Consolation Prize (Forbidden Men #9)(43)

When Tyla whipped her attention to him and could only stare, he winked and trailed a hand down his body. “I’m the new, improved edition. Obviously.”

“Holy shit,” she whispered.

The bastard preened. “I know, right? And I don’t even work out that much.”

“O…kay,” I strained out, stepping forward and lifting my hands. I could only take him flirting with my roommate so far. “Colton was just leaving,” I informed Tyla as I propelled him back toward the living room. And oh my God, I was pushing against his chest, his very naked, warm, amazing chest.

As little electrical currents zapped up my arms from touching him, Colton sent me an irritated scowl, but I kept forcing him to reverse from the kitchen.

“I was?” he asked curiously. “But I didn’t get to meet your other roommate. I was kind of hoping she’d come strutting out in Superman or Batman panties. Hey, why didn’t you stroll in, wearing pajamas like that?”

“Because I’ve already showered and dressed for the day, which is what you should go home and do.” I picked up his T-shirt and hoodie off the floor and thrust them at him.

He gave them a disappointed glance before setting down his mug of coffee on a side table and pulling on the shirt first. Then the hoodie.

I had thought it would be a sad moment to see the last of his bare chest, but wowza, watching his arms lift before he shimmied into his clothes…art. It was pure art.

My mouth went dry. By the time he was shrugging on his jacket and pushing his feet into his shoes, I wanted him to take them all off again, just to watch him redress one more time.

“So…yeah. Catch you later.” He picked up his coffee and headed for the door.

Things inside me rebelled at his leaving, so I was trying to keep myself from saying anything—in fear I’d blurt out crazy shit, like I wanted him to stay—until I noticed what he was smuggling from my apartment as he opened the door.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going with my coffee mug?”

He paused and glanced back, lifting one eyebrow. “There were like a hundred coffee mugs in the cupboard.”

“Not insulated to-go mugs like that one.”

His eyes narrowed. Then he pointed at me. “If last night had gone the way I’d wanted it to, I’d be stealing more of your panties out of here instead of a f*cking mug. Be grateful.”

Then he turned his back to me and walked off, drinking from my goddamn mug as the door fell shut behind him.

My mouth dropped open as I squeaked out my shock. The bastard had just stolen my favorite mug. And he’d insinuated that he’d wanted to f*ck me last night.

Thank God I hadn’t known that then.

“Okay. What the hell?” Tyla demanded, making me jump and whirl around to find her gaping from the entrance of the kitchen.

I sighed and rubbed at a spot on the center of my forehead.

“He’s white?” she exploded. “Oh my God, why did you never say he was white?”

“Shh!” My eyes grew wide as I lifted my hands to hush her, positive Colton had to have heard her from outside the apartment, hell, probably from outside the building.

“What the f*ck are you screaming about?” Sasha croaked as she stumbled into the living room, rubbing her eyes.

I blinked at her, stunned that she was wearing a Wonder Woman nightshirt. Colton had been so close on his guess that I briefly wondered if he’d peeked in on all of us sleeping this morning. But, no, he wouldn’t do that.

Would he?

The thought caused me enough pause that Tyla had time to blurt out, “Brandt Gamble is white!”

I winced. Right. We were still talking about that.

Sasha paused from scratching her shoulder. “Wait. What? You mean… Holy shit, that was Brandt Gamble on our couch all night?”

I groaned and closed my eyes. “No. Of course not.”

“That was his younger brother,” Tyla eagerly reported. “Colton Gamble.”

“Colton Gamble?” Sasha shook her head a second before her eyes grew big. “Holy shit.” She turned to me. “Wait. So…they’re only like half siblings, right? And Brandt’s much, much darker than him. Right?”

I opened my eyes and could only stare at my two friends before wincing out a helpless little shrug.

“Holy shit,” Sasha gasped. “You’ve had a thing for a white guy for almost a year, and you never told us?”

I opened my mouth. “I…I didn’t think it’d matter.”

Okay, that was a lie. I knew it would matter to these two, a lot—they’d grown up much the same way I had—which was why I hadn’t mentioned anything. That way, if things hadn’t worked out between me and Brandt—which they hadn’t—I’d probably never have to reveal one tiny little fact about him.

“Feed that bullshit to someone else,” Sasha demanded, “and tell us everything.”

Tyla and Sasha moved in, suddenly more curious than I’d ever seen them.

“Are they really smaller, you know, down there?”

“Do they kiss okay? I always thought they’d be really slobbery. They look like, you know, they produce a lot of saliva when kissing.”

I rolled my eyes and nearly confessed that white guys were totally not more slobbery than black men, but then I realized I’d have to reveal making out with Colton. And they didn’t know about him yet…well, not really.