When they were sixteen, he prepared a giant promposal for one of the girls on the cheerleading squad in front of almost their entire high school, but she said no and he refused to go to their prom that year.
And the first time they ever stripped, he fell over, spilled the girl’s drink all over her, and almost got himself fired because he inadvertently groped her very intimately as he attempted to clean her up.
To West’s credit, he sat there and let Beck get it all out while I giggled my way through both dinner and dessert. Sure, he shot him a few dirty looks and, I suspect, kicked him under the table like a child, but he never told him to stop.
I wondered how many times they’d done this routine before.
“All right, all right,” West finally said. “Can we switch to you now? You’ve done stupider shit than I have in the past.”
“You mean like the time I pulled that chick before our sophomore year in college and she ended up being the teaching assistant in one of my classes?” Beck asked. “Because that was a bummer. I was really into her.”
“You... You did what?” I put my glass of wine. “Did you sleep with her again?”
He grinned. “Of course I did. We slept together for six months before she had a pregnancy scare and we decided it was over.”
“You mean you decided it was over,” West reminded him.
“Was she pregnant?” I questioned.
“No. But she told me she was protected. How many scares do you have if you’re sure you’re protected?”
“Well...” I paused and thought back. Been there, done that. “I’m protected and I’ve had three, but those were less scares and more that I’m really bad at remembering dates.”
Beck snorted. “See? That’s one thing. But she literally had no idea. I wasn’t into having kids then. Still ain’t. Tell you what though—I used a damn condom every time after that.”
“Your condom bill was bigger than your tuition,” West said dryly. “You’re the only reason we made so much money stripping. They all came to see you again.”
“You mean after you’d stopped spilling drinks on the patrons, right?” I teased him, a grin on my face.
He snapped his gaze to me. “I can think of one person I wouldn’t mind spilling a drink over.”
“You just want an excuse to lick me all over.”
Beck roared with laughter as West gave me his dirty smirk. “She’s got you fuckin’ pegged, pal. How long’s she staying?”
“As long as it takes to get your marketing finished,” I answered, sipping from my glass and trying to ignore the hot look West was giving me. “And I get a hell of a lot more work done with you around. I’ve done more work today than we have all week.”
“Reeeeeaaaaally.” Beck stared at West. “And why’s that, West?”
“Not a clue,” he answered, still staring at me.
I squirmed under his heated scrutiny of me. Like he really was imagining licking me all over.
Damn it. Now, I was imagining him licking me all over. I didn’t need to be imagining that. Not at his house with his bedroom in it.
“Excuse me,” I said, looking to West. “Where’s your bathroom?”
“Upstairs, straight at the end of the hall.”
“Thanks.” I got up, feeling his eyes hot on me the entire time, and went upstairs in search of the bathroom. I found myself moving slowly as I looked at the photos that adorned the walls of the staircase.
There were a couple of West and Beck, both younger and recently, judging by the distinct lack of stubble and muscle in the younger photo. One photo had West in the middle of an older man and woman, and the man had a distinct resemblance to him, so I guessed these were his grandparents. Next to that hung a larger photo of a much younger West in a graduation gown and hat, between another man and woman, these two much younger than the other couple. The man was his mirror image, and both he and the woman wore the kind of proud smiles only parents could.
I smiled a little. Another side of West I hadn’t known existed. He obviously loved his family very much, and my heart warmed at it.
I found my way into the white-and-ice-blue-decorated bathroom, used the toilet, flushed, and washed my hands. I’d learned more about him and Beck tonight than I’d ever thought I would, and I already knew that resisting West would be even harder now.
He was no longer just a sexy guy who gave killer orgasms and stripped.
He was...a real person. A real guy with feelings and memories, successes and triumphs, low points and mistakes.
That was scary.
Their low voices rumbled through the air as my heels sank into the hallway carpet, and I shouldn’t have stopped to listen, but I did.
“Stop beating yourself up,” Beck said quietly. “It happened, West. You can’t let that one mistake rule the rest of your life. I don’t have to be a fucking relationship counselor to see that you like this woman.”
I swallowed hard.