He drops down with a heavy flop onto the edge of my bed as I glance out my bedroom window, noticing the way Tanner’s bathroom door is propped open with steam from a hot shower flowing out around the small crack. Relief burns through my veins, and before I can throw myself out the window to get to him, Damien’s murmured question fills the silence. “So, what’s the deal with this wedding anyway? Didn’t they already get married in Italy or Portugal or some shit like that?”
I shake my head and turn around, propping my ass against the window seal. “Paris,” I confirm. “It’s just some big excuse to show off in front of all the other rich people around here. Just wait until you see the dining room downstairs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they put you in one of those penguin suits.”
Damien shakes his head as he looks at me in horror. “A tux? No fucking way. I’m not wearing that shit. Have you seen me? I’ll look like a fucking moron in one of those. I can barely pull off a regular suit.”
“We could always trade. I’ll happily wear your tux if you want to go in my maid of honor gown with a pair of Spanx riding up your ass and sucking in all the important bits until you look as flat as a pancake.”
Damien just stares at me. “What the fuck is a Spanx?”
I shake my head, rolling my eyes and trying to hide the smirk pulling at my lips. “Do me a favor. When you meet my new friends, try not to be so obvious about the fact that you’re a twenty-two-year-old virgin.”
Damien laughs. “You’ve got another thing coming if you think there’s any chance in hell that I’m still a virgin,” he says, a cocky smirk tears across his stupid face. “Where are these friends you’re talking about?”
Terror fills my veins. “I swear to God, Damien Ashford, if you even think about screwing one of my friends, I’ll make your life a living hell.”
The idiot grins back at me, making a show of laying back on my bed and kicking his feet up. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that when I’ll be back at boot camp, huh?”
“I—fuck,” I screech, racing across the room and ripping my pillow out from under his head just so I can smother him with it. “You’re so annoying.”
Damien howls with laughter, effortlessly evading my every attempt to destroy his life with my pillow. “Go and find your own room, you big asshole,” I seethe. “And while you’re at it, how about a new personality?”
Damien grips both my wrists in one of his hands and tears the pillow out of my hold before turning my weapon on me. The pillow pounds against my face, and I drop to the ground, covering my head with my arms and screaming for sweet relief as the giant asshole drops down on top of me, keeping me pinned to the ground with his ginormous ass.
“I swear to God, Damien,” I say, trying to reach for the sensitive skin at the back of his thighs to pinch it. “Get off me.”
“Or what?” he sings, awfully chuffed with himself. “You gonna tell Mom on me? Oh wait … you can’t do that anymore.”
Ouch. That one stung.
A throat clears by the door and both our gazes snap up to find Tanner leaning in my open doorway. Amusement flashes in his dark eyes but there’s a hint of hesitation, unsure about what’s going down in here. His eyes linger on mine, roaming over my body. “Please tell me this is your brother and not some random dude who I’m going to have to beat senseless.”
A wide grin tears across my face. I’ve missed Tanner so freaking much, and the fact that Damien still hasn’t moved is only making that longing ache inside my chest. “I think the better question is who the fuck are you and why are you creeping into my sister’s bedroom unannounced?”
I shove my elbow back into Damien’s thigh, loving the soft groan that flows through the room. “Get off me, you giant prick. This is Tanner, the only reason I’ve been able to keep sane since moving here.”
Damien still refuses to move. “I don’t know,” he says, looking my boyfriend up and down, taking in all the tattoos. “He looks like a criminal to me.”
Tanner smirks, more than entertained. “Does it help that I only just got released out of police custody?”
Damien stands at that, purposefully keeping his body in front of mine, blocking Tanner’s view of me as I try to scramble to my feet. “What for?”
“Beating the shit out of the fucker who raped my sister and wrapped yours around a fucking tree.”
Damien’s eyes widen and he whips around to gape at me. “What the fuck is he talking about?”