She patted her covered chest for a second, and her tone dropped. "I feel like I should go change."
"It"s not like anyone is going to see it until later," I said through my laughter. "Besides, I"ve seen what you wear underneath your clothes, and it puts mine to shame."
Taylor narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to argue, but then nodded. "True."
My phone chimed repeatedly from where it sat on the bathroom counter, and I finished pulling my shirt on as I went to check who the texts were from.
Dec: Got the package.
Dec: Meet me at the restaurant.
Dec: Bring the money.
Haha. Be there in a minute.
"One guess who that"s from." Taylor"s face pinched like she"d eaten something sour when I looked up at her with confusion after I sent my reply. "You"re all smiley and whatever."
"He was being funny."
She lifted an eyebrow to show she didn"t agree that that would be my reason for smiling. "Uh-huh. You know that you two are so cute it"s nauseating."
"Oh, is someone jealous?" I teased, and b.u.mped into her as I walked out of the bathroom. Taylor thought relationships were pointless and always made fun of mine, so I knew jealous was the last thing she was. "Anyway, they"re at the restaurant. Are you ready?"
Her eyes widened like she"d just remembered the reason we had been getting ready. After a handful of seconds, she finally nodded. "Yeah, sure. Jentry time. Blind date and Jentry time. Oh G.o.d. No. No, wait, I can do this. He"ll be great."
"Yes, exactly. Now let"s go."
Thankfully the restaurant was only a few minutes from the house, so I didn"t have to listen to another one of Taylor"s meltdowns over Jentry for long. I was so ready for this dinner to start so I could have my overly confident friend back that I practically shoved her toward the entrance of the restaurant when she started hesitating again.
"Average in every way!" I reminded her, and wondered if this was how she felt when she had to give me pep talks.
If so, I felt sorry for the years that Taylor had tried to bring me out of my sh.e.l.l.
I breathed a silent sigh of relief as I followed her into the restaurant, and after a second of talking to the seating hostess, we were taken back to the table where the guys were waiting for us.
My eyes were on Declan as he talked to a guy next to him, so I saw when he caught sight of us. Within seconds, he and Jentry were standing. My smile widened as my eyes shifted over to get my first glimpse of this best friend, and then promptly fell. I blinked quickly and shook my head, and wasn"t sure if I was still following the seating hostess and Taylor, or if I was rooted in place.
But I knew with one hundred percent certainty that I couldn"t take my eyes off the person next to Declan. The guy who was supposed to be Jentry. The guy who was supposed to be Declan"s adopted brother that I"d heard countless stories of. Instead, it was the guy who had spent an entire night worshipping my body nearly a year before. The mysterious guy, who"d said his name was Jay. The same Jay I"d gone back to find when I"d ended up meeting Declan instead. Jay, who could have my skin covered in goose b.u.mps with just the thought of his lips against my skin. Jay, who had somehow managed to touch my soul within the span of a few hours. Jay, who was now standing next to the guy I loved.
4.
One Month Ago
Aurora
Feelings I couldn"t begin to describe rushed through my body the moment his eyes met mine. This had to be some cruel joke.
Jay-no . . . Jentry"s dark eyes widened a fraction before narrowing as they traveled the length of my body. His gaze seared everywhere it touched, and my cheeks heated in embarra.s.sment when I shivered from his knowing stare alone.
"Gorgeous," a deep voice muttered into my ear as familiar arms wrapped around my waist.
I turned to look into crystal-clear green eyes an instant before Declan"s lips brushed against mine.
Keeping an arm wrapped possessively around me, Declan held out his other arm toward the tall, intimidating-looking man Taylor had just finished introducing herself to. "Rorie, I want you to meet my brother, Jentry. Jentry . . . this is her," he said with pride and a wide smile.
"Her," Jentry teased as he stepped closer, his tone and the curl of his lip almost making the word a sneer. Just having him this close had another shiver ripping through my body; had our night flooding to the surface.
That night had stayed etched into my soul, hidden from everyone else ever since I"d met Declan. Now that the man who had helped me write that nearly indescribable night was so close, it was as if our story were crawling over my skin for everyone to see. As if that part of my soul was reaching for him.
I wondered if Declan noticed any of the guilt, devastation, or betrayal that were currently pulsing from me, but I was pulled from him before I could judge his reaction.
I inhaled sharply when Jentry drew me into his arms for a hug that lasted entirely too long. That intoxicating smell teased my senses-just as I"d remembered. Something sweet, but warm and spicy that I couldn"t put my finger on. When he released me, he stayed close enough that I had to take a step toward Declan, and watched as Jentry smiled slowly in response.
"Declan talks about you so much that I feel like I already know you."
"Likewise," I forced out, then cleared my throat. "It"s great to finally meet you." A weighted silence pa.s.sed between the four of us, so I glanced at the table and asked, "Should we sit?"
Taylor waited until we were sitting and the guys were going to their side to turn toward me with an "Oh my G.o.d!" look while dramatically fanning at her face. By the time the boys were sitting, she appeared calm and collected.
I understood her previous look all too well. I knew the kind of effect Jentry could have on a girl just by looking at her. I also knew other kind of effects-stop it, Rorie! I took a deep breath in and held it for a moment before releasing it, and tried to mimic Taylor"s posture and expression. But I doubted I looked half as calm as she did. I was freaking out and doing everything to keep my eyes away from Jentry.
A foot connected with my shin, and I grunted, but managed to bite back a curse as I looked up at Declan.
"You okay?" he mouthed.
I just raised my eyebrows, hoping to go for innocence and confusion.
"So . . ." Taylor drew out the word and shot me an awkward look, then focused her attention on Jentry. "Marine Corps, huh?"
He nodded slowly, and I glanced over in time to see his dark eyes slide away from me. "Yeah."
When he didn"t elaborate, Taylor glanced uneasily at me, then back to him. "Um, Rorie said you planned on getting out soon. What will you do when you"re back in Wake Forest?"
Jentry shrugged and leaned back in his chair as he folded his arms across his chest. He looked relaxed and amused, like he couldn"t wait to see how the rest of the night was going to play out-let alone the weekend. His dark eyes flickered toward me again, and the corner of his mouth twitched up.
It was a challenge-there was no other way to describe it-but I would not be stepping up to it.
"Not sure yet, but I"d rather know more about the two of you. You"re from . . ." He trailed off, and kept his eyes on Taylor for only a second before looking at me questioningly.
I kept my mouth tightly closed.
"We"re from Raleigh," Taylor answered easily, either ignoring or not noticing the way his eyes kept lingering on my face. "We"ve been best friends since high school, roomed together in college."
"And you went to Duke, too?" he a.s.sumed. My pulse pounded when he obviously directed the question at me.
Thankfully Taylor still hadn"t noticed, and Declan was talking quietly to a waiter and slipping him a credit card for later.
"No, we went to NC State."
"Rorie."
I looked slowly over to where my name had been called from, and tried to keep my breathing steady. "Hmm?"
"Taylor was just saying that the two of you went to NC State. I was wondering how you happened to meet Declan up at Duke."
Taylor"s laughter broke through the tension that had crept between Jentry and me, and while her laugh would have normally had me smiling, at the very least, I was now worried that I was going to hyperventilate. Or have a panic attack.
Taylor nudged me and snickered. "Oh, that"s a good story. Rorie here had dragged me to a party up at Duke-"
"You volunteered," I added breathlessly, and was suddenly wishing for the insecure Taylor to come back, as long as it would shut her up.
"-because she was dying to find this guy she"d met the weekend before."
My eyes fluttered shut at the same moment Declan said, "Wait, what?"
"s.h.i.t," I mouthed, and tried to swallow. I couldn"t tell if my mouth had suddenly gone dry, or if my rapid breathing was getting in the way of me swallowing. I opened my eyes and reached for the water in front of me anyway, and shook my head once at Declan.
"You never told him?" Taylor whispered quickly, but loud enough that both guys heard.
"No, she didn"t," Declan answered for me. "You were there looking for another guy?"
It took all of my energy to keep my eyes from going back to Jentry as I silently pleaded for Declan to understand. I tried to keep my voice from shaking and my tone nonchalant. "It was nothing, really. I"d just talked with him the week before-"
Taylor snorted.
"And when was this?" Jentry asked.
"Beginning of September," Declan answered without taking his eyes from me.
"So about the time I was there," Jentry said with a guessing tone.
I wanted nothing more than to shoot a glare in his direction.
Declan finally looked at Jentry as he thought for a second, then shrugged. "Yeah, I think I met Rorie a week or two after you visited me at Duke."
"Huh." Jentry sent me another challenging smirk. "Guess I"d just missed meeting you back then."
"Guess so," I bit out with a smile. At that same instant, Taylor"s hand slapped down on my thigh and squeezed.
Declan looked back at me, his brows pulled low over his eyes. "If it wasn"t a big deal, why didn"t you tell me why you"d been there? I thought you"d been there for Taylor."
"Well, hey!" Taylor interjected-her hand was squeezing my leg so tightly, I didn"t know if I would have feeling when she let go. "If we hadn"t gone back to find him, she never would"ve met you. Right? Right. Moving on."
I glanced quickly at Taylor as she told the story in a rush, and saw in a brief, shared look that we were going to have a long talk later.
"So I"d just given Rorie a huge Jolly Rancher, and this ma.s.sive naked guy ran into her and she started choking. I thought he was going to kill her with the way he was trying to do the Heimlich maneuver on her. Anyway, while he was helping her, her shoes flew off, and both hit Declan in the head. He came over after and called her Cinderella, and it was super-romantic . . . and the end! Love at first sight and all that." Taylor was breathing hard, and I was pretty sure my breaths matched each one of hers.
"That"s awesome, man," Jentry said after a beat of silence, and b.u.mped Declan"s shoulder. "I"m happy for you. Cinderellas losing their shoes, love at first sight, happy ever after. It"s what you deserve." Gone were the taunting tones, the challenging smirks, and heated stares. His focus was solely on Declan, and he seemed genuinely happy for Declan . . . for us. Hard and soft, just as I remembered.
Declan"s confused expression melted, and he rolled his eyes at the sappy words coming from Jentry, but then those clear green eyes settled on me and warmed. "I got lucky."
My lips had been pulling up into a smile but froze halfway when Jentry called my name. I looked in his direction but wouldn"t make eye contact. "You take care of my brother."
My eyes shot to his, and a foreign feeling slid through my veins and gripped at my chest. It was like being hot and cold at the same time. Being able to look into the eyes of a man I had fallen for, and who I knew without a doubt loved me . . . only to turn and look into the eyes of a man who had consumed my mind and fantasies for more than ten months. My chest hurt as my heart stumbled over differently paced beats. Hard pounding connected with a pair of dark, sinful eyes-light fluttering with pale green. As my heartbeat settled into a familiar flutter, I whispered, "I will."
"You can"t be serious!" Taylor yelled as soon as we were in my car and driving out of the parking lot an hour later.
The air whooshed out of my lungs, and my hands tightened on the steering wheel as my entire body began trembling. I was sucking in air so fast that I was afraid I was going to make myself pa.s.s out, and was worried that possibility was a little too close when the street in front of us went blurry.
"No, no, don"t cry," Taylor said quickly, and placed a hand on my shaking arm.
I blinked quickly, forcing the built-up tears to stream down my cheeks, and took the smallest bit of comfort in the fact that I was crying rather than about to lose consciousness. "This isn"t happening."
"It really is him, isn"t it? The guy we went back for. I mean . . . the way he looked at-"
"Maybe he doesn"t remember me!" I said in vain, and a sharp laugh burst from Taylor.
"Oh no, he definitely remembers. There was no way not to know what had happened between the two of you."
"d.a.m.n it." I muttered, and tried to focus on the road in front of me. "This isn"t happening."
"You need to tell Decl-"
"Are you insane?" I yelled, and whipped my head to the side to look at Taylor. "You saw how hurt he was just finding out that I"d been looking for another guy before I met him. There is no way that I can tell him I slept with his brother, Taylor!"
Her hands flew out to the side, and she made an exasperated noise. "Declan isn"t stupid, Rorie. He"s going to find out! The tension between you and Jentry alone is a dead giveaway, but then Jentry kept giving you looks, and you were being rude to him and ignoring him in the most obvious ways tonight. Declan isn"t going to remain in this oblivious, I"m-just-so-happy-to-be-with-my-brother phase for long."
I exhaled heavily and gripped the steering wheel over and over again. When I spoke, my voice was barely above a whisper. "I also won"t be caught off guard again. Declan can"t know."
"Ro-"
"It would ruin our relationship, Taylor, and possibly his friendship with Jentry. If it didn"t, it wouldn"t be the same, at least. I can"t-I can"t do that to him. I love Declan, and it was just a night with Jentry." There was no denying my love for my boyfriend, but Taylor and I both knew my encounter with Jentry hadn"t just been a night. That night . . . it had been everything.