“I need to talk to you for a second,” he says, and I stop, looking at him. “I need to apologize to you.”
“About what?” I still, narrowing my eyes.
This is out of character for Brock. I’ve never heard him apologize for anything.
He looks off for a moment before running one hand down his face. “I’ve been a shitty friend, and I’m sorry for what I did without telling you,” he says with a nod toward the door.
I wipe my hands down my pants and nod. I wish he had given me a heads-up.
“Why didn’t you warn me? Is this what you’ve been so secretive about?” I ask.
“I’m sorry for being silent on the whole matter, but I didn’t know if it would work out. I didn’t know if she’d even want to meet you. I didn’t want to give you false hope. I know people think I’m a douche bag, but I wouldn’t do that to you. You are my brother.”
His words cause my chest to swell with emotion. I step forward, wrapping my arms around him in a hug.
“Love you, bro,” I say before releasing him, and he steps back, clearing his throat. “How did you even know to look for her?”
“There were some inconsistencies with stories from your grandparents and dad when my PI, Derek, was looking into Abe’s situation. Also, the timeline with your stepmom didn’t line up for her to be your real mother. He followed the trail and found Andrea. It’s actually a wonder that it hasn’t gotten out before all this.”
“Her parents were paying my dad to keep quiet.”
“Ah. That makes sense,” Brock says, nodding. “I need to apologize to Landry as well.”
My eyes widen in disbelief. “You are going to apologize to Landry?”
“Yeah,” he says, his voice rough. “I’ve been pretty shitty to her.”
“Good luck,” I say with a smile before we both break out in chuckles. “I gotta go, clear my head and all that.”
“Okay. See you later,” he says, slapping my arm as I walk by, and I give him a little salute before heading down the side stairs.
I don’t know where I’m going. I shove my hands in my pockets to keep them from shaking and walk. It’s not every day you find out a huge family secret like the one I just found out. If I am truly Andrea’s son, I’m an Almadale. I’m basically fucking royalty around here, and I don’t know how to process that. Sure, I’m a king, but I’ve never really been on the level that Brock and Bodhi are. Being a scholarship student manages to knock you down a peg. Or maybe it’s the entitled assholes who do that. But now … now, I’m a fucking Almadale.
Allegedly.
I stop, realizing where my feet have carried me as I look up. My eyes pull directly to her window, and I watch as the dark is washed away by a light being turned on. I see a silhouette pass by the window, and I ache to see her, for her to touch me, clear the thoughts racing through my mind.
Me: You up?
Landry: Yes. What’s up?
Me: I’m outside.
Landry: My room?
Me: Let me in.
Landry: What’s the magic word?
I smile, imagining her saying it and tossing her hair over one shoulder. Hair I want to wrap around my fist as I fuck her. We’ve been dancing around this attraction, not letting it get far enough, but now, I want it all. I want her to make me forget about everything for a moment. I want to get lost in her body.
Me: Now.
I wait a minute for her reply and frown when I don’t see any dots appear on the screen. I’m still staring at my phone like an idiot when I hear the front door open.
“Corbin, get your ass inside before someone sees you,” she whisper-hisses.
I jog up the steps. “Is Trixie in the room?”
“No, she’s not.”
“Good,” I say and press my hand to her lower back, pushing her toward the elevator.
“What are you doing?” She tries to turn around, but I keep a firm hold on her.
I press the up button and anxiously wait, suddenly dying to get this pent-up tension between us out in the open.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Get on the elevator,” I growl, a smile taking over.
“A please would be nice,” she mutters, rolling her eyes.
“I’m not fucking polite, Lan.”
“You were earlier,” she protests.
I pull her face to mine. “I’m no gentleman. Not when it comes to fuckin’ you.”
24
Landry
Lan. Lan. Since when does Corbin have a pet name for me? I guess since now. Speaking of now, what is happening? Where is my sweet guy from before?
Don’t get me wrong; this is hot as hell—the way he strode in here, making demands.
My skin burns where his fingers are searing me through my shirt. I want to squirm away from him and also sink further into his possessive caress.
As soon as I step on the elevator, I’m turning, spinning around. Corbin stops me with a hand to my arm and backs me up into the cold, hard wall of the elevator. I’m staring straight at his throat. I’m afraid that if I look up, see those piercing green eyes focused on me, I’ll crack. I’ll lay myself bare, and there’s no coming back from that.
“Look at me, Landry,” he says.
I immediately want to tell him to call me Lan. He places one finger under my chin, raising my gaze to his, and I suck in a breath.
“Tell me you want this. Tell me you don’t want me to stop.”
My eyes search his, and he remains unwavering. Staring, waiting. Suffocating me but in the best possible way.
“Lan?”
There it is.
“Don’t stop,” I whisper, closing my eyes and setting the flames loose. It’s about time.
He grabs my hands, raising them above me, pinning me to the wall, as he lowers his lips to my neck. The moment he touches my skin, I melt. The passion behind his eyes is raging higher than I’ve seen it yet. He steps back, and I blink my eyes open.
“Don’t stop,” I say again.
He grabs my hand, pulling me off the elevator. I didn’t even realize it’d stopped. We can’t get to my room fast enough. My hand shakes as I go to open the door. Once in, I turn, my breath leaving me as I watch him stalk toward me. A predator who knows exactly what he wants.
He bends down to scoop behind my legs, pulling me up against his chest as he carries me the rest of the way to my bed.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, resting my hands on his shoulders.
He drops me back on the mattress, lust on his face. Before I can move to touch him, he’s crawling on top of me, hands sliding under my shirt.
“I can’t go another moment without you,” he murmurs.
His fingertips brush along my skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps in their wake, which spreads through my veins and ends in my core. I wiggle against the sensation, arching my back as I raise my arms while he pulls the shirt over my head and I watch as he takes in my naked upper half.
The way he looks at me is addictive. I want to take a picture of his face, so I can remember the way his eyes are lit with lust as they scan my body. He takes one finger and slowly traces it around the outside of my breast, in the dip between them, and over to the other one. I follow his progress with my eyes, my breathing ragged.