Page 71 of The Best Man's Secret

“Bad back, huh?” Lex said, still oblivious to his twin’s burning presence against my legs. “You should let Adam give you a massage. I hear he’s got magic hands.”

“Maybe later,” I replied, trying to sound casual.

Adam chuckled beside me, so I coughed loudly and kneed him to keep quiet.

“Anyway,” Noah said. “Adam’s not here, so we can ask you. We want to know how you and Adam managed to have dinner with David Lima and his husband last night at Lusitana.”

“Thatis the reason you’re invading my place?” I asked, relaxing slightly and hoping that answering their questions would get them to move along soon.

Noah looked at Lex and Emery and then back at me. “Why else would we invade your sacred”—he glanced at the clothes on the floor—“and extremely messy sanctuary?”

“You need to check out the definition of sanctuary,” I said.

“Bish, bosh. Fess up, Hartley,” Lex said.

“Adam and I attended one of David’s experiences. As it turned out, they’d been hoping to get a table at Lusitana, so I invited them to dine with us. That’s all.”

“Aren’t those experiences for couples only?” Emery asked.

The question hung there, dangling like a carrot, waiting for me to bite.

“Is he as gorgeous in real life?” Lex asked

“David Lima?” I echoed, grasping the change of subject like a lifeline. “He’s…striking, sure. But you know, he’s a genuinely nice guy. His husband too.”

“I wish I’d been there,” Lex sighed.

“How do you even know about it?” I asked.

“Drew,” Noah replied before his eyes stilled on the form next to me. “Why are your pillows breathing?” Noah asked.

“Breathing?” I feigned puzzled amusement.

“Yeah, breathing…” His voice trailed off as Lior’s shout echoed from the living room.

“You’re all seriously dumb if you still haven’t figured out what’s happening here. River, I’m going to make myself a coffee.”

Noah’s lips parted, then closed. If he frowned any more, he’d need to consider Botox.

Lex gasped as he seemed to finally realize what was happening.

“Make that three coffees, Lior!” I called out, a touch more loudly than necessary. Laughter bubbled from below the duvet.

28

ADAM

“Lior is right. How do you all not get what’s going on here?” My brothers’ shocked expressions met me as I sat up, pulling the sheet flush with my body.

I already felt bare coming from under the covers. There was no need to be completely naked too.

I looked at River, his eyes meeting mine, a silent question lingering in his gaze. I wanted nothing more than to melt back into the warmth of his arms, to forget the world beyond this bed, but I couldn’t ignore my brothers and Emery’s presence.

“Could have told you if you’d asked,” Lior’s voice sliced through the stillness from the living room. His I-told-you-so tone almost made me laugh.

“Baby, we’re going to have a serious conversation when we get home,” Noah shouted back.

Lex’s expression was a contorted puzzle of confusion and curiosity as he stood there, his gaze flitting between River and me. “What’s all this? Just a sleepover gone…wild?” He gestured vaguely toward the tangled bedding and our bare skin.