Page 40 of Curious

Chapter Ten

It had been two days and Jeremy could still feel the fading marks on his ass as he walked toward his front door. Running errands today, it had taken all his concentration not to get an erection in public each time he was reminded of what they’d done. He wished Owen hadn’t phoned him at lunch to tell him he would be late. He wanted to thank him properly for his day of frustration. He wanted him home.

Home. Damned if he didn’t like the sound of that. He’d been thinking about offering a more long-term living arrangement. Maybe under the guise of helping him look for a better place to live. Owen could stay here with him until he found someplace better.

If it were up to Jeremy, he would realize there was no better place. He would stay. To the world outside they could be roommates and best friends. Inside the safety of their four walls? Owen would be his.

It was a good dream. One Jeremy found himself coming back to more and more often lately.

He heard Tasha crying an instant before he saw her leaning against his front door. “Natasha? Jesus, honey what’s wrong?”

She turned and fell into his arms, sobbing. Jeremy unlocked and opened the door, picking her up easily and carrying her inside before kicking it closed behind them. “Come on, Tash, talk to me. Are you hurt?”

He walked over to the couch and sat down with her in his lap, crooning and rocking her as if she were a child. He’d never seen her like this.

She lifted her head and his heart broke. Her beautiful green eyes were red and swollen. She’d been crying for a while. “I’m going to kill him.”

“I’ll get my shovel and a good lawyer,” he assured her solemnly without missing a beat. “Can you tell me about it? Who are we talking about?”

Tasha looked down at her hands, her dark velvet curls hiding half her face from view. “It’s all my fault. I still can’t believe it’s really happening. I mean, this is Lifetime movie bullshit, right? This isn’t real life.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning of the movie, hon. I’m lost.”

She nodded. “Last night I went to the pub to talk to Jen about…well, it wasn’t a PG-rated topic.”

Jeremy nodded, caressing her back. “It never is.”

“I didn’t realize he was there, that he’d heard anything, but he must have, because he dragged Jen in the back and everyone could hear them shouting at each other until Seamus followed them to kick the bastard out and ban him from the pub.”

Scott. She was talking about Scott. “He’s going to have to be dealt with,” Jeremy sighed. “I think I’m calling the Finns in for a meeting. We can’t keep pretending we’re okay with Jen marrying that asshole.”

Tasha looked into his eyes, her own dark with worry. “No, we can’t now. You can’t. I’m so sorry, Jeremy. This is all my fault.”

“Why are you sorry? You’re starting to scare me now. Tell me what’s going on.”

She fumbled for the purse that was dangling from her shoulders, reaching in to dig out her phone. “I got a text message a few hours ago. There was a video and a picture attached.”

Tasha pushed play and tilted her phone toward Jeremy. It was dark inside the car, but he could clearly see a topless Tasha, her expression passionate as she straddled the man whose face was buried in her lush breasts.

The Finn brother whose name she wouldn’t reveal the last time they’d spoken. Even though they were twins, all it took was one look at the expensive if rumpled suit to know which one she was riding. “Stephen? You had sex with Senator Finn in a public parking lot?”

Stephen. The man whose career could be, if not ruined, then severely damaged by a sex tape. The public wouldn’t care that they were both single, consenting adults. It would be a scandal. “Shit. You don’t have to kill Scott. I will.”

She stopped the video and took a breath. “I’m sorry, Jeremy.”

“For that? Babe, you and I have done much w—”

“No,” she interrupted. “I’m sorry for this.”

Natasha opened an attached picture and he felt his heart stop then start to race so hard he thought it might explode. How? “Christ.”

This morning he’d walked Owen to the door in nothing but a pair of sweatpants. Owen been teasing him all through breakfast and Jeremy had wanted to make sure the fiend was just as affected for the rest of the day as he was going to be. He’d pushed him against the side of the house and kissed him with all the desire he was feeling. A desire that was meant for Owen alone.

And Scott had been there, watching. He’d snapped a fucking picture on his phone.

“Does he want money?” Jeremy asked grimly. He felt like the walls were closing in on him. Like his world might collapse. “Did he tell you how much?”

Neither of these could ever see the light of day. No one could know.

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