Page 35 of Daring the Defender

After pulling on a pair of sweatpants, I exit my room. Once I get to the first floor, a glow of light spills from the kitchen, or really the refrigerator. I expect to see Jefferson digging around for a late night snack, but it’s not his bulky frame leaning into the freezer. It’s a pair of bare, smooth legs. It could be either Twyler or Nadia, but, immediately, I know it’s not.

Neither of those girls send a jolt to my cock when I see her, or a sweaty annoyance that I can’t get away from the one girl I’m not supposed to be engaging. I make the right move–the smart one–and grab my backpack off the couch and head for the stairs.

My foot is on the bottom step when I hear, “Oh cra–” followed by the sound of hard objects hitting the floor.

I drop my bag and rush over, wrapping my hand around the freezer door to open it wider. “Hey,” I skim my eyes over her–fuck, no bra–then down to the pile of frozen items all over the floor, “are you okay?”

“Reid?” she blinks, surprised to see me. Fair. It’s 3 AM. She sighs. “I was looking for an ice pack.” She glances down at the mess. “You guys need to clean your freezer.”

“It’s a pretty well-known fact around here that you don’t go poking around in there.” I bend and grab a few foil wrapped leftovers and a half eaten carton of ice cream. “We open it, shove something in and pray for the best.” I cram the stuff back in, wedging each one in after the other. “See?”

She holds out one last box of popsicles and I shove it in a small space and quickly shut the door before it all falls out.

She stares at me with a small twist to her lips. “That’s ridiculous.”

I shrug. “Hey, it’s better than the alternative.”

“You mean, cleaning up your shit?”

I raise an eyebrow. “Did you just say a curse word?”

She scowls, and to my surprise doesn’t trip over herself to apologize. “Ugh, I’m tired. My neck hurts, and all I wanted was an ice pack. You’re hockey players–you should have ice packs, right?”

“We do,” I tell her, making a valiant effort not to stare at her chest. The cold air from the freezer has done a helluva job perking up her nipples.

Thisis why I was going back upstairs.

“But,” I continue, pushing past her and all the temptation that comes with her, “we keep them in the freezer chest in the laundry room.” I open the lid to the freezer to reveal a well organized system of packs. “Why do you need one?”

“That couch looks friendly, but I think it may be the devil.” She winces and moves her hand to her neck while taking a peek in the freezer. “This is impressive.”

“Yeah, that’s all Twyler. Perk of having a trainer as your roommate's girlfriend.” I grab a soft, pliable, pack and ask, “Show me where it’s bothering you.”

“Right about here.” She gathers her hair to one side and touches the base of her neck.

Running my fingers over her warm skin, I touch the spot. “Here?” She swallows, keeping her eyes forward, and nods. Laying the pack over the area, I say. “If it’s still bothering you in the morning, ask Twy to check it out. She’s good.”

“Thank you.” She rests her hand over the pack, keeping it in place. “What are you doing up, anyway?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I admit. “I came down to get my laptop to watch a show.” And because my brain and impulse control seemto be on a break, probably because I keep having to drag my eyes away from her tits, I ask, “Want to watch with me? An update just came out about this decades old missing person’s case I’ve been following.”

She hesitates. Which she should. I never should have asked. I open my mouth to take it back and she says, “Sure, why not?”

11

Shelby

“I was goingto go back upstairs but…” Reid’s words trail off but it takes me a moment to notice. My brain has been misfiring since he showed up in the kitchen bare chested and in those low slung, black sweatpants.

Is it normal for men to have this many muscles?

Is it normal for my mouth to water looking at them?

I blink, trying to catch up and it clicks. Upstairs is his bedroom. Across the hall from where my brother is hopefully deep asleep. “Yeah that’s probably not a great idea. What about here?” I gesture to the couch in the living room. His eyes dart to the stairs and I know he’s also thinking about my brother casually walking downstairs and catching us together. “Or how about on the porch?”

There’s nothing sexy about the devil couch or the newly spun spider web in the corner.

“Sounds good.”

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