Common Areas, page 6
“They play this game.” Chase offered me a plate. He hesitated a moment before offering me a beer, too. “Six rounds on the table to see who gets to clean the upstairs bathroom. I watch, eat, and kind of play ref when they get too drunk. But I got the master bath,” he smirked a little at me, “so I don't participate. But guess who is new to your game, girls.” There was something about the way he said it that got my attention. The usual dark demeanor Chase projected diminished in favor of the game.
“I don’t know how to play,” I spoke up before they could get too invested in the idea of me joining. “So, you’ll end up beating me anyway. I can take cleaning the bathroom. It's no big deal.”
“No,” Patton stated around a mouthful of food, “watch the first round, go up against the loser for fun. The winner can help you. It's a good time.”
“I’ll help her,” Chase offered after a sip. “It’ll keep either of you from sabotaging your chances of winning the night.” He sniffed at Patton, “Because we all know that you cheat.”
Patton made a disgruntled noise but didn’t argue. Tyler was busy shoving food into his mouth, so he didn’t offer any sort of retort. That gave Patton the opportunity to break the billiards. I watched as I ate, gaining nothing when he whooped as three balls bounced into pockets around the table.
“I’m gonna be solids,” he said with a surety. “You can take stripes.” There was a bit of mocking in his tone as he took up a position at the table again, aiming at the solid white ball. “When it's your turn, of course.”
Tyler snorted and made a show of rolling his eyes, “Of course.”
“Are they normally like this?” I glanced at Chase as he demolished a slice.
He paused to sip at his beer and looked at me. “We get competitive sometimes. There’s nothing to it, really. It's mostly for fun. They don’t really get upset about it, or if someone does get butthurt, it's not for long.”
“I’m not really competitive,” I told him truthfully. “I don’t really mind cleaning a bathroom.”
“It’s fun.” He shot me a look before directing his attention back to the two men circling the table. “Don’t let the fact that you don’t know how to play stop you. If you just give in, you'll get taken advantage of.” He glanced over, perhaps to see if I was listening. “Figure you’ve had enough of that.”
“You’re not wrong,” I sighed and decided to pay harder attention to what Patton and Tyler were doing as I ate.
The concept seemed easy enough, getting your designated balls into the pockets of the pool table. They avoided the eight ball until it was the only ball left on the table. If there was any sort of scoring system going on, I couldn’t tell. Just when Tyler struck the eight ball and got it into the corner pocket he whooped and immediately stuck his tongue out at Patton.
“Gloating is gonna come back to bite you in the ass,” Patton grumbled as he started to set the table up for another game.
“You think you got it figured out?” Chase asked from beside me.
“It doesn’t look hard.” I got up and sat my beer on the table between us. “I think I can handle it,” I said with a false sense of confidence. I took the stick that Tyler handed me.
I stepped up to the table and bent over just as I had seen the two of them do. I carefully balanced the stick and rocked it forward into the white ball. It rolled forward at a leisurely pace, not at all like I’d seen it do for Patton or Tyler. Confused, I looked up to see my spectators. Tyler didn’t hide his amusement and Patton looked as if he was trying his best not to laugh at my expense.
Chase stood up and came up to me, “Your form is okay, but you have to use a little more force. C’mon. Do that again.” He adjusted the balls again and waited until I leaned over the table with the stick in position. Then he spooned up just behind me. I tensed, I hadn’t expected him to get so close. “I’m just gonna show you how you’re supposed to do it,” his voice was low in my ear. “Relax.” He was quiet enough that I was sure the others didn’t hear.
I took a breath and slowly released it, catching his scent. It was a mixture of smoke, not like cigarettes but just the scent fire gives off, and sweat. I turned my head a little towards him, taking another breath as he positioned the stick at a slightly different angle. For my height, it seemed to work better. I leaned back into Chase as he carefully eased the stick against my curled hand on the felt of the pool table.
“You have to use more force,” he murmured. He maneuvered me so that I hit the white ball again, I felt the power he used to propel both our arms forward, and it rocked forward. The balls cracked apart, and I saw two immediately hit pockets.
Chase stepped away from me, and it was like static cling, electricity skimmed along my skin in a light burn. I didn’t know how to react and I could only hope that the flush I felt building wasn’t something he would notice. I spared a glance at the other two men and I instantly felt as if cold water had been dumped on me.
Tyler’s eyes were narrowed, but his expression was unreadable. I knew immediately that he was well aware of what I had felt. Patton wasn’t looking at me, but glaring at Chase. “I thought you weren’t a part of this competition,” he said with accusation in his voice.
“There’s not a competition,” Chase said with a bit of steel in his voice. “If you took that talk as a signal to start one then you weren’t listening.”
I was brought back to the talk I’d overheard, and I felt something in me twist. “I’m not an object.” It came out low enough that I figured I hadn’t been heard. “You can fuck yourself,” I bit out a little louder. “If you think I’m going to readily accept being the prize to a contest you have, you’re wrong.” I set the stick on the pool table. “I’ve had enough of being at the mercy of someone else. I won’t let that happen again.”
I didn’t bother to see their reactions. Instead, I found my way back to my room, feeling something akin to strength boiling beneath my skin. I went to bed listening to the sound of them bickering in the front of the house.
13
I woke up to the smell of coffee. I inhaled sharply then stretched, something tickled at my nose that smelled suspiciously of bacon. My stomach clenched, and I knew there was no rolling over to go back to sleep. It was then, without a thought, that I rolled out of bed and shimmied into my pajama bottoms.
My stomach led me to my bedroom door and I drug my fingers through my hair as I opened it to see who was cooking. If I had been sleepier, I wouldn’t have cared. But I stalled in my doorway when I saw Patton at the stove, his back was bare and his hair disheveled. I started to back into my room, not really ready to speak to him after last night. I could deal with Tyler, I could be angry with him and share a space with him.
Patton was too sweet.
He must have heard me because he glanced over a shoulder and met my gaze. He quickly turned off the burner he was working at and turned to me. “Emily.”
I tried to harden myself, to look collected and cool as I approached the island. “Good morning,” I offered before deciding against sitting down. “There’s coffee?”
“Yeah.” He grimaced then nodded, turning back to the stove. “Making some breakfast, too. If you’re interested.” His shoulders slumped a little as he spoke, his voice deepening just a little. The picture of a chastised boy, and I hadn’t said a word. He knew he had been wrong even when I could have just misinterpreted his meaning.
I went to the cabinet to find a mug, my stomach rumbling at the offering of food. It was very unlikely I would be able to keep up a front if I let hunger lead me.
“Yeah,” I filled my mug, “as long as there are no strings attached to the offering. I wouldn’t want to spark some sort of competition.” It was harsh, but out of the three men, it seemed like I need to be firm with Patton.
He made a noise and turned to me again. “I’m sorry. I’m an ass.” I held myself firm as he kept talking. “Chase told us to keep our hands to ourselves and he was right to. You need time to heal and get over the relationship you just escaped,” he sounded so reasonable as he spoke. I found myself forgiving him almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth. “But…” Patton swallowed hard and narrowed his brown eyes at me. “I need you to understand something.” He paused to give the scrambled eggs in the pan a stir before looking back at me. “You’re beautiful. Even first thing in the morning, right out of bed. It's really fucking hard to resist this pull that seems to be driving me to want to be around you.” His eyes closed, and he turned back to the pan, using it as an obvious distraction. “I like taking care of people. It's why I do what I do. I can’t fight the need to do that for you.”
“Is that why you’re making breakfast?” I should have gone back in my room, instead of tempting fate with this conversation. “Because you want to take care of me?”
“Because I wanted to apologize,” he said with emphasis. “Because I saw Chase wrapped around you like that and I got jealous. Dumbass jealous that had me speaking without thinking.”
Curiosity got the better of me, “Why?”
“Because I wanted to be able to do that,” he snapped. “I want to be able to connect with you like Ty has, too.” Patton paled, seeming to realize he was actually speaking to me. He gave me a look then took a breath. “Having someone tell me not to take an interest probably made matters worse.”
I looked at him, taking in his adorable mess. He was leaner than Chase, but just as defined. Patton was just as tempting as the other two men in the house. I knew the way Tyler felt because he’d been blunt about it. I swallowed. “I told him I wouldn’t create trouble. I promised to be a model roommate. I intend to be that.”
I got a defeated look. He nodded and then released a sigh. “How do you like your eggs?”
***
After breakfast, I relaxed. While Patton wasn’t flirtatious like Tyler, it was really easy to see his attraction. He didn’t bother to hide the longing he felt. I just wondered if it was because he found me attractive, even under the bruises, or if it was something else.
Was it because I was broken? Is that what Tyler saw, too?
I decided that I would spend the morning beside him, enjoying breakfast and chit chatting.
“I decided that,” he said as he took a bite of bacon. “Since I created an awkward situation that I’ll clean the upstairs bathroom.”
“Are you trying to encourage me to be messy in the bathroom?” I asked him. Thinking about it made me realize I still had bedhead, and I probably was a little ripe smelling. “Because,” I stood and took my plate to the sink, “I am going to go hit the shower.” I made for my room, needing to get my towel, toiletries, and a change of clothes.
“Em,” Patton’s stool screeched as he stood. I turned to him only to find him a lot closer than I expected. “I’m sorry about this,” he said with a grimace.
I opened my mouth to ask but never got the chance. His hand came up around the back of my neck and I was tugged forward into him. I tried to catch myself, my hands came up to press into his chest. There was no keeping the kiss from happening. I knew better than to fight it, I’d given into Jeff more times than I could count. This kiss, though, this was different from any that I had from Jeff.
Patton didn’t shove his tongue into my mouth, he tilted his head slightly and brushed his nose against mine. Both our mouths were open, but there was no pressure to deepen the kiss. It was just a gentle taste. He didn’t fight me when I pulled away but I didn’t see disappointment like I expected.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, a flush so obvious across his face. “I just… I just had to see--”
The almost chaste kiss didn’t seem enough. Or maybe it wasn’t right, so I pressed forward to return it. Only, I didn’t just caress his lips with mine, I tasted him; my tongue traced his full bottom lip. He made a noise, a mix of surprise and desperation. His fingers tangled into my hair and with little prompting, he was open to me and it was a tentative taste we gave one another.
Patton’s other arm wound around me and he pulled me closer, probably in his haste to keep the kiss going. There was nothing aggressive about it, the sweetness that he displayed only seemed to translate in the way he kissed. He was attentive, applying pressure and adjusting at every noise that I made. It made something in me tighten and I was hungrier for more of him. I wanted some aggression, I wanted the hand in my hair to tighten.
It didn’t, because Patton was caring and gentle. He was safe. It would be so easy to fall for this.
I managed to pull away, and he gasped a little when I got some space between us. But, it caused trouble. I wasn’t going to let anything put me into a hard spot like I was in before. Even with something hard pressing against my thigh and bringing a world of temptation. Kissing him was probably just as bad an idea as entertaining his erection from where it pressed against me.
“You son of a bitch!” it came out in an angry growl from behind us. Startled, I jumped and Patton stumbled back a little, putting distance between us. I was surprised to see Tyler standing in the hallway that led into the kitchen. His hair was disheveled, and he wore nothing but a pair of boxers, but that didn’t take away from the angry look he was giving the man in front of me.
I should’ve known better. While Tyler looked angry, he approached us both with a purpose. He turned to me and took my chin in his grasp, forcing me to look up at him. “I figured it would only be a matter of time,” his voice was rough as he spoke to the other man. It twisted that knot inside me just as much as the gentle attentiveness Patton had shown did.
Tyler’s eyes connected with mine, it was the only warning I got before he caught my lips in a fiery kiss. Where Patton had been gentle, Tyler wasn’t. There were demand and aggression behind his kiss that stoked the fire Patton had created. His tongue pressed past my lips and threw me off balance. A hand at the small of my back was the only thing that kept me from stumbling backward.
I was dizzy when Tyler finally pulled away. He panted a little and turned to Patton. “Do it again,” it was a barked command.
I looked at the other man, I didn’t see the anger I’d seen on Tyler before. Patton’s pupils dilated, he opened his mouth as if he was going to protest before he decided to just give in. This time the kiss from Patton was hungrier as if he were starved for me. It was so much more than the first kiss, or even the second, from him.
It was enough of a distraction that I didn’t notice my hair being pulled aside until I felt a hot mouth close around the skin at the nape of my neck. I moaned against Patton’s lips, not a protest in mind. The sensation of being kissed by two men was heady, something I’d never experienced before. There was that contrast between the two, having them both happen at the same time had any ideas of it being a bad idea completely blasted out of my head.
Patton broke away from my mouth and followed a path down my jaw to my throat. I took a breath, trying to get some sort of footing between the two of them and failing. Tyler had found his way from the back of my neck up to my ear. “Tell us to stop,” he breathed against me. A hand came between Patton and me, pressing me back into Tyler’s hips. His erection pressed persistently against the small of my back.
The hand left me and Patton was pulled forward with a grunt. His hips were pulled into mine and I was sandwiched between them, two of them hard. Patton quickly adjusted to the shift of position, bowing to reach a bit of my skin that he was eager to latch onto. How could I say anything over the thrumming over my heart and the pulse between my thighs?
“Tell us to stop,” Tyler prompted again.
“I have been dreaming about these tits,” Patton groaned against my shoulder, edging the collar of my shirt out of his way. “I want to taste them.” He palmed one through my shirt, causing my breath to catch in my throat.
“Say please first, Patton,” Tyler’s voice growled into my ear. “You’ve done enough taking without asking first today.”
“Please.” Patton’s voice had lowered an octave, and I squeezed my thighs together, something I was sure they both felt.
Give in.
“Are you gonna tell him no?” Tyler’s voice slithered in. “Go back to being the model roommate?”
I took a breath, Patton was making it all too difficult to concentrate on all the reasons this shouldn’t happen. So, I listened to that voice and turned my head just a little towards Tyler.
“Don’t stop,” it came out breathless, and I didn’t recognize it.
Patton made a noise from in front of me and began to tug down the collar of my shirt, his mouth following the exposed skin. Tyler’s fingers came up to clasp my chin again, he turned my head further back so he could kiss me again. It was overwhelming, two mouths on me. One tongue curling around my own and another tracing the line of my collarbone. Neither one of them faltered in their focus not even at the sound of a door opening.
I jerked away from Tyler, expecting to get caught. I couldn’t handle being evicted. Chase wasn’t standing there glaring angrily, Tyler had just opened the door to my bedroom.
