Power Drilled (Roommates, #8)(33)

Jackson was concentrating on the game again, but I still tried to catch his eye. I wanted more than anything for him to lose so that we could get as far away from my ex as possible.

“Beat him, Matthew!” Tanya shouted. Apparently, she wanted my supposed boyfriend to lose just as much as I did.

But he didn’t.

“Good game,” Matthew said, shaking Jackson’s hand.

“My turn,” Jeff said. “Ready for a real challenge?”

Jackson said yes, but then he met my eyes, and I shook my head. Part of me wanted Jackson to wipe the floor with Jeff, but a bigger part of me just wanted to get away from the man who’d treated me so badly.

“You promised we’d play the two-person trivia game next,” I said to Jackson.

My fake boyfriend went with the flow. “That’s right, I did. Maybe Matthew will play against you, Jeff.”

Matthew took one look at my expression and nodded enthusiastically. “Sure, I’d love another chance.” It was nice to know that my future cousin-in-law had my back.

Jackson put his arm around me as we walked over to the trivia area along with Claire. Tanya stayed behind to cheer on her man.

We settled at a bar-height table in front of a large trivia screen. Jackson pulled his stool close to mine and our legs were almost touching.

“I’m not much for trivia,” Claire said. “I’m going to get some food. Do you want anything?”

“I’m good,” Jackson said.

“What do they have?” I asked. I hadn’t been to this place since I was in high school.

“The fried mushrooms are really good. I can get a large basket for us to share.”

Jackson shook his head. “Why don’t you two split an order? I’m not a big fan of mushrooms.”

“Sure,” Claire said. “But would you like something—” She cut off mid-sentence.

“What’s wrong?” The way she was looking at Jackson worried me.

“You said you loved the mushroom risotto at the hotel yesterday,” she said to him.

I panicked. “He doesn’t like fried mushrooms. He’s very careful about what he eats.”

Claire’s eyes swept down Jackson’s toned body and back up again. “I can see that. Want a beer, at least?”

“Sure.”

“Whew,” I said as she went away. “That was close.”

Jackson put his hand on my wrist. “Your pulse is racing. That kind of thing isn’t that big of a deal, Penny. You handled it, and if you hadn’t, I would have.”

That was easy for him to say. He was used to pretending to be one of his brothers. I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. And Jeff’s presence wasn’t helping. “What would you have said?”

“That I was just being polite when I said I liked the mushroom risotto before.”

That probably would’ve been simpler. “But couldn’t you have pretended to like mushrooms since Reid does?”

He shuddered. “They’re gross. But you’re right, I should have asked myself what Reid would do.” He wrapped his arm around my waist. “But really, Penny, people around us aren’t keeping score. They aren’t analyzing everything we do. Trust me.”

For a moment, I rested my head against his shoulder. His body was hard and warm, and it made me feel safe. But my pulse was still elevated… I could feel it. There was just no way I could relax in a situation like this.

Plus I had conflicting feelings about the triplets. For two days now, I’d wished it was Jackson accompanying me to one of the wedding week events, and now that he was here, I kept thinking about his brothers. About the way that Hunter had kissed me—and the sexy way he winked whenever we ran into each other at the house.

And then there was Reid. I couldn’t stop thinking about seeing his sculpted muscles at the massage yesterday. It was funny because I’d actually seen more of Jackson, since he’d been nude at the art class. Though I’d only seen Reid half naked, it had felt more intimate since he was inches away from me. At various points during the massage, I could smell the clean scent of his skin and feel the heat radiating from his body.

The man giving me the massage was talented, but half the time my moans were because Reid was so close by.

Jackson squeezed my shoulders. “I wish you could just have a relaxing, fun evening.”

I gave a weak laugh. “I’m not sure I remember what those are like.”

He scanned the room. “We don’t have to do trivia. Do any of these games look like fun?”

Maybe they would be if it wasn’t so loud and crowded. Or if it was just Jackson and me here. Actually, Jackson, Reid, and Hunter. I bet if it was just the four of us, it would be a ton of fun. “Not really,” I said.

“Then tell me what does sound good. We could ditch this place and go out for ice cream.”

“How about you take me home?”

Jackson’s face fell, but he nodded. “Of course.”

It took me a moment to understand his reaction. “I don’t mean to my home—I meant to the house, with the others.”

“Ah, gotcha. Sure, we can do that.”

“But wouldn’t it be rude to just leave? What will we tell Claire?”

He grinned. “I can say that I’m afraid she’ll try to force feed me mushrooms.”