6. Barnett

six

Barnett

" U m, hi. Sorry to bother you. It's getting pretty crowded upstairs." The girl of my dreams steps off the staircase and onto the basement floor, her hot pink painted toenails a sharp contrast to the light grey of the carpet. "I'm Hadley Ford, by the way." she tucks a piece of long brown hair behind her ear and glances at us through long lashes that frame her crystal blue eyes—the same eyes I've dreamed about since I first started having feelings for girls—my secret celebrity crush—it was something else Brock liked to tease me about.

Our game of foosball is forgotten as Caspian and Holden follow my gaze to our surprise guest. "Hi, I'm Barnett Billings. This is Holden Hill, and he's Caspian Hove." My eyes never leave her beautiful face. When Cassi told us about the fake dating arrangement with Hadley, I thought she was crazy, but now, seeing Hadley in person, all I can think about is having her in my arms and my bed. Even if I have to share her, it would be worth it.

"We were just getting ready to start a game of foosball. Would you like to join? You can be my partner."

Holden and Caspian snap out of the trance she's put them in, "Or you could be my partner." they both offer.

"Thanks, but I've never played before. You'll have to show me what to do." she smiles at the three of us as she walks around the foosball table to stand beside me.

I explain the rules to her, stressing not to spin the nobs but to twist them. Caspian and Holden go easy on us for the first two games, but once Hadley begins to pick up on the rules, all bets are off, and we lose to Caspian and Holden in three out of five games.

"That was a lot of fun. I can't believe I've never heard of foosball before." Hadley laughs, collapsing against the couch. "Now, what should we do?"

Her question is innocent enough, but the sexual energy crackling in the air is enough to set the house on fire.

Holden is the first to speak, "If we're going to be your fake boyfriends, we should probably practice touching and other stuff."

The words other stuff , hang heavy in the air. It could mean almost anything—touching, kissing, caressing—the possibilities are endless if this was a real relationship, which it's not. But damn, I've watched how Fin, Coulter, and Royal treat Teagan, and it seems so natural. Even the triplets treat Britt like a queen. And don't even get me started on Colt, Beck, and Jensen—they would put Gemma on a pedestal and keep her locked away from the world if they could.

"Okay." Hadley's quick answer takes us all off guard. "I mean, it's a good idea. We really should practice."

"Sure, you're right, but how do you want to do it? Out here in front of everyone, or do you want to go into a closet with each one of us separately, like seven minutes in Heaven?" What an idiot. I internally slap myself for mentioning the kissing game, Seven Minutes in Heaven—what was I thinking? It's not like we're pre-teens in our parents' basement at our first co-ed party. "What I meant to say…" but Hadley cuts me off before I can finish.

"I've heard some of my co-stars talk about playing Seven Minutes in Heaven, but I never had the opportunity."

"Then it's your lucky day." Holden takes Hadley by the elbow, grabs an empty beer bottle with his free hand, and guides her to a sitting position on the basement floor. "We'd better make it official by sitting on the floor and spinning the bottle." Caspian and I take our spots on the floor. "If you'll do the honors." Holden hands Hadley the empty beer bottle.

She places it on the floor and twists it. We watch the bottle spin until it slows down and lands on me.

"I don't remember closets being this small." I joke, trying to make light of the two of us crammed into a small room.

"That's probably because you were a teenager, not a grown man." She laughs along with me. "I mean, I can't believe you would have had all these muscles as a child."

"Not even close. I started lifting weights as a way to ignore my older brother and his taunts of calling me a skinny runt." There must be something about being alone with her in a dark room that has me opening up to her in ways I never have with anyone else.

"I'm so sorry you were teased growing up and by your brother—the one person who should always have your back." Her hand finds mine in the darkness, and she laces her fingers through mine—the feeling both comforting and foreign. I can't remember the last time someone comforted me.

"It's okay—it was a long time ago." I shrug, and she squeezes my hand tighter, telling me without words she's here for me.

"It's still not right. I might not have any siblings, but if I've learned anything from my time on family sitcoms, it's that family always comes first."

When Cassi told me about the arrangement with Hadley, I was a little hesitant at first. I was afraid Hadley wouldn't live up to the image I had created of her from all the years of watching her on TV. But so far, with her kind spirit and friendly smile, she's everything I knew she would be.

My free hand snakes around her neck as I lower my lips to hers. When our lips meet, she opens her mouth to my touch, and I slip my tongue inside, tasting her for the first time. She moans into my mouth, causing my hips to buck against her stomach.

"Sorry." I groan against her lips, my cock hard as steel wanting to grind into her.

"It's okay." She moans, wrapping one of her legs around my waist, pulling me closer—so close I can feel the pulsing of her clit through our pants.

With each stroke of our tongues, our hips connect in a combination of thrusts and grinding until it feels like I could come in my pants at any minute. I slip my hand between our bodies and slide it into her pants, past her panties, until I can feel the slick heat of her on my fingertips. I sink a finger into her slick folds, only to be interrupted by a loud knock on the door and Holden letting us know our seven minutes in Heaven are done.