“Lana what’s going on?”

“I…I’m at Drake’s,” I whispered. “I don’t want to talk about this right now, Layla.”

There was a long pause on the other end, and I could actually hear the wheels turning in her head. “Did you spend the night?”

“Yes.” I wasn’t going to lie to her about it. “But I’m about to leave. I have to meet Linc…” A glance at the clock on my phone showed me that I had forty minutes to get where I needed to be before he went ape-shit on my ass.

“Cole is the third judge, Lana. Did you know?”

I sighed. “Yeah. I found out yesterday when I stopped by to watch the auditions.” I ran my fingers through my tangled hair, trying to get it to look at least a little less crazy sex-ish. “I saw him.”

“And you’re okay? Are you sure?” Layla sounded concerned now that she wasn’t so frantic.

“I’m fine, Layla. He means nothing to me. Why would I be bothered by seeing him?” Okay, so maybe I had been a little bothered by seeing Cole Steel yesterday. That didn’t mean I needed to burden my sister with that shit.

“Lana…Jesse knows. I had to tell him because I kind of freaked out when he told me last night. He’s upset because I told him everything. He wants to come out there and see you. Maybe even punch Cole in the throat.” I closed my eyes and rested my head against the tiled wall. “I’m sorry, Lana. I couldn’t keep it from him.”

“I understand. He’s your husband, Layla. Of course you had to tell him.” I dropped down on the closed toilet seat, rubbing at my suddenly aching head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea if you guys come out here. Drake doesn’t know and I’m not ready to tell him about Cole. Jesse’s too much of a hot head…”

“I don’t know if I can keep him from going, but I will see what I can do, sweetheart. Maybe stall him until he’s less volatile. He’s seriously upset though, Lana. Jesse loves you.”

Hot tears pricked my eyes, and I closed them to keep them from spilling out. “I love him too… I have to go, Layla.”

“Okay, baby. I’ll call you later… Tell Drake I said hi. I’m not sure if this is what you need right now, but I’m happy for you if this is what you want.”

When I opened the door Drake was still where I had left him. He was frowning at the ceiling. “Layla says hi,” I said with a small smile. I didn’t want the conversation I had just had with my sister to affect the happiness that I had just minutes ago with the sexy man still lying on the bed.

“Is everything okay? Lucy?”

I shook my head. “Lucy is fine.” My baby sister was beyond okay these days. Jesse and Layla had adopted her, making her officially their daughter. Lucy loved Jesse to death and had even started calling him “Dad” recently. I was happy for her. She had the one thing that Layla and I had never had. A father that loved her. “And so are Layla and Jesse.”

Drake raised a brow. “Then why the frantic calls?”

“She was just worried about me.” Not a lie. I crossed back to the bed and dropped down on the edge. “You’re going to be late for work.”

He grunted. “Who cares? Cole’s late every morning. My lateness isn’t going to hurt anything.” He reached for me and pulled me across his chest. “Let’s stay in bed all day and make love until we can’t walk.”

I grinned, loving that idea, but Linc was going to seriously kill me if I didn’t show up. “I would if I didn’t have to meet my friend.” He frowned and I rushed to explain why I had to go. “Linc…” his whole body tensed “...my very gay roommate, is my dance partner in this jazz dance competition that we’re doing in a little over a month. I have to meet him at our gym for practice.”

Drake relaxed. “Okay.” He sighed. “I hate that you’re going to leave me if for only a few hours… Why don’t you come by the studio later and we can have lunch?”

“Will you behave?” I asked, only half teasing. The fight from yesterday still lingered in my mind. That had been scary as hell. I hated Cole, but I didn’t necessarily want him dead!

He crossed his heart. “Promise.”

I dropped a kiss on his lips. “Okay. I’ll come by.” Reluctantly, I stood. There wasn’t time to go home and change. “Can I barrow some sweats?”

“Of course, but they will be too big. Ask Shane if he has anything. I’m sure he has a few things that will fit you.”

I wrinkled my nose as at the idea. No way was I going to wear something that had come off of one of Shane’s one-nighters. “Um, yeah. No thanks.”

I crossed over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of sweats pants. He was right. They would be too big, but I could work with that. Grabbing a clean shirt from the next drawer, I headed for the shower.

Chapter 17

Drake

As the door closed behind Lana and I heard the faucet turn on, I frowned. Obviously, she didn’t want me to know what she was saying to her sister. It didn’t really bother me. I was sure she was just trying to explain why she hadn’t answered her phone the first time Layla had called.

If I were Layla I would be worried too. Especially when she found out that her sister was sleeping with the man who had hurt her so badly back in December. Grimacing, I decided to call Layla and assure her that I only wanted to make Lana happy. This time I wasn’t going to fuck it all up!

With that settled in my mind, I instead turned to other things...like reliving the most incredible experience in my life. Making love to Lana had been epic. Just thinking about how tight she had been, how incredibly hot and sweet she had been as I had thrust into her over and over again, made me hard to the point of pain…

Yet even as I basked in the remembered ecstasy, something kept nagging at me. Lana had been tight…but not a virgin. It shouldn’t have bothered me. Fuck, she had every right in the world to explore her sexuality. I had given up the right to be her first when I had hurt her in Vegas.

Just because I didn’t have the right to care, didn’t mean that I didn’t!

I had dreamed of being Lana’s first. Of teaching her all about passion and lovemaking. It made my gut ache with some unknown pain knowing that I hadn’t been the one to do any of those things. Muttering a curse, I punched the bed on either side of me and glared up at the ceiling.