Page 99 of Take What You Want

But a shout ofcannonball, followed by a large splash of water from the other end of the pool steals both of our attention. A golden head pokes through the surface with eyes the color of the water.

“Of course that was you,” I mutter, wiping away the bits of water that sprayed my face. “I’m trying to keep my hair dry.”

Nikolai swims over to us with a gleam. “Sorry, didn’t mean to make you wet, LJ.”

My mouth drops open at his brazenness in front of Walker, but my brother barks out a laugh. “You better sleep with your eyes open tonight, man. Janie doesn’t like to mess up her hair.”

It’s my favorite asset and I spend good money to keep it healthy, so yes, it’s safe to say I don’t like it getting messed up.

“She won’t do shit.” Nikolai grins.Not with an audience.

I bite my tongue because I don’t trust myself, or Nikolai, to be able to hide the flirtatious undertones our banter now has. And I breathe out a sigh of relief as Hayden, Carter, and Scar make their way into the pool as well.

Nikolai keeps his eyes on me as everyone gathers and I raise my brow at him in a reprimandingStop it. He smirks and grabs an inflatable ring. His head disappears for a moment, before he re-emerges in the center of the ring. He lays his arms over the top of the ring and I discreetly trace the lines of muscle.

His skin glistens with water under the sun, like the light is made specially for him. And although his trunks are hidden beneath the water, I’ve been secretly admiring them all afternoon as well. Or more so, the way the navy material clings to his ass and thighs.

I have a feeling I’ll spend the rest of my life admiring the way Nikolai Brooks looks. I spent an embarrassingly long time last night staring at photos and watching videos fans were posting of his show. He wore a short sleeved, black button-up shirt and black jeans. And because his set was in the afternoon, he wore black sunglasses to block out the blinding light.

God, he looked so fucking hot that he had me squirming in my bed. It’s a good thing he wasn’t home last night, because I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from walking down the hallway to his room and climbing into bed with him.

Or on top of him.

Even as everyone forms a circle in the water and the conversation picks back up, I still can’t help myself as my eye is constantly drawn in his direction. And every time it is, he’s always staring at me.

My skin burns and it’s not from the sun. “I’m gonna run to the bathroom.”

I quickly dry myself off and tiptoe across the hot pavement into the house. I feel Nikolai’s stare the entire way, but I don’t turn around.

The AC pebbles my skin as I walk through the house. There’s a bathroom toward the entryway, and I make my way toward it, winding down a hallway covered in Carter’s photography. I locate the room and just as the door is about to close, it flings open and I whip my head around. Nikolai barges in and quickly shuts the door behind him, then he stands in front of it.

“What are you doing? You can’t be here!”

His chest heaves as drops of water cascade down it. Droplets cling to his hair, too, and the golden strands curl around his ears. “Says who?”

“Says the person trying to use the bathroom,” I say slowly. “This isn’t a two-person job.”

“Anything can be made a two-person job.”

“Get out.”

He crosses his arms. “No.”

“Someone might’ve seen you come in here. Do you want to have to explain that to my brother?”

“They’re all as you left them. No one’s coming to look for us right now.”

Growing exasperated with him, but also equally distracted by his half naked body and the ability to fully check him out without anyone noticing, I say, “Look, you seem to be enjoying toying the line with this whole getting caught thing. But we can talk at home.”

By the time Nikolai got back last night, I was already in bed. He had texted me about the pool party and then slept in this morning, only waking up twenty minutes before we had to leave. So that hasn’t left much time for us to catch up, but now is not the time.

Not surrounded by our friends and my brother.

“Who says I wanted to talk?”

26

JANE

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