Page 85 of The Boys Next Door

The charm was back in full force. A mischievous grin lit his face, dimples on display.

“I’m leaving this for you guys to clean up.” He waved his hand at the mess in the kitchen. “All of it. And Di, your mom called to find out what was taking so long, and I told her you couldn’t come to the phone because Ian was fucking you into the mattress.”

“Youdidn’t.”

Brendan nodded innocently. “I held the phone up so she could hear the bed banging the wall.”

“Brendan…”

“We have some paint left over from when Mom and Dad redid the house.” He put an understanding hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I bet if you take care of the marks now, they’ll be dry by tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Ian rolled his eyes, but there was an actual blush on his neck.

“Nah. I covered for you, Di. Told your mom you’re staying for dinner.”

Diana sighed with relief. A tiny part of her had been afraid Brendan was telling the truth. “You can stop looking so pleased with yourself.”

Brendan just grinned wider. “I am pleased with myself. I’m that good. You guys wouldn’t be here, looking all lovesick, if it wasn’t for me. Here.” He wrapped Diana’s hand around her glasses and cocked his head toward the sundress she’d left outside, now folded and sitting on a kitchen chair. Then he tossed her a dish towel — more gently than she’d hurled her pillow at him last Sunday, with a subtle nod at the wet t-shirt clinging to her nipples — and draped an arm around his brother. “But don’t try to sneak around forever. Next time Diana’s mom finds you in her bed, bro, you’re not allowed to say you’re me.”

“Not planning to.” Ian just had a stupid grin on his face. Diana knew how he felt, because she was so happy she thought she might never stop smiling. She could deal with her parents later. One thing at a time.

The three of them cleaned up the kitchen together. Laughing and jostling, arguing over the best way to get rid of all the beer bottles and snapping towels at each others’ asses. Joking with both twins, Diana felt…comfortable. At home. At ease. She wasn’t trying to keep it together while she bobbed on a tide of lust and awkwardness. Everything fit.

Brendan looked like himself again, smiling, all easy charm, but different than she’d known him, even when they’d hung out as kids. This was the side of Brendan that just showed up when he was alone with Ian, she realized. Raunchier. Blunter. More opinionated. Not trying to make everything pretty or everyone happy. Now she was seeing it too.

And Ian was more relaxed, his face open in a broad grin that just made her want to eat it up every time she looked at him.

“I love you,” she whispered in his ear by the fridge. The words felt so unexpected, but so right.

A dishtowel wrapped around her waist. Ian pulled her up tight against him. “I’ve loved you longer,” he whispered back.

“You were so mean. You made fun of my clothes. You hate my glasses.”

Ian traced the rims of her glasses with one finger. “I don’t hate your glasses. I like that people don’t know how you look without them.”

Diana sighed, opening her mouth to his tongue as she twined both arms around his neck. The kiss spread warmth over her body, but it didn’t burn with urgency. Not right now. It was just sweet and soft and really, really nice.

A wet sponge hit her bare arm.

“Brendan!” she yelped. Brendan shrugged unapologetically.

“Ian’s not giving you shit anymore. Someone has to before you guys make me sick. Now get to work.”

“You’re not the boss of me.” She threw the sponge at his chest, giggling.

In seconds she was caught between both twins, tussling in the middle of the kitchen, kids again. It felt innocent. It felt good. Ian was squeezing the sponge on her t-shirt, just getting it wetter. Brendan was trying to get Ian’s head under his arm. Diana tickled his sides, but she was the one quivering with laughter, and Brendan’s grin made it clear: he really wasn’t ticklish. She caught her breath as the three of them disentangled, going to the sink to start on the stack of dishes.

“Really happy for you both, Di,” Brendan said in a low voice, putting a hand on her shoulder, when she passed him in the backyard later to pick up a round of plates. “Ian knows that.”

“Thanks.” The smile on her face was definitely permanent. Not going away. “Really, thank you. I know it too.”

And if she was aware that her nipples still showed through the thin cotton of Ian’s t-shirt, getting harder from horseplay with both twins as they scrubbed dishes and took out the trash and wiped down the counters, or when Brendan tousled her hair or Ian pulled her close for a quick kiss, well, she could deal with it.

Sitting on the patio once the kitchen was clean, eating the party leftovers for dinner, Diana eyed the two muscled bodies relaxed in their chairs. Ian’s fingers twined in hers, his hand resting on her thigh. She’d sat down gingerly, her ass still throbbing from his slow thrusts. Brendan had noticed and raised a knowing eyebrow, and she’d blushed, then laughed.

When Brendan met her eyes, he leaned back and gave her an easy smile. And Ian…she didn’t know what to do when she caught the adoring look on his face, until she realized she was probably wearing the same goofy grin.

“You guys really don’t think this is weird,” she burst out.

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