

  Oh my God! My brother was there, too.

  She didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with breaking into our hotel room, storming into the bedroom, and staring down at us while we were in bed.

  Jesus Criminy, we were practically naked.

  I shot forward. This time it was me who flung an arm out over Hopper. He was naked! Forgetting about covering myself, I piled the thick, white comforter on top of him so only the top of his dark head was visible.

  Joey didn’t seem to care I was freaking the fuck out at her creepy lurking. Her hands were planted on her hips, her dark curls wild around her shoulders. The green of her eyes fired flames at me. “You snuck out of our room last night! You aren’t supposed to be in here.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s you who isn’t supposed to be in here,” I pointed out, gesturing to the fact I was in bed—in my drawers and nothing else.

  With a very dry, matter-of-fact tone, she retorted, “Oh, please. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”

  “You better not have,” Hopper rumbled, a mere voice beneath a cloud.

  I grinned. Well, it was about time something about this got some sort of grumble out of him.

  Joey rolled her eyes.

  “Sorry, Joey. I meant to sneak back into the room, but I didn’t wake up.” I apologized, squishing closer to Hopp, trying to cover some of my skin. I mean, really, it wasn’t a big deal, but she was my sister and I was in bed with my husband.

  My husband. I was getting married today.

  “Actually…” I corrected. “I’m not really sorry.”

  The edge of the white blankets popped up, and Hopper’s arm snaked out, wrapping around my waist and pulling me close. When I was right up against him, he snatched the edge of the covers, yanking them over us like we were in a tent. Now she couldn’t see us at all.

  “Go away!” he growled.

  “You have five minutes!” she swore. “If you aren’t out, I’ll be forced to come in after you!”

  “Jace!” I yelled. Surely he wouldn’t let his woman just climb into bed with two other dudes.

  “Whatever,” she muttered, her voice retreating. “Five minutes!” she yelled again. The sound of the bedroom door closing was kind of like an angel singing.

  Hopp and I looked at each other beneath the blankets; neither of us bothered to push them back down. We liked it under there. I liked being anywhere alone with him.

  “She will seriously try and get in this bed with us.” Hopper warned.

  I kissed him. Under the covers like this, the air was hot and thick, almost suffocating. Stroking my tongue over his, our mouths folded together, our limbs intertwined, and the blankets over our bodies felt heavy.

  His thick, hard cock pressed against my stomach, rubbing against it as we kissed. Horniness buzzed beneath my skin.

  Groaning, Hopper pulled back. “It’s a good day to get married.”

  “A good fucking day.” I agreed.

  “You’re going to be late for your own wedding!” Joey yelled through the door.

  “We’re coming!” Hopper called back. His head hit the pillow with a grunt. “Tomboy my ass. She’s loving being in charge of this.”

  “Girls do like weddings.” I agreed.

  His fingers dragged through my hair, pushing against the back of my head to bring me closer. “How about you, babe? You like weddings?”

  “Just ours,” I whispered.

  Hopper pressed his forehead to mine and groaned. “We have to get up.”

  “I’ll find you some pants.”

  The feel of our joyous moments in our “homemade tent” that morning carried me through the rest of the morning and afternoon.

  The ceremony wasn’t until later that evening, but holy shit balls, did Joey keep us busy.

  And separate.

  Frankly, it made me surly. The only thing that made it better was when I snuck off to text him. Until she took my damn phone.

  I loved my sister, but I was about to go ape shit.

  The whole time I showered—in Jace’s suite—I wondered if Hopp was a floor up doing the same. I thought of how the soap coasted over his hard body, making his skin slippery and slick. I remembered the night at Gamble’s in that giant-ass shower.

  I was making a bucket list. Right here. Right now.

  The first thing was getting a giant-ass shower like that, because shower sex with Hopper was mind blowing.

  I thought about it a few more minutes. When I came out of the practical fantasy playing in my mind, my hand was wrapped around my own dick. It felt good, but it wasn’t my hand I wanted. No one—not even me—was a match for Hopper. With a heavy and annoyed sigh, I released myself and promised my cock it would see Hopp later.

  Once I was out of the shower and my cock was no longer searching for my guy, I stepped out of the bathroom to find Jace in the bedroom.

  “Took your sweet ass time in there,” he quipped, taking in the towel wrapped around my waist.

  “I was hiding from Joey.”

  He laughed. “Why do you think I’m in here waiting for you?”

  “She bossing you around, too?” I asked.

  He chuckled like he thought she was cute. “She tries.”

  “Where is she?” I whispered and looked at the door.

  Around a toothy smile, he said, “She’s upstairs bugging Hopper.”

  Grabbing the duffle I took from our room earlier, when Joey informed me I wasn’t allowed back there, I rummaged around for a pair of boxers.

  “I brought your suit,” Jace said, gesturing toward a garment bag hanging nearby.

  “Sweet, thanks.” I barely glanced at the bag. I’d seen the outfit several times, including this morning when Joey insisted I try on the jacket one last time to make sure the tailor did it perfectly. I already knew he did. She’d dragged me to the shop to be fitted, then again when it was done.

  I didn’t bother reminding her of that this morning, though. I just put it on and made her happy.

  “So…” I began, abandoning all the shit I’d just pulled out of my bag and turning toward my brother. “She seems in her element planning this wedding,”

  Jace made a sound. “Thanks for letting her be so involved. It means a lot to her, to have a bigger family now.”

  I nodded. I totally understood. “Me, too.”

  Lorhaven sat on the giant bed he and Joey shared. “Speaking of. Were Hopper’s parents good to you?”

  I tilted my head to the side. “You came up and saw them. You know they’re good people.”

  He nodded. “But were they good to you.”

  That was my brother. He couldn’t care less if Hopper’s parents were saints. He only cared if they were nice to me.

  “They were great,” I said. “It was strange.” I hesitated. “You know, to have people accept me instantly.”

  “Donna and I accepted you instantly, A.” He glowered.

  I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Yeah. I do.”

  “I think they’re going to be around a lot. Hopper seemed really glad to have them back in his life. He wasn’t pissed I invited his mom here.”

  Lorhaven smiled ruefully. “He was probably too shocked to be pissed.”

  He’d been shocked all right. But even so, his loyalty to me came before that. He was so good to me, so much better than I honestly thought I’d ever have.

  “I still didn’t tell him about Seattle,” I murmured, more or less thinking out loud. “I was going to today, but your girlfriend is being a Nazi.”

  J
ace barked a laugh. “Who knew she would be such a bridezilla? And not even with her own wedding.”

  “Speaking of… What about you, bro? Why haven’t you put a ring on it?”

  “What is this, a rap song?” he quipped.

  “You like rap,” I pointed out.

  He sighed. “I’m working on it.”

  A smile split my face. “Yeah? About time!”

  “Shit, everyone acts like we’ve been together ten years. It’s only been one. Joey and I might like speed, but this ain’t something I’m rushing. I’m keeping her, and I’m not going to let anything ruin it.”

  I pondered that a second. Somehow his words hit something inside me, as if he were no longer speaking about his own relationship, but mine. “You think Hopp and I are moving too fast?”

  Lorhaven shoved off the bed and came forward, his eyes serious. “If I thought you and Hopper were moving too fast, I never would have given him my blessing.”

  I smiled, thinking of that and how it must have gone down. “I can’t believe he asked you,” I mused.

  “Fucker better have.” Jace glowered. Then he relented. “It earned my respect.”

  “Thank you, Jace,” I said sincerely.

  His mouth drew up, puzzled.

  “For accepting me for who I am. For accepting Hopper and not making it weird. You’ve always had my back. You’ve been the most important person in my life for a long time. I know it can’t be easy to, umm…”

  “Get shoved out of the way for a piece of ass?” he joked.

  I punched him in the stomach, but only hard enough to make him wheeze a little. “I’m not shoving you aside, fucker,” I insisted. “And Hopp isn’t a piece of ass.”

  “I know.” He hackled, rubbing at his midsection.

  “I was going to say to make room for someone else. I know it was hard with our age difference, my past… what went down with Joey.”

  “It’s all water under the bridge.”

  I nodded. “Point is I made it here because of you. Without you…” My voice fell away. It was hard to open up so much, hard to articulate to him just how much he meant to me. Especially when that someone was my brother who liked everyone to believe he didn’t have feelings.

  His hand fell onto my shoulder, squeezing. “I know.”

  I glanced up. “There’s no one else I’d rather have standing next to me today.”

  “Nowhere else I’d rather be, little brother.”

  I let the little brother thing slide just this once. I gave him a quick hug but then pulled back because, well, I was only wearing a towel.

  I glanced away, back at my clothes, trying to shove back all the emotion rising inside me.

  Jace cleared his throat. I looked up, my eyes widening.

  He was holding a square, black velvet box between us. “Think she’ll like this?”

  I snatched it out of his grip and popped it open. Glancing between him and what was inside, I blew out a whistle. “Well, if she doesn’t like it, you can always take it back and buy a small country instead.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not giving my girl a puny diamond.”

  “Well, it definitely ain’t puny.” I agreed and shut the lid before I breathed on it or something. God, that rock had to be worth a fortune.

  After tucking it back into his pants, he asked, “Is it too much?”

  I laughed. “Is that actual self-doubt coming from the all-powerful Lorhaven?”

  “Fuck you.”

  I laughed some more. He turned surlier by the second. I rather enjoyed it. When I was done making fun of him, I put him out of his misery. “It’s awesome. She’s gonna love it, Jace.”

  He swallowed like there was a canary in his throat and it was fighting against him, trying to get out.

  “Something tells me we aren’t going to get away with an elopement like you and Hopper.”

  I snorted. “Ron Gamble wouldn’t allow his only daughter to elope, and we both know it.”

  “Who cares? Long as Joey is happy.”

  “That’s the thing.” He worried. “This whole time she’s been planning your wedding, she’s gone on and on about how sweet it is. How intimate. How romantic. A giant, high-society wedding isn’t her thing.”

  I saw his point. “And you think Joey will sacrifice what she wants to make her father happy.”

  “She has a history of doing just that,” Lorhaven pointed out.

  I thought it over a minute. “Yeah, but she has you now. And we both know you won’t bow down to Ron Gamble.”

  “You have a point.” He smiled.

  “I’m happy for you, Lor. You picked a good one, and I’ll be thrilled when you make her officially my sister.”

  “Look at us,” he mused. “Making a family and shit.”

  “Think that ring will be on her finger by the time we get back from our honeymoon?”

  “We’ll see,” he said, sly.

  Out in the other room, the door to the suite open and closed. “C’mon, it’s about time.” Joey stopped and gasped when we came into sight. “Oh my God! Neither of you is dressed!”

  “Sorry, baby. Lost track of time,” Jace replied, sheepish.

  “How’s Hopp?” I asked, glancing around for signs of my phone.

  “Hopper is fine. He’s dressed and ready. Unlike some people.”

  “You’re not dressed either,” I pointed out.

  She threw her hands up in the air. Her curls were already pulled up in some kind of style on top of her head, with a few loose tendrils coiling against her neck. “Well, maybe I would have time to get dressed if my family didn’t consist of a bunch of boneheaded men!”

  Jace stepped past me, giving me a shove. “Don’t sass your sister or I’ll kick your ass.”

  “You’re not dressed either, Jace,” Joey growled.

  My brother was hardly intimidated. Either he knew she was just talk, or he actually liked it when she bit. I was guessing the former. Grasping her face in his hands, he ducked down and kissed her. “I need help getting dressed.”

  She made a sound but went in for another kiss. “You need help putting on pants?”

  “Hey.” He drew back. “You’re the one making me wear a monkey suit. Not even Arrow has to wear one.”

  She shrugged. “I wanted to see you in a tux. You’ll look hot.”

  “I’d tell you to get a room,” I grumbled, “but since we’re standing in it, I guess I can’t.”

  Joey laughed lightly, then sighed, peeked around my brother.

  “Bring your clothes out here. There’s a big mirror. Jace and I will change in the bedroom and be out in a few.”

  “Fine, but if you two start getting it on in here, I’m leaving and finding Hopp.”

  She made a sound of impatience. “I’m not going to do anything to mess up this face! Do you know how long makeup takes to put on?”

  “Yes.” We both groaned.

  “We were here while you were putting it on earlier,” I added.

  Hours. Like seriously. She held me hostage away from my guy for hours while she put this weird contraption on her eyelashes and use about fifty different wands and brushes to do God knew what.

  Scowling, Joey marched into the room, grabbing the garment bag and a box of shoes, carrying them out into the suite. “Get dressed,” she ordered. Then she held up her hand. “Don’t drop that towel yet.”

  I stifled a laugh when she disappeared and came back with a hairdryer and a brush. “Dry your hair and try to tame it, would you? You can’t get married looking like a Muppet.”

  I gasped. “That you would think so low of me!”

  Jace laughed.

  She started marching away, toward the bedroom.

  “Can I drop my towel yet?” I yelled after her.

  “I’m going to kick you in the balls!” she yelled back.

  Jace and I grinned at each other before he followed her in the bedroom and slid the door shut.

  Chuckling, I swung back around to my
stuff, but my eyes strayed to the hotel landline. I was just picking up the receiver when the door slid open again.

  Joey stood there with her hands over her eyes like she was afraid I really had dropped the towel. “Do not even think about using that phone!” she ordered.

  “How did you know?” I whined.

  “We’re due at the hotel in like forty minutes. Just get dressed.”

  “I feel bad for my future nieces and nephews,” I complained. “They’re not going to get away with anything.”

  Beneath her hands, she smiled sort of wistfully, then slid the door closed, leaving me alone once more.

  The first thing I did was blast my hair with the hairdryer and try to make it look the least “Muppet” I could. That meant I used a brush when drying it.

  After that, I unzipped the garment bag so I could get dressed.

  I wasn’t wearing a tux or even a traditional suit. I wasn’t really a traditional guy. We didn’t want something too fancy or stuffy. This was Vegas after all. We cared more about just getting married than what we looked like while doing it.

  ‘Course, Joey cared. But her ideas for what I should wear were pretty cool, so I went with it.

  The dress pants weren’t really my usual style, meaning they weren’t jeans, they weren’t ripped, and they weren’t baggy.

  These pants were what the tailor called modern. Made out of a dark-gray material, they were fitted… like practically skinny jeans. They were also kinda short in length, so part of my ankle would be exposed once I had on my shoes. I wasn’t sold on them, but Joey loved them, said I had a good body for the style, and she’d never met any other guy who could rock pants like these except dudes in fashion magazines.

  After I had those on, I pulled on a fitted white dress shirt and thanked God she wasn’t making me wear a tie. Leaving the top two buttons undone, I tucked it into my pants, belted them, and reached for the shoebox.

  The shoes were my favorite part of my wedding attire.

  Everyone knew I loved a good pair of sneakers, specifically high-tops. Joey knew she was pushing me with the pants, so when she mentioned this style would look good with sneakers, I agreed.

  Grabbing the brand-new pair of Adidas, I slid my feet inside and laced them up. The shoes were stark white, almost blinding white, with a rounded toe. The tongue was a little big and it stuck out above the laces once they were tied.