Page 66 of Wildly Inappropriate

Chapter thirty-one

JT

“What the actual fuck?”

It is far too early for my mind to process anything, but I sit up anyway, every synapse in my brain firing to warn me that something is wrong, very, very wrong.

A shape moves by the door, and I realize what the threat is: Jameson Walker is in our bedroom.

“Shit, Jameo,” I start, but am cut off as Lila sits up and yells, “Argh!” her bare chest on display as the sheets slide off her lithe frame. I quickly reach out, attempting to pull the sheet up over her.

“NO!” Jameo yells, turning around quickly. “No. My eyes. My brain. I’m going to have to carve part of my hippocampus out with a spoon to get rid of that image.”

I run a hand through my hair, still tangled from my late-night activities with my best friend’s little sister. Good God, could this get any worse? Jameson has clearly been shocked back to his human anatomy and physiology classes if he’s pulling out words like “hippocampus.”

“What the hell, Jameo?!” Lila snarls from the bed next to me. “Get the fuck out of our room!”

“YOUR room?” he bellows.

“Jameo,” I say, in a consoling tone. I’m considering getting out of bed, but I think him seeing both of us naked at the same time might be too much for my friend. I hate that this is on me. I should’ve told him about Lila and me last time we were together, and I have an overwhelming urge to jump out of bed and beg him to forgive me.

I knew I was crossing a line. Shit, everyone knows sleeping with your friend’s sister is crossing the line. But I came to a decision last night, and I’m going to see it through, even if Jameson’s unexpected arrival just made it far more complicated. So there will be no begging for forgiveness as if there is something wrong with Lila and I being together.

“Are you fucking kidding me, JT? You could have any girl in the world and you’re fucking around with my little sister?”

“I…that’s not…I don’t want just any girl.” I don’t know how to explain to him that it’s not what he thinks. This isn’t just a casual hookup for me. Even when it was timebound, in my mind, it was never casual.

The door opens, and Bryn steps in. “What’s going on in here?” she asks cheerfully. I take in her shit-eating grin and realize in an instant that Bryn knew, or at least suspected, that this might be happening. Fricken Izzy. No way was Kelsey the one to blab the secret.

But it doesn’t matter who it was because all that matters is that it wasn’t me. It should’ve been me and Lila, telling Jameo and the world about us, rather than trying to hide it like we’re ashamed. Though it’s not like we’ve been dating in secret for months or years or something. We’re on, what, week two? If we weren’t living together, this probably wouldn’t even count as a thing.

My heart constricts at the thought, and it tries to argue with my brain: We are something. I just thought we had more time to define it, to figure out what this could be. Jameson isn’t supposed to be home yet. He’s not supposed to be back for another week. I’ve actively fought against any positive feelings I’ve had for Lila for the past six years because she is off-limits. I decided long ago that as much as I physically might desire a fling with Lila—which was all that it could ever be—it would never be worth the possibility of losing my best friend.

Now? Now the possibility seems worth it.

“These two are sleeping together!” Jameo shouts in response to Bryn’s question.

“Yeah, I know,” Bryn says, patting him on the shoulder. “Youhave notbeen quiet about it. Clearly handling it super well.” She shoots him a double thumbs up, and I want to laugh, but the look of death on Jameo’s face convinces me otherwise.

“Get out, Jameo,” Lila says in a menacing growl.

“Really, Lila?” Jameo turns his attention to his sister, who just glares back. “Really, JT?”

“It’s not what you think,” I say, and I swear all three other people in the room huff in disbelief. Jack may have even let out a little dog huff of disbelief in the living room.

“Oh, really? What is it, then? Have you given up your ‘I don’t date. I have to focus on my career’ mantra? Are you two dating?”

“No,” Lila says, and I see Bryn’s face fall a bit in disappointment.

“That’s not what—” I start to say.

“Don’t tell him anything, JT. We are grown-ass adults,” Lila says. “We can do what we like with whomever we like.” Jameson starts to say something else, but Lila cuts him off. “No. Just get out, Jameo! I’m naked under here, but if you don’t leave, I’m going to start getting dressed whether you’re in the room or not.”

“Come on,” Bryn says, grabbing her boyfriend’s hand and pulling him forcefully from the room. “I’ll get you some coffee, and then we can cover why barging into people’s rooms at six in the morning is a terrible idea.”

Jameson basically growls in response, but Bryn just laughs.

“I just wanted to surprise my friend.”

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