Page 113 of The Ruthless Boys (Adamson All-Boys Academy 2)
Evenly spaced lanterns flicker on the log walls, and the moon and stars twinkle above us, obscured by the steam, but still plenty bright enough to see.
“I can think of so many naughty things we could get up to out here,” Spencer purrs against my ear, tracing one of his fingers up my spine. I shiver, but push away from his chest, putting space between us. It was one thing to do it with both twins, but all five guys in a pool? No thank you, not yet. And I’m not even sure, what, exactly my relationship is with Church or Ranger. I’ve had moments with both; I’m technically engaged to one.
A sigh escapes me, and I duck under the water to clear my head.
When I lift back up, the first thing I see sweeping past is Micah’s dripping, wet cock as he trades places with his brother. Apparently, wearing clothes doesn’t occur to him, and he ends up just leaning against the door with it all hanging out, so to speak.
“Torture, pure torture,” I murmur, as I find a nice smooth stone to sit on, hugging my arms over my breasts. “So. I’m assuming this is our activity for the rest of the night. What about tomorrow? Are we tailing people again?” I don’t bother to keep my voice down; on the other side of the wall, the rest of the Adamson academy students are loud and raucous. Makes me doubly glad I’m over here in the peaceful quiet.
“We need to get that knapsack,” Ranger says, nodding his agreement. “I’ve got a feeling that we’ll find what we’re looking for in there. And if I’m right, if Mr. Murphy is Adam, and he really is trying to scare Charlotte away, he’ll at least be able to tell us what he’s scaring her away from.”
“Maybe we knock on his door and ask for something early on in the day?” Spencer muses, dipping his hair in the water, and then tossing the shiny silver strands back. “Like, help with a college essay or something. If he takes the knapsack with him, I say we just have the twins hold him back while we go through it. I mean, worst case scenario, but if you’re that sure that we’re going to find something incriminating in his bag, then why not? What could he do if we did find something? His hands will be tied.”
“We’re down,” the twins say, their voices perfectly synced, even with the distance between them.
“Maybe tomorrow evening, we could find somewhere private to talk?” Ranger says, looking right at me, and my mouth drops open.
“Couldn’t we just talk now?” I choke out, but he shakes his head. “I don’t like surprises, Ranger.”
“I need time to think about what I want to say.”
Spencer gives his friend a look.
“You could have thought of it first then invited her to talk? Why the torture, man? We all know what you want: you want to date my girlfriend.”
Silence falls over the group, the only sounds coming from the other side of the pool.
“I’m not sure if I was clear when we were in the Hamptons,” Church continues, exhaling and trailing his fingertips across the surface of the water. “Yes, the engagement’s fake, and it’s meant to keep you at Adamson, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested.”
“What exactly does this all mean?” I ask, wishing we could have this conversation when I wasn’t naked in a super sexy hot pool with them all at the same time.
“They both want to date you,” the twins drawl, and then they both sigh.
“Fucking hell, you couldn’t let me just think it over for the night?” Ranger snaps, pushing his dark hair back with wet fingers. Church just smiles at me.
“What do you think, Miss Carson, will you have us?”
I glance at Spencer first, then Tobias, and finally over at Micah. They all just stare at me, waiting for me to make the choice.
“This is … highly unorthodox,” I begin, and Church laughs.
“Miss Carson, orthodox is highly overrated. Who cares what anyone else thinks? It only matters what you want.”
“What I want,” I murmur, and then I dunk myself under the water again before holding a thumbs-up over my head. It’s a bit of a cop-out, but what can I say? My boobs are literally floating in the water, and my cheeks are probably about the same color as the pickled plums the boys ate for breakfast this morning.
There is nothing orthodox about this situation.
And yet, I like it. I really, truly do.The next morning, Church gets up early, donning his yukata and opening our doors, so that the sunlight streams into the room. I groan and roll onto my side, but the twins managed to sneak a ton of saké into their room last night, and we all got a little drunk.
