“Well, we weren’t gone. And who doesn’t check where he’s going to sleep before plopping down on top of someone?” Alexis asked.
“Someone who’s tired as shit and unaware someone’s friend’s sister is occupying the bed he was given,” Layton said, flashing an annoyed glance toward Erik.
Erik shrugged. “Like I knew. Let’s shelve the accusations and take a page from Emma’s book and not freak out.”
Everyone looked at Emma. She managed an awkward smile.
For a few seconds the room fell silent, the animosity dissipating.
“Okay, good. Now, since it’s cold as frick outside and the roads are too dangerous, let’s bunk up and get through the night,” Erik said.
“Your sister probably needs an ice pack or something,” Layton said, gesturing to Alexis, whose ankle looked swollen. “How about I grab some ice while you figure out the sleeping arrangements.”
Layton disappeared and a light came on, lending a glow to the hallway.
“Why are you wearing a quilt?” Alexis asked.
“?Cause I’m naked under here,” he said, tugging the quilt up higher. Emma had noted it slipped a bit during the whole Alexis-trying-to-kill-Layton incident, revealing washboard abs and the hint of the delicious narrowing to... No, she wasn’t going to think about the crush she’d always had on him.
This was Alexis’s brother.
And, yeah, he was hot as butter on a biscuit, but he was practically family. Erik was the guy who had given her noogies, who had pulled her pigtails. Okay, not literally, but pretty much the same thing. She wasn’t supposed to notice the quilt dipping low to reveal the curve of his ass or how nice his naked torso looked or the fact he had a tattoo of an eagle on one side of his chest, which looked so...tough and male and—
“Wait, did you climb into bed with Emma while you were naked?” Alexis asked, still cradling her swelling ankle.
“Yeah,” Erik admitted, looking unabashed.
Alexis glanced at Emma, eyebrows arched above amused eyes. “Well, how come you didn’t scream?”
“I never scream.” Emma sniffed.
“Well, if a big bozo sat on you, you would,” Alexis grumbled.
The big bozo appeared with a bag of frozen broccoli wrapped in a dish towel. He frowned at Alexis but shouldered his way inside, handing the bag to her friend. “Here. I’m happy to take the couch.”
“And I’ll give you your bed back and sleep with Alexis,” Emma said to Erik. “I feel so bad about being here when you—”
“I told you to,” Alexis interrupted. “He was at work.”
Erik looked as though he wanted to say something more, but he bit his tongue.
They all stood around. Finally, Emma said, “I’m not exactly dressed. And neither is Erik. So...”
“Right,” Alexis said, sliding off the bed and hobbling toward the door. Erik frowned as if he wanted to help her, but he still clasped the quilt around his waist.
“Well, hell,” Layton said, sweeping Alexis into his arms.
“Hey! Put me down,” Alexis said, her nearly naked bottom staring Emma in the face.
“I will. In your room.” Layton strode to the door, ignoring her friend’s struggles. The man looked like a model, with hair flapping over one eye and sleek, knotted muscles bulging at Alexis’s weight. Emma dropped her eyes down to Layton’s tight butt and that’s when she noticed Erik watching her.
She jerked her gaze away, begging the pink not to creep into her cheeks.
Which was a fail.
“Uh, I’m gonna grab some pants and then let you get dressed,” Erik said, lifting her lacy pink bra off the doorknob. He eyed the sexy lingerie and then smiled as he handed it to her.
Desire punched her in the stomach.
Damn. Erik Matheson was an absolute fox. Layton may look like an Abercrombie model, but this man was like sex on a plate...just waiting for someone to take a satisfying bite.
Emma licked her lips before plucking the bra from his fingers. “Thank you.”
“Need any help?” he asked, sounding serious, as his gaze dropped to her breasts covered by his blankets.
“Uh, no,” she managed to say, her cheeks still likely bright red. Why couldn’t she be like Alexis? Have the flippant, flirty comebacks? Be cool?
“I’m just kidding, Em,” Erik said, grabbing his jeans off the chair in the corner and following Layton and his still-struggling sister from the room. Just as he was about to close the door, he popped his head back in. “Not that I wouldn’t like to.”