Her head tilts as she looks up at me with sleepy eyes. “Hey,” she says.
“Hey.”
She holds my gaze for a moment before rolling onto her back. I think about dragging her back against me, but there are laws about holding people captive and I’m not sure I’d let her go.
That probably should terrify me. Strangely, it doesn’t. Not yet, anyway.
A yawn slips from her mouth as she gets her bearings.
“Every part of me hurts,” she says. “Parts of me hurt that I didn’t know could hurt.”
“Those city boys don’t know how to put it down, huh?”
She smacks my chest.
I sink back into my pillows and watch her sit up. Her breasts are heavy and have the most natural, sexiest hang to them.
“One, two, three, or four?” I ask her.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’m doing research.”
She takes an elastic off her wrist and ties her hair in a knot on the top of her head. “Okay. Is the answer, ‘The start to a Coolio song for five hundred’?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say, giving her answer back to her.
She sighs. “What am I actually choosing?”
“One would be Anthill Anonymous. Two would be Rocky Root. Three would be Crazy Cowgirl, and I’m going with Miscellaneous Missions for number four, only because I’m not sure what to focus on. There was a lot going on at four this morning.”
“I can’t with you,” she says, looking at me like I’m nuts.
“What? I want to know what you liked best. How else will I improve?” I wait for her to answer, but she doesn’t. “Fine. It was totally Anthill Anonymous, wasn’t it? I mean, it was super cool to fuck someone I didn’t know—only I really didn’t know you because you lied about who you were.”
“Penn,” she says, laughing, “the first time we were together was one of the worst times I’ve ever had. With anyone. Ever.”
My jaw drops. My ego might be wounded but she practically begged for it last night, so that helps.
“You’re joking,” I say.
She shakes her head from side to side. “You were a mess. Fumbling around—”
“It was dark.”
She pats my chest. “It’s okay. I gave you another chance.”
“You gave me three more.”
“Want another?”
I growl as I move to cover her body with mine. But before I can, my phone goes off on my nightstand.
“Get it,” she says.
“It can wait.”
“No, get it. I need to pee, anyway.”
She jumps out of bed, her ass jiggling as she hits the floor. My eyes are glued to the round globes until she’s out of sight.
“Damn.” I grab my phone and check the screen. Fuck. “Hello,” I say, followed by a sharp exhale.
“Good morning, princess,” Dane says. “What’s happening today?”
“How was your trip?” I ask, hoping to avoid a discussion about me for as long as possible. I’m not sure what Matt has told him, and I’m not in a place to argue or defend my position at the moment.
Hell, I’m not sure what my position even is.
“Eh, fifty-fifty,” Dane says. “How did things go while I was gone? Did you piss anyone off that I need to know about before I run into them?”
“Nope.” I settle back against the pillows again. “I was actually on excellent behavior. I made a lot of people happy.”
He laughs. “Oh, I bet.”
“Not like that.”
“Whatever. Hey, we’re all heading to the café for breakfast. Meet us up there in twenty.”
Avery walks back in the room. She’s still completely naked. Her body is round and full and tight and my cock gets hard just from a glimpse.
I yank the sheets off my body and grab myself with my free hand.
“I’m kind of busy this morning,” I tell him as Avery crawls across the bed. “Probably gonna have to pass on breakfast.”
“Bullshit. You’re coming.”
“I fucking hope so,” I groan.
I hiss as Avery straddles my legs, her breasts sitting on my legs. She bends forward, swatting my hand away and sucking the tip of my cock into her mouth.
“Dane, I gotta go.”
“I don’t care who you’re fucking, you better be there—”
I end the call and send my phone sailing across the room.
“I told you he’d come.” Mia runs to me before I even get in the door of the café. “Hey, Penn.”
“Hey, you. How was Florida?”
“Hot. So hot.” She motions for me to bend down, so I do. Her hand cups around her mouth as she whispers in my ear. “It was hot as Hell, but Dad doesn’t like me saying it. Neely says it’s a place and a proper noun, so it’s not technically a bad word if used correctly. But you get the idea.”
I stand back up and catch a glare from Dane. I laugh.
“Mia, I’d like you to meet my friend Avery,” I say. “Avery, this is Mia Madden.”
“Well, hi,” Avery says. “It’s nice to meet you. I love your braid.”
“Neely did it. She’s sick, but she still got up and French-braided my hair.”
“She must be nice,” Avery says.
“She is.” Mia skips over to the big round table in the corner and climbs into a chair between Matt and Dane. “Hey, Dad. Penn’s here.”
Dane looks at me, then at Avery, and then back to me. Avery glances at me and I can see the bout of nerves in her eyes, so I put my arm around her waist.
I’m a little anxious too. I don’t know what my friends are going to say or think or what assumptions they’ll make. Even more, I don’t know how to respond to those.
I’m still me. Because I have Avery on my arm doesn’t mean I’ve inherently changed. Sure, things might be more complicated than I imagined they could be, but I haven’t worked out how that’s going to pan out. And I sure as fuck don’t want to be ribbed about it.
“Dane, this is Avery,” I say. “Avery, this is Matt’s brother, Dane.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she says.
“You too. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Dane tells her. “My favorite story was you turning Penn down.”
My jaw sets. “Really, Matt?”
“What?” Matt says, sitting back in his chair. “Did you really expect me to keep something that epic to myself?”
“You mean when Avery turned Penn down?” Claire comes up to the table with two cups and a pitcher of coffee. “That was one for the record books.” She looks at Avery. “How are you this morning?” She raises her brows with an “I got ya” kind of look.
“I’m good. You?” Avery asks. She toys with my hand on her hip.
“Pretty decent.” Claire flips her a smile as she pours the two cups of coffee. “You want your usual, Penn?”
I nod. “What would you like, Ave?”
“Ave, huh?” Dane presses his lips together. “This must be serious if we’re at nickname status already.”