Page 19

Chapter 19

Ours

ZARA

R ain is battering every window of the house, as the wind howls menacingly and thunder clamors like the crazy drummer of a punk band. I’ve never seen a storm like this one.

“I don’t want to tell you what to do,” Chance says, coming out of nowhere and making me jump. “But whatever you and Lev have planned, I wouldn’t go out in this weather.”

I move one of the curtains of the living room windows to look outside, and it’s useless. The visibility is near to zero, and the sky is pitch black, despite it being only seven o’clock in the evening.

“I think that might be Lev.” I squint, to take a better look at what I think it might be a car’s headlights, but might also be the reflection of the lightning that keeps tearing the black velvet of the sky.

Chance comes to stand behind me, craning his neck to see outside. His clean cotton scent invades my senses; despite him not touching me, the heat radiating from his body causes goosebumps to scatter over the skin of my bare arms.

“I hope Lev is smart enough not to even attempt to go out in this weather.” Chance bites out. “I saw the forecast, and this storm is supposed to last all night.”

I turn around to look at him, and I find myself caged between Chance’s body and the bay window.

His eyes are dark and intense tonight, and I get a little lost in the swirl of blue and silver of his irises. He and Ares have the same eye shape, but while in the eldest Hunter brother’s eyes, the gray and silver are predominant, Chance’s eyes are mainly blue.

“Maybe I should text him.” I muse, willing my head to stop spinning because of his closeness.

I’ve seen Chance here and there, but we haven’t been alone since the night of the wedding, when he left my room after telling me about our parents’ expectations.

“You probably should. Driving in this weather is dangerous,” he says. “Ares has a twelve hour patrol shift tonight. It looks like you’re gonna be stuck with me.”

The silence between us is charged with more electricity than the storm outside.

My eyes rove over the plain white t-shirt that stretches over his ripped chest, doing nothing to hide the hard, defined muscles underneath. I should probably look away, but I’m a glutton for punishment, and I let my gaze fall down to the dark gray sweatpants that sit low on Chance’s sculpted hips.

A knock on the door rescues me from all the thoughts that were starting to populate my mind at the memory of how big Chance is; a detail that his sweatpants do nothing at all to hide.

“Who could that possibly be in this crazy weather?” Chance shakes his head.

“Lev, I hope.” I offer. “He said he would pick me up at seven.”

I run to the front door with Chance hot on my heels.

“Wait,” his hand lands on my shoulder, causing a zap of electricity to travel down my spine. “Let me open. Just in case it isn’t Lev.”

There’s a protective glint in his eyes that tells me he spoke out of kindness, not because he thinks I’m not capable of kicking an intruder in the nuts.

“Just about time.” A soaked Lev steps into the foyer, shaking his dark hair like a stray dog.

“Assuming you left your house when it was already raining,” Chance chuckles. “You should have thought about taking an umbrella, dumb ass.”

Lev shrugs, lifting the grocery bags in his hands to show us. “My hands were full. Besides, with the wind blowing the rain sideways, an umbrella would do absolutely nothing to keep someone dry.”

Chance rolls his eyes. “You’re still crazy for coming out in that weather.”

“I just came from my house, so I literally drove half a mile, if that,” Lev explains. “I have a date with Zara, and since with the weather warning in place for tonight, everything will be closed, I thought I’d bring the date to her. The alternative was to be stuck at home by myself, anyway. My parents let me know they’re staying at their office until the storm dies down. They had some meetings they couldn’t postpone in the morning, and when it started raining, they decided to wait it out at work. Nothing out of the ordinary for them.”

Lev is explaining as a matter of fact, he isn’t looking for sympathy. However, I can’t help but feel for him. Growing up, I always had Mom by my side. But I can relate to feeling a parent’s absence because once I started grade school, there were long spells when Dad would be gone for the MotoGP races. I missed him so much, and I can only imagine how hard it must be for Lev to grow up with two absent parents.

“Well, it’s nice to see you.” I beam, leaning toward him to kiss him.

I’m aware of Chance’s gaze on us, so I keep the kiss brief and shallow.

“So, what did you bring?” I ask, looking at the two grocery plastic bags he’s holding.

“I didn’t know what you guys had in the house with Scott and Kelly gone, so I brought supplies to cook us dinner.”

That’s very thoughtful. I’m starting to see that Lev always takes care of the people in his life.

“I didn’t know you could cook.”

He smiles at my observation. “I can only cook a few things, nothing complicated. But what I can cook, I learned from the personal chef my parents hire to cook meals to fill our freezer and for any special occasion. She trained in a few Michelin star restaurants.”

I clap my hands, excited. “That sounds awesome. So, what are you going to cook?”

Lev lifts the grocery bags, as if that could answer my question. “I raided our fridge and pantry, since the chef is due to restock and the freezer was almost empty. But we’re in luck. I found everything I need to make us pasta with vodka sauce. Including the vodka.”

“Aww,” Chance gripes. “Your pasta with vodka sauce is fucking delicious.”

Lev glares at him, but his lips twitch as if he were trying not to laugh. “Are you planning on making yourself scarce tonight? So Zara and I can be alone?”

Chance’s jaw ticks, a scowl appearing on his perfect face. “No.”

He looks like Ares when he scowls like that.

Lev rolls his eyes, but he’s already laughing. “Yeah, I figured that much. So I brought enough food for the three of us.”

That turns Chance’s frown upside down. “Really? You’re the best, dude.” He slaps his best friend on the back.

“On one condition,” Lev says. “I need to borrow some clothes from you. I never thought that I’d get soaking wet running a few feet from my car to your front door.”

Chance takes the bags from his hands. “You know where to find my clothes. I’ll take these to the kitchen for you.”

“I won’t be a minute.”

True to his word, Lev comes back a couple of minutes later, clad in a black t-shirt and a pair of light gray sweatpants. Chance is about two inches taller than his best friend, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at the way those clothes fit Lev.

Fuck.

The sweatpants leave very little to the imagination. And I might have read too many romance books, but there’s a reason why the male hero always lounges around in a pair of gray sweatpants.

If it was hard to resist the urge to ogle Chance, having both men dressed like that is pure torture.

“Zee? Did you hear me just now?”

Lev must have been trying to get my attention, so I do my best to get my mind out of the gutter. “No, sorry. I was… distracted.”

His lips curl into a smile that makes me suspect he knows exactly what I was thinking, but he’s gentleman enough not to call me out on it. “Would you mind opening the bag of salad and using the dressing I brought? There should be a salad bowl in that cabinet.”

I do as he asks, while Chance sets the table in the kitchen.

Dinner is as delicious as Lev promised.

Being with him and Chance feels so fun, and natural, that I’m almost happy the storm derailed my date with Lev.

Despite that, I can’t help but feel a bit of disappointment at the thought that going shopping for sexy underwear with Heather after class will have been for nothing. She insisted that I needed something new for my first time, and I was excited at the thought of how Lev would react when he saw me in the purple bra and panties I chose.

I guess I’ll wear the sexy underwear again the next time we know we’re going to be alone.

After dinner, the guys load the dishwasher while I make some popcorn and we discuss what movie we should watch.

CHANCE

“We should choose a horror movie, duh. It’s the perfect weather for it.” Lev says as he lowers himself on the other side of Zara on the couch.

He was so nice letting me crash his date with Zara, that I think I owe him to let him choose the movie.

“As long as it isn’t too gory or too creepy.” Zara negotiates. “The last time I watched a horror movie at school with my roommate Sydney, I had nightmares. I was too scared to go to the bathroom by myself for weeks.”

Lev’s gaze softens when he looks at her. “Then we can watch something else. You choose, Zee.”

I chuckle, sure that we’ll end up with some kind of chick flick. “I don’t mind a rom-com,” I inform them. “But please don’t choose a tearjerker.”

Zara’s nose twists with displeasure. She’s so fucking cute. “Oh fuck, no. I can’t stand tearjerkers.”

“Thank fuck,” I chuckle. “The last time we let Heather choose a movie, she chose The Notebook. I didn’t hate it, but it was so fucking sad.”

Lev agrees with me. “Yeah, never let Heather choose a movie. She loves all the sad stuff.”

Zara nods. “Good to know Heather likes them. She wants to do a girl night soon with me and Angela. I can’t do stuff where there isn’t a HEA.”

If I had any doubt that Zara is perfect for me, I would have the absolute certainty when I see her choice of movie.

“ The Day After Tomorrow? It’s old, but it’s awesome.” I praise her, stuffing a fistful of popcorn in my mouth.

“I love disaster movies, as long as they’re well made with a good story and amazing special effects.” Zara says, settling between me and Lev.

It’s a big couch, so in theory we wouldn’t need to sit so close to her. But she snuggles between us, with the giant bowl of popcorn in her lap.

I’m so absorbed by the story that at first I don’t notice how Lev has pulled Zara closer to him.

By the time his face is buried in the crook of Zara’s neck, I’m no longer paying attention to the movie.

The situation worsens when he trails kisses all the way up to her mouth and they literally begin making out right next to me.

I try my best to ignore them, but my eyes are glued to them, rather than to the wall of water that submerges parts of New York City on the screen.

Watching them kiss like that is having an unmistakable effect on my body too, and I squirm in the vain attempt to hide the painful hard-on that’s tenting my sweatpants.

Jealousy twists my insides, and the indecision about what to do is killing me.

Maybe I should go to my room. They were so kind to let me crash their date, but I doubt they would even notice if I left.

With my mind made up, I’m about to get up. But then Lev cups one of her tits and she moans. My cock pulses with a mixture of need and envy, and I can’t take my eyes off of them.

Why should I be the one to go when this is my fucking house? I hit pause on the movie and glare at them. “You two should get a fucking room, if this is what you plan on doing.”

Thank fuck that breaks whatever spell they’re under, and Lev stops kissing her. But he doesn’t move his hand away from Zara’s full, perfect tit.

“Sorry dude,” my best friend says, not sounding sorry in the slightest. “But our plans for tonight were a little more exciting than watching a movie.”

I bet. “You don’t fucking say.” I practically growl. “I don’t give two shits what your plans were. You have company. If you aren’t watching the movie, you should take your party for two to Zara’s room.”

As if he hadn’t heard one word I just said, Lev’s hand sneaks under Zara’s t-shirt and lowers her bra. Her hard little nipple is almost poking through the thin fabric. “We were planning to go all the way tonight.” He informs me.

Fuck.

I clench my fists, reminding myself that Lev is like a brother to me. We’re actually closer than I am to Ares. “Yeah, whatever.” I grumble. “Then definitely take this show upstairs.”

He smiles, and I almost succumb to the urge to punch him in the face. I don’t think we’ve had a real brawl since we were in middle school; but if he doesn’t stop looking at me like he’s won some kind of challenge, I don’t think I’ll be able to control myself.

The way she’s looking at me makes our situation one hundred percent worse. Her hair is slightly tousled. After Lev has been running his fingers through it; her lips are swollen by his kisses, and all I can do is wish I was the one who was about to take her upstairs and get to know how it feels to be inside of her.

“Or,” Lev taunts me. “You could join us. Whether we go upstairs or we stay down here.”

What the fuck is wrong with him? “Come again?” I can’t hide my confusion.

He ignores me, whispering something in her ear.

Zara nods, her green eyes going from Lev to me. She’s so beautiful that it fucking hurts.

“Chance, please stay.” She pleads.

I’m confused, and a little pissed off. “And what? Watch while you two are fucking?”

“No. I miss you, Chance.”

“I miss you too.” I’m still unsure about what Zara wants. “But we talked about it. Nothing has changed about our parents’ expectations. And you and Lev are clearly hitting it off.” The words leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I’m happy for my best friend, but I’m furious at the same time that I’m not in his place.

Lev clasps me on the shoulder, and I flinch.

“Dude, we need to talk about this. Are you ending things with Zara because you don’t really want more than being her stepbrother or just because of your parents?”

I don’t see the point of dwelling on it. “Does it matter? You want Zara, right? And it’s quite obvious that she wants you. She made her choice. Right?” I force myself to look at her.

She looks stricken, but also as confused as I am. “I thought you and I were going to figure things out. Take some time to see if there is still something between us.”

My tone is bitter. There’s no way to hide how jealous I am. “Yeah, but that was before you decided to sleep with him. You’ve made your choice.”

Lev intervenes. “The thing is, she hasn’t. Last night we came really close to sleeping together, but I couldn’t go through with it.”

I frown. “Why not?”

That isn’t like Lev. I’ve had my fair share of hookups in the past, but so has he.

“A couple of reasons. First off, I found out Zara hadn’t done it before, and I didn’t want her first time to be at Whisper Point in my front seat.”

I’m still pissed, but I’m glad that Lev wasn’t selfish. I’m all for equality and shit, but let’s face it, girls care about their first time a lot more than boys. That also explains why Lev wanted to cook dinner for her and have tonight’s date at home. He was hoping to get laid, but the storm forced him to stay here, rather than taking Zara back to his place.

“Another reason,” Lev continues. “Is that Zara hasn’t made her choice.”

My ears perk up hearing that. “Wait, what?”

A tick in my best friend’s jaw tells me that what he’s about to say next wounds his pride. “I asked Zara if agreeing to be my girlfriend and wanting to have her first time with me meant that she no longer wanted you.”

“And?” I ask, hanging onto his every word.

ZARA

“And I still want you, Chance.” I hate the way my voice trembles. But admitting my feelings is scary. What if Chance doesn’t want me enough to go against his dad’s demands?

Lev comes to my aid. “So this is why I came here tonight, not just because of the storm. Zara wants us both, and I think her first time should be with both of us. I didn’t want it to be with me just because you were out of the running.”

Chance’s blue eyes go from me to Lev. He’s conflicted. That much is clear.

“Is that what you want?” he asks me. “You want me as much as you want Lev?”

I stand up, taking Chance’s hand in mine. “I do.”

He isn’t convinced, but he laces his fingers through mine.

“I don’t know.” He exhales. “What Dad said hasn’t made me want you any less, Zara. But he’s still my dad, and I don’t want to disappoint him. Especially if you’re Lev’s girlfriend. By the way, dude, what the fuck is wrong with you? I know we’re like brothers, but are you really letting your girlfriend sleep with another guy?”

Lev’s confidence is sexy as fuck. As he comes to stand on the other side of me, taking my other hand.

“Not any other guy. Believe me, dude. I wouldn’t do this for anyone other than you or Ares. But I want Zara to be happy, and I want you to be happy too. Zara can still choose in the end if you decide that your feelings for her outweigh Scott’s demands. In the meantime, though? I’m going to show Zara how it is to be my girlfriend. And I want her to have the first time of her dreams.”

Chance still looks hesitant.

“Fuck,” he says, running his free hand through his short blond hair. “Baby, I want you so fucking much, it hurts. But that doesn’t change anything. I still feel like shit about going against Dad’s wishes. He’s done everything for me and my brothers. He deserves to be happy and I don’t want to stand in the way of that.”

“I understand.” I nod. “I want my mom to be happy, too. But their happiness shouldn’t hinge on what kind of relationship you and I have. I understand not wanting to rock the boat unless we’re sure that what we have isn’t just a fleeting attraction. But how are we ever going to figure it out if we don’t explore what’s between us?”

He squeezes my hand, his blue eyes dark and intense. “You’re right, baby. We’ll just have to be discreet in front of our parents, then. And I guess, if you choose Lev, I’ll have to deal with it.”

Lev agrees. “As long as you don’t let what’s between you affect your parents’ marriage, I don’t think they have the right to dictate what you are to each other. But I agree that it’s better to keep up appearances in front of them until you know for sure. After all, I intend to be the one Zara chooses in the end.”

I can see the moment Chance makes up his mind. “Ok. You’re both right. But what about Ares?”

I repeat what I told Lev. “I haven’t spoken to him since the wedding. And we aren’t in the same place I am with the two of you. I’m going to have to figure it out.”

“So tonight,” Chance pulls me into his arms. “You want me to stay?”

“Yes.”

His lips crush mine, and I feel it in every cell of my body.

When Chance’s tongue teases the seam of my lips, I allow him in.

“I missed you so much.” I whisper between kisses.

“Without you, I couldn’t fucking breathe.” He says, nipping at my bottom lip, before sucking it into his mouth to soothe the sting he just caused.

I know what he means. The second he kissed me, my heart clenched in my chest, but in a good way.

Lev’s lips on the back of my neck remind me that Chance and I aren’t alone.

“Fuck. Seeing you two kiss should make me mad, but it’s too hot. I like seeing you together.” He spins me around and slants his mouth over mine. He’s urgent, possessive.

I don’t know how I will ever choose between them. I like them both too much to imagine not being with one of them. I guess that’s a problem for future Zara, though.

“You’re right.” Chance agrees with his best friend, turning me around again. “Watching you two together is too hot to worry about jealousy right now. I was only jealous when you could kiss Zara and I couldn’t.”

I look at both of them. They’re both so tall and athletic.

But the physical similarities between them end there.

Chance is blond, with intense blue eyes, and he’s taller and broader than his best friend.

Lev has dark brown hair and emerald green eyes, and while his muscles are defined by his time playing hockey, he isn’t as big as Chance.

“Let’s take this upstairs.” Chance decides, scooping me up into his arms.