Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
His eyes opened. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Sleep okay?”
I nodded.
“I was just dreaming about you,” he said.
Beneath the covers, my body hummed with joy. “What about me?”
He turned onto his side to face me. Bringing a hand to my mouth, he brushed my lower lip with his thumb, tugging it down slightly. “This.”
“I’ve got Show and Tell today,” Dash said as the sweat was cooling on our skin.
“That’s right. It’s Monday.” I propped my head in my hand. “What time is that?”
“I have to be there at one. What time is it now?”
I picked up my phone from the nightstand. “Seven.”
“Damn, that’s early.”
Laughing, I put my phone down again. “You can go back to sleep. I’m going to make some coffee.”
“I’m up,” he said, but by the time I came out of the bathroom, he was fast asleep again. Leaving him be, I threw on Dash’s discarded T-shirt from the night before and tiptoed downstairs.
After letting Fritz out, I filled the coffee maker with water for a full pot and measured out the grounds. While I was standing there waiting for it to brew, I gathered the front of Dash’s shirt in my hands and brought it to my face. Inhaling the scent of him sent a shiver throughout my entire body. I closed my eyes and lost myself to the feeling—I was light as a feather, floating through air. I was—
“Oh, shit. Ari?”
Whirling around, I opened my eyes and realized I was half naked in the Buckleys’ kitchen and Xander had just come in the back door, which would have given him a nice clear view of my ass. “Xander!” I dropped the shirt and tugged down on the hem. I had no underwear on beneath it.
“Sorry,” he said, turning immediately for the door again. “I’m doing some work on the house this morning and needed a tool from my dad’s basement. I’ll come back later.”
“No, it’s okay,” I said, running for the stairs, holding the shirt down in the back. “I just put on a whole pot of coffee. I’ll go wake Dash.”
I hurried up the stairs and burst into his bedroom, throwing myself on the bed. “Dash!” I whispered frantically, pounding on his naked shoulder. He was buck naked, lying starfish-style on his belly. “Wake up! Xander is here!”
“Huh?” He picked up his head. “What?”
“Xander is here, and I think he saw my butt.”
Confused, Dash flipped over and sat up. “Xander saw your butt?”
“It’s possible.” I took a breath and put my hand on my stomach. My heart was racing. “I was downstairs in nothing but your T-shirt and he came in the back door and might have glimpsed my rear.”
“He never fucking knocks,” Dash grumbled, getting out of bed. “Is he still here?”
“He was going to leave, but I told him to stay. Coffee is on.”
Dash messed around in his bag and yanked on underwear and jeans. “Okay.”
“Dash.” I sat back on my heels. “This means he knows about us.”
“Yeah.” He pulled a black T-shirt over his head.
“I’m sorry.”
Right away, he came over to me and tipped up my chin. “Hey. You have nothing to apologize for. Xander is the one that barged in here, and besides, he knew about us anyway.”
“He did?”
“Well, he suspected it would happen, although he thinks it’s a bad idea.”
“He said that?”
Turning toward the mirror over the dresser, he ran his hands through his messy hair, frowning at his reflection. “He’s convinced that friends with benefits doesn’t work, because even if the friends agree at the start about remaining just friends, sex changes things.”
“Changes things how?”
“He says someone always gets attached, and it ends badly.”
“Oh.” I vowed right then and there I would not get attached. This would not end badly.
“But he doesn’t know us. You and I are the only two people whose opinions matter on this subject. We know who we are and what this is.”
“Right,” I said. But I felt like Xander did know us.
Dash turned around and looked at me. “Our friendship is none of Xander’s business. But neither is your ass, so put on some clothes, and we’ll go downstairs and tell him to fuck off if he’s going to be judgmental.”
I laughed and jumped off the bed. “Deal.”
Xander was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee when we came downstairs, but other than a quick exchange of looks between the brothers—Xander’s said, Dude, you didn’t listen, and Dash’s responded, Yes, I did but you were wrong—no mention was made of the fact that I’d obviously spent the night.
Or that Xander had seen my derriere.
After a few minutes, he disappeared into the basement to look for some kind of screwdriver, and Dash leaned back in his chair. “See? All good. What are you up to today?”
“Not much. Some house stuff.”
“I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to Show and Tell with me, but it’s okay if you’re busy.”