“I don’t want to be friends with everybody,” she muttered. She pushed her chair back from the desk, stood, and flopped on the bed. Her bed, now. She already missed her bedroom at home, along with the open lawn of her backyard. The one time she’d moved before this, it hadn’t exactly gone smoothly. “I want to stay in here until it feels like my room. And no sharing.”
She pulled her pillow over her head for good measure.
The mattress sank. A warm hand closed over her shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
With the pillow over her head, she wasn’t sure which twin was sitting close to her. When the hand worked its way firmly down her back, she recognized Ian’s touch.
“Terrified. I'm freaking out. This is way too many new people.”
“You don’t have to meet them all this weekend.”
She groaned. “I thought I was done feeling this way. When I got here yesterday, I told myself that my rule for college is ‘try everything once.’”
“Everything?” Ian repeated. He sounded wary.
“Well…most things.”
“People smell fear, Diana.” The mattress shifted. Arms and legs nudged her body. Ian was climbing over her, stretching out on her other side, in the space between her and the wall. One leg wrapped around hers. The bed creaked again: Brendan, sitting down beside her. “They smell it coming off you and they go for the kill or run away.”
“You didn't smell it,” she mumbled from under the pillow. She’d happily stay here all day. “You thought I was a stuck-up ice princess.”
“Yeah, well.” Ian was quiet for a minute. “You're a good bullshitter. The point is, don't be scared.”
“Could Brendan tell?”
She heard muffled laughter from the twins.
“What, Di?” Brendan bent close. He rubbed her shoulder. “Were you saying something?”
She lifted the corner of the pillow. “Could you tell I was scared?”
He lay down next to her. She was enclosed by both twins on the narrow bed. An arm draped around her — Brendan’s. Ian was rubbing her back, lying half on top of her, and his bulky weight was pure comfort right now.
“Yeah.” Brendan’s tone was soft. “I could tell. I was hoping you’d talk to us about it.”
“Why didn’t you say something to Ian?”
“Because he shut me down every time I brought you up.”
“Every single time?”
“I did not,” Ian grumbled.
“Keep doing that,” Diana murmured, as he kneaded between her shoulders.
“He sure as hell did,” Brendan said agreeably. “I’d start in with, ‘Hey man, Diana seemed really nervous when we took her to school on the first day.’ And he’d come back with, ‘Yeah, nervous that she’d pull an A-minus in her advanced honors bullshit class, and nervous that it’s too hot for an ice princess to be walking around, and nervous that her panties are bunched so far up her ass, she won’t be able to get them out.’”
“And you wonder why I didn’t want to talk to you.” Diana felt around above her, skimming over Ian’s firm side, until she found his ass. She gave it a pinch.
“You should have talked to both of us.” Brendan’s voice was more intent.
“I was scared,” she whispered. “Especially of Ian. You have no idea.”
“Uh-huh,” Ian grunted, rubbing her back. “I’m pretty fucking frightening.”
“I told you we’d help you with anything you needed.” The insistence in Brendan’s tone surprised her. He was pushing the conversation, pushing like he had in her dream over the summer. “We would have, Di. You should have taken us up on that.”
“And what would have happened then?” she wanted to know.
A hand rested on her shoulder. “We would have been together again.”
Silence hung, weighted with meaning.
“I don’t know if ‘again’ counts for anything,” Diana whispered into the heavy air. The space between her pillow and her bed felt hotter. “Things can never be the same as they were before. Right?”
“Sorry.” Ian’s teasing voice came under the side of the pillow. “I can’t hear you. You have a pillow on your head.”
She pulled off the pillow and blinked up at two sets of dimples.
“Hey, there you are.” Ian bent to kiss her.
On instinct, she took his lower lip between her teeth. He ruffled her hair — no. That was Brendan, on her other side. Ian didn’t ruffle her hair in a way that sneaked over the line of big-brotherly and bordered on sensuous.
Her whole body reacted. She arched toward both twins, sliding her hands up their arms. As Ian’s tongue flicked hers, she craned her neck to get more of Brendan’s fingers running through her hair.
For a second, no one moved. Ian’s lips were soft and warm against hers. Brendan’s hand twined in her hair.
Then — “Just relax, okay?” Ian murmured.
“Okay.” Her eyes slid closed, and she rolled onto her stomach again. Two hands moved over her back. She heard Ian’s low voice:
“She likes it when you rub right here.”
“Oh really?” Brendan pressed in firmly at the small of her back, massaging in circles.
Diana sucked in her breath. “You guys—” she began, with no idea what was coming next.
“Is this helping, baby?” Ian’s voice was husky.
Lust. That was definite lust coming through. The whole thing felt like a dream, in this strange room that didn’t belong to her yet. It had to be a dream. She wasn’t ready to wake up.
“Yes,” she sighed. “You’re both helping.”
“Good, Di,” Brendan said. “We try.”
Ian’s hand worked down her back to cup her ass, massaging in circles.
“Oh—” she moaned. She couldn’t help it.
“Ssshhhh, it’s okay.” The soothing murmur came from Brendan. His fingers slipped under her blouse to rub her bare back.
“Promise?” she whispered.
“Mm-hm,” came from her other side.
Ian squeezed her thigh. Brendan’s hand was partly inside her shirt, so close to where she wanted his sure touch, but the tight fabric was getting in the way, and his free hand was toying with the buttons going down her back.
“You can unbutton those,” she whispered.
There was a pause. A long one, almost long enough that she opened her eyes. Then the bottom button slipped out of its buttonhole. And the next.
The twins were lying so close that when she put her hands out on both sides, she immediately came into contact with two male chests.
A palm dropped to her calf. Ian was stroking up the back of her knee, exploring under the hem of her embroidered skirt. He was taking his time, pushing into her soft flesh. But in seconds or minutes, thick fingers would brush her panties, pull them aside, touch her, and he’d find out how excited she was. She was moaning into her pillow, waiting for Ian’s hand to open her thighs and discover her wetness while Brendan unbuttoned her blouse.
Was she letting this happen, or making this happen? She needed to open her eyes and look at the twins. She needed to know what they were thinking, what she was thinking.
Instead, she just gave a shuddery sigh of pleasure and parted her thighs to let Ian move wherever he wanted, closer and closer to her pulsing pussy. Brendan’s fingers slid under her bra clasp, and she arched her back in invitation.
As she stroked their chests, Brendan guided her hand under his shirt to brush rippling abs and the soft patch of hair she’d eyed earlier. He pushed up the puffy sleeve of her blouse. Lips trailed kisses over her shoulder.
She felt his tongue. On her skin. As he began to nibble, Ian’s hand grazed her very wet panties. She bit a mouthful of pillow as his finger slipped under the elastic.
She should be opening her eyes, she should be dealing with this one way or the other, but her eyes stayed shut, and instead of talking, she could only pant “Oh God, Oh God, Oh God…”
“Look at us,” Ian whispered
.
Outside the door, there was a resounding thunk. Then the noisy thrust of a key in the lock.
Diana sat up, her heart beating wildly, trying to adjust her clothes. Brendan was already on his feet, swiftly doing up the back of her blouse. Ian followed, pulling her off the bed. Both twins looked flushed, and her own face was probably scarlet. Ian’s hair was sticking up, and she frantically smoothed it down just as the door opened.
A petite girl with a surly expression and one enormous suitcase stood in the doorway. She looked from Diana to the twins.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she muttered.
“Uh, hi.” Diana held out her hand. “I’m Diana.”
“Sonia.” The girl ignored her hand. She grabbed her suitcase, hauling it into the room.
“I can help you.” Brendan started forward, but Sonia had already heaved the suitcase onto her bed with a thud. Diana eyed it nervously, then her roommate. Sonia was wiry. The girl looked like she was five feet of solid muscle.
“This is my boyfriend Ian.” Diana gestured to Ian, who looked dazed. “And his brother, Brendan.”
“Obviously I was interrupting something.” Sonia flipped open her suitcase. “I don’t want to know.”
Diana bit her lip. If she’d been scarlet a minute ago, she was five shades of crimson now. Brendan patted her shoulder, and Ian’s dazed expression gave way to a mischievous grin. Yes — he was actually giving her ass a squeeze behind Sonia’s back, making her redder and about to splutter with helpless laughter. Later, she’d kill him.
“We grew up together,” Diana went on, because she had to keep talking. Of all the roommate scenarios she’d imagined — the ways they’d meet, the first conversation they’d have — this hadn’t been one of them. “Ian and Brendan live next door to me, back home.”
“I really don’t want to know.” Sonia pulled a short, loose black dress out of her suitcase, more or less identical to the dress she was wearing. With one fluid movement, she pulled her dress over her head. No underwear. No bra. Her back was facing them, but with everything she’d seen and done, Diana’s jaw still dropped. Even Ian looked taken aback, and Brendan raised his eyebrows.
“They’re not going to be hanging around, are they?” Sonia asked without turning around. The new dress dropped over her head, and she shook out the fabric. “Don’t tell me they go here. Who’d they bribe?”
“Nobody.” Embarrassment still churned Diana’s stomach, but annoyance was taking over. “They go to UConn.”
“Good. I didn’t sign up for a roommate with a fucking entourage.”
“I’ll be around,” Ian said breezily. “Now and then.” He seemed hugely entertained. Diana wanted to smack him. “Don’t worry, Diana’s a decent sleeper. She kicks, but that won’t be a problem for you. If it is, let me know.”
Sonia blinked, but she didn’t crack a smile. “‘K. Whatever.” She headed for the door.
Brendan put a hand on her arm. His smile was placating, his dimples two alerts for the avalanche of charm about to pour out. Before he could say a word, Sonia stared at Brendan’s hand on her arm like it was an intruding snake.
“Ex-cuse me?” she snapped.
Brendan raised his hands, stepping back. “Sorry.” He looked too abashed to say the right thing and set everyone at ease.
Sonia just grunted and stalked out. The door slammed behind her.
“Oh my God,” Diana moaned, staring at the closed door in horror. “I have to live with that?”
Ian draped an arm around her shoulders. “You guys are gonna get along great, Diana,” he said cheerfully. “She makes the same bitchface you do.”
“I do not look that mean.” Diana swatted his arm.
“Not anymore.”
“Not ever.”
“Listen, ice princess, you were the scariest girl in school. You okay, bro?”
Brendan was eyeing the door distractedly. He shook his head and smiled. “Yep. I should get going.”
He kissed Diana’s cheek and wrapped her in a warm hug. Nothing except brother to see here. Ian, next to her, was being straight-up jaunty. It was too much for her to take. She broke the hug, stepping back.
“So,” she began, taking a deep breath. “About before.”
Ian exhaled and leaned against her desk, hands in his pockets. Brendan stood by the door, his arms folded across his chest. Both twins wore the same unreadable expression, and the truth hit her: they don’t know what to do.
In their threesome, she’d always trusted the twins to take the lead. They were older, more confident, a hell of a lot more experienced, and they obviously knew how to share a girl in bed — at least when it came to pleasing her.
She swept her bangs off her face. A stubborn part of her still wanted to believe that the twins knew everything and had all the answers. Pushing on that want was the memory that the first woman the twins shared had been Ian’s girlfriend. She’d never asked how that ended.
A buzz broke the silence. Brendan took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen.
“My leadership friend wants to know if I’m still alive.” He tossed the phone up and caught it.
“You better deal with that,” Ian said carelessly. “Don’t want her sending out a search party.”
Brendan nodded, but Diana felt the intensity of two pairs of hazel eyes. Waiting for her to say yes or no. What the hell could she say right now? What was there to say?
“Have fun.” She smiled at Brendan. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“We’ll see about that.” He closed the door softly behind him.
“Hey.” Diana touched Ian’s face as he came close to her. “I know my new roommate completely changed the mood—” She shrieked as Ian scooped her up and tossed her on the bed. “Ian! She could be back any second.”
“So?” Ian crouched above her. “She got naked in front of all three of us, she can handle walking in on you and me.”
All three of us. She’d let that go for now. In a perfect world, she and the twins would calmly discuss what had happened. But this wasn’t a perfect world, and she had no idea what to say.
Instead, she grabbed Ian’s arm. “I want to, but I really can’t handle her walking in.”
“Don’t tell me she scares you, baby.”
“She does,” Diana muttered.
“I’m telling you. Best friends by the end of the semester. I’ll teach you how to beat her up first if you want.”
“I might take you up on that. Self-defense.”
“Whatever you say. Watch this.” Ian rolled off the bed. At the desk, he held up her red leather journal — the one he’d bought her at the bookstore, now half-filled with poems. “Can I rip out a page, or no?”
“Go ahead.”
He tore out a blank piece of paper, grabbed a pen, and scrawled: Busy. Please knock loud.
“See?” He grinned at her. “I used the magic word.”
Diana laughed and got some tape. “I’ll put it up. It’s my room.”
“Look how hard you’re blushing,” Ian sing-songed as she opened the door. She taped the sign below the dry-erase board she’d put up and shut the door quickly.
“I hope it works.” She curled up on the bed with Ian. The four walls of the dorm room surrounded them: posters and twinkle lights on her side, blank space on Sonia’s. Between the room that didn’t feel like hers yet, the unfinished encounter with Brendan, and her new roommate storming in and terrifying the shit out of her, she wasn’t ready for sex. “This is just so weird.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed her back. “It’s different.”
“How’d it feel your first year at college?”
Ian shrugged. “Me and Brendan shared a room. We hadn’t for awhile, but it wasn’t like dealing with a new person. Housing tried to make us live apart, but we weren’t gonna have that.”
“When’d you stop sharing at home?”
“When we started high school. We got rid of the bunk beds and I moved into m
y own room. It took a while to get used to. I mean, for sneaking in girls, it worked.”
“Already? Freshman year?”
“We just talked.” He grinned at her.
“Liar.”
Ian laughed. “But me and Brendan — we missed each other. Sometimes one of us would get a sleeping bag and go in the other one’s bedroom. Usually Brendan would come to my room and talk at me ’til I passed out. Then he’d keep talking. I’d wake up, and he’d be talking in his sleep.”
Diana snickered, rolling her face against Ian’s bare arm. He gave her a squeeze. “I have no idea what that’s like.”
“But you will, ‘cause you and that pissed-off girl are gonna be BFFs.”
“More like mortal enemies. Maybe we can work out a deal where we’re each in the room half the time, and we never see each other except when we’re sleeping.”
“Just wait.” Ian slipped an arm around her to rub her stomach. “You’re all sweaty. Let’s check out the dorm showers.”
“Ugh.” She reached for her water bottle. “I’m going to take a drink. Do not dump this on me.” She sipped while Ian watched her innocently. When his eyes followed her hand wiping her mouth, she felt warmer. “What did Brendan talk about when he came to your room?”
“Jesus, what didn’t he talk about? Everybody and their sisters and what they were up to. Listing off sports stats and how all the basketball teams were doing in our league and how we’d use our strengths to win. Stunts to pull and shit to get into. How to get girls.” He squeezed her stomach gently. “Every so often, he’d slip you in, trying to be all subtle on my ass. I saw Diana in the hall today. She’s gotten fucking gorgeous, right? Remember the old days? Let’s tell her about the party this weekend. It’s not her crowd, but she’ll have fun if we take her together.”
“Wow. Subtle.”
Ian gave her a wry smile. “What he said was right. I shot him down every time. But usually, he just talked to talk. Brendan doesn’t like being alone.”
“Is that the only thing that scares him? ‘Cause there doesn’t seem to be much.”
“Hmmm.” Ian sighed, his long body slouching against the wall. His free hand pushed her hair off her forehead, tugging lightly, sending tingles from her scalp to her toes. It did something intense to her when Ian pulled her hair, and she wasn’t going to wonder why. “You’re letting your hair grow longer. It’s sexy.”
The Girl in Between Page 21