Author: Rosalie Lario
Reading Level: New Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Released: September 1st 2014
Life just got a bit more complicated…This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.
After a heartbreaking betrayal, Lexi Ferrell is determined to get as far away as possible from her small hometown. So when she scores a scholarship to a prestigious law school in Miami, she jumps at the chance to live right on South Beach. Sun, sand, and an endless stream of beautiful people: who could resist? But her apartment complex provides far more than she asked for…in the form of two yummy new neighbors.
Matt Eisler and Ben Santos are best friends. Nothing could tear them apart...or so they thought. But when Lexi enters their life, neither one can resist wanting to make her his own.
Torn between the hot surfer boy and his exotic Latino roommate, Lexi vows to stay away from them both. But as she soon discovers, Matt and Ben are impossible to resist. And they’ll take her any way they can get her…even if it’s together. Could the three of them ever make it work? Because now that she’s experienced one night of unforgettable passion, the last thing she could ever do is choose between the boys next door.
EXCERPT
Ben and Matt are nowhere to be found, but I do my best not to notice that as I drink a glass of water. I’m sort of feeling like an idiot for what went down with Matt earlier.
No, strike that. I’m definitely feeling stupid about it.
I all but told Matt I’d be interested in doing both of them.
Jeez. It’s a miracle he didn’t walk away from me right then and there.
Part of me wants to slink home in shame, but the rest of me is determined to enjoy this party. School is getting more brutal, so lord knows when I’ll go out again. Besides, once I see Matt, I’m going to summon the courage to approach him and let him know I didn’t mean what I said.
At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
It’s well past midnight, and I’m starting to get tired, but the party shows no signs of winding down. To many of these people, it’s probably still early. When the bars stay open until five in the morning, bedtime on party nights like this tends not to arrive until after the sun has already come up.
I was smart enough to switch to water a few drinks back, so I’m out of the drunk zone and into the buzzed phase when a pair of strong arms close lightly around my shoulders. I shoot around to see Matt standing right in front of me and Ben directly beside him. They are both still bare-chested, and they look too delicious for words. My pulse immediately shoots through the roof, and my stomach erupts in a volley of nervous fireworks.
“Hi,” I squeak.
“Come hang out with us,” Matt murmurs, his voice low and hypnotic.
When my gaze darts to Ben, he gives me a hint of a smile and reaches out, grabbing my hand in his.
What is going on?
The fact that they’ve both approached me at once is beyond unnerving.
Swallowing hard, I search out Cora in the crowd of people. She’s totally engrossed in Robby, which makes me relax by a margin.
“Really?” I ask, my shaky voice betraying my nerves.
When Ben turns with his hand firmly in mine, I have no choice but to follow as he guides me through the courtyard and down the path leading to his unit. Matt falls in place beside us, waiting until we slip out of view of the pool to take my other hand in his.
Okay … what is happening?
My confusion is eclipsed only by my nervousness. My whole body shivers with anxiety and anticipation. This whole interplay is new, and I don’t know what to make of it.
We reach the door to their apartment, and Ben turns the knob, leading me inside before releasing my hand. Matt’s body is like a wall of heat at my back, and I’m hyperaware of Ben’s every movement right in front of me. He moves to the living room and, helpless to resist, I follow along.
It’s a mirror to the living room in mine and Cora’s apartment, except the décor, which is a study in masculine effortlessness. Though the room is dark, there’s enough moonlight streaming through the window for me to make out the black leather couch, the steel-and-glass coffee table, and a wide flat screen mounted on one of the otherwise bare walls. My attention isn’t on the furniture, not when Ben and Matt are sucking up all the air in the room, leaving me lightheaded.
Ben turns to face me, and the look of feral intensity on his face makes me draw up short.
I laugh nervously. “Um, you guys are sort of scaring me—”
He sweeps me into his arms before I can finish and lowers his lips to mine, swallowing my startled gasp. His tongue flicks out against mine, but I’m too shocked to respond, or even move.
Finally, breaking out of my daze, I pull back slightly to look into his eyes. They’re dark and deep and filled with erotic promise, but I’m also all too sensitive to Matt’s presence. When I turn my head to gaze questioningly at Matt, he slides up behind me and sets his hands on my hips, lending me warmth as he bends to whisper in my ear, “Sorry. We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I don’t understand,” I whisper back, trailing my gaze back and forth between them.
I mean, I do understand, but I can’t believe it. Am I dreaming?
Ben’s hand cups my cheek, turning my head so our eyes meet. “You want me, don’t you?”
His direct question shocks the hell out of me. Powerless to resist, I give a wooden nod.
“And you want Matt,” he says straightforwardly, his chocolate gaze boring into me.
Oh, god. Mortification winds through me. “I …”
Ben’s lips move down to graze lightly along mine. “So we’re giving you what you want.”
Holy crap. My mind is blown. I can’t think straight. Fumbling for words, I manage a weak, “But— ”
Matt’s arms close around my waist, and his chest touches my back. When his lips press against the side of my neck, my legs turn to jelly. If not for the support of his arms, I’d fall right to the ground.
“Don’t over think this,” Matt whispers to me. “Just feel. What do you want?”
His words take me back to my thoughts earlier in the night. I came down here to have new experiences, to live a little. What better than this, something I’ve secretly been dreaming of for months?
That slightly rational part of me screaming, “Bad idea,” can shut up.
“I want this.”
Ben’s eyes grow hooded, and he lowers his mouth back to mine. His lips are like liquid fire, burning me from the inside out, and when Matt’s hands travel up my body, closing around my breasts, my last bit of fight melts away.
No, strike that. I’m definitely feeling stupid about it.
I all but told Matt I’d be interested in doing both of them.
Jeez. It’s a miracle he didn’t walk away from me right then and there.
Part of me wants to slink home in shame, but the rest of me is determined to enjoy this party. School is getting more brutal, so lord knows when I’ll go out again. Besides, once I see Matt, I’m going to summon the courage to approach him and let him know I didn’t mean what I said.
At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
It’s well past midnight, and I’m starting to get tired, but the party shows no signs of winding down. To many of these people, it’s probably still early. When the bars stay open until five in the morning, bedtime on party nights like this tends not to arrive until after the sun has already come up.
I was smart enough to switch to water a few drinks back, so I’m out of the drunk zone and into the buzzed phase when a pair of strong arms close lightly around my shoulders. I shoot around to see Matt standing right in front of me and Ben directly beside him. They are both still bare-chested, and they look too delicious for words. My pulse immediately shoots through the roof, and my stomach erupts in a volley of nervous fireworks.
“Hi,” I squeak.
“Come hang out with us,” Matt murmurs, his voice low and hypnotic.
When my gaze darts to Ben, he gives me a hint of a smile and reaches out, grabbing my hand in his.
What is going on?
The fact that they’ve both approached me at once is beyond unnerving.
Swallowing hard, I search out Cora in the crowd of people. She’s totally engrossed in Robby, which makes me relax by a margin.
“Really?” I ask, my shaky voice betraying my nerves.
When Ben turns with his hand firmly in mine, I have no choice but to follow as he guides me through the courtyard and down the path leading to his unit. Matt falls in place beside us, waiting until we slip out of view of the pool to take my other hand in his.
Okay … what is happening?
My confusion is eclipsed only by my nervousness. My whole body shivers with anxiety and anticipation. This whole interplay is new, and I don’t know what to make of it.
We reach the door to their apartment, and Ben turns the knob, leading me inside before releasing my hand. Matt’s body is like a wall of heat at my back, and I’m hyperaware of Ben’s every movement right in front of me. He moves to the living room and, helpless to resist, I follow along.
It’s a mirror to the living room in mine and Cora’s apartment, except the décor, which is a study in masculine effortlessness. Though the room is dark, there’s enough moonlight streaming through the window for me to make out the black leather couch, the steel-and-glass coffee table, and a wide flat screen mounted on one of the otherwise bare walls. My attention isn’t on the furniture, not when Ben and Matt are sucking up all the air in the room, leaving me lightheaded.
Ben turns to face me, and the look of feral intensity on his face makes me draw up short.
I laugh nervously. “Um, you guys are sort of scaring me—”
He sweeps me into his arms before I can finish and lowers his lips to mine, swallowing my startled gasp. His tongue flicks out against mine, but I’m too shocked to respond, or even move.
Finally, breaking out of my daze, I pull back slightly to look into his eyes. They’re dark and deep and filled with erotic promise, but I’m also all too sensitive to Matt’s presence. When I turn my head to gaze questioningly at Matt, he slides up behind me and sets his hands on my hips, lending me warmth as he bends to whisper in my ear, “Sorry. We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I don’t understand,” I whisper back, trailing my gaze back and forth between them.
I mean, I do understand, but I can’t believe it. Am I dreaming?
Ben’s hand cups my cheek, turning my head so our eyes meet. “You want me, don’t you?”
His direct question shocks the hell out of me. Powerless to resist, I give a wooden nod.
“And you want Matt,” he says straightforwardly, his chocolate gaze boring into me.
Oh, god. Mortification winds through me. “I …”
Ben’s lips move down to graze lightly along mine. “So we’re giving you what you want.”
Holy crap. My mind is blown. I can’t think straight. Fumbling for words, I manage a weak, “But— ”
Matt’s arms close around my waist, and his chest touches my back. When his lips press against the side of my neck, my legs turn to jelly. If not for the support of his arms, I’d fall right to the ground.
“Don’t over think this,” Matt whispers to me. “Just feel. What do you want?”
His words take me back to my thoughts earlier in the night. I came down here to have new experiences, to live a little. What better than this, something I’ve secretly been dreaming of for months?
That slightly rational part of me screaming, “Bad idea,” can shut up.
“I want this.”
Ben’s eyes grow hooded, and he lowers his mouth back to mine. His lips are like liquid fire, burning me from the inside out, and when Matt’s hands travel up my body, closing around my breasts, my last bit of fight melts away.
After attending law school in Florida, she practiced real estate law for several years before finally admitting to herself that negotiating contracts wasn’t nearly as fun as dreaming up stories. She never imagined all the mythology she studied would one day make the perfect fodder for the paranormal romance stories she now dreams up!
When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family in their home state of Florida
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Well, this...... sounds like an interesting book.
ReplyDeleteKat @ Reading Owls