Letting us both in, I watched him walk over to my bed and plop down. “What’s Roman saying about the bet?”
The rooms had pull-out couches that turned into pretty comfortable beds, but I hadn’t bothered to put mine up that morning. I was starting to regret that. Eli just stretched out comfortably, thoroughly enjoying making me squirm.
His smile turned wicked, and I went over to the small kitchenette to get him out of my direct line of sight. That didn’t help much, because his words had me turning back around. “I didn’t tell him much about it at all. He might think—and I have no idea where he got this idea—that it was a bet that I made out drinking the other night.”
Leaning back against the counter, I frowned. “You lied to him?” That didn’t sound like Eli. He loved being able to truthfully make Roman nuts.
“No.” His eyes were dancing, clearly pleased with frustrating Roman. “I just lied to someone else, and they told him what they thought was the truth.”
“Eli!” I wasn’t even sure what to say.
“Oh, it was only that nosy UPS driver who stays entirely too long in the lobby. He was coming in as I was leaving Preston’s office, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.”
The UPS guy was supposed to stay up front in the extremely PG lobby, but he always found convenient excuses to wander back into the rest of the building. He wasn’t creepy, exactly, just very quiet and watched everything like he’d stumbled down the rabbit hole.
“Roman stormed by wanting to know what the hell was going on, and I just walked off. So the delivery guy kindly filled him in.” Eli looked a little like a dictator who’d just invaded Europe. It was kind of disturbing.
“You are insane.”
He grinned. “Yep.”
Shaking my head, I tried to turn the conversation around to something…less creepy. “I’m not taking you out to eat naked.”
“Oh, you’re taking me out?” He slowly straightened but didn’t get up. He just let his legs fall to the side of the bed and gave me a sexy smile. He’d been posing in front of the camera for too many years, because it didn’t look fake and ridiculous. “I’ll get dressed up for a date. Clothes and everything.”
He was going to make me crazy. If anyone needed a Dom and a sound spanking, it was Eli. “You asked me out. It should be my date.”
“No takebacks.” Finally standing, he flashed me a grin and started walking toward the door. He let his hips swing back and forth, knowing exactly how sexy he looked. “I have clothes downstairs. I’ll meet you at the back door in five minutes.”
“That’s fine. Should we see if anyone else wants to go with us?” I wasn’t sure if more of an audience was a good idea or not, but reinforcements felt like a good idea.
“Sure. I’ll see who’s still hanging around.” He turned and posed against the frame of the door, grinning. “You worked so late, you might be stuck with just me.”
“That’s a frightening thought, Eli.”
He just laughed and turned to prance down the hallway, no doubt with his ass swaying back and forth. “You know you love me.”
That wasn’t the point.
Shaking my head, I headed for the bathroom with only one thought going through my head. Please don’t let Eli make Houston bonkers. I told myself that it was only a couple of hours on Friday and would be fine, but even I didn’t believe it.
Eli was going to make Houston nuts.
Chapter 5
Houston
I couldn’t decide if they were crazy or just having fun. Maybe both.
And maybe I was just getting old…and boring.
If I’d understood more about the dynamics between their relationships, it would have made it easier to handle as well. But I couldn’t figure out who was dating who, or if anyone was actually doing anything more than just joking around. The combination of men and women was confusing as well. Some were clearly gay, like the flirty little thing that kept giving me odd looks, but with others, it wasn’t so obvious.
It shouldn’t really matter, but I was trying to understand Reece, and they weren’t helping.
Was he gay?
Straight?
Was he actually flirting with any of them or did he just tease with everyone? It wasn’t my business, but I just couldn’t help it. I needed to be able to put him out of my mind. He hadn’t even officially moved in, and I was still thinking about him entirely too much.
And it was only going to get worse with him finally moved in.
Reece had shown up just before the moving box was delivered with several friends in tow. I’d offered to help, and with everyone working together, unloading it hadn’t taken long. But trying to get back to work was becoming impossible.
“Oh, look what I found…” A loud, laughing voice echoed from Reece’s room.
Reece groaned. “Eli, I told you to leave that one alone.”
“I know. That’s why I had to open it. You were going to keep all the good stuff for yourself.” I could almost see the smirk on his face.
“Eli!” Reece’s frustration was obvious.
Giggles from the crowd made it clear Eli, the flirty one, didn’t feel bad about whatever he’d found. Neither did anyone else, if the laughter and ribbing was any indication.
Drugs?
Porn?
“Oh, and it vibrates.”
Sex toys?
“Eli, put that back.” I couldn’t decide if Reece was actually embarrassed or just playing along.
Eli snorted, not listening to Reece at all. “This would be so much fun on the blog. Can you imagine what that ass would say?”
I could almost picture Reece sighing. “Then you really would be doing porn, genius.”
Porn? Hadn’t he said they were friends from work?
Giggles came through the walls, and I tried to focus on my laptop. The words and graphs were starting to bleed together, making it impossible to think. Where the hell did he work?
“He’s such an ass.” Eli’s dramatic reply made the laughter start up again. “Did you see how angry he got yesterday?”
“Yes, I thought he was going to completely lose it.” Reece didn’t seem to find whatever they were talking about as funny as Eli did.
“He thinks he’s so—”
“Eli.” The soft-spoken reprimand was from one of the girls.
“Alright, no more complaining about assholes.” There was a pause, and then he spoke again. “We get food for helping, right?”
“I’m not sure carrying two boxes, then opening things that you were told not to counts as helping…give me that, nosy.” More laughter had me closing my laptop. I wasn’t going to get anything done today. The images floating through my head were too distracting.
“Hey, I helped.” I thought the voice belonged to the brown-haired girl who’d stuck close to Reece, but I wasn’t sure. She hadn’t spoken much when I’d been around the group, so it was a process of elimination to guess it was her. And just the fact that I could pick out their voices said I needed to mind my own business and get shit done.
“You did.” I could hear the smile in Reece’s voice. But it was sweeter as well, like he saw her differently, maybe. “Thank you for getting all that put away. It would’ve taken me ages, and I probably would’ve just lived out of the boxes and suitcase until they were empty.”
“Well, I can’t have you going with me looking like that.” Her voice was quieter than the guys, but I could still hear how pleased she was that he’d noticed her.
Going with her?
Were they dating?
“So it’s purely selfish on your part, huh?” Reece’s laughing voice pulled at me, and I had to remind myself that I needed to mind my own business.
And had my walls always been so thin, or was his door open?
“Of course.” Giggles came from Reece’s room as the girl spoke again. “I’m going to enjoy it, and I want us to look like the sexiest people there.”
“I don’t know about that.” Reece seemed slig
htly nervous, but admittedly without seeing him, it was hard to be sure. “I’m excited, though, it’s been ages since I did anything like it.”
“You guys are going to have so much fun.” Eli’s voice was the clearest, although I heard other people making comments about the date.
“You can come if you want to.” Reece’s offer seemed genuine, so maybe it wasn’t a date?
“I have too much going on.” Even I could hear the bullshit in that line. Not that I was the only one. Several in the group called him out on it, but Eli just ignored the teasing.
“Well, you’re welcome to come with us if you change your mind. Dinner was fun the other night, so this will be even better.” Her voice seemed sincere, and I could hear her excitement.
Dinner?
Wasn’t she dating Reece?
“That’s because I’m fabulous.” Eli’s voice was light and teasing, then I heard the distinct sound of a smacking kiss and everyone laughed. “Of course you want me to come.”
Who’d he kissed?
“Eli, keep those lips to yourself.” Reece sounded like he was fussing at a misbehaving child.
He’d kissed Reece? Maybe the brown-haired girl to make Reece jealous?
“What fun would that be?” Eli was clearly not upset at the censure.
Laughter erupted. I could only guess that he’d done something that set them all off. It was like listening to a TV show when you couldn’t see the picture and weren’t sure who the characters were. Frustrating, but slightly addicting.
“Okay, I think that’s good for now. I can get the rest of it later. You guys ready for lunch?” Reece was interrupted by Eli before he could say anything else.
“I’m not done snooping.”
“Yes, you are.” Reece laughed.
“Leave his stuff alone.” I couldn’t pinpoint the speaker that time, just a vague masculine voice. “Do you guys want to order pizza or go out somewhere?”
“Let’s head out somewhere. There’s no point in driving Reece’s roommate crazy.” The brown-haired girl again.
“We’re fabulous.” Clearly Eli. I just shook my head.
“And loud.” Reece’s sarcasm was tinged with laughter. “Come on, he’s probably got lots to get done. What do you guys want? My treat.”
“Chinese?” Eli sounded excited.
The quiet girl spoke up again. “Thai?”
“Burgers?” I wasn’t sure who that was, but they had my vote.
Glancing at the clock, I realized it was later than I’d expected. Considering it was almost two o’clock in the afternoon, I hadn’t gotten enough done. Moving a half-dozen boxes and Reece’s mattress didn’t count toward anything on my list. As I pushed away from my desk, I heard a knock.
Heading over to the door, I opened it and greeted a smiling Reece. “Hi. How’s the room going?”
“Great. It’s a lot more space than I was originally expecting, so everything fits perfectly.” He glanced toward the living room. “We’re heading out for some lunch, and I wanted to see if you were interested in coming with us. I know you probably didn’t get much done with all the noise, but…”
His smile started to fade, and my hand itched to reach out to him. But that wasn’t in the cards. “Sure. I got a lot done earlier. I’m a morning person. I don’t want to intrude on your friends, though.”
“No, don’t worry about it.” Reece gave a reassuring smile that made his eyes warmer.
“Okay, then. What are you going out for?” I wasn’t sure who’d won, but I was hoping—
“Burgers.”
Perfect. Although the six-pack I was aiming for was going right out the window. “Sounds good. Have you picked a place yet?”
Reece shrugged. “I don’t really know anything local, so they’re picking. If you have an idea, just jump in. None of them are shy about giving their opinions. Well, aside from Hannah, she’s pretty quiet.”
Hannah? Was that the girl who’d just given me the cautious stares?
“They seem like a good group of friends.” It was too vague a hint, evidently, because Reece just nodded.
“Yeah, I got lucky.” He gestured toward the living room. “I met Eli and some of the other guys from work, and then everyone else through them.”
So did that mean he wasn’t dating her?
As we made it to the living room, the chatter stopped as they all looked at me. Reece didn’t seem to notice the odd behavior. But I felt like I was standing under a spotlight. “Where did you guys decide to go?”
Eli seemed to be the spokesman for the group. “The diner off Fourth, it’s not far, and the burgers are great.”
Nodding, I had to agree. “That’s where I would have suggested as well.”
Smirking, Eli glanced at Reece. “Glad to know the boss approves.”
“Boss?” I was missing something.
Reece coughed, shooting Eli a disgruntled look. “Um, you did a good job of taking charge of unloading the storage box.”
I hadn’t done anything out of ordinary. Had I? “I apologize, did I—”
Reece interrupted quickly. “No, don’t. You didn’t do anything wrong. You kept everyone on track. I think without someone in charge it would have taken a lot longer.” Reece’s warm brown eyes blinked up at me, and it was starting to feel like he was hinting at something.
“Having a…leader with this many…followers was probably a good idea.” Eli snickered as one of the other girls, a blond Reece introduced earlier as Andria, elbowed him in the stomach.
“Eli.” Reece gave Eli a stern look, although I thought I saw him roll his eyes. “You guys ready to go?”
Since the general consensus was that everyone was starving, we headed out. It was a little bit like watching the circus pack up. People dashed between the different cars, juggling who was sitting where. I wasn’t really excited about depending on someone else for a ride, it was the control freak in me, so I was expecting to ride by myself. But somehow, it ended up being just Reece and I in the car.
I wasn’t quite sure how that’d happened.
But judging by the giggles from the girls, and a knowing grin from Eli, it wasn’t an accident.
Not that I knew what to make of that. “I’m surprised you didn’t want to ride with your friends…girlfriend?”
Reece coughed, and I glanced over to see him blushing faintly. “Um, no, I’ve been single for a while. They’re just friends.”
Single was good. But it still didn’t tell me enough.
“Ah, it’s kind of hard to tell. They’re all very…” I wasn’t sure how to phrase it.
Reece laughed, nodding. “Yeah, I can see that. They’re all very touchy-feely and open.”
“I would have to agree with that.” But again, it still didn’t tell me anything. Was he deliberately being vague? Did he think I should know one way or the other? I’d assumed straight by default, but with Eli in the mix, it wasn’t so clear-cut anymore.
I shouldn’t have had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t my business.
“How is work going? Are you still enjoying it?” Neutral. I was going to talk to him about something neutral.
“It’s going great. Everyone is really nice. And the company is small enough my opinion matters. When I make a recommendation or want to change something in their system, I don’t have a dozen people second-guessing me. It’s a lot less stressful, even if there are a lot of personalities involved.” Reece’s excitement distracted me from the fact that I was going to ask where he worked.
“Personalities?”
“Well, you saw the mix.” Reece shrugged and gestured to the car in front of us. “For the most part, they’re all very passionate, artistic people. It’s really different from anywhere else I’ve worked, but I’m enjoying it.”
“I have to admit, I’m not sure I could do it. I like my quiet.” And that made me sound like a boring old fart.
He laughed. “Yeah, I’m not sure it would work out well for you, but I appreciate the help and keep
ing everyone on task. I hope it wasn’t too loud. Most of the time, if we all get together we go out somewhere, so it shouldn’t be a problem in the future.”
“No, it was fine. They were all nice, and I want you to consider it your home as well.” Pushing his friends out would guarantee he’d feel unwelcome.
He glanced over and one eyebrow went up, clearly teasing. “As long as I don’t have too many wild parties?”
I smirked. “Of course, that goes without saying.”
Reece just laughed. “Don’t worry, your peace and quiet are safe. I think with as busy as work has been, I’m going to like the calmer atmosphere at home.”
Before I had to analyze why I liked hearing him call it home, we were pulling into the parking lot. “Here we go. They have the best burgers.”
“Sounds great. I’m starved.”
As we all parked and piled out of the cars, I couldn’t help trying to figure him out. It wasn’t my business. But he hadn’t denied being into women when I mentioned the possibility of one of them being his girlfriend earlier. Then again, Eli and some of those same women had clearly manipulated the seating arrangement to get Reece in my car.
That had to mean something, right?
A sarcastic little voice in the back of my head couldn't resist. Yes, it meant I was crazy and in need of a date or scene.
I was going to end up making a polite, functional roommate very uncomfortable, or end up encouraging someone who would probably be nuts. Either way would be bad and, unfortunately, typical for me.
“Come on, boss man, let’s go.” Eli’s grin was almost wicked, and I could hear Reece groan in embarrassment. I ignored the little part of me that wanted to imagine him moaning for other reasons. Eli just gave us both a wink. “Reece might need someone to help him decide what to eat. He likes a take charge date.”
Date?
Take charge?
It wasn’t my business who or what he was into.
Right?
Chapter 6
Reece
“That probably could’ve gone better.” Shaking my head, I watched Houston head into the building. Turning to Eli, as the rest of the group started heading for their cars, I frowned. “What the hell? Were you trying to make him uncomfortable?”
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