Liam is the first to shake my hand, and then Harrison. I’m tongue-tied and the words I think I should say don’t make it from my brain to my mouth.
“Hi,” I pause and clear my throat, along with giving myself a mental pep talk. I can do this. For God’s sake, they’re normal people. “Hi,” I say with a bit more umph. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“You too,” Harrison says. “Peyton told me you’re new to town?”
“Yes, I moved here from New York for work.”
“What do you do?” Liam asks.
“I work for Willamette Publishing as an acquisitions editor. I acquire manuscripts for publication.”
“No shit?” Harrison says. “I’ve thought about writing my autobiography. I have a story to tell.”
Liam bends over and lets out a roaring laugh. “You! Write a book?” he continues, with everyone watching. When he finally composes himself, he wipes at his pretend tears and straightens. “Okay. Yeah, you should do it.”
“What in the hell was that?” Harrison asks.
Liam shrugs. “I had to pretend to be JD since he’s not here.”
“You’re such an ass,” Harrison says with a big grin on his face.
I watch the back and forth between them and wonder just how long they’ve been friends. The question is out of my mouth before I can stop it.
“I met Harrison shortly after I moved to Los Angeles. I was eighteen, almost nineteen.” Liam tells me.
“And you’ve played together ever since?”
Harrison nods. “I used to be the house drummer at a music bar. This guy comes in one night to sing and the rest is history.”
“And your kids meet and fall in love? That’s just so . . . romantic.”
“Yeah,” Liam adds. The air between us shifts. It becomes thick with tension as Liam looks from me to Harrison, and then to the grill. “Not exactly how it’s probably playing out in your head, but we’ll run with your version. Makes things less messy.” Liam takes the meat off the grill, turns off the gas, and walks into the penthouse.
“I said something wrong,” I mumble these words to myself, but Harrison hears me.
“Don’t be hard on yourself. There’s a lot of history there, something Peyton or Noah can fill you in on another time.” Harrison follows Liam, leaving Alex and me alone, and I’m feeling like a colossal idiot.
“Shit.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Alex says squeezing me against him in what I assume he intends to be a reassuring hug.
“No, it’s not. Whatever I said, it was the wrong thing and now I’ve messed everything up.”
“Hey, are you guys coming in?” Noah asks from behind us. I glance at Alex, pleading with him. I don’t know what I did, but the idea of sitting down with them for dinner isn’t something I want to do right now.
“I’m not feeling that great,” Alex says to Noah. “I think we’re going to head home.”
“Really?”
He nods and never takes his eyes off mine. “Yeah. Raincheck?”
“Yeah, sure, of course.”
Alex tells Noah that we’ll see ourselves out and by the time we’re in the elevator, tears stream down my face. “I fucked up.”
“No, you didn’t. I should’ve told you the entire story of their family. I’ll start at the beginning.” Alex fills me in on our way back to the parking garage, telling me about Liam’s decision to drop out of college to start a career, unbeknownst to him that his ex-girlfriend was pregnant until he returned home ten years later to attend a funeral and came face to face with his son. By then, Liam had a successful music career and was all set to put it on hold so he could get to know his Noah when Harrison came to town and fell in love with Peyton’s mom.
“Wow.”
“It’s a pretty heavy story.”
“I didn’t think Noah and Peyton had such a big age gap.”
“They don’t, I don’t believe.”
“Well, it’s at least ten years if what you’re telling me is true.”
“Oh, no. I’m not done. The reason Liam returned to town is because Peyton’s dad passed away. He and Liam were best friends growing up and he came back for the funeral. Harrison adopted Peyton and her sister Elle when they were seven or eight. If I remember correctly, Peyton and Noah are five years apart. They’ve been close their entire lives, but it wasn’t until Peyton was in a car accident that things changed for them. I should’ve told you. It’s not a secret, but Noah also doesn’t go around telling people either. Most of his close friends know.”
Alex helps me into his truck and after he gets behind the wheel, he pulls me closer. I rest my head on that comfort spot right below his collarbone. “I like this,” he says.
“Mhm, me too.” I stay like this until we get to my place. I perk up when my building comes into view. “I thought we were going back to your place. Are you staying here tonight?” I ask him after he parks. He nods, gets out of the truck and rushes to my side to help me out. With my feet on the ground, Alex kisses me, for all to see.
“I have a confession,” he whispers into my ear.
“What’s that?” I can’t help but giggle from the sensation from his scruff.
“I like spending the night at your place.”
“Why’s that?” I can’t imagine how my tiny apartment is comfortable for him at all. He’s the gentle giant inside of there and can’t spread out.
“Well, for one, I like your bed. It’s small, which means you have no choice but to sleep in my arms.” He’s right, it is small compared to his king sized one.
“That’s it?”
He shakes his head. “Another reason is because I like to hear your bed squeak when I thrust into you.”
“Is that so?”
Alex nods. “That sound is so taboo, it excites me. But there’s more.”
“Okay.”
“I like that you grip the railing of your headboard when you’re riding me.”
“And why’s that?” I shift my weight from one foot to the other, to create some friction between my legs.
“Because”—he steps closer, backing me into the still open passenger side door and blocking me from view as he cups my breasts—“when you’re using that rail, these beautiful fucking tits of yours slap me in the face. Between you bouncing on my dick and hitting me with your tits, it’s the best damn thing ever.”
“Alex,” I say his name as if I’m out of breath. “We should go upstairs.”
He nods. “We definitely should.” Before he steps away, he takes my hand and places it over his crotch.
“I thought you didn’t feel well.” I joke.
“I don’t,” he says as he moves my hand up and down. “I think I need a nurse.”
“Oh, God,” I say quietly, unsure if he’s heard me over the traffic. “Alex, we need to go inside before someone catches us out there.”
He rests his head on my shoulder and nods. “I need a minute.”
“Okay. Will it help if I put images in your mind.”