Swear (Landry Family 4)

His eyes on mine, he brings them to his mouth. My jaw hangs open as he licks his fingers. “I tastes better than it felt.”

My cheeks turn red as I scramble to regain my composure. He has every upper hand in this situation and now that I’m not all worked up, I see I’m at the disadvantage. And a complete mess.

My hair is matted to one side of my head, the ends of my ponytail acting like little brushes and rubbing the green material all over my shoulders.

Before I can figure out what to say, he heads towards his coat.

“Where are you going?” I ask, trying to work my hair into some semblance.

“I need to get home and get to bed,” he says nonchalantly. “I have a meeting on the golf course first thing in the morning. That’ll be two days golfing and I don’t particularly love it in the first place.”

“Oh.”

Whether I expected him to stick around or offer to take me for coffee, or a shower, I don’t know. But I didn’t expect this—whatever it is.

He’s faces me with a smug look on his face, his jacket slung over his shoulder. “Did that prove I’m not selfish?”

Before I can answer, he’s out the door.

Ford

RUNNING THE TOWEL OVER MY head, I toss it in the sink. The charcoal grey linen drops into the bowl as Trigger’s yawn echoes through the marbled room. The yellow lab lies in the corner, curled up on a burgundy rug that I paid way too much for but knew she’d love.

I lean against the counter and look at myself in the mirror. My hair is sticking every which way from the shower, my eyes wide awake despite having been up far too long.

It’s nearly two in the morning and I’m not closer to sleep now than I was hours ago. I’ve tried working myself out until muscle failure, pouring over security plans for Landry Security, shooting the shit with Sienna over tacos that she brought over under the guise of being bored. I know she was searching for gossip. I gave her nothing.

There’s this crazy feeling in the pit of my stomach like something big has happened. Like I scored tickets to watch my favorite band perform in a sold-out concert or I beat my record five-mile time.

My cock comes back to life as soon as I close my eyes and see her face. Her head tipped back, the sexy-as-fuck sounds emitting from her throat as she gave me full access to her sinful body.

“I have to figure this girl out,” I tell Trigger. “Want to give me some tips?”

She opens one eye and closes it again.

“Come on. Just one. Give me one thing that will win her over.”

This time, only her mouth opens to yawn.

“You’re a terrible best friend.”

Rubbing her behind her ears, I flip off the light and pad down the hallway. Pictures of my family, of friends from the military, and some photos I took around the world hang on the walls.

My house is unlike my brothers’. Whereas theirs are modern and sleek, some of them elegant and sophisticated, mine is comfortable. Sure, I have marble counters and state-of-the-art sound systems and things like that, I also have a pool table in the living room. A hot tub on the back deck. A basement with a full exercise room and sauna.

Venturing into my bedroom, I flop on the chocolate-colored blanket. Closing my eyes, I wonder what it would feel like to have Ellie here.

I imagine feeling her next to me, hearing her sing in the shower, smelling her coffee in the morning before I wake up. I wonder if she’s as messy as she used to be and if she still likes to eat breakfast in bed.

Trigger waltzes in and curls up in the corner. Before she can get too comfy, I give her a warning.

“Better get used to the idea of having another woman around here,” I tell her, slipping under the covers. “Come hell or high water, I’m going to make her mine again. Just you wait and see.”

Ellie

I haven’t seen one-thirty in the morning in a long time.

Stretched out on the couch, a fleece blanket pulled on top of me, I flip through the endless stream of channels on the television.