AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Me too.” We’d both overindulged way too much, but the food had been so good I couldn’t help myself. The restaurant had been a great choice—one with an open kitchen where we could watch the chefs preparing the food, but with an intimate atmosphere, all decorated in blacks and golds. Ander had planned for us to walk outside afterwards, but it had started raining, and it was that freezing winter rain that was like icy needles on your skin. So instead, we’d caught a cab, and we were now back at the house in Ander’s bedroom.
Stretching out on his back on his bed, he patted the space next to him. “Come here. Let’s nap, let our food go down a bit. And then afterwards…” He let his words trail off, but we both knew exactly what he was implying.
Climbing onto his bed, I lay down next to him, both of us sharing a pillow. “Afterwards.”
24
“Ander. Get your lazy ass out of bed. I need your help.”
The loud, insistent knocking wouldn’t stop. I groaned. “Fuck off.”
“You’d better not be telling me to fuck off.” The door burst open, and JJ was standing there with his hands on his hips, an indignant look on his face. A look that immediately disappeared when he took in the person currently blinking a haze of sleep away from his face, looking so fucking gorgeous and soft and sleepy that I didn’t want to share him with anyone.
Throwing my duvet over Elliot to hide him from JJ’s gaze—currently flicking between shock and amusement, complete with an all-too-knowing gleam in his eyes—I cleared my throat. “Joshua James. Why thefuckare you interrupting my sleep at this ungodly hour?”
JJ strutted into the middle of the room, folding his arms across his bare chest. It was only then that I took in what he was wearing—sparkly ice-blue short shorts and matching boots that came to mid-calf. I raised a brow as he glared at me. “Check your fucking phone, babe. It’s twenty past eleven. You promised you’d help me with my routine, remember?”
Oh, yeah. I had said that. He’d been working on some new moves for his lap dance routines at the club he worked at, and I’d promised to give my opinion because ever since that lap dance competition at Revolve, he’d been telling me I had a natural talent and could probably help him come up with a few new ideas. Which, yeah, I did have natural talent. I came second, after all, and JJ danced for his job, so he’d only won because he had an advantage over me.
“Sorry, mate. I didn’t realise the time.”
“You don’t say,” he muttered, but the glare melted from his face. “I guess you had a good excuse, though, didn’t you?”
“A very good excuse,” I purred. A shocked sound came from the lump under the covers, and I grinned.
“That answers my question, then.” JJ gave me a smug smile, which disappeared almost as soon as it had arrived, a frown taking over his face. After blinking a few times, he widened his eyes at me and slowly mouthed,If you want to talk about it, I’m here.
I nodded at him, mouthing,Thanks, in return, before speaking normally again. “Fine. Give me half an hour, yeah?”
“I’ve got a dance class at one. Sorry. We can do it another time if you’re busy.” His mouth twisted as his gaze flicked between me and the lump in my bed.
The covers were suddenly flung back, and there was Elliot, still bleary-eyed, his clothes creased and his hair wild, still looking so fucking gorgeous that it sent me reeling. He gazed up at JJ, a small smile curving over his lips. “Give him ten minutes. He’ll be there, and he’ll be in amuchbetter mood, believe me.”
“Elliot Clarke. Well. Why have I never seen this side of you before?” JJ looked at Elliot with new interest, and I narrowed my eyes at him. If he even thought about trying to flirt with my—no, he wasn’t mine. Yet.
“Easy, tiger.” JJ smirked at me. “I’m not making a move on your man.”
“I’m not his man,” Elliot blurted out, panic on his face, and both JJ and I stared at him in surprise. What was all that about? And why the fuck did it hurt to hear him say those words?
“Uh, okay. I’ll leave you to it. Ten minutes. I’ll be in the lounge.” JJ backed out of the room, and the second the door closed behind him, I turned on Elliot.
“Not my man?” I tried so hard to hide the hurt in my voice, but I wasn’t sure I managed it.
He bit down on his lip, his gaze lowering. “Well…no. We’ve had a date, but…”
So this meant something more to me than to him, did it? Fuck. This was…I’d complicated everything by catching feelings, hadn’t I? And who knew that it would hurt so much to know I was more into him than he was into me?
“Yeah,” I said hoarsely. Clearing my throat, I sat up straight, pushing my feelings down. Way, way down. “Right. I’d better get ready. Get out of yesterday’s clothes. I can’t believe we slept through the whole night and didn’t even wake up until now.”
“Food coma.” Elliot glanced up at me, giving me a tiny smile.
“I don’t even think I need breakfast today.” Climbing off the bed, I headed to the bathroom. “But I do need to clean my teeth.”
Heading straight for the sink and turning on the tap, I heard the sound of my bedroom door opening and closing. I did my best to ignore the feeling of disappointment that Elliot was gone and picked up my toothbrush.
A few minutes later, I was naked other than the towel hooked loosely around my waist, waiting for my shower to get to the perfect temperature. It always took forever to warm up because the plumbing in this Victorian house was old as fuck. Eventually, though, the shower screen began to steam up, and I dropped my towel on the floor and—
A body pressed against my back. A long, lean, very naked body. With a very hard cock.
