Maid for Each Other(70)

I looked up at Dex, his face a tight mask that I would’ve described as a glower if he hadn’t just chanted cursing praises of me the entire time he’d worshipped every inch of my body.

No, he didn’t look mad, he looked intentional.

Intense.

I watched his strong neck as he swallowed and I could feel the tremble in his arms as he held himself above me. He was poised and ready, a hunter about to go in for the kill, and I’d never wanted anything more than I wanted him at that moment.

His green eyes looked dark as he waited for me to say yes, and nothing could’ve stopped me from trailing my nails down his long, muscular back and saying, “So good, Powell.”

Then he was there, we were there, and everything else in the world—the room, the lights, the air—disappeared from our universe. It was only Dex and me as he held my hips and went deep, only us as he licked my skin and made me whisper his name on repeat, only Powell and Mariano as he flipped me around on the huge mattress, biting down on the back of my neck while I screamed into the pillow and he groaned my name on a string of profanities.

But everything returned, soft and muted and lovely, as our fuzzy surroundings came into focus again. He pulled me into his body, turning me to face him, and dropped a kiss on the tip of my nose.

My eyes were burning alarmingly as he gave me the sweetest smile, pushed my damp hair back, and said, “Is it weird to say the scorpion was worth it? That I’m sort of glad that little fucker cornered you in the shower?”

I coughed out a laugh and raised a hand to touch his cheek, reveling in the feel of such soft skin on an unyieldingly chiseled face.

A beautiful face.

“Well, I mean, it seems kind of wrong when they’re apparently poisonous,” I said, tracing his dark eyebrow with my index finger. “But I feel the same way.”

He swallowed, and I wasn’t sure why I was always so obsessed with that.

With the movement of his Adam’s apple.

Probably because I liked to think it was some sort of emotional tell, a sign that he was feeling things that his mouth wasn’t saying.

“So you’re saying you feel the same way,” he said, his voice low and rumbly, where I could feel it in my chest. His eyes moved all over my face, like he was searching for something, and then he kissed my forehead. “Good to know.”

36

Bowling

Declan

“There are definitely scorpions in Kansas City.”

I looked at my dad and wasn’t sure whether to laugh or mock him because at this point, I didn’t need his confirmation. Obviously there were scorpions in Kansas City because Abi and I had seen one up close and personal.

“That was definitely a surprise I didn’t expect to enjoy on your birthday,” I admitted.

“I’m really impressed by your idea to suck that thing up,” Roman said. “Good thinking.”

Abi popped up beside me and held a basket of fries in front of my face.

“I thought we were going to share fries,” I said, though not really hungry.

“You did say that,” she said, “but I don’t like to share my fries so I got you your own.”

“Is that right?” I said, obsessed with the teasing glint in her eye.

Obsessed with everything about her, actually. If I’d been into her before the scorpion, I was over-the-top, out-of-my-head into her now.

I would’ve been happy never leaving that room. I’d actually begged her to let me call in sick to the birthday party, but she wouldn’t hear of it.

“Yeah, but if you can’t finish yours, let me know and I’m sure I can help,” she said with a grin.

“You have quite the appetite, Mariano,” I said.

“What is that?” my dad asked.

“Fries…？” I said, unsure of his confusion.

“No, you just called her Mariano,” he said, his eyes narrowed in confusion. “What’s that all about?”

Oh, shit. I scratched my chin, looking for a way out. I’d gotten so used to calling her that that I didn’t even notice when it happened anymore.

“It’s a quote from a show we like,” Abi said, smiling like it was a cute story. “Have you ever seen Gilmore Girls?”

“Can’t say that I have,” my father said, and it made me laugh, the idea of my dad watching Gilmore Girls.

“Well, Dex hadn’t either, but now he loves it. Anyway, Jess Mariano is one of the characters. And he really loves french fries.”

I looked down at her and quietly said, “Does he?”

“I have no idea,” she muttered around a laugh, her eyes dancing, “But he’s smart, so probably yes.”

“Okay, time to bowl,” my mother said, putting an end to a conversation that could’ve blown our cover.

Everyone except for my parents looked stunned to be wearing community bowling shoes and like they didn’t quite know what to do with themselves. The whole business-in-the-front, party-in-the-back thing was going on with these designer outfits that were now paired with bowling shoes.

“Ready for a beatdown?” Abi teased, and every time I looked at her, I felt utterly transfixed.

Even if we hadn’t just had mind-blowing sex in our hotel room, the sight of her in my faded favorite sweatshirt and jeans, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and glasses on her nose, made me feel like I was in love already. She was fucking adorable, and hilarious, and suddenly I didn’t really care about anything else, much less winning a game of bowling.