Page 11 of Brazen Mistakes

“Oh my gosh! It’s his first date! I’m going to have to take pictures and send them to his mom and his sisters!”

I feel my cheeks heat from second-hand hypothetical embarrassment. “Don’t you dare, Jansen. That’s just cruel.”

“You’re right, you’re right. I’d never do anything like that. Nothing at all like trailing you while you’re on your date and snapping shots of the two of you holding hands. And kissing. And maybe doing other things.”

“Jansen Pierce! You will do no such thing.” If he were physically here, I’d be flinging the dishtowel at him.

He slumps back against his bed. “Fine, fine, I’ll be good.”

“Good.”

“I’ll only send the photos to the house’s group chat.”

I groan. “You’re hopeless, Jansen.”

“You love…it.”

The pause when he says “it” makes my heart stutter in my chest.

Shit.

Walker told me he loved me just a week ago, and I told him the same. Only, it’s still so new. And I’m terrified that I don’t know what I’m doing. That I’m going to hurt someone, because it doesn’t make sense that I can feel so much for so many people. For four criminals.

How broken can one girl be?

Something must show on my face because Jansen shifts in the frame. “Hey, beautiful, you know I’ve got you. No worries, no rush, just laughs. Well, that and really great sex.”

I snort, which sets him off. Once our chuckles subside, I play at confident. Maybe if I pretend long enough, it’ll stick. “I could go for some of that really great sex right about now.”

The buzzing under my skin backs up that thought. All that anxious energy needs direction. And it’s impossible to forget how good it feels to get lost in my body. One explosive night with three of my guys? There was no room for anything besides sensation, and for once, the voice in my head was silent. A magic cure I plan to revisit that will keep me from feeling like…this.

“Well, give me a couple of days, and I can make that happen.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

Jansen looks at something behind the phone, shaking his head once. Then everything in the frame spins and the same bright green eyes and blonde hair greet me, but it’s his sister’s face.

“Oh my God! It’s true! Some girl is actually dating my brother? I mean, it’s happened before, but you’d better be serious about him. He’s a handful, but he’s more than worth it. Do you think you’re up for it? Because I have high standards for him. No way I’m letting anyone break his heart agai—”

Jansen pops into frame one second before he tackles Evie onto the bed, the phone camera falling onto half-lit, crumpled blankets as their bickering cuts in and out over the mic.

“Hello? Umm, are we done? Jansen?”

The squabbling lasts long enough for me to finish the duck. Then a gray cat’s paw swats at the phone a few times before it disconnects. The combo of cat and sister means that Jansen will have to call me back. Hopefully before I get too stuck inmy mind. And maybe with a bonus of some good phone sex as a distraction, too.

I’m onto my fourth John Wick movie when my phone jingles, bright in the dark of my room.

Walker.

I don’t want to wake you, but I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas.

I grin, texting back.

Merry Christmas! I’m still up. Want to call?

Sadly, I’m sharing a room with my brother.

Bunking up? Did you share a room when you were kids?

---