by Alex Grayson
“Are you saying you don’t mind seeing your stepbrother’s dick?” Z asks, raising a brow.
“Not particularly.” She wrinkles her nose. “But all he has to do is stay in his seat.”
“So, it’s okay if I see Savannah’s tits then? She can’t hide those under the table.”
If he were closer, I’d sock him for that comment. I hate that the words are even coming out of his mouth.
Her lips tighten and she shoots a glare at Z. “Point made. Underwear stays on.”
She starts flipping cards in front of each of us. I end up with fifteen, while Savannah has an eighteen with a queen and an eight. Zayden has a total of nine with a six and a three. Rylee’s face card is an ace.
Savannah stays with her eighteen points.
I tap the table. “Hit me.” Rylee drops a five next to my eight and seven, and I stand with my twenty points.
I chuckle when Savannah grumbles beside me. “It’s okay, baby. I won’t make you take off too much.”
She shoots me the bird.
“Hit me,” Zayden calls and adds ten more points, bringing his total to nineteen. He’s got no choice but to take another card and hope it’s not more than two.
“Better luck next time, Z,” I gloat when he gets a seven.
“Fuck you,” he grumbles. “Beat his ass, Rylee.”
She flips her face down card over, revealing a two, which brings her total to three or thirteen, depending on how she wants to play her ace. Either way, she has to deal herself another card. A three gets dropped next to her cards.
When she drops a ten next, I throw my arms up and shout, “Strip!”
“You’re an ass.”
Ignoring Zayden’s comment, I glance over to Savannah to see what she’s taking off. Thank fuck it’s just her socks. I’m not sure how I’d react if she took off her shirt or pants. Sure, I agreed to play the game, but it doesn’t mean I want Zayden to see her in her bra.
“You do realize if I lose again, I’m going to have to get rid of my shirt, right?” she taunts, guessing my thoughts.
I pull the hoodie I’m wearing over my head and toss it to her. “Put this on.”
“That’s cheating. You can’t put more clothes on during the game.”
I slide my eyes to Rylee. “Says who?”
“Says me,” Savannah answers instead, tossing my hoodie across the room. “But good news for me, you’re one article of clothing down.” I narrow my eyes. “Hey, you agreed to play the game.” She sticks out her tongue at me, and I’m tempted to take a bite.
“Whatever.” I direct my gaze to Rylee. “Just deal.”
The next hand does not go in my favor. Rylee beats us all with a perfect twenty-one. Zayden whips off his shirt and drops it on the floor to join his socks from the last round he lost.
I lose my shirt and enjoy the way Savannah looks at my chest. Flexing, I make my pecs jump just for her viewing pleasure. Her eyes jerk up to mine, and I toss her a wink. With a smug look, she grabs the hem of her shirt and slowly peels it over her head. Her lacey black bra comes into view, and my cock instantly turns hard in my jeans.
It takes me a moment to pull my eyes away from her to glance at the other occupants at the table. Rylee is busy shuffling, a small smile playing on her lips. And Zayden’s smart by keeping his eyes averted from Savannah. I’m not sure I’d be able to keep myself in check if he were looking at my girl.
Shots of tequila are taken, and the next hand is dealt. I breathe a little easier when Savannah wins this round.
While Rylee sheds her shirt, Zayden glares at me as he drops his jeans. I get to my feet, keeping my gaze locked on the woman next to me. Her eyes turn to saucers and her tongue darts out to lick her bottom lip when she sees the outline of my semi-hard shaft. It’s probably not good to be sporting wood with your best friend and stepsister in the room, but fuck if I can help it when Savannah is a foot away from me with the top of her tits spilling out of her bra.
With my lips tipped up, I sit back down, blocking her view.
“Deal,” I tell Rylee, and pour us another round of shots.
Zayden and I probably look ridiculous sitting here avoiding looking at the other’s girl. I really don’t want to see Rylee in her bra, and I know Zayden won’t look at Savannah out of respect for Rylee.
I win the next round, but I’m not happy about it. I’d much rather lose every article of clothing I’m wearing than have Savannah take off her pants. My hands fist on the table and a growl vibrates in my chest as she gets to her feet.
“You look at her, Z, and I’ll pop your eyes out of their sockets and shove them down your throat.”
“No worries, man. I’ve got my eyes on something else.”
Savannah smiles smugly as she unbuttons and gently pulls down the zipper of her pants. Her jeans are tight, so she has to do a little wiggle to get them over her trim hips. The top edge of her panties come into view and my mouth goes dry. Seeing Savannah in sexy underwear isn’t new, but I swear the woman damn near knocks me on my ass every time she gets undressed.
“Damn, girl. Where did you get that bra and panty set?” Rylee asks, knocking me out of my fantasy of dragging Savannah to her room and peeling her bra and panties off with my teeth.
“Victoria’s Secret. They got in a brand-new line a few days ago. The material feels heavenly against my skin.”
My chair gets knocked back as I move to my feet. “Game’s over,” I grunt and stalk toward Savannah.
“Agreed,” Z says behind me, his own chair scraping across the floor.
I stand in front of Savannah, keeping her hidden from view. Leaning down, I grab the back of her thighs. “Legs around me,” I order at the same time I pick her up. I groan when the heat of her pussy meets my hard shaft.
Rylee’s giggles and the deep rumble of Z’s voice comes from behind me as I stalk down the hallway toward Savannah’s room. After kicking the door closed, I walk to the bed and drop her on the mattress. She bounces a couple of times before she gets to her knees.
“Guess what time it is?” she asks, walking her fingers up my bare chest.
“What time is it?” I settle my hands around her waist.
She looks up at me and grabs the back of my head, pulling me closer. “Twelve-oh-four. Happy New Year, Oliver.”
I smile against her lips, having no idea that we even missed the ball dropping until this very moment. Not that I care. I would much rather be doing this anyway. “Happy New Year, baby.”
Leaning forward, we both tumble to the mattress, where we spend the next couple of hours ringing in the new year in the best way possible.
24
SAVANNAH
“Hey, how was your break?” Thomas, a guy in my English Lit class slides up next to me seconds after the professor dismisses us.
I don’t know the guy well. We had a couple classes together last semester and talked a few times, but that’s really the extent of it.
“It was good.” I shove my laptop into my bag before shrugging it onto my shoulder. “How was yours?”
“Great. Though I have to say, I’m really happy to be back here. I love my family, but after nearly two weeks with them I was going bat shit crazy.”
“Yeah, I get that. That’s why I only went home twice over break.”
“You stayed here? All by yourself?”
“I wasn’t by myself.” The thought of Oliver has a smile pulling at my lips.
Thomas turns and follows me out of the classroom into the hallway.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you later.” He reaches out and gently grazes my forearm. It’s completely innocent, but when I look up and see Oliver leaning against the wall waiting for me, I realize by his expression that he doesn’t agree.
“Yeah, see you later.” I swallow hard, my eyes locked on Oliver.
He looks so damn sexy in his V-neck tee and dark jeans that I’m tempted to wipe my mouth to make sure I’m not drooling. God, those shoulders. Those cheekbones. He really is so go
od looking it almost hurts.
His eyes follow Thomas as he turns and heads down the hallway, not coming back to me until he disappears from view.
“Who the hell was that?” he snaps when his focus returns to me.
“No one.” I shrug, closing the rest of the distance between us.
“Sure as fuck didn’t look like no one.” He towers over me, his gaze hot on my face.
“Awe, is someone jealous?” I purposely bait him.
“I don’t like other men touching what’s mine.”
“What’s yours?” I drag my bottom lip between my teeth to keep my smile at bay.
“You. Are. Mine.” He pronounces every word clearly. “Or did you miss that the last hundred times I’ve said it?”
“No. I didn’t miss it. I just wanted to hear you say it again.” I finally let my smile break free.
“You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?” he grumbles, snagging my arm before pulling me to his chest.
“Pot meet kettle.”
“Seriously though, who the fuck was that?” he asks, instead of kissing me like I had hoped he would.
“Relax, killer. His name is Thomas. We have a couple of classes together. Spoken a few times. It’s really not a big deal. I wouldn’t even call him a friend—that’s how little I know about him.”
“The way he was looking at you says he has no interest in being your friend, but rather getting into your pants.”
“Oh my God, Oliver.” I shove at his chest as I take a full step back. “Not everyone thinks that way.”
“Guys do,” he disagrees. “You think guys talk to girls just to make pleasant conversation?” He gives me a doubtful look. “No, guys talk to girls because they want to fuck them.”
“So, you’re telling me that every girl you talk to you want to fuck?” I plant a hand on my hip.
“Yep.” He nods. “Or at least I did. Until a certain someone stormed into my life. Now I find myself only wanting her.”
“Is that so?” I reach out and take his hand, entwining my fingers with his as we turn and head toward the exit.
“It is.” He knocks his shoulder gently into mine.
“Well, if it makes you feel better, I have no interest in anybody but you, so it really doesn’t matter what Thomas’ intentions were for talking to me. It wouldn’t get him anywhere, anyway.”
“That does make me feel marginally better.” He smiles down at me as we push our way through the double doors and step out into the brisk January air.
“What are you doing here? You don’t have any classes this afternoon,” I say, having looked over his schedule pretty thoroughly to see how our classes lined up. Unfortunately, we once again do not have any classes together. Then again, that might be a good thing, because I doubt I’d learn a single thing with Oliver there to distract me.
“I thought I’d see if you wanted to grab lunch.”
“I actually had a sandwich right before class.” It’s not a complete lie. I did eat a sandwich. Well, like two bites of one. But hey, that’s progress, right?
“Yeah, I already ate too.” He laughs when I throw him a confused look. “I just needed an excuse to come see you.”
“You know you don’t have to have an excuse. If you want to see me, just say so.”
“Fine. I just wanted to see you.” He releases my hand and drops an arm over my shoulder when a small shiver runs through me. “Can I give you a ride back to your apartment?” he asks.
“I don’t know. I think maybe I’d rather go back to your dorm.”
“Oh, yeah. And why is that?”
“Because it’s closer.” I give him a knowing look, to which he responds with the sexiest damn smirk I’ve ever seen.
“My dorm room it is.”
“Can I ask you a question?” I pop my head up from Oliver’s chest and look up at him.
We’ve been lying in his bed for the better part of two hours, and even though I have to be at work at five, I have zero motivation to get up.
“Sure.” He glances down at me.
“You and your dad—have things always been tense between the two of you?”
“We’re lying in bed naked and you want to talk about my father?” He cocks a brow.
“I just…. I don’t know. I want to know more about you. About your family. About your past.”
“It would take me days to try to explain to you the complicated relationship I have with my father.”
“Condense it for me. Tell me about when you were a kid? What was it like growing up in your house?”
“Honestly?” He blows out a breath. “Lonely. My father was always working. My mother was MIA most of the time. I mean, we spent time together when I was little. But as I got older, we sort of grew apart.” He shifts, rolling onto his side so we’re facing each other. His hand slides around my waist and he scoots in so close that our noses almost touch.
“But you have to have some good memories, right? I’m sure you did things together as a family. Game night. Vacations. Stuff like that.”
“Not really. We went on vacations, but that usually equated to my mother at the spa or drinking by the pool and my father working in the office of whatever house we rented for the week. It wasn’t your typical family vacation.”
“I’m sorry. That must have been really hard.”
“It was. But as a kid, it was my norm. I never thought a whole lot of it. As I got older, I liked the freedom. Though it got me in a lot more trouble than I’d like to admit.”
“I can’t even imagine what that must have been like. My parents were always so involved. We spent so much time together that all I wanted was to be alone.”
“Take it from someone who practically raised themselves, you’re lucky to have the mom and dad that you do.”
“I know,” I agree. I’ve never questioned that.
“Z made things easier. Fuck, for years he felt like the only family I had. He was my brother. He is my brother.”
“Yeah, I feel the same way about Rylee. Growing up as an only child, she was the sibling my parents never gave me. She was a part of my family, and I was a part of hers. I’ve always referred to Evelyn as my second mom, because when I wasn’t at home, I was there. We were pretty much inseparable as kids. So, I guess I didn’t just have one great mom, I had two.”
“Hence why you hated me so much for the shit I pulled last year.”
“You made it pretty easy to dislike you,” I agree, running my fingers gently up and down his bicep.
“I guess I did.”
“But don’t worry, you’re starting to redeem yourself,” I tease.
“Starting to?” He draws back.
“Okay, you have,” I admit on a laugh. “But in all seriousness, you really have surprised me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. You’re not the person I thought you were at all. I had you pegged as this egotistical, malicious, spoiled rich kid who thought the world owed him something, and that we should all bend to his will. But the more I’ve gotten to know you, the more I realize that’s not who you are at all. Well, except maybe for the egotistical part.” I grin, letting him know I’m only kidding. “You, Oliver Conley, are a closet good guy.”
He grunts. “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”
“I would,” I disagree. “You make me feel a way no one has ever made me feel before.”
“And what way is that?” His fingers start moving, trailing circles along the small of my back.
“Wanted,” I admit. “When you look at me, I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like you don’t see any of my flaws. When you look at me, it’s like I’m the most beautiful girl in the world. I’ve never had anyone look at me like that before.”
“Because you are the most beautiful.”
“I’m not,” I quickly disagree. “And that’s okay. There will always be someone prettier, more talented, or smarter than I am. That’s just the way of the world. I’ve never tried to compete
with anyone else. I didn’t need to, because nearly my entire life I’ve been in competition with myself. But with you? You make me feel okay with who I am. If that makes any sense.”
“It does.” He pulls in a deep breath. “Because that’s how you make me feel too. You see who I am, fucked up parts and all. And yet here you are. Other than Z, I don’t think anyone has accepted me quite so fully.” He leans in and presses a soft kiss to my lips. “And for the record, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”
“Careful. You might start giving me a big head, and yours is already big enough for the both of us,” I tease, giggling when his hand slides up to my side and he gives it a hard squeeze.
“You know.” He falls serious again. “I wish you could see yourself through my eyes—just once. I don’t think you’d ever look at yourself the same way again.”
“I could say the same about you.”
“V, I….” He swallows hard, the words dying on his lips when the sound of his ringtone fills the space.
I have no idea what he was about to say, but for some reason it feels like it was going to be big. Or maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part. Whatever it was, he doesn’t make any attempt to finish his sentence, which makes me even more curious.
“You going to get that?” I ask after a few seconds have passed and he still hasn’t moved to answer the phone.
“Nope.” He pulls me closer so that not even a single inch of space separates us, pressing a kiss to the tip of my nose. He places another to each cheek before making his way to my lips.
The phone quits ringing and instantly starts again.
“Fuck,” he mutters against my mouth.
“Just answer it.” I press my hand to his chest and scoot back as much as I can due to the small size of the bed.
“This better be fucking important.” He rolls, grabbing the phone before holding it up in front of his face. “And that’s a big fuck no.” He silences the ringer.
“Who is it?” I ask, propping up on my elbow.
“My father.” He drops his head onto the pillow and lets out a frustrated sigh.
The call no more than ends before the ringing begins again.
