Double The Ache(11)

When we walk into the kitchen, Emma and Cassie are plating up food. Amelia follows them into the dining room, and Wes and I take a seat on either side of her.

“This is a ton of food,” Amelia says, her eyes wide as she stares at the table.

“We’re growing boys,” I say and wink at her. Her cheeks pinken a little and she turns her focus to the napkin in her lap.

“There. I think that’s everything,” Emma says, placing the coffee on the table. “You guys enjoy.”

“Wait, you two are leaving?” Amelia says to her and Cassie.

Cassie grabs her bag off the bar in the kitchen and slings it over her shoulder. “Yeah, Emma and I live in Los Angeles. We come visit our brothers when we’ve got a free weekend at the same time. This was just a quick visit to say congratulations on another great season.” She looks over at Emma, who’s got an overnight bag on her shoulder, too. “You ready?”

“Yep. Thanks again for a fun night. It was really great meeting you, Amelia. I hope we’ll be seeing a lot more of you.”

The two of them smile and wave goodbye as they leave. When the door clicks, we’re finally alone and excited anticipation rolls over me.

“So, they’re your sisters?” she asks, not looking at either of us.

Wes grabs the coffee and pours her some while I take her plate and start piling it with food.

“Yes. Now, would you like to explain why you ran out on us this morning?” I ask.

“Umm.” She takes a big bite of eggs. She’s stalling for time.

“Were you trying to get away from us?” Wes asks. His voice has changed and I can tell he’s excited, too. The woman we’ve both been waiting on is in between us right now.

“Not necessarily,” she hedges, and we both wait for her to clarify. “I just remember being at the club and then nothing else after. I woke up in a strange bed with two men I don’t know and I wasn’t sure what happened. Can’t a woman have a second to get her thoughts together?”

“We like to cuddle,” I say, reaching out and tucking a loose hair behind her ear so I can see her face better.

“Oh,” she says, and the color of her cheeks deepens. “Do you? Um, I mean, do the two of you, um…cuddle with one another?”

I let out a bark of laughter at the way she’s phrasing the question. “Wes and I sleep in the same bed, but no, we don’t cuddle with one another. We have a really strong bond. One that we hope to share with you one day.”

She snaps her head up to look at me, and her soft brown eyes are filled with more questions after my bold statement.

“You don’t even know me,” she whispers, then looks away.

“We’d like to get to know you,” I say.

She takes a sip of her coffee and I wait for her to figure out what she’s going to ask next. I can practically see the wheels turning in her brain.

“Have you lived here long?”

“We moved in a couple of years ago when we were drafted to Vegas. Wes and I have an extra room our family stays in when they visit, but otherwise we like to lead a quiet life. We’re homebodies who tend to spend our nights playing video games or watching Netflix.” She gives me a small smile and I can see some of the fear in her body slipping away. “Wes is also a really good cook and I like to eat.”

“You cook?” she asks, turning to Wes.

He wipes his mouth and nods. “I took some classes in college.” He shrugs it off like he’s not Iron Chef-quality.

“We also spend a lot of our time in the gym here. We’ll probably be doing that at some point today if you want to come with.” Thoughts of Amelia sweaty and bending over fill my mind and I lick my lips. I bet she’d taste so good.

“I heard there was a spa,” she says and leans back in her chair. “I could use a massage after last night.”

I lock eyes with Wes and see that we’re both thinking the same thing. We want to be the ones oiling her up. The thought of a stranger putting his hands on her…yeah, that isn’t going to happen.

“Are you sore from last night?” Wes asks, and I know he’s doing it to change the subject from the spa back to us.

“A little,” she says, blushing. “I guess it was from the dancing. Nothing, um, happened, right? You said we just cuddled.”

“That’s right,” I say. “Wes carried you inside and I put you in our bed. We kept our pants on. All of us.”

“But we all slept together?” She looks to Wes, who nods.

“So do you, um, date women together, or how does it work?”

There it is, the question she’s been wanting to ask.

“We’ve never dated anyone long term before. But that’s the idea. One woman for the two of us,” I say, trying to be as open and honest as I can with her. I want this to work, and I don’t want to scare her. Giving her all the facts up front should help with that.

She opens her mouth to speak, but she’s cut off by her ringing phone. It’s sitting on the table in front of her and I glance down to see Dad on the screen. My hackles rise and though I shouldn’t be angry, because it’s her father, I’m annoyed at anything stealing time from us.

“Excuse me,” she says, standing up and grabbing her phone. “Hey, Dad, what’s up?”