Page 15 of Right Side of Paradise

Can’t Look Away

Leaving Soul asleep in my bed, I walked into the hall and headed for the staircase.

I needed to grab the crystal vase I promised Yvette I would bring to dinner today. We weren’t leaving for a few hours, but the vase was in the guest room closet. And if I didn’t take it out now and put it in front of the door downstairs, I’d forget.

Turning the knob on Christian’s door, I didn’t hesitate to walk in because I’d seen him and Harlow walking down the beach with paddle boards earlier.

But I didn’t walk into an empty room.

Nope. I got the opposite.

Christian was still here.

On the bed.

Head thrown back.

Legs spread.

Dick in his fist. Along with a black scrap of material that looked a lot like a thong.

Oh shit.

Oh fuck.

His chest heaved and white streaks of cum painted his abdomen. He was still coming. And what hadn’t hit his stomach was dripping down his knuckles.

The panties weren’t spared by his release and from the way he had them wrapped around his length, it looked like that was exactly what he wanted.

“Oh, shit.”

My best friend didn’t start at the sound of my voice. Instead, he peeled his sleepy eyes open and looked at me with an unreadable expression.

Christian didn’t wear the look of someone who had just gotten caught. No, he looked completely satisfied and too blissed out to give a fuck.

And I just stood there. Processing and perplexed.

Immovable and intrigued.

What the fuck had I just walked in on? And why couldn’t I look away?

Christian loved his privacy, and I was violating it. I knew that. But damn it, I couldn’t look the other way. Couldn’t back into the hall and act like this didn’t happen.

“Shit, Chris. My fault. I thought you were still on the beach with Harlow.”

“You good.” Breaking eye contact, he sat up straighter against the headboard and dragged the panties through the mess of his release.

Christian had muscular arms and legs, but his chest and stomach were soft. Before now it had never crossed my mind how much I liked that combination. He naturally wore more clothes around the house than me and Soul, so I never saw him like this.

Not since we were teenagers.

And damn.

He was a beautiful man.

And his dick.

Even as it softened against his stomach, my dick stirred in my shorts seeing him like this.

“What is—what were you?—”

I didn’t know what to say. I closed my mouth but not my eyes.

Christian was unfazed by my blatant staring, and I wanted to know what it had taken to get him to this state.

“Umm,” I hedged, closing the door and pressing my back against the wall. Maybe I was being too bold, but I wasn’t leaving unless he told me to. “Is that…Harlow’s?”

I jutted my chin toward the black material drenched in his cum then met his eyes again.

“Yeah.”

A lump formed in my throat. “Where did you get them?”

I was almost scared to ask. Still, I needed to know. Had she given them to him last night or this morning? Had he taken them off her himself?

My dick stiffened with every unasked question.

Unhurriedly, a flicker of triumph sparked in his eyes. He licked his lips and a magnetic pull swung my stare to his mouth. I didn’t look away until he cleared his throat.

What the fuck was wrong with me?

This was Christian. My Christian.

Quiet, calm and steady Christian.

My best friend since kindergarten.

Why was I acting like I’d never seen this man before?

“She must have left them in here when she was getting ready Friday night. I found them in my bathroom.” His teeth sank into his bottom lip. “Behind the door.”

A ringtone interrupted the question I was about to ask and he reached over the nightstand to grab his phone.

I watched his thighs flex and core contract with the movement.

This was…new.

I needed to get out of here.

But again, I wasn’t leaving until he told me to.

And maybe Christian was too nice to tell me to. Or maybe he didn’t want me to leave.

I would take what I could get.

Wait until I told Soul about this. Wait, could I tell Soul about this?

My question was going unanswered—at least for now—because Christian got up with his phone cradled between his ear and shoulder and pulled on some pajama pants from the floor.

He adjusted the elastic waistband, and my eyes were glued to every action. Especially the way the material gathered around his crotch and stretched around his ass.

Damn, Christian.

No.

I shook my head, fighting a losing game to try and rid myself of these thoughts.

The truth of the matter was I was a fucking slut.

Did I have to be attracted to every damn body under my roof? And did I have to be so obvious about it?

With a weary exhale, I scrubbed my jaw, noting the scruff. I needed to shave before we left for dinner.

“I gotta go,” Christian announced, clearing the haze of some of my thoughts.

“Is everything okay?”

He nodded, walking over to his dresser.

And so what if I noticed the panties he’d used to jack off were still on the bed?

“Yeah, that was my building. The condo above mine had a flood last night, so I need to do an emergency walk-through with my contractor and electrician to make sure we’re still good to start wiring this upcoming week. Or if we need to hold off.”

“But it’s Sunday.”

He looked at me with a blank face. “I know. I’ll make sure I find Harlow before I leave and tell her I can’t come to dinner.”

Then he walked into his bathroom and closed the door. Like I hadn’t just walked in on him fucking his hand. And like he was unaffected by whatever unnamed feeling was swarming my senses.

His only concern was Harlow.

That wasn’t new.

But disappointment still pinched my chest when I heard the shower come on.

Now that he was gone, I could think clearly again. Pushing my misplaced desire down, I walked to the closet to get the vase I came for. But as I passed his bed, I fell for the trap he didn’t know he’d set.

Grabbing the panties off the duvet, I slipped them in my pocket before I could second guess it.

When I was back in the hall with the crystal vase in my hand all I could think about was my stepsister’s thong in my pocket and the fact that it was covered with my best friend’s cum.