Merry Measure - Lily Morton Page 0,26
say fervently. “Do it again. Do it right now.”
He kisses me again, and I hum in satisfaction at the feel of his lips and the realisation that Jack Cooper—good boy and buttoned-up perfectionist—can kiss like a porn star, with lots of tongue and groping.
I reach for his jumper. “Up,” I say, tearing my lips away. “Get this off.”
“Yes,” he says. His eyes are bleary and his colour high. “Let me just—”
There’s a knock at our room’s door.
I’ll never know what Jack was about to say. He drops me. I don’t think he means to do it, but his hands release, and I land on the bed, bouncing slightly.
“Oh shit,” he says. “I’m so sorry. That startled me. Are you okay?”
I laugh helplessly. “I’m fine. My fall of a foot onto an expensive mattress hasn’t done too much damage,” I whisper. “But just in case, why don’t you come down here and kiss it better?”
He bites his lips to cover a smile, but he turns away when the knock comes again.
“Bloody hell. I bet that’s your brother,” he hisses.
I sit up immediately, my cock wilting like a daffodil with no water. “Oh shit. Answer it, and I’ll cover up.”
He looks down at my crotch, and an indescribably hot look crosses his face.
“Arlo,” he says, reaching out for me. “I need—”
The knock comes again, and I stand. “You’d better open the door,” I say urgently.
He moves away, and I’m immediately cold. I quickly grab a jumper and jeans from the drawer. Jack stands at the door, frantically combing his hair with his fingers and then pressing a hand into his cock to calm it down. A smile spreads across my mouth. Oh my God, we kissed, and it was epic. I quickly throw my clothes on.
Jack flings open the door, and I hear Bee’s voice. “I’ve been instructed by my boyfriend to tell Arlo that he forgives him for the embarrassment in the hall,” he says in a robotic voice. “It’s Christmas, and so we should all get along and fa la la.”
“At no point did I say fa la la,” my brother’s indignant voice comes from nearby.
He and Bee come into the room, shutting the door behind them. I hasten to stand next to Jack. Without thinking, I put my hand on his back. His muscles tense. Shit. I withdraw my hand quickly.
Bee laughs. “Sorry. I deviated from the closely controlled script you gave me.” His eyes flit between me and Jack, then widen slightly. I know immediately that he’s guessed exactly what’s happened. Maybe spying was one of his many degrees.
Jack shifts from foot to foot, and Bee quickly says, “Tom is prepared to overlook the fact that Arlo related a very private family story about a harmless cuddly squirrel toy to a couple of complete strangers in the hall.” His voice wavers, but he gamely carries on. “He’s also trying to blot out the memory of him dropping it like it was hot to Missy Elliott.”
I roll my eyes. “He should be so lucky. Men would pay to see that.”
“Only men in prison,” my brother says. He’s smiling. Unsurprising, as he’s congenitally unable to hold a grudge. “Alright, you two? What are you up to?”
Jack’s cough sounds strangled.
“Oh, you know,” I say airily.
My brother stares at me. “No, I don’t. What?”
“We were—” I falter, completely lost for words.
“They were playing backgammon,” Bee says quickly.
“You don’t play board games,” my brother says suspiciously.
“Yes, I do,” I say.
He shakes his head. “No. No, you don’t. You used to get so cross and throw a tantrum.” He glances at Jack. “Do you remember when he upended the Monopoly board and cried, Jack? We never found the boot marker again. We had to make a plasticine one.” He pauses to consider that. “And it looked like a plasticine poo.”
“Maybe it’s that I just like playing special games with Jack,” I say sweetly, glaring at him.
Jack’s coughing fit intensifies.
“You need something for that chest, Jack,” Tom says sagely, as if his degree is in medicine and not quantity surveying. He grins at us. Nobody in the Wright family can maintain a sulk, especially Tom. He gets bored and wants to chat and thus completely forgets the screaming row he might have had twenty minutes ago. “We’re thinking about a nightclub tonight,” my brother continues. “The bloke on the desk gave us the name of a good one up the road so we thought we’d have dinner and make our way over there.”
“Sounds good,” Jack