Page 74 of Vacancy

“Absolutely nothing,” he murmured before lifting his hand in a staying gesture to the other three. “Will y’all drop it, already?”

Except Alec had heard my question, and with a snort, he motioned to Damien. “Dimples are, like, his kryptonite. Put ‘em on a pretty girl, and they send him straight to his knees. Every time.”

“Oh, really?” I asked, turning my head enough to send Damien a curious glance.

Scoffing, he challenged Alec, “Name one girl I’ve dated who’s had dimples.”

Both Alec and Keene opened their mouths to retort, only to frown and press their lips back together. They glanced at each other in question before Keene swerved back, lifting a finger as if he’d come up with a name, only to drop his hand and scowl some more.

“I mean, we gotta mention Madisyn,” Hudson finally said.

“Ooh.” My brows lifted. “Who’s Madisyn?”

The others only snickered, so I whirled toward Damien.

He huffed out an irritated sound and rolled his eyes. “I was eleven,” he explained. “And she was twenty-six and married with two kids. We did not date.”

“But, holy hell,” Alec was more than eager to gush. “She was his first crush, and he had itsobad for her.”

“Really?” I murmured, eager to hear more. “That’s kind of sweet.”

“Yeah. And you know how he only says about two words a year?” Alec went on. “Well, both words that year weredimples.”

Keene elbowed him. “Hey, Damien?” he said in imitation as he addressed Alec. “How’s it going?”

In answer, Alec sighed and fluttered his lashes dreamily as he glanced up toward the sky before placing both hands over his heart. “Dimples,” he sighed.

“Oh Jesus,” Damien muttered, not impressed. “I was not that bad.”

“Yeah… You were,” Hudson affirmed.

With an irritated sniff, Damien shook his head. “I hate you guys.”

“I think it’s awesome,” I told him. “I can just picture eleven-year-old you, all shy and blushing, every time she walked by.”

He glanced at me, and a zing of arousal pierced my nipples, making both my breasts tingle.

The guy might’ve been a timid kid, but he’d grown into a sensual beast, and now his stare alone was making my panties damp.

I sucked in a shaky breath, and his whiskey eyes heated, swirling with interest as if they could see my hormones responding to him.

“So did you two really hook up or not?” Alec demanded, breaking into our moment. “I mean…when would you have evendoneit? Parker said you had to cut your date short to drive his drunk ass home. So there wouldn’t have even been time unless you two had just gotten it on right there on campus.” Eyes widening, he gaped in dismay at Damien before yelping, “Holy shit. Oncampus?”

As Damien tightened his jaw, warning Alec to shut up with his stare alone, I cleared my throat and found the kitchen cupboards to be incredibly interesting.

“I’m so impressed right now,” Keene admitted, glancing between me and Damien. “Sorry, Hud, but you’re out. Archer, you’re my new hero.”

Alec still couldn’t seem to get over this revelation, however. Mouth dropping into the perfect O shape, he turned his attention to me. “What did you do to our Damien?”

He sounded so accusing that I backed away. “I…I didn’t do anything. He…” Pressing a fist to my mouth, I shut up, not sure what else therewasto say without incriminating myselforDamien.

“Alright, enough,” Hudson spoke up and snapped his fingers before motioning between Alec and Keene. “You two, with me. Right now. Daddy’s taking you out for ice cream.”

“Ooh!” Alec’s bright blue eyes lit up immediately. “I’ve actually been craving a root beer float like you wouldn’t believe. Can I get a float?”

“Sure thing, sport.” Hudson ruffled his hair affectionately as Alec passed by, already heading toward the back door. Except Alec was probably two or three inches taller, so he really had to extend his arm to reach the messy, brown curls.

Keene, however, glanced back toward me and Damien regretfully as if he didn’t want to leave us. “But—” he started to say until Hudson smacked him in the chest with the back of his hand.

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