Page 22

Jackson

“Right there.” Thea opened her legs wider, closing her eyes. My tongue darted across her skin, my fingers still inside her. Her body vibrated beneath me, so I teased her clit, watching as she fell.

Her hips bucked into my face, covering me in more liquid than I was used to. So wet, and I kept my mouth wide open, taking in as much of her as possible.

When she collapsed onto the bed, I stared at her center in awe. I’d never seen that before, and I wanted to do it all over again.

“That was …” she sighed out.

“The best thing I’ve ever seen,” I replied, my face covered in her.

“Come up here,” Thea commanded with the hook of her finger. I quirked a brow at her, not wanting to back away from her pussy. She didn’t just come all over my face, she squirted, and it was like a bonus level I’d unlocked by accident. I wondered if she knew she could do that, and I damn well wanted to cause it again.

She dug her nails into my shoulders, pulling me up her body, and I frowned, saddened that I wasn’t able to go down on her again. We’d been screwing like rabbits ever since the first night, and I was hoping Tanner’s flight got delayed tomorrow so Thea and I could have some more fun.

“What are you doing, Thea?”

She licked her lips, her eyes roaming my body as I worked my way up hers. “I want your cock in my mouth right now.”

Say less. I straddled her ribs in a heartbeat and palmed her tits, pushing them together, and just as my cock edged the bottom of them, I stopped.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, concern lacing her voice.

I let go of her breasts and shook my head. “Nothing.” Then I placed my arm behind my back, covering Thea’s squelching-wet pussy with my hand. I coated my hand with as much of the wetness as I could, even dipping a few of my fingers inside her, giving her a little massage. Her hips bucked, and she groaned when I took my hand away to cover my dick with the wetness.

Her chest heaved as she looked at me with confusion. “Just didn’t want to have boob-to-dick chafing,” I explained, giving my shaft a few more tugs before placing it between her beautiful tits. Only one thing could be better. I pushed her breasts together so they smothered my dick until her hands took over as I held onto the headboard and started to move.

One thrust.

Two thrusts.

Three.

I had to slow down because this was way hotter than I’d expected. Thea swiped away the pre-cum on the tip of my dick, crying out in pleasure before swirling her tongue around like I was the best ice cream she’d ever tasted. Then she sucked me in, driving me crazy.

Just as I was about to beg her to go faster, I heard something.

Even though her tongue was tickling the tip of my dick, I couldn’t concentrate because the noise outside wasn’t going away. “Did you give anyone else a key?”

“No, uh, the only other person who has one is Ta—”

“Thea? Jackson? Anyone home?”

If there were ever a way to make a man instantly reconsider his life choices, it was hearing his best friend’s voice while his dick was pillowed between his sister’s perfect tits. If judgment day happened right now, I was done for. No redemption. No second chances. Just eternal damnation for this sin.

“Shit!” she whispered before throwing me off her and scrambling around her room like a headless chicken. “Get in my closet!” she screeched, pointing at the two small slatted doors. Could I even fit in there?

“Thea?” Tanner’s voice was closer, so I didn’t have time to test the theory and just had to do it.

Stark naked, I ran to the closet, and Thea slammed it shut behind me.

Knock. Knock.

“Thea, you in there?”

The slats were too small to see anything, so I rested my ear against them, listening to whatever I could.

“Tanner … Hey! What are you doing home? I thought you weren’t back until tomorrow?” Thea’s voice trembled, and although she was doing her best to sound casual, I knew we’d been found out.

“Where’s Jackson? I need to talk to him?”

He knew. He fucking knew I was in here, and he would tear down the place to find me. If I was a better man, I might’ve opened the door and accepted the beating my QB would no doubt give me, but we’d established I was a beta. Especially when it came to Thea, and frankly, her wrath was scarier than his.

“Jackson?” Thea said two octaves higher than her normal voice. Way to keep it casual there, Thea … “Umm, I think he’s in the bathroom. Let me go check.” Her voice got further away, which led me to believe she was taking him out of the room. “You know him, he spends an obnoxious amount of time in there.”

“He does.”

I crinkled my brows. She wasn’t annoyed about it a second ago when she was about to put my freshly shaved balls in her mouth.

The door shut loudly, which I assumed was my cue to leave. I attempted to open the closet, but nothing happened. Had Thea locked me in when she slammed the door shut? If so, we were about to have a serious problem.

I relaxed my shoulder against the wood and tried to push again, only to be met with the same resistance.

“Oh, he’s not in there?” Thea said loudly so I could hear it. I was running out of time, and I assumed running naked out of her room was not the way she wanted Tanner to find out about us, so I put some more of my muscle behind the move, breaking the door open in the process.

“What was that?” Tanner asked. I quickly grabbed my sweats and shirt, which were scattered all over the place, and put them on.

“Nothing.”

“Didn’t sound like nothing. It came from your room.”

“You know what? It’s probably my bookshelf. I was reading something when you came in, and I must have placed it at a funny angle.”

“Heavy books,” he stated.

“No. You know, what? I think Jackson’s in your room,” she said confidently.

“Why would he be in there?”

“I don’t know. He said something to me about your room having the best angle for sunbathing naked.”

I cursed under my breath, annoyed she gave my secret away. I told her that in confidence.

“He better not be out there.”

“Let’s go check.” Again, Thea was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. So loud, so clear I was certain Henry and Brandon could hear her upstairs.

When all I could hear was the twins’ muffled voices, I tiptoed to the door, cringing when the floorboard creaked a little. Thankfully, Thea was talking so much I knew Tanner couldn’t hear it.

Stepping into the hallway, I walked over to the kitchen and relaxed against the counter before dropping my head and shaking it.

Act natural.

I hyped myself up and plastered on a wide smile when I heard them walking down the hallway.

“Oh, look! Here he is.” Thea walked into the room with a large smile, her hands out wide. Her eyes looked urgent as they connected to mine. My first thought was my face was still glistening with her juices, so I licked my lips, not wanting to waste an ounce, then wiped my face, only for Tanner to walk up behind her.

I frowned. His eyes were red-rimmed, his hair was all over the place, and he looked … well, he looked like shit, in all honesty. Not like a guy who had NFL teams purposely tanking so they could get better placement in the draft and potentially get him.

“Tanner … what’s wrong?” I stepped toward my friend.

He dropped his head before meekly saying, “It’s Aster.”

I glanced at Thea, who was behind her brother, for hints about what happened, and she just shook her head, raising her shoulders.

“What about her?” I asked tentatively.

She threw me a wide, angry look. Did she think I knew what she was trying to say with that? When she shook her head, it got a little clearer.

Tanner cleared his throat, but even that move didn’t stop the croak in his voice as he said, “We, uh, I think we broke up.”

Broke up?

“What?”

My mind was reeling, trying to figure out what could have happened in the past week for her to want to leave him. Aster and Tanner had been dating for over a year, and to say they were like peanut butter and jelly would be an understatement. They worked well together, and honestly, I thought they were endgame.

“You didn’t break up,” Thea said.

“We did.”

Thea moved so she could see her brother, patting him on the back and bringing him in for a hug. Then she looked at me from over his shoulder, her eyes urgent. “You didn’t break up,” she said.

“I think I’d have more clarity on the situation since I was there.”

“Yeah, and I’m the one who used to live with Aster.”

“You lived on the same floor for a few months.”

“And in those months, I learned a lot about her.” Thea’s voice was sharp, unwavering. She pinned Tanner with a glare. “You know what I learned?”

He stayed silent.

“She doesn’t do anything unless she believes it’s worth it in the long run. That includes you.”

Tanner’s jaw clenched. “That was before I fucked things up.”

“How?” I asked, cutting through the tension.

His eyes flicked between Thea and me, shoulders slumping before he finally admitted, “She found the ring.”

“And you didn’t get to talk to her about it?” Thea’s fingers curled around his arm, her expression softening as she pulled him into a hug.

Meanwhile, I stood there, completely lost. “Ring? What ring?”

Neither of them answered. They were locked in their own little twin-world bubble, one I clearly wasn’t a part of.

I raised a hand, waving it between them. “Hello? Someone wanna fill me in?”

Tanner exhaled heavily. “I had a ring to propose to Aster.”

What?!

My head snapped toward Thea, but she didn’t look remotely shocked.

“How long have you known about this?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“It’s not what you think,” she said.

Tanner pulled away from his sister, running a hand through his hair, looking wrecked. “I don’t know, man. Everyone around me was either getting engaged or talking about getting married—except for you two—and I guess it just got me thinking about how much I wanted to be with Aster.”

Thea choked, slapping a hand over her face so fast I nearly missed how wide she opened it. Damn, did she just unhinge her jaw?

Yes, my friend was talking about the potential breakdown of his relationship, and all I could think about was how deep I could get my dick down his sister’s throat.

I was going to hell. I’d already established that.

Shaking my head, I pinched the bridge of my nose, forcing the thought out of my brain. “Wait. You were going to propose to Aster?”

“Isn’t that what he just said, or has your baseball cap cut off circulation to your head one too many times?”

Rude.

I gave her three orgasms today, and this was how she thanked me?

Then it hit me—she wanted me to play along. That was something she would’ve said before. She was keeping up the act.

“Baseball …” Tanner’s eyes narrowed, locking onto my hairline. “Where’s your baseball hat?”

Fucking Thea.

Cutting off her nose to spite her face and drawing her brother’s attention right to the hair she’d ruffled while she was riding my face.

I jerked my thumb over my shoulder, nodding toward the door. “Just got back from the gym. About to take a shower.”

“Explains why the place stinks.” Thea wrinkled her nose, giving me a once-over. “Next time, maybe consider showering at the gym so we don’t have to suffer through your body odor for the next two weeks. Seriously, if your body is supposed to be a temple, yours reeks of trash.”

Geez, Thea. Chill the hell out.

“Thea,” Tanner muttered, his voice low, his head dropping in warning.

She just shook her head and turned back to him.

“How did she even find the ring if you didn’t propose?” I asked.

“It was in my bag, and she went through it to help me find my watch. That’s when she found it.” He exhaled, rubbing a hand over his face. “It’s so stupid. She thought it was part of the proposal.” His chuckle was bitter. “Pathetic, huh? She really thought that was how I’d propose to her.”

Tanner was one of the best under pressure. It didn’t matter how good the other team was—he kept his cool and usually won. But now?

He just looked defeated.

“Okay,” Thea said carefully. “So she freaked out, but she didn’t kick you out after.”

“No, she didn’t.”

“And you told me you were going to talk to her.”

“I was, but I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

His jaw flexed. “Because I could see it in her eyes. She was embarrassed, and I didn’t want to stay there and have her pity me.”

Thea frowned. “She doesn’t pity you.”

“Oh, she pitied me,” Tanner muttered, his tone sharp. “I could see it in her eyes the entire time we were talking to the Crossbills’ owner. She couldn’t even smile.”

Thea hesitated. “Has she called you since you left?”

“I haven’t turned my phone on.”

“What?!”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want her breaking up with me over the phone, and to start crying in the airport.”

Thea drew her brother in for another hug. “T, I don’t think this is the end. I think you both need to talk. Explain to her what happened. It will be okay. Aster loves you. You love Aster.”

“Yeah, the fact that she puts up with your sister shows what a keeper she is.”

Thea stilled and glared at me with what could only be described as death in her eyes.

Oh, she didn’t like that. Funny, it was okay for her to do it, but not me?

“I can’t just sit here.” Tanner moved away from his sister.

Thea nodded. “I agree.”

“Jackson, can we go out?”

“What? Wait, when you said you couldn’t sit here, I thought you meant you were going to talk to Aster?” Thea said.

“I can’t talk to her. Not when I’m like this. I just need to get out and be somewhere I can’t think.”

I subtly glanced at Thea, giving her a questioning glare. She shrugged, offering no help yet again.

“Uh, okay. Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere. Just not here where everything reminds me of her. Where’s a place Aster wouldn’t ever go?”

I let out a low chuckle. “I doubt Behind Closed Doors is appropriate.” I’d been there once or twice with Aiden, and let’s just say it’s not suitable for a guy who’s been taken. I said that because I didn’t believe Tanner and Aster were broken up, but also, I was almost certain I was taken.

I looked over at my girlfriend.

Shit.

For the first time in my life, I had a girlfriend. Thea Joyce, no less. The hot, unattainable pit bull of a woman who I could make melt with the flick of my tongue. To be fair, she could make me fall to my knees with the annoyed crease of her brow.

I was done for, and I was happy about it. This had to be why all my friends were in committed relationships. There was just something about knowing when she looked at me she was thinking about how much she wanted me.

“I don’t want to go there, anyway.” Tanner gave me a flippant wave. “I just want to go somewhere that has music so loud I won’t be able to hear my thoughts through it.”

“Umm, Covey’s Cantina has music blasting after ten.”

“And there’s a dance floor,” Thea piped up.

“I’m not going to dance the night away with Tanner,” I said.

“No, but I will be.” Tanner and I flicked our gazes in her direction. “What? Do you really think I’m going to leave my little bro hanging?”

“Will you both promise me one thing?” Tanner said. “Please don’t bicker. I can’t deal with it.”

“Don’t worry, bro.” I slapped Tanner on the shoulder. “The music will be so loud it’ll make being around your sister tolerable.” I licked my lips, looking at Thea mischievously. Thankfully, Tanner was so wrapped up in his own issues, I was almost certain he hadn’t noticed.

Thea’s breath hitched, and she shook her head. “Oh, you’re so funny, Jackson,” she sneered, her lip curling ever so slightly. “Maybe I should paint your face, make you look like the clown you are.”

“Guys,” Tanner murmured.

Right. This wasn’t about Thea and me right now.

“Let’s go,” I said.

“Wait, I need to change.” Thea raised her hands frantically.

“Really?”

“Well, yeah.” She pointed at her bathrobe, serving as a reminder she was naked under there. She had been riding my face a few minutes ago, after all.

I tipped my chin to her room. “Hurry up,” I said, pretending to be annoyed. As she skipped to her door, I watched her thick ass bounce the entire way. Yeah, I wanted to bite it like an apple. Maybe even tattoo my name on it so everyone knew she was mine. Not that anyone else would ever see it.

I was on cloud nine and only came back to reality when I saw my best friend’s face. Tanner was standing in the middle of the kitchen, with his eyes full of hurt and frantic desperation.

“It’ll be okay. I promise.” There was no hiding it. He was on the verge of bawling, so I had to do everything possible to help get him out of this funk.

It was bro code.