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“What’d you have in mind?”
* * *
Bennett and I spent way too much of the afternoon planning on ways to mess with Julie’s ex. We never really nailed anything down, but it helped the time pass a little faster, and then I was in such a hurry to finish the stuff I had to do that I didn’t have time to slow down and overthink. I told Bennett to go with his instincts. I needed to follow my own damn advice.
Julie left at the same time every day, so at five minutes before I knew she’d be packing up, I made my way upstairs. The elevator I caught just happened to be the one Bennett was riding, and we both smirked at each other as we headed upstairs to go meet our girl.
When we approached her desk, she was nibbling her bottom lip, a frown on her face as she looked over something. When she glanced in our direction, she did a double take and her face flushed. I felt the grin cross my face. I wanted to walk straight up to her and kiss her, but her eyes darted around wildly and I could see the nerves making an appearance, so I held back. With the way her break up went down so publicly, she probably didn’t want to shout to the world that she was seeing two new guys at once. It’d be more drama than it was worth.
Instead, I stopped on the other side of her desk, putting my hands in my pockets to keep myself from touching her. “Hey, sweetheart. Ready to go?”
She gave me a jerky nod. “Almost. I’m just finishing updating the schedule for Monday.”
She quickly input a few things on the computer and cleared off her desk before grabbing her things. While Bennett helped her put on her coat, I felt eyes burning the side of my head. Glancing over my shoulder, I smirked when I saw Grayson glaring at us. He could pretend all he wanted that he didn’t want any part of this, but based on the look on his face, he wasn’t as unaffected as he liked to seem. If looks could kill, I’d be dead on the ground. I winked at him, putting my hand on Julie’s lower back as I guided her towards the elevator.
I’d get him to admit it eventually. It wasn’t possible to spend time with Julie and not want her.
Julie was jumpy and nervous the entire elevator ride down to the main floor. Since the elevator was crowded, I kept my mouth shut, subtly taking her hand and rubbing small circles on the back with my thumb. She shot me a hesitant smile and squeezed my hand before releasing me when the door slid open and we had to exit. Luckily, we had no more run-ins with her ex on the way to the parking lot. Bennett looked around with a frown.
“Where’s your car?”
She looked surprised. “Oh. I haven’t been using it much. Between my apartment and here is only one train ride. It just seemed easier than dealing with traffic, so I’ve stuck to taking the train.”
Sounded reasonable to me, but Bennett didn’t look happy about it. I steered Julie to my car and into the passenger seat before he could start lecturing her about safety.
“Your chariot awaits then, sweetheart. Let’s get going.”
I slipped into the driver’s seat while Bennett took the back. I probably should’ve gone for his car. It didn’t look comfortable for him to squeeze back there, but he didn’t complain. His eyes were trained on Julie and I could feel the impatience in the air. I felt it too, so I didn’t draw attention to the seating arrangement, instead pulling out of the parking lot and speeding towards home.
By the time we got there, all three of us were tense. Whether it was from nerves or anticipation, it was hard to distinguish between the two, but for a minute when we parked, no one moved a muscle. I glanced at Bennett in the rearview mirror. He looked like he was holding his breath. I shifted my gaze to Julie, watching the flush spread down her neck as she chewed on her bottom lip.
“Julie.”
She jumped, guilt and anxiety key features on her face. It wasn’t what I was hoping for.
“If you don’t want to do this–”
She shook her head quickly. “No, I… I do, I just… I’ve never done anything like this before.”
I chuckled. “That makes three of us. Let’s play it by ear, yeah? And if at any point you want to stop, just say the word. We won’t care about you any less if this isn’t something you’re into.”
She glanced between me and Bennett, who nodded in agreement, before letting out a shaky sigh. Swallowing hard, she whispered, “Okay.”
Picking up her hand, I kissed the back. “Okay.”
My promise seemed to help a little and when I came around the car and offered her my hand, her smile was a little less anxious, a little more interest. I flashed her a grin, loving the way she ducked her head shyly, and led her to the elevator.
By the time we made it to my floor, tension was at an all-time high. I hurried to unlock my door, nearly dropping my damn keys in my eagerness to get inside. We all piled in and I let out a laugh at just how ridiculously eager we all seemed to be.
Julie giggled and stepped forward, looking around while I locked the door behind us. It wasn’t the fanciest apartment I’d ever had. Nowhere near as nice as Grayson’s. I got it for the view. The living room walls were all windows, as well as one side of the kitchen, giving me the most amazing view of the city. All open concept. The kitchen was in one corner and opened directly into the living room. I spent a fortune on the massive couch in front of the tv, big enough for Grayson and Bennett to come over and enjoy the game without bumping elbows. The bedroom was past the living room. It wasn’t all glass, but the walls were mostly windows with some fancy remote controlled curtains. There was only one bathroom connected to the bedroom, but I didn’t really care. The only guests I had were Bennett and Grayson and the occasional bed partner. They didn’t stay the night though and weren’t really paying attention to the lack of guest bath.
At Julie’s sharp intake of breath, I turned to find Bennett pressed up against her back, his lips trailing down her neck. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she tipped her head to give him more room. It was hot watching them together. Shedding my jacket and tossing it on the counter in the kitchen, I moved to join them, pressing myself against Julie’s front. Her eyes flew open and the sight of her, all lust drunk and trembling, nearly did me in.
Rubbing her bottom lip with my thumb, I bit back a groan when she licked her lips automatically, flicking over the digit in the process.
“Careful, sweetheart. You rile me up and I won’t be able to control myself.”
Chapter Eighteen
