Rough and Ready, page 21
“Of course he did,” she replied, her voice muffled against his chest. He stole a quick kiss before letting her go, then grinned.
“He also wants us to ‘play along’,” Gio finger-quoted, “with the renovation videos until he gets home because it’s keeping Keeley off the dating apps.”
“Shit,” she muttered. “On the one hand, I want to be annoyed as hell at that request. On the other, he’s given me a great way to ensure you star in my videos. Because…my profile is still live on all the dating apps.”
Gio narrowed his eyes. “Take it down. Get yourself off those things. You don’t need them anymore.”
Keeley studied him for a second, and he could see he’d gone too far with that declaration. Not that he had a problem with it. As far as he was concerned, she was spoken for and off the market. Forever, if he had his way.
It was just…Rafe was being too quiet.
“I’ll hide my profile,” Keeley said.
Hide, not delete. Gio noticed the difference. He wondered if Rafe did as well.
They were tromping through a minefield here, so Gio returned to his work. He expected Rafe to do the same, but he didn’t.
“I noticed you didn’t tell Kayden about us,” Rafe observed.
“I…” Keeley paused, then apparently rethought what she wanted to say. “We haven’t discussed it yet, haven’t decided what we’re telling people, or if we’re telling them anything at all. In the past, you’ve kept these affairs a secret, right?”
“We have,” Rafe answered simply.
“So the same is true for us?”
Gio held his breath, awaiting Rafe’s response.
When it came, it offered absolutely none of the insight Gio was hoping for.
“It’s only been a week. Why don’t we let the dust settle?” Rafe said. “Kayden doesn’t get home for a couple more weeks. We’ll discuss what to tell people then. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get sick of us before that and there won’t be anything to tell.”
“That—” Keeley started to say something but stopped almost immediately. That was when Gio realized he wasn’t the only one tiptoeing. Rafe had made his feelings about love and commitment very clear. He’d also basically told her point-blank their menage would end the moment she decided she wanted more.
Keeley, the clever woman, knew better than to reveal her feelings.
Gio’s jaw clenched with disappointment and a fair amount of anger that the two of them felt as if they couldn’t be honest with Rafe. Though Gio knew that wasn’t exactly fair.
Rafe hadn’t lied about his feelings, nor was he acting out of character. His friend never jumped into anything without careful consideration. The problem was, Gio couldn’t see a fucking thing here that needed to be thought about. The three of them were amazing together, a perfect fit, a slam dunk. They’d lived, eaten, worked, and slept together for eight days straight, and every single day was better than the one before.
And while he knew it was stupid to think it was always going to be smooth sailing, he knew these people. Rafe was the brother of his heart, and Keeley…
Well, he couldn’t believe he’d been so blind. She’d been standing right in front of him all these years. She was funny, smart, independent, sarcastic, easygoing, and gorgeous. And while she was younger than them—six years younger than Rafe, seven younger than him—she didn’t act like it. She was mature and confident, and she didn’t defer to them.
Gio wanted a woman who knew her own mind, made her own decisions, charted her own course.
Keeley ticked every box.
“Fine,” Keeley agreed. “We’ll just stay the course until Kayden gets home. No problem.”
While her tone was easy-breezy, something flashed in her eyes that told him she was disappointed too.
He and Keeley were on the exact same page.
The problem was going to be getting Rafe there as well.
Chapter Thirteen
Liza took a sip of her wine as Keeley perused the menu. For two weeks straight, she, Rafe, and Gio had basically locked themselves in the haunted mansion, existing exclusively on sex, takeout, sex, sleep, sex, and—occasionally—some work.
Gio had set up a workshop in one of the outbuildings behind the mansion. And while he spent a few hours there every day, he found countless excuses to come into the house to steal kisses from her. Not that she was complaining.
She’d broken away from the guys tonight, simply because she couldn’t keep coming up with excuses not to go out with Liza, who was getting very suspicious. Prior to Keeley’s new job with Baros Corporation, it wasn’t unusual for her and Liza to get together two or three times a week, either for dinner—as they both lived alone and had no one to eat with—or to go clubbing.
Liza leaned back, not bothering to look at the menu. Instead, she was more intent on studying Keeley. “You’ve got a just-been-fucked glow.”
Keeley laughed. “You can’t tell that by looking at someone.”
“Of course, you can. God, you practically reek of good sex. So let’s have it.”
“Liza.”
Liza narrowed her eyes. “If it’s JT, I swear to sweet Jesus—”
“It’s not JT.”
“Ah,” Liza said, as if Keeley had fallen into her trap. “So there is somebody.” She tapped her chin as if thinking, though Keeley could tell it was all for show. “Rafe or Gio. Which one?” Liza asked point-blank.
Keeley sighed. So much for being discreet. Liza had seen their dirty dance on the floor at Eclectic, and she knew Keeley was spending all her time with the guys, under the guise of “working late” on the inn project.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Keeley said. “Now are we going to order or not?”
“Gio seems to be the obvious answer,” Liza continued, ignoring Keeley completely. “He’s a shameless flirt, and I’ve noticed the way he looks at you.”
Keeley stopped trying to play coy. “He looks at me?”
Liza nodded. “Oh yeah. You came back from college all grown up and hot. Gio noticed, but he pretended not to. Probably because of Kayden. So it could be Gio,” she mused.
Keeley worked hard to school her features, determined not to give Liza the tiniest thread to tug.
“And while Rafe would normally be the wild card, with his Tin Man exterior, quiet and somber and repressed as fuck, the two of you have been spending a lot of time together. And I bet the guy is a serious freak in the bedroom.”
Keeley mentally cursed as she felt her cheeks heat. She prayed she wasn’t blushing because Liza would definitely notice. But damn if her friend hadn’t hit the nail on the head.
Keeley picked up her wineglass and tried to hide behind it. “Are we finished with this game?” she asked, feigning boredom.
“We will be. As soon as you tell me which one.” Liza wasn’t going to let this go.
She probably should have asked the guys what she was supposed to say about them. So far, since that first and only date in public at Alpen Rose, the three of them had limited their time together to the mansion. She didn’t think they’d done that on purpose, didn’t think they were trying to hide what was going on. The truth was, none of them was willing to be too far away from a bed—or at the very least, a flat surface—in private.
Her mind drifted back to this morning, when Gio had tossed her onto the kitchen table, declaring to Rafe that breakfast was served, before going down on her. An hour later, hot and sweaty and basking in the afterglow of amazing sex, they plowed through a mountain of pancakes.
Liza’s gaze narrowed and she leaned forward. “Ho. Ly. Shit. You’re sleeping with both of them, aren’t you?”
Liza didn’t exactly possess an inside voice, and a few heads of people sitting near them twisted in their direction.
Keeley lowered her voice, murmuring, “A little louder, Liza. They didn’t hear you in Jersey.”
“Are you being for real right now?” Liza pressed, unrepentant but mercifully quieter.
“It just happened.” Which was a lame explanation, but Keeley wasn’t sure how else to describe it.
“It just happened,” Liza repeated. “When? How?”
Keeley shrugged. “We got stuck at Divine the night of Penny’s party. There was that big storm, remember?”
Liza nodded.
“We were talking, waiting for it to pass. When it did, they walked me to my car. I’d been bitching about the lack of good good-night kisses in my life.”
“A valid complaint. I really think they should add kissing to the high school curriculum. Fuck new math. The world has bigger problems to solve.”
Keeley grinned. This was why she loved Liza so much. She was funny and irreverent and always had her back. “Yeah, well, you know Gio. He took it as a challenge. So he gave me a kiss, and it was a good kiss. But he said it didn’t mean anything.”
“Apparently he lied.”
Keeley wasn’t sure if he had at that point. “Maybe, maybe not. After that, I started working for Rafe. Suddenly, he and Gio are learning more about me, about my life. And the next thing I know…they’re crashing my dates.”
Liza tilted her head. “I thought we found that annoying.”
“Not the way Rafe and Gio do it. They sort of took over, claimed the dates, rather than just that shooting-intimidating-looks-from-afar tactic our brothers use. At the end of the first crashed date, Gio kissed me again. After the second, Rafe kissed me too.”
Keeley had replayed that first kiss from Rafe over a million times, and the memory still had the power to make her blush.
“Wow,” Liza said, staring at her too intently. “Must have been some really good kisses.”
“Soooo fucking good,” Keeley admitted. It was a relief to have someone to talk to about everything that had happened in the last month and a half.
“Get to the good part,” Liza urged.
“The day we helped Gio move into the mansion…I had a date with JT.”
Liza’s eyes narrowed. “I knew you were lying. You don’t get a manicure to do the laundry.”
“Yeah, well. Let’s just say…you were right about him. It ended badly, with me getting stranded at The Dolphin.”
Liza gasped. “Alone? Not good.”
“I know. I called Gio, and he and Rafe came to get me. They took me back to the mansion because my apartment key was locked in JT’s car.”
“Where was he?”
“Drunk tank.”
“Jesus,” Liza muttered. “Bet Gio was pissed.”
“And then some. I took the guest room, but it was cold. Super cold. Gio blamed the ghosts.”
Liza laughed but didn’t interrupt.
“I went in search of blankets but ended up in Gio’s bed. With him. And Rafe.”
“That feels like the SparkNotes version, but we’re to the good part finally, so I will allow it.” They’d bought a bottle of wine, so Liza lifted it out of the chiller and refilled both their glasses.
“I only had sex with Gio that night.”
“But Rafe was there?”
Keeley nodded. “They both like to watch. Anyway, the next night, they took me out on a real date. God, it was so romantic, and after that…” Keeley didn’t bother to fight her flushed cheeks. She couldn’t if she wanted to.
“So you’ve been shacking up with my cousin and his best friend for two weeks and this is the first I’m hearing of it?”
Keeley glanced at her nails, diva-style. “I’ve been busy,” she said shamelessly. “Very busy. And then tired. So, so tired.”
“Bitch.” Liza broke a chunk off her breadstick and threw it at Keeley, who just barely dodged it with a laugh.
They both took another sip of wine, and Keeley could see her friend trying to process everything she’d just learned. She’d accepted Liza’s invitation to dinner this morning, then spent the entire afternoon trying to come up with an excuse to get out of it. Simply because she hadn’t wanted to leave the guys. Which just proved she was in way too deep.
In the end, Rafe had convinced her to go, telling her a few hours apart wouldn’t kill them. Then Gio—the irreverent, hilarious asshole—had piled on, adding his dick was sore and he needed a break.
Finally, Liza said, “What the fuck is it with Baltimore?”
Keeley frowned, completely confused by the question. “What?”
“Uncle Frank moves his family to Baltimore, then comes back to Philly a few years later after Aunt Moira died. Now all his kids are threesome people. That shit had to happen in Baltimore.”
Keeley laughed, until she realized Liza wasn’t.
“I’m being serious. Think about it,” Liza continued. “First, Layla hooks up with Finn and Miguel. Then, Tony and Rhys are moving Jess in with them, becoming an instant family with her and Jasper. Now Gio. All of them. Threesomes.”
“It’s not quite all of them. I mean, Luca and Joey are still single. But I have to admit, I hadn’t really thought about that,” Keeley replied, but Liza was on a roll.
“Then Aunt Rose and Uncle Tommy’s youngest, my cousin Erin, moves to Baltimore. Boom. She’s living down there with two guys, Oliver and Gavin. It’s gotta be Baltimore because nobody in my branch of the family is doing that. We’re straight-up Philly. Bruno’s married to one wife. Elio sleeps with his rink bunnies, one chick at a time.”
“What about Aldo?” Keeley asked.
“He’s a workaholic who practically lives at the fire station. Who knows what his deal is.”
“You don’t think you’d be interested in trying a menage?” Keeley asked.
Liza scowled. “Hell no. I don’t want two of those things coming at me at the same time,” she admitted, gesturing in such a way that made it clear she was talking about dicks, not men.
Keeley laughed. “Don’t knock it until you try it.”
Liza rolled her eyes, grinning. “I’ll take your word for it.” Then she added, “So I’ll repeat again. What the fuck is going on in Baltimore?”
Keeley shrugged, enjoying this conversation and time with her friend more than she expected. “I have no idea. But I’m thinking I might like to visit there one day.”
Liza shuddered. “You’re taking that trip alone.”
The waiter returned to take their orders.
“Have you talked to Gianna today?” Liza asked her after the server walked away.
“No. Just a bit of texting after she dropped the bomb,” Keeley replied. Gianna had sent a text to their Sisters from Other Misters group late last night, telling them Sam had broken up with her and moved out of the apartment they shared. “I meant to call her today, but…” Keeley blushed, not wanting to confess what had kept her from calling.
Liza snorted, prompting Keeley to say, “I’m a terrible friend.”
“Nope. Just a well-fucked one. I called to invite her out tonight with us, but she said she was going to reorganize her bedroom, now that she has so much more space.”
Keeley frowned. “She said that? I mean, I kind of got from the texts that she wasn’t in a fetal position in the corner, crying her heart out, but…for pity’s sake, she dated the guy for almost eleven years. He was her first love, her first time, her first everything.”
“I know,” Liza said. “I’m worried about her. You know Gianna. Wound up tighter than a spring. I’m sort of afraid that when reality hits, she’s going to crash hard.”
“And if—when—that happens, we’ll be there for her,” Keeley said.
Liza smiled, and they tapped their wineglasses together to cement that promise.
The waiter returned with their salads, and they thanked him.
“In other news,” Liza began. “I got the job.”
Keeley’s eyes widened. “And I’m only just now hearing about it? You should have said that the second we sat down.”
Liza laughed and waved away her complaint. “Your sex life gossip was way more interesting.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
Liza had a dual major in English and Nonprofit Management, and she’d spent the last eight years since graduating from college working her way up the ranks of the Philadelphia Initiative—a foundation that worked to increase philanthropic donations in the community—first as a grant writer, and now as…
“What’s your official title again?” Keeley asked.
“Executive director,” Liza replied. “It’s seriously my dream job…except for one little thing.”
“What?”
“You know the Initiative has a board that it answers to. They just held an election for new leadership. Matt Russo is now the chair.” Liza crinkled her nose in distaste when she said the man’s name.
“Ugh. Sorry.”
“That guy just…I don’t know. He gets under my skin, rubs me the wrong way. I mean, I know there’s no love lost between our families, but it seems like he’s taken an extra-special kind of dislike to me.”
Keeley couldn’t debate that, as she’d witnessed it herself. They’d only run into Matt out in public a few times, but every time they did, the man’s attention—and scowl—was zeroed in and focused solely on Liza.
The waiter returned with their food and they both dug in. Liza had opted for the eggplant parmesan, while Keeley chose the lasagna. Anytime she went out to an Italian restaurant, she went for the lasagna because it was her favorite, and her mother had always made it for her.
For ten years, she’d been searching for a lasagna all over the city that could rival her mom’s. So far, no luck, and tonight was no different. Though, the older Keeley got, the more she realized she was probably searching for something that didn’t exist. What she wanted—plain and simple—was her mom’s lasagna.
“So, back to our original topic,” Liza started after they’d put a major dent in their meals. It was clear Liza hadn’t covered all the ground she wanted to yet about Keeley’s newfound love life. “What’s the deal with you, Rafe, and Gio? Is this just a hookup that’s running into overtime or…” Liza paused so Keeley could fill in the blank.
She blew out a slow breath, considering how to respond. In the end, she went with the truth because the fact was, she needed advice.
