Page 18 of Just This Once

“Can we help you?” the shortest with long, glistening black hair asked cautiously.

I blinked, wondering what the hell was happening. Archer House had been taken over by…females.

The door opened behind me, and Parker snapped, “What the hell, Langston?” as he lumbered inside with two of my suitcases. “You fucking forgot something.” Dropping them heavily at my feet, he scowled. “I’m not your damn bellhop. Get the rest yourself.”

“Hey, I didn’t forget shit,” I told him, bending down to pick one of the bags back up so I could shove it into his gut. “I’m just not staying here. I already have a place across town. I only wanted to pop by to say hello first. So if you could kindly take these backoutto the car, I’d appreciate it. Thanks.”

“The hell if I will,” he countered. “I’m not taking you across town.” Parker shoved the suitcase right back at me. “I agreed to get you from the airport to your brother. That’s it. I don’t give a flying fuck where you’re staying or where you go from here. My job is done.”

Grinding my teeth, I pushed the suitcase right back at him. “Put them back in the car. Right now. IsaidI’m not staying here. I don’t want Alec to see my luggage and think he has to offer me a place to sleep.”

“And I said I wasn’t driving you anywhere else. So you can just?—”

“Whoa!” Shorty yelped, interrupting our moment. Pointing, she screeched, “Oh my God. You’re Hope, aren’t you?”

The auburn-headed one whirled toward her. “You mean, Alec’s Hope? How did you know that?”

Shorty rolled her eyes. “There’s a picture of her with him in the living room.”

“Seriously? I’ve never seen it.”

“Probably because you’re too busy ogling all theFosterposters,” the tall one snarked.

Perky scowled a moment before giving into an accepting shrug. “True.”

“Plus there’s the fact that she looks exactlylikeAlec,” Shorty added. “But, you know, in girl form.”

I motioned toward them vaguely, still speaking to Parker. “And who the hell are they? Why is the kitchen full of females?Where’smy brother?”

He sighed.

Pointing, he lamely introduced, “She’s with Archer.” He pointed at Shorty before motioning to the tall one. “She’s Ivey’s.” Then he swung his finger toward the auburn-headed girl. “And she goes to Union.”

I blinked at the trio, taking them in before nodding slowly. “That actually makes sense,” I deduced before pointing at the short, stunning Hispanic beauty. “Except that one needs dimples.”

Damien’s girlfriend smiled, flashing a deep set at me as she pointed. “Oh, I have them. See!”

I blinked blankly, then turned back to Parker. “Wow. They’re freaking gorgeous.” And I sniffed. “So how many of them didyoutry to sleep with?”

He glanced at them as if he needed to tally the numbers in his head before he admitted, “Only two.” With a shrug, he met my gaze and added, “Archer already had his locked down and claimed before I was allowed to meet her.”

“Smart,” I murmured with an approving nod as my gaze strayed back to Bashful’s beauty with the dimples. “But also primitively possessive and completely hot of him. Hmm.” Taking her in from head to toe, I added, “I had a sense that Bashful would be the most passionate lover in the group. It’s always the quiet ones.”

“Bashful?” I was asked in confusion.

So I arched my eyebrows and clarified, “Damien.”

“Oh!” His girlfriend brightened with a big smile, making her cheek pit attractively. “Hell, yes, he is,” she had to agree.

Only for the other two to scoff.

“There is absolutely no way to prove that,” Hudson’s tall woman countered, cocking her hip so she could set her hand on it.

“Yeah,” Foster’s girl chimed in, making her auburn curls bounce self-righteously. “Foster is a fabulous lover, thank you very much.”

Grinning over the discord I’d caused, I turned, only to find Parker scowling at me, possibly because I’d just claimed that his best friend was probably a better lover than he was.

“What’re you still doing, just standing there?” I asked, snapping my fingers to hurry him along. “Take those back to the car.”

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