Teasing: Chapter 20

I always set two alarms. One for the person I think I am, and one for the person who doesn’t live in denial.

—Emmie’s Secret Thoughts

I toss another hanger to the bed, grab my phone, and slide my thumb over Vivi’s contact.

It goes right to voicemail.

Of course it does.

“What the heck am I supposed to wear to a party when the biggest pop star in the world is going to be there?” I pad back into my closet and stare at my options, each one seeming worse than the last. “Seriously?” I picture Lilah Ryan. Beautiful, blonde, loved by everyone Lilah Ryan. Now Lilah Ryan-St. James. I guess I hadn’t put it together when she married Killian St. James that she was becoming part of the Kingston family too. I mean the whole world knew about their wedding. Every magazine imaginable covered it. Of course this is one of Maverick’s closest friends. I mean, why the heck wouldn’t she be? It’s not like I’m intimidated or anything. I’ve barely left Sugar Hill, and she’s traveled the entire world, performing in front of millions of people. “What am I even supposed to say to her? Hi, I’m Emmie. You know . . . the girl your best friend is banging with his monster cock?”

Shoot. Guess that was one way to announce my new relationship.

Is it actually a relationship?

It is, isn’t it?

It’s not like he’s going to ask me to be his girlfriend.

Does sex equal a relationship?

Pretty sure it doesn’t. But neither of us does casual. Not that there was anything casual about what we did. What we said . . . My blood warms, and my cheeks flush. Nope. Definitely not casual.

“I mean, I wouldn’t go for that as an icebreaker, but it’s not too bad.” I scream and throw my elbow back into Maverick’s chest before my brain registers it’s him and triggers my fight or flight instincts to chill out. But does Cujo get mad? Nope. He slides his arms around my waist from behind and runs his lips over the shell of my ear. “Relax, Em. It’s me.”

“Yeah,” I gasp as my racing heart tries to gallop out of my chest. “I know that now.”

“If you’d have locked your front door, I wouldn’t have been able to scare you.” He spins me in his arms to face him and starts swaying to music coming from my bedroom.

“Were you trying to scare me?” I poke his solid chest, already knowing the answer. He’s not cruel. He wouldn’t do that. Jerk—yes. Cruel—no. “What are you doing here?”

“Apparently, stopping you from talking to people about my monster cock.”

I cover my face with my hands and lean it against his chest. “You heard that, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” he laughs, his chest shaking against my face. “Quite the compliment.”

Mav peels my hands away and takes them in his. Wrapping one around his neck and covering the other one as he presses it over his heart, he starts humming along with the song. “Dance with me . . . It’s a good song.”

I lick my lips and get lost in his eyes as John Rzeznik sings about moments.

“It’s a great song,” I admit. “I’ve always loved this one.”

He presses his lips to the top of my head, and I relax and soak him in. “Don’t be nervous about tonight, Em. It’s just a few of my friends.”

“Your friend has won Grammys.”

“Yeah. But she used to run around the backyard, showing everyone the days of the week printed on her underwear when she was five, so she wasn’t always cool.”

“You’re terrible.” And I totally know what he’s doing. I also know it’s working. “She was five.”

“Yeah. And we’ve made fun of her for it for twenty years. Tink takes the brunt of our torture. She always has.”

I rest my head against his chest and sigh. “It must be nice.”

“What?”

My heart hurts as I think about it. “Having friends like that. Do you know how lucky you are to have Jamie?”

“Not sure I’d call that luck. He’s more like righting a wrong I did in another life.”

“You’re terrible.” But I still laugh. “He’s as much your brother as Ryker is. Don’t try and deny it.”

He runs his hand through my hair, then twists it around his fist and tugs until I’m looking up at him. Okay. That’s hot.

“He is. Him, Noah, Killian, and Lilah . . . It’s always been us. We’ve all been there through it all. The shit with Denae. The stuff that went down with Lilah and Killian, and don’t even get me started on Jamie and Noah. They might be quieter about their drama, but they’ve both had it.”

“But you had each other. I always wanted that. The kind of friends that are your family.” I don’t admit out loud that some days I wish for a family that’s like his family. The ones who talk every day, instead of leaving voicemails, or barely talk to each other, even though you live in the same house.

“You’ve got it now, Em. Ryker and Jamie and me. You’ve got us. And if I know Lilah like I think I do, you’ll have her in your corner in just a few hours. And let me tell you, she’s a whole lot of something to have.” His lips pull into a crooked smile. One I love seeing.

I don’t correct him.

I don’t want to.

Maybe this time will be different.

Maybe they won’t all leave.

“You know . . . I’ve got this fantasy about a ballerina.” Heat builds behind his blue eyes and pools in my stomach. That’s all it takes. One look.

I arch a brow. “Oh yeah . . . ? Anyone I might know?”

“You got a tutu?” Maverick trails the backs of his fingers down my throat, and I shiver as the heat building between us comes close to incinerating us both.

“I might.”

“Hey, Em—” Camden calls out, and I want to scream. Again. “In here.”

Maverick fixes my hair, and I practically purr under his hands.

“I’ll see you soon, il mio sole.” I watch him brush by Camden with a chin nod and disappear down the hall, taking my heart with him.

How did this happen?

Four hours and what may have been fourteen outfit changes later, I meet the woman who sang the soundtrack for my life. Lilah Ryan, now St. James, is just as incredibly beautiful in person as she is on stage. Wow. “So this is the infamous hot nanny?”

“She has a name, Tink,” Mav growls, and I’m pretty sure Jamie should be happy he’s not within hitting reach right now. “Lilah meet Emmie.”

With shaking hands, I reach out to shake hers. “It’s really nice to meet you. I can’t even begin to tell you how much your music really got me through a few rough years.”

Lilah throws her arms around my shoulders and squeezes me so tightly, I worry my head might pop right off my neck.

“Let her breathe, princess.” Her husband shakes his head as he watches my face. “I’m not sure she can breathe.”

“Listen . . .” She pulls back and directs a dazzling smile at me. “We didn’t know Maverick had it in him. I mean, I wasn’t sure he could be nice enough to someone long enough to convince them to date him. We’re so excited you’re here.”

“Way to make me sound like an asshole, Tink.”

Killian, Lilah’s husband, turns toward Mav and tilts his head. “You don’t really need any help sounding like an asshole most of the time.”

Maverick steals my hand from Lilah’s. “I’m not always a dick.”

“The first time we met, you demanded my camera and accused me of selling photos of Rosie,” I admit nervously before hiding behind my wine glass.

“Oh really?” Lilah asks, turning her eyes from Maverick to me. “I hope you told him to fuck off.”

“She doesn’t curse,” Mav deadpans, and Lilah laughs.

“That’s okay. You curse enough for both of you.” She takes my hand back in hers like I’m a toy they’re fighting over. “Come on, Emmie. We need more wine.”

I look at my half full glass of white, then back to Mav, who smiles with his whole heart.

These people are obviously special to him.

She grabs the bottle from the table and an empty glass, then motions for me to follow her to the white Adirondak chairs down by the dock, and I follow, still a little in shock.

I tuck my legs up under the royal-blue sundress I decided on and rest my head on the back of the chair, looking at the pretty blonde next to me. “He speaks really highly of you.” I look over my shoulder at the group of people around the grill. “About all of you.”

“We like to torture Maverick about being a dick, but he’s a really good guy.” Her words are measured as she watches me. “But I think you already know that, don’t you?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” I sip my delicious wine and enjoy the setting sun, sad that summer is coming to an end. “They’re all pretty special,” I muse. “Which I guess is a good thing since Jamie informed me they’re a package deal.”

Lilah looks confused. “Like Mav and Rosie?”

“No.” I shake my head. “Like Maverick, Rosie, Jamie, and Ryker.”

She hums, and I smile. “Yeah. They kind of are. But they mean well. We’re all kind of a package deal, I guess. I mean.” She looks over at Camden. “I’m betting you and your brother are too, aren’t you?”

“Not exactly.” I sip again and take the bottle from her to top off my glass. “Camden is a lot older than me, and he’s been gone for a while. We’re working on it though.”

“He’s the new quarterback, right?”

My head snaps her way before I remember her dad is the quarterback coach.

Some days, I’m glad I grew up in Sugar Hill and not Kroydon Hills.

Their town is so interconnected, it’s hard to keep track of all the connections. You need one of those murder boards you see on all the good true crime podcasts.

“One Beneventi down, and four more to go,” a woman I’ve met over the years announces as she joins us. Dillan Ryan, Lilah’s younger sister, taught ballet at Hart & Soul years ago, but she was older than me, and we never connected. She crosses her arms over her chest and frowns. “You know you’re a lucky bitch, right?”

“Dillan,” Lilah chastises her. “Be nice. You were never going to date Maverick.”

Great. And the beautiful blonde apparently has a thing for Maverick.

“I wasn’t. I’d rather be the cream in the naughtier Beneventi brothers’ cookie. But good gracious, that is still one fine man.” She holds her empty glass out for me, and I take the hint and fill it with wine. “I’m pretty sure we’ve met before, but it’s been a few years.”

I top off Lilah’s glass too and sit the empty bottle on the grass. “A few . . .” I run the tip of my finger along the top of my glass. “So, there are naughtier Beneventis?”

“Oh yeah,” Dillan looks around the yard, then points to a different group of guys. One of them has Rosie on his shoulders. “Mav’s a grouch. But his cousins are flat-out insane.”

“Maddox isn’t insane. He’s calculated and protective,” Lilah argues, and Dillan’s shoulders slump as her face pinches.

“Fine. Rome is a psychopath. Maddox is just a know-it-all.”

Lilah kicks off her sandals and runs her feet over the grass. “Fair enough.”

“So Emmie . . . Is your brother single?” Dillan sips her wine as I nearly choke on mine.

It goes down the wrong pipe, and I start coughing. Hacking. “Umm . . .” I force out over a hoarse throat. “I guess he is.”

“He’s playing for Dad, Dillan,” Lilah warns her sister, but it seems to have the opposite effect, and her eyes light up.

“Ohh . . . good to know.” She smiles, looking more like her sister than ever before.

“Behave, Dillan,” Lilah groans.

“Just because you’re happily married doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t have a little fun, Tink.”

“Why do they call you Tink?” I ask, interrupting whatever the two were about to start fighting about, then sit back and soak it all in as the biggest popstar in the world tells me all about growing up with these men.

Turns out, mine was an overprotective giant from a very young age.

And that tells me so much.

“You want to help me grab more wine?” Maverick whispers into my ear later that night after he’s put Rosie to bed. He pulled me into his lap over an hour ago and hasn’t let me move since, unless you count the way I squirm each time I feel his dick jump against my ass. He’s driving me crazy, and he knows it, but other than the fact that my panties are drenched and the way I want this man is making it hard to breathe, the night has been perfect.

I’ve heard story after story about Mav and Jamie and Ryker all night. Funny stories about them all growing up. The trouble they used to get in. The way they’ve stuck together. The arguments they’ve had. The pranks they’ve pulled.

More than once, Camden and I have caught each other’s eye, and I know what he’s thinking as much as he knows my thoughts too.

Vivi.

Vivi is always the one to tell our stories.

She’s the one who reminds us of the fun times and doesn’t wallow in the bad ones.

Maverick tucks my hair behind my ear and runs his finger over the sensitive bare skin on my shoulder. “Come with me.”

I nod, and he lifts me from his lap.

“We’re going to get more wine,” he announces, and his cousin Maddox grins.

“Bring back the Syrah,” he tells him, and Mav nods and takes my hand in his.

Tingles shoot up my arm, and I have to take two steps to match his every one.

Damn long legs.

“Mav,” I yelp as he tugs me down the basement stairs to the wine cellar. “What’s the hurry?”

The room comes into view, and my breath catches. It’s gorgeous. Low lighting and brick walls and a Tuscan-tiled floor. Hundreds of bottles of wine line the walls, and most of them have a similar label. One I recognize.

“Maverick,” I murmur again, and I swear to God, when his smile is directed at me, it’s like you can feel the heat of the sun on your face.

There’s something about Maverick Beneventi in ripped jeans . . . They sit low on his hips, and the visual is just so incredibly hot.

Today’s t-shirt is navy-blue and makes his eyes appear impossibly darker. It’s mouthwateringly stretched across his massive chest, and I’m suddenly no longer interested in the dozens of bottles surrounding me.

I’ve already forgotten what we were talking about outside.

All I see is him and the delicious outline of that incredible erection I’ve been sitting on for over an hour with no relief.

“Hey, Cujo.”

Like a predator stalking his prey, he forces me to move until my back hits brick and his palms flatten on either side of me, like he seems to like doing. He leans his forehead against mine and closes his eyes. “Do you have any idea what you being here in that dress is doing to me?”

“Here?” I ask, not following.

He lifts my chin and feathers a kiss over my lips. “In my house. In my life. With my family. Here, Emmie. With me.”

“Oh,” is all the answer I manage as one strong hand slides to my back and down until he’s cupping my ass over my dress. But it’s not enough, and a small whine works its way up my throat.

“You’ve been teasing me all night, baby.” His other hand slides under my dress and smacks against my bare skin. “I’ve felt this ass for hours, Emmie. Naked and on my lap. Naked and on my cock. You’ve been a bad girl,” he croons, and his words press against my skin, empowering me.

I nip at his lip with my teeth, catching and tugging and loving the way his dark pupils explode. “I’m not naked,” I whisper coyly. “I’m wearing a thong.”

I press both hands against his chest and push him back far enough for me to reach under my dress and shimmy the black silk thong down my legs, then dangle it in front of him.

He sucks in a sharp, heavy breath before he takes it out of my hand. “It’s fucking soaked.”

My smile is slow and wicked before he scoops me up and presses my back against the cool brick. One hand holds my ass, the other reaches between us and teases my sex, coaxing a delicious moan from deep in my throat.

My head falls back as the blunt tip of one finger pushes inside. “Tell me this is for me, Em.”

His voice is raw and rugged, and my muscles contract around him, desperate for more.

For everything.

He pulls his finger back, and I cry out at the loss. “Maverick . . .”

“Tell me.”

He drags his coated finger through my soaked sex and teases my clit.

Circles it.

Oh God.

Pinches it . . . Pleasure courses through my body.

“Only you,” I sigh as he plunges in again, knuckle deep.

“Ohmygod . . .” I keen. “Right there.” Shaking with need, I cling to him.

Mav shoves aside the low-cut panel at the front of my dress and groans the sexiest sound. “You should never wear panties or a bra.”

He cups my breast with his delectably rough palm before teeth graze my nipple.

My belly tightens, and heat pools between my legs.

So close already.

I’ve spent the entire day this close.

With my knees locked around Maverick’s back, I arch into him, already desperate and needy, tugging at his head as he dips low, and his warm tongue teases my nipple. His mouth closes around it—and tingles turn to full-blown fireworks as he teases and bites my nipple.

I cry out and close my eyes, my orgasm already there . . . so close but just out of reach.

“Mav . . .” I murmur as I circle my hips and rock into his hand. “I need more.”

“Eyes on me. You’re gonna watch me fuck this greedy cunt, baby.”

Holy hell, yes.

That filthy mouth. Those dirty words.

His voice sets my body on fire.

My eyes snap to his as my body tightens like the string of a guitar on the verge of snapping.

“Good girl.” He pulls his hand free, then grabs his wallet and a condom. Before I can blink, he’s sheathed and slams inside me in one hard, thick, demanding thrust.

The bottles shake and threaten to fall and coat the floor, but I couldn’t care less.

It’s just him and me and so much delicious friction.

We both moan before he covers my mouth with his hand and slows his thrusts with his eyes locked on mine. “Shh.”

Footsteps sound above us, and Mav clenches his jaw while he fucks me slowly. Inching in and out. Dragging his thick cock along my tight walls in complete control.

My nails score his scalp as they dig into his hair, and he groans and stops moving.

His cock jumps between my thighs, and with my eyes locked on his, I grind down and bite at his jaw. “Think you can be quiet, Maverick?”

Red- hot need stares back at me from his beautiful blue eyes as they grow heavier and heavier until finally, he slowly and silently molds his hands to my face.

His lips press to mine, and we breathe together.

Moan together.

Move together.

Each movement achingly slow until it’s just us moving as one.

“Don’t stop,” I whisper, begging nearly silently against his lips.

“So fucking pretty.” One hand wraps around the back of my head to stop it from slamming into the brick, and I suck in a sharp breath. “All fucking mine.”

His lips worship mine, pushing me to the highest highs until there’s nowhere left to go and nothing left to do but shatter into a million pieces.

A bright light flashes behind my eyes as my orgasm rips through me in a violent rush.

Maverick swallows each silent scream as he fucks me through it.

Never stopping.

Never making a sound or missing a beat.

Slamming into me.

Bottles shake and fall, shattering at our feet, but we don’t stop.

Can’t stop.

Not while he’s filling me over and over until it’s too much. Until I can’t form words or thoughts, and he finally comes, beautiful and powerful. His muscles dancing under my hands. His tanned skin glowing in the low lights and his strong arms holding me.

His damp brow presses against mine as we both try to catch our breath.

“Think we may have broken the Syrah,” he murmurs against my skin, and I look down.

Oops.