Page 30 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

"Don't be telling me that now, that's just a consolation prize," she replied, sniffling. "Hmph. I gotta go home and drink myself to sleep."

"Oh, shut up," I said, giggling. I pulled her to me and enveloped her in a tight hug. Honestly, my world was incomplete without Chloe.

"You're doing the right thing," she murmured. "Just be careful, okay?"

Just as she finished speaking, there was a knock on the kitchen's back door. I had told Aiden to come to the rear exit to avoid being seen unless he wanted his face splashed over all the papers tomorrow.

He came inside and saw us hugging and immediately said something snarky about a threesome and his fondness for sandwiches before Chloe looked daggers at him. That made him shut up very, very quickly.

"You two have fun, but y'know—don't get too frisky with the new supplies." She chuckled before packing up. "See you in the morning, Selene."

"See you, Chlo."

I waited until the door closed and locked up after her. I'd leave from the back exit as well. Aiden helped me clean up. As we worked on arranging everything, we chatted.

It was like the years between us had never existed and he was someone I'd known all my life—the butterflies and my body's electric responses to him not included. I wondered if he could tell how he made me feel.

"Ben came to our restaurant for lunch today," he said, washing a saucer while I checked on the supplies for tomorrow's new launches. "Brought that prissy wife of his along. I think she hates that he hangs out with us."

I grinned. "Maybe it's not her fault. Ben would literally spend all his free time with the three of you if he could. How is that supposed to make her feel?"

"All of us know she's a piece of work, Sel," he replied, turning around and leaning against the sink. From where I stood, I could see the veins running on his muscled arms and how his skin shone under the yellow lighting. He was fucking beautiful.

Suddenly, I couldn't think of anything else beyond how much I wanted him. My breath hitched. In a very primal way, my body responded to the raw magnetism emanating from him. Heat surged in me, and I was acutely aware of the pulsating pull of his body, calling me to him.

"Well, well, well," he said, his eyes lingering on my mouth. "It seems we may be feeling the same things."

I didn't know about him, but all I could focus on was every tight sinew of his body. His chiseled chest, covered only by the thin cotton of the shirt he wore, rose and fell with every controlled breath.

My gaze traveled lower. My eyes hungrily devoured the sculpt of his hips. And then, to my—was it horror or delight—he proceeded to unbutton his shirt.

"What—"

"Do you want me to stop?"

I shook my head. I did not. Shirtless Aiden Brown was a much better companion than his clothed counterpart. He took it off and set it aside.

My breath caught in my throat as I hungrily looked at the sculpted ridges of his abdomen, the thin line leading down and disappearing below.

Each vein was like a river of desire, tracing intricate pathways on his bronze skin.

He moved toward me, one slow step at a time, and I found it impossible to think. When he was close enough, I was the one who pulled him in. My mouth reached for his, hungry for more.

Our lips met in a frenzied kiss that began slow and hot, and soon, he had me pushed against a wall as his tongue parted my willing mouth, seeking more, demanding more.

My hands traveled up to his thick, abundant hair. I tangled my fingers in them as he broke the kiss to hold me captive with his smoldering eyes. I saw it, how he burned for me, and I felt the same way. I could almost taste the passion beneath the surface, feel its salty, slick tongue on my naked skin.

"Selene." His voice was rough and breathless, his hands on my apron, undoing every fastening as quickly as he could. "I have wanted you for so long. All I have thought about this last week is you, the taste of your mouth, the heat of your skin. I would have you, Selene. I would have you or pursue you until you—"

"Hush," I replied, not needing any further admission save the way his lips laid claim on me. "In this moment, you have me."

I couldn't wait to do more. I wanted to unbutton his trousers and hold his erection in my hands. Few things rivaled the satisfaction of seeing someone you craved respond to you the way he was.

And the game. I had no idea what I was missing.

"This game had better be good," I said, teasing him. His chuckle, low and honeyed, echoed through the room. He undid a single button on my shirt and grazed my lips with his.

"I know a good lawyer in case you feel like tonight doesn't live up to your expectations. We can totally sue me," he whispered into my ear before darting that sinful tongue of his across my earlobe.

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