This Time Around (Maybe) (16 page)

I grin. “Yes, demanding.”

“I spent so long without you. I used to fantasize about what we would be doing if you were with me,” she rasps.

Now that gets my interest. “What did you used to fantasize about?”

“You flew to South Africa, and surprised me. Took me to a hotel, and we made up for lost time,” she says, the last line insinuating just how we made up for lost time. However my mind lingers on the first part of her comment.

I blow out a breath. “I thought about coming after you. Trust me I did, night after night. Then I kept rereading your letter.” That fucking letter. “I guess I let my pride get in the way.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re here together now. So show me how much you love me. Maybe I’ll tell you in detail exactly what happened in my mind when you found me…”

I slide i
nto her, and show her just that.

Then she keeps her word and tells me what she used to fantasize about, and we make that a reality.

*****

The sound of someone knocking on my door wakes me up. The space next to me is empty
. Taiya must have already left for work. Throwing on some shorts, I jog to the front door, wondering who the hell it could be. Opening the door I come face to face with my baby sister. I instantly go on alert, checking over her to see if she’s okay.

“
Sephie? Is everything okay?” I ask, ushering her into the house. I’m glad she’s here, and using the address I left with her, hoping she would visit.

“
Sephie? You already gave me a nick name?” she asks, raising an eyebrow and looking amused.

“Reid did actually. Now answer me, is everything al
l right?” I ask, frowning. We walk into the kitchen and I pour her a drink.

“Everything’s fine. Can’t I just drop by and see my big brother
, who I only found out about the other day?” she says, sarcasm and hurt laced in her tone.

“You can come see me anytime
. Hell, you can move in here if you want,” I tell her, meaning every word.

She sighs
, “I just got in my car and drove, and I ended up here. You gave me the address, so….”

“You’re welcome here anytime,” I say softly, wanting her to know that. “Now
, tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now. Can we just hang out?” she asks, looking around my apartment.

“Sure, I’d love that. What do you have in mind?”

Her expression turns thoughtful. “What were you going to do before I showed up?”

When I’m silent for a second, she makes a face. “Oh, crap, did I interrupt something?”

I cock my head to the side, smirking. “No
, you didn’t. Taiya already left for work. I was going to hit the gym to work out for a bit, then come home and shower and head to work.”

She takes a huge gulp of juice. “I could use
a workout.” She flexes her arm. “These guns aren’t as big as they used to be.”

I look down at her puny arms and laugh. “Is that right?”

“Yep. Are there any hotties at your gym?” she asks, pushing her blonde hair out of her face.

“Doesn’t matter
, does it?”

“Why not?” she asks,
her forehead creasing.

“Because once they know you’re my sister
, they won’t even look in your direction,” I say, grinning at her scowl.

“
Is Reid this much of a cock block?” she asks, as if considering spending the day with Reid instead of me. I laugh so hard I have to lean on the table to hold me up. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“
Reid will probably just punch whoever looks at you. I’m the easy going one,” I add, laughing again when her comment replays in my mind.

“
Hmmmph. How about we start with food. Food is good.”

I pause. “Depends what kind of food you’re talking about.”

She snickers. “A giant burger and fries?”

I narrow my eyes. “I knew you weren’t a vegetarian!”

Now it’s her turn to laugh. “You should have seen your face!”

Seeing her laugh makes me happy. I’ll eat plain lettuce everyday if she laughs like that.

“You’re a little shit, you know that?” I tell her, smiling.

“You have no idea
, bro. But you will find out. Now, go get dressed and take a shower. You smell like sex.”

I clear my throat at her comment,
and then get my ass in the shower.

*****

She spins around, doing some fancy thing with her leg. She looks amazing, especially in that tight fitting thing she’s wearing. I don’t know how we ended up at the dance studio, but after spending the day together, Sephie wanted to meet Taiya. So here we are, watching her dance and teach a class. I discreetly adjust myself, hoping no one saw, and thinking how fucking inappropriate it is to get a hard on for my wife, while she’s teaching an entire group of people.

Sephie
laughs, letting me know she knows what’s going on. Taiya lifts her head up at the sound, her attention now on us. She smiles as she sees me, and then looks towards Sephie and beams. I know she’s been so excited to meet her new sister-in-law, and now she gets the chance.

“I’ll see you all next week!”
Taiya tells her class, saying her byes and walking over to us.

“Hi,” she says, her
eyes bright with excitement. She gives me a peck on the lips and then turns her head to my sister. “Hello Persephone, nice to meet you.”

Sephie
smiles. “Call me Sephie,” she says, throwing me an amused smirk.

“How did you know it was my sister?” I ask, putting my arm around her.

“Because you wouldn’t be stupid enough to bring any other woman here,” she says, the little spitfire. “Plus you both have the exact same shade of hair. And even though her eyes are brown, they are the same shape as yours.”

Sephie
laughs, and makes a whipping sound. “Great, now my little sis thinks I’m whipped,” I mutter, trying to hide my grin.

“Then she’s smart,”
Taiya says. “What did you two get up to today?”

“Ryan took me on my first bike ride. Then we were going to go to the gym, but we went and ate instead,”
Sephie tells Taiya. “Then we went and saw a movie.”

“Soun
ds like you two had a good time,” Taiya says, smiling.

“We did,”
Sephie says, smiling up at me. It’s the weirdest feeling, almost like we’ve known each other for years.

“I’ll meet you guys at home then?” she asks, looking between
Sephie and me.

“Yeah, and
Taiya?”

She looks up at me
, those beautiful green eyes wide and unguarded. “Yeah?”

I lean towards her and whisper into her ear. “You looked fucking beautiful teaching that class.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Taiya

“Xander looks like he would be kinky in bed,” Sephie says out of nowhere, causing Summer to choke on her drink.

“Why would you say that?” I ask, trying to hold in my laughter.

Sephie looks over at Xander and sighs, “I don’t know just look at him. Tattoos, muscles, long hair… that intense look on his face.” I look at Xander, who is sitting with Dash and Tag, and laugh. He does look like he might be intense in bed. He’s currently talking with the guys, his hazel eyes sharp and intelligent.

“What do you think he’s into?” I ask, actually curious now.

Sephie purses her lips in thought. “I don’t know. Bondage? That would be hot.”

I look at Xander once more, with raised eyebrows, speculating.

“Maybe he likes to have sex with a goat mask on, or something,” Sephie jokes.

I burst out laughing, causing all the men to look over at me. Ryan walks over, like I knew he would, to see what’s going on.

“What’s so funny?” he asks, touching my cheek with his fingers.

“Nothing,” we all say at the same time, except for
Sephie who says, “Just wondering what Xander’s like in bed.” The woman has no filter whatsoever.

“That’s my brother!” Summer whisper
-yells. “Do you want to talk about how Reid is in bed?”

Sephie
makes a face. “Let’s make a deal to never mention this again.”

“Done,”
Summer says, immediately.

Ryan leans down. “You better not be wondering
anything
.”             

I lift my chin up. “He’s pretty good looking.

Ryan practically growls. “No looking.”

“No looking? Can I touch then?” I taunt, flashing him an innocent look.

“You’re too much,” he says, grabbing my chin with his thumb and index finger and giving me a deep kiss, one completely inappropriate for public view. When he pulls back, I’m panting.

“Get a room!” Reid calls out, smirking.

“You’re ruining girls’ night!” Sephie huffs, gulping down her drink. Sephie, Summer and I decided to have a night out, just us girls. Isis couldn’t make it, because she had to study for her exams. An hour into our evening Ryan, Reid, Xander, Dash and Tag show up, sitting at their own table, and proclaiming their own night out. We all know they just wanted to keep an eye on us. Ryan gives me another quick kiss and then re-joins his table. An hour later and the pretence is over, because we’re all sitting together drinking, laughing and enjoying our time together. When I see Xander sit down next to Sephie, causally putting his arm around her, I quickly look to the twins, who are both staring at Xander’s arm with narrowed eyes. Well, that’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Summer and I head to the bathroom together, because apparently
, even slightly tipsy girls can’t go alone. I fiddle with my hair, pushing it away from my face, trying to control the wispy curls.

“I’ve never seen Ryan like this, you know,”
Summer says, retouching her clear lip gloss.

I give up on my hair and turn to face her. “What? With one woman for more than a night?”

She puts her gloss in her small clutch bag and studies me. “He was trying to get over you. Not that it worked, but he sure as hell tried.”

“You can say that again,” I mumble. “I know he loves me
. He’s really shown me how much. It’s just hard to swallow the other women, you know? I know I wasn’t here, blah blah, but it doesn’t change how I feel.”

Summer bobs her head. “Trust me
, I know the feeling. Just tell yourself that you have him now and forever. All they have is a memory.”

I smile dreamily. “I like that.
”

We walk out of the bathroom arm in arm, the smile on my face dropping as I see a woman standing next to Ryan. She puts her hand on him, saying something to him. He shakes his head at her, smiling slightly. Reid says something to him and he turns his head to look at me.

“Fuck,” I see him mouth, and then it hits me why. Our deal. Looks like Ryan’s not getting off tonight. I smile evilly, walking over to him and sitting down in his lap. The woman wanders away, and Ryan holds me in his arms.

“You were joking about
continuing that deal, right?” he whispers into my ear. Goosebumps appear on my arms, and a shiver runs down my spine.

“
Nope, not even a little bit,” I say, straightening my spine.

“We’ll see,” he says with confidence. I know he thinks he can seduce me, but I’m not giving in this time.
“You’ll want me inside of you tonight.”

My answer is a non-committal noise. Ryan starts rubbing his hands up my thigh, not indecently, but enough to get my motors running.
He’s already trying to sway my mind, sneaky bastard. Sephie’s laugh causes me to look up at her, watching her facial expressions as she talks with Xander. Interesting, very interesting. Dash has stayed mostly quiet all night, nursing his drink. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but I hope he’s okay.

“You smell so fucking good,” Ryan rasps, kissing the ta
ttoo behind my ear. It’s the initial R in the middle of an infinity sign, and a symbol of my commitment to him. “And you are the most beautiful woman in this room.”

I grin. “Laying it on a little thick
, aren’t you?”

“Yeah
, well, you’re not letting me go home tonight…”

My forehead creases. “What are you talking about?”

“Inside you, that’s where I’m meant to be. My favourite place, and you’re trying to bar me.”

I blink. Then I start laughing so hard
my whole body shakes. I slap at his knee. “How did you even get laid at all with those lines?”

When his eyes shutter, I see that I’ve actually hurt him. Shit. I kiss up his jaw then whisper into his ear, “I love you so much.” I press my breasts against him, men like that
, right? I cup his face and kiss him softly on his lips. I love his lips. They are fucking talented, soft and full.

“Great
, now I have to watch both my brothers making out,” Sephie grumbles. She looks to Xander. “Want to leave?”