Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 93942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
But maybe that wasn’t fair. There was a lot to admire about him, whether he was flaunting it or not.
He came down to us after a couple of minutes. “Your drinks will be ready shortly,” he said, without a greeting.
“We didn’t order any,” Landon said.
“Don’t need to. You’re my twin. I know what you want.”
I laughed. “But I’m not your twin.”
He winked. “Which is a good thing, considering what we did the other night.”
I flushed. I hadn’t mentioned the extra lesson to Landon when I’d told him about the interaction between Kai and Mr. Hartley. “How do you know what I want to drink?” I spoke quickly to cover my embarrassment.
“I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far of figuring out what you like, right?” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.
I blushed. “Right.”
Then he looked at Landon. “Did you ask her yet?”
Landon froze. And so did I, wondering why he had. “Um, ask me what?”
Finally, Landon shook his head, giving his twin a long-suffering look. “You do realize I’m just the advisor here. You and the super chef in the kitchen are the instructors.”
Kai shrugged. “Okay.” He looked at me. “So, Zoe, do you want to—”
That was all he got out before Landon put his hand over his brother’s on the bar. It was definitely not handholding like we had just done. It was more like a silencing slap.
Then Landon looked at me. “Do you mind getting Ash? He should be here for this conversation.”
I slid off the stool, nodding. If Landon was about to tell off his brother, I didn’t really want to witness that. I still didn’t know what was happening, but taking a short time-out didn’t seem like a bad idea to me.
As I walked toward the kitchen, my stomach was tight with anticipation. When I first got here, I’d hated going down to the kitchen, interrupting Asher, having him look up from what he was doing, see me, and look disappointed. But maybe that wouldn’t happen tonight.
And sure enough, it didn’t. Before I even reached the door, he spotted me through the pass, gave me a jaunty little salute, and held up a hand for me to wait. I did, watching everyone rush around in the kitchen like a choreographed dance. Everyone knew what they were doing, and I suspected it had a lot to do with the head chef.
Asher gave instructions to a couple of the other chefs, and then he came out to join me. He didn’t ask why I’d gotten him. We just walked back to the bar.
“Pull up a chair,” Landon told Asher after I slid back onto my bar stool.
Then Kai was there, and everyone looked at me expectantly.
“I feel like I’ve been called into my professor’s office after I got caught cheating on a test.”
Asher snorted. “I don’t think you’d cheat on a test if lives were at stake.”
I smiled. “I guess it depends on whose lives we’re talking about.”
Finally, Asher took a deep breath. “All right. Since we are your professors, we, of course, have the curriculum set for the whole semester.”
Kai muttered, “You three are too hung up on this school metaphor.”
Asher ignored him. Instead, he looked directly at me. “Do you know what the next lesson is?”
My heart gave a weird half-beat and then sped up.
“I’m not the teacher,” I said, my voice a little shaky.
Asher’s intense gaze was still on me. “But I think you know. With the things we’ve already done, I think you know what’s next. The question is, do you want it?”
“Yes,” I said, my voice small and barely audible with the noise from the diners behind.
“Yes, what?” Asher asked.
“Yes, please?”
Kai laughed, but Asher didn’t even crack a smile. “Tell us what you want to happen at the next lesson.”
“I want—” I trailed off. “Um… you know. Sex?”
This time, both Kai and Landon laughed.
“There’re all kinds of versions of that, some of which you already know how to do,” Kai pointed out.
Asher’s dark eyes were still trained on me. “If you can’t say what you want, then you’re not ready for it.”
“But I think you do want something,” Kai said. “And we want it too.”
Landon touched my back, rubbing his fingers lightly up and down. It was a comforting presence, not a sexual one. “Just tell us what you want , Zoe. Even if it’s nothing at all. There are no wrong answers here.” Then he leaned in close. “And remember, you’re brave as fuck.”
I took a deep breath. “I want you inside me.”
“That’s a good start,” Kai said.
“But it’s not enough,” Asher pointed out. “Do you want one of us or all of us?”
“I’m not ready for that,” I said quickly.
He rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean all of us at the same time. I meant—it’s what Landon said back at the start. It’s supposed to be special. If you want just one of us there for your official first time, you can choose, and we’ll be fine with whatever you say.”