The Best Mistake Read online

  Last door on the left, according to Charlie.

  I didn’t even want to know how she knew that—though she had assured me, in no uncertain terms, that she’d never done anything with Baylor. Too easy, not enough challenge, she’d said. Great news for me because I wasn’t looking for a challenge. I was looking for a sure thing—and he was getting away.

  Now or never, Honor.

  Tugging down my dress a final time, I made my way to the stairs, carefully so I wouldn’t trip in the dang heels. It was slow going, but that gave me enough time to work up some courage.

  So, this was Baylor. The guy whose scowl had made my blood hot from across the room. That was a good thing, right? I didn’t know much, but I knew sex was theoretically better if you were attracted to your partner. This was just one night with a super hot guy. A steamy, meaningless fling that would induct me into what Charlie called The Wonderful World of Sex. I couldn’t have a better, more experienced teacher than Baylor O’Brien.

  One night with the playboy.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  Seriously, why me?

  This night needed to end, ASAP, before I killed one of my brothers. I’d nearly punched Baylor. Fists-clenched, nostrils-flaring, I’d almost hauled off and punched the idiot. I mean, yeah, it wasn’t the first time I’d wanted to smack him. I’d wanted to do that nearly every day since he turned into a little brat at the age of 13, who loved talking back and looking up girls’ skirts. But now that Baylor was an “adult,” his particular brand of stupid had evolved. The girls were still there; that hadn’t changed. But now he’d added alcohol to the mix—lots of it—too much, and that loosened his tongue, obliterating his already non-existent filter, making him say a whole lot of stupid. Despite all that, tonight was the first time I’d ever come close to losing it.

  Had to be the girl, I thought.

  There was no other explanation.

  Walking to the end of the hall, I closed myself in my room, sat heavily on the bed, elbows on knees. I should be downstairs looking out for my team. I shook my head. Those guys needed a babysitter 24/7. And being Captain meant the responsibility was all mine.

  Yippee.

  Not that I wasn’t used to it. Being the oldest of six, I’d always been looked to as the responsible one. The sensible one. The one who’d bring my brothers back from the brink whenever they got out of control—which they seemed to be doing a lot more recently.

  Instead of relaxing on weekends, I got to break up fights if it was Dex. The fourth oldest in our O’Brien clan was always getting into trouble. People saw his face, the scar, and thought he was a badass. Girls wanted to fix him. Guys wanted to fight him. What’s worse? The guy seemed to like it.

  Then I had the twins to worry about—well, one twin. Baylor was a hot mess. He loved to party; he loved to drink; he loved girls. All were present here tonight, and for Baylor, it was the trifecta of doom. I didn’t even want to think about what was going on downstairs.

  Thank God for Chase, I thought.

  At least I didn’t have to worry about him getting piss-your-pants drunk or ending up with a broken nose. Unlike his twin, Chase made me nervous for an entirely different reason. The guy was a junior in college, and where Baylor had added way too many notches to his bedpost, Chase had exactly zero. Nada. No dates, no girlfriends, nothing. Wasn’t that girls didn’t find him attractive, but the guy turned them away, didn’t give one a second look. Chase’d told me he believed in “soulmates,” and he’d know her when he found her.

  But he was downstairs reading for crying out loud.

  At a frat party.

  Giving my head another shake, I looked down at the vodka bottle in my hand. The thing was nearly empty thanks to Baylor. I could still hear the words he’d said before I finally managed to confiscate it from him. In my head, the scene played back in perfect HD.

  “Whoa, never seen her before.”

  I grunted, too busy staring at the girl in the red dress.

  “Nice choice, brother.” I could hear the grin in Baylor’s voice, but didn’t respond.

  Who was she? I wondered. My gaze traveled over her, doing a slow up and down, even though I knew I shouldn’t. Long, silky-looking hair, sweet hourglass figure, and eyes that captured mine, made my chest tight.

  Made other parts of my anatomy tight, too.

  I frowned.

  A girl like that didn’t belong here around these jerks. Yeah, a lot of the guys were my teammates. None of them bad guys per se. Okay, maybe one or two were Neanderthal material. But all of them liked to party and most used their jock status to hook up. And yeah, I’d seen her eyes linger on two of my brothers—which annoyed the hell out of me—before she’d looked my way. But this was no place for someone so, so…innocent.

  “Hey Arch, whenever you’re done imagining her naked, feel free to use my room.”

  The words had me whipping around to Baylor so fast I might’ve pulled something.

  The idiot shrugged despite my glare. “Just trying to be helpful.”

  “Yeah. Thanks,” I said. “You do know it’s my room, too, right?”

  “Well, I use it more,” Baylor said, “so de facto, it’s mine.”

  “Don’t use big words when you’re drunk, brother.”

  “Whatever. Just use the room. That’s what bros are for, right?” He raised the bottle of vodka to his lips. “I got your back, especially when it comes to getting laid.”

  “Alright, that’s it.” I ignored the squeak he made as I snatched the bottle out of his hand. “I’m cutting you off.”

  “But…wha…you—”

  I gave him the hard stare. “You’ve had more than enough. Wouldn’t want you to piss your pants in front of your fangirls.”

  “That was one time,” Baylor huffed, “and it wasn’t even a lot of pee.”

  The two girls hanging onto him giggled like lunatics but clutched him closer.

  He winked. “I’ll be with you ladies in a second.”

  Good God, I had to get out of here.

  Baylor grabbed my arm before I could leave, leaned in and said, “Look around, man. Everyone’s having a good time except you. And here you stand, looking like someone pissed in your lemonade. Why can’t you just relax?”

  Because you’re too relaxed, I thought. Because if I let down my guard for just one freaking second, one of my brothers could end up in the emergency room.

  It hadn’t happened yet, but with Baylor and Dex’s I-don’t-give-a-crap attitude, I lived in fear of the day it did.

  “We done here?” I said.

  “Seriously, how long’s it been since you got some?”

  Before I could tell him to back off, this girl threw herself at me, thinking I was Baylor, too plastered to tell the difference. My brother did nothing to help. He just stood there, grinning.

  Again: why me?

  I managed to free myself and was about to head upstairs, when Baylor said, “You need to get laid, Archer. The sooner the better.”

  Couldn’t say I disagreed.

  I hadn’t answered Baylor’s question—and I never would—but it had been a while for me. A looooong while. I’d say, besides my saint of a brother, Chase, I was probably the most sexually inactive person on the team. Between games, course work, taking care of my siblings, I hadn’t had the time. Girls were great, but I didn’t want a different hookup every night. That life just didn’t appeal to me. Baylor had a short attention span and valued quantity over quality. I was a one-woman kind of guy. Now, I just needed to find the right one.

  Upstairs, alone in my and Baylor’s room, I chucked the vodka in the trash, closed my eyes…and saw red.

  Damn.

  I could still see her in my mind. Could recall every detail about the girl in the red dress with perfect clarity. Even with the loud music, she’d cut through the noise. She was beautiful. She was hot. And she’d been looking at me…right up until I left.

  Running my hands through my hair, I sighed heavily.
/>   Now, she’d probably end up going off with one of my teammates.

  Or one of my brothers.

  Just the thought made me feel ill.

  “Ah, fuck,” I said, flopping back on the bed.

  A sound near the door drew my attention. Squinting, I turned my head, thought I might’ve been seeing things, but no. Like something out of a dream, the girl in the red dress stepped into the room and quietly closed the door behind her.

  Reaching for the lamp, I sat up, clicked it on…

  And yeah, she was still here.

  “Hi,” I said when she just stood there, something small and square resting in her right hand.

  She took a deep breath, seeming to steel herself. And damn my eyes, I had to fight to keep my gaze on her face. She was even more beautiful up close.

  “Are you looking for someone?”

  After a moment, she nodded and met my gaze. “You.”

  “Me?” I repeated like some kind of idiot.

  “Yes,” she said. “I’ve been looking for you all night actually.”

  When something amazing like this happens, you’re not supposed to question it. I knew that. I did. Hell, it wasn’t something that happened every day: girl you’ve been dreaming about literally appears seconds later. But I had to ask, “Do we know each other?”

  “No,” she said, a small smile on her lips, “but we will after tonight.”

  I swallowed. “That sounds good.”

  Right as the words left my lips, I felt like a fool, but her laugh was like music to my ears. The swaying of her hips as she crossed the room distracted me completely. There was no room for embarrassment. I was too focused on her slow movements toward the bed.

  “Those are nice shoes,” I said, noticing the red hot heels.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking another step, “they’re—”

  A gasp left her lips as she seemed to trip on air, started to fall, but my reflexes kicked in, honed from years of baseball practice. Something fell to the floor, but it barely registered. I was there in a heartbeat, catching her in my arms, her hands gripping my biceps for dear life.

  “Easy there,” I mumbled, the feel of her cheek on my chest nothing short of amazing. “You were saying…about the shoes?”

  “Borrowed,” she finished, frowning as she regained her footing. “They’re obviously not mine which is why I almost faceplanted. Stupid heels. I swear they have it out for me.”

  I felt my lips twitch—which was odd for me. I hardly ever smiled, but it was hard not to laugh.

  “Thanks,” she mumbled, peeking up from beneath her lashes. “For catching me.”

  “No problem,” I said.

  She looked down, a blush rising to her cheeks, and I tilted her chin back up to meet my gaze. I was still at least a head taller than her even with the sky-high heels.

  “We should probably sit down though. You know, in case the shoes decide to make another attempt on your life.”

  Rolling her eyes at herself, she took my hand and led me the rest of the way to the bed. We were nearly there when she tripped—again. This time she was in front of me, so there was nothing else to do. I twisted, hoping to stop us both from going down, and ended up plopping on the bed with mystery girl landing right in my lap.

  “Ugh,” she said, ducking and shaking her head. “I am so not good at this.”

  I had to disagree. If “this” meant making me curious as heck about her while turning me on at the same time, she was doing a damn find job. I had to know who she was.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  She looked up. “Why do you want to know? You going to tell all your friends downstairs about this, the girl who trips over nothing, the one who tried and failed so miserably to seduce you?”

  I had to laugh at that. “First, you tripped over this,” I said, leaning down to grab the thing she’d stumbled over. It was a book, and as I held it up, I saw her eyes widen. “This must be yours? It’s not mine, and I’m pretty sure my brother’s never read Brontë in his life. Second, we’ve known each other less than five minutes, and you’re already in my lap.” She blushed again, and I had to stop myself from kissing her right then. She just looked so dang kissable. “I think you’re doing pretty well on the seduction front.”

  “Honor,” she said softly.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “My name,” she said, her eyes meeting mine as she took the book and placed it in her lap. “It’s Honor. Nice to meet you.”

  I felt the corners of my lips turn up. “Honor,” I repeated, testing the name on my tongue. “That’s beautiful. It’s nice to meet you, Honor. I’m—”

  She cut me off by placing two fingers against my lips.

  “I know who you are,” she said, seeming to regain some of her courage. “That’s why I’m here.”

  I raised a brow.

  “I’ve heard a lot about you, how experienced you are, and I was hoping you could help me with something.”

  Pushing her hand away, I said the first thing that came to mind. “Anything. I’ll help you however I can.”

  She took a deep breath.

  “Would you…be willing to sleep with me?”

  I blinked, thinking I must’ve misheard.

  “Excuse me?” I said. “I think I just hallucinated. Could you repeat that again?”

  Her face was redder than ever, and she looked so embarrassed it made me think I’d understood perfectly. Still… There was no way she’d just said that.

  “I—” she gulped, voice whisper-thin, “I was hoping to have a one-night stand. With you. Would you sleep with me? Please?”

  My jaw dropped, and I could only stare.

  “This was a mistake,” she mumbled, starting to stand, avoiding my eyes. “I can’t believe I just… Geez, what the heck? I’m sorry for putting you in such an awkward position—”

  “I’ll do it,” I said suddenly.

  She stopped. “You will?” she said in surprise.

  I nodded. Hell yeah, I would.

  “But you seemed really not into it a second ago.”

  “Oh, I’m in,” I said. “I’m so in. You just shocked the hell out of me.”

  “Oh,” she said, smiling a shy smile. “Well…thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said, feeling like this was all a dream, but again, who was I to question it? Obviously, I must’ve done something good in my life. Here was a girl, one who I was really freaking attracted to, and she’d just asked me to sleep with her.

  Turning to me, eyes full of wonder, she said, “So, how should we do this?”

  “Well,” I said, sliding one hand up her back, the other to her cheek, loving it when she shivered, “I’m going to kiss you. If that’s okay?”

  She nodded, her hands coming to grip my waist, and that was the green light I needed.

  My mouth was on hers in an instant.

  Warmth like I’d never felt before, puzzle pieces fitting together, fireworks and all that romantic crap I’d ever seen in movies but never thought was real, I felt it all at once. My lips glided over hers, and she pressed back with a sweetness I couldn’t deny. Not that I wanted to.

  I’d never known lips could be so soft.

  Honor tilted her head with a sigh as I deepened the kiss, my hands pulling her closer. She was already leaning into me, but I couldn’t get enough. Her body was just as soft as her lips, her curves molded to my frame perfectly.

  And the sounds she was making.

  Those breathy sighs would’ve brought a lesser man to his knees. Actually, it was probably a good thing I was already seated. Her nails raked my scalp down to my shoulders, and it awakened my inner caveman. That was the only explanation for what happened next. One second, I was kissing her softly, exploring that sweet mouth. The next, I’d flipped her around in one smooth motion, and with a squeak, she was suddenly straddling my lap, a knee on either side of my hips.

  And through all of that, I never stopped kissing her.

  N
ever wanted to. I was convinced it would take an act of God to pry my lips from her body—or her saying no, of course. She’d stilled in my lap, and when I looked up, she was staring at me, those big brown eyes of hers wide.

  “Do you want to stop?” I asked, fearing the answer. I’d never been this hot for a girl this quickly. But if she’d changed her mind, I’d stop in a heartbeat.

  “No, definitely not,” she said, and I could breathe again. I’d been so afraid I was moving too fast, but the smile in her voice and on her lips put me at ease. “I’m just impressed. Those were some nice moves.”

  “You’re good for my ego,” I said.

  “Hmm, those other girls weren’t lying.”

  My brow furrowed. “Other girls?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” she breathed, dropping a kiss on my cheek, jaw, neck and then up the other side. It was having a drugging effect, my eyelids dropping as I tried to make sense of what she said. “You’re definitely living up to your reputation.”

  Her kisses were making me woozy, but still I had to ask.

  “Girls talk about me?” I said.

  “Oh yeah,” she said, running a hand up my cheekbone. “All good things, all the time.”

  Huh, I thought while kissing her neck, running the tip of my nose behind her ear. As I watched goosebumps appear there, I fought back a smile. This girl was definitely good for my ego.

  “I didn’t know I had that kind of rep,” I said. “It’s usually my brother who gets all the girls.”

  “Your brother?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, placing a kiss against a spot on her neck that made her gasp. “I have a few of those.”

  “Oh, I know. But my friend Charlie called you the hot O’Brien.”

  I wasn’t going to argue. “Sounds like a smart girl.”

  “I don’t see why anyone would talk about your brother anyway,” she said. “You’re so good at this.”

  This girl was something else.

  “Honor,” I said, voice rough.

  “Yeah?” she said.

  “No more talking. You good with that?”

  She nodded as I got closer to her lips. “Yes, please.”