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He never said Jupiter was picking us up. How are we going to talk with an audience?
It’s because he doesn’t care if anyone knows. See, you were worrying over nothing.
Lennon slid into the front seat when Jupiter opened the door for him, after storing his bags in the trunk. It wasn’t where he wanted to sit, but he saw no valid reason to make a fuss.
“You trying out a new scent, Lennon?” Jupiter’s question brought his gaze to the man on his left who was easily navigating the early morning rush hour traffic.
There was a growl from the back seat that lifted the hairs on the back of Lennon’s neck. He didn’t dare look back, getting the feeling he was sitting in the middle of a mine field with no way of knowing which way to go.
“Erm… it’s from the Devious range that we released a couple of months ago.” He’d used it before, he was sure.
“Very sexy.”
“Jup-it-er!”
The man in question continued like he’d not heard the strangled enunciation of his name. “It suits you.”
Lennon didn’t know how to respond and he could feel the weight of Kodi’s eyes drilling holes into him, he’d swear it. His nod was more of a jerk when Jupiter flashed him that killer smile of his.
The tension inside the vehicle could have just been in Lennon’s head, but he didn’t think so.
“Are we picking up Wilder?” Gods, he hoped so. He didn’t want to be left alone with these two for the entire trip.
“He’s getting a lift with Laken and Isley. Laken left earlier because he had some business to attend to first,” Jupiter explained, spinning the steering wheel one handed to go around the next turning. “It just seemed sensible when Kodi and I were heading to the same place, to come together.
Pushed up against the door with the force, Lennon grabbed for the ‘oh shit’ bar.
“Slow the fuck down, Jup!” Kodi snarled. “We wanna get to the airport in one piece.”
Jupiter continued to drive with the speed of an Indy racer.
Lennon wasn’t a speed demon, unlike Wilder, who craved speed, and he ended up scrunching his eyes shut. He had no time to be annoyed at how he wasn’t getting to have ‘the talk’ with Kodi.
“You’re such an asshole.”
Lennon didn’t disagree with Kodi when he was sweating, his shirt stuck to the middle of his back under his jacket by the time they came to a stop on the private landing strip where the jet stayed when not in use.
He didn’t breathe easy until he was standing on the tarmac, swiping at his damp forehead. Unfortunately, the weirdness between the brothers didn’t stop.
Jupiter had Lennon’s bags out of the trunk before Kodi could grab them. They exchanged looks that Lennon didn’t understand. Jupiter gave the bags to the waiting steward. He marched to Lennon and gently took hold of his elbow and guided him to the steps of the jet. “Are you a thrill seeker, Lennon? I just bet you are.”
He stumbled up the first step at the odd innuendo he heard, and if it wasn’t for Jupiter’s hand, he might have fallen and face planted the metal rungs.
“I like to give a thrill,” Jupiter continued as if they had this kind of conversation every day. The leer was followed by a smile that was both wicked and deadly with how gorgeous Jupiter was. It kind of stunned a body into muteness, just like the force of a taser.
Lennon wasn’t blind to Jupiter’s attractiveness; he could compete for the world’s most attractive alpha. It just didn’t have the same impact on Lennon—okay, he could seriously appreciate it, but that didn’t mean he liked to indulge in cake that would give him indigestion—as a certain, grumpy alpha. One who was currently making noises that reminded Lennon of the pig that got stuck under Cassidy’s cabin at the ranch.
How Kodi managed to make it onto the jet and not give in to the cussed threats he aimed at Jupiter, was anyone’s guess. Jupiter ignored Kodi while taking the seat next to Lennon.
By this turn of events, Lennon was beyond bemused and had gone straight into a confused state worthy of several of Ziggy’s cocktails. He had no idea why Jupiter was behaving like this towards him, and he really hoped he stopped soon because it would hurt Wilder’s feelings.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kodi
I’ve got you covered. Those words ran through Kodi’s brain on repeat as he watched Jupiter give Lennon a killer smile that, as a teenager, he had been envious of. The smile—one Jupiter did not need to work on—was as suggestive as any words could be. It held the promise of every wicked thing a person could imagine and many they couldn’t. It was fucking perfection.
Why did I think Jupiter was my best option to help get back in Lennon’s good graces? I must have been kidnapped by aliens and had my frontal lobe sucked fucking dry.
