“I don’t think so,” he said, continuing to storm for the door. “I’m going to find some boys to kiss.” When he slammed the door, it shook the walls.

“He’s not gay?” she said, more to herself than anything else. “Did you know?”

“He’s been my dance partner for three years,” I replied, staring at the door. “Of course I knew he wasn’t.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I thought you figured it out after the first night you met him,” I said, hating the way Holly was looking at me—like I’d betrayed her.

“I did think that, until we went on our date last Friday,” she said. “Until he kept bringing up this guy Samuel. He was talking about him making breakfast that morning, and how he always leaves his wet towels on the floor, and . . .” Holly’s face blanched. “Oh, my God, Samuel is Thomas’s roommate, isn’t he?”

I clucked my tongue. “Bingo.”

“Shit,” she said, slamming her fist down on the table.

“Do you like him, Hol?” I asked, feeling like I already knew the answer.

She bit her lip and nodded.

“A lot?”

Another nod.

“Then what are you still doing here?” I said. “Go after him.”

“Please, Lucy. Even if he did like me before I called him gay, he’s never going to say another word to me.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” India piped up. I was surprised it had taken her this long to give her two cents. She usually wanted in right away. Beside her, Anton was staying quiet for once in his life.

“You think I’ve got a chance in hell that he’s still going to like me after what I just said?” Holly’s arms were flailing about—a sure sign she was about to lose it.

India propped her chin on her fist and gave Holly a once-over. “Girl. I think that man would still like you if you told him to go get bent every time you saw him. He’s got it bad for you. Bad squared.”

“Lucy?” Holly said, her eyes shifting from me to the door.

“He definitely likes you. And I think you definitely like him, too,” I said. “So why don’t you go after him and definitely like each other.”

The corners of Holly’s mouth twitched. “Anyone have some lip gloss handy?”

India slid a tube out from her back pocket. “Always handy,” she said, tossing it to Holly, who managed to catch it despite being in the middle of that hair-flipping/hair-teasing thing she loved to do. Slicking on a coat of gloss, Holly headed for the door like a woman on a mission.

“Good luck,” I called after her.

After the door slammed closed for a grand total of twice in the past two minutes, Jude and LJ reemerged from the bedroom, football in hand.

“Uncle Jude taught me how to hold the football like he does,” he announced, skipping to the table.

“Everything all right?” Jude asked, coming up behind me and rubbing my shoulders.

“I hope so,” I said, feeling like my eyes were about to roll into the back of my head from the magic his fingers were working on my muscles.

“Movie time!” LJ said, rummaging through the DVD collection. “Can I be in between you and Aunt Luce in the fort?”

Jude’s eyes locked on Anton, and they narrowed. “You are the only man I’ll let come between Aunt Luce and me.”

So much for the drama being behind us.

SIXTEEN

Holly and LJ were in their bedroom—presumably asleep, since I hadn’t heard a peep from there in the last ten minutes. India was racked out on the couch, hopefully in a drunken stupor where the trumpets of the second coming could have blasted and she wouldn’t have stirred. Poor Thomas had the floor, but I’d layered a few blankets for padding so he wouldn’t wake up with too much of a stiff back.

After reappearing thirty minutes later, Holly’s hand in his, both of their faces flushed and their lips swollen, Thomas and Holly cuddled up beside each other inside the fort and hadn’t spoken another word. Whatever was said or done had been effective.

Thankfully, Anton had taken the hint that he wasn’t welcome for our Friday-night sleepover and had gracefully bowed out, saying he had an early morning racquetball match scheduled.

You can imagine the fun Jude had with that little tidbit of information.

The apartment was, at last, quiet.

Locking myself inside the bathroom with my purchase from earlier, I brushed my teeth. Twice. I rubbed in a little satsuma lotion and ran a brush through my hair. I inspected myself in the mirror. Pretty damn hot. After three weeks of celibacy, Jude was going to bust something when he saw me in my little number. Hell, after three weeks of celibacy I was about to bust something just thinking about what was waiting for me behind a pair of room dividers.

I took another look in the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door. Something was missing, but I couldn’t figure out what. My bra was a sheer pale pink material. So sheer you could see my nipples through the fabric. My panties were the same color, but made of lace, and even had garters that were fitted to a pair of sheer black nylons that had seams running up the back. Black patent-leather heels finished the outfit. If you could call this an “outfit.”

Everything from the neck down was spot-on; it was from the neck up that I needed something. Something that was as sweet-meets-sexy as the rest of my getup was.

The lightbulb went off.

Pulling out the drawer that was overflowing with Holly’s toiletries and hair goodies, I rummaged around until I found what I was looking for. Just as I was pulling it out, a soft knock sounded on the other side of the door.

“Luce?” Jude whispered. My body tightened in anticipation just from his voice. “You take any longer in there and I’m going to bust down the door and do you on the bathroom sink.”

That image was appealing on so many levels. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” I whispered back. “Just go chill. I’ll be out in thirty seconds.”

“That’s thirty seconds too long,” he said back, before I heard his footsteps padding down the hall.

In even more of a hurry, I wound the wide black satin scarf around my head, tying it in the perfect bow that I slid to the side.

Innocent schoolgirl meets not-so-innocent seductress.

Smiling at myself in the mirror, I grabbed my bathrobe and put it on before cracking the door open. It was dark and quiet. Jude was a mere twenty feet away.

I didn’t want to make a noise, which actually took quite a bit of focus when I had a pair of stripper heels on my feet, so that twenty feet might as well have been twenty miles. Tiptoeing the last few steps, I slithered in between the room dividers.

Jude was lounging on the mattress, stripped down to his boxers. His skin was even tanner, and against every physical law known to man, his muscles had grown. His eyes were closed, but they snapped open the moment I slipped inside the “room.”

“Sorry I kept you waiting,” I whispered.

“Me too,” he said, tucking his arms behind his head. “My balls are so damn blue by now, they are solely responsible for creating a new shade in the blue spectrum.”

I started to laugh, but caught myself. The last thing I wanted was to wake one of the four sleeping bodies in this apartment, because I could not handle a serving of delayed gratification tonight. If I had balls, I could guarantee mine would have been bluer than his.

“Let me make it up to you,” I said, shrugging out of my robe. Before it had dropped to the floor, Jude’s eyes had widened beyond their capacity.

“Consider yourself made up,” he said, his eyes running over me.

I tried to ignore what was rising in his boxers, but I couldn’t. I needed that inside me. I wanted it now.

I crawled across the mattress to him, holding myself above him to purposely drive him a little crazy. When my face was directly above his, I stopped. I smiled down at him, reveling in the power I so obviously had over him. “How’s it going down there?” I said, lowering my mouth so it was just above his. So close I could taste his breath coming from his lips.