Page 41 of The Boys Next Door
“We?”
Brendan let go — finally. If he’d held onto her for a second longer, she would have collapsed into a puddle. As it was, her skin prickled, and she desperately wanted to tear off her graduation gown and fan herself. Her friends were gawking, phones dangling from their hands, turning from her to Brendan with expressions of amazement.
As soon as she looked over her shoulder, another male body crowded her. A casual arm dropped onto her shoulders.
“What, you weren’t going to tell us?” Ian looked down at her with a lopsided smile, and her stomach turned a somersault. She caught a faint glimpse of the hickey she’d left on his neck the night before.
“I figured you guys like surprises,” she managed to say.
Now her face had to be as red as her shoes, and her friends’ jaws were practically unhinged. Any minute now, she was going to have to mop Janelle off the floor. Ian only made it worse by leaning closer.
“Love the fuck-me pumps,” he said in a low voice, under the music blaring from the outdoor speakers. His breath brushed her ear. “Nice speech too.”
“Take a picture of us?” Brendan’s arm was around her too now, and he held out his phone to Marissa, who blinked and took it. He’d made the right choice, Diana thought; Janelle would have fallen apart completely.
God, she was about to explode, wedged tightly between the twins. People were staring at them now — not just her friends. If anyone guessed the truth…
But right then, she didn’t even care. Her face already ached from smiling, but she was too happy not to grin from ear to ear.
Marissa seemed to be taking a lot of pictures, her finger permanently pressed to the screen while her eyes moved over the twins’ handsome faces and bronzed physiques. Diana couldn’t blame her. Meanwhile, Brendan’s warm hand squeezed her waist, and a pinch on her ass made her cheeks clench — definitely Ian.
She prayed no one behind them had noticed, or saw her own hand sneak back for an answering pinch. Her panties were moist. Her pussy ached, sandwiched as she was between their muscular bodies.
In the midst of all the craziness, she wondered if Brendan knew about Ian’s visit to her room last night.
“We both really liked your speech, Di. We need to celebrate,” Brendan announced, taking his phone from Marissa.
“We do?” Janelle looked at him hopefully.
Brendan gave her an indulgent smile and turned back to Diana. “We’re taking you out. Right, Ian?” Ian just pinched her again — on her hip this time. Diana realized he still had his arm around her. “Saturday night? This weekend? A surprise.”
Oh boy, she would never hear the end of this from her friends. They’d demand a full report. Out with the twins — she couldn’t even imagine where they’d go or how she’d handle herself. She nodded quickly.
“Diana! Congratulations, honey! You were wonderful!” Her mother bustled up to her, her father in tow — and Mr. and Mrs. O’Brian with them.
The twins stepped aside as her mother hugged her. Diana didn’t think the sudden entrance was an accident. She’d seen the way her parents had glanced nervously at Ian’s arm around her, even as Mr. and Mrs. O’Brian looked pleased.
“Wasn’t she great?” Brendan smiled broadly, as if he were personally responsible for Diana’s speech. He wasn’t far wrong, she thought, her skin tingling under her gown.
A welcome breeze blew across the lawn. Teachers were coming up to her now. As she talkedwith them, posed for pictures, and tried to hold down five different conversations at once, she noticed the faculty noticing the twins.
Everyone recognized them, of course. They’d graduated two years ago, but it would be a long time before her high school forgot the O’Brian brothers. And there was no doubt right now which one was which.
Brendan was busy shaking all the teacher’s hands, chatting them up and sharing friendly reminiscences. Meanwhile, Ian had been grabbed in a bear hug by a rangy guy Diana figured was the basketball coach — she’d never bothered to keep track of sports the past four years — while the rest of the faculty gave him a wide, disapproving berth, like they expected him to set off a stink bomb in the stadium.
“We came to see Diana.” Brendan’s voice caught her attention. He and Ian pointed at her with identical dimpled grins, and Mr. Bertell, her calc teacher, eyed the three of them with a confused expression, like something didn’t add up.
Meanwhile, more people were elbowing their way through the crowd to greet the twins, slap high fives, say hello — older brothers and sisters of the graduates, plus the few athletes and beautiful people in her grade who’d been cool enough to rub shoulders with the twins in high school.
This was familiar. Diana was used to seeing Brendan and Ian at the center of things. But now she was at the center, too. People she’d never spoken two words to were shaking her hand, congratulating her, telling her how much they’d liked her speech.
Dizzy, she found herself on the receiving end of another hug — Ms. Wood, her AP English teacher, faculty advisor for the literary magazine, and the person who’d whipped her writing into shape more than anyone else the past four years.
“Diana, this school is going to miss you so much. I’m going to miss you so much. All those late nights you put in for the literary magazine…the work of art you turned in for your final paper…”
“Those times you studied all alone in your room…the way you never had any fun…” said a familiar teasing voice.
Ms. Wood pursed her lips.Diana suddenly became aware of warm pressure on her shoulders. Ian had come up next to her, draping an arm around her again. “The two of you are friends?”