Page 18

PRESTON

“ I get it now.” Price chewed loudly on popcorn as the fire crackled. Jordan had run to the restroom, sprinting up the stairs a few seconds ago.

“Get what?” I kept checking my phone for updates.

The snow came down harder, the wind stronger.

We had at least a foot of snow in the backyard, but we still had power.

If the wind and snow turned to ice, then it could be worse.

“We should crank up the heat. Get it really hot in here so if we lose power, the heat remains.”

“We don’t want to overwork your furnace. It’s been on the entire time, and we don’t want it to give up.” Price nudged my shoulder. “We’ll be okay, dude. Now, I want to talk about your hot roommate.”

My shoulders tensed. “Why?”

“I get why you haven’t really dated. You two have this thing between you.” Price grinned. “Never understood why you seemed to be waiting, but I understand.”

“You’ve hung out with Jordan numerous times. Why say this now?”

“Something’s different.” He squinted as he stared at me, an annoying smirk continuing to grow on his dumb face. Yes, his face was like mine, only with a beard. He was the version of me that got stuck in the woods for a week and survived. “I’m a fan of it, obviously.”

“There’s nothing different,” I said, worried she’d overhear this conversation.

We made up and had been at a good place the last few hours.

She’d instructed us to sort the materials she brought but said fifteen times we weren’t going to glue a damn thing together.

There was no banter or flirting like we used to, just an understanding.

When she’d walk by, she’d squeeze my shoulder or play with the ends of my hair.

Those little touches felt like victories.

“Bullshit.”

“What’s bullshit?” Jordan ran down the stairs with a fuzzy blanket wrapped around her. She looked like a human burrito, and I laughed when I realized what the blanket was.

It was legit a burrito blanket, one she got for Christmas from Logan’s parents.

“Uh, first off, what the fuck is that blanket, and where can I get one?” Price teased her and scooted closer to her. “Can I get in?”

“It is a burrito for two.” Her eyes lit up, and she opened her arm. “You may join.”

“Yeessss.” Price snuggled next to her, his gaze on me with a teasing glint. “You are so warm, J. Such a good burrito.”

Jordan rolled her eyes but enabled my asshole brother to cuddle against her, a dare on his face. Make me stop. Stop me.

The thing was—I was so used to Jordan flirting.

She had charm and rizz that oozed out of her.

She loved receiving attention and flirting back.

It meant nothing to her, and it never really bothered me.

Not when she was like this. Back at the hotel, she showed real interest in Liam.

She had too many tells of what was real and not, and I hated that I knew them .

She was just having fun with my brother. I forced myself to look away and stare at the fire. The heat warmed my face, calming me down a bit.

“What were you two talking about that was bullshit? I love a good argument,” Jordan asked.

“Oh, just Preston saying he doesn’t want to date. I called bullshit. He’s the most romantic person I know.”

Fuck. My face burned.

“Romantic?” Jordan asked with a slight lilt to her voice. “No way.”

“Way, way,” Price said, his tone egging me on. “One time?—”

“This is why I don’t invite you over,” I interrupted. “You’re airing my shit.”

“Hello, that is why people have brothers?”

“That is true, Preston, but back to what Price said. You’re romantic? Ready to date?”

“No,” I said at the same time Price said yes. I glared at him, but his grin doubled. “Why are you the way that you are?”

“Genetics. Environment. You. I’m a gift.” He shrugged and shifted away from Jordan. “I’m grabbing a beer. If we’re gonna be stuck here for two days, might as well enjoy myself.”

“Sure, help yourself. Please.” Sarcasm dripped from my voice, yet my brother just gave me two thumbs-up before disappearing into the kitchen. “God, he’s the worst.”

“Nah, he’s fun.” Jordan scooted her butt on the floor to move closer to me. “Are you wanting to date?”

“He’s riling me up, that’s all. Ignore him.”

“Is it true though? You won’t answer the question.”

“It’s complicated.” I sighed. “I’m not…I’d date if it was the right person.” As in, if you wanted to give this a shot, then yes, I’d date you and be romantic as fuck. I said none of those things though. I twisted the end of my shirt between my fingers. “But when I’m into someone, I am romantic. ”

“Flowers and candles and stuff?”

“Maybe.” I thought about what Jordan would like.

“If it were you, it’d be weird shit, like the blanket you have or an embarrassing T-shirt or a folding your laundry for you since it’s your least favorite thing in the world.

Being romantic is just doing kind, thoughtful things for people you care about. ”

She said nothing, and I didn’t look at her. The only reaction was a slight intake of her breath. Then she asked, “Are you looking for… the right person?”

I scrubbed a hand over my face, my pulse skipping a beat at her question.

She was either messing with me or trying to pluck the truth.

She must’ve suspected I was in love with her, which wasn’t good.

If she knew that, she’d run far away, fast. Chancing a look at her, she stared at me with wide, light blue eyes brimming with something.

Fear? Lust? Want? I had no idea, but I had to change the subject.

“Why? You thinking about setting me up with one of your friends?”

She blinked, and all traces of the emotion evaporated. She pursed her lips and gave me her best fake flirting smile. “You name what you want, and I can find her.”

“There’s no need for that, alright? I’m good.”

I mentally groaned, wishing we could go back in time. If we were stuck two weeks ago, we’d be arguing and playing video games and poking each other. Now, there was this limbo. “We need a game.”

I stood up, desperate for things to go back to normal, where Jordan didn’t do her fake flirting with me or ask about who I wanted to date. “Price, you up for a game?”

“Hell yeah.” He walked out with three beers just as the lights flickered off. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

My breathing halted. The power was out.

“Hey, we’ll be okay.” Jordan gripped my forearm, her touch reassuring as she tugged. I faced her, my face frozen with worry as she ran her hand up my arm and to my face. “Let’s layer up and keep the fire going. I have a portable charger, so we can take turns on our phones.”

“Flashlights are in the kitchen counter,” I said, a bit monotone. “Everyone grab one.”

“Done.” Price disappeared and returned holding three of them. “I call the blue one.”

“Are you five?” Jordan laughed and took the silver flashlight before handing me the largest one. “We have plenty of wood and matches. I’ll find every spare blanket we have and bring them down. Price, why don’t you help Preston grab stuff from his room?”

“Okay, boss.”

Price approached me, his eyes tight. “Chug a beer. Right now.”

“No, I don’t?—”

He stabbed the side of it with a pen, then shoved it at my mouth. I had no choice but to chug, or it’d spill over the living room. The orange-flavored beer went down my throat, forcing me to focus on that and not on the power situation. Annoyance at my brother shifted to gratitude. “Thanks.”

“I know you needed that. We can talk about how mom and dad are fucking us up later, but right now, you gotta get your shit together. Not cool to freak out in front of the girl you’re down bad for.”

“I’m not—” I stopped and sighed in defeat. “Okay, you’re right.”

“God, I love to hear it.” He boasted and took the empty can from me. “Let’s do what J said and bring everything down here.”

Nodding, we went upstairs to double up on sweatshirts and socks, along with sweatpants and all the blankets we had.

I even grabbed an extra from Quentin’s room.

Central Illinois had tornados and snowstorms every year.

They weren’t always crazy or dangerous, but I swore I could still feel the cold from that night and see the terrified look in my parents’ eyes.

We had a nest of blankets, and a pile of flashlights, plus Price grabbed more beer and Jordan’s portable charger. It was six, already pitch-black out, and the weather was calling for the storm to let up tomorrow.

We’d have to get through twenty-four hours. We could do that.

“Game time,” Jordan said, pulling out a stack of different board games. “We need to drink and distract ourselves before we fall asleep.”

“What about your event?” I frowned, eyeing the forgotten projects on the other side of the room. “You were stressed.”

She twisted her lips to the side but only for half a second. “Tomorrow we’ll work on those. Right now, the power is out in a blizzard. Half my list I can’t do until I know if the event will be canceled or not.”

My chest ached. Jordan had worked so hard for this event. If it were canceled, it would be devastating for her. “It’ll happen. I’m sure of it.”

“What event is this?” Price asked as he scanned the games. “Oh, shit. Remember the aggressive Uno we used to play? I vote for that.”

It was like all the air in the room evacuated out. My gaze sought Jordan’s, and she had the same look of oh fuck on her face. Last time we’d played our Uno game, we crossed a line.

I’d tasted her. Fuck. “Uh, I’m not sure?—”

“I’m down.” Jordan swallowed and adjusted her hair. A pretty pink blush covered her neck, and she recrossed her legs.

Was she thinking of our night together? Was she imagining how incredible we were? Or was she remembering how she left the morning after, sneaking out like I was some random-ass hookup ?

“Hell yeah, okay, deal us in,” Price instructed her. “I need a distraction.”

“Any reason why?” Jordan handed out the cards, doing her damnest to avoid eye contact with me.

“My situationship decided she’d rather keep her ex’s dick warm, which fine, whatever, but I was gearing up to make it more. I don’t have big feelings for her but enough to make her going back to him sting.”

“Did you ever talk about what you were?”

“Jesus, no. We were a situationship.” Price scanned the cards.

“Well, that’s on you then. You changed the rules of the game you set.” Jordan frowned for a beat, her eyes widening like she realized something, but then she shrugged. “You’re an attractive guy. You’ll find someone else.”

“Thank you. So kind of you, J. Now, truth or dare.” Price placed a wild card on the top, starting out strong. “Let’s make this interesting.”

“Truth,” she said, then shook her head. “No wait, dare.”

“Too late.” Price took a huge swig of his beer and smiled. “What is your biggest turn-on?”

Jordan smirked. “When someone matches my freak.”

“Too vague. Share your freak then.”

“No, not too vague. It’s a turn-on when someone matches my energy. It can be anything. Rope, blindfolds, in public,” she said, her voice dropping an octave. She cleared her throat and quickly glanced at me. “I’m reciprocal in bed, so whenever someone matches me, it’s a turn-on.”

“Okay, that’s a good answer. I accept.” Price leaned back against the pile of pillows he created. Jordan continued the game, but the pulse at the base of her neck raced.

I wanted to touch it, trail it with my tongue because her admission told me what I wanted to know.

She’d enjoyed our night together. I met her every step of the way that night and even got her off with my tongue.

Shit. My dick hardened at the thought, and this was so not the moment.

Jordan set a yellow, which Price eventually called, and it was my turn.

We played a few rounds of normal Uno, each of us already on our second beers, before I placed a wild on Jordan. “Truth or dare, Jordan.”

Was it me or did she shiver?

Her tongue wet her bottom lip before she met my eyes. “Dare.”

My stomach swooped. If we were at the hotel or Price wasn’t here, I’d dare her to kiss me. I’d dare her to suck my tongue until she moaned. But I couldn’t do that. Things were already complicated enough, and that line needed to be reinstated.

“I dare you to draw whatever you want on Price’s face with a pen.”

“Oh! This is good.” Jordan stood up as Price protested. My girl clicked her tongue and pointed. “No. You know the rules of the game, and you abide by them.”

“Just don’t draw a dick, alright? I’ve had enough of them drawn on my face.”

Jordan and I shared a laugh. “Feels like we deserve to hear that story,” Jordan said.

“Nope. Now get a pen and get on with it.” Price moved to his side. “Do my left side, it’s my worse side.”

“When did you get so dramatic?” I asked, amused at my twin. He was always so focused on football and working out that we rarely hung out just like this. It was easier to pull away when our parents broke the news too—but now I wondered why.

“Too many hits to the head or something. What are you drawing, J?”

Jordan kneeled toward my brother, her ass pointing right at me as she giggled. A part of me regretted the dare. She was so close to his face, bent over toward him. I knew my brother, and now that he knew I was into her, he’d never do anything with her, but he’d push my buttons.

She laughed again and wiggled her butt as she sat up and proudly capped the pen. “This might be my best work.”

“You often draw on people’s faces?” Price asked.

“Not faces, but I’ve done a few other body tattoos.” She leaned into me and wiggled her eyebrows. “Wait until you see it.”

My brother sat up. A very dark, very clear unibrow was there that wasn’t before. I couldn’t stop myself from snorting. “Wish that was permanent.”

Price grabbed his phone and groaned. “Damn it, J. I can’t take selfies now.”

“So you have the long hair and beard, but you draw the line at a unibrow. Got it.” Jordan settled back in her place, clearly smug with her choice. I elbowed her side, grinning.

“Nice work,” I said

“Don’t get too cocky, brother.” Price stared at me, smiling as she placed a draw four—meaning it was a straight dare. No option for truth. “I dare you to play with Jordan on your lap for the rest of the game.”