“A falling out of what?” East sidled up beside his best friend. “Bed?”
I’d happily glare all these fuckers to death right now. If only to get them to shut their damn mouths.
“You’re amongst friends—you can tell us.” East waggled his brows. “Did things get a littleincestuousback in the day?”
None of your goddamn business.
“Oh, would you look at that.” East ran the tip of his tongue over his top lip as though tasting something deliciously forbidden—otherwise known as my teenage angst. “I think we might’ve just stumbled on the reason Travis is so…hard up.”
I immediately dropped my eyes down past my waist, because the motherfucker was right.
It didn’t matter if I was actively loathing Caleb or cursing the very ground he walked on. One mention of what we’d gotten up to back on that night and my traitorous teenage hormones tookcontrol of my dick. It was like I was on a vicious merry-go-round, and now these lunatics were on there making it spin faster.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’tnotsay that.”
“You’ve held out on us all this time, and we’ve let you,” West added. “But it’s obvious, man. Something went down, and I’m not sayin’ names, but it rhymes with Cravis.”
East snorted. “How do you know what went down doesn’t rhyme with Maleb?”
“Oh I don’t, but I’m sure Cravis wouldloveto confess his sins to his best friends and get it off his chest.”
“As long as he doesn’t get it off in his pants, and in front of me.” East looked pointedly at where I was still packing a semi, and I rolled my eyes and downed the rest of my rattlesnake.
Had they given me space when it came to Caleb? Not really. They still made barbed remarks whenever we ran into him, poking at me like they knew something they didn’t. I’d never told a soul what happened, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt Caleb hadn’t either.
“Daire.” I held up my empty shot glass. “Something stronger?”
“For the love of fuck, please. Another chocolate shot and I’d throw your pathetic ass off the roof.”
As he headed off to get me something I had no doubt would make me breathe fire, my cock finally got the message nothing was worth getting up for and settled down. Just in time for Caleb to look my way.
That he didn’t look entirely miserable was something of a surprise, since he’d all but kicked and screamed his way out of the apartment. Then again, he’d bonded with JT right off the bat.
It only made me want to reach over and strangle West for complicating an already fragile situation. None of us everthought he’d actually fall for JT when we issued the bet to corrupt him.
Caleb was watching me. The dwindling flames in the firepit kept half his face in shadows, but I would’ve felt his gaze even if my back had been turned. The look he was aiming my way was one I couldn’t decipher. His full lips weren’t turned down, no crease between his brows. His eyes weren’t shooting daggers through me. It was almost as if he were just…looking. Not actively hating me. Definitely notlikingme, but I could handle that. I thought. Although my dick was in serious confusion mode behind my boxer briefs, wondering whether to stay up or down.
“You do know we can see you both,” West said. “Now you see why we threw the party?”
“No.”
“Just trying to make sure you get your…happy ending.”
East threw his arm around my shoulders, backing us away from West. “You leave my guy out of this. Sexual interpretations of happy endings, yes. Anything including boring coupledom, absolutely not.”
I leaned back to grin at him. “Exactly. Thank you.”
“Can’t lose my fellow bachelor to”—he flicked his hand at the rest of the group—“that. I simply wanted to incorporate your brother back into the group to save your thumb from all the social media stalking.”
“Stepbrother,” I said without thinking.
West smirked as he took the tiny straw from his bourbon sour and bit down on the end. “Riiight. I forgot that little fact.”
“Pretty important fact to forget.”
“I mean…” East grinned liked the devil. “If you want to play it straight.”