STRIPTEASED: A Standalone Reverse Harem Romance (Roommates Book 1)

“What’s the score?” Knox asked, palming the ball in his large hand.

“Eight to seven,” I said, panting a bit. Every so often, we cleared the cars out of the driveway and played a game or two of pickup basketball. And though we were all buddies, we could get pretty damn competitive.

“Who’s winning?”

“We are.” It was the big guy and me against Tonio and Austin. They never let Austin and me play on the same team. Knox always accused us of having some kind of twin telepathy, which wasn’t true. Though I did usually know what Austin was thinking and vice versa. But it was familiarity, not magic.

“Good.” Knox bounced the ball once and passed it to me, signaling the end of our short break.

“Hey,” Tonio shouted, dropping his water bottle and rushing back to our makeshift court. “How about a little heads-up next time?”

Austin was all over me, blocking every chance I had to take a shot. I managed to pass the ball back to Knox, though. Tonio jumped high, trying to block the shot, but Knox sank it with nothing but net. “Nine-seven,” I called out triumphantly.

I wasn’t quite as cocky a few minutes later when Tonio and Austin tied it up. We only played to eleven, but the rules were you had to win by two.

A car pulled up while I was dribbling the ball, trying to keep it away from Austin’s quick hands. It was my car, in fact. I’d lent it to Emma this morning, and I took a quick look to make sure it was still in one piece. Not that women weren’t good drivers, but Emma, cute as she was, could also be something of a klutz.

My quick glance away was all the opening Austin needed, and a second later he had the ball and arced it through the air. “Ten-nine.”

Shit.

We paused to welcome Emma back and, well, to check out what she was wearing. Mostly the former, but I had to admit, she looked pretty delicious in a short-sleeved button-down blouse and a tight skirt.

“How was your interview?” Tonio asked.

“Not bad.” She raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. That action made the thin fabric of her shirt stretch over her breasts, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who noticed. “It sounds like they’re interviewing a lot of others, though.”

My heart went out to her. The poor girl’d had one thing after another dumped on her, and while she was doing her best to carve out a new life for herself, the job market in Riverside wasn’t cooperating.

She set her bag down on the front step and fished out a pair of sunglasses. It was a sunny day, but it felt good to me. Summer had always been my season. It looked good on her, too, and made her blonde hair practically glow. “Who’s winning?”

“We are,” Tonio said instantly, and for a selfish moment I wished Emma had arrived home a minute earlier. The answer would’ve been different then.

Emma smiled at Tonio. “How come your shirt’s off? I think Austin’s a bad influence on you.”

“Undoubtedly, but we’re playing shirts versus skins.” At Emma’s blank look, he elaborated. “It’s just a quick way to differentiate the teams. Denver and Knox are wearing shirts, so they’re one team. Austin and I aren’t, so we’re the other team.”

“That makes sense.”

I smirked. “Maybe Emma wishes we were playing skins versus skins.”

As I expected, the creamy skin on her face reddened, but then she said, “Maybe I do.”

The other guys laughed even though they were probably a little surprised like me. Emma had seemed so shy and inexperienced when we first brought her home. But now she was opening up and even flirted back from time to time. Austin thought it was good for her. He had a theory that she was pretty sexually repressed. Naturally, being Austin, he had all kinds of ideas of how we might help her get past that, but deep down I knew he was also concerned about her well-being. In Austin’s mind, no one could truly be themselves if they weren’t in touch with their sexual side. So, in a roundabout, totally Austin way, he was worried about her.

Without a word, I pulled my shirt off and tossed it to the ground. Oops. Now it was all dusty. Why had I thrown it down instead of putting it up on the porch? Occupational hazard of being a stripper, I supposed.

Knox took his shirt off, too, revealing a chest that was twice as big as an average man’s. Emma sat on the edge of the porch, stretching out her shapely legs to give them a little sun. Perhaps because she was there, we all played harder, passing the ball at lightning speed, leaping higher to block shots, and in general, showing off whenever possible. That’s what men did when there was a pretty lady around.

Much to my pleasure, I sank the next shot, and we were tied up with ten each. Unfortunately, that triggered Austin’s competitive side, and suddenly he and Tonio were working together as if they shared some kind of telepathic twin mind-reading skills of their own. Tonio had an opening and was about to shoot, but he saw Knox barreling down on him and passed the ball to Austin. I almost hit it away before it reached my brother’s hands, but then I noticed that Emma’s skirt had ridden up on her creamy thighs, and Austin scored. They were one up on us and within one point of winning. Crap.

I got the ball and passed it to Knox, a look of understanding between us. He wanted to win as badly as I did. We turned, we pivoted, and we did our best, but Austin was on me like glue. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get open.

Tonio tried to hit the ball out of Knox’s hands, and Knox spun on the spot. However, he couldn’t start dribbling again without breaking the rules. I struggled to break free from Austin’s guarding, and we got a bit carried away like we had when we were kids wrestling on the living room floor. Then Austin jumped a foot away from me, leaving me free. Before I could even turn, Austin shouted “I’m open!” to Knox, holding his hands out.

“Knox, no!” I shouted, but it was too late. Knox passed the ball to Austin, who put it cleanly through the net.

All three of the guys started cheering, which made me laugh in spite of my irritation. After a moment, Knox trailed off, looking confused. Then he watched as Austin and Tonio high-fived each other, and he cursed.

Over on the sidelines, Emma was laughing her head off. With her miraculous ability to tell us apart, she already knew that Austin had tricked Knox.

I walked over to the bouncer. “It’s okay, buddy. We’ll get them next time.”

“But he held his hands out and said he was open.” Knox sounded bewildered, which made the others laugh harder.

“What can I say? He’s always been the evil twin.”

By the time we’d cooled off inside, everyone was fine again, and Knox had even—somewhat grudgingly—laughed about what had happened.

I took a quick shower and then went in search of Emma. There was still another hour or so before the four of us would need to head to the club, so there was plenty of time to talk to her.

Tonio said she was upstairs, so I took the steps two at a time and found myself outside of my bedroom. It felt weird to knock on my own door, but I couldn’t just barge in there.

“Just a moment,” Emma said, but then took her sweet time before opening the door. Maybe the basketball game had gotten her in the mood for a little time alone? But when she opened the door, she was properly dressed and the bed was made. Her face did look a little flushed, however.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course.” She stepped back, and my eyes flashed over the scoop-neck blouse she’d changed into. She had such a lovely peaches and cream complexion. I wondered if her skin was that soft and supple everywhere.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Sure.” She smiled, her lips a dusty shade of rose. Since there was only one chair in the room—the one at the desk—I gestured for her to take it, and I sat on the edge of the bed, resting my hands on my thighs.

“I’ve been thinking about that time you danced with me at the gym.”

“Me too,” she admitted and then blushed.

I grinned, wondering if she’d thought about it while lying in this very bed at night. “I have fond memories of it too, but I’ve also been thinking about what it might mean in terms of my dream of being a dance instructor.”

She frowned and crossed her legs, momentarily distracting me. “What do you mean? I thought you said there weren’t any classes for you to teach.”

“There aren’t, but that’s partly what the YouTube channel is for. To put some content out there. It’s a bit like an online resume so that I’ll have something to show if the right opportunity ever comes up.”

Emma’s eyes flickered to the desk where her laptop sat. “I saw your stuff. It’s really good.”

“Thanks. Want to help me make it better?”

She blinked in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“In those videos, I show how to do various dance moves. But it’s not really teaching, it’s more of a demonstration. The only time in recent memory that I actually taught someone dance moves was with you.”

“Okay…?” She didn’t seem sure where I was going with this.

“I’d like you to do some videos with me, so I can show what kind of teacher I am.”

Her mouth dropped open, her cute pink tongue visible. Then she audibly gulped. “You want me to be in a dance video?”

“Yes. If you’re willing.”

“But… but I can’t dance.”

I smiled. “That’s why you’d be the student, and I’d be the teacher.”

She stood up, absently glancing out the window before looking back at me. “You want to put videos of you and me dancing together on YouTube?”

“Yes, if you’re okay with it.” Inspiration struck. “I could pay you. That might help tide you over until you find a job.”

She waved that aside. “That’s ridiculous, I’m living in your room rent-free. I don’t need payment.” She sat abruptly and scooted her chair forward, our knees almost touching. “You don’t want me in those videos.”

I cocked my head to the side as if puzzled. “Then why’d I ask you?”

“I don’t know.” She frowned. “Wouldn’t the videos work better if you found a woman with dance experience? There’s got to be a ton of women at the gym who can dance.”

“So in other words, I’d post videos of me teaching dancing to someone who already knows how? That doesn’t sound much like teaching to me.”

Emma nodded, conceding the point. “I just don’t think having me in your videos is going to help you find the kind of teaching position you’re looking for.”

“Honestly, it’s a bit of a long shot anyway. As I said, those kinds of jobs are few and far between, especially for men. But those videos aren’t just about that. They’re also designed to help people learn how to move their bodies in ways that make them feel good. And what better way to learn that than to see me actually teaching someone something new—rather than see someone pretending to learn.”

“I guess that makes sense.” She still looked troubled, though.

“It’s just an idea. Don’t do it if you don’t want to. I know some people don’t like to be on the internet.”

She looked up at me, her hazel eyes bright. “I’ll do it.”

“Really? You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent! Thank you.”

“But if you don’t think it’s working, and you don’t think the videos are good enough to—”

“Stop. You don’t have to add disclaimers all the time. We’re friends. We can talk to each other about anything.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” I started to stand, but she grabbed my hand and pulled me back down.

“I’m glad you said that, because I actually have something I’ve been wanting to ask you, too.”

“Fire away.” Her face tilted downward, as if suddenly interested in something on the carpet. “What is it, Emma?”

“Well, you know the job search hasn’t been going very well.”

“I’ve got my fingers crossed for the one you interviewed for today.”

“Me too,” she said. “But the truth is, I think it’ll be a while before I have a job and am earning enough to look for a place of my own.”

My smile vanished. The thought of her moving out wasn’t a pleasant one. “You know you can stay here as long as you’d like.”

Now she finally looked at me. “I do know that—because you guys are incredibly generous. But if I’m going to be here for a while longer, I hate keeping you from your room. This is your house, you shouldn’t have to share a bed with Austin.”

“I told you I don’t mind.”

“Share a bed with me instead.”

“It’s really not a—what?” I probably wouldn’t have been more surprised if she’d pulled out a gun and shot me.

Emma was studiously looking at the floor again. Were it not for her pink cheeks, I might’ve thought I misheard her. “I think you should move back up here and share the bed with me. Or, it would be me sharing the bed with you since it’s your room.”

My heart pounded faster, but my voice was even when I spoke. “What exactly are you asking me to do, Emma?”

“I don’t mean to sleep with me,” she said hastily, her face in flames. “But to sleep next to me, like you do with Austin.” She glanced over at the bed. “We’ll have plenty of room, and I’ll be able to sleep better because I won’t feel so guilty.”

“You don’t have to feel guilty.”

“I know, but I do anyway. And besides… I think it might be nice to wake up next to you.”

That was pretty hard to argue with. What’s more, I really didn’t want to. “We could try it. For one night, and see how it goes.”

“Tonight?”

It would’ve taken a far stronger man than me to say no to that sweet face. “Works for me.”