Page 78 of The Boys Next Door

“Because?” prompted Diana.

“Because you were a frigid little bitch who’d never warm up past freezing, and he was wasting his time.”

“Thanks, Ian,” she said drily.

“I didn’t really think that.” Ian lay back on his bed, arms folded under his head, his eyes focused on her face. Diana wanted to tug the tufts of hair under his arms. “I had this feeling that under your ice princess outside was a crazy hot girl who’d burn me up if I got close enough. And yeah. I was right.”

God, Ian was talking about burning up, but she was the one whose skin was hot and fizzing, and she didn’t know if the drops trickling down her back and into the valley of her cleavage were pool water or sweat. She squeezed her thighs together, aware of Ian’s gaze roaming over her exposed skin and clinging swimsuit. Her throat was dry. Parched.

“And?”

Ian’s eyelids flickered. “Brendan talked me into hitting on you too, just to see what happened. The way he put it, you were a shy little virgin with a wild side that was just waiting to come out, and we were the guys to help you with that. I really didn’t think it would work. And when it did, I figured it was all Brendan. Nothing would happen between you and me without him around. He has a nice smooth touch.” Ian gave her an evil grin. “He’s the kind of guy that—“

“My mom wants me to be with,” Diana finished. “Except she has no idea who he actually is. And he likes it that way.”

Ian raked his fingers through his drying hair. Little drops of water clung to his bare shoulders and the tips of his chest hair. Diana couldn’t take it anymore. She knelt on the bed right over him, straddling him with her knees pressed to the sheets on either side. Not quite settling on his lap, but leaning over him, looking down at his near-naked body.

“You could have asked me.” She drew a drop of water down his chest with one fingertip. “You guys were backstage making your plans and agreements.”

Ian shrugged, a little smile playing over his mouth. A hand squeezed the curve of her hip and stayed there. “You weren’t complaining.”

No. She definitely hadn’t been complaining.

“Brendan asked me, after you spent the night.Oh, I heard you were up early. I heard you were taking care of Diana. If you want something more from her, tell me now.I kept telling him no, she’s just little Diana from next door, and she’s hot now, and we’re all just fooling around. And he finally said he believed me because he figured I’d only tell him the truth. But he always knew.”

“Those girls at the club—“ she flushed. “Did you plan that too?”

Ian shook his head. He looked embarrassed, she was pleased to see. She couldn’t resist tickling his nipples, feeling them harden into tiny pebbles. He laughed, writhing underneath her, and grabbed her hands. God, she could see how turned on he was, the bulge tenting his swim trunks, and it took everything she had not to sink down and rub against him.

“Brendan thought—“ he broke off. “He wanted to see how much we could get you to let go that night. If, you know, we helped you get comfortable enough. We came really fucking close to having an argument before we picked you up. I’ll be honest, I wanted to see it too, but I also…didn’t. But Brendan thought it would be so great for you. And to tell you the truth, he was pushing me too. Inside, he was as close as Brendan ever gets to pissed that I wasn’t admitting how I felt about you. So we talked about what might happen if you were totally open to trusting us, and the only hard rule we made was no other guys.”

“So you didn’t know the girls.”

“Didn’t even know their names.” Ian rubbed his hands over her back. Diana shivered with pleasure. Her fingertip found the freckle under Ian’s eye and stroked gently. “It was all about you with them. When I woke up, I thought it was you touching me.”

“Sorry,” she whispered. A sudden pinch on her ass made her wriggle.

“Brendan probably got their numbers.” Ian flashed her a wicked smile. Her cheeks were red now, she knew. “If you want a repeat.”

“Jerk.” She poked him in the ribs.

“You made that girl come pretty hard.” Ian slapped her ass lightly. “And I’d never figured you for a screamer.”

“That was with you. When you were—“ Diana broke off. “And once was enough for now, thanks,” she added hastily. “I know that’s just a typical Saturday night out for you, but—“

“It wasn’t,” Ian said quietly. “Not even close.”

“But you’ve gotten crazy before.” She was pushing now, but she had to say it. “You and Brendan. You’ve been with the same girl, before me. I saw you with Lauren.” She waited.

“Lauren?” Ian peered up at her, obviously confused. Diana cleared her throat loudly. Twisting her hands free of his grasp, she pushed his damp hair back from his forehead and leaned close enough for their noses to touch.

“Lauren Kalinowski? Your girlfriend, senior year in high school? At least for a month or two? Who you’ve clearly forgotten about because there’ve been so many girls since then?”

“Oh. Right. Lauren.” Red spread over over Ian’s cheeks. “You noticed her with me in high school?”

The surprised expression on his face couldn’t be real. But all of this was real. “Of course I noticed,” she said softly. “I noticed everything about you and Brendan. When I ran into you guys by that vending machine—“

“I remember that.” Ian grinned. “You, walking around with your nose in the air, and me, bending over fucking backwards trying to make you laugh.”