Room Mated: Standalone Reverse Harem Romance

“If you keep staring, you’re about to get even more of an eyeful,” Mason said.

“What?” With effort, I dragged my gaze back to his face and caught his smirk.

“But then again, you’re perfectly comfortable living with men, so therefore, you know all about morning wood, right?”

It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about—and then a bit longer to try to keep my cheeks from flushing. Not that it worked.

“So keep watching if you—”

Mason stopped when a pillow flew across the space between the bunk beds and smacked him in the face. Yep, Jude was up there unless I was also rooming with a poltergeist. And if that was the case, at least it seemed to be on my side.

“All right, all right,” Mason said grumpily, though neither Jude nor the possible ghost had said anything. Ignoring the ladder, he jumped down and somehow landed lightly on his feet. Then he headed toward the bathroom before I could check out the morning wood thing for myself. Too bad.

“Jude?”

“Yeah?”

“Did Parker come to bed at all last night?”

“Yes. He was there when I woke up around three.”

“That’s good.” But I was still worried about him.

Jude seemed to sense that. “He’ll come around, eventually.” The bunk shifted, and I wondered if Jude had rolled over. “Are you getting up?”

“Yes, Dad.” The answer slipped out before I could stop it. I’d never been the type to be above sarcasm.

Jude just chuckled. “I only asked because I’m going to hop down and I don’t want to land on your head.”

“Good thinking.” That aspect of bunk beds had never occurred to me. Of course, it seemed like a normal, unathletic person would use the ladder. Clearly, that didn’t apply to either Mason or Jude. “The coast is clear.”

A second later, Jude was in front of me, making it look as easy as Mason had. It was a bit like living in a comic book where superheroes might drop out of the sky and land in front of you at any moment.

Jude left me alone in the bedroom, the last one up, but I just grinned as I pushed off the covers. At least I wouldn’t have to wait in line for the bathroom.

The shower felt amazing, and I stayed in there longer than I should have. But it was just so pleasant. Travel—even just driving across the state—always made me feel kind of grimy, so it was nice to be clean from tip to toe. Afterwards I dressed casually in a tank top with a sweater over it and shorts. Rather short shorts, but that was pretty much the only kind I had. My legs were my favorite part of me, and I didn’t mind showing them off.

Before I left the bathroom, I carefully did my eye makeup. Not for the guys’ sake—two out of the three of them had seen what I looked like bare-faced this morning—but just out of habit. People spent a great deal of time staring at my eyes anyway, so I always figured that I might as well be confident in my eye makeup.

When I exited the bathroom, I heard soft music that I initially mistook for a radio or music player. But when I made a beeline for the main room—and the mountain view behind it—Jude was sitting on one of the barstools in front of the wall of windows. He had one foot on the floor, and the other on a lower rung of the stool, a guitar resting on his knee.

I skidded to a halt to watch—and listen.

He played a simple melody, using his fingers, not a guitar pick. His head was bent over the instrument, and he looked too intent on what he was doing to notice me.

Wow. It wasn’t often that I could see gorgeous, awe-inspiring mountains in the same gaze as a gorgeous, drool-worthy man. It was yet another reason to appreciate this amazing suite.

Jude switched to a different tune, adjusting his fingers on the strings. I didn’t recognize it, but the music was gentle and mellow. Kind of like him. He had such kind eyes. And it was already clear he was the voice of reason among the three of them. Yet his outward appearance didn’t seem to match his calm demeanor.

On the outside, he was tall, dark, and handsome to a tee. He had to have at least an inch or two on Mason, and he was just as handsome, only in a different way. His short, dark beard was hot as hell, and from what I could tell, he had a lean but sculpted body under his black jeans and dark green T-shirt.

As I watched, he stopped and tightened one of the strings on his guitar. Then he glanced up and noticed me. “Morning. You look different.”

“I do?” I glanced down. As far as I could see, I looked pretty much the same as yesterday, though a bit cleaner.