Page 20

RILEY

Shawn gets to the door first, flinging it open so hard it slips from his grip and slams against the wall with a low thud. Outside, Malik is supporting Jacob, who, on first inspection, looks like he’s auditioning for The Walking Dead . His eyelids are barely open, his steps are sloppy, and he’s leaning so far away from Malik that one wrong move will send him face-first into the wall.

“What the fuck happened?”

“He took a punch to the side of the head,” Malik explains, his voice tight. “Some asshole clocked him.”

“What the fuck for?” Shawn is already slipping his arm under Jacob’s other side before I can get a good look at him.

“Hitting on his girlfriend.”

Shawn curses low and harshly as he and Malik drag Jacob into the house.

“You see what happens when you fuckers desert me?” Jacob mumbles, his words slurring together.

My attention is glued to Jacob as a shirtless Hayes steps in to relieve Malik. The three of them look like some kind of hockey-themed action movie poster where the hero is replicated in triplicate at different stages of his heroic journey; pristine Shawn, disheveled Hayes, and the post-apocalyptic wreck that is Jacob. Even through the confusion, my body reacts to Hayes’ muscles flexing as he adjusts Jacob’s arm, and Shawn’s sharp jawline that is set in determination. Even Jacob, as out of it as he is, looks ruggedly handsome in a just-got-my-ass-kicked kind of way. The movie bad boy.

I really need to get out more.

They start moving toward the living room, and I instinctively back up. I don’t realize I’ve stepped into Jacob’s line of sight until his head tilts, and his hazy gaze drags up my calves, thighs, and over my body, finally landing on my face.

“What are you doing here?”

Before I can answer, he sniffs the air and then turns to Hayes with an exaggerated squint. “And why do you smell like freshly eaten pussy?”

“Jesus Christ,” Hayes mutters, his grip tightening on Jacob as he and Shawn haul him into the den.

“Keep it clean,” Shawn says, but the corner of his mouth twitches like he’s trying not to laugh.

I follow them into the den, still clutching my clothes as they lower Jacob into a chair, and even though he looks half-dead, his focus immediately zeroes in on me.

“Riley Johnstone.” He shakes his head. “And my brother.”

“You’re slurring, man.” Shawn leans forward, his hand outstretched, but Jacob slaps it away before he can touch his forehead.

“What the fuck are you doing? I don’t have a fever.”

Malik, who’s still hovering near the doorway, rubs the back of his neck, his brow furrowed in concern. When our eyes meet, he shakes his head. “I told him he should go to the hospital.”

“You should,” Hayes echoes, his voice firm.

Jacob waves his arm like he’s swatting a fly away from his favorite dessert. “I’m fine. Just need to rest my eyes.”

“Fuck, no, you don’t.” Shawn taps Jacob’s cheek lightly, then again when Jacob barely reacts. “Stay awake, dumbass. I’m not letting you die because you’re too stubborn to get checked out.”

“I’m not dying,” Jacob mutters, cracking one eye. “I know when I’m okay, and I’m fine.”

Hayes and Shawn exchanged a look, the kind that family or close friends manage to communicate volumes through without a single word.

“If you’re not going to the hospital, we should get you into bed,” Shawn says finally.

Jacob makes a low, irritated noise in his throat. “You guys have practice tomorrow. Coach will be pissed if we’re all fucked.”

“Says the guy out partying late on a Monday,” Shawn shoots back, shaking his head. Their back and forth is so quick and sharp that I can barely keep up.

Malik raises his hands in mock surrender. “I should probably go. You guys got this?”

Jacob winces as he touches his temple, and something in my chest twists. He doesn’t look good. I don’t know if it’s just the punch or the headache he had yesterday. Either way, he’s gray as fuck.

“I have a first aid certificate,” I blurt out before I can stop myself. “I could stay up with him.”

Jacob’s grin reappears, lazy and crooked. “Nurse Riley,” he slurs, his eyes half-closed. “I’d rather see your pretty face in the middle of the night than either of those two assholes.”

“Jacob,” Hayes warns, his tone sharp.

“What?” Jacob tilts his head, his grin widening. “You worried she’ll decide she prefers me over you?”

“NO,” Hayes and I snap simultaneously, the word bursting out of us with the same reflexive force.

Shawn laughs, crossing his arms as he leans against the wall, surveying us like he’s thoroughly enjoying the chaos. “Now, isn’t this special?”

Hayes crosses the room, putting his big body between me and his brothers. He ducks his head slightly, our eyes locking. “You don’t have to do this, Riley. We can take care of him.”

“I know I don’t,” I say, keeping my voice steady despite my pulse picking up at his intensity and proximity. I stare at the mouth that gave me so much pleasure only minutes ago. Would we have gone further if Shawn or Jacob hadn’t come home? I would have put my mouth on him, that’s for sure. But sex? I’m not hanging on to my virginity for any particular reason, but giving it to Hayes Drayton? In the moment, with passion surging, it would have been easy. “But I don’t have classes until tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be fine.”

For a moment, he just stares at me, his attention flicking to my mouth like he’s considering something, and then he steps back, closing his eyes briefly. The tension between us is like a live wire, humming with everything spoken and unspoken. Jacob’s sex proposition. Shawn’s eagerness to watch. Hayes’ hands and mouth and the dick I didn’t even get to hold tonight. I’m a raging ball of urges and hormones surrounded by three men that half the campus would sacrifice an eye or a limb to be with.

Did Hayes want to kiss me? A kiss would be more than welcome after all the pleasure he gave me, but in front of his brothers, it’s just awkward. Then again, Shawn saw a whole lot more than a chaste kiss.

“If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure,” I say quickly, even though I’m far from confident about my suggestion. It’s a lot of responsibility, but if Jacob’s condition were to worsen, his brothers would only be a flight of stairs away.

Jacob groans in the chair, breaking the moment. “Are we done playing musical babysitters? Because I’d very much like to pass out now.”

“Yeah,” Hayes says, his eyes lingering on me, already heading to the door to show Malik out.

When Shawn leaves the room, he flexes his eyebrows. “Be careful with Jacob. He might look all weak and wounded, but when it comes to women, he’s a shark who can smell eager blood from a mile away, and you, Riley, smell like sex and happiness. It’s a scent he’ll struggle to resist pursuing.”

“I’m not asleep or dead yet,” Jacob says. “So maybe save talking about me until I succumb to one or the other.”

My face is a riot of heat and embarrassment. Sex and happiness.

I guess there are worse things to stink of.

“Don’t worry about me,” I say with a shrug. “I eat men like Jacob for a midnight snack.”

“Oh, baby,” Shawn says. “I’m sure you do.”