Page 30 of Curious

Chapter Eight

His hands were covered in ink. Jeremy looked down at them and then over to the clock on the wall. He’d completely lost track of time. That hadn’t happened in a while. Not with his contracted work anyway.

But this wasn’t work. It was Owen.

Every sketch was of him. Jeremy studied the details in the eerily light blue irises, the way the eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed. The strong jaw, as stubborn as it was handsome. Lips that could be firm in anger or soft in sensual wonder. He knew this face better than he knew his own. Had watched age and life experience define it. He knew all its expressions and moods, and he’d spent the last few hours capturing them all from memory, losing himself to each curve and line.

“Shit.” This was bad. When had he gotten this pathetic? He wasn’t a romance kind of guy, and God knew now would be the worst time to become one. Owen Finn was experimenting, he reminded himself for the hundredth time. The man was good at it and fucking thorough, but if Jeremy allowed himself to believe for one minute this could be more—he was just begging for heartbreak.

He never said he wanted it to be more.

He left his workroom and headed to the kitchen sink to wash his hands. Stubborn or not, Owen would surely come to the same realization that Jeremy had while thinking about the Finn family on the drive home. They were far too involved in each other’s lives to keep this relationship secret for long. And while the brothers Finn might accept Owen—even congratulate him—for getting a woman to agree to being hog-tied and spanked for pleasure, it was highly doubtful they would be okay with his dating a man. And if they knew it was Jeremy, someone they considered an honorary part of the family? Their disapproval would mark the beginning of the end of his status with the Finn clan. He would be alone.

Even if was a short-term affair, if they found out they might never forgive him.

Tasha was the only other person in his life who was like family—which was why when she’d called back at the appointed time, he’d preempted her interrogation and demanded that she share the one detail about the Christmas party she’d previously neglected to mention. The one that worried him. The one having to do with a Finn in a car.

“I’m not going to tell you who, but I will admit that it happened,” she’d offered carefully.

“What happened, Tasha? A kiss? A holiday cuddle?”

“Sex,” she mumbled. “It was the only private place and believe me, I’m not planning on repeating it. Car sex is for teenagers.”

Jeremy had laughed at that, but inside he was in knots. “Was it Owen, Tasha? You can tell me. You two have been dancing around each other for a while.”

He couldn’t believe how much it hurt to think it might have been him. But why would it matter? He and Tasha shared men all the time. He’d even wondered how long it would be before Owen suggested bringing her in as a third. He’d been preparing himself for it so he wouldn’t react the way his confusing emotions might force him to—with jealousy.

“Not Owen,” Tasha said firmly. “I know you tease me about it a lot and I tell you about his women at the club, but I would never do that to you, Jeremy. I need you to know that.”

Relief made him dizzy. “Me? What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. And I’ve always known that was one line I would never cross. You’re too good a friend.” She paused. “Such a good friend that you’re going to change topics, forget about my Finn fling and tell me who you’re dating.”

That distracted him. “I don’t want to go into it yet, Tasha. It’s too new. He’s not… He’s shy.”

Tasha groaned in frustration. “He’s shy. That’s all you’re going to give me? You shaved your beard for him and he’s shy?”

“He makes me forget how to breathe.” He could say that much and not give Owen away. “Makes me forget all the reasons I should hold back. He touches me and I’m willing to do anything he wants as long as he doesn’t stop. As long as he stays.”

“Well slap my ass and call me Lucy,” she breathed. “You sound like you’re falling.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Let’s finish that sentence with in lust. I’m definitely falling in lust.”

“Fine. I’ll give your lusty lover another week to get over his shyness and then I want to meet him. I promise I won’t scare him away or suggest a threesome. Not until I know him better.”

“You’re a doll.”

Tasha laughed at his arid tone. “I am! And I’m happy for you, Jeremy. You need some of this in your life. Someone who makes you feel like this. I’ll tell you a secret. In our small menagerie of kinky, oversexed friends, I always thought you were the one who’d be happiest in a monogamous relationship.”

“Really? The bisexual you like to have three-ways with? I’m the one who’d be happy with monogamy? You know I don’t do that, Tasha. You’re wrong. I’m not built for it.”

“Yes you are,” she insisted. “You have the right heart for it, and somewhere in that thick skull of yours you must know it, otherwise you wouldn’t guard it so closely. When you really fall in love, it will be for keeps, and that is the scary, unadulterated truth.” She paused. “I said almost the same thing to Seamus about Owen not too long ago. Leave it to me to befriend the two lustiest, relationship-phobic men on the planet.”

Why was she mentioning Owen? Had she guessed? “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’ve only been seeing this guy for a few days, and I’m not planning on getting married anytime soon. I don’t even have a dog. We should see if I can handle that kind of commitment first.”

After they hung up, Jeremy had gone back to work, but now he went over the conversation again. A few things stuck out in his mind.

First, she’d slept with a Finn brother—and not the one who’d been playfully after her on and off since high school, but one of his siblings. Jeremy couldn’t help but wonder how Owen would feel about that and if he should tell him. If they weren’t together, he wouldn’t be tempted. That was Tasha’s story to tell, not his.

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