Chapter 17

Joey

“No,” I answer immediately.

“Oh come on,” Andi whines from my doorway. “It’ll be fun.”

“Nothing about the Kemah Boardwalk sounds like fun to me.”

Knowing she’s not going to give up, I sign out of my drafting software and close the lid of my laptop.

“It’s the middle of the week,” I remind her.

“And your point? Kemah is a blast.”

“Kemah is loaded with screaming kids and parents who can’t control them. I know you haven’t forgotten the last time we were there.”

She shrugs like she didn’t swear off the park forever after some hellion ran into her with a strawberry snow-cone.

“It was just a shirt.”

“It was your favorite shirt,” I recall.

“You’re twenty-six.”

“And again, what’s your point?”

“You’re acting like you’re sixty-two.”

“I like to sleep,” I reply.

“The boardwalk is romantic.”

I cock an eyebrow at her. “There’s not going to be anything romantic about watching you get your feelings hurt when Jon and the other guys start prowling for out of town chicks.”

She flinches but steadies herself almost as quickly. “I’m not going for Jon. I want to hang out with my bestie.”

Patting the bed beside me, I grin. “You can hang out with me here.”

“I’m more tired of your house than I am my own,” she gripes.

“It’s over an hour away,” I continue, listing off the cons.

“Dave and Anthony are going, and they actually have to get up in the morning to go to work.”

My eyes dart from her to my closet.

“Got your attention now?”

I refuse to respond. We’ve been friends for over eight years, and I’ve never kept anything from her except what happened in this very room with Anthony nearly a week ago, and the awesomeness in the conference room. Two lies of omission aren’t that bad, right?

“I do like their corn dogs.”

Laughing, she turns to leave. “We’re all meeting outside in fifteen minutes.”

Scrambling like my house is on fire, I’m out of my bed and digging through my closet for something to wear. It’s hot as hell outside, so I choose cut-off shorts and a dark purple tank top that strains across my pecs. I know Jon won’t let anyone leave me, but I don’t risk it.

Looking around, I see it’s the usual crew. Anthony is nowhere to be seen.

I glare at Andi, so sure she’s lied to me just to get me to agree to go, knowing I can’t back out now without looking suspicious.

“He’s meeting us there,” Andi whispers in my ear before we all pile out of the front door.

I know exactly what’s in store for tonight when we follow Jon to his truck, but Cooper and Dave get into their own vehicles. They’re going to be trolling, and my night will end with Andi sniffling beside me in the bed. Even getting to see Anthony may not be worth what I’m going to be facing in a couple of hours.

“I did it last time,” Dave complains when Jon stares him down as we near the front of the line for The Bullet.

“I have scars from last summer,” Cooper says with his hands in the air as he backs up as much as the long line will allow.

Jon grabs me by the shoulders and shoves me in Anthony’s direction as the roller coaster cars with windblown people stops directly in front of us.

“Watch out for his claws,” my brother warns. “Come on Andi.”

I look down at my hands, knowing I don’t have claws. They aren’t feminine hands. They’re manly for the most part. Well, more manly than Cooper’s.

“I’m stuck with Dave?” Cooper whines. “He’s as bad as Joey.”

“What is going on?” Anthony asks leaning in close.

“I’m terrified of roller coasters,” I explain low enough for only him to hear as he guides me to the far back car.

“Don’t let him lie to you,” Andi says with a wink. “He secretly loves them.”

I really don’t, but I’d never live it down if I confessed my hatred for the death traps to these assholes.

“We can sit out and wait for them if you’re afraid,” Anthony offers, sounding like a coddling parent.

I glare at him, resisting the urge to grab my dick if only to be more masculine. “I’m not chicken.”

He chuckles. “Not what I meant.”

His breath is close, a caress even warmer than the summer air around us. Without even thinking, I lean into him.

“I’ll keep you safe,” he promises as the attendant works his way down the line to verify all of the lap bars are secure.

“You’ll hold my hand?” I’m teasing, mostly.

“I’ll hold anything you want me to.”

The lump that was forming in my throat at the anticipation of the ride stays around for an altogether different reason. And, my dick is hard.

“You’re shaking,” he observes as I reach for him when the coaster lurches forward.

“I may piss my pants,” I warn half joking.

“I hope you’re not wearing the sexy purple boxers.”

“Only one way to find out,” I tease.

Groaning, he shifts in his seat. “You’re bad.”

“This would be bad.” I spread my legs and rest our combined hands on top of my erection. Even I can’t believe how audacious I’m acting.

By the time we get past the people waiting in line, and I’m sure no one can see, I lift my shirt and move his hand up until it’s resting on my lower belly.

“Joey,” he warns.

Shifting in my own seat, I angle my body in his direction. “You don’t want to touch me?”

Slowly, his eyes close. When they open again, they pierce me with a ferocity I’ve never seen from a man before. He doesn’t say a word, but he answers my question by wiggling our hands until I pull mine free. His hand, now crowding the top band of my boxers, moves until the tip of a single finger is tracing the bulbous ridge of my cockhead.

“Silky,” he says loud enough for me to hear him.

I cut my eyes to the car in front of us, praying my brother didn’t hear. The backs are so high, I can’t see them, but Anthony getting his ass kicked the second we get off the ride isn’t exactly how I want my night to end.

Whimpering, yes fucking whimpering, when his hand shifts and that spectacular finger moves over that little triangle on the underside, I find Anthony watching me.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he reminds me.

“I know.”

“I can’t stop myself.”

“Please don’t.” It comes out as a moan as he circles his hand, tracing the thick vein running the length of me.

I don’t care about a single thing on this earth other than the way he’s touching me right now. Even the jolting, dips, and turns of the coaster don’t register with me.

Unable to tell if it’s the noise of the track under us or a growl coming from him, I focus my eyes on his mouth. Just the memory of the way he kisses me is enough to start the full-body shudder.

“So hard,” he praises.

It pulls another whimper from my lips, but I’m more frustrated than anything. Teasing touches to my hard dick is all well and good, but he hasn’t made a move to go any further. What I’d hoped had started as a little teasing against my throbbing erection has continued as such.

“Please,” I beg and reach for his hand.

He clasps my wrist in his free hand, tsking me, which I see on his lips rather than being able to hear it over the noise.

Lifting my clasped hand to his mouth, he sucks my middle finger between his lips as a little more pressure is applied with his other hand. It’s not enough, however, to get me exactly where I want him to take me.

It isn’t until he’s pulling his evil fingers away and popping my finger from his mouth that I realize the wind isn’t whipping my hair all around my face anymore. The ride is over, and I missed every second of it.

“Did you just Fear me?”

He chuckles. “You mean kept you from feeling fear?”

“No.” I shake my head. “Fear, the movie with Mark Walberg and Reese Witherspoon?”

He shrugs. “Sorry, I’m not familiar with it.”

That makes this entire experience even better. I may have been the one to instigate it, and he may have barely touched me, but it was amazing.

My legs are wobbling for a brand-new reason when the car halts with another jolt and the lap bars swing up.

“Are you bleeding?” My brother asks as we converge at the platform.

Anthony grins. “Nope. I kept him distracted.”

“Distracted?” Dave questions. “How exactly?”

I see his eyes dart down to my crotch, but I refuse to cave and look down. I don’t give a shit if my cock is threatening to break free, I’m not falling for whatever he’s suggesting.

“Knock-knock jokes,” I lie.

“Lame,” Cooper says as he walks past us toward the ramp.

“We’re heading this way,” Jon says with a tug on Anthony’s arm.

And that fast, he disappears with my brother and the other two clowns. He doesn’t look back, doesn’t acknowledge what just happened. My head is spinning, and he’s just hanging out with the boys.

I’m scowling so hard Andi begins to laugh at me.

“It’s not funny.”

I turn in the direction of the concession stands.

“But his knock-knock jokes are?”

“Those weren’t either. Want to hear one. Knock-knock,” I begin.

Her nose scrunches up as she holds her hands up. “No thanks.”

Thank fuck, because I only know one damn joke, and with the mood I’m in, I’m bound to mess it up.