by Emma Lyon
Shockingly, Ethan came to my rescue. “He certainly enjoyed sticking his tongue down your throat.”
“Ethan,” our mom said exasperatedly, but without any force behind it. Over her head, I mouthed fuck off at my brother while he mock-gagged on his finger.
I hung out with them while my mom peppered me with questions about school and Ethan looked up from his phone occasionally to offer comments from the peanut gallery, and it felt like it used to before the craziness of my dad’s campaign. With the sun and breeze, and the memory of Zach’s kiss on my lips, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d let myself relax like this.
When I finally left them to go shower, Zach was already out of the shower and dressed again in shorts and a different t-shirt. His hair was wet and his nose a bit red.
“You got some sun,” I told him, waving a hand at his face.
He touched his nose. “I completely forgot to bring sunblock.”
Somehow the slight imperfection of a red nose only made him more attractive, but I was past trying to understand the quantum reality of Zach’s hotness. “There’s tons in the house. Actually, there should be some in the bathroom if you want it for tomorrow. I’m going to need some, too.”
“Yeah, you got a bit pink there, Garrett.”
“I’m not sure that was from the sun,” I said dryly, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom.
Zach’s expression morphed into a wide, knowing grin. “Think we convinced him?”
“You certainly convinced me.”
His eyes trailed down the front of me and lingered. “I’ll consider that a bonus.”
My pulse ratcheted up as he took a step forward, and my back pressed against the doorframe. I looked up as he stood in front of me, raising his hand to rub his thumb across my bottom lip. “There’s no one here now,” I said with a somewhat steady voice, my lip tingling from his touch.
“Nope,” he said, and my heart thumped in my chest when he angled his head down, my eyes fluttering closed in anticipation of another blistering kiss. “I’ll see you downstairs,” he murmured in my ear.
I blinked as he stepped away from me and sauntered out of the bedroom.
The fucker.
Staring at the bedroom door he’d just gone through, I pushed off from the doorframe once I could trust my legs, and closed the bathroom door behind me.
Damn Zach Pearson for being so damn sexy. I gazed at myself in the mirror above the sink. My face was a little pink. I tanned easily, so it should darken by morning, but at least for now it covered up the heat in my cheeks.
Tingling all over, I thought about that near kiss just now. If Zach was just playing a part, then he was damn good at playing it. I suspected that was going to be my torment and pleasure both.
14
Zach
Grinning on my way down to the kitchen, I mused that kissing Lane had been like standing at the edge of a cliff above a deep, wide ocean that I very much wanted to fall into, despite all my rational instincts telling me I might never climb out again.
At the first feel of Lane’s lips, I’d forgotten completely about our audience. My brain had shorted out just from the taste of him. Not to mention the press of Lane’s hot, hard erection against mine through the very thin material of our swim shorts.
All the resolutions I’d started the weekend with were unraveling like a cheap shirt.
My phone buzzed in my pocket on my way downstairs, and I took it out, frowning at the text on the screen. It was from Max, asking if I was free the following week for dinner with a new client.
My fingers hesitated above the keys. I hadn’t given a thought to Max and dating since I’d gotten here. It was a jolt to have them intrude now like an uninvited guest. I thought about the asshole married businessman coming on to me, and the back of my neck pricked uncomfortably. But working for Max was still the main thing keeping me financially solvent.
Maybe, I texted back. I’ll let you know.
In the kitchen I found Lane’s mom with a glass of white wine and an open planner she was jotting notes in. She’d pulled her red hair back in a ponytail and had put on a green patterned sundress.
I stood tentatively in the doorway until she glanced up and said warmly, “Hello there. Come in, have a drink. What’s your poison? Beer, wine, something stronger?”
“Beer’s good, if you have it.” I sat on one of the stools at the island across from her.
Jessica retrieved a bottle of a local microbrew we served at the bar, and handed it and a bottle opener in the shape of a crab to me. “I know I told you before, but I’m so pleased you could make it. How is work?”
At the donor dinner, I’d told her about working as a bartender to help pay for school, leaving out that I’d scaled back my shifts to leave more time for working for Max.
“It’s good.” I popped the top off the bottle and raised it to my lips, thinking that even though I was a stranger in her house, Lane’s mother had managed to make me feel immediately at home. Even Ethan’s mild brattiness was familiar, since I was all too used to siblings.
“When does school start again for you?”
“End of August, but I have an internship starting in a couple of weeks that will last until classes start.”
I’d been lucky to get it. It was only because the classmate who now held it was going on a month-long trip to Bali the end of July and had reached out to me. Luckily, my academic record was good enough that the law firm in question hadn’t balked at the switch.
Because of my money situation, I’d had to pass on applying to some of the more prestigious summer clerkships. Even the paid ones weren’t enough to make up what I’d lose from the bar and paid dates, and with the kind of hours those internships required, I’d never be able to do all three. But this had been too good an opportunity to pass up. I’d just have to figure out how to make it work.
“William went to law school,” Jessica said, her fondness for her husband clear in her voice. “He always said you could do almost anything with a law degree. Do you know yet what you want to specialize in?”
“Corporate law most likely, until I can pay off my undergraduate loans. But I’m hoping to find a firm with multiple specialties to branch out into other things. Public interest law, maybe even criminal law.” Mostly I just wanted to get through my last year, find a job, and stop worrying about money for once.
“Maybe you can inspire my younger son to have some ambition,” Jessica said, as Ethan entered the kitchen. But she said it as fondly as when she’d talked about her husband.
“I have plenty of ambition,” Ethan said, going straight to the fridge. He was dressed in skinny jeans despite the hot weather and a pale pink t-shirt with a faded octopus on the front of it. He retrieved a beer from the fridge, accepted the bottle opener from me with only a vaguely suspicious glance, and put it back on the island between us once he’d popped the top off.
At his mom’s look, Ethan raised an eyebrow. “What? I’m twenty-one now.”
“Barely.”
“Uh, since January. Relax, Mom, it’s a beer. It’s not like I’m getting high in the sunroom.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not, are you?”
“Yeah, I totally am. Zach, come by for a smoke later. Until then, I’m going to take my beer and my delinquent self and finish reading my magazine.” Saluting us with his bottle, he disappeared back into the living room.
“That one is going to be the death of me,” Jessica said with a sigh.
I tugged at the label on my beer bottle. “He seems like a good kid.”
“He is. I just worry.” She angled her eyes at me. “As I’m sure you’ve heard Lane complain about. But it’s different with Lane.”
Curious, I asked, “What do you mean?”
Jessica sighed. “I worry Lane doesn’t take the time to enjoy what’s around him. He was always so quiet and focused when he was younger. It was like he’d forget everything else.” She raised her wine glass to her lips and looked at me
over the rim of it. “Even with Bryce, he was always so serious.”
I had managed to push thoughts of Lane’s ex out of my mind. Not that I was jealous, exactly, just…well.
“It’s why I’m glad he met you,” Jessica was saying. “He seems so happy. He lights up when you’re around.”
I lifted my beer to my lips, feeling the lie that loomed above everything. I hated that we were deceiving Lane’s mother, who only wanted the best for her son. Hated the ugly, nagging feeling that someone like me, who was so willing to pretend date for money, wasn’t it.
“I’m glad,” I said.
“Anyway, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that.” She took another sip of her wine, then put the glass back down again. “So, Zach, what do you know about grilling?”
15
Lane
I followed voices until I found Zach downstairs in the kitchen with my mom discussing how best to prepare steaks for the grill.
“Hey,” Zach said when he saw me, and something in his expression gave me pause a moment.
“Hi,” I replied. On impulse, I kissed him lightly on the mouth. From his surprised look he hadn’t been expecting it, but by the smile that spread over his face, he didn’t seem displeased. “What’s this about the steaks?”
“Zach is swearing by olive oil, but I told him your dad always puts butter on the steak.”
“Because the red meat isn’t enough to kill us?” I went to the fridge to get a beer, glancing back at Zach to try to get a better read on his mood. The smile he returned was closer to his usual relaxed, easy self, so maybe I had imagined his earlier expression.
When Zach held out his hand for the bottle, I passed it over bemusedly. He picked up the bottle opener from the island, flipped off the top, and handed the opened beer back to me in such an unconsciously courteous gesture that I was wordless a moment.
“But Zach said he’d man the grill for us tonight if we promised to try the olive oil.”
“Did he, now.” I held my beer to my lips. The thought of Zach cooking for us caveman style should not be as exciting to my libido as it was. He wagged an eyebrow at me as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
Danger, Will Robinson.
“I’ll make a salad if you want to get started on the steaks, Zach,” my mom said.
“Looks like you’re up, grill master.”
“Oh, is that what I am,” Zach said, with a look that went straight to my dick. I really needed to build up some kind of Zach immunity, or else I was going to be indecently hard the entire weekend. “Come keep me company.”
Carrying our beers, since Zach’s hands were full with the plate of steaks, I followed him out to the grill and patio table. Zach did seem to know what he was about as far as getting the grill started. While it was heating, he came over to the table and pulled out the bench across from me, accepting the beer I handed over to him.
“I take it you’re the designated griller in your family?”
“I wish,” he said, lifting the beer to his lips. “My aunt monopolizes it at large family gatherings, but she’s a chef and the food always turns out amazing, so no one complains. When it’s just us I have to flip my dad for it, though he still watches me like a hawk even when I win.”
“You’ve certainly won my mom over,” I observed.
“She’s great.” Zach said with unusual seriousness, “She reminds me a lot of my mom, actually. I bet they’d get along.”
Unspoken was the fact that our moms would likely never meet. I pushed the thought out of my head. I was enjoying myself too much to linger on the real reason Zach was here.
Ethan came out with dishes and silverware, and I took advantage of the distraction to help him set the table while trying not to ogle the way Zach’s ass looked in his shorts. When the steaks were done, my mom came out with salad and baked sweet potatoes, and we set into the food.
After a few bites, my mom said, “This is delicious, Zach. I’ll have to tell William about the trick with the olive oil.”
Zach had slid onto the bench next to me, and I tried to focus on the food and not how my skin shivered every time Zach’s shoulder brushed up against mine.
Conscious of my mom and brother across the table from us, I tried to will my body to calm down. Think about something other than the hot, sexy man next to you. But when Ethan went in to get more beer for the three of us—I teased him about finally being legal—Zach’s hand sneaked to the small of my back to rub absently through the thin cloth of my t-shirt, and I didn’t mind that at all.
It felt pretty fucking good, actually.
I barely tasted my food as Zach’s fingertips drew nerve-tingling patterns on my back, triggering waves of arousal to my half-hard dick. So much for building up Zach immunity. I shifted on the bench and felt Zach’s eyes angle over to me, and from the corner of my vision saw his grin like he knew exactly what he was doing to me.
“Do you want any more, Zach?” My mom said, holding up the plate with the steak we hadn’t finished.
“No, ma’am,” Zach said. “I couldn’t eat another bite.” He shifted on the bench, too. I wondered if he was as aroused as I was, and if I was going to hell for wondering that when my mom was right there.
“I’ll put this away, then,” she said, gathering up the remaining food. “Then I think I’ll turn in. Can I trust you three to clean up the rest?”
After we promised her and she’d left, Zach moved his hand from my back and draped his arm casually around my waist, resting his hand on my hip and burning a brand there through my shorts. It felt both proprietary and comforting, and I felt myself lean into it.
With all the beer we’d been drinking, compounded by the massive amount of food and lingering heat from the day, Ethan and I devolved into a hazy, nostalgic recounting of other summers, until I realized that Zach had been quiet for some time.
“Sorry about that,” I said, turning my head and bumping his shoulder, feeling loose and easy from the beer, and warm from his arm around me. “Guess we got carried away.”
Zach’s arm tightened around me, triggering a wave of shivering heat. “That’s all right. Sounds like you have a lot of good memories here.”
We’d lit citronella candles to help with insects once the sun had gone down, and I couldn’t seem to stop staring at the pattern of candlelight flickering over Zach’s lips.
“Aaaand that’s my cue to leave,” Ethan said, sounding amused.
I realized I’d leaned in until my lips were only a couple of inches from Zach’s, and that in another second I was going to kiss him. I straightened reluctantly and cleared my throat. “Help us clean up first.”
Ethan put up only a token grumble as I shifted regretfully away from Zach’s warmth, and we began to stack dishes and grab empty beer bottles to take in with us. Once the dishes were in the dishwasher and the empty bottles in the recycling bin, Ethan went off to bed and it was just the two of us in the kitchen.
“Thank you,” I said, leaning against the kitchen counter. Zach had insisted we drink water before bed, and I handed my empty glass to him, since he was closer to the dishwasher.
He cocked his head at me after putting the glass away. “For what?”
I wasn’t sure, only that Zach seemed to have some mad talent for making me feel good. “For being a great fake boyfriend.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, after a beat. I wondered if I’d said the wrong thing, but then he flashed his easy smile again. “Come on, Garrett. Time to put you to bed.”
And like that, the butterflies started up in my stomach. Because, well, bed. Singular. One.
I was very much aware of him behind me as we went up the back stairs to my room. Despite the air conditioning, my clothes were too hot and confining. By the time Zach closed the bedroom door behind us, I swore I was burning up.
Before my rational brain could butt in to stop me, I leaned back against the closed door and tugged him to me by the hem of his t-shirt. Zach leaned in easily and pressed hi
s shoulder against the door next to mine, his mouth mere inches away.
Knowing I was on the verge of losing my nerve, I let the words tumble out of my mouth. “How do you feel about blowjobs?”
16
Zach
I blinked, for a moment doubting I’d heard that right. Lane’s eyes were a little glassy, sure, but he’d been steady enough coming up the stairs, and I didn’t think he’d had so much to drink that his judgment was impaired.
“You think we should escalate our fake boyfriend act to blowjobs?”
The look in Lane’s eyes, like he wanted nothing more than to devour me right there, brought my dick to very hard attention. “Couldn’t hurt, right? I mean, we need to be convincing….”
In truth, I had been harboring more than a few fantasies involving Lane’s mouth these past twelve hours. That kiss in the pool had shattered any illusions I might have had about keeping this professional. “I’d say I’m generally in favor of them.”
Lane’s smile at that was so sweet and sexy it pulled as much at my chest as it did my dick. When he started to tug at my shorts, I covered his hand with mine, because my need to taste him was overwhelming. “Let me.”
Lane blinked, licked his lips, and nodded.
He didn’t resist when I tugged his t-shirt up, just raised his arms so I could pull it over his head and toss it somewhere behind me. God, he was beautiful with that endless plane of creamy gold skin, his gray eyes like molten silver and pink lips slightly parted as if waiting to be kissed.
I didn’t keep him waiting. I captured his mouth again as I thumbed open the button of his shorts, and at his murmured noise of pleasure, left his lips to kiss my way down to his collarbone, then knelt in front of him to work the zipper of his shorts down.
There was a thump overhead as Lane let his head fall back against the door.
I grinned at the dazed look on his face as I worked his shorts and boxer briefs over his hips and down his thighs, until they pooled at his feet and I helped him step out of them.
