The Very Naughty List

21. Hailey

21

HAILEY

In the morning, I emerge slowly from one of the deepest sleeps I’ve ever experienced. I was so tired, both mentally and physically, that I don’t think I moved an inch or twitched a muscle all night.

As I blink a few times to clear my vision, I realize I’m sandwiched between Reid and Sebastian on the bed. I’m facing Sebastian, with my chin nearly resting against his chest. His body is curled around mine, his arm thrown over my torso. Behind me, Reid is cuddled up close, his large hand resting on my hip.

I feel like I’m wrapped in a protective little cocoon, and I let myself stay in a dreamy state for a few minutes, breathing in the scent of the two men and nestling into the comfort of being surrounded by their warm bodies.

But just as I’m starting to drift back to sleep, I feel something cool and wet against my foot.

“ Ah! ” I hiss, squirming a little at the ticklish feeling.

I lift up my head and see Bruno standing by the foot of the bed, licking my foot.

As happy as I am that he seems to be getting used to me, I’m so ticklish that I’m afraid I’m going to accidentally kick him in the face—and I’m pretty sure that would set us all the way back to square one. So I slowly pull my foot away, slipping it back beneath the covers.

The big hound dog looks up at me with plaintive, disappointed eyes for a second. Then he perks up his ears a little, swinging his head away from me as his attention shifts to something on the floor. His head bobs down and out of sight for a second, and then he pops back up with a pair of my panties between his teeth.

“Bruno, no ,” I whisper, trying not to wake the brothers. “Bad dog! No more panties!”

I flick my foot at him, but he just stands there showing off the fact that he’s gotten ahold of my panties again, like it’s worthy of praise. I try to hook the edge of the panties with my toe, but as if he can sense that I’m attempting to steal them back, he darts away and barrels out of the bedroom door.

Shit.

He escaped, and he’s once again taken my panties hostage.

I slump back against the pillows between Sebastian and Reid, listening to the soft thudding sound of Bruno’s paws on the stairs. I hear the sound of a low male voice next, which must belong to Nick, since he isn’t here in the bed with us.

A minute or so later, he comes to stand in the doorway.

He’s wearing low slung sweats that cling to the bulge hanging between his thighs, and no shirt. The sight of him standing there shirtless, with muscles rippling and soft fabric outlining his massive cock, is enough to make a girl want for nothing else in life.

“Uh, I think these are yours,” he says, holding up the pair of panties that he’s holding delicately in his left hand.

I nod, then blink as I realize they aren’t even the pair that the dog just ran out the door with. They’re a different pair entirely that Bruno must’ve stolen some other time.

“Yeah. They are.” I grin, keeping my voice low. “And if you happen to see a light blue pair lying around somewhere, those are mine too. It would seem that your dog has a serious panty obsession.”

Nick’s face flushes deeply, and I laugh quietly as I sit up. Reid and Sebastian stir a little at the disturbance, each of them making low, muffled noises as they start to rouse from sleep.

“You can put those on the dresser,” I tell Nick. “And honestly, I don’t mind. It feels like a bit of a cheat to win my way to a dog’s heart with underwear, but hey, if it works, I’ll take it.”

Nick smiles at that, although the color doesn’t fade from his cheeks.

“He does like you,” he confirms. “I’ve never seen him take to anyone this fast. Hell, he’s still on the fence about my brothers.”

As if his ears have been burning from all our talk about him, Bruno pads back into the room at that moment, sniffing around on the floor as his ears hang low.

“No, Bruno.” Nick shakes his head, stepping into the room after his dog. “No more panties, you thief.”

But instead of listening to him, the dog comes closer to the bed and buries his nose against my foot again.

I lean forward, stretching out my hand to reach down and pet him on the head. Bruno lays his chin against the mattress, his jowls spreading out and making him look adorably melty as I rub his ears.

“Good boy,” I whisper. “That’s a good boy. No panties, just scratches.”

Beside me, Reid and Sebastian both sit up in the bed. Sebastian leans over and kisses me on the cheek, and Reid smiles, resting a hand on the top of my thigh. The feel of his warm palm against my skin ignites all of my nerve endings, which still feel hypersensitive from last night.

I was distracted by the dog when I first woke up, but now that everyone is awake, I’m suddenly very conscious of the fact that all three of the Cooper brothers fucked me mere hours ago.

Internally, I start to panic a bit, my mind racing.

Was that a mistake?

Do they regret it?

Do I regret it?

No, definitely not.

What happens now?

“Um, should we talk about this?” I squeak, glancing from one Cooper triplet to the next to the next. “I mean, about what happened? What exactly are we doing here?”

“We’re doing exactly what we said we would.” Reid’s voice drops a little, his hand traveling higher up my thigh. “We’re helping you with your bucket list. Was that not clear last night?”

Goosebumps spread over my skin, my clit throbbing immediately at the reminder of what they did to me.

“No, it was. But?—”

I cut my sentence short because I’m not really sure how I want to finish it. Do I really want to tell them how I’m feeling about all of this? Hell, do I even know how I’m feeling about all of it?

“I can hear the gears grinding in your head, trouble,” Reid says, a chuckle rumbling in his chest. “Don’t overthink it. You had fun, didn’t you?”

I swallow. “Yes.”

“And do you want to keep working on your list?”

“Yes.”

“Then there you go.” Sebastian nudges my shoulder. “We’re happy to keep going until every single item has been checked off.”

My breath picks up a little at that. Reid is right. I’m totally overthinking this. I’ve somehow stumbled into an alternate reality where all three of my brother’s best friends have made it their mission to work as a team to fulfill every one of my sexual fantasies. I should just be enjoying this, rather than letting my mind run wild with all the ways things could go wrong.

But still…

“I don’t want things to get… weird,” I admit. “You guys are Lucas’s best friends, and you’ve become my friends too. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. I don’t want to risk losing you.”

“You won’t.” Nick is still standing at the foot of the bed, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable.

“But we can lay out a few ground rules if that would help,” Reid offers, giving my leg a squeeze.

“Like what?”

He shrugs. “Well, we can call this a friends with benefits situation, if you want. Because you’re right, you’re our friend too. So we’ll keep it light, no strings, nothing serious.”

Something in my chest twinges a bit at those words, a spike of disappointment cutting through me. But I know that what he’s saying is for the best. One wild night—or even several of them—is way less complicated than the reality of what it would be like if it turned into something more. I don’t even know how that would work, and it’s terrifying to think of losing these men from my life entirely. Or even worse, coming between them somehow and splintering the tight brotherly bond they have.

“Simple is good.” I nod, glancing from Reid to Sebastian and then Nick. “And, um, I don’t think we should tell my brother about this.”

“Yeah.” Nick sighs and sits down on the bed, running a hand over Bruno’s floppy ears. “I hate lying to him. But it’s probably for the best.”

“I think it is.” I pull my knees up a little. “I don’t like lying to him either, but if he punched Reid when he saw him dancing with me, I can’t imagine what he’d do if he knew… what else you guys had done to me.”

I’m flushing all over again, as if I wasn’t wantonly begging for their cocks last night. But I have never been fucked like that, and it’s still a bit hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that it actually happened to me. It feels like it must’ve been someone else—someone who got all of her Christmas wishes and then some.

“Besides,” I add quickly. “Since we’re just fooling around for a little while, there’s no reason for you guys to risk your friendship with him. I don’t plan to be in Chestnut Hill for long, so there’s an end date to all of this. And then things will go back to the way they were, and he never has to know.”

Sebastian rubs at the scar on his eyebrow, looking at me thoughtfully. “Well, he thinks that you’re just fake dating all of us right now so that Dylan will leave you alone and the rest of the gossips in town will get off your back. So let’s just leave it at that. It will explain away the time we’re spending with you, and we can all just keep the fact that you’re actually sleeping with us on the down low.”

“Okay.”

I nod in agreement, and Reid does too. Nick hesitates for a moment, indecision on his face, and I wonder if he’s warring with himself over whether or not he’s okay with lying to Lucas, or if there’s something else holding him back. He doesn’t exactly look happy about it, but he finally dips his chin in a quick nod as well.

“Agreed,” he mutters.

We stay in bed and talk for a while longer, laying out a few more parameters of our arrangement and deciding whether this will change how we act when we’re in public. We all agree that it shouldn’t. The story around town is that all three of the triplets are competing for my affection, not that they’re sharing me, so they’ll still display some jealousy toward each other and mostly go out with me one-on-one in public.

Once I feel like I have my feet solidly under me, I feel a lot better. This thing we’re doing seems less scary and dangerous and more fun and hot, and I’m incredibly relieved that we all seem to agree it’s going to happen again. Last night wasn’t nearly enough.

My list isn’t done, and I need to accumulate a lifetime of memories in whatever time we have together, because I have a feeling I’ll be returning to those memories time and time again.

“Good.” Sebastian stretches his arms over his head. “Now that we’ve sorted all of that out, who’s ready for some breakfast? I’m fucking starving.”

“I am,” I say fervently. Turns out, sex with three men works up quite an appetite.

We all clamber out of bed, but as my feet hit the floor and I stand up, I wince.

Nick looks over at me protectively. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I give him a quick smile, since I can already see the worry gathering in his eyes. “I think that I’m just a little sore from last night.”

“Is it bad if I take that as a compliment?” Reid grins, and I can’t help but laugh.

“No, it’s not bad. You should definitely take it as a compliment. The three of you made my body do things I didn’t even know I was capable of.”

“And what’s that you were saying about us not even being able to make it halfway through your list?” Sebastian teases as he pulls his pants on. “I’d say we made it almost halfway through that list in one go last night. Pretty impressive, isn’t it?”

My sassy side rears its head, because I can’t let these three men get too cocky. I grab a robe from the dresser and tug it on, then plant a hand on my hip. “Well, there are three of you and only one of me, so I’d say by default that means my stamina is more impressive than all of yours combined.”

Reid reaches out in a flash, catching my hand and tugging me toward him so quickly that I collide with his chest. His arm bands around me, his blue-gray eyes glinting as he murmurs, “I think you’re being a brat. Maybe you need another spanking? Or should I fuck your smart mouth again? Is that what you need?”

My blood heats at his words. I’ve always enjoyed pushing his buttons and sassing him back when he gets too bossy, but this takes it to a whole new level. It’s even more fun to get under his skin when I know that the consequences will be very, very enjoyable.

“Maybe I need both,” I murmur, arching a brow in silent challenge.

He hauls me closer against his body, one hand sliding down to grope my ass—but before he can do either of the things he just promised, Nick tugs me out of his arms, insisting on feeding me before anything else happens.

I’m not going to argue with that, despite the fact that the arousal flooding my pussy is definitely helping to banish some of the soreness. My stomach is rumbling, and I could use some coffee. None of us got a lot of sleep last night.

“I’ll meet you guys downstairs,” I tell them. “I’m just gonna hop in the shower really quick first.”

“Are you sure?” Sebastian smirks. “We like you dirty, shortcake.”

I blush and roll my eyes at him, grabbing some clothes from the dresser as they all head out of the room.

“Oh, and you should sing while you’re in the shower,” Sebastian calls over his shoulder as they go. “I want to hear you belting it out. Your voice is fucking beautiful.”

Normally, I would shy away from anyone asking me to sing. I have too many bad memories of Dylan talking down to me and constantly telling me how my voice was “too shrill” or “off key.” The reservation and self-doubt have piled up so high that I always get nervous if I know that anyone is listening. But for some reason, I feel like giving Sebastian exactly what he requested this morning. Even though they’re probably not the most objective judges, the Cooper brothers really seem to mean it when they say they enjoy my singing.

And I like that. A lot.

I grin at the spot where they disappeared, then finish grabbing stuff to change into and snatch up my phone before padding down the hall.

When I step into the bathroom, I set my clothes down on the closed toilet lid. Despite the fact that three guys live alone here, the bathroom is actually really nice. I take a moment to admire the custom cabinets that Reid must’ve built, and chuckle softly at the fact that even though Nick’s whole job is to put out fires, there are a few delicious smelling candles lining the bathroom shelves and window ledge. I wonder if Addison got those for them, although it wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t. I could be way off, but I can picture Reid being a bath guy, especially if he’s sore from a long day of working in his shop.

Before I turn the water on, I decide to call Lorelai. I did, after all, promise to keep her apprised of all the juicy tidbits that happened while I’m here. And last night tops the charts of juicy tidbits .

“Hey, Hailey!” She answers exuberantly after two rings. “Oh god, please say you have something exciting to tell me, because I’m dying of boredom over here.”

I lean against the bathroom wall, keeping my voice low. “I dunno, does letting the triplets read my naughty list, and then letting them do half of what’s on the list to me last night count as exciting?”

There’s silence on the other end for so long that I actually pull the phone away from my ear for a second, worried that we’ve gotten cut off. The call is still connected, so I put it back to my head, my brows furrowing.

“Lorelai? You there?”

“What!?”

Her scream is so loud that I definitely lose partial hearing on that side.

“Ow, ow, ow,” I hiss, leaning my head away.

“Oh, sorry.” Her voice drops to a more normal volume as she repeats, “Whaaaat?”

This time, she draws the word out, extending the single syllable into at least three. Knowing she won’t be satisfied with anything less than every single detail, I quickly launch into the story, filling her in on the crawl space incident and everything it led to—including the revelation of my naughty list. She throws in a few comments or startled exclamations here and there, and when I finish the story by telling her how I woke up sandwiched between two of the men this morning, she lets out a long breath.

“Wow. So you really fucking did it! I’m in shock. I’m in awe.” She chuckles, then adds, “So how were things this morning? What’s the vibe? Is this a one-time thing, or…?”

“Not a one-time thing.” I bite my bottom lip as a grin breaks out on my face. “We’re not through the list yet. But we set some terms.”

“Terms?”

“Yeah.” I tell Lorelai what the guys and I agreed to—only temporary, no telling my brother, no strings attached.

“Huh.” I can hear the slight hesitancy in her voice as she speaks. “Were these terms their idea, or yours?”

“Um, all of ours,” I say with a shrug, trying to remember who exactly said what.

“And you really think you’re gonna be able to abide by them?” she asks, skepticism in her tone.

“Yeah, of course. Why not?”

She laughs. “Because I know you, Hailey. You wear your heart on your sleeve. And as much as you like to act like your pussy is a sassy bitch, we both know you’re led by your heart—not your head, and especially not your crotch.”

She’s not wrong. Sometimes my best friend knows me even better than I’d like to admit. But it doesn’t matter if Lorelai is right or not, because the guys and I agreed to those rules, so this is just how it’s going to be. There’s no point in overthinking it, and I honestly don’t want to. I just want to enjoy it.

“It’ll be fine,” I promise her. “I’m having way more fun being back in Chestnut Hill than I thought I would. And I’m actually putting a dent in my list, which I was starting to think would never happen.”

“Okay. If you’re sure.” Her tone lightens a bit. “And I want to hear which line items get knocked out next, so keep me posted! Some of us are going through a dry spell.”

I chuckle sympathetically, because I know all about being in a dry spell. I’ve gone from one extreme to the other and I couldn’t be happier about it.

After getting a quick update from her—she’ll be sticking around LA for the holidays since she’s a born and bred California girl—I promise to call again soon and hang up. Then I turn on the water and step into the shower.

At first, I stand under the gentle spray in silence, getting lost in my thoughts as I relive some of the highlights from last night. I don’t even notice that I’ve started to hum until after I’m already doing it.

Despite the self-doubt Dylan left me with, music still comes naturally to me. But as soon as I become aware that I’m actually singing loudly enough for someone to hear, I start getting self-conscious again.

I wish that asshole hadn’t left me with such lasting scars. I wish I could go back to being who I was before I met Dylan and became way too wrapped up in his narcissistic manipulation. I used to embrace life wholeheartedly and welcome any chance I got to sing in front of a crowd. I used to believe in myself and my abilities without question. And I didn’t ever lessen myself or shrink myself down in order to fit into someone else’s box.

Then Dylan Montgomery happened, and I let him stomp around in my head and leave his dirty footprints there long after I left him.

No more. I’m done with that .

I shift from humming one of my favorite songs to opening my mouth and singing it. There’s something about the acoustics in a running shower that make everything sound good, like having a backup singer made of raindrops that amplifies only the best parts of your voice.

Lathering shampoo into my hair, I start to really belt it out just like Sebastian told me to, closing my eyes and inhaling the wildflower scented steam all around me.

I sing the entire rest of the time I’m in the shower.

And it feels fucking amazing.