“No date,” I say. “I have more than I can handle with you three already.”
I slip back into my room and close the door, then grab my phone to text Keith that I can’t make it after all. There’s no sense going out with that guy when I have a real chance with the three guys I actually want. Even though I worry this is only going to end in disaster.
Sure, I can kiss each of them, and maybe do more too. God knows I want that. But then what? I’ll eventually have to pick one and that will make things awkward with the others. They’ve been best friends for a long time, and I don’t want to ruin that or cause problems between them.
On the other hand, I won’t be living here much longer. Only a few more weeks. I’m attracted to all the guys and for some crazy reason they seem to like me too, which I never would have expected in a million years. Three hot actors lusting after me—any girl would be nuts to pass that opportunity down. Maybe I’ll try each of them out, get to know them all a little better, and then I’ll be able to decide which one I want to pursue a real relationship with by the time I have to move out. Hopefully the other two guys won’t be too upset afterward.
There are only two ways this can end. Me, alone and heartbroken and homeless again, like after Parker dumped me. Or me with one of the guys and not the other two.
I just really wish I didn’t have to choose. I want to be with all three of them.
But the guys would never go for that. Would they?
Chapter Nineteen
MATT
I toss a script onto the sand next to the rest of them. I have one big pile of hell no’s and another pile of scripts I still have to read through. All sent over by my agent, who is also my brother’s agent. Yep, I can’t even get an agent on my own. I am a pity client.
What does it matter if I even go through all these scripts? None of them want me. They all want my big, famous, older brother. I’m just a sad stand-in for him.
At least the beach is nice and empty today. The weather is perfect, with a warm sun, a cool breeze, and the crisp scent of the ocean in the air. I don’t think it can get any better, until Allie walks out onto the beach wearing a short little dress with tiny white dogs printed on it that somehow makes her look both sexy and adorable. I don’t know how she manages to rock both at once, but she does. I’m torn between wanting to push her skirt up and running my hands along those thighs, or eating ice cream with her and chatting about anything or nothing at all. I’ve never wanted both with one girl before—a lover and a friend.
“Hey,” she says, with an easy smile. “What are you up to?”
“Going through scripts in the hope of finding my next project.”
She sinks onto the towel beside me, tucking her feet at her side. “Any luck?”
“Not so far, and it’s going to take me a million years to get through all these. Especially since I need to get to the bar soon.”
“Need help?” She grabs one of the scripts and riffles through it. “Ooh, this one is set on a cruise ship. That sounds fun.”
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You actually think reading these would be fun?”
“Sure. I love reading and I’m off work right now with lots of free time. I’d be happy to help you weed out the good scripts from the bad ones.”
“Wow. That would be amazing. I would owe you big time.”
“No, you won’t. You helped me get my stuff back. This is the least I can do to repay the favor.”
“All right, but if you get through one of them and get bored, I won’t blame you for quitting.”
She playfully shoves me with her shoulder. “I am not a quitter. But is there anything I should look for? Things you’re particularly interested in or really don’t want?”
I consider for a moment, then shake my head. “I’ve had such bad luck picking projects for myself, I’d rather have you read them blind and see if you think anything would be good for me.”
She nods, her face determined. “Okay, I can do that.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” I wrap an arm around her and bring her in close for a casual hug. Except as I draw her in she turns toward me and rests a hand on my chest, then looks up at me with her beautiful green eyes. I’m usually so smooth with women, but the feel of her in my arms and the way she gazes at me renders me completely helpless.
“Matt,” she whispers, her fingers curling into my shirt. “Kiss me.”
I don’t need to be told twice. I bend my head and coax a slow, teasing kiss from her lips. When I caught her kissing Shane they’d been hot and heavy, making out like they wanted to eat each other alive or possibly kill each other with their mouths—or both. But I’m not Shane, and I want to take my time with Allie. I want to blow her fucking mind. And every other part of her.
Her mouth easily opens for me in invitation, but I don’t plunge inside, oh no. I slide my tongue along her lower lip, tasting her slowly, making her gasp into my mouth. Her lips are so soft against mine and I take my time loving them before finally entering her warm mouth with my tongue. I make love to her mouth the same way I plan to make love to her body—thoroughly and deeply, until she’s begging me for more.
“Matt,” she says in the sexiest voice I’ve ever heard.
I don’t let her speak another word before I take her mouth again. She tightens her grip on my shirt and my hands circle her waist, pulling her closer, until she’s in my lap. Straddling me on the beach, our hips flush together, with only our clothes in the way.
My hands begin to roam, finding their way to her thighs. Her dress has ridden up, and it’s so easy to run my fingers along her bare skin, higher and higher. She kisses me back like she can’t get enough, while stroking my neck and jaw.
When my hands find her ass, I grip it and pull her closer against me. She must feel how hard I am for her, judging from the sweet moan that escapes her lips. My fingers tighten on soft, naked flesh, and I realize she’s only wearing a thong.
Oh, fuck me.
But then she breaks the kiss and sits back, gazing at me with lust-filled eyes. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”
“I can. I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment you walked in our front door.”
Her cheeks flush and she looks away. “But the other guys…”
“They’re not here. We’re alone.” I use my grip on her ass to rub her against my erection slowly, making us both even more aroused.
“Ohh,” she says, closing her eyes as I grind against her. Maybe I’ll make her come just like this. Right now I want nothing more than to see her face when she climaxes.
She shakes her head. “This isn’t right. It was only supposed to be a kiss. To make things even.”
I stop and stare at her, my heart sinking. “Is that the only reason you’re kissing me? To even things out between us three?”
“No!” She presses a soft kiss to my lips. “Even before Shane kissed me I wanted to kiss you too. But this is turning into more than kissing…”
I nod, understanding what she means. “And whatever we do, you can do with the other guys.”
“Exactly.” She tilts her head as she studies my face. “Are you okay with that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never shared a woman with my best friend and my brother before.” I kiss her again, teasing her lower lip with my teeth. “But I think it would be worth it to have you.”
She sighs. “I worry this can only end badly.”
I want to protest more, to tell her everything will work out somehow, but I’m not sure I believe that.
Before I can stop her, she climbs off my lap and stands up, leaving us both unsatisfied. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I don’t want to hurt you or the other guys.”
“I understand.”
And I really do. I can’t deny I’m disappointed, because there is nothing I want more than to make her come, preferably with me inside her, but I also don’t want to ruin my friendship with the other guys either. Kissing is one thing, sex is another. And while I may have casual sex w
ith women all the time, I get the feeling sex with Allie will be anything but casual.
Sex with her will mean something. I’m not sure I’m ready for that either.
I check the time and sigh. “I need to get to work anyway.”
She nods. “I’ll start going through these scripts.”
I get to my feet and capture her mouth again one more time, unable to resist giving her another kiss. “You’re the best.”
Then somehow I force myself to walk away from the one woman who’s ever made me feel something real.
Chapter Twenty
ALLIE
I’m reading through my third script for Matt when Shane gets home. I can hear him two floors above me in the kitchen, banging around with so much irritation it leaves no doubt it’s him and not one of the other guys.
I mark my page in the script and head upstairs before he does anything rash. I’ve filled the kitchen with all of my cooking supplies and god only knows what he’s doing with them. Definitely not cooking, from what I’ve seen so far.
When I get up there, half of the baking trays are on the counter along with my rice cooker, and he’s pulling more things out of another cabinet with vigor.
“What are you doing?” I ask, horrified.
He throws a mixing bowl on the counter, then turns to me. “Where the hell is the blender?”
“Oh, it’s over here.” I brush past him to the other side of the kitchen and pull out the blender.
“That’s not where it goes.” He gestures wildly at the kitchen. “How can you find anything in this chaos?”
I glance around, bewildered. “You’re the one making a big mess, not me.”
“Because nothing is in the right spot! I had everything perfectly organized in here and then you came along and messed it all up!”
It seems our kiss last night was only a temporary ceasefire between us. “I added my own stuff to the mix, that’s all.” I casually shrug. “I use things and then I put them away where it seems like they should go. It’s not my fault if I can’t remember your complicated system.”
He lets out a frustrated sound and begins grabbing things from the fridge. “It’s not complicated. All you have to do is pay a tiny bit of attention and it’d make sense.”
“Maybe you can make me a color-coded spreadsheet next time.” I cross my arms and watch as he throws fruit and almond milk into the blender. “Don’t worry, I’ll be out of your hair soon. School starts in a few weeks anyway.”
The loud, whirring sound of the blender cuts off any further conversation between us. I silently fume, preparing my next comeback, but when it’s done, he turns to me and his face is calmer.
“I’m sorry, Allie. Work has been difficult this week.” He hands me the smoothie he made, which is pale pink.
“What’s this?” I ask, surprised.
“Strawberry banana.” He turns back to the blender to make another one. “Thought you might like it.”
“Oh. Thanks.” I take a sip. It’s really good and totally unexpected. “What’s going on at work?”
He blends his smoothie, then turns back to me. “Nadia is making my life hell and the producers are not happy. They’re pissed because my chemistry with her is gone.” He scowls. “What did they expect? I walked in on her fucking my stunt double in her trailer.”
I nearly choke on my smoothie. “I had no idea.”
“No one did. We kept it quiet and out of the press. Just like no one knows that I was so angry I crashed my car into a tree. Brooke covered that up for me.”
“Ahh. That’s why you owed her a favor.”
“Exactly.” He practically throws the unused fruit back in the fridge and then slams the door. “And then Nadia had the nerve to say it was my fault she cheated on me. That she didn’t think we were serious because she didn’t know I actually cared about her.”
“Wow.” I hesitate. “That’s a really shitty thing she did and I am not excusing her at all. But you are kind of hard to read sometimes.”
His eyes meet mine and he frowns. “I’m starting to get that, yeah.”
“I mean...the other night. And then now.” I fumble for words. “It’s hard to know where we stand.”
He sighs and leans back against the counter, raking a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry about the other night. I’d just heard from the producers that the network is threatening to cancel the show. Then I walked in your room and you were watching that scene with me and her and I couldn’t take it.”
My eyes widen. “They’re threatening to cancel the show? But it’s such a good show and I swear I’m not just saying that because we’re roommates.”
“Thanks. Nadia is talking about leaving the show. I’d be fine with it, but the viewers want romance.”
I perk up, hit with a sudden idea. “What about with the hacker girl? Jenna?”
He blinks. “What do you mean?”
“When I was watching the show the other night I was actually rooting for Talon and her to get together. Maybe because she’s the geeky, awkward one with glasses and I relate to her a lot more than sleek, sophisticated Diana.” I shrug. “I bet there are other fans who feel the same.”
He rubs his stubbled jaw as he considers. “That might work. I can talk to the producers about it and see what they think.”
I jokingly poke him in the chest. “Just don’t get involved with the actress who plays Jenna, or you might have the same problem again.”
A sudden laugh rumbles out of him and the sound is so delicious it makes my toes curl. “No need to worry about that. Hannah and I are just friends.”
I tilt my head and give him a playful smile. “So I don’t need to be jealous then?”
“Of Hannah?” He shakes his head. “Nope. She’s only into women.”
“Oh. Good.”
He moves closer, making me draw in a breath. “And even if she wasn’t, you’d have nothing to worry about.”
My face flushes and I look away. “There’s no reason for me to be jealous anyway. It’s not like you belong to me or anything.”
His fingers lightly brush against my cheek. “But I could.”
My heart skips a beat. “Do you want that?”
“I stopped you from going on that date for a reason. The same reason I kissed you.” His hands land on either side of the counter behind me, caging me in with his hard body. “I want you to be mine.”
His mouth finds mine, coaxing my lips to open for him before he slowly slides his tongue inside. The angry passion from the other night is gone and he takes his time as he kisses me. My arms slide up around his neck, pulling him closer, wanting even more of him. He groans and lifts me up onto the counter, moving between my legs. It puts me at the exact right height to kiss him without either of us straining and places his hips flush against mine. I can feel his hard length through his slacks and my hands slide down his back to his ass, pulling him closer against me.
“I want to do more than kiss you,” he says, as his fingers slip under the hem of my shirt.
I moan into his mouth as his hands roam across my skin. He finds my large breasts, which are heavy with lust for him, and runs his fingers over my already hard nipples through my bra. Red hot desire floods me, making my panties wet for him. I want to do more with him too, so much more, but that means opening the door to so many potential problems. Brooke’s warning about falling for the guys runs through my head. I fell for Parker too quickly, and look how that turned out. I don’t want to rush into anything now, especially when the situation is even more complicated.
I run my hands along his jaw as I kiss him one last time. “I want more too. But we can’t.”
His fingers continue rubbing against my nipples in lazy strokes. “You’re worried about the other guys.”
“Yes.”
He sighs and slowly removes his hands from my shirt. “I should never have made the roommate contract.”
“Why did you?”
“To protect you. You’re my sister’s best fri
end. You’d just gotten out of a long-term relationship. I could see the other guys wanted you and I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“Could it also be you wanted to protect yourself?”
“Maybe,” he admits.
I rest my hand on his hard chest, aching to touch him some more. “You didn’t want to want me. And you didn’t want to have to fight the other guys for me. I understand.”
“The second you walked through our door, I knew you’d be trouble. I thought the roommate contract would help, but I was a fool. In the end, I was the one who couldn’t resist.”
He tugs me back to him, wrapping my legs around his waist as he lifts me off the counter, fitting our bodies together as he kisses me desperately. I was right. Unlike Keith, I definitely wouldn’t crush Shane. He holds me easily with nothing but his strong arms and hard body as his kiss sends sparks through me.
He sets me down reluctantly. “If you ever do want more, any one of us would be happy to give it to you. Obviously I want you to pick me, but I’ll understand if you don’t.”
I swallow and nod. He gives me one last, smoldering look, before walking into his library. Leaving me all hot and bothered...and more confused than ever.
There’s only one thing left to do, I guess: kiss Luke.
Chapter Twenty-One
LUKE
I throw open the door and toss my keys in the tray with a little more force than required. They bounce off and hit the floor, and I groan before picking them up. Today is seriously not my day, and tonight isn’t getting any better. My best bet is to grab a beer, watch some football before bed, and try to forget today ever happened.
I head for my bedroom first, but stop in the doorway when I see someone is already in there.
Allie.
She sits on the edge of my bed and looks up at me nervously when I step inside. She jumps to her feet. “Luke. Um. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I see that.” I close the door behind us and raise an eyebrow. “What are you doing in my room?”
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