“Excuse me.” A blond Hercules dressed in a t-shirt the color of sunbeams taps me on the shoulder.
Thank God. I’ve never been so happy to see someone in yellow in all my life.
“Hi.” A breathy sigh of relief passes through my lips. “Are you Zane?”
He laughs, shaking his head. “No. I just heard you were looking for him. I saw him in the kitchen a minute ago.”
Hercules has kind eyes, and he keeps a safe distance from me. I feel immediately at ease in his presence already.
Glancing around, I return my stare to his. “I’ve never been here before. Can you point me that way?”
He nods and motions for me to follow him. As soon as we approach a packed crowd blocking the threshold to the backside of the house, he reaches for my hand and pulls me against him.
We make it through to the other side and step into a crowded kitchen. Beneath crumpled bags of chips and half-empty wine bottles, I spot a hint of white marble counters.
“He was here just a second ago.” Hercules drags a meaty hand through his sandy blond waves and exhales. “I’ll be back in a second. I’ll see if I can track him down for you.”
The kitchen is surprisingly vacant, though the sound of pumping music rattles against the windows in the breakfast nook. A string of party lights outside illuminates an expansive covered patio and in the distance, girls in green bikinis are lounging in pool floaties as a guy in yellow board shorts does a cannon ball.
I rise to my toes, attempting to see over the crowd of people blocking the doorway. Knowing my luck, Ash found Zane and led him to the foyer, but I can’t see that far anyway. I decide to stay put. Hercules seems a little more even-keeled than the other two anyway. I trust he’s going to do what he says.
An emerald-clad man and woman stumble into the kitchen, their hands gliding into dangerous territory and their lips fused together with sexual superglue.
It’s just the three of us, and it’s beyond painfully awkward for me, but I can’t leave in case Zane comes.
“Oh, my God, that feels amaaaaazing,” the girl pants, completely oblivious to my presence. “Oh . . . oh, yes . . .”
From the corner of my eye, I see his hand making quick movements between her thighs, and her fingers are wrapped loosely around a red Solo cup. She’s one earth-shattering orgasm from dropping it and spilling it everywhere.
“God damn, you’re tight,” the guy breathes. “I’m packin’ down there, sweetheart. I don’t know if my cock will fit.”
She giggles and reaches for him, pulling him on top of her.
My cheeks warm, my legs threatening to run me right out of here if this goes any further. It feels wrong to be an accidental voyeur.
Without any warning, the guy sweeps his arm across the counter, sending half-filled cups and cans of beer flying, half of which spill down my top.
I pull in a sharp inhalation, cold beer soaking through my pajama top, and stand paralyzed, watching them take things to the next level mere feet away.
Hercules returns just in time to see the aftermath as the guy lifts his moaning girl toy up on the newly cleared counter.
“Hey, hey, hey.” My new friend storms to the couple. “Not in here. Take it somewhere else.” He returns to me, grabbing a rag from a nearby drawer and dabbing at my shirt. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” I take it from him, opting to handle the clean up myself. “They were, um, really into what they were doing. I don’t even think they noticed me here.”
“Assholes. They’re not even associated with the team. Not sure how they got the invite.” He rolls his eyes, blowing a puff of air through tight lips. “How’d you get invited? Or are you here with someone?”
“I’m not here for the party.” I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. “I’m staying next door for the summer with my great aunt. I just came by to ask Zane if he could keep the noise down.”
God, I sound lame. Words like that should never leave the lips of a twenty-four year old, but someone needed to come over here, and it was either Rue or me. And a little old lady has no business wandering into a party like this at two in the morning.
Hercules bites his bottom lip and winces. “Oh. Sorry about that.”
“I flew in a few hours ago,” I say. “I’ve been traveling all day. My head is pounding. I’m sleeping on a ridiculously hard mattress with really flat pillows that overwhelmingly smell like Aunt Rue’s lilac perfume, and all I want is a little bit of sleep, but all I hear are drunk people screaming and music pulsing.”
He laughs, studying me.
I tug on the hem of my pajama top. “The green is just a coincidence.”
“So you didn’t come here looking to hook up, then?” He tilts his head, but his smiling eyes tell me he’s teasing.
“Not. At. All.” I hand him the beer-soaked rag, and he blindly tosses it in the sink behind him with stunning accuracy. “I haven’t seen a lot of people in yellow tonight. What’s your story?”
He shrugs. “Just coming out of a long-term relationship. Wasn’t sure if there’d be anyone here tonight worth wearing green for.”
“Cautious. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Something like that.” Hercules lets his gaze fix on mine a little longer before exhaling and gently hitting his hand against the counter beside me. He offers a bittersweet smile and steps back. “All right, well, Zane will be here in a sec.”