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The big football player delivered a half-shrug that only pissed me off even more. “Fine,” he said. “It was. But don’t be mad. Honestly, it was just kissing…”

Just kissing.

I could feel the anger boiling over, the rage at having caught them like this. We’d come home early because we felt bad for them. Wanted to spend a little bit of Halloween together with them, maybe celebrate a tiny bit before crashing out.

Instead we got this.

“We made a pact!” Hunter swore. “You agreed to this Brandon, we all did! Everyone—”

“Not everyone…”

Claudia rose, and we all turned in her direction. She dusted herself off. Smoothed out her skirt, and shook out her long, teased-out hair.

Holy shit. As a sexy pirate she looked absolutely incredible.

“This doesn’t involve you,” Hunter snapped.

“It doesn’t?” She let out a laugh that was half sarcasm, half disbelief. “I think it involves me very much.”

Hunter paused, but only because he was taking her in. Sometime during the night our roommate had transformed from college professor into a very provocative, super-steamy swashbuckler.

“The three of you run around here flirting with me all day and night,” she began. “Shirtless, shortsless…” She paused for a moment, as if considering whether it was actually a word. “Whatever. My point is, the tension in this house has been building for a while. And no, I’m not i

nnocent of it either. I’m one-hundred percent guilty of flirting back.”

We paused, watching her stand there silhouetted by the fire. Was she swaying a little? Not much. But definitely a little.

“You’re drunk,” I said. The words came out more harshly than I meant them. “The two of you have been drinking, and Brandon’s taking advantage of you.”

“Not even close,” said Claudia. “I’m pleasantly buzzed, if anything. And how do you know I wasn’t taking advantage of him?”

Brandon released a small chuckle. Hunter shot him the deadliest look I’ve ever seen, and he shut up immediately.

“I know you guys made some sort of secret agreement,” Claudia went on. “What did you call it… a pact? To not sleep with me?”

“To not do anything with you,” I said. “To pretty much leave you alone. For our sanity and yours.”

“My sanity?” She shook her head. “MY sanity…” she repeated.

“Look—”

“Do you have any idea what it’s like,” she cut Hunter off, “sharing a house with three incredible guys? Three beautiful guys who are not only hotter than hell, but also sweet to me? Caring for me? Kind? Considerate? Amazing?”

She stepped forward and put a finger on my chest. The orange glow of the fireplace set off the highlights of her hair. With the black boots and the fishnet stockings, she looked like a pirate goddess.

“You’ve held back,” she said. “I know you have. I have too, on more than one occasion.” She looked in a circle, gazing at each of us. “It’s basic biology, really. We’re attracted to each other. Only there are three of you… and only one of me.”

She paused, and for a moment the only sound was the crackle of the dying fire. I thought about what she was saying. How difficult it would if the roles were reversed, to somehow maintain control.

“We thought you were studying,” Hunter snarled, dragging out the last word. His voice was lower now, but still accusatory.

“We were. We did.”

“And?”

“And after a few hours we needed a sanity break.”

I had to laugh. “So you dressed like pirates and made out?”