The Risk (Briar U #2)(101)

“Want to watch a movie?” I suggest. “I can make some popcorn.”

“Oooh, I like that idea. Let me put on comfy clothes and I’ll meet you out there.”

I give her ass a playful smack on my way out the door. In the kitchen, I experience a wave of déjà vu when I find Kayla at the sink, pouring a glass of water. This time she’s wearing clothes. And instead of filling with hunger, her eyes cloud over when they land on me.

“Hey,” I grunt.

“Hey.”

I open the cupboard and grab a packet of microwave popcorn.

“Movie night?” She sounds a tad testy.

“Yep. You and Brooks can join if you want. I’ll make another bowl.” It’s a bogus offer—I ask only because I’m confident she’ll say no.

No way Kayla is going to willingly spend time with Brenna. The moment my girl walked through the front door, Kayla had reacted like a territorial cat. The claws came out, and she might as well have hissed. What made the entire encounter awesome was Brenna’s complete disinterest in the chick.

“So… Jake Connelly’s got a girl spending the night.” Even testier now.

“Yeah.”

“Must be serious.”

I don’t answer. Turning my back to her, I stick the popcorn in the microwave and punch in the time.

“Or is it not serious?” she prods.

Again I refrain from answering, because guess what—it’s none of her fucking business. But then Brenna speaks up from the doorway.

“Oh, it’s very serious.” She saunters over, and even in a pair of plaid pants and a T-shirt, she’s so sexy that my body instantly responds to her. Or at least it does before I notice the Briar hockey logo on her chest.

“That’s blasphemy,” I say, pointing at her shirt.

“No, that’s blasphemy,” she replies, pointing at my shirt.

I glance down and remember I’m wearing a gray tee with the Crimson logo over the left breast.

Near the counter, Kayla makes a disparaging sound.

Which spurs Brenna to twist around and beam at her. “Aren’t we so cute?” she gushes. “We’re like Romeo and Juliet!”

For a second, the blonde looks like she’s going to hiss for real. Instead, she flashes a mocking smile. “Uh-huh, you two are the cutest.”

“Aw, thank you, Kaylee.”

“Kayla,” she snaps before stomping out.

Brenna starts to laugh.

“You’re such a bitch,” I tell her.

“Yup. That girl wants you, though.”

“Who doesn’t?”

“You might be right about that. I swear, I can’t go anywhere without bumping into someone who’s into you. The chick in the bathroom, Bubble Butt’s girlfriend, your friend Hazel.”

“Hazel?” I frown at her. “Why would you say that? You don’t even know Hazel.”

“Oh, you mean she didn’t tell you she ambushed me on campus?”

What?

“I’m sorry—what?” I vocalize my shock. Hazel hadn’t mentioned that at all. Granted, we haven’t spoken much this week, but if she actually had confronted Brenna, you’d think that would be something she deemed important enough to share with me.

“She tracked me down at the Coffee Hut,” Brenna explains. “She basically gave me the whole what-are-your-intentions-with-Jake speech and the I’m-gonna-kick-your-ass-if-you’replaying-him threat.”

I chuckle. “Yeah…she’s kinda protective of me. We grew up together.”

Brenna gives a faint smile. “She’s a lot more than protective.”

“Nah.”

“Remember that thing we were saying about men being dumb?”

I scowl at her. “When were we ever saying that?”

“Oh, right. That was me and Summer. Forget what I just said, Jakey.” She blinks, the poster child of innocence. “Men aren’t stupid at all.”





Neither of us pays much attention to the movie. We snuggle up under a blanket and spend the next hour teasing the hell out of each other. Brenna’s hand constantly brushes my dick. At one point she starts giving me an over-the-pants hand job…before reaching for the popcorn again and leaving me with the biggest case of blue balls.

I return the favor by stroking her nipples through her shirt until they’re harder than icicles and straining into my palm. When she tries to push her tits into my hands, I take the popcorn bowl and start munching.

About halfway through the movie, Brenna presses Stop and sets the remote control on the table.

I look over in mock outrage. “I was really into that.”

“Oh really? Tell me what that movie was about, Jake.”

I dig into my memory bank and come up empty. “Aliens?” I guess.

“Incorrect.” Snickering, she practically drags me to the bedroom, where she plants her hands on her hips and says, “Lie down.”

Because I’m not the stupid man she thinks I am, I lie down.

And before I know it, I’m naked and at her mercy. She’s kissing me everywhere, her soft lips gliding over my chest, warm tongue grazing my abdomen on her teasing journey south. She licks my oblique muscles, her breath tickling my skin, and then she abruptly sits up and removes all her clothes. Now we’re both naked, with my erection poking up between us like a huge spike.