It’s so much that I can barely keep myself standing, and when he pulls back to take a breath, I slump back completely dazed.
“You see,” he says softly. He should sound smug. That’s what I’d expect from Drew, but he doesn’t. He sounds kind of filled with awe and a little dazed. He sounds a lot like I feel.
I shake my head. This is denial at its finest, but he ignores me.
“And it’s not just me, Mills. It’s Dylan and Dane, too. They feel the same as I do,” he says next to my mouth, his lips teasing mine so gently that my knees go to jelly even as my mind reels.
All of them?
Going this far with Drew is bad enough, but if he thinks that I’d be happy to do this with his brothers too, he’s crazier than I thought. I yank myself out of his grasp somehow, breathing hard. Drew looks confused and I get it. One minute I’m going along with his seduction and the next I flinch away from him like I’ve been scalded, but I don’t give him time to question me as I turn around and run up the steps.
I might have been a fool for one brother, but there is no way I’m going to be a fool for all three, no matter what my filthy fantasies might be.
7
No matter how many times I reread my notes on the ‘60s counter-culture in America for my Sociology class, it’s like looking at a blank page. Nothing sinks in. Around me, the scratching of pencils and pens across paper, sighing, and pages being turned all signal the time.
Exam time.
This is usually when I grumble about how ridiculous it is that I have to still take all these general education courses when I’m studying to become a nurse, but instead I’m pretty much losing my mind.
If only I could concentrate long enough to study.
Gritting my teeth, I flip the page in my notebook. My nerves are on edge and not just because of exams, although that would be enough to do it.
Even though I keep telling myself I need to get a grip, I can’t help thinking about my stepbrothers.
Dane.
Dylan.
Drew.
Their names seem to rotate in my head in a never-ever circle, sort of like a merry-go-round of the forbidden. If there was a pill that I could take to forget everything that happened, I would take it. I don’t want all of my thoughts to be consumed by them, but they are. It’s worse now, since what happened in the pool and after with Drew. I had to hide out in my room all day yesterday to avoid having to face them. I used my exam as an excuse when they came knocking but I’m sure they didn’t buy it.
But even as I commit myself to remembering the important dates down in front of me, the memory of Drew’s lips on mine hovers in my mind, teasing me. His whole body practically vibrated against me. Hell, having the three of them pressed up so close to me, their lips and hands all over me above and below the water…
The blood rushes to my face slowly and I close my eyes, swallowing hard. I press the back of my hand to my cheeks. They’re burning hot. Even my lips feel swollen from the very thought of what went on between the four of us that night.
I’m so lost in my own head that I don’t register the squeak of the chair next to me.
“Whatever you’re thinking about,” someone whispers, nearly scaring the ever-loving shit out of me, “must be sexy as hell. Feel up to sharing with the class?”
Dylan’s sly smile is enough to take my breath away so close to me like this, but I scowl instead, embarrassed that he interrupted my thoughts. Even if they were partially about him… “Nothing that concerns you,” I lie, leaning back over my notes.
He looks over my papers scattered about, tilting his head to read my scrawled handwriting. “Hippies and socialism. Fun stuff. Does Professor Giacometti still have that mustache?”
I snort, unable to help myself. Partly because I forgot Dylan took Sociology last year, but mainly because Professor Giacometti is a woman. “She calls it a unique characteristic about herself.”
“How very meta of her,” he replies, poking around my tote bag.
“Hey!” I hiss. “Get out of my stuff!”
“All right, all right!” Dylan quickly retreats, his gorgeous blue eyes lit up in amusement. “I was just looking for a snack.”
I smack his hand away as he tries to sneak the pack of cookies out of my bag. “There’s a vending machine right outside the library,” I say, fighting the grin that threatens to overtake me as Dylan chuckles.
Now this feels normal. Dylan’s the joker of the triplets—the funny guy. He’s always managed to make me laugh, no matter how hard I might try to resist his charm. He calls it his gift. In fact, it’s what made me feel more at home living in the house him and his brothers from the get-go. As long as Dylan was goofing off, relieving some of the awkwardness, I didn’t feel put on the spot so much. At least I didn’t use to.
“Warm? Yeah, it’s pretty stifling in here, isn’t it?” he points out, watching me fan myself. The library tends to get overheated during exam time. I look around, surprised to see that a lot of the people who were in here when I first sat down have left.
I pull at the collar of my old hometown’s high school football team shirt that I’m wearing, wishing I would’ve thought to sit under one of the vents. “Yep.”
Dylan’s face contorts into an expression full of mock horror. “Oh, hell no, Milly. What is that crap you’re wearing?” he asks, pointing to my shirt.
It’s the same joke, different day. All three of the guys pick on me for wearing this and my other sweatshirt around, saying it’s blasphemy. “Please. Do we really have to do this again?”
But he’s already on a tangent, there’s no way around it. “How dare you wear that filth in this fine establishment!”
A quiet giggle finally escapes from the back of my throat. “Don’t start that again.” He smirks and for a moment I just want to let myself go and enjoy having fun with him. I want to pretend he’s someone other than my stepbrother. I want to stop feeling scared all the time that if I trust someone then it’ll be a huge mistake that’ll end up with my getting my heart broken. And apart from all that, I need to concentrate on trying to pass this exam.
It’s not fair that every time he flashes that million-watt smile my way I get this ridiculous fluttery feeling in my chest. Dylan is my brother, I tell myself. He’s also Drew’s brother and Drew has already stepped two feet over the line. Dylan needs to stay firmly behind it.
I shake my head, trying to wipe the half goofy, half mortified look from my face. I don’t want Dylan to know what I’m thinking, but if I’m not careful, it’ll be pretty apparent again. “I need to get some work done here, bro,” I say, trying to set that line firmly in place.
He nods but doesn’t get up just yet and instead, seems to lean in closer to me. His hand brushes against mine, and he gently strokes the top of it with his pinky, watching me carefully to gauge my reaction. The grin softens on his face, but I can’t bring myself to look at him so close.
“You know, Mills, our team is on fire this season. You should start coming to our games. Mine and Dane’s and Drew’s. I think we all could use a little more cheering in our section.” I roll my eyes because I can’t believe that is the truth. If the rumors are true, my stepbrothers have worked their way through the cheerleading squad. I’m sure plenty of their conquests are more than happy to be throwing moral support in their direction, especially if the other rumors about their technique are to be believed.
My lady-garden clenches at the thought.
Damn, this is so not the direction that I want my thoughts to be traveling in. It’s been way too long since I had any kind of good sex. Craig, my last boyfriend turned out to be a self-centered douche bag and I dumped him just before I moved towns with mom. As a result, I’m just a seething mess of sexual tension. Maybe that’s what all this is about. I need an outlet for my urges and I’ve inadvertently focused on the men closest to me.
Even as I think it I don’t believe it.
Dane, Dylan, and Drew are the kinds of guys who turn head
s wherever they go, especially if they are traveling in a pack.
“I think you guys have got all the cheerleaders you’re even gonna need, I say. “And anyway, I’m a loyal fan to my team.” I pat my shirt and Dylan’s eyes narrow in what looks like a challenge. He scoots his chair out, and I think he’s planning to storm off which seems a little extreme, but I’m more stunned when he yanks his basketball jersey over his head in the middle of the library, revealing the smooth hard plains of his abs.
OH. MY. GOD.
What the hell is he trying to do to me?
“This will look way better, trust me,” he says before placing the jersey over my head, leaving it hanging loosely around my bewildered face. It slips down over me slowly, and I inhale the scent of Dylan, his light aftershave and deodorant leaving me woozy. He smells good. Too good.
I squeeze my thighs tightly together, unable to do much else. I think these Mason boys are trying to kill me! I don’t want to look at him standing there in those basketball shorts pulled down low enough for me to see the deep ‘v’ cut from his hips. I don’t want to but I can’t help myself. He’s just too gorgeous and too almost naked and I’m so weak it’s actually shameful.
I’m a puddle.
The sight of my stepbrother’s unbelievable chest has made me woozy.
I think I need therapy.
I take a deep breath to try and create some equilibrium but it doesn’t work, and Dylan is watching everything.
The boy isn’t stupid. He leans in, his warm breath in my ear. “I know what Drew said to you, Milly. I know he told you what we want.”
My eyes must widen because he chuckles. “You look half terrified,” he frowns. “You don’t need to be, you know that?”
I shake my head but he just shrugs. “You don’t have to keep pretending you don’t want it, too.”
I gasp, shaking my head again, but his mouth only moves to hover over mine, not caring at all if anyone’s watching. He moves it ever so slightly to the left and leaves a tantalizingly slow kiss on the very corner of my lips before pulling away slowly.
I should shove him and tell him what he’s doing is wrong.
I should wipe my lips with the back of my hand as though I find the whole thing disgusting.
I should, but I don’t.
I’m as startled as a deer in headlights at how much my stepbrother’s tiny kiss can affect me.
“You gonna come home with us, Mills?” he asks softly.
I shake my head, still half dazed. “I need to study,” I say.
Dylan looks like he doesn’t believe a word and I’ll admit that I don’t exactly sound convincing.
“Dane and Drew won’t be pleased.”
“Dane and Drew can take a running jump,” I snap. They might have promised to look after me but they’re not my keepers, for fuck sake.
Dylan just smirks. “Better get your head back into your book then.”
And as quickly as he arrived, Dylan disappears, except he’s minus a shirt, and I can’t help but watch him walk to the stairwell.
Just as he gets to the door, he turns and catches me looking. Even from this distance, I can see his eyes sparkling. He knows he’s got me. He knows.
Then he winks and leaves.
There goes my study time. My exam should be my top priority, but instead, all I can do is bring his shirt to my nose and face facts.
I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to resist these boys. I need mom and Richard to come home, ASAP.
8
Falon is standing outside the library, her head buried in her phone. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see her.
“Hey,” I say, my voice still breathless from my encounter with Dylan.
“Hey, yourself,” she says, slowly looking up from her phone before raising an arched brow at me. “Uh, everything okay there, princess?”
“Err...yeah. Why?”
“You look like a sunburned tomato,” she laughs. “What’s with the cheeks?”
I put my hands to my face and feel the heat there immediately. Oh god.
As much as I trust Falon, there is no way I could confide something like this. She’d tease me FOREVER. This secret is going to the grave with me, so I shrug it off. “The library was like an oven,” I say. “If I have to study anymore I’m going to lose my mind,” I reply, pasting on a tired smile.
After Dylan tried to get me to go home with the three of them I decided I’d try and beat them so that I can whip up my own food and take it to my room tonight. No more so-called family wine and dine nights for me, thanks. This way I can hide out and escape easily enough tomorrow morning before coming back here to campus. It's going to be all about avoidance this week. I hope.
“You okay to give me a ride?” I ask Falon.
“Course. It’s on my way, babes. And this way we can get a little gossip in too. Multitasking has to be a way of life.” We start to walk towards the lot behind the library.
I chuckle. “Single tasking is proving problematic for me today.”
“You revising?”
“Supposed to be,” I shrug. “But my concentration seems to have left the building.”
“Maybe you just need a change of scene,” she says. “Get some dinner and then try again.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right.”
“Maybe just take your mind off things and stare at your stepbrothers for an hour.” She laughs and punches me on the shoulder. “I know that would take my mind off of anything remotely boring.”
“I don’t need to take my mind off things, Falon,” I say exasperated. “I need to keep my mind on what’s important.”
“What could be more important than the 3D brothers?” she scoffs.
“Passing my exams. Getting a job. Being able to get out of this place and go somewhere a whole lot more exciting.”
“You won’t find anything more exciting than what you’ve got at home,” she laughs. “I’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth, babe. Those boys have got the sat nav to a woman’s body.”
Ugh. Hearing all the rumors about them makes me feel sick. We reach her car and she pops the trunk so we can offload all our bags and folders. “There is more to life than sex,” I say.
Falon’s eyes almost bulge out of her head. “Girl, you sound like a middle aged woman with a balding husband and too much housework. For fuck sake. Right now, there should be nothing more important in life than amazing sex. Tons and tons of amazing sex.”
We slide into her SUV and I smooth my sweaty hands over my jeans. Maybe she’s right. In an ideal world, we would all have amazing boyfriends who could rock our worlds whenever we wanted them to. My stepbrothers might be able to do that but not with me.
I try to steer the conversation away from Dylan, Dane and Drew and onto some other gossip I heard about a mutual friend. We chat all the way to my front door and I thank Falon for the ride home as I hop out of her car, waving, before shutting the door behind me. I grab my things from the trunk and she takes off and I’m left standing here, looking up at my house.
Well, the car’s not here, so that’s a good sign, I think.
Swinging my tote bag over my shoulder, I unlock the front door, happy to have the place to myself for once, but as soon as the door opens, I’m overtaken by a delicious smell. What the hell is that? It’s like I’ve wandered into the best patisserie in town. I wonder if maybe I’m hallucinating now. Even mom doesn’t make anything that smells this good.
I head into the kitchen to investigate and stop short. Dane’s bent over in front of the oven, his round tight ass quite a sight to behold at this angle. I shouldn’t notice it but I can’t help it. I stare at him and the toned, muscular legs that lead up to the nice ass, wondering if it’s as firm as it looks. Who am I kidding? Of course, it is.
He finally stands up, a muffin pan full of yummy-looking blueberry muffins in his hands. Placing it down on the stove, he bends again to pull out another pan. I don’t know whether my mouth is watering from the delici
ously fluffy muffins, or from Dane’s fine body on display.
I need to get ahold of myself, but as I realize I’m gawping at him, he picks that moment to turn around, his eyes wide. Is it just me or does he look as flustered as I’m feeling right about now?
I try to make my mouth work. “I… didn’t know you bake,” I say lamely, wanting to instantly smack myself in the forehead. Wordsmith, I’m not.
Dane drops his gaze to the pan for a moment and nods, biting his lip. “Yeah, uh, I guess I do.”
Taking a step forward into the kitchen, I feel silly for interrupting him. Clearly, he wasn’t expecting anyone to see this. “Well, they look good. I can barely cook those pre-cut cookies, so you’re already way ahead of the game.”
The corner of his mouth quirks up and he nods again, finally looking at me. “The other two act like they have jokes. Always calling me Martha Stewart and all. They’re just jealous though,” he says, playing it off. “I think it’s because I always liked spending time in the kitchen with my mom,” Dane adds, picking up one of the muffins, blowing on it. “Want one?”
Who am I to turn down a perfectly good muffin? “Sure.” I take the one he hands me, breathing in the scent of it. Absolutely delicious.
I can see Dane watching me intently, and as I look back up at him, the heat burning in his eyes is way more than what I expect. It reminds me too much of Dylan earlier and Drew before. My breathing quickens, and I start to put the muffin down.
“Aw, c’mon, Milly. Just take a bite,” he says playfully, more light-hearted than the intense look he’s giving me.
Giving in, I pull back the wrapper and slowly take a cautious bite. The muffin practically melts in my mouth, it’s so delicious! It’s the lightest, fluffiest muffin I’ve ever eaten and I close my eyes for a split second to enjoy it some more, taking another bite.
HUGE 3D: A MFMM MENAGE STEPBROTHER ROMANCE (HUGE SERIES Book 5) Page 4
