Chapter Twenty-Six

Knox

“Do you want me to say told you so?” Leo whispered.

The movie was long over. Shawn was tucked into my arms sleeping soundly. The guys had done their job.

They’d gotten her relaxed.

Which was what she deserved. A moment of just… peace, where she didn’t have to worry about someone spiking her drink, or a guy taking advantage of her. We had our reputations, but that was not what we were about.

We protected.

We proved what guys could be like if you gave them a chance.

We were the best of the best, and we were that way for a reason.

Because when you fell from the pedestal, you had no other choice but to brush yourself off and become better.

“No.” I finally found my voice as I pushed her hair away from her cheeks. “I like her.”

There. I’d said it out loud.

“Thank God,” Finn grumbled. “I thought I was going to have to sleep with her to get you to notice.”

I glared at him.

He grinned. “Kidding. You know I love pissing you off.”

“Consider me pissed,” I ground out through clenched teeth.

“Go be angry by the unicorn. We’re all full up here.” Leo sighed as if I was the heaviest burden of the bunch. “Seriously, go tuck her into bed and keep your hands to yourself. I doubt Slater would mind if you slept in his bed.”

“Slater?” Finn repeated. “He would rip Knox’s nuts off and feed them to Horny!”

“Never—” I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “—never utter that sentence again.”

Finn waved me off. “Whatever, you knew what I meant.”

“Right, that’s the problem, ass-face.” Leo cleaned up some of the popcorn while I gently lifted Shawn into my arms and started the trek back to her room.

I got her door open and laid her down on her bed, and like a creeper, I watched her sleep for a good ten seconds before realizing that I wasn’t just hovering over her like a serial killer, but staring at her like some hormonal teenager. I brushed a kiss across her forehead and started to walk away when her hand shot out and grabbed mine.

I stopped as she sat up, looked at me through sleepy eyelids and tilted her head. “Thank you.”

“For the popcorn?”

A smile spread across her face. “Yeah, for the popcorn.”

“Who knew it was your kryptonite?” I whispered.

She gulped as her eyes darted to my mouth.

I knew hunger when I saw it.

I also knew mine was reflected in her eyes.

“Be honest. If Slater finds you in here, will he kill you?” she asked, tugging her knees to her chest.

“Yes,” I answered seriously. “Just know he’s probably going to burn my body rather than bury it.”

She smirked. “Noted.”

“Sleep tight, Shawn.”

I leaned in and kissed her forehead again — I couldn’t help it.

I was just pulling away when she asked, “What happened with him?”

“Us,” I corrected her. “It was an us thing.”

“You and him?”

I didn’t want to talk about it. “Yeah, something like that. It happened a while ago, but it was enough to alter things.”

“Tell me about it?”

“It’s not a good bedtime story.” Or anytime story. “You need sleep. You have practice in the morning followed by a Human Anatomy quiz.”

She rolled her eyes. “Right, okay. Thanks, Dad.”

I was on her, straddling her before I could stop myself then my hands were in her hair, and my mouth was sucking on hers like an addict.

She wrapped one arm around my neck and held on while I pressed her back against the mattress. My hands had a mind of their own as they ran up and down her ribs and unhooked the flimsy bra with one brush of my fingers, freeing her breasts.

Mine… all mine.

When those soft wonders of nature spilled over into my hands, my eyes rolled up in my head. I massaged them, getting a fucking palm full of ecstasy. “No wonder Leo didn’t shut up about you.”

“Huh?”

Her nipples were erect, just begging to be sucked. Her breasts were heavy, high, and tight, so fucking warm I wanted to press my face against them. I squeezed then pressed them together, made them my new personal playground. My body buzzed with intense awareness as I looked down at her skin and mine. Light and dark. It was erotic, a beautiful thing, something I couldn’t stop staring at as she arched under my touch.

“You’re beautiful,” I rasped. “Your skin.” My fingertips buzzed with electricity as I ran them over her flesh and watched her reactions to the way I touched her, the way I hovered over her. My entire body felt tight. The way she looked at me… Those light brown eyes focused in, drilled through my self-defenses, my fears — and set up camp in the center of my chest.

“Fuck.” I touched my forehead to hers and let out a breath.

She tensed, her eyes searching mine for answers, probably an explanation, a reason why we should do this, a reason we shouldn’t.

So many reasons, so many questions, and I couldn’t stop staring, couldn’t even suck air into my lungs as I watched her chest rise and fall.

“I’ve never seen anything so gorgeous in my entire life.” I ran my hands from her breasts along her ribs then leaned down and took a nipple in my mouth and sucked.

Her body bucked then she was tugging my head to hers. She kissed, she licked, and when I gripped her ass, she fucking bit me on the lip like I was the main course.

I chuckled. “Easy there.”

“I’m…” She pulled away, eyes hooded, cheeks pink. “…sensitive… everywhere.”

“I love it,” I said softly as the tension in the room broke. This wasn’t my job. This wasn’t Wingman, Inc. This was her. Us. A fresh start. “If my fingers make you squirm, imagine what my mouth can do.”

She gaped, her lips parting a bit in what I assumed was shock.

“There.” I pressed a kiss to her neck. “There’s your bedtime story. Goodnight, Shawn.”

I got up and tried to not look so aroused, but I was wearing tight jeans, so every part of me was showing. My length was basically trying to wave at her and beg for an invitation to hop back into her bed and dive under the covers. Lights on.

“Hey, Knox?”

“Yeah?” I grabbed the doorknob and turned around.

She peeled the shirt over her head then tossed the bra to the floor. Completely topless, she angled her head, lazily blinking those big eyes.

My entire body went hard — hot, ready — as I braced myself against the door with white-knuckled hands.

“Thanks, I was going to take it off earlier, but you’re such a gentleman and just took care of it for me, huh?” She winked pulling the covers over her body. “Can you get the light?”

“Fuck me.” I banged my head against the door at least three times before flicking off the light and whispering, “Do that again, and you’ll be screaming my name. Oh, and Shawn? When that happens? The lights stay on.”

I slammed the door and made the painful walk of shame back to my room only to find my roommates with both of their phones pointed at me.

They snapped pictures.

“For the family album.” Leo nodded while Finn snapped another.

The hell kind of family album held pictures of my erection? “I hate you both.”

“Sweet dreams!” Finn announced. “Or should you go take a nice long, hard — sorry, I meant hot — shower?”

I winced then grabbed my towel and my caddy and made another painful jaunt to the bathroom.

Cold shower it was.