Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 82508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“My …” His attention moves from me to his doorway, and suddenly his whole damn face lights up. Beck starts to laugh.
“What are you …”
“Jacobs, I see you’ve already met my sister?”
His … sister. Goddamn it. The fight drains from me, and I’m left standing there, now only a partially drunk fool.
“Come on, Topher.” Beck’s hand lightly pushes on the small of my back. “Let’s get you sobered up before tomorrow.”
My feet follow him on autopilot, and as we leave, I overhear Cohen say, “You know, I play hockey too.”
“Don’t even think about touching my sister,” Beck calls. “She bites.”
Through the lingering alcohol haze, I’m beginning to realize what a dickhead I’ve been.
We get into the elevator, and the doors close behind us.
“I didn’t know she was your sister,” I somehow manage to get out.
“I figured.”
We pass my floor. “Ah …”
“We’re getting you coffee.” Beck’s voice is more serious than I’ve heard it. “And something to eat. I’m going out on a limb here to guess you didn’t have dinner.”
“Nope.”
When we arrive on the ground floor, he links his fingers gently through mine and tugs me across the foyer. I follow Beck down a path to one of the twenty-four-hour cafés next to campus. It’s quiet tonight, but during the semester, the place is usually packed at all hours.
“Go get a table.”
I do as he says purely because my head is starting to pound. He joins me a few minutes later.
Beck’s stare burns into the side of my face as I look everywhere but at him.
“So … I feel like maybe I’ve been an idiot.” My voice squeaks.
“Just maybe?”
I roll my eyes. “Can you blame me? What the hell do you call your sister baby for? It’s weird.”
“It’s not weird. It’s her name.”
“Like, a nickname?”
“No. Her actual name.”
And suddenly, something really amazing occurs to me. “And Teddy is …”
He sighs. “Mine.”
“As in, short for Theodore?”
He buries a hand in his usually perfect hair, making it look sexier than normal. “I could totally lie and say yes, but”—he pulls out his license and slides it over—“I guess you should know the name of the guy you’re fucking.”
I quickly look around, but there’s only one other person in here and they’re paying us zero attention. Then I look at the ID. Of course his photo is perfect, and there, in small print, is his legal name.
Teddy Junior Beckett.
“Wow. Wait …”
“My dad is Theodore and wanted to give me the proper junior title. Mom wanted Teddy. She won. She’s the only one who can win against my father.”
“So, your middle name is Junior…” I try not to laugh.
“There’s no point asking you to keep this quiet, is there?”
“No way is that happening.”
He sighs again, but this time I feel like it’s more for show.
“Baby and Teddy. Separately they’re creepy, but together …” I pull a face. “Your parents really didn’t consider that you guys would be grown-ass adults one day, did they?”
“Oh, they did. But we’re Becketts. It’s not our first names people care about.”
“Yikes.”
“Yep.”
“Teddy Beckett. Teddy Beck.” My eyes widen. “Teddy B … ear. You realize you’re Teddy Bear from this day forward, right?”
He smiles at me from across the table, and there’s no hint of his earlier annoyance. “Topher and Teddy. I like it.”
Something tugs in my gut. Something deeper and warmer than I want to give thought to.
His foot nudges mine under the table as one of the servers brings over two coffees and a large bacon-and-egg sandwich. “Why did you get drunk tonight? It’s so unlike you.”
I take a bite to keep my mouth busy for a moment. What the hell am I meant to say to that? I didn’t like that she was pretty and you were touching her and calling her baby. Dear God, I’ve spent my day picturing Beck fucking his sister. Isn’t that punishment enough?
“Topher?” For once, there’s no teasing note in his voice.
“You called her baby.”
“Again, that’s her name.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t know that, did I?” I mutter.
Beck lifts a hand to rub the smile from his lips, and I know I’ve given myself away. “You were jealous.”
“Nope.”
“Yep. You were jealous because you thought she was some hot girlfriend or something.”
“Did you call your sister hot?”
He waves a hand. “You know what I mean. You saw us and you got jealous.”
“I wouldn’t say jealous.”
“I would.”
“I didn’t like the idea of you fucking around on your girlfriend with me. That’s not cool.”
Beck leans in. “I don’t want to fuck around with anyone but you. No guys, no girls, definitely not my sister. Just your dumb ass.”
I really like the sound of that. Too much. So much that my smile can’t be held back. “Yours is the only ass I want too.”
“Good. Then we’re exclusive.”
That sounds scarily relationship-y. I swallow. “Exclusive.”
Now that my buzz has died right down, my cock has taken interest in the conversation and the memory of waking up with Beck pressed against me this morning.