Wedding Bet (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #8)

8. Landry

8

LANDRY

Only one thought was pounding through my head.

I fucking want you .

My eyes were on Jamie as the clink of tiny glasses filled the air. I watched him toss back another round of cherry liqueur as I took my shot, too, feeling less and less in control of my desires as the night went on. We were just one of many groups packed into the small, dimly lit restaurant and bar, crowded into a rounded corner booth.

Well, there were two thoughts, at the very least.

I fucking want you and I’m really not allowed to have you.

Weddings did bad, bad things to me.

“You all know how to drink ,” I told my colleagues, trying to peel my eyes away from Jamie before I did something stupid.

I was keeping pace with everyone’s drinking, but it was getting harder and harder.

It had been a long, long day of meetings, phone calls, and conferences, after sleeping zero the night before. Somewhere around the afternoon, my total lack of sleep had really started to catch up with me, and I was struggling to keep my exhaustion hidden.

“I agree. You know how to drink too well,” Jamie said.

“The same goes for you, Jamie,” I told him. “You’re a beast tonight.”

“Hey, it’s a wedding week and a vacation for me,” Jamie said. “I’m allowed to have a little fun.”

“You’re allowed to have as much fun as you’d like,” Elyna said, her blonde, slick ponytail glinting under the light. I’d been on many conference calls with Elyna in the past, discussing multiple marketing strategies for small companies, but it turned out she was even better in person. She was originally from France, whip-smart, and knew how to have a good time, too.

“Are you going to drag me up for another round of karaoke, Elyna?” Jamie asked her. “Or am I going to have to drag you?”

Elyna got a wild look in her eye, then turned to me. “I told you, Landry,” she said to me in her French accent. “I told you he’d be begging for more karaoke even though he was so shy to get up there earlier tonight. This man is a good one.”

“He’s a lot less shy than he seems, that’s for sure,” I agreed with her. I was already dead tired, but as the alcohol hit my bloodstream, everything started to feel a little bit surreal.

I was hanging out in a ski resort with some of my most hardworking business collaborators, and somewhere along the course of the night, Jamie had started to fit right in.

I’d figured that Jamie could fit in with any group, even though he doubted himself. But seeing it actually happen was like a gift.

“And that’s why you’re coming up with us for the next round of karaoke, too,” Jamie told me, lifting an eyebrow.

“Not going to happen. I haven’t slept in at least 36 hours and—”

“Oh, it’s definitely going to happen,” he said, grabbing my hand. I relented, letting him lead me up to the little stage at the side of the bar. Even standing up was a struggle, but I was starting to realize that I couldn’t say no to Jamie.

I didn’t want to say no to him.

Jamie hunched over the machine, picking a song. I heard the opening notes to the Rolling Stones’ “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” start to play, and suddenly the night turned from sleepy-surreal to shockingly unexpected.

This song.

This song.

I couldn’t decide if I wanted to slap Jamie or give him a hug.

I looked at Jamie, who was turning to me with a wicked smile on his face, holding out a second microphone to me. When the karaoke machine started up, a little multicolored disco light turned on, casting shimmering light over the both of us.

“This song,” I finally said out loud, shaking my head slowly. “I played this on repeat the week Parker broke up with me. Did you know that? Did I tell you that in some sort of drunken ramble?”

“No,” Jamie said with surprise on his face. “You didn’t mention it at all, actually. All the more reason to belt it out with me, though.”

“I meant it when I said I don’t do karaoke, Jamie—”

“You could do it this one time,” he said, the colorful lights splashing over his pleading eyes. He started singing along with the lyrics on his own microphone, like he was singing the words directly to me. “And I try, and I try, and I try, and I try… ”

I turned and scanned the restaurant and bar and all I saw were groups of people and couples talking, laughing, and having a good time. People told me that Disneyland was the happiest place on Earth, but this small, hidden, nice restaurant in Colorado sure could give it a run for its money.

Nobody was looking up at me or Jamie like we were dumb or silly. Half of the people weren’t paying attention to us at all, and when it came to karaoke, that was a comfort for me. So when the chorus came along, I picked up the stupid microphone and sang along with Jamie.

“ I can’t get no! Satisfaction!”

I knew every word, of course, even though I’d never dreamed of singing the song, or any song, in public. Emmett’s boyfriend, Storm, had been trying and failing to get me to do karaoke for a long time, but with Jamie it only took a little bit of prodding.

Jamie and I sang together, and little by little, I let myself sing louder. By the end of the song I was belting it out just like Jamie had wanted, and I felt freer than I had in a long while.

A few rowdy, drunk people at the bar applauded for us as we finished, and stuck the microphones back onto the karaoke machine.

“You fucking rocked it,” Jamie said, reaching up to give me a high five. I clasped his hand instead, going in for a tight hug.

“It is a strange feeling,” I told him, catching my breath a little, “to have fun singing a song that I listened to so much earlier this year while I secretly hated everything about my love life.”

I kept him in the hug, pulling in a deep breath before easing back and looking him in the eye.

Fuck , I wanted him.

Those soulful eyes. The slight blush on his cheeks that seemed to always be there.

There was a hint of guilt on his face. “Shit, Landry, if I’d have known that I really would have chosen a different one.”

“But I’m so glad you didn’t. I mean it. I feel like I just shed an old skin, or something. For four minutes I wasn’t even feeling tired.”

“You must be ready to absolutely crash,” Jamie said as we walked back over to our table. “Do you want to head back to the hotel?”

“Probably a wise decision.”

After saying good night to the rest of the group, Jamie and I were out on the cobblestone streets, the bracing chill of the night air so refreshing on my skin.

“Why didn’t you get any sleep last night, if you don’t mind me asking?” Jamie said over the sound of our shoes hitting the stone sidewalk.

I cut him a glance, then turned back toward the street ahead.

“What?” he protested, his breath appearing in the air.

“Well, first of all, because of everything,” I offered. “Everything with you.”

“Oh, God,” Jamie said. “Not only did I accidentally make you sing your breakup song, but I’m also the reason you haven’t gotten any sleep?”

I puffed out a laugh, my hand instinctively reaching out for his.

I laced my fingers through his, holding his hand as we walked. And suddenly, my heart was warmer.

Bad .

Mistakes ahead .

It didn’t make any sense, and in reality I probably shouldn’t have been holding hands with someone that I only wanted to be friends with. But it felt right. And at the moment, I was too tired to question that.

“It’s not your fault,” I told him. “I just couldn’t stop wondering if I’d done the wrong thing. I wanted more, too. For at least an hour I contemplated going down to your room and knocking on your door and begging for more, actually, but I held back.”

“Damn,” he said softly, glancing at me for a second.

“And then, of course, I felt bad for making you feel awkward. About the cheap rent comment.”

Jamie nodded once. “Thank you, but I know you were only meaning well. You wanted to offer help, and that was a way to offer it.”

I nodded. “Exactly. But it was too much, and it was off-base. I know that you don’t want to add money and rent and the whole landlord thing into the equation.”

Jamie was quiet, but he squeezed my hand. “It means a lot that you understand.”

We turned the corner onto the street where the resort was, up ahead, glowing in the evening like the promised land. Sleep . God, I needed sleep.

“There is another reason I couldn’t get any sleep, but it’s more embarrassing,” I admitted.

“Tell me,” Jamie said. “If it’s embarrassing, I really want to know.”

“In Denver and LA, both of my places are in the busy city streets. I usually fall asleep with the window cracked open, and the sounds of the city lull me to sleep. It’s been way too quiet here.”

“That’s not embarrassing,” Jamie said as we walked up to the front doors of the hotel, the bellhops opening them wide for us. “It’s a normal thing to need certain sounds when you go to bed. I listen to long ambient audio tracks to fall asleep sometimes.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. I can show you some of my favorite ones, if you want.”

As we walked inside, Chase and Adam happened to be walking out of one of the ballrooms. Their rehearsal dinner must have just ended. A woman with a cane followed them.

“Jamie, Landry,” Chase said, smiling at us both. “Hi.”

I saw his eyes flicker downward and I realized suddenly that Jamie and I were still holding hands.

I felt my cheeks heating up and I gave Jamie’s hand a little squeeze before letting my fingers drop away.

“Landry, have you met my mom?” Chase asked.

She smiled up at me, reaching out her hand to shake mine. “I heard your friend Emmett talking about you earlier. You’re Lucky Landry, right?”

“That would be me,” I said. “It’s so nice to meet you. Jamie’s told me about you.”

“Oh, no,” she said. “Only good things, I hope? Did he tell you I whooped his ass in that papercutting class?”

“Hey, it wasn’t a contest,” Jamie said, laughing.

His mom laughed. “I was faster, but yours were prettier,” she said. “Good to run into you, Jamie. And I’m glad to finally meet you, Landry.”

I wondered idly what Jamie had told his mom about me. There was something about the thought of Jamie talking about me that I enjoyed a little too much.

“How was the rehearsal dinner?” Jamie asked.

“Terrifying,” Adam said. “I wasn’t nervous until we actually started practicing, and then I realized I’m getting married tomorrow, and now everything feels so real. I don’t want to, you know, fuck it up.”

The rest of us laughed. “You’re going to rock it, you know.”

“He’s going to be amazing,” Chase said, taking Adam in his arms and pulling him close. “I’ve been trying to tell him that everything could go to shit tomorrow and I’d still love him more than anything in the world.”

“And I keep trying to tell him that I’m certain I’m going to fall over and break an ankle or something. I’m so clumsy when I’m nervous. Damn, that reminds me, we have to go pick up those envelopes from the front desk—”

“Nope! I grabbed ‘em,” Jamie’s mom said. “Come on over to my room, Adam, sweetheart. Oh, and Chase, I have your tie in there, too. Sewed up the missing stitches for it. We can go over those final touches for the dances as well.”

Suddenly Adam and Chase were being led off to her room. Chase looked back at us and gave us a sympathetic glance.

“Sorry,” he mouthed before waving and walking off with his mom and husband-to-be.

“I love them,” I said, waving to Chase. “They are clearly so busy this week.”

“I love them, too,” Jamie told me. “They’re perfect, but they don’t even realize it. And Mom is being so cute, getting all involved in helping out. She knows just the right amount of involvement to actually be helpful, and not be annoying.”

“She seems awesome.”

We headed over toward the bay of elevators and waited for one to come.

Jamie was giving me a look. “Kind of like how you’re awesome and don’t realize it?”

I snorted. “Far from it,” I said, pulling a deep breath in. “I will take you up on showing me those audio tracks, though. I need sleep tonight. Good sleep. I don’t want to feel like a zombie for the wedding.”

“I’ll show you my favorite one,” he said. “I often put it on to drown out the sound of my roommates fucking. Nicole can be very vocal when her boyfriend’s in the mood.”

I laughed as the elevator doors swung open.

And when we looked inside, my heart skipped a beat.

Parker and his fiance were in the elevator.

I stepped to the side, giving them room to step out. “Evening, Parker.”

He waved a hand. “Oh, we’re not getting out. We’re coming up from the pub.”

I nodded and Jamie and I stepped into the elevator beside them. “Thought you hated the little downstairs pub?”

“For some reason my fiance liked it,” Parker said, giving him a little shove. “We hung out there tonight.”

Jamie cleared his throat, proudly reaching for my hand and squeezing it. “Landry and I had such a good night together, too. You’re so cute when you sing karaoke, baby.”

I got a thrill hearing Jamie call me that, even though I knew he was pretending.

“Landry doesn’t do karaoke,” Parker said, cutting Jamie a glance.

Jamie just shrugged, leaning against me. “He did tonight, when I asked him.”

Burn .

It gave me a sick satisfaction seeing the surprise on Parker’s face.

I reached out and hit the button for the top floor of the hotel. A tiny part of me cheered inside when Jamie didn’t bother hitting the button for his own floor. I knew he was only going up with me to show me the sleep sounds, but I wasn’t quite ready to be alone yet, tonight.

Hell, I hadn’t really been enjoying being alone at all since I’d met Jamie.

As the elevator slowly made its way up, I loved the feeling of Jamie’s body against mine.

“You finally warming up after our cold walk?” I said quietly to him.

“Much better now,” he said.

I smiled down at him, reaching out to run my fingers through his hair.

And then, as we looked into each other’s eyes, something went electric.

I felt connected to him, even now, while we were putting on a fake little show for Parker.

As the elevator dinged on Parker’s floor, something flashed in Jamie’s eyes.

And he leaned up and pressed his lips to mine in a kiss.

Suddenly it was as if our whole little fake-boyfriend scheme melted into the air. I wasn’t thinking about faking it or about Parker at all, actually—all I could focus on was how damn much I loved having Jamie’s mouth on mine.

Plush. Soft. Kissing me like he meant it.

He pulled back and held my glance just for a moment, biting down on his lower lip before he stepped away, nodding at Parker before he and his fiance left.

“Have a good night,” Jamie said to them.

“Uh, right,” I said. “Bye, Parker.”

“Later,” Parker said, looking away with a snide look on his face as the two of them stepped out onto their floor.

The elevator doors whooshed shut again and Jamie and I spread out in the space.

“That was awesome,” Jamie murmured. “He hated that, I could tell.”

I swallowed. “It was really good.”

And really hot.

And I’m really fucking hard, now.

By the time we got to my suite I felt like I was about to blow.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d wanted someone so much. Jamie was still holding my hand as the elevator went up further and finally reached my floor, and I let out a sigh of relief as we stepped into my blissfully empty suite. I was so ready for some peace and sleep. And I didn’t care why Jamie was here, but I wanted to keep him here as long as I could.

“Okay. All we need is a laptop or phone for the sleep sounds, speakers optional,” Jamie said, kicking off his shoes and pulling off his coat.

“Here,” I said, leading him down the hall. “The bedroom has speakers built in.”

I showed him into the bedroom and for a moment, his eyes were wide, looking all around. “God, this is big.”

“I will refrain from making the joke I want to make right now,” I told him. “Here. Speakers. I’ve already connected them to my phone.”

As Jamie set up the sleep sounds, I went into the closet and got changed into a soft T-shirt and shorts to sleep. I washed up in the bathroom and returned to see him sitting at the edge of the bed.

“What do you think of this?” he asked. The sound of light rain was playing, but in the background, I swore I heard the sound of a downtown city. All the way here in the mountains.

I let my eyes flutter shut, just for a moment, taking in the sounds. “Heaven,” I finally said. “This is what heaven sounds like.”

“Pretty good, huh?”

I crossed over to the other side of the bed, lying down on top of the sheets. “It’s like they took all of the good sounds of the city and removed all of the bad ones. No angry cats, no one yelling, no screeching tires.”

“Just far-away chatter, a low hum of traffic, and the occasional rumble,” Jamie said. “And the sound of rain. Mostly just that.”

I let out a long breath, reaching over to where Jamie was sitting on the other side of the bed. I gently rubbed his lower back, and he sighed, leaning back just a little.

It was so good to touch him.

All I wanted was to keep touching him.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” I said softly. “I should have slept like a baby last night.”

“Sorry, are you talking? I can’t pay attention because you rubbing my back like that feels like my version of heaven on Earth.”

I smiled softly. “I can do the whole thing if you lie down for a minute.”

He hummed. “Don’t have to ask me twice.” He settled onto the bed and I scooted closer to him, letting my palm run across his shoulder blades and down each side of his spine.

“Thank you for setting up the sounds for me,” I said.

“Of course,” he told me. “And… about the sleep problems. Do you think there’s a chance that you’re just nervous for the wedding?”

My hand froze for a moment before I kept rubbing his back. “I’ve been to more weddings than I can remember. I don’t exactly think I’m nervous for it.”

“You don’t think there’s a little chance?”

“Jamie,” I protested. “It’s just a wedding. Fuck it.”

“But you said you hate them.”

I squeezed his shoulder and a moment later he turned over, facing me. With his eyes on me, suddenly I felt more vulnerable. I couldn’t figure out if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Maybe I just don’t believe in love anymore,” I said, surprised by my own words.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

In that moment, I knew that Jamie was one of the best bullshit detectors I’d ever known. I wasn’t able to lie to him, even if I was trying to lie to myself.

“Or maybe… it makes me feel lonely.”

Immediately his hand came out to grab mine, and he held my hand. “Shit.”

I let out a breath. “Sure, fine, I believe in love,” I said. “But I don’t know if I’ll ever have it again. And weddings make me think about that, and I don’t want to think about it. I want to ignore it.”

Jamie puffed out a quick laugh, squeezing my hand harder. “Sorry. I’m not laughing at you, but I appreciate your honesty. You want to ignore your own feelings?”

“God, yes, sometimes,” I said. “And I’m glad you’re still smiling instead of screaming in horror and backing away from me, which is probably what you should be doing when I start to open up. Forget about me, let’s change the subject.”

He shook his head a little, still watching me. “I don’t think it’s possible that I could forget about you now.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Quit saying things like that unless you’re trying to make me melt.”

It was nice to know that Jamie cared about me, even if his heart was clearly way too kind and I totally didn’t deserve his attention. But I had no idea what to do with his affection.

As he held my hand, we fell into a comfortable silence. Shockingly comfortable, actually. I was practiced at holding a conversation after years in business meetings, but with Jamie I didn’t feel like I had to do any of that.

He accepted me. Even when I tried and failed to bullshit him. Even when I was cagey and independent.

I felt like myself around him.

I hadn’t even realized I’d nodded off, but when I woke up my cock was so hard it ached. I woke up to the feeling of Jamie’s fingers slowly slipping away from my own and the weight on the bed shifting as he stood up. It was like every cell in my body craved him so much that it physically hurt as I felt him moving away.

I hummed, my eyelids still heavy from sleep. I reached out, grabbing Jamie’s hand again and pulling him back toward the bed.

“Please,” I murmured.

“I want you to get good sleep tonight—”

“I hate sleeping alone,” I blurted out. I was half asleep and couldn’t hold back the truth any longer, and there was no one else in the world I’d have rather been with more right now. “I hate it more than anything. So if you do want to stay, I’ll sleep better than I have in months.”

He paused for a moment, the tension hanging in the air between us. “Are you sure about that? Or did you just wake up in the middle of some dream, and you’re going to regret this all tomorrow?”

I pulled in a deep breath, sitting up in bed and looking up at him. Hell, if I’d been on the floor instead of in bed, I would have felt like I was begging him.

Don’t say it.

Don’t. Say it.

“I don’t think I could regret a single moment with you.”

My heart felt ten sizes too big for my chest. I knew he might still walk away, and I was prepared for that reality.

Jamie bit his bottom lip for a moment, hesitating. But then he reached for his waistband and slowly slid off his pants before getting in under the covers on the other side of the bed. He reached over and turned off the lamp on the side table.

“I couldn’t regret anything with you, either,” he said softly.

My heart swelled.

Suddenly, we were in the dark. The only light coming in the room was filtering through the sheer curtains in front of the window.

A thousand different feelings churned through me all at once. I felt the heat of Jamie’s body in the bed next to me, and every doubt and hesitation flew out the window. I couldn’t care about holding back. Not right now.

He hummed as I got up close to him and put my arm around his body, pulling him against my chest.

“How do you feel so good?” he whispered, and I could feel the slight low vibration of his voice up against the front of my body.

“You feel so good, too,” I told him.

“Can I tell you a secret?” he said.

“Please. I want to know everything.”

“I loved kissing you earlier.”

My heart fluttered.

“I’m glad, Jamie.”

“And I want to do it again.”

He turned in bed and in the dim light coming through the window, I could see the outline of his face. His plush lips, and the sweetest look on his face.

A sweet look that also went straight to my cock.

I closed the gap between us and pressed my lips to his, kissing him slowly.

And it felt like finally, every butterfly in my chest had been set free, a flooding release of tension I’d been craving since our moment in the elevator.

“ Mmh ,” Jamie hummed against my lips, and right away his hands came out to grasp around the small of my waist.

His tongue slid out against mine. Slick heat. Everything I’d been needing.

Normally I would have tried to calm the situation. To push back and make sure Jamie didn’t do something that he would regret—he’d told me he wasn’t a hookup kind of guy, and he knew damn well that I was.

But deep down, I knew this was more than that.

This wasn’t some anonymous man in my bed. I cared about Jamie, no matter how new he was in my life. I cared about his brother, and every friend shared between us.

And I hadn’t ever felt this way about a hookup in my life.

Jamie was something different. I didn’t know what that meant, yet, but I knew I wasn’t ready to let it go.