“Max, I—”
“Come for me, princess,” I growled, swallowing her moans as she clung to me, her pussy gripping my fingers like a velvety vise. I imagined my cock trying to squeeze inside of her slick, pink heaven, and I felt my balls tighten at the thought.
“Oh God, Max, you’re— you’re going to—”
“Come for me, princess,” I growled, my head spinning and her moans dripping in my ears as I kissed her with everything I had. “Make that pretty pussy—”
“Wait!”
I froze at the urgency in her words, her body tensing and freezing on top of me.
“Cora—”
“Wait, wait,” she panted, shaking her head and squeezing her eyes shut. “I— Oh my God, I can’t do this.”
My brow furrowed with concern as I looked into her face, but she looked away, tears brimming at her eyes.
Shit.
I’d gone too far. I’d pushed, and fucking lost all sense of control around her.
“Fuck, Cora,” I pulled my hand from her jeans. “Honey, I’m so fucking sor—”
“No, no,” she shook her head. “No, it’s not you, I just…”
She looked down, burying her face in her hands.
“What is it, Cora?”
“Nolan.”
I froze. “What?”
“I— you’re friends.”
“Yes, and?”
She looked up, her lip caught between her teeth as she peered into my eyes.
“You— you don’t know?”
Something started to rumble inside of me, like a little faraway warning light.
“Know what?” I growled quietly.
“He and I…” She swallowed, her face paling. “Oh God, you didn’t…”
“You slept with Nolan.”
The words felt like dead weight as they left my lips. My hands tightened on her hips, and without another word I moved her off of me back into the passenger seat.
“He didn’t know who I was, and I didn’t know who he was, but…”
I was silent, staring right ahead.
“Max—”
But I shook my head as I started the car, my eyes locked ahead. We drove home in silence.
I wasn’t mad — not at her. Maybe at myself a little. Maybe a little at Nolan. Yeah, I was into her, but finding out about her and my friend wasn’t like some sort of macho territorial thing. It’s that Nolan hadn’t said shit. Garret, Nolan, and I shared everything. We didn’t keep secrets from each other, even if those secrets were fucking time bombs like “hey guys, I slept with my student.” Shit, if anything, something that explosive would’ve meant he’d tell us even quicker, to see what we thought he should do.
But he hadn’t, and Nolan not telling us was big. It meant whatever had happened with him and Cora meant something, enough that he was keeping it to himself. It mean that she meant something, and here I’d had her almost coming on my fingers.
Fuck.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered quietly as we pulled into the driveway.
“You don’t have shit to be sorry about,” I said, my voice low as I turned to her. “I’m the one who should be fucking sorry.”
She started to shake her head, but I stopped her.
“We should never speak about this,” I growled. “This never happened.”
“Max—”
“This didn’t happen, Cora,” I said tightly, my chest aching.
She looked at me, her big blue eyes locked with mine, before she shook her head, shoved the car door open, and ran up and into the house.
Now this was a problem. It wasn’t just that Nolan had slept with a student. It wasn’t just that I’d fucking lost my head around that same student and unknowingly dragged her into my lap and slid my hand between her legs.
No, it was that I was into her. Badly. And I was pretty damn sure my buddy was too.
…Now what?
8
Cora
What have I done?
Horrible, swirling thoughts burned through my mind as I dashed up the stairs to Nolan’s guest room and slammed the door shut. I threw myself across the bed, curling into a ball as I chewed at my lip.
Seriously, what the fuck was wrong with me? The last few days had felt like a spiral, and like I was totally spinning out of control. First, I’d just thrown myself at a total stranger in a bar — something I’d never done before. That in itself could keep a therapist busy for a while. I think I’d just been running and looking for something to crash into.
Nolan had been that something. Nolan whose arms made me feel so safe and whose eyes and whispered words had made me feel more alive than I’d ever felt before.
But then, the truth had come tumbling out, and the rest had been a whirlwind — coming to his house, kissing him again, falling asleep to the thought of him in his guest room.
So what the heck had happened with Max? Was I that insane that any gorgeous, older guy standing up for me and making me feel safe was someone I was just going to throw myself at? Or was it just that I’d managed to find two men in the span of two short days who made me feel things I’d never felt before? Two men who made me feel alive, and lit a fire inside of me. Nolan, with his stern, steadfast fierceness, and Max with his wild, alpha sexiness.
My whole body still tingled after how close he’d gotten me in the car. And for a minute, I wondered why the hell I’d stopped him. Nolan, of course. Because less than twelve hours previously, one of his best friends had been sliding his thick cock between my legs. It’s not like Nolan and I were “together” or anything — God, if anything after he’d pushed me away the night before, we were the most opposite of that possible. But maybe I just felt wrong doing that with Max so soon after. It felt dirty, and a little slutty.
…The problem was, I couldn’t tell if that made me feel bad or way too good.
Slowly, my heart still racing, my body still tingling, and the dull aching need still making me hot and wet between my legs, I got out of the bed. Out the window, I heard the sound of Max’s SUV spinning out of the driveway and peeling away. Part of me relaxed a little, knowing he wasn’t downstairs. I felt awful — for taking things that far and then pushing him away. I felt awful for the way he’d frozen up when I told him about Nolan.
But mostly, I felt awful because the truth was, being with him that day had felt amazing. The spark I’d felt just being around him, and chatting with him, and knowing he was by my side through the shittiness of having to go to Matt’s place had been this rush of something so good.
And I’d gone and ruined it.
I opened the bedroom door, took a breath, and headed down to the empty kitchen. Maybe some coffee would clear my head.
“Think there might be one last cup in there.”
I almost screamed as my heart jumped into my throat and I whirled at the sound of the deep, baritone voice behind me.
Right, there’s three of them.
Somehow, in the haze of the night before and the whirlwind of the day so far, I’d forgotten that there were actually three men living in this house. Max had just roared away in his Land Rover, and Nolan was presumably still on campus getting work done. But Professor Cole I hadn’t even known was there until he’d spoken from the breakfast table behind me.
I swallowed heavily, my pulse still racing as I took in the tall, built, ridiculously handsome man sitting facing me, a mug in his hand and a smile on his perfect, chiseled jaw. Yeah, Nolan might have been a heartthrob to the co-eds on campus, but so was Garret Cole. Dark hair, dark, piercing eyes, and the kind of cowboy chin that made girls weak in the knees. He taught international studies at Gilman. I’d only taken one of his classes once, opting out because it didn’t really fit my major, but I knew the man had a background in the military, and it showed. Broad chest, built arms, and that straight-backed posture that made him really look his six foot whatever height.
And here we were face to face alone in Nolan’s kitchen
“Hi, sorry.” I swallowe
d again, gulping down air.
“I scared you, didn’t I?”
“You scared the shit out of me, yeah,” I breathed out, laughing nervously.
Garret grinned. “Sorry. It’s Cora, right?”
I nodded.
“You took a survey class of mine, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, last year.”
“You dropped it.”
I blushed. “Sorry, it wasn’t really part of the course work I needed towards my major.”
“I got over it, eventually.” He winked in that handsome, charming way that sent butterflies through my stomach.
“So, welcome to the Nolan Jameson hotel I guess.”
I grinned, pouring the last dregs of coffee into my mug. “I didn’t realize you and him were roommates.”
He chuckled. “We’re not, trust me. I’ve known the guy too long to voluntarily live with him.”
He saw the curious look on my face, because he kept going.
“I’m just crashing here for a bit. My fiancée’s and my house…”
A shadow crossed his face as he shook his head. “My ex’s house and mine, well, we’re selling it, and I’ve got no interest in living there during the process.”
I wrinkled my brow and twisted my lips. “Sorry to hear that. Hope it wasn’t a bad breakup.”
“She left me for her massage therapist, so…”
“Fuck, I’m so sorry!”
I started to move towards him, out of a need to comfort I guess. But Garret just chuckled lowly and shook his head. “Honestly, it’s a good thing. Don’t shed any tears for me on this one.”
“That’s pretty shitty of her.”
“On that we can agree, but I’m pretty sure I dodged a bullet.”
“Uh, yeah,” I laughed, smiling up at him. “God, what a bitch.”
Garret laughed. “Thanks.”
His dark, haunting eyes sparked, and I felt myself falling into them. A tingle teased its way down my spine, sending a little shiver through me before I realized I was completely staring at him.
I quickly shook my head and looked down into my coffee.
“I had no idea you and Nola— Professor Jameson were friends with Max O’Reilly.”
Garret chuckled. “Yeah, that asshole? We go way back. He and Nolan grew up in the same house, actually. And I lived next door.”
My brows arched. “Wait, seriously?”
“Yep. He went off to Wall Street, I did my thing with the Navy, and Max went off and got famous. And now here we all are.”
“Well, I’m going to be out of the way soon,” I said quickly. “Tonight, actually.”
“Nolan told me.”
My head jerked up, my face going crimson.
He’d TOLD him?
“You know, about your living situation.”
My whole body sagged, the breath of relief whooshing out of me.
“Oh, yeah, it’s…” I shrugged. “It’s fine, I’ve got it figured out now.”
Lies, of course. But as incredible as it’d felt to sleep in a room that felt like a home, I knew I couldn’t stay. Not with what’d happened with Nolan, and now with the Max thing, it was just too complicated.
Garret eyed me. “I call bullshit.”
My face reddened as I tried to meet his stern look.
“No, really, I’m good.”
“Where are you staying?”
“A friend’s.”
“Which friend.”
I blushed. “You sound like my dad.”
“I’m old enough to be your dad.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, well, don’t worry about me, Professor Cole. I’ll be fine. And I’m not a lost kid, I’m nineteen.”
His jaw clenched, the muscles in his neck standing out for a second as his eyes flared.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “You are.”
I took a slow sip of my coffee, feeling my face burn and a teasing sort of heart creep through me into places it really shouldn’t.
One house with three insanely good looking older men who made me feel tingling things no man had ever made me feel before. Yeah, I definitely couldn’t stay there.
“Well, I should go,” I lied. “Got some work to do at the library back on campus.”
“Want a ride?”
Because that worked out so well with your friend easier…
“No, thanks,” I mumbled quickly, my face reddening at the memory of Max’s lips searing across mine and his hands making me turn into a puddle on his lap. “I’ll just walk.”
“The house really is yours to stay in if you need, you know,” he said quietly. “I know it’s probably lame with two of your old-guy teachers cramping your style, but, it’s a bed.”
I giggled. “Uh, trust me, Professor Cole, if most of the female students at Gilman knew I slept in the same house as you and Professor Jameson last night, I’d be the most popular girl on campus.”
My mouth snapped shut the second the words left my lips, but it was too late. My face blushed furiously, and I felt my stomach drop as what I’d just said sat in the air between us.
Please stop taking, self.
But Garret just grinned as he sat back in his chair, one brow arched as his eyes moved over me.
“Well, lucky you then, I guess.”
Oh, lucky me alright…
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Kenzie stared at me, her jaw hanging open and this mix of hurt and anger on her face. I’d finally caved and told my friend about my housing situation. Or rather, my lack of housing.
“I seriously don’t understand why the hell you’re not just staying at our house!”
Again, Kenzie lived with her two boyfriends — two much older, insanely good looking and truly incredible guys in this big sprawling castle-like mansion a little drive from campus. But again, crashing at her house, while tempting, just hadn’t been something I was ready to do. Maybe I’d been too proud to tell my friend that I was scraping by, or maybe deep down, being around three people that happy hurt more than I wanted to admit.
“I didn’t want to butt in!”
“Dude, we have ten bedrooms. Literally ten of them.”
I grinned, shaking my head. “You know I appreciate it, I just didn’t want to impose all my shit on… you know, that whole thing you’ve got going on over there.”
Kenzie grinned. “My whole thing like me and my two boyfriends?”
I blushed. “Yeah, that.”
She rolled her eyes. “C’mon, it’s not like we run all over the house naked having threesomes all the time.”
My blush deepened.
“Well, I mean, not all the time we don’t.”
“Kenzie!” My face burned as I buried it in my hands, my friend giggling as she put her arm over my shoulder.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. It’s really not whatever x-rated porn plot you’re imagining.”
“I imagine nothing.”
She winked. “Yes you do.”
I groaned and buried my beet-red face in my hands again.
“Okay, so you’re staying where exactly?”
“A friend.”
She arched a brow. “It better not be that Matt shit-head.”
“No, God,” I made a face.
“So?”
I eyed my friend, chewing my lip. “You— you can’t say anything, okay?”
“This sounds oddly scandalous for you.”
When I didn’t respond, her brow shot up. “Spill it!”
I took a deep breath. “Professor Jameson.”
Kenzie started chuckling.
“Oh, hilarious. C’mon, Cora, you can tell—”
“I’m being serious.”
Her smile faded, and her brows arched high.
“Are you shitting me? The Professor Jameson? Nolan Jameson, hottie business professor extraordinaire?”
I nodded quietly. “Yeah.”
Kenzie whistled. “Hooooly shit, girl. I’m going to need details on you playing sleepover with o
ur sexy professor ASAP.”
“Okay, it’s not like that.”
…It kind of was.
“Look, I was staying with Matt, just for a little bit. But he got super creepy about it and it all came to a head at Rory’s the other night at that costume party thing they had. He pushed me around outside, and Nolan happened to be there to take me out of the situation.”
I kinda left out the part about having the best sex of my life with him in the bathroom.
“Nolan was there, huh?” Kenzie gave me a curious look. “So now you’re shacked up with Nolan all alone at his big house?”
I bit my lip. “Uh, not exactly?”
By the time I was done telling her that not only was it Nolan in the big brick mansion off campus, but also Garret Cole and Max O'Reilly, I thought her jaw was going to actually touch the ground.
“Wait wait wait wait.” Kenzie shook her head. “You’re giving me shit about living with my two guys, and you’re over there playing house with three hot guys?”
I laughed. “It’s not like that!”
“It’s going to be like that.”
I blushed furiously, looking away.
“You’re okay there, though?”
I turned back to see her looking at me with genuine concern, but I nodded. “I am. I feel… I dunno, safe there. Safe and more at home than I have in a long time. Too bad I have to get out of there.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s wrong?”
“Why, cause Professor Jameson is your professor?”
I nodded sullenly, but Kenzie just rolled her eyes. “You’re just staying at his house. There’s no way that’s against the rules or anything.”
“Sure it is!”
“Nah, no way.” My friend grinned at me. “Just don’t sleep with him.”
I felt the heat bloom over my face for the hundredth time that day as I looked down at my hands.
“Look, you want to take a night off from, well, life? Some kid in my applied sciences class was talking about this huge party going on tonight at one of those big senior houses off campus. We should go.”
“Us? At a party?”
Part of Kenzie and I bonding so fast was that neither of us was the typical college freshman when we’d met. We both had interesting non-dorm living arrangements, and neither of us had any interest in the beer-chugging party scene.