Tangled in Tinsel (Holidates #1)(18)

I should get workman’s comp for this—Your Honor, my dignity’s been injured, and I’ll need eight to twelve months to recover.

Reed sweeps my hair over my shoulder as if he’s going to kiss my neck, but I startle, simultaneously spitting more words out.

“Hangovers are the worst, right? I’m lucky I never get them. Maybe it’s genetic. I can’t say I’ve ever seen my mom or dad hungover when I was younger.”

Somebody stop me. Hit me with the pan.

Jace’s dimples slowly reappear as I tuck my hair behind my ears, still fucking talking.

“My sister gets hungover, so I don’t know what that says. But then she just makes this amazing soup with intestines. Menudo. I used to hate it when I was a kid. I thought it was gross…she didn’t make it then. That was my mom. I mean…we weren’t drinking as kids. That would be weird. She’s just a foodie—”

Reed leans in, whispering in my ear, “Stop talking, sunshine.”

“Yep,” I say aloud, nodding my head.

His arm circles my waist, making my eyes grow wider. So I try to step forward, but I’m pulled back against his still chubby cock as he grabs his mug off the counter, taking a sip before saying, “So, Jace, how’d you sleep? I forget.”

I might need a bag to breathe into. What the fuck, Reed?

“Shitty,” Jace shoots back, giving me a wink.

I hate them. Mainly because I’m smiling. And I don’t even know how I feel other than amused that they’re amused.

And what’s also throwing me is that Jace doesn’t seem to give a shit about the way Reed is holding me.

“Stop making fun of me,” I say, pushing Reed’s arm off, only to have him put it back.

Grinning, Jace closes the distance between the three of us, getting too close for good manners as he plucks the shirt right below Reed’s arm. Instinctually, I lean back into Reed, staring up at Jace as he speaks.

“You look cute in Alec’s shirt. You should wake him up so he can see.”

I’m suddenly hyperaware of my breathing. Feeling each inhale and exhale.

“I wouldn’t want to bother him. Late night and all,” I say quietly back.

Reed presses himself against me from behind, splaying his hand over my stomach. I half blink as Jace keeps my eyes. But then he looks past me at Reed. Another something unspoken shared, he leans down, feathering a kiss on my cheek, making me gasp quietly.

“You’re sweet,” Jace offers, pulling away. “But I don’t think Alec would mind a wake-up call from you.”

I don’t answer because I’m almost completely sandwiched between them. But before my mind can wrap around what’s happening, Reed’s lips brush my temple, vibrating sexy taunts onto my skin.

“Get Cole up too. Three’s a crowd, four’s a party.”

Panic meets spiral. I can’t believe he just said that.

I turn my head away quickly to stare at Reed, but the motion makes me choke on my spit. The cough that leaves my throat doubles, then triples, before Reed smacks my back while Jace says, “Are you okay?”

I’m nodding, still coughing as I grab the coffee mug from Reed’s hand and down it, wincing because it’s black.

“Not even milk?” I muster, handing it back to him, clearing my throat as I push his arm off me. “Sociopath.”

I shift back to Jace with a plan hatched for escape.

“Sheesh, my throat’s so dry. Must be allergies. From like dust or pollen—”

Reed chuckles. “Damn, that high pollen count in the winter. Its only rival—summertime in space.”

I spin back around to Reed, shoving him to walk in the opposite direction from where Jace is standing, effectively hiding our version of the Monica Lewinsky dress.

“We’ll be right back,” I call out over my shoulder, hearing Reed’s coffee mug smack the counter as I push him again. “I’m just going to borrow Reed to show me where I can find a lozenge.”

Thankfully, Reed doesn’t fight much. Just laughs, trying to dodge my hands as I push and shove him all the way back down the hall to my room.

“Whoa, feisty.” He grins, holding up his hands as I close the door behind us. “What happened to ‘thank you’ and ‘make me come, Reed’? I’m feeling very underappreciated.”

I actually stomp my foot on the ground like a toddler, my finger already wagging at him. He’s turned me into an idiot.

“You,” I snap. “You’re a menace. What is wrong with you? That was so embarrassing. This isn’t funny. I work for you guys. And we shouldn’t have crossed a line.”

“Cole fired you, remember?” He did tell him everything.

“Shut up,” I shoot back at his grin. “What we did…that thing on the counter—” Reed’s still amused, making me want to punch him. “I just don’t want people knowing or seeing—”

I wave toward his crotch and the wet spot.

“Seeing what? Your juices?”

“Oh my god,” I bark.

But he comes back quicker.

“How about cream?”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Then what, sunshine? The evidence you like to be my pretty whore?”

Fuck. My eyes roll back involuntarily because I’ve fallen in love at first listen with that endearment. But I’m onto his trick, so I snap my fingers at him a bunch of times.