Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men Book 9) (35 page)

She squirmed under me and screamed out a laugh before attacking me back, racing her hands up my arms and clutching my hair before kissing me full on the mouth and spiking her tongue deep between my teeth.

My hand was clutching her full, lush breast, my tongue tangling with hers before I realized what I was doing, but I managed to tear myself away and pant a few times before muttering, “Dammit, stop trying to seduce me out of my idea. We’re
going
to the police station. Right now.”

Her eyes twinkled as she grinned up at me. “You’re the one who kissed me first.”

“Well, if you hadn’t been sitting there looking all hot and delectable, I would’ve been able to resist you.” I gave her breast one last affectionate squeeze, then licked the nipple before climbing off her. “Now get dressed before I can’t help myself again.”

She lifted her eyebrows, looking amused and yet very unamused. “Did you just give me an order, boy?”

I could play this two different ways. I could smart mouth her some more, going way overboard with it on purpose. But I already knew how that would end. She’d take up my frisky challenge and order me around right back until we were arguing hot and heavy into sex again.

Okay, so I liked that option. I liked it a lot. In fact—

Wait, no. Her safety was top priority. No sex until after we’d been to the police.

So I went with option two and demurely fluttered my lashes, begging, “Pretty please, baby doll, will you get dressed now?”

She snorted, not buying that act either. But at least she climbed off the bed. My pecker took note of how nice she looked naked, and he got pretty pissed at me for not choosing option one, but I promised him later, and he calmed down some.

It took her nearly fifteen minutes to primp. I knew she was still worried what they were going to think of her report because of how much attention she put into how she looked, and then she went for a gray, white, and black ensemble. But I didn’t say anything about it. She was actually going to do this, so I was going to be satisfied with what I got.

I took her hand and squeezed her fingers encouragingly when she announced she was finally ready. We walked from her room side-by-side and down the hall through the front room to her door. I waited as she pulled her purse and coat from their hooks. Then I retook her hand and opened the door, only to find myself face-to-face with my brother.

C
OLTON’S
C
HAPTER
|
29

B
randt dropped his hand where he’d had it raised to knock. His gaze settled on me before he said, “I knew I hadn’t called the wrong number.”

I shrugged. “You know, you could’ve just checked the call history on your phone instead of coming all the way over here to figure that out, right?”

He narrowed his eyes at my smart-ass reply. “What the fuck are you doing here, Colton?” Then he dropped his gaze to where my hand was linked with Julianna’s, and his eyes bulged with disbelief.

She tightened her grip on me. I wasn’t sure if she was nervous or trying to be supportive. But I did know she wasn’t ashamed of being caught by him with me, which was all I needed to know.

So I blinked at my brother and shot back just as accusingly, “What the fuck are
you
doing here? You’re the married one of us two.”

He shot me a grow-up look and muttered, “I’m trying to figure out why
you
were answering Juli’s phone first thing in the morning.”

“Well, I was asleep,” I replied in the most logical way I could. “And this annoying ring kept pestering me, so I answered it because I was closest to it. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t my phone until after we hung up.”

He blinked at me blankly for a moment before he blew. “What the
fuck
, Colton? You and
Julianna
?”

When a door across the hall from us creaked open, Julianna waved Brandt forward. “Maybe we should talk about this inside,” she said in a hushed voice.

When Brandt merely transferred his stunned gaze to her, I sighed and grabbed his arm, yanking him into the apartment.

Juli quickly shut the door behind him.

In a daze, Brandt gaped between us before sputtering, “Since when?”

“Uh…” I glanced Juli’s way, not sure how to calculate that. I’d wanted her since the moment I’d met her, damn near a year ago. Or maybe we should go from the night of his wedding when we’d nearly hooked up. Probably shouldn’t measure from the night I’d slept on her couch; we hadn’t exactly been the best of friends then. I guessed we could start counting from the first time we’d had sex, but that didn’t seem like the starting place at all.

But when Juli quietly answered, “A couple weeks,” I nodded in support. Sounded good enough to me.

“You...” He pointed a finger threateningly at me. “You lied to me, you little asshole.”

“Me?” I pressed a hand to my chest, my eyebrows rising. “I never lied to you. When did I lie to you?”

“Last week or so,” he explained. “I texted you after hearing a rumor from Ten and specifically asked you if you were seeing a new girl.”

“Mmhmm.” I nodded, remembering that text. “And how did I answer?”

Brandt sighed and rolled his eyes. “Something stupid like you sit next to them all the time in your home economics class.”

I grinned, still loving that line. “I was quoting
Forrest Gump
.”

Brandt’s scowl turned dry as he set his hands on his hips. “And then you said the only thing you
hadn’t
been seeing were ghosts.”

My grin widened, and I had to glance at Julianna before adding, “A
Sixth Sense
reference.”

She groaned. “Dear God, you’re an annoying pest to everyone, aren’t you?” But there was a smile playing around her lips and amusement in her eyes.

“Everyone,” I murmured before returning my attention to my brother. “And my texts answering that question were clearly a diversionary tactic if I ever heard one. You’re the dumbass for not catching on.”

Eyes narrowing, Brandt grit out, “Thanks, little brother. You’re the one who lied to me, and I’m the dumbass?” Then he pierced a probing, stern glance toward Juli. “And you.”

I swear she sank closer to me. Then her throat worked as she swallowed her dread. “Me?” she whispered.

“I thought we were friends,” he charged softly, hurt and betrayal coating his expression and making her grip on my hand tighten. Then he tightened the screw on the guilt trip he was winding into her by adding, “Confidantes.”

But instead of making her blurt out an aggrieved apology, she narrowed her eyes. “Confidantes?” she repeated in a low, hard voice. “
Confidantes?
If I was such a
confidante
to you, why didn’t you come to me with your worries when you thought I was still into you? I would’ve been open and honest and told you that wasn’t the case. But no…you sent your little brother over to
distract
me at your own wedding? That doesn’t seem very confidante-like to me.”

Brandt’s mouth fell open before he sniffed. “I’m sorry, but the way you were staring at me that night said you weren’t over shit. So excuse me for loving my wife and wanting to be faithful to her. I—wait.” He shifted his gaze suspiciously between us before he whirled to me. “You
told
her about that?”

I winced, unable to answer. But my non-answer made Brandt’s face clear as if he’d just figured something out. Pointing between us, he asked, “So…curious question. Did you tell her about that before or after she first slept with you?”

My mouth opened, but it took me a second to remember the answer.

Brandt started nodding as if he already knew, though. “Uh huh,” he murmured. “I’m guessing you told
right
before the first time. I bet learning I pushed you at her pissed her off so much she thought she’d get her revenge against me by fucking my susceptible little brother.”

I blinked, never having even thought up that notion before.

Next to me, Julianna huffed out a sound of outrage. “Wow,” she muttered. “That’s quite an insulting theory.”

My brain kicked back into gear, and I nodded. “Hell yes, it is,” I agreed, as I took a step closer to Brandt. “To both of us. Do you think I’m so stupid I would really fall for such an awful scheme, or do you really think she couldn’t possibly like me for me?”

Brandt straightened and sent me a look as if he couldn’t believe I’d apply either label to his thought process. “I think you need to find someone who
does
like you for you,” he murmured, “someone who loves you without a doubt. That’s what I think.”

“I don’t have any doubts,” I told him, staring him straight in the eye, when okay, sometimes I did, like twenty seconds ago when he’d come up with that idea, or twenty minutes earlier when he’d called her phone, or that day on campus, when I learned they talked—like
talked
—at work together.

But she’d told me she loved me, dammit.

Then again, she’d also told me she loved Brandt the night of his wedding.

Jesus, I hated doubts.

My brother quirked a brow as if he knew I was lying. But I continued to stare at him steadily.

So he whirled toward Julianna, pointing threateningly. “Stay the fuck away from my brother.”

Her lips parted in shock. I stepped in front of her, glaring him down. “Don’t fucking talk to her like that.”

“And you.” He pointed a finger at my nose next. “You’re done with this. With her. With this whole…whatever you two are doing. You’re done. No more.”

I laughed in his face. “Yeah, you don’t tell me who I can and cannot date. Sorry, bro.”

“When it’s
my
leftovers you’re sniffing around, I sure the fuck can.”

“Leftovers?” Juli and I cried in unison.

“As if,” I added. “You didn’t even finish a single date with her.”

“Yeah. Are you
sure
that’s all that ever happened between us?” he asked in the most taunting voice I’d ever heard him use.

“Hey!” Juli nudged me aside so she could get into Brandt’s face and glare. “Stop putting ideas in his head.” Turning to me, she stared beseechingly into my eyes. “Yes, half a date
is
all that ever happened between us. He’s being an ass.”

I swiveled my gaze to my brother. He stared at me a quarter of a second before folding.

“Okay, fine, dammit,” he admitted. “That half a date was it. But I still considered it. You cannot date someone I considered. It’s
weird
, so…you two…done.”

“No.” I shook my head. “No, we’re not.”

“Colton,” he muttered, gritting his teeth. “Stop being such a stubborn little shit. You owe me.”

As my face drained of color, Julianna gasped. “You fucking prick,” she started in a low, calm rage. I glanced at her, worried she was pissed at me. But her glare was solely for Brandt. She shoved him hard in the chest.

He stumbled a step away from her, his mouth falling open with obvious shock.

“He doesn’t owe you shit,” she growled, making him blink and shake his head. But she kept advancing, getting right in his face. “He was eight fucking years old. You can’t hold him accountable for that. If you want to blame someone, go talk to your goddamn
mother
. Not Colton.”

My mouth fell open. But seriously, what the hell?

Brandt gaped at her too before looking at me and saying, “What the fuck is she talking about?”

“I…I don’t…” I turned my gaze to Julianna, right about the time her eyes grew wide and she slapped her hands over her mouth.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry.” The muffled words came through her fingers as she begged me with big brown eyes to forgive her.

Finally, Brandt rasped, “Did you
tell
her?”

“What?
No
!” I stared at him earnestly, hoping he believed me, before turning back to Julianna, and trying to figure out how she knew.

“I guessed,” she admitted, creeping her hands away from her mouth long enough to confess.

I shook my head, unable to believe it. But how…? “Holy shit,” I whispered. Brandt was never going to forgive me for this. “I didn’t…” I started insistently, turning back to him, but he just held up his hands before turning away and leaving the apartment.

I stepped after him to chase him down and convince him I hadn’t been telling anyone what had happened to him, but Julianna grabbed my arm.

“Colton, oh my God. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t…I didn’t mean to—”

“How did you know?”

“I…” She shook her head. “I figured it out.”

I shook my head. “How?”

“Because you said the night of his wedding that your mom had caused your nightmares, but then the night you told me about the boy you saw molested, you said
that
had caused them, so I just put the pieces together. And Brandt is five years older than you, which made sense—”

“Holy shit,” I uttered, slapping my hands to my face. “Holy shit. I didn’t realize I’d told you so much. Oh, fuck. He’s never going to forgive me. I need to…dammit, I need to talk to him.”

I started for the door again, but Julianna’s small voice stopped me. “Colton?” was all she said.

When I glanced back, the worry on her face had me turning to her fully. “Jesus, baby doll. Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.”

She gripped my wrists when I cupped her cheeks in my hands. “You didn’t believe him, did you? That I’m only with you because of him?”

“Of course I know that.” I pressed our foreheads together. “I didn’t believe him.” I sent her a smile, hoping she’d smile back. But she still looked worried. So I sighed and lamented, “I guess your crush on him is really over.”

Her lips trembled into a smile. “Baby, I’ve been over him since the moment you walked into the Forbidden Nightclub and flirted with me. I just didn’t realize it until you offered to be my consolation prize.”

“Damn.” My chest heaved with emotion. Hoping for something to be true was a hell of a lot different than hearing it said aloud straight from the source. I decided I liked hearing it straight from the source so much better.

My relief made Julianna squint. “You weren’t really worried about that, were you?”

I shrugged, not really able to lie. “There might have been some occasions where I thought I was the only one feeling it. I gotta admit, it’s not cool wondering if you’re falling hopelessly for a woman who might still be hung up on your brother.”