Oof. This version of Reed’s charm is quite possibly the most dangerous. I pinch the jacket between my fingers, pulling it away from my chest over and over.
“How do you know I’ll say yes? Maybe I won’t.”
Cole interjects, “Because we listened at your door.”
My mouth pops open. Sneaky bastards. Why does that make me like them more? Instantly the memory of how Reed left my room makes me smile.
“Cheats,” I snark.
Cole shrugs. Completely unapologetic. “I prefer Samantha enthusiasts.”
My shoulders shake as I lift my phone, blowing air down toward my chest, trying to refocus. But as I start to read, So when we’re all fucking— Cole stops me, standing.
“I’m getting a drink for the rest of this conversation. Who else would like one?”
I scarcely get out “The sun’s barely up” before hands shoot up from the others. Cole laughs, and I shiver at the bass even though I’m sweltering in the heat of this suit. He walks past me, stopping to turn his head, eyes meeting mine.
“If you expect us to remain even somewhat gentlemanlike, after you’ve done nothing to filter that filthy mouth, then we’re going to need alcohol. No matter the time. Now, I believe you promised expedience. Get to it, princess.”
“Oh.”
I smile, plucking the jacket away from me, feeling hot air rise.
My eyes blink slowly and not even fully before I turn back to the couch as Cole leaves for the bar.
I’m staring at the questions, feeling flustered. He’s sexy. Just fucking sexy. Damn.
“Where was I?”
“Question number two,” Alec offers, crossing his legs, looking at me as if he’s slowly undressing me.
“Right, question number two.” I open my eyes wider, trying to focus before I read, “When we’re fucking, do you guys…do guys?”
Cole chokes on his newly made scotch. As Reed breathes out, “Now it’s a party.”
Goddammit. It sounded way more discreet when I wrote it. I tuck my hair behind my ears, feeling dampness on my hairline.
Am I sweating?
Jace grins. “Sammy—”
But I cut him off, embarrassed.
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m totally fine with it. I was just hoping to be the star of the show. Because that’s my personal fantasy. And since it’s a weekend romp…” Jesus, the more I say this out loud, the dumber it sounds. “Scratch that. Just plow ahead.”
Now they’re all on their feet as Cole walks toward me.
“I mean…I didn’t mean. Plow ahead. That sounds weird. Asses aren’t fields. Fuck. What I mean is you’ll need to give me the rundown. How does this happen? Am I fucking everyone? Will you take turns? Does Jace fuck Reed while Reed fucks me? There’s just a lot of choreography, and I’m not a skilled dancer…so—”
I’m surrounded. Eyes on me as I drown in so much male energy that I gasp. Oh fuck. I reach for my jacket, feeling like I’m boiling.
“How many more questions do you have on that app thing?” Cole growls.
“A few,” I answer, trying to pull the zipper down some more, but it’s stuck.
Cole slips my phone from my hand.
“Whoa. No. Give it back.”
I try to reach around him as he hands it to Reed, but my arm is effortlessly moved.
“Answer these,” Cole directs, still staring at me. “Do it now because I want to hear her say yes.”
Now he’s talking to me.
“Princess, I don’t care what questions, stipulations, or terms you have. You can have whatever the fuck you want. Including the spotlight or my dick down Alec’s throat if that ensures me inside that pussy.”
Reed chuckles. “Sunshine, just say yes. No, guys aren’t even our thing.”
My chest is rising and falling faster and faster. My official answer is on the tip of my tongue as butterflies explode in my stomach. My lips part just as my knees feel like they’re going to buckle.
Holy shit. I blink.
“I’m seeing stars.”
“Not yet, you aren’t,” Reed counters.
Cole grips my chin between his fingers.
“Shit,” he growls.
My eyelids flutter. “Ummm…I’m passing out.”
“Fuck.”
The air hits my body as Cole rips the jacket open and off in seconds, exposing the truth—me in that damn T-shirt from earlier.
I was always a foregone conclusion.
Albeit an unconscious one now.
One minute I’m staring into Cole’s eyes, and the next, I’m lying on the floor hearing: “Do you see what I mean? Every time she’s nervous, she rambles. It’s fucking adorable. Come to think of it, it probably didn’t help the overheating.”
Jace.
“Shut up and put the towel on the back of her neck. She won’t fuck us if we kill her.”
Reed.
“I can’t believe I didn’t notice she was wearing those fucking training pants. They’re designed to insulate and make you sweat to death.”
Alec.
My eyes blink open, slowly locking onto Cole’s. He’s all brows drawn together, staring down at me.
“Welcome back, Samantha. How about a bath?”
Oh, they’re dreamy.
I slowly lift two fingers to Cole’s mouth, pressing them against his lips before bringing them back to mine.
“What was that for?” he breathes out, staring intensely into my eyes as if I’ve put him in a trance.
My head shifts to see they’re all looking at me like that. My gaze travels up past Cole to the top of the fireplace hearth. The place where I was supposed to come out and kiss Reed to seal the deal.
“Mistletoe,” I say with a smile.
“Is that a yes?” Reed asks from my side.
I shake my head, looking between them again.
“It’s a yes, yes, yes”—my eyes stop on Cole’s—“and yes.”
eleven
“How are you feeling, cutie?”
jace
She’s sitting at the edge of her bed. Alec knelt in front of her taking his boots off her feet. I keep glancing up while I’m drawing her a bath, watching her watch him. It’s erotic, in a way. I get why Alec is a voyeur.
There’s so much more to see than meets the eye.
Because what I’m watching isn’t him taking shoes off that are too big. It’s Alec taking his time, running his fingers under the snow pants, before sliding the boots off her feet. Pressing gentle kisses to her covered knees before he sets one aside to do the other. The best part, though, is Samantha weaving her fingers gently through his hair as she bites that damn bottom lip.
Fuck.
I’ve never really…we’ve never done this. We fuck women and worship them sexually. But this is different.
The moment Samantha went limp in Cole’s arms, we might as well have been a crew of medics.
Everyone scrambled, getting ice, a cold washcloth, and water. Cole destroyed Alec’s jacket, ripping it off her as we laid her on the floor. And none of us spoke, hovering until she started waking up.
I’m sure we’d have done that in any same situation. Still, the attention to every detail of care makes what’s happening right now so different.
Samantha’s not just some chick that passed out in front of us.