The Sweetest Game (11 page)

He winked at me, then shouted, “Order in!”

Note to self: Remind Dean to never fucking wink at me again.

The next morning I woke up to Cassie sleeping on my chest. My left arm was pressed against her back, which I figured was a complete waste since I couldn’t feel her skin through my cast.

She’d initiated sex last night and I let her control the pace. I figured she’d make me wait weeks to earn back her trust in the bedroom, but thankfully she wanted it just as badly as I did. After apologizing with my tongue until she came in my mouth, I entered her slowly, making sure nothing I did would remind her of the other night. It didn’t take long for her body to give itself over to me and for her mind to follow. Thank God.

No matter how much hurt and pain we’d caused each other in the past, the fact was that we were in it for the long haul. We trusted each other. Sometimes we lost our way, but we always found our way back. I never wanted that to end. And I never wanted to be the cause of it again. I hated that I scared her. What kind of asshole scares his wife during sex?

I tangled my good fingers through the strands of her long hair, surprised at how soft it always felt. She stirred against me. “Morning, babe,” she said against my chest.

“Morning, Kitten.”

Her head shot up from my chest, leaving it cold and empty. “Oh my God. Do you remember what we heard last night?” She covered her mouth to stop from laughing too loudly.

I had forgotten. “We don’t know what we heard.”

“Oh, bullshit! You know as well as I do they were totally having sex in our guest room!”

“Maybe they were just playing Monopoly. With their mouths,” I suggested with a smile.

She snorted. “Remind me to ask Melissa how Dean plays Monopoly because it sounded like she was really enjoying it.”

“That’s ‘cause he’s a Carter,” I said matter-of-factly.

“You guys are good at board games?”

Smartass
.

“I’m good at everything. Who knows what Dean’s good at.” I rolled on top of her, pressing my hard-on against her.

“No way! I need to shower.”

“Let me get you dirty first,” I whispered against her ear, taking the lobe into my mouth and sucking.

“How about you come clean me off instead?” She wriggled out from under me and the sight of her naked body caused my dick to throb even more.

Shower sex isn’t the same when you have a saran-wrapped cast on your good arm. But I powered through it because I’m a team-fucking-player.

When I walked into the living room awhile later, my brother was already at the table eating cereal. Smiling to himself. He looked like a complete asshole.

“Someone get some last night?” I gave his back a hard slap and he turned to smack my arm away, but missed.

“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell,” he responded before spooning another bite of food into this mouth.

“You know,” I said as I sat down across from him and poured cereal into my own bowl. “Sound really carries in this place. I never knew that before last night.”

He choked on his cereal. “You don’t say?”

I handed him a napkin. “Oh, I do say. I say very loudly and very scream-like,” I teased.

Cassie entered the room and sat down next to me at the table. She gave Dean a sweet smile and asked, “So, how was Monopoly? It sounds like you’re a
really
good player.”

I fucking lost it. I laughed so hard I almost spit food across the table. When Melissa finally came out of the guest bedroom, I noticed my little brother’s smile grow wider. As she neared, his eyes lit up and he reached for her. His fingertips barely grazed her exposed skin before she angled her body away and picked the seat farthest from him. I only noticed all this shit because I was paying attention, not because I’m a pussy or anything.

“Are you serious right now?” Dean asked her, his tone instantly angry.

I sat up straighter, finding myself intrigued. The idea of my brother standing up for himself impressed me.

Melissa’s eyes narrowed as her cheeks reddened and she looked away. “Don’t do this here, Dean.”

“Don’t do what? Are you just going to pretend like nothing happened last night?”

I knew it.

Of course I knew it.

“I didn’t say that,” she said in an indifferent tone.

“So, what then? We’ll just go back to being ‘friends,’ or whatever the fuck we are?”

Cassie cleared her throat and I gave my brother a swift kick under the table. He glared at me, his cool facade slowly unraveling. Melissa stayed quiet, avoiding any eye contact as Dean looked back and forth between her face and mine.

He shoved out of his chair, almost tossing it into the wall before grabbing his cereal bowl and throwing it a little too roughly into the sink. The sound of it breaking echoed throughout the apartment and his eyes grew wide. “Shit. I’m sorry, Cass.”

I looked down at my cereal and shook my head. Little brother couldn’t even be mean when he was mad.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. It’s only a dish,” she said, walking away from the table and over toward him.

Dean lowered his chin and stared at the floor as Cassie wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. He hugged her back for a second before pushing her away and jumping to his feet. “I need to get the fuck out of here.”

“Hey!” I shouted and Dean stopped midstep. “Don’t fucking push my wife like that. I will hit you, I don’t care who you are.”

My temper flared as he stalked into the guest room and slammed the door. Right on his heels, I knocked hard on the door, causing the knuckles on my good hand to ache immediately. “Dean?” I shouted and turned the knob without waiting for a response.

I stuck my head inside the room and when my gaze met his, I could see in Dean’s eyes that he was falling apart. “I’m taking you out.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. You are.”

My brother’s response made me laugh. “I’ll call Matteo. He’s coming too. We need a guys’ day.”

“We’re best friends with the guy who kissed your wife now?” Dean’s sour comment caused me to sharply inhale.

“Don’t be a dick. He still works for us, doesn’t he? If I didn’t trust him, he wouldn’t be anywhere near Cassie. Plus, he’s married and has a baby on the way. And he knows my forgiveness was a one-time deal. He tries any of that shit again and I’ll fucking kill him.”

Walking into the kitchen, I pulled Cassie aside and kissed her sweet lips. “Kitten, I’m going to take Dean out. Talk to your friend. Find out what the fuck her deal is. This shit between them needs to stop.”

“No joke. I feel so bad for your brother. I’ll talk to her. Or at least, I’ll try.”

“I love you.” I kissed her cheek.

“Love you too.” She smiled and I wanted to kick myself for ever being mean to her.

My cell phone beeped soon afterward, letting me know that Matteo was waiting downstairs. I shouted to Dean, “Let’s go. Matteo’s waiting.”

Dean appeared and I ushered him out the door without another word. Once in the lobby, I pointed Matteo out to him.

“Jesus, Jack. That’s the guy you hired to drive Cassie around the city? What the hell’s wrong with you?”

Jack shrugged. “What can I say? I’m overly confident and cocky. Have we met?”

We walked through the revolving door and Matteo extended his hand. “Hi, Dean. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Dean added, his tone wary.

Matteo opened the door and walked toward the driver’s side and hopped in. “I’m sure you have,” he said as he caught Dean’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “I’ll apologize to you as well, if you’d like.”

“Nah. She wasn’t my girlfriend.” Dean looked at me. “You’re lucky Cassie didn’t leave you for him. Hell, I’m about to leave you for him. Are you looking for a new brother? Want to adopt me?” Dean blurted out.

Matteo laughed from the front seat. “You bet, kid. ‘Cause us Italian New Yorkers don’t have enough family members.”

“What about your wife? Does she have any sisters?”

I sat up straighter. “Holy shit, does she? I never even thought about that. I mean, of course, I wouldn’t but—” I stopped abruptly, realizing that didn’t exactly come out right.

Matteo chuckled and shook his head. “Sorry. She’s all mine and there’s only one of her.”

“Fucking figures,” Dean muttered under his breath.

“Do you care where we drink?” Matteo asked.

“Somewhere private. No sports bars or shit like that,” I insisted.

“Do you really think I’d take you to a sports bar? I’m hurt, man. Crushed.”

“So, where are we going?” Dean asked as the car slowed to a stop.

I looked out the window, recognizing the entrance from a profile shoot Cassie had done on historical bars in the city.

“I know this place. Cassie photographed it for the magazine.”

Matteo threw his head back. “That’s right! I remember that. This place used to be a speakeasy. Sinatra used to hang out here with his boys. It’s pretty cool. Lots of history.”

We walked into the dimly lit bar and paused for a second so our eyes could adjust. Coming inside from the bright afternoon sunshine, this place seemed almost as dark as night. Giving the bartender a nod, Matteo pointed toward the back of the room, where a velvet rope hung. The three of us headed toward the small table behind the rope. The place was virtually empty, except for the few guys sitting at the bar. I prayed they wouldn’t recognize me.

“I’ll grab us drinks,” Matteo offered. “What are we having?”

“Beer for me. Whatever’s on tap and good,” I responded.

“Same here,” Dean added.

I waited for Matteo to return before I started asking Dean any questions, figuring he might have some outside perspective to offer. A few minutes later he came back, balancing all three beers in his hands before setting them on the table without spilling a drop.

“You’re a fucking boss,” I said, complimenting him on his skills before tapping my glass against his.

“Ah, I used to tend bar in college,” he said, and I laughed, almost spitting my beer at him.

“Why am I not surprised?” I took a deep swig of the beer, closing my eyes for a second in appreciation of its icy goodness.

“The real question is why is that so funny?”

I shrugged and said, “I have no fucking idea.” Then I laughed some more, convinced my body and mind were out to betray me after I’d treated them so badly this past week.

Dean looked back and forth between me and Matteo. “I don’t get why you’re laughing? What the fuck did I miss?”

“I have no idea,” Matteo said with a raised eyebrow as I pulled myself together.

Why the fuck was I suddenly giggling like a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl? It was like once I started laughing, I couldn’t fucking stop. And knowing that I needed the release only made it worse. I focused on my breathing, pretending I was on the mound during a crisis. I needed to calm down.

My breathing slowed and I looked at my baby brother. “So, what happened?”

“Are you done with your giggle fit?” Dean asked, apparently full of piss and vinegar.

“For now. So, tell me what happened,” I urged before taking a swig of my ice cold beer. I loved cold beer.

Dean sighed and rolled his beer between his palms. “We had sex last night and I thought that changed things between us.”

“Wait, why would that change things? This wasn’t the first time you two …” I paused, eyeing him.

“Yes. It was the first time. Melissa knows how I feel about her. She knows.” He shook his head and I could see that he was hurting.

“Maybe it wasn’t good sex,” I said with a laugh to lighten the mood.

“Fuck you,” Dean shot back. “It was the hottest sex I’ve ever had in my life.”

I leaned toward him. “For you, maybe. But what about her?”

He narrowed his eyes. “The whole thing was hot. She practically begged for it, more than once. I think she liked it.”

I shrugged. “Then I don’t know what to tell you. That girl’s always been a pain in the ass to figure out. Even Kitten’s no help.”

“What do you mean?” Matteo sipped his beer and waited for my response. I’d filled him in a little bit in the past about Dean and Melissa’s history, but he didn’t know much. Hell, none of us really did.