I was as shocked as I was touched by what he said.
“Oh, I didn’t know you two were dating,” Stephanie said.
The tension increased and I took that as my opportunity to leave the room. I didn’t want to hear Keelan correct her. I set her gift on the coffee table in the living room, then went to Colt’s room to get mine. As I walked into his room, the doorbell rang again.
Needing a minute, I sat on Colt’s bed next to my gifts for Keelan. Shame was twisting up my stomach. I should have been the one to correct her about Keelan and me. I hoped Colt and Creed didn’t take me dashing out of there the wrong way. Maybe I was overthinking things because I felt guilty about having feelings for my boyfriends’ older brothers.
“Shi.”
I looked up and saw Keelan standing in the doorway. “Sorry. I was just about to head out,” I said, grabbing his gifts.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he moved into the room and sat next to me on the bed.
“Nothing.” I fiddled with a hair tie I had around my wrist. I needed to pull my hair up. As pretty as it was down, it was too hot, especially if we were going to be outside, hanging by the pool.
He pointed to the gifts I was holding. “Are those for me?”
“No, I bought these for myself,” I teased, making him smile. “I was bringing them out for you to open later.”
“Can I open them now?” he asked.
I held one out to him. “You’re the birthday boy.”
He opened the first one and pulled out two sets of pajamas for men. One set was Superman, and the other was Batman. He let out a genuine laugh as he looked them over. “Now we can match,” he said.
I handed him the second gift and he unwrapped it, revealing a collector’s edition box set of all the seasons of Game of Thrones. He looked it over, reading that it came with bonus scenes. “Our Game of Thrones dates are going to be even better.” He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. “Thank you, baby girl.”
I hugged him back. I made the mistake of breathing his scent in. It was addictive and heady. Keelan pulled away slowly, stopping when our faces were inches apart. He cupped my cheek and his eyes dropped to my lips. Right then, I wanted nothing more than for him to kiss me. I wanted it badly, but I wouldn’t do that to Colt and Creed again.
I pulled away, clearing my throat. “You’re welcome.” Needing to occupy myself, I took my hair tie off my wrist and twisted it around my fingers. “We should return to the party.”
“I’d rather stay in here with you,” he said, making my heart skip a beat.
My hair tie flew out of my hands. “Dang it,” I said, standing from the bed. I searched the floor, not seeing it anywhere. “I’m going to have to run back home and get another one.”
Keelan searched the floor. “Maybe it rolled under the bed or nightstand.”
I got down on my hands and knees. I felt around under the bed and behind Keelan’s feet. When I stuck my hand under the nightstand, my fingers landed on what felt like my hair tie. I scooped it up. “I found it,” I said, holding it up to show Keelan. Staying on my knees, I began to gather my hair on top of my head.
Keelan stood from the bed and smiled down at me. “You missed some,” he said, curling a tiny chunk of hair by my ear around his finger.
The bedroom door opened and Colt walked in, Knox a step behind him. They both froze, staring at us. Colt’s eyes went a little wide and Knox looked pissed.
I finished getting my hair in a messy bun and dropped my hands. “What?”
Colt cleared his throat. “What are you doing kneeling on the floor?”
Before I could answer, Keelan snorted.
“Apparently I need to teach all of you how to lock a fucking door,” Knox snapped.
“You have no room to talk,” Keelan shot back, smirking. “It was only this morning we caught you with Shiloh laid out on the kitchen island.”
“That wasn’t what it looked like,” Knox seethed.
Keelan gestured to me. “And this is?”
“Time out!” I barked. “I don’t understand what is going on.” I looked to Colt for clarification.
He looked like he was trying desperately to keep a straight face. “We walked in and saw you on your knees in front of Keelan.”
“So? I dropped my hair tie and it rolled under your nightstand.”
“You were pulling up your hair and it looked like…” Colt trailed off.
I looked up Keelan and then it clicked. I sat back on my haunches as heat bloomed in my cheeks.