I take a step toward him and wrap my fingers around his throat, loving the way his pulse flutters under my fingertips. My entire body is on fire, and I suppress the urge to bend him over and show him exactly who’s in charge. Barely, but I do. Apparently, we have a party to get to. “If you’re a good boy, I’ll let you suck my dick.”

His eyes darken as he glares at me but I don’t back down, in fact, I tighten my fingers around his neck for good measure. After a few seconds his shoulders relax, and he gives me a nod—or he would give me a nod if he could.

I brush my lips across his, relishing the shiver dancing down his spine and take a step back, even though I want nothing more than to push him back into the apartment and undress—for real this time. “I guess we should get going. I’m going to need you to suck me off—soon.”

FORTY-SIX

Jace

As soon as the elevator opens, the entire top floor of The Jameson quiets.

There are a few potential reasons. Maybe the DJ coincidently stopped the music at the exact moment we arrived. Maybe the waiters just finished serving the appetizers and everyone is eating.

Or all these fucks were talking about us, and now that we’re here, we can no longer be the topic of their conversation. At least one that’s within earshot.

My money is on the last one.

Fucking should have listened to Mateo and just stayed home, balls deep in our girl. But dammit. I’ll do just about anything she wants which is why I’m here, in a tuxedo, making our first public appearance as a foursome.

I get it. Rumors of the four of us have been all over the gossip mags, and it seems we’re the unofficial mascots of “why choose hockey romance”, complete with the caption #goals.

We’re bound to get questions, looks, and harsh whispers meant to demean the relationship we’re building together.

And I couldn’t give two fucks.

As long as Charlotte is happy, that’s all I care about.

Well, and maybe my best friend, too, who is making a beeline straight for us.

Our relationship isn’t as easy as it was before Charlotte busted her way into our apartment, but it’s certainly better than what it was before we were locked in the escape room together, which, by the way, could have gone terribly wrong. Putting four hockey players with a lot of hurt feelings and simmering rage in a room together could have ended in bloodshed.

Thank God Harrison had decided to hear us out. Without his friendship and acceptance, there’s no way we could have all found our way back to each other.

And without my brother, the rest of my life would be lacking.

“There’s my favorite sister.” Harrison greets Charlotte with a smile, picking her up for a tight hug.

Her feet come off the ground, and she squeals, throwing her arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Very funny. I’m your only sister.”

“Semantics.” He shrugs, completely ignoring the bright red lipstick on his face as he lets Charlotte down and gives Mateo and Roman a quick hug.

He shuffles my way, and fuck if I don’t miss my best friend. We’ve been so busy on the ice we haven’t seen much of each other. He may have forgiven me, but I’d give anything to have our relationship back to where it once was.

Harrison stops in front of me and something about him seems off. His smile doesn’t quite meet his eyes, and his tie, which is always impeccably tied, is crooked. He’s got dark circles under his eyes, but before I can ask what’s going on, that smile slips from his face and he pulls me in for a hug.

He slaps my back, I slap his.

As I’m about to pull back, his arms tighten, and he hugs me for a few extra seconds, but before I can ask about that, too, he clasps my shoulder and gestures to the room behind him. “It seems you guys are popular tonight.”

We both turn, glancing around the space, where sure enough, some people are blatantly staring while several others are really trying not to look our way and failing.

I grunt, side eyeing an older woman with the biggest hair I’ve ever seen. She’s standing to our left, staring our way without restraint. Maybe she should focus a little more on herself and a little less on Charlotte who’s laughing at something Mateo just said. “It seems like there’s a lot of people in here who need to mind their fucking business.”

“You’re pleasant tonight.” He laughs, gesturing to the mess of people hanging around the bar off to the side of the room. “People talk. No big. They can fuck off.”

“You’re in good spirits, too.” I glance around him and do a quick scan of the room. “You’re missing someone.”

Now it’s his turn to grunt, jamming his hands in his pants pockets and looking toward the ground. “Lydia and I broke up. Apparently, she’s a terrible person. Fuck you guys for not telling me.”