Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Brynn

W e all sit around the table. I’m not even going to ask where Carter found these candy cane ice sculptures that sit between each couple.

“Only you,” Tre says, staring at the twenty-four-inch ice block in front of him.

“And why exactly is the candy cane upside down?” Pierce asks.

I love that he’s becoming more comfortable with my family.

“So it would stay standing up under the weight of the ice. You guys are the ones with dirty minds, I just want to make that clear.” Carter looks between each one of us.

“All right, everyone. Hands and mouths only.” Mom rolls her eyes. “Go!”

Pierce leans in. “I’ll use my mouth on the lower part, and you use your hands. We’ll swap when you get too cold.”

“Okay.” I bust out laughing, seeing Kenzie watching in amazement at Andrew licking the stick of the candy cane.

Pierce bends down and sucks the tip while I run my hands up and down the main stick. Water drips down my wrists onto my forearms.

Tre’s staring at us all as though he’s about to tap out and not care about the win.

“You’ve got a good mouth, put it to use,” Tessa tells him.

I swear I almost throw up a little in my mouth.

I don’t even look my parents’ way. Actually, that’s a great idea. To get this done, I need to not look at my family members. One last glance down the table, and I see why Carter brought Faith on this trip. She’s got the kind of skills that make me think she should be teaching a class.

Pierce’s mouth pops off the ice before he goes back to sucking it like a giant ice cube that’s attached to a pole or something. He watches my hands, his eyelids growing heavy. “On second thought. Let’s switch.”

I laugh, and he spins the sculpture around. I suck and lick while his hands slide up and down the shaft. There’s no way we can do this and not have it seem sexual.

“I think you might have to let me take this one,” Pierce whispers. “Because I’m going to embarrass myself if I have to watch you suck or stroke the candy cane any longer.”

“You can thank me later,” Carter says, not doing anything but watching Faith do all the work.

“Why don’t you put those mediocre skills to the test?” I point at his ice sculpture.

Carter narrows his eyes. “Fine, I’ll win this challenge.”

“It’s a stupid challenge, and we’re getting rid of the rule that allowed it in the first place.” Tre looks at Mom, and she nods.

Ew… ew… I need to stop looking around the table.

“This is really painful,” Pierce says.

I slide my hand under the table to his crotch, and sure enough, he’s hard from watching me suck on this ice stick as if it’s his dick.

We have three wins, and Tre’s not doing much. Carter is in go mode since I insulted his skills. I don’t think we even need to do this challenge to secure the win.

“We’re out,” I say and cross my arms.

Tre quirks an eyebrow, but their sculpture is mostly just melting from being out of the freezer. Carter is about halfway done—mostly thanks to Faith’s effort.

The other two teams aren’t going to win the competition anyway.

“I’ll let you pick the event,” I say to Tre and put out my hand.

“Deal.” He slides his hand into mine. “We’re out.”

“You can’t do that!” Carter looks between us.

“Can and did.” I stand. “Pierce and I have to do some wrapping. See you all at dinner.”

Pierce doesn’t waste any time walking out with me, then we’re speed-walking toward our villa.

Once we’re behind closed doors, I push him against the wall and palm the bulge in his pants. “It gets you all hot to see me sucking on something, huh?”

“You have no fucking idea. And thank you for your genius idea of getting us out of there.”

I sink to my knees, not bothering to take off our boots, and wrap my fingers around the waist of his jeans.

“You look good on your knees,” he says, palm cradling my cheek.

“Well, you look good enough to lick.” I flick the button of his pants. He moans, and I slide down the zipper, tugging his jeans until they’re at his knees. Then I take him out of his boxer briefs and fist his base, bringing the tip to my lips. “Should I tease you like you did me?”

“I think the ice sculpture was teasing enough.” His hands grip my ponytail. I love the tug he gives it.

I slowly lick the side of his cock, then twirl the tip around my mouth.

“Jesus, your mouth.” The back of his head hits the wall.

Yeah, there’s nothing better than hearing that and taking the guy you’re falling for to the edge, knowing it’s all because of you.

And it’s nice that Pierce is the reciprocating kind, because after he comes down my throat, he splays me out on the bed and returns the favor.

We’re getting ready for dinner, though I really want to stay here with him and see how many positions we can master.

Pierce graciously allowed me to get ready first, so I’m on the couch with my laptop out, looking at The Mad Batter’s current branding like Tessa asked me to. It’s a cute bakery with an Alice in Wonderland theme. She’s got cookies with phrases like Eat Me on them, which I love, but there’s definitely some work and updating that could be done.

Pierce swings his legs behind me and sandwiches me between him and the computer, resting his chin on my shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“Looking at Tessa’s bakery.”

He doesn’t say anything.

“What do you think?”

He kisses my neck. “I think you got this.”

“Thank you, but I want to know what you see.”

He sighs. “It’s outdated. I’d probably overhaul the store, make a new logo that doesn’t have Alice in Wonderland as a part of it. The shop name already implies it, and as long as she has goods to fulfill that demand for avid fans, she should expand to get people who couldn’t care less about Alice in Wonderland .”

“I was thinking the same thing. Plus, they’re a small woman-owned business.”

“All good things when it comes to consumers,” he says.

“Look at the cute cookies.” I point out the Eat Me cookies.

“I’ll eat you.” He pretends he’s going to eat my neck, and I giggle.

“Hey.” I close my laptop and turn around so I’m facing him. “We have a problem.”

His forehead wrinkles. “What’s the problem?”

I tilt my head. “We’re up for the same job, remember?”

His head rocks back, and he smiles.

“Plus, we live in different countries.”

“Not if I get the job over you.” He winks then rests his forehead against mine. “Just kidding.”

“I only ask because Christmas is in two days, then we’re leaving here. I’m going back to Portland and…”

“I can go to Portland,” he says as though it’s no big deal.

“You mean until you hear from Enzo?”

Pierce sighs. “Honestly, I don’t know what to do about that job. I’m really happy right now. I know we have to figure a lot out, but there’s nothing for me in London.”

My heart races. What is he saying?

“But there is a possibility of a job in New York. What if one of us gets that? What happens to the other one then? Or what if neither of us get it?” I ask.

I’m not even sure I want to live in New York City. It wasn’t really my thing, but maybe Christmas is busier and crazier than usual. I should probably ask Tessa, since she lived there and moved to Portland with Tre after they met.

He shrugs. “If you get the job, I’m sure I can search for other marketing jobs in New York.”

He can’t really be already deciding that we go where the other goes.

“So, we try to stay in the same city?”

He runs his fingers down my back. “I’d like to. Is that not something you want? Would it be moving too fast?”

I think about it for a second. “Is it weird if it doesn’t feel fast?”

He chuckles and kisses my cheek. “No. It’s our decision on what we want to do. I don’t want to be apart from you. I’m not asking for marriage or even living together, but I want to be in the same zip code. That’s all.”

I flip around and straddle his lap, clinging to him like a koala bear. “Me too. I want that too.”

“Then let’s do it. I’ll go back to Portland with you until we hear back from Enzo, then we can make our decision on what to do. I’ll even stay at a hotel, so you don’t have to house me.”

I rear back and look into his big green eyes. “You’re staying with me, end of discussion. And can I just say how adult I feel right now? Like we’ve really got our shit together this time.”

He laughs, and I cast kisses all over his beautiful face.

Life is good.

But Pierce is better.