Page 85 of Ruining His Smirk

Adrien’s cheeks turned completely pink.

“This is unacceptable,” Viktor declared. “So I have taken it upon myself to broaden their horizons.”

“What’s wrong with having sex in bed?” I asked, laughing, while perched on my cowboy’s thighs.

Grant gestured at me. “Thank you. Exactly my point.”

Viktor shook his head. “No. We must be more adventurous. I moved from Siberia to Alaska. You can move from a bed to more.”

“I don’t think that logic works, dumbo.” Grant rolled his eyes.

Viktor continued unfazed. “So I thought why not have a little friendly challenge. Each couple earns points based on how adventurous they are. When we all return next season, we will calculate everyone’s total.”

A murmur ran through the room. I glanced at Garrett. He raised an eyebrow. I nodded.

“If this sounds too much, you’re welcome to opt out. Who doesn’t want in?”

Keith raised his hand. “As a single man, I’ll sit out.”

“Perfect. You can be the arbiter in case of disputes.”

And oh my goodness, my tough-as-nails friend suddenly turned into a little boy in front of my eyes. He looked pleased as punch.

Dexter had, meanwhile, turned to the whiteboard and was drawing a separate column for each couple, writing our names across the top in neat handwriting.

Under Adrien and Grant’s names, he wrote:

Bed -- ?

“Okay, let’s set up the base points,” Viktor continued. “Hmm. How many points should we award Adrien and Grant? I think one point for the bed is good.”

“Is this completely dependent on one factor? Location?” Adrien asked.

“Location seems the most reasonable factor.”

“What about poses? You could be plenty adventurous in bed and this system doesn’t account for that,” Adrien countered.

“The challenge is about doing something bold,” Viktor argued back. “Whatever poses you do, unless you’re dangling from an aircraft while doing it, it doesn’t matter!”

Reed and Daniel immediately locked eyes. Uh oh.

Next to Adrien, Grant looked surprised because his shy boyfriend had suddenly turned the challenge into a debate.

Their discussion quickly became absurdly technical.

I stretched my arms above my head and yawned, then relaxed back into Garrett until my head rested against his shoulder. His arm curved around my middle, and his mouth brushed my hair. I turned my face toward him. He was watching me with that softened expression he seemed to reserve only for me, and I held his gaze for a moment before returning my attention to the argument.

The two were still at it. I raised my voice. “I think we need our arbiter’s services.”

Viktor and Adrien stopped and turned to Keith.

“I apologize for my rudeness,” Adrien said in a polite tone. “May I know your qualifications?”

Oh boy.

Keith spread his legs wide and slouched in his chair. “Not a scientist or an academic. Foster system kid. Joined the military as soon as I turned eighteen. Went through BUD/S training and became a SEAL. Have three deployments under my belt. All classified.” He cast a look toward Reed and Daniel, who I’d learned were also some kind of soldiers with classified missions.

“Specialized and trained in hostage negotiations. Since leaving, I’ve been a medic and deep-sea diver working with scientists.”