Page 48 of Pin-up Girl

“Yeah.” I tossed a leg over hers and nuzzled her neck to catch a scent of the cherries I’d grown so fond of. “What are your favorite flowers?”

She laughed. “Planning to romance me? I’m not really a roses kind of girl. I’m all about the wild, beautiful flowers that are misunderstood. Bleeding hearts, naked ladies, morning glories. But if you really want to go more mainstream, probably hydrangeas.”

“I don’t even know what to do with that, but I like it. Naked ladies, that’s absolutely my style. Especially this naked lady right here.” We still had a while to ourselves. What could we get up to?

Five quick knocks came at the door. “Yo, Em. What are you doing? Elise in there with you?”

Fuck.They were supposed to be gone for another hour or so at least. Milo had a lead on one of his dad’s business partners, and he wanted to check it out. Not seeing a reason to take the bus, Elise and I stayed behind. It would have been easier for him to go under radar with just Jules at his back, anyway.

I rolled out of bed, grabbing my boxers off the floor. “Hold on!”

Three more knocks came. “You better not be doing what I think you’re doing.” Daddy Milo was coming out to play, like he thought he could intimidate me into doing everything he wanted. It never worked before, and it wasn’t going to work now. Normally, Milo would understand and keep going, happy to let out a little steam in his dad voice. But this was different. I essentially did something we’d agreed not to do.

Yeah, we had said sex only, and Elise had joked about blowjobs, but no one had gone there yet. Not even Jules. We had asked, but he said they had just spent their time talking. When he’d told us that, it had seemed like a big deal that he had someone who wasn’t me or Milo.

Bracing for…I don’t know what, I opened the door, attempting to hold it mostly closed. Elisewasnaked in bed, and who knew what brothers and selects would be walking by. That hope was blown to hell when Milo shoved inside, Jules right on his heels. A few people were in the hallway, but they didn’t dare look inside.

Elise had already sat up, holding the sheet to her chest. By the time the door was shut and locked, Milo stood in the middle of the floor, murder on his face and his nostrils flared. Jules was slightly less angry as he walked to the couch and sat down.

“I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m a grown fucking woman. Don’t look at me like I’m a cheating girlfriend. That isn’t what this is.” Elise’s hair was mussed, her lips still swollen, looking thoroughly fucked.

“And what is this? We agreed to be exclusive while we have you. We agreed, no singular sex, only when we’re all together. What would you call yourself? Our slut? Our whore? I’ll let you in on a little secret—we don’t treat our whores like we treat you. I’d say you’re squarely boxed into the girlfriend label.” By the end, Milo had his fists on his hips as he leaned over the foot of the bed to deliver that last nugget of information.

Jules sat up straight, staring at Milo like he’d never seen him before. Elise was a different matter. Her face flushed, making her bright blue eyes stand out even more. She twisted her lips, as if she wasn’t quite sure if she should laugh in Milo’s face or rake his ass over a proverbial cheese grater.

“Well, aren’t you going to say anything?” Milo quirked a brow, calmly staring her down like he so often did his opponents in debate class. He was so confident and arrogant, it often made everyone who opposed him off their game.

Not Elise, she was not intimidated. In fact, thoughts of tackling Milo to save him from her wrath crossed my mind.

“Is that your fucked up way of asking me to be your collective girlfriend?” A shrill note entered her voice with each word.

“I didn’t realize I was asking. I thought this was common sense, you’re just slow on the uptake.”

Oh, man. This was going to go south any second. I edged toward the bed just in time to catch Elise as she launched her naked ass at Milo.

“You bastard! That is not good boyfriend behavior. I don’t know who’s been teaching you, but your skills are seriously lacking! And just for your information, dickass, we didn’t have sex!” Her nails bit into my shoulder, as if her hold on me was the only thing keeping her from ripping him a new asshole. She must not have realized she was doing that just fine all on her own. The whole floor could probably stand as audio witnesses and repeat everything she said to the word.

I turned sideways so I could look Milo in the eye. “You are an idiot. I can’t even describe all the ways you’re an idiot.” He ruined my calming afternoon with Pin-up.

As if he suffered from bipolar disorder, his mood immediately lifted. His mouth twitched like he found all of this extremely hilarious, and crossed his arms.

“I’m glad to know you both didn’t completely disregard one of our two rules. As for good boyfriend behavior, you have the pleasure of being the teacher. I’m afraid none of us have ever had a girlfriend.” He smiled wide, flashing his blindingly white teeth.

Elise slumped against my shoulder, molding to my body as if we were hugging. “Never? None of you have ever had a girlfriend?”

“Nope. I’m afraid you’re the first.” Milo walked over to the desk, turning the desk chair around and falling in it.

Jules relaxed into the couch now that the tension had diffused. He tilted his head to catch Elise’s eye, and nodded when she looked at him. He signed, then looked to me and Milo to translate.

I cleared my throat and sat on the bed, arranging Elise sideways on my lap. She grabbed the sheet to give herself at least a little bit of cover up. “Jules said he knows it’s hard to believe, but Milo’s right. Girls have always chased us, either girls who wanted to use us for our money or spy on us for our fathers.”

Jules flicked Milo a look before focusing back on Elise.

“He says that Milo normally has a golden tongue, but he fucked this up.”

Milo scoffed, but couldn’t wipe the humor from his face. “What Jules would like to ask, is if you would be our girlfriend, because my declaration isn’t working for him.”

This time, Jules scowled at Milo as he approached the bed slowly, like he was unsure if Elise would want him to come closer. But like always, she visibly softened as he knelt at our feet. After just having Elise to myself, the irritation I would have felt was absent.

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