Play Fair (The Devil's Share Book 3)(44)

I felt her body tighten, and when she called out my name as she came I covered her mouth with mine. Swallowing her words and exploding inside her. I rolled to the side so I didn’t crush her under my weight. We were lying side by side, breathing heavy and staring at the ceiling. “Holy f*ck.” I turned to her, smiling like a kid after his first time. “Marry. Me.”

She rolled her eyes. “No.” She propped herself up on her elbow. “But we can do that every damn night from here to eternity.”

I grinned. I loved that this moment wasn’t awkward or loaded with silence. We’d kissed, we’d touched, and f*cked and we were still Jacks and Bryan. We were still laughing and joking. And she was still here wanting more. “Being inside you is now my favorite place in the world.”

She scooted over and laid her head on my chest, “Oh yeah? What held the title before me?”

I ran my fingers up and down her side. Her skin was so warm and smooth. I kissed the top of her head. I never wanted to let her go. “The stage.”

She kissed my chest. “You love performing?”

“Yeah, it’s addicting. The energy, the crowd.” I palmed her ass, squeezing. “Now you’re my favorite high.”

We were both quiet for a few seconds and then she sighed. “As much as I hate to say this, we should get dressed.” She sat up and reached for her discarded shirt. “If Landry wakes up from another nightmare or walks in here…”

I grabbed her shirt out of her hands, throwing it into the bathroom and out of her reach. “If you insist on being responsible and sleeping in clothes, then you’re sleeping in mine.” I loved seeing her in my shirts; I loved watching her walk into the kitchen first thing in the morning wrapped up in me. And to be honest, seeing my chick wearing a vintage Nirvana shirt and nothing else? Hot. As. Fuck. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and went to my dresser. I pulled out a t-shirt for her and pair of shorts for me.

“Hey, Jacks?”

“Hmm?”

“Could you maybe get me some ibuprofen? I’m a little, uh, I mean I’m totally fine but…”

I turned to her, frowning. “You have a headache?”

“No. Your dick is huge.”

Ohhhh, ice. That’s what Smith meant. “I…uh, yeah. I’ll be right back.”

As I walked down the stairs I tried to recall anyone else I’d ever been with saying they were sore. I’d sure as hell never gotten anyone ice and medicine afterward. By the time my foot hit the last step, I realized I was the biggest * alive.

***

I gave Bryan her pills with a glass of wine, hoping that would help her relax even more. I made her get comfortable and then placed the bag of ice where she needed it. I waited for her to fall asleep, drawing light circles with my fingers over her perfect skin. Then I headed back downstairs. There was no way I’d be able to get any rest. My mind was going a mile a minute. I was such a motherf*cking prick. I went into the studio and picked up my guitar. I didn’t normally turn to the music when I was feeling like utter shit. I wasn’t Smith or Luke. But I couldn’t very well grab a bottle of liquor off the bar and get loaded. I needed to be functional when Landry woke up. I was halfway into an old tune by The Band when Smith came in. I didn’t stop playing, so he just picked up his bass and joined me. It’d been a long time since we’d sat up in the middle of the night and just jammed out. Letting riffs come and go, never stopping. We played well together; our bond was a big part of what made The Devil’s Share so f*cking great.

After a while Smith stopped playing, and a minute later I did too. He sat his guitar on its stand and then handed me a bottle of whiskey. “Great minds and old habits.” I smiled and took a pull, much smaller than I normally would have. Then handed it back and he did the same. “Did I wake up the whole house? Or just you?”

“Just me. Couldn’t sleep.” He handed me back the bottle.

I took it but didn’t turn it up. “I can’t be hung over tomorrow.”

Smith chuckled. “Really? You think a couple pulls off a whiskey bottle are going to make you hung over? We both know it would take much more than that.”

He was right. I took a few swallows and handed it back.

He took another drink and then sat it on the floor between his feet. “Why aren’t you in your bed, wrapped around your girl?”

I looked at the ground, not answering.

He chuckled. “You show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”

“I’m an *.”

He nodded. “We all are. Care to elaborate?”

“Bryan needed ice and ibuprofen.”

Smith grinned. “I told you she would. That’s not your fault, man. You were born with a big rod and you fell for a petite chick.”

I nodded slowly. “You think B was the first petite chick I’ve f*cked?” I felt wrong calling what we’d just done f*cking. But I was pissed at myself. “I’ve never gotten anyone else ice before. I never f*cking cared. How many chicks have I walked away from without a backward glance? How many girls have stayed awake at night, with pain and regret? What if I was the bad night that turned Landry’s mom into the disaster she is? I can assure you, I used her and then tossed her to the side.”

Smith picked the bottle back up and handed it to me. “We went over this the other day, man. We were all dicks. We all treated women like complete trash. But we grow up. We learn from our shit. You made sure Bryan was okay, right?”