Emmett arches a brow as she walks away. “No, thank you? A month ago you were bitching about us stopping you from getting laid. No one’s stopping you now.”
I bury my deflection behind a handful of nachos.
Emmett waits for me to swallow. “What?”
“Uh…” I scratch my jaw as my gaze coasts the table, landing on Adam as he politely lets another girl down, explaining they don’t want the same things. “Netflix and chill,” I blurt, then backtrack. “I think I’m growing out of this scene. I’d rather hang out at home with someone who makes me laugh.” Not a lie. “Netflix and chill,” I repeat. “Or whatever.”
Adam grins. “So you want to date.”
“Garrett wants a girrrlfriend,” Carter sings, sucking a chicken wing clean. “I’m sure you’ll find someone.”
“It can’t be all that hard. You did it.”
His bone clatters to his plate, hardened gaze slowly rising. “I’m a catch, jerk.”
I snicker. “Yeah, Ollie’s lucky she didn’t catch a disease.”
“Fucker.” Carter reaches across the table, and a game of slapsies quickly ensues as our hands fly, before Dad gets in the middle of it.
Dad is Adam. Emmett is the bad uncle who sits in the corner, egging us on. Jaxon’s the drunk aunt making out with a random.
“We should let natural selection take care of you,” Emmett says when we disengage. “Only the toughest survives.”
Carter flexes a bicep before kissing it. “That’s me.”
“As if.” I stretch my arms out, veins popping when I make two fists. “I’m tough as fuck.”
“Whatever. My sister could bring you to your knees.”
She absolutely can, already has, and I’ll gladly get down on them a thousand more times to taste the sweet spot between her thighs while she yanks my hair and chants my name, begging for more.
I try to recenter my thoughts and focus on the new conversation at hand, which is the additional time Adam’s been spending at the children’s home.
“I found my family in a home just like this one, but I know not everyone is that lucky. To think some of those kids have been sitting there for years, waiting for someone to take a chance on them…” He shakes his head, frowning. “It’s heartbreaking.”
“I think it’s great you’re using your own experience with the foster system to help other kids,” I tell him.
“You’re adopted?” Jaxon asks now that his mouth is free.
Adam nods, and Carter adds, “His dad is Deacon Lockwood.”
Jaxon’s brows jump. “Deacon Lockwood, retired quarterback for the Denver Broncos and five-time Superbowl champ, Deacon Lockwood?”
Adam chuckles. “He was so bummed when I chose hockey over football. Really, though, I couldn’t have asked for a better family. Sometimes you’re not born to them; you find them.”
Jaxon claps a hand to his shoulder, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. I haven’t warmed to him yet. “Glad you found your crew, bud.”
“I’ve been thinking about fostering, but it’s impossible with my schedule. They’ve been through enough, and they need consistency, someone who can show up every day for them.” He shrugs. “Maybe in the future, if I ever get married.”
Emmett laughs softly. “You’re gonna meet someone incredible and have an amazing family together, in whatever way you decide to make it.”
“What happened with Courtney was shit,” I chime in, “and I wish you hadn’t gotten hurt. But you deserve so much better than what she was giving you. I’m not sure you would’ve walked away if she hadn’t given you a reason.”
Adam’s relationship with his ex was on shaky grounds for a while, and he reached a point where he was desperate to make her happy. In doing so, he neglected his own happiness. If he hadn’t found her with another man, I’m not sure he would’ve done what was best for himself.
Adam focuses on the drink in his hand before he looks up, smiling. “Yeah. Fuck yeah. Fuck her.”
“Ay-yo!” Emmett punches a fist through the air. “That’s the spirit, Woody! Round of shots for the table!”
I wish I could enjoy mine with the team.
Instead, it stays in my hand, halfway to my mouth as my jaw dangles, stare fixed on the picture peeking up at me from my phone.
One small, purple, and glittery, the other gigantic, black, and veiny as fuck, two dildos stare up at me. A simple question accompanies the photo.
Sunshine: Hey big guy, if I were considering sleeping with you in the future and wanted to give myself time to adjust to your size, which one would I fuck?
Jennie’s doing great with the sexting. Fast learner. Superfast.
I, on the other hand, am not doing so well. My brain might be melting, and my dick has turned to steel.
A second picture comes in, Jennie’s fingers wrapped around the small, purple dildo.
Sunshine: Mr. Itty Bitty it is.
“Why’re you making that face? Who’re you texting?”
I slam my phone against my chest at Carter’s questions, thankful X-ray vision isn’t real—that I know of. When I leap to my feet, my chair topples to the ground. “It’s my mom.” Shit, that was so high-pitched. “I-I-I—” Fuck. “I gotta go!” I lift my phone way up, and shake it, for whatever fucking reason. “She needs me. Mom needs me. I gotta…bye!”
I dash across the bar and into the lobby, fingers flying over the screen.
Me: Mr. Itty Bitty? I think the fuck not.
Sunshine: Gonna head to bed to take care of myself. Talk to you tomorrow.
Me: Don’t u fucking dare.
I jab the elevator call button nine hundred thousand times and fall inside when it opens.
Me: Jennie???
Me: I swear to god if u go to bed right now I will fly home early and wake you up with my cock down your damn throat.
Sunshine: kiss emoji Night Gare-Bear
“No. No, no, no, no.” Agitation barrels through my veins as the elevator climbs. My foot won’t stop bouncing. Pretty sure my eye is twitching.
I claw at the doors when the elevator stops, and it takes me seven tries to successfully swipe my card through my door slot. My shirt gets stuck over my face as I go tumbling into my room, and Jennie answers my video request on the third attempt, because she’s a little shit who likes to get me going.
“Mr. Andersen,” she purrs. “To what do I owe the pleasure of a late-night phone call?”
I trip over my feet stepping out of my pants, stumbling forward and bouncing off the side of the bed.
Jennie’s cackle electrifies the air. “What are you doing?”
“Gettin’ naked.” Jennie gets an eyeful of my dick as he springs free from my boxer briefs, bobbing around.
“Oh my. Lieutenant Johnson sure looks happy to see me.”
“He sure as shit is, and you’re gonna need to ditch Mr. Itty Bitty. My fingers can fuck you better than he can.” I grip the base of my cock and flick my head. “Now lose the clothes, sunshine.”
Dragging the blanket away, she reveals those stellar curves inch by aching inch. “What clothes?”
My eyes roll to the ceiling as I groan. “God, I wanna fuck you.”
I’m baffled when her smile turns shy. Does she not know how mind-blowingly sexy she is? I’d sell my left nut for a VIP all-you-can-ride ticket to her Disneyland. All-you-can-eat works just fucking fine for now, though.
I roll onto the bed, prop the phone up on the side table, and wait for Jennie to do the same.
She tucks her hair behind her ears, a purely innocent move that makes my cock throb. It’s down and long and messy, and I wanna drag my fingers through it before I wrap it around my fist and make her look me in the eyes while she comes.
“So, uh, how does this…work?”
“I’m gonna fuck my hand while I watch you fuck your pussy, and I’m gonna try not to make a mess when I come. You, sunshine, can be as messy as your heart desires.”
A shiver rocks through her body, and she shakes her head. “Two weeks ago you couldn’t even string an entire sentence together.”
“Yeah, ’cause you’re hot as balls and you intimidated the fuck out of me.”