Page 79 of The Very Naughty List

My words break off as the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. A second later, Ken glances over my shoulder, his eyes widening slightly. When I follow his gaze, I see the three Cooper triplets wearing identical expressions, standing nearly shoulder to shoulder in the hallway behind us. They glower so hard at Ken that he doesn’t even bother to say goodbye to me. He just slipsbackinto the bathroom, probably to avoid having to try to squeeze past them to get to the rest of the bar.

I huff a laugh, putting my hands on my hips as I turn to face the three men. “Honestly, you’re just as bad now as you were back when I was in high school.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? We always had your back in high school.” Reid isn’t wrong, but that’s not what I meant.

“Yeah, and you also always scared off practically any guy who wanted to date me. Even an innocent exchange like this one, abit of harmless flirting, and you guys practically jumped down the throat of any man that looked at or spoke to me.”

“It’s not our fault.” Sebastian smirks. “None of those clowns were good enough for you.”

But Nick isn’t laughing. He steps closer, his large body looming over mine in the hallway as he boxes me in against the wall.

“We’re going to be even worse now,” he warns in a low voice. “Because now I know just how good it feels to be buried inside your sweet pussy. And I’m not in the mood to share with anyone but my brothers.”

Holy shit. The bartender is gonna have to come mop me up off the floor, because I think I’m about to melt into a damn puddle.

Nick steps back, sliding his hand into mine and tugging me away from the wall. He leads me over to rejoin his brothers, and as we all head back through the crowded bar, Reid leans over and murmurs in my ear, “Nick is right. If you get to be jealous, then so do we. And I don’t like anyone’s hands on you but ours.”

I swallow hard, remembering how his hand wasn’t justonme during the car ride over here. It was inside me.

Fuck, I’m never gonna make it to the end of the night.

These men have already made me come three times, but despite that, I’m in a state of such high arousal that I feel like I’m a walking piece of tinder, just waiting to catch flame.

Lucas waves at us from the table where he’s holding our spots, leaning back as we all take our seats around him. There aren’t quite enough chairs, but Nick solves that problem by tugging me down onto his lap and wrapping an arm around my waist. I swear I can feel a bulge beneath my ass, and it takes every bit of restraint I have not to squirm against him.

Despite the constant distraction of Nick’s proximity—and the way he seems bound and determined to take advantage of thefact that the two of us are technically the ones on a ‘date’ tonight by keeping his hands on me at all times—it’s actually really nice to be out with my brother and the three triplets.

It doesn’t take long before we’re reminiscing about old times, joking and laughing about stupid shit the guys got up to when they were younger, and the different memories we all seem to have of certain events.

I swear that it was Lucas’s idea to sneak onto the Brewer family’s property and rig up a massive slip-and-slide with a tarp, a hose, and some dish soap. He shakes his head and laughs, shooting back thatI’mthe one who forgot to turn off the hose, accidentally leaving the water running all night and flooding the field. That leads us into reminiscing about the time all five of us made a mini ice skating rink in our backyard, and more stories spiral out from there, leaving us all laughing.

About thirty minutes after our arrival, the noise in the bar dips a little as the music cuts out, and the bartender announces that karaoke night is about to start.

Lucas perks up. “Oh shit. I forgot it’s karaoke night. Hailey! You should sign up to sing!”

“No, thanks.” I shake my head, my heart skipping a beat. “I’m not really in the mood.”

My brother frowns but lets it go. As someone takes the stage to start the first song, I can’t help but watch them, a strange feeling of longing tugging at my chest.

I wish I could do that. I wish it was still easy for me.

As if he can read my thoughts, Nick’s arms tighten around me a little. The others have resumed their conversation around the table, but he ignores them for the moment, tucking my hair behind my ear before murmuring, “Just imagine you’re singing in the shower. Close your eyes and pretend that’s where you are.”

I bite my lower lip, my gaze dropping to the pocked wooden table. I’m torn between fear and an almost bone-deep desire to sing, the two sides of me warring in my head.

“You have such a beautiful voice, songbird,” he whispers. “You don’t have to hide it.”

I look up at him, surprised by his choice of words, and his blue eyes meet mine. He’s still got his arms wrapped around me, his chest solid and warm against my body. I know he won’tmakeme go up there, but the look of confidence and pride in his face makes me want to be the person he sees when he looks at me.

Someone brave.

Someone talented.

Someone free and uninhibited.

My pulse starts to race faster, but I nod. “Okay.”

Nick smiles, releasing me as I slip off his lap and make my way toward the signup sheet at the bar. I can barely believe I’m doing this, even as I pick out my song and then return to the table to wait for my turn. We keep talking and drinking, but I’m barely aware of any of it anymore, my mind totally focused on what I know is coming.

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