Brazen Mistakes (Brazen Boys #3)

35. Jansen

Chapter 35

Jansen

W aking up to a furious Trips and worried Walker did nothing to help with the constant buzz under my skin. RJ’s gray face after coming back with Clara from the dojo, then having her swooped away by Walker, well, it didn’t help either.

What’s a guy gotta do to hold his girl in his arms, breathe in her floral scent, and try to make the electricity that lives under his skin calm the fuck down?

But no Clara means no cuddles, no sex, no easy relief.

Meditation is my first attempt at distraction.

I fail.

I try tai chi.

I fail at that too.

Desperate, I try to talk RJ into going to the climbing gym with me (damn buddy rule and all that), but he’s neck deep into digging through online bank accounts, no space in his personality for anything but fury and calculation. And Trips hates climbing. He says he’s too big to be any good at it, so I don’t even bother asking him.

Which leaves me going from room to room with a stapler, sealing the middle of every window curtain with a metallic chunk-chunk before grabbing some painter’s tape from the toolbox to stick the edges against the wall.

No way am I going to be unwelcome in my own home. Bryce can stalk all he wants, but I’m going to make sure there are no more gaps in the fabric for him to peer through.

For the windows that don’t have curtains, I cut up my spare sheets, which give the house a dim green tint, but it’s better than having to deal with surprise photos of us. Hopefully, this isn’t breaking some fire code or something. With Officer Reed making house calls now, I’d hate to give him a reason to come in.

Not that we leave evidence of what we’re up to out in the open, but still. Cops freak me out.

I run out of sheets before I get to my meditation space or either of the hallways, but Clara’s room, the kitchen, and the living room are safe. Now, if only I could fix this Bryce problem as quickly and easily.

I’m debating returning the favor by breaking into his apartment and moving shit around to freak him out, when the back door clicks open. I’m on my feet, racing back and snatching Clara into my arms before Walker’s even closed the door, bounding into her newly privatized room and tossing her onto the bed before flopping next to her.

Her giggles sound so fucking good after all the other shit that’s been going on, all the moments I’ve woken in the middle of the night to a damp pillow and a cold spot beside me. Rolling her so she’s on top of me, her weight soothing some of my energy, I squeeze her, just needing to be wrapped up with her.

She wiggles on top of me, and that’s just as welcome.

“Jansen, not here. I don’t want Bryce—”

“I fixed it,” I announce. “Most of the main floor is Bryce-proof.”

Her weight disappears from me, and I lock my disappointed groan inside. Walker follows us in, trailing Clara to inspect my work with the curtains.

“Thorough,” he says, careful not to touch my tape.

“I did the kitchen and the living room, too.”

“Did you buy curtains?” Clara asks, her brows drawn. The urge to smooth out the lines there has me rolling to my feet and crossing the room. I take her hand and pull her down the hall to the kitchen, showing off my somewhat less impressive job with my sheets.

Walker laughs when he sees what I’ve done. “Dude. It’s easy to find curtains.”

That would have been smart. “I was just killing time until you guys got back. I don’t need two sets of sheets, anyway. Especially if I get to visit the bed heaven that is Clara’s mattress.”

She flushes as she pulls off her coat and lays it on the island—the coat I got for her just a few weeks ago. “I guess I can have my room back, then? It’s safe?”

Trips comes into the kitchen looking from one window to the other. “Jansen project?” he asks Walker, who nods, a sarcastic grin on his face .

Trips can tease, but he’s the one who just accidentally visited the kitchen the second Clara came home. I link my arm with Clara’s and pull her over to stand next to the guy. “It’ll work, at least for a while.”

Clara leans into my arm, like it’s hard to stay on her feet, and I have to wonder exactly how little sleep she’s been getting. The look Trips gives her isn’t the lovey-dovey one I’d been hoping for, but rather one of worry mixed with anger. “You need to eat. Then sleep,” he barks at her.

Before Walker or I can tell Trips to fuck off, Clara closes her eyes. “No shit, Mr. Bossypants. But we both know how that’ll turn out.”

Walker heads to the fridge, opening it and looking over the options. “Let’s do something easy. Maybe just grilled cheese sandwiches. I can pull together some veggie dishes, cut up these oranges before they go bad, maybe have ice cream for dessert.”

Clara nods against my arm, Trips not looking away from her, his lips pressed into a thin line. As no one else is saying anything, I toss Walker a bone. “Sounds great, man. We’ll go check on RJ, let him know what’s up.”

Walker nods, his look to Clara almost pained. Shit. Is she really that bad?

I step in front of her and squat down, offering her my back. “Hop on,” I say, Trips scoffing and circling the island to rummage in the fridge.

“Like, a piggyback ride?” Clara asks.

“Exactly a piggyback ride.”

She giggles again, and I feel a tiny bit better as she launches herself at my back. Her arms circle my neck, and I sprint as fast as I can for the stairs, her squeal making everything settle under my skin, if just for a moment.

This is what being in love is supposed to feel like. A little buzz, a lot of laughter, the easiness of being with someone who sees all of you and still likes you.

RJ’s door is locked, and I keep Clara on my back as I pick it, just to hear her laugh again, needing it almost as much as I need to get the fuck out of this house and do something to make my heart race.

The door swings open before I catch the last pin, RJ’s laugh greeting us before he lets us in, snatching Clara from my back as I pass him. “I wasn’t bringing you a gift,” I say, unable to even pretend to be annoyed when Clara giggles again, wiggling free of RJ’s grasp, flopping onto his bed like she belongs there.

Like maybe this is one of the places she’s been disappearing to when she wakes up crying in the middle of the night.

I’ve never wished harder that I were a light sleeper.

Futile, but it’s still out there. I’d like to comfort her in the dark of the night, dry her tears and tell her it’ll all be okay.

At least she’s got three other guys who want to do the same thing. Or at least, I assume that’s what they want to do.

Although now that I think about it, I’ve been operating on the “fuck the sad out” method rather than the “wipe the tears away” method. Should I change my technique?

But then Clara curls up on RJ’s pillow, her arm tucked under her head, and I’m curling up behind her, needing the closeness. Considering how she leans into me, she needs it, too. “What are you up to?” she asks, motioning to RJ’s monitors .

He bends down to press a kiss to her lips before turning back to his computers, missing the way she presses her ass against me. I’m not even sure she noticed she did that, but yeah. More has happened between the two of them, and I can’t help my grin.

Fuck yeah, RJ. About time.

“I’m just tracking down a few more bank accounts,” he says, rolling his chair over to the bed before sitting down close enough to touch Clara, but not actually doing it.

“What do you think about what I asked Officer Reed? I know you’d be the one taking the actual risks in sharing what you’ve found, but I just thought,” she says, before RJ cuts in.

“You thought they could do more than we could. It’s a good idea, but I want to see what protections they’re willing to give you. And I’d like to know if they can actually do something for once. It’s not like I’ve ever seen the cops help.”

“What all happened this morning?” I cut in. “I couldn’t get much from Trips and Walker locked himself in his room, his ‘I’m doing art, so fuck off’ playlist blaring.”

The two of them share a look. RJ nods, and Clara twists in my arms, one hand resting on my chest, right over my heart, and I swear the thing stops. “We didn’t tell them about this part. But Officer Reed works on a sex crimes task force now. He got promoted when we handed him Bryce this fall. RJ’s been tracking down all the guys in Bryce’s…” She ducks her head, forcing a deep breath. Before I can tell her I know what RJ’s been doing, she forces herself through her pain. “Well, people he shared videos with. Then RJ’s been taking their money as punishment and protection. Once that’s done, he’s been tracking down any connecting rings. ”

She pauses, eyes closed. “And I just thought today that maybe, I don’t know. Maybe Reed could do what we can’t. Maybe he can at least put a few of these sickos behind bars. And the ones he can’t, well, at least it’s fewer guys RJ has to keep track of.”

“That’s a good idea, beautiful,” I say, pressing my nose to her head.

RJ rolls forward behind her, brushing her hair from her shoulder. “It is. We’ll just have to see what Reed offers and go from there. I’m not going to risk your safety, especially if we’re not even sure he can put these guys behind bars.”

She looks over her shoulder, a soft smile on her face just for him. “Got it.”

He wheels even closer, taking her face in his hands. “I’m sorry about today, sugar.”

I feel her whole body deflating, and now I realize I missed even more than I thought I had. “It wasn’t you. It was me.”

RJ gives me a look as Clara turns back to me, and I pick up that I shouldn’t ask about it, whatever it is. “We have some time to kill before dinner. What should we do?” I ask instead.

In response, Clara’s teeth nip at my skin through my t-shirt, and damn. “I’m game for that,” falls out of my mouth a second before I remember I was considering not fucking out the sadness. RJ’s face shifts to a heady grin as he leans back in his chair, watching while her sharp little teeth nip me again, and my piddly stores of resolve empty.

I can’t say no to this. I can’t say no to her.

Her soft chuckle against my chest has goosebumps spreading over my body, and I know this is going to be the best part of my day. Easily .

Her hands slide under my shirt, and I strip it off before she even gets to my waist, needing her hands on my skin as badly as I need to fidget to think. She takes what I offer, kisses trailing across my chest, before she turns to RJ.

I can’t see what her face looks like, but RJ’s gaze turns dark, and he slides from his chair, kneeling next to the bed, pulling Clara into a kiss that has her hips grinding into me.

Slipping my hands under her shirt to dance my fingers over her soft skin makes me perfectly content. But then she lets out a little sigh, and I know I’ll need more.

I know she will too.

Stripping off her shirt first, I'm quick to pull off my sweats as well. I debate the boxers, but with RJ, I think I’ll take his lead for what he’s comfortable with. Not that we didn’t all get naked together, but that was a special situation.

I think.

Maybe.

I guess we’ll see how this all works out in the end. But it’s going to be fucking awesome, once we figure it out. There’s no way it’ll be anything but amazing.

I can’t help showering kisses across her back, down her spine, across her shoulder blades. God. I could kiss this girl forever.

RJ finally pulls back, and together we strip the rest of her clothes off, and his breath catches. As it’s exactly what I feel every time I look at her, I can’t fault him. Absolutely perfect. For all of us.

He yanks off his shirt and I drag Clara and myself back across the bed, making space for him on the other side of her. He pauses, then strips naked, and I take the hint and get myself in the same state. Then we’re sandwiched together, lips and hands, hushed voices, and the sweetest sighs from Clara.

I’m pulled into the trance she makes for me, time disappearing as I get lost in the scent of her, the swift changes from soft touches to teeth and then back to lips, the way she gives herself over entirely to her pleasure. And I get to help her get there.

I nip at her hip, and she whines, making RJ chuckle. “What’s the plan?” he asks, one hand cradling her face as he looks down at me.

“What sounds good to you?” I ask, Clara running her hands over his chest while smiling down at me.

“Mmm,” he says, as Clara makes her way down his body, and the plan’s set.

I hop out of the bed, pulling the chair to the edge, touching the mattress. “Chair or bed?” I ask RJ.

His brows furrow, but then he sits at the edge of the bed, and I take the chair. “Beautiful, you game?” I ask.

She grins, slinking to the floor and crawling on her knees between us. “Only if I get some reciprocity.”

“Of course.”

“Then I’m game.”

Her fingers wrap around my dick, and I groan, not even trying to hold back how good this feels. How good this is going to be.

The second her lips close around RJ’s dick, his eyes slam shut, fingers clenching the bedspread. As his head falls back, a flare of jealousy spikes. He’s getting those sweet lips wrapped around him first, but I know my girl is fair. I’ll get my turn.

And watching Clara peering up at him through her eyelashes, gauging his reactions, while never loosening her grip on me, well, not only is it impressive, but it’s also super hot.

“Shit,” I say, not able to stop watching the two of them.

RJ leans forward, pushing her hair back from her face before glancing at me.

Clara pulls back, shuffles the few inches to me, and then our roles are reversed.

“Watching’s hot, right?” he asks, before she must do something with her fist that makes him groan, while her tongue rubs on the underside of my dick, making my ability to answer near impossible. So instead, I nod while running my fingers through her hair, wanting to somehow make her hot mouth even better, even if I’m sure that’s impossible.

With my hands deep in her curls, she swallows around me, my tip pressing into the back of her throat, making me pant. Her eyes water, but she looks up at me with what must be pride as I moan, my fingers digging into her scalp.

She does it again, and again, and I’m already so fucking close.

But then, with a glint that only shows when she’s looking for trouble, she pulls back, her warm hand taking the place of those gorgeous lips, and I know I’m not getting to come. Not yet, at least.

RJ gets the same treatment, her fist keeping me close to the edge, but not letting me topple over, the buzz under my skin wanting more, faster, while the rest of me falls into some weird space like when I meditate, and suddenly, the torture is glorious.

I wrap one of her curls around my fingers, rocking into her touch.

RJ doesn’t seem to be doing much better than me, his hands now braced on either side of her face, and there’s a combination of desperation and adoration that I can wholly understand.

Clara goes to pull away, and in a move that surprises me, RJ doesn’t let go. Clara shivers before her body goes nearly slack, her fist almost too tight on me as she works RJ over until he comes with a shout. Which is legit unexpected for a guy as quiet as he is.

Watching as Clara takes it, swallowing it down, her gaze on RJ’s, it should probably make me feel something other than seriously impressed with her, awed even, but fuck what’s expected. I’ve never followed norms. Why would this be any different?

There’s something powerful here, in what we’re building.

But I do want my turn.

I wrap my fist around Clara’s, and her stroking stills, her grip almost brutal, and I groan.

A scratch at the door distracts me for a moment, RJ and Clara still caught up in each other.

Then the door swings open.

Walker looks over the three of us, and a shadow falls across his face, but it’s quickly overtaken by a smile that spells disaster.

Not for me, of course. And that’s going to make this even better.

Oh yeah.