“It’s kind of a small world, huh? What brings you guys to this part of town?” She tried to sound jovial. It came out strained.
The truth was she had spent every day of the past five years thinking about these two men. Wondering where they were or how their lives had turned out. Never once had she looked them up on social media, gone back to the old neighborhood, or asked anyone about either of them. She wouldn’t dare torture herself with that information.
After that tragic night, she’d fled the area, taking her aunt up on her offer to spend the summer at her beach home in North Carolina. She’d spent the summer working her ass off at a local restaurant, waiting tables and earning as much money as she could to pay for school. She had changed her cell number immediately to avoid facing anyone or knowing if they tried to contact her.
She had always wondered if Carter might have reached out to her, but it would have been too weird to know the answer to that question so she’d taken it out of the equation.
For Jade, the decision to move away from the neighborhood had been easy. She had been raised by her grandparents, and they were getting older. She knew they loved her and would never ask her to leave, but it had been time. In late August, she’d returned to the Atlanta area, but gotten an apartment near the university thirty miles away from her grandparents with three other girls. She’d gone on with her life.
In theory.
In truth, she often tossed and turned at night to this day, unable to wipe the memories away. Not just memories of the extremely hot make-out session she’d witnessed but her own time spent with both men.
In Brody’s case, she could still picture the way he held her, the way he made love to her, the way he laughed. So many things. In Carter’s case, all her tender memories about their friendship were mixed up with fantasies about what it would have been like to be with him. To be with both of them.
She shook the past from her mind and focused on the two men standing in front of her again right now.
Carter shrugged, reminding her she’d asked him a question. “Yeah, what a coincidence.” He hadn’t answered her question, which made her wonder if they’d known they would find her here. No way. That was too farfetched.
She took a long deep breath. “Can I get you two a drink?” She scanned the bar, noticing two seats were vacant on the end and pointed. “Looks like someone just left, if you want to sit at the bar.”
Carter nodded. “Perfect. Thanks. Beer is fine. Whatever’s on tap.”
She glanced at Brody, who hadn’t offered much in the way of words yet. “Same,” he murmured.
Heart racing, she followed them to the bar stools and lifted onto her toes to meet the owner’s gaze. “Mike, two drafts here.”
He nodded and moved down the bar.
Carter and Brody had angled themselves so they were facing her more than the bar. Their knees were touching. “So. Wow,” Carter began. “It’s so weird seeing you.”
“Yeah...” She tried not to fidget. This was way beyond weird. She met Carter’s gaze. “You went to State, right?”
“Yeah. Graduated last year. I’m actually working for an accounting firm not far from here.” He smiled as he sat up straighter. “Pretending to adult, I guess.”
She forced a laugh. This was so uncomfortable. Damn, he looked good. Better than good. She never would have imagined the two of them might look better now than they had in high school. Good thing she’d never seen any pics. If she had, she would have needed more vibrators.
Jade turned toward Brody. “And the navy?”
He nodded. “Turned me into a man.” His smile was once again forced and kind of lopsided.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure you were already a man.”
Carter reached for the beer Mike set in front of him and took a long draw. “What are you studying?” he asked as he set it back down.
“Oh, business.”
“Jade,” Mike called out from the other end of the bar.
She jerked her attention to find him pointing at another set of patrons who had entered. “Gotta do my job. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Right. Of course. We’ll be here,” Carter responded.
She was shaking as she walked away from them. What the hell universe was she in? She told the newcomers to sit wherever they wanted and took their orders. After wandering through the dwindling crowd, she returned to lean over the bar next to Carter and called out her orders to Mike.
“How long have you been working here?” Carter asked.
“Four years,” she responded. “I couldn’t serve alcohol until a couple years ago, but I bussed tables and worked my way up. It’s good money. Pays the bills.”
Mike set two drinks on her tray and reached for two more. “Something must be in the air again tonight.” He smirked and glanced at Carter and Brody. “Those seats have stories to tell.”
Brody frowned as Mike walked away chuckling. “What’s he talking about?”
Jade understood perfectly. Everyone who had sat on these particular stools lately had steamed up the room with their lust. She didn’t comment, however. Instead, she busied herself with the tray of drinks, balancing them, and then making her way through the patrons to serve everyone.
When she returned, Mike was leaning on an elbow, talking to Brody and Carter. She groaned as she heard him explaining how lucky the seats were.
Carter was laughing. “That’s a lot of pressure.” He glanced at Jade as she got closer, his eyes twinkling. What the hell was that all about?
“You’re on break, Jade. Fifteen.” Mike shoved off the bar and wandered away.
Chapter 2
Jade’s face heated. She did not need a break, nor did she have any idea what she might say to these two guys, but Mike had thrown her under the bus, so she had no choice. Hell, it was getting close to closing time. No one would take a break this late.
Carter snatched her tray from her hand and set it on the bar.
Brody grabbed a stool from his other side and set it in a triangle with theirs. His gaze was narrowed, uncertain. Hesitant. “Is this okay? Do you mind catching up for a few minutes? Are we keeping you from something else?”
Jade shook her head. “It’s fine.” She wanted to know what these guys were doing here. The best way was to face them. She tried to remain calm as she perched on the stool. She never ever sat down when she was working. If she needed to grab something to eat, she did it in the back room, quickly. There were no fifteen-minute breaks for her. This was out of her comfort zone. As was small talk with the two hot men who starred in most of her fantasies.
Carter spoke again. “You look good, Jade.”
“Thanks.” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her long dark hair was pulled in her usual ponytail, but by this time of night, some of it had escaped.
Brody reached out and gently tucked a lock from the other side behind her other ear, but his fingers lingered and then he smoothed them down her entire ponytail. “You let your hair grow longer.” His voice was deep, gravelly, sexy. “I like it. It’s still just as soft.”
Her face heated. She licked her lips.
Brody’s gaze jerked to her mouth and he visibly swallowed. He always had told her he loved her lips and that it turned him on when she licked them. She used to do so in class when he glanced her direction to tease him. In between classes, he would grab her hand, yank her into a side hallway, and kiss her senseless to get her back. It worked.
She licked them again now, mostly because she couldn’t stop herself and partly because she wanted to know if she’d imagined his reaction.
She had not. He sucked in a sharp breath and stroked a finger down her cheek before turning sharply and reaching for his beer. Interesting.
Her face burned where he’d touched her so intimately, and she couldn’t take her gaze off him, watching as he swallowed half the glass and set it back on the bar.
When she yanked herself back to reality and turned to face Carter, she fo
und him smiling. Knowingly?
What the hell was going on here? She had wondered for years if the two of them were together. As in together together. But she hadn’t ever had the balls to inquire or look anyone up. She’d preferred to leave her past where it belonged, knowing nothing good could ever come out of learning more about Carter and Brody.
It now seemed unlikely that the two of them were together if Brody was blatantly coming on to her and Carter looked pleased about it. Craziness.
She had reasoned with herself that there was no possible outcome that could ever be in anyone’s favor between the three of them, so she’d forced herself to leave it alone. For five years.
If Brody and Carter were together, she would never be welcome and would, in fact, make their lives incredibly awkward. In addition, the thought of ever getting back together with Brody seemed out of the question after what she’d seen. There was no way she wouldn’t ultimately have to confess that she’d witnessed his kiss with Carter.
Hooking up with Carter had never been an option. No matter what Brody had irrationally insisted upon that night after graduation, she never would have taken up with his best friend simply because Brody joined the navy. And, of course, after watching the two of them make out, she couldn’t have hooked up with Carter anyway. For the same reasons she would never feel comfortable looking Brody in the eye again either.
And yet here they were.
Carter held her gaze, his head tipping to one side. “You disappeared after graduation.”
“Yeah. I needed to get a better job and earn all the money I could to pay for college. I went to North Carolina to stay with my aunt and uncle. I was busy waitressing that summer.”
“Your number was disconnected,” he pointed out, obviously not willing to drop the subject.
Jade tucked her hands under her thighs, suddenly aware of how high her skirt had ridden. She squeezed her knees together. These two men had sucked the oxygen out of the bar the moment they entered, but this inquisition was making things worse.
She shrugged. “It was time to move on. Clean break.”
“I can understand why you were pissed at Brody. I wasn’t too happy with him myself when he told me he’d not only broken up with you but encouraged you to go out with me. I get that. But why did you cut everyone off? It wasn’t my idea. We were friends, you and I.”
Damn, he was pushing. Why? Why now? Why tonight? She shrugged again, her face heating to a new level. “I guess it seemed easier. Facing you would have been awkward.” That was an understatement. It still is.
“I called. I came by your grandparents’ house. They told me you’d gone away for the summer,” Carter continued. He looked hurt, his eyes were drawn together. It was odd he would still remember or care after all these years.
Suddenly it occurred to her, maybe their presence here tonight was not a coincidence. “How did you find me?” she asked, her voice shaking.
Brody inhaled loudly. “We went to your grandmother’s house. She told us where you work.”
“I see. Why?”
Brody glanced down at his lap, looking uncomfortable. “We wanted to see you.”
“Why?” she repeated, totally unable to grasp what was going on here.
Carter reached for her now, setting a hand on her bare thigh and giving it a squeeze. He might have touched her like that in the past. She might have forced herself not to think anything of it when they’d been close friends joking around and laughing. But tonight his touched was hot, and her pussy clenched.
How many times had she envisioned Carter touching her like that while she held her vibrator to her clit and moaned alone in her room? Hundreds.
“We missed you. The three of us were so close. Inseparable. We wanted to find you and make sure you were doing okay.”
She eyed them suspiciously. “After five years? Why now?” Something was odd about this situation. In addition, Carter’s hand was still on her thigh, and Brody’s knee was pressed against her opposite leg. When she shifted her gaze from Carter to Brody, she found Brody staring at Carter’s hand, licking his own lips. He didn’t look pissed or even concerned. He looked aroused. A glance at his cock proved that point.
Neither of them answered her question, the silent tension between the three of them was palpable.
Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. She needed to get out of this room for a moment and think. She wiggled clumsily off the stool, dislodging Carter’s hand, and mumbled something about needing to use the bathroom.
Spinning around, she hightailed it out of the main room and down the short hallway that led to the offices and restrooms. She was reaching for the door when warm fingers wrapped around her arm and drew her back.
She gasped as she spun around and met Brody’s gaze. He set his hands on her biceps and pressed her into the wall. For a moment, she stood there staring at him wide-eyed, not breathing.
And then he spoke, his voice deep and sexy still. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
“What?” She couldn’t concentrate on his words. Her ears were ringing now. She could hardly focus. And his question sounded odd.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” he repeated slower.
She shook her head. “No. What does it matter?”
He searched her face. “I’m sorry we came in unannounced to your place of work and pounced. It was Carter’s idea. He thought…” Brody’s voice trailed off.
“He thought what?” Jade asked, more confused than ever.
“Never mind. It was a dumb idea.” Brody closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers, his hands smoothing down to her wrists. He inhaled long and slow. Confusing. He’d been leery when they first came into the bar, and then he’d warmed up and started talking. Now he was serious. “I’m sorry about that night. I was stupid.”
“Okay.” What else could she say? Was he here because he wanted her back? Is that what he meant when he said it was Carter’s idea? To come in and woo her into giving him another chance? Maybe Carter knew something she didn’t, like that Brody had pined after her for all these years. Maybe Carter pushed him to hunt her down and see if there was still a spark.
Hell, that part was for sure true. There was a spark. There was a bonfire. However, it was all very mixed up in her head. The sparks weren’t for just Brody. They were for Carter too. And the truth was she wasn’t at all sure the sparks weren’t caused by her visualizing the two of them together more than either of them with her.
Wait. If Carter dragged Brody here to try and make amends and get the two of them back together, then why the hell was his hand on her thigh stroking her skin?
Brody suddenly dropped her wrists and grabbed her face. Before she had any idea what he intended, his lips were on hers. He tipped his head to one side and kissed her with more passion than she ever remembered from high school.
She grabbed his waist, her panties growing wet and her nipples swelling against her bra. She moaned into his mouth.
Just as quickly, he broke the kiss, breathing heavily. He was smiling crookedly. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
She couldn’t find words. Instead, she searched his eyes. They were dancing with a level of happiness she had yet to see in them tonight. Until this moment, he’d looked nervous and uncertain.
“What time do you get off?”
She licked her lips. “I have to close.”
“It’s late. That’s soon, right?”
“Yes.”
“You mind if we wait?”
“Uh…” Wait for what? We? Both of them? What the hell did Brody have in mind? Did he think the two of them were going to continue this make-out session after she got off work? With Carter along to watch?
The world was upside down.
“Please. We want to be able to talk to you. Catch up. Carter lives nearby. We can go to his place.”
“Okay.” She had no idea why she agreed to this insanity. Curiosity perhaps. And the very real fact that she missed the hell out of these two guys, more than sh
e’d even admitted to herself before they’d walked in the door of Corked and Tapped.
Brody released her and stepped back, running a hand over his short blond hair. It was a shade darker than high school, and military short. “I’ll let you finish up then.” He was nervous again, the momentary cockiness having dissipated.
Chapter 3
As Jade turned slowly away and headed back toward the bar, her mind was spinning. Carter’s place. Why the hell would Carter push Brody into finding his ex-girlfriend and trying to get back together with her? And more importantly, why would he come along and invite them to make amends at his own house?
On top of everything else, there was a huge elephant in the bar, one only she knew about. There was no way she could entertain the idea of starting up any sort of anything with either man without coming clean about what she’d seen. She might have spent five years hiding from the need to confront them, but she wasn’t the sort of person who could pretend she never saw it if they were in her face.
And they were definitely in her face tonight.
Brody didn’t follow her back into the bar immediately. He must have gone to the bathroom or stayed in the hallway for a few minutes.
Carter was smiling coyly at Jade when she returned to get her tray and make her rounds. Hopefully she didn’t have any customers who were pissed.
As she leaned across Carter’s knees to grab her tray, he set his hand on the back of her thigh, his fingers reaching under her skirt. The pressure was more than a casual gesture. He intentionally stroked her skin in an intimate location, inches from her sex.
She sucked in a breath and froze for a moment. His face was close to hers, his breath hitting her cheek. “Did Brody find you?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Did he ask you to spend some time with us after you get off work?”
“Yes.” She shoved off the counter, but Carter’s hand remained on her thigh.
“Good.” He beamed. “I live close to here.”
Jade (Corked and Tapped Book 4) Page 2
