OVER THE YEARS, Spencer had wanted to punch Dean on more than one occasion. His cousin was good at finding his weakness and poking the shit out of it—until Spencer had enough. And right about now, Spencer had reached his limit with Dean’s outrageous flirting and open admiration of Tatum.
She was sitting beside him, her scent pure distraction. It took everything he had not to run his fingers along the side of her neck, to bury his nose there and press a kiss to the hollow of her throat. He wanted to make her breath hitch and her hands tighten in his hair...
“Don’t you think, Spencer?” Jared was asking.
He had absolutely no idea what Jared was talking about. But all four of them were looking at him, waiting for his answer. He had no choice. “About?”
Jared frowned at him. “New Year’s?”
Nope. That didn’t help at all. He waited, hoping like hell Jared would keep talking.
“Your brother’s wedding?” Jared looked concerned.
Lucy went on. “According to Zach, we can stay after.”
He glanced at Lucy, waiting. Why were they—
“Tatum’s invited and I’m trying to convince her to come. If anyone needs some R & R, it’s you, Tatum. Come on, we’ll have the best time,” Lucy pleaded.
He looked at Tatum. She was red-cheeked, clearly uncomfortable. Did she not want to go? Or...or was she thinking about the fact that their twelve days would be up by then? It might prove awkward to be in such close quarters after having such an intimate arrangement. But by then things wouldn’t be as...urgent as they were now. Maybe. Possibly. If they were, having her there would be a good thing.
But beyond his hunger for her, he knew she was alone and no one should be alone during the holidays. “You should,” he agreed.
“See,” Lucy said, squeezing her arm.
“Let me think about it,” Tatum said.
He glanced at the clock. It was almost two. He wanted to get the house done so he could take her on the lights tour. And then bring her back here and make her scream his name. He pushed back from the table, his abrupt movements making everyone jump. “Going back out,” he said, standing.
Dean and Jared looked at each other, then him.
“I’m not done,” Dean argued.
“Five more minutes isn’t going to hurt a thing,” Jared said.
“I didn’t say you had to come with me,” Spencer said. “Thanks for the stew, Tatum. It was delicious.”
She smiled up at him, her green eyes bright. “You’re welcome. Thank you for getting my—our—house up to judging standards.”
Our house. Her words jolted him. “My pleasure,” he said, winking at her before he hurried out of the kitchen. He liked what she’d said a little too much.
After finding more strands of white Christmas lights, he set about filling the holes his mother had found. And he tried his hardest not to let Dean and Jared lingering inside a hell of a lot longer than five minutes or the smile Dean wore when he did finally show up rub him the wrong way. Ever since they were kids, Dean liked to get a rise out of him. This was no different.
“Damn, she’s a good-looking woman,” Dean said, taking some of the lights from him. “Why the hell did you dump her again?”
Spencer glared at his cousin.
“Gotta kill you, man. To see all that, back here, out of your reach.” Dean sighed. “I feel for you.”
Jared laughed.
Spencer continued to glare at Dean. “She take you up on your offer?”
Dean smiled. “Not yet.”
“Then maybe she’s not out of my reach,” Spencer finished.
“Being roommates sure makes things cozy,” Jared said, glancing at his brother.