Chapter 35

Jamie

"Like you walking into another date with me, knowing it's real for me, at least, and seeing how that pans out."

I didn't really date. All the guys I'd been out with before had been the result of hookups that never really went home. They decided they liked what they saw when we slept together and so came back for more and more until they got sick of me or I kicked them to the curb, but in some ways it worked. We never pretended to be anything other than a situationship and that left me feeling safe.

Except for Rohan, they never had a chance of touching me any more than I did them.

So why did I stand there and stare at Hunter's smile and consider the idea of it? The fancy restaurant was gorgeous, but that wasn't us. This was. I shook my head, realising I didn't need to even worry about this, because he'd never beat me at a game of pool.

"You'd need to win first." In my mind, it all went perfectly. All I needed to do was take the shots I could see clearly in my mind, but right as I had a ball in my sights a hand landed on the small of my back. My whole body stiffened and that queered my aim, only a knee-jerk reaction stopping me from hitting the ball. "So this is how we're playing?"

"I aim to win, and I don't give a fuck how I get there," he said, his smile a flag of challenge being waved in my face. "Especially with that prize on the table."

As Hunter's eyes slid over me, I shook my head.

"You wanna play dirty pool? I've got three older brothers. I know all the tricks."

"Yeah, but this way, win or lose, I get something out of it." His hand slid slowly over my lower back, mapping its curve. "Might leave me with blue balls, but I'll take it."

"That right?"

If I let a guy getting in my face dissuade me, I'd never have survived my childhood, let alone becoming a mechanic, so I moved position, pushing him back from the table with my hip, then settling right in front of him as I bent over. His groan as my butt connected with his crotch made clear he'd realised the mistake he'd made, compounded by the way I spread my thighs wide to improve my stance. Didn't have him moving out of the way, though, as I forced myself to focus and take my shot. The ball sank into the pocket and I rose up and turned around with a smirk.

"Is this you teaching me a lesson?" If I was hoping to see a suitably chastised Hunter, I was about to be disappointed. Instead, his eyes danced as he grinned down at me. "Then consider me your most diligent student. Nothing I like better than playing dirty."

My eyes narrowed, but I didn't deign to reply, moving around the table to set up my next shot. He followed me, and then right as I was about to shoot, he leaned down and breathed into my ear. The ticklish sensation, the intimacy of it, threw me off, forcing me to stand up and push him away. He danced back as I wielded the cue like a weapon, cackling the whole time. I was able to take my shot without interference, but my focus? It was off. I saw balls all across the table, but had to remind myself which ones were mine, let alone which one to aim for next. I messed up my shot, cursing under my breath, only for him to step forward.

There were a whole lot of shitty tactics people used in bar games to put someone off. Between friends it could be a joke, between serious competitors it could result in fists being thrown. Not sure if any of them included walking their fingers up the spine of their opponents, though. Hunter froze as I did just that, his head tilting my way, staring as I smiled. He tried to take his shot when I pulled away, but I just grabbed a handful of the most perfectly firm arse at the last minute and his cue struck wild.

"Oh, you are going down…" he growled.

"Playing dirty, that's what you said, right?" I moved fast, taking my shot before he could rally. To my satisfaction, the ball sank with a thud. "I'm just abiding by the conditions you set."

"I'm a pretty mediocre pool player," he admitted, his body shadowing mine. "But this game I know how to play."

As I leaned over, he followed me, his hands slipping under the hem of my shirt, his fingers splaying across my stomach as I struck the white ball. That was distracting enough to foul my shot, but the kiss he placed on the nape of my neck? Being groped, teased, that I could take, but that moment of intimacy was a step too far. When I pulled away, my heart was thudding far too fast.

"You fuck."

"Not too late to change the terms of the bet." Just as I'd fantasised, he picked me up and set me on the edge of the table and stepped into the space between my legs. "I'll stop playing dirty. I'll even do every single one of the jobs on my sister's latest insane DIY list if you agree to just one date."

"Resorting to blackmail, are we?" I said. "Because you know you can't win."

"Because I don't give a shit about winning." The smile faded and something vulnerable replaced it. "Just about you. I don't deserve another chance at this, but if you give me one anyway." His eyes dropped down, seeming to study the shape of my lips. "I'll show you that it could be good between us."

That's what scared me.

He would never just be some guy who'd appear at my doorstep, looking to get laid. Hunter would want more, somehow I knew that. So this was the moment when I told him that there was no way we could do this. My mouth moved, my throat worked, but instead of me replying, Millie's voice cut through the haze.

"Soo… are you two gonna get a room, or what?"

Shit.

The pub came back into focus with a snap and I slid off the table, even as Hunter tried to hold me right there.

"Sorry, Mills—" I said.

"Don't be. The regulars were following everything with great interest. There's a betting pool running to see if you two kiss." She produced a wad of money from her pocket. "I might have started it."

"Put me down for twenty that we do," Hunter said, pulling out his wallet.

"You can't bet on yourself, dickhead, but if you could make your move, that'd be great. I've got good money riding on a yes."

"Yes?" Hunter turned to me with a question in his eyes, but it was multi-pronged. To a date, to a kiss, to everything this insane situation entailed.

"I said yes to Brock," I told him, my words having all the impact of a slap, but he didn't let them dissuade him. "I said yes to Hayden today."

This was the moment he got jealous, angry, and pushed himself away from me in disgust, so imagine my surprise when he just grinned.

"So it seems only fair that you say the same to me."

His hands went to my face, his body hunching over, blocking out everyone and everything, forcing me to just focus on him. Dimly I heard whoops as his lips crashed down on mine, but did they come from the bar or my heart? I didn't know, just that he was kissing me with lips that tasted bitter from the beer and sweet from him.

"Great work, brother." I blinked when Hunter pulled away, staring into space, trying to come back down to earth. Millie's face swam into focus, wearing a knowing smirk. "You made me at least a hundred bucks. The guys were sure you couldn't seal the deal."

"Sounds like it's your shout," I croaked out.

"And that you need to piss off back home." Millie cocked a hip as she regarded Hunter. "I told you, Jamie's my friend and she came here to hang out with me, so once you apologised?—"

"I need to go home and start talking to Hayden about this damn list you'll have us working on. You remember we renovated your bathroom only a year or so ago?" he said.

"And that's when I was going through a minimalist phase," she said with a shrug. "Now I'm all about cottage core."

"Cottage core…" Hunter sounded like he was in real pain as he rubbed his forehead. "So, tomorrow?"

That fear was back again, crowding out the good feelings I'd been enjoying moments before, but I was a woman of my word.

"Tomorrow is no go. Hayden…" I couldn't protect him from this knowledge. His own brother would tell him what was happening, so that meant I could too. "He's on parental meeting duty. There's a barbecue around at my brother's place tomorrow, and after that, I'll probably be crying in the foetal position in my bed." Sometimes that's what actually happened. "Monday?"

"You got it."

Hunter had hugged me plenty of times before and I'd enjoyed the feel of that body, but this was different. As he tugged me closer and placed a kiss on the top of my head, there was a promise of intimacy that was both tantalising and terrifying.

"I'll come by and pick you up from work. We'll find something fun to do. Chill even."

I wanted to ask what, get times, dates, locations, but I stopped myself and just smiled. Millie stayed quiet as he walked out of the pub, but I could feel her restless energy, and sure enough, when she turned around, she was grinning.

"So… apology accepted, huh? Huh?" She started to nudge me in the ribs with her elbow, forcing me to stage a counterattack, until everyone in the pub was treated to us shoving each other around, instead of me pashing Hunter.

"I may have been convinced to give him another chance. If he stuffs it up the next time?—"

"You'll take one look at those baby blues and decide he needs another opportunity, just like everybody else does." She rolled her eyes, then looked at me. "So, last thing I knew you were going out on a fake date with Brock."

"Right." I was used to being completely open with Millie. We'd giggled over how sloppy my first kiss with Derek was when we were still in school, navigated losing our virginities with a combination of curiosity and trepidation, but this? "What exactly do you want me to tell you?"

"Everything!" she said, escorting me back towards the bar. The results of the illicit bet were handed to the winners, the guys behind the bar grumbling about me ‘giving in too easily' to Hunter. "Actually, no." Millie rubbed her forehead. "God, I didn't think this through. We are one-hundred percent not giving my brothers' dicks a score out of ten."

"You girls do that?" Mikey, one of the barman asked, looking at the other fellas in alarm.

"Of course," Annie said. "All women do. We even have a website where we record the data to share with other women."

Her manner was so completely dry, and combined with the weight of age and experience, I could see the guys' eyes shifting around nervously, right up until the lot of us girls cracked up laughing.

"Bloody bitches…" Mikey muttered, going down the end of the bar to serve some people that had just arrived.

"So no dick scores," I agreed. "Brock wowed my parents. I'm fairly sure Mum's creating a Pinterest board as we speak with all our wedding details on it, and Brock invited Dad to the car show next week, so he thinks the sun shines out of your brother's butt. Then Hayden…"

I looked up guiltily at Millie, realising there wasn't much more I could safely say.

"You've got that little cutie dancing after you as well?" Annie asked, pushing another rum and Coke my way. "If I was younger…" She placed a hand on her heart. "I'd be the meat in that twin sandwich any day of the week."

"Ew," Millie said.

"We'll have a threesome with you!" came a voice from further down the bar. "Especially if there's free beer in it."

"You should be paying me, you pricks," she replied, tossing a tea towel at their heads. "And my husband would have something to say about that…" Annie moved down the bar to deal with them, leaving just me and Millie.

"And Hayden?"

"This is weird," I said. "It's really weird."

"God, is it ever," she hissed. "I didn't really think this through. In my head it was ‘and kiss…'" She mimicked two dolls being made to kiss. "But the reality is way trickier. Like the friend in me wants you to ride my brother until he drops, but he…" She made this nauseating burp. "He's my brother. In my mind he's like a Ken Doll. Y'know, all smooth at the front."

"Right."

I one-hundred percent couldn't tell her that her brother had serious big dick energy, or what we'd gotten up to this afternoon, so I took a sip of my drink and then said, "Well, we talked and then… we played poker."

"Poker." She shot me a flat look. "You played a card game with my brother. Right. So… who won?"

"We both did." When I smirked, so did she, despite herself. "A lot. We each had a royal flush and?—"

"Stop or I will vomit." She slapped her hand over her mouth. "I really, really will."

I smiled and then settled against the bar.

"And in the spirit of honesty, I may have played poker with Brock as well."

"Brock…!" She looked around to see if her yelp had got us any attention, then focussed back on me. "Damn, girl?—"

"In my defence, they are all really hot, and I thought it was all fake and this was my one chance to act out some really persistent sexual fantasies without ruining our friendship, so?—"

"No, it's fine. If they were someone else's brothers, you know we'd have done a dick girth to orgasm ratio analysis by now. I'm not slut shaming, but…" Her lips pursed and her brow creased right before she smiled. "It's different this time, I guess. I care about you and them. I want you all to be happy and… I guess you are." She snorted and then put the back of her hand to her brow. "Like sleep with all of my brothers, please, but…"

The furrow between her brows deepened, even as her smile grew pained.

"What happens when you decide to take things further with only one of them?"

All of the good feeling of Hunter's kiss was washed away then, leaving me feeling cold and shaky. I couldn't answer that, because honestly, I had no idea.