Under My Skin (Skin Deep) (2 page)

Chapter 2

I yawned, blinking my eyes as I tried to wake up. I moved to stretch but found that my mobility was severely
hampered at the moment, due to the fact that I was surrounded by hot, bare male flesh. A moment of panic zinged through me before I realized that I hadn’t gotten drunk and blacked out the night before.

Last night came fl
ooding back; the talk we had, after which we ordered pizza and cuddled on the couch while we watched some weird ass movie the guys had picked out…And then they convinced me to stay the night. I’d done that before, sharing Brandon’s bed with him. But it was strictly platonic. Okay, well not strictly platonic because he’d always managed to sneak in some kissing and mild petting, but nothing beyond that. Plus, Jackson had never been in the bed with us.

I’d kissed
Jackson before, too. We’d done about the same amount of making out and petting that Brandon and I had, but I’d never slept in a bed with him. For one thing, he currently doesn’t have a bed to sleep in. The one time they tried to get me in Brandon’s bed with both of them, had been the night of the Halloween party, and I ended up sleeping on the couch while they shared Brandon’s bed.

Jackson
is some hot shot architect on the west coast, and his mom and sister live out there still. They’d moved there when Jackson was fresh out of college and got a job for a firm there. He worked there for a few years and then opened his own firm. He’s been working from home and flying back when the occasion calls for it, and he apparently does very well for himself considering he’s been scouting in Cincinnati to find a place to open a satellite office. Then he could appoint someone to run the L.A. office and he’d have only about a thirty to forty-five minute commute to the office.

I haven’t seen the plans for his house yet, but Emma said they’re amazing. I’ve only seen the framework and bits and pieces that have been done from afar because I’ve never really wandered over there to check it out. Probably should do that sometime soon; especially now, given the circumstances I find myself in.

They’d convinced me. Actually, they really hadn’t given me a choice, but whatever. I’d agreed to give it a chance, so here I am, Allison Anne McCormick, in bed between my two…boyfriends? Lovers? What the hell do I call them?

They’d dragged me off to bed, laid me between them, and both proceeded to kiss me senseless, their hands roaming my body and making me writhe with want, but neither of them allowing their hands to touch anywhere near the parts of me aching so bad for it. I’d finally smacked them both away from me and curled up, refusing to talk to them or even touch them anymore. Then they’d both laughed and cuddled up to me,
Brandon holding me against his chest while Jackson spooned me from behind. I have to admit that it was pretty nice…

I laid there for a minute, smiling at both of them snoring softly. In the night we must have moved around a bit, because
Brandon was now flat on his back, my head pillowed on his chest. Jackson was still at my back but he’d turned the opposite way, his back pressed to mine. I realized I wouldn’t be going back to sleep, and other matters were becoming more urgent the longer I laid there, so I carefully maneuvered my way out from between the two of them.

I stood at the foot of the bed, feeling quite accomplished at having gotten out of the bed without waking them when
Jackson rolled over. I waited for him to look at me, but realized that he was still asleep when he reached out his arm, apparently searching for me. When his hand hit Brandon, he shifted closer and threw his arm around his waist, holding him close and sighing in contentment.

O.M.G. I had to clap my hand on my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. I didn’t want to wake them up before I managed to get to my phone and get a picture of this. It was too good to pass up! I tiptoed out of the room, carefully opening and closing the door behind me, made a pit stop in the bathroom, and then headed out to the living room to grab my phone from the coffee table where I’d left it. I turned to head back in there when I heard a voice behind me.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

I turned back to see Emma standing at the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in the other. I felt my cheeks flood with heat, but they quickly cooled when I reminded myself that the little witch had been in on the whole setup.

“Oh no, no, no, Miss Emma Marie Jensen. You don’t get to stand there with that smug look on your face like you caught me red-handed. You set me up, you bitch!” I said, giving her the evil eye. It didn’t last long though, because I couldn’t contain my smile.

“Okay, we can talk about this in a minute, but right now there’s a more pressing matter at hand,” I told her. She looked confused for a minute until I held up my phone, shook it at her and said, simply, “Blackmail time.”

In a move so fast it made me jump, she’d slammed her cup down on the counter and was at my side, ready for action. She really is the best friend in the world.

We crept down the hall, trying not to giggle and wake them up before we could get in there and take a picture. We got to the bedroom door and heard a faint
click, click, click
coming down the hall toward us. I shot a panicked look over my shoulder at Emma who’s own eyes were screaming ‘oh, shit!’ before she wheeled around to head Doug off. I didn’t want the huge yellow lab to jump in and ruin my photo-op. Because he’d be through that door and would Superman himself into that bed with them in a heartbeat.

Emma was back shortly, giving me a thumbs up. I nodded once and started pushing the door open again.
Yes!
They were still snuggled up together where I’d left them, only it was ten times better than before. Brandon had turned over and Jackson was now completely spooning him, his arm thrown over his waist and curled up around Brandon’s chest. If he would have been holding me that way in the bed, his hand would have been cupping my breast.

I looked at Emma, who was struggling to hold her laughter in, and grinned. It was taking everything I had in me not to bust a gut laughing, but I managed to bring my phone up and tap on my camera icon. I felt Emma move up to my side and noticed that she had her phone out, as well. I nodded to her and we both pressed the button to snap the pictures on our phones. I had my camera setting on silent, so there was no sound; however, Emma’s made a very loud snap/snick sound that I swear echoed in the silence.

She looked at me, wide-eyed, before high-tailing it from the room at a dead run, abandoning me without a thought. Humph. Maybe I take back what I said about her being the best friend in the world…

I slowly looked back at the bed, frozen where I stood, and saw
Jackson’s head raised slightly off the pillow. He started to smile at me sleepily before he froze, and I could see the wheels almost turning in his mind. In slow motion, he turned his head to look beside him at who he had his arms wrapped around. I couldn’t help it anymore; I lost it, laughing so hard that I had tears pouring down my cheeks.

Jackson
jerked back away from Brandon like he’d been burned, shoving him away in the process. Poor Brandon, still asleep (how I have no clue), went flying off the side of the bed and landed in a heap on the floor.

His head popped up over the side of the bed, his eyes narrowed and glaring at
Jackson. “You dick! What the fuck was that for?” he yelled.

Jackson
glared back at Brandon and yelled, “You were
cuddling
me, you asshat!”

Brandon
looked confused and a little scared at this point as he got to his feet and sat on the side of the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He glanced over at me and his eyes narrowed again as I wiped tears away, still chuckling with glee. “Where were you, then? Was I seriously cuddling him?”

I opened my photo gallery and moved up to the side of the bed to show him the picture I’d snapped. I jumped back away when he jerked back, leaned over, and slugged
Jackson in the arm. “No way, you sick fuck!
YOU
were cuddling
ME
! Oh, God!”

I started laughing again when
Brandon shuddered, and then heard muffled laughter just outside the door in the hallway. I walked over and opened the door wider to see Emma standing there with Luke, both of them shaking with amusement and staring at Emma’s phone.

Luke shook his head, his shoulders still shaking, when he poked his head around the door
frame and looked at Brandon and Jackson, who were both sitting on opposite sides of the bed, glaring at each other. “There something you need to tell us, guys?”

Brandon
jumped up off the bed and ran for Luke, who had enough sense to take off running, pulling Emma behind him. Brandon shook his head, stopped beside me, pecked my lips with his, and headed into the bathroom.

I turned to find
Jackson still sitting there, looking a little dazed and disgusted all at once. I couldn’t help it; he was too cute to ignore. I walked over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed facing him, leaning in and touching my lips to his.

“I’m sorry, Jacks,” I whispered. Of course, I had to go and ruin it by giggling again.

His eyes narrowed and he shifted, snatching me up and into his lap before I could move. “Really? You’re sorry?” he growled, lowering his lips to mine. He kissed me softly for a second before pulling back. “You’re gonna delete that picture, right, Allie?” he asked, threateningly.

I smiled innocently. And didn’t say a word.

We both looked up as we heard Brandon come back into the room and all of a sudden I was airborne, coming to rest against Brandon’s chest as Jackson stood and passed me to him.

“Hey!” I cried. “I’m not a freakin’ rag doll you guys can just pick up and toss around, you know!”

Brandon muttered, “Don’t we know it,” before his lips descended and found mine as Jackson left the room, headed for the bathroom, I would assume.

He kissed me deeply and I shifted in his arms, moving so that my chest was against his and I could wrap my arms around his neck. He, realizing what I was trying to do, helped move me so that my legs ended up wrapped around his waist, locked behind his back, my feet pressing against his tight ass to pull him closer to me. I moaned into his mouth as I felt his hardness press firmly between my thighs. I shifted against him, pulling away from his kiss to press hot, open-mouthed kisses along his jaw and down his throat before nipping at his shoulder with my teeth.

My eyes flew open and I gasped as I felt a wall of heat move up behind me. I turned my head to meet Jackson’s gaze over my shoulder, my breath coming faster as I got a glimpse of the heat burning there. His hands came up and lightly slid up my back and over my shoulders before he pulled me back against him. Brandon’s hands shifted slightly, sliding to cup the backs of my thighs. I loosened my arms from around Brandon’s neck and leaned back more fully against Jacks, his heat branding me through the thin material of my t-shirt.

Jackson
’s hands moved again, sliding down from my shoulders and around, stopping just beneath my breasts. He nuzzled my throat with his lips and I turned to meet his kiss, moaning against his mouth as Brandon shifted again, rubbing me more firmly against his hardness.  Jackson pulled away from the kiss on a groan, dropping his forehead to rest on my shoulder. Brandon’s fingers tightened on my thighs, but he stilled, no longer moving against me.

I was shaking, almost dizzy with the overwhelming desire crashing over me in waves as I was held between them, breathless with need, and confused as hell that they had stopped. 
Brandon shifted his grip again, making sure he had me securely within his arms as Jacks stepped back. He turned and moved us both onto the bed, sliding toward the middle before they both crawled in beside me, one on either side.

I looked at them, unsure what to say, or hell, what to even think at their abrupt about-face, but my confusion dissolved into a small, shy sm
ile as they both grinned at me.

I heard Jackson murmur, “Good morning, baby,” as he pressed his lips against my shoulder, his head propped up on his hand, his body pressed along my left side, looking down at me as I lay on my back.

On my other side, Brandon mirrored Jackson’s position and movement, only he said, as his lips brushed my right shoulder, “Now THAT is definitely a good morning!”

I shook my head at them.

We laid there together for a while, me trying to come to grips with the fact that I’d actually taken that step last night and finally gave in to what I knew would have happened eventually, and them…well, if I had to guess, trying to get themselves under control. I mean, it had ended up being a pretty
happy
morning for them…but it was their fault that they’d be walking around with certain parts of their anatomy decidedly Smurf-colored today. I didn’t make them stop, they had on their own! And they can’t blame me for the date I’d already scheduled in my head with BOB later that night, either. Those asses left me hanging!

We finally got up and went out to the kitchen when
Brandon’s stomach very loudly announced that it wanted fed. Jackson ran over to his place to check on a couple things while Brandon and I sat at the table with Emma and Luke. We talked with  them, or tried to, anyway (neither one of which could keep a straight face every time they looked at Brandon) for a while before I got up and grabbed my keys.