Too Much (Hayes Brothers #1)

by I.A. Dice

No shit was my reaction. Even Mom knew Shawn was gay before he realized it.

My gaze drops from her face to her luscious rack bunched up in a tight, beige polo shirt and lower to those alluring round hips, thick thighs, and long, smooth legs. The crop top she wore last night, flaunting her olive skin, flickers on the edge of my mind. I couldn’t stop staring at her all night.

“I’ll keep you well hydrated,” she says, rounding the cart to open a cooler at the back. “What can I get you?” “Water, two Bud Lights, and a Corona.” She turns around, giving me the perfect opportunity to admire her ass. Round, bouncy... I bet she’d squeal if I’d bite her. It’s

“You’re awfully fresh for someone who drank four caipirinhas last night,” I say, ever so casual.

“Have you ever tried Ouzo?” she asks, huffing out a shallow, soft burst of laughter, a hint of

“Greeks usually drink that neat, and we drink a lot. Four caipirinhas won’t make me ...

“What time do you get off, honey?”

“Oh, depends when the mood takes me,” Thalia chirps. “Usually, right after I wake up. Gives me a nice boost for the day.” She opens his Bud Light. “Sometimes before bed, so I sleep better.”

“Call me if you need a helping hand, honey. Keep the change.”

“You should think that through, Logan. Your number will officially be the second one in my contact list. When the time comes to carry a couch inside my apartment, I will call.”

“If you need help lifting, you call me. Logan will throw his back out just thinking about manual labor.” “Thank you. Once I find a place, I’ll call. Should I come back again in half an hour?”

Logan humiliates himself with cringeworthy attempts at wooing Thalia. He achieves nothing save for digging his grave deeper each time he opens his mouth. It makes for an entertaining show.

envision it as a lasso wrapped tightly around my waist, the spoke in Theo’s grasp. He pulls slowly, wrapping the rope around his wrist, drawing me closer.

“You smell so good...” My eyes are fixed on his neck, where he

must’ve sprayed the cologne earlier this morning.

My panties dampen as if on cue. There’s nothing as stimulating as a good-smelling man. I glance up, catching his almost cruel smile that makes it painfully obvious I spoke my mind aloud.

his good-smelling body moved against mine on the dance floor, our fingers threaded together on my stomach most of the time. His warm breath on my neck. The thumping of his heartbeat beneath his ribs. Long fingers digging into my hips. I was feverish. Vulnerable and safe at the same time.

“You got fired from the Country Club?” he asks.

him as if he’s a lollipop I’d like to lick and suck. “No, why?” He hikes up one skeptical eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest again. “So why are you here?” “I’m interviewing for a job.” “You have a job, Thalia. You won’t make half of what you make at the golf course waitressing for Sandra. What happened? Are the golfers too much to handle?”

“Nothing happened. I don’t want to quit working as a cart girl. I want a second job. My evenings are free, and I don’t work Wednesdays or Thursdays. I’ve got time.”

“Just not right now. Sorry, but I need to get going. I’ll see you on Sunday. Water, isn’t it?”

“A large, iced, white coffee and...” Theo pauses, bringing his eyes to me. “I’ll have the same.” I reach for my wallet, but he pushes my hand away, smirking under his breath. “Will you please stop doing that around me? It’s very emasculating, Thalia.”

“Emasculating?” My pronunciation isn’t quite perfect on the first try, the word foreign to my ears. “Emasculating...” “It means I feel like less of a man when you think I expect you to pay for your coffee. I invited you here. My treat.”

Theo wipes condensation from the glass with his thumb, then lifts it to his raspberry lips. My ovaries start the tug-of-war again, the primitive thrill of arousal in the highest gear, tingling at the backs of my thighs. He might not realize what he’s doing, but I’m burning up as he grazes his thumb across his lower lip. He’s lost in thought for a moment before he drops his hand back to the glass, blissfully unaware of my wild thoughts.

Maybe one day you can teach me Italian.” Although, French would be better. French kissing.

“Greece is a beautiful country, but it’s not somewhere you’d choose to live and work. Most people live mediocre lives, trying to make ends meet, worrying if they’ll have enough money to last until the next paycheck. I wanted a more stable life than that.” “What about your family? Didn’t they want to move over here with you? Your parents? Siblings?”

again. “I’m an only child, and my parents are very traditional. They’d never leave Greece.”

Logan’s doing. He shoved a stick into the wheel of my bike when I was eight. I landed face-first on a tree stump in the woods while we were away for a weekend with my grandparents.”

“That’s Shawn and Nico. Shawn threw an iron at me when I was eleven. Nico broke it with his fist five years ago.” “He hit you? Why?”

“I was drunk, said some shit... I deserved it. He...

“Same evening. It took him one blast to break my nose and split my lip.” A peal of soft laughter wheezes past his lips. “Growing up with them had its ups and downs, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re close, and now that the triplets are starting to man up, they spend more time with us too.”

“Thank you, but I should head back to the motel.” I rise to my feet, brushing sand off my clothes. “I’m sorry I stole your afternoon. Actually... no, I’m not sorry. This was nice.”

“I’ll sling you over my shoulder and carry you inside the restaurant if I have to. I’m not kidding.”

“I’ll drive you back to the motel after dinner.” He should...

He grips my upper arm, yanking me to his chest. My cheek brushes against his shirt, and I see stars. This is laughable! Get a grip, girl!

“Emasculating,” he says quietly. Amusement laces with a heavy, loaded note in his tone. “Remember the definition, omorfiá? It’s not your treat. It’ll never be your treat.” “O Theé mou[5].” “I like it when you speak Greek.”

“What did yo...

“You’ll have to learn Greek if you want to know what I mumble to myse...

“I’m in luck,” he breathes into the shell of my ear. “I know just the girl who’ll...

“I was thinking about a German Shepherd,

Yeesssssss

her nose bears a faint line of freckles, and she has a beauty mark above the left corner of her upper lip, in the same spot as Marylin Monroe’s. I want to touch it. Kiss it, and kiss that bitable, alluring swell of her lips. I shift in my chair, inconspicuously adjusting my hardening dick. I know I won’t fuck Thalia, but my dick apparently didn’t get the memo. This is so fucked up...

“I want your number, omorfiá.”

Unknown number: Sas efcharistó gia ton kafé kai to deípno. Elpízo na niótheis arketá arrenopós, allá an den to káneis, boreís na ftiáxeis ton nerochýti pou échei diarroí sto domátió mou. Kalinýchta, Theo.

Thalia: Thank you for the coffee and dinner. I hope you feel quite masculine, but if you don’t, you can fix the leaking tap in my room. Good night, Theo. “Good night, omorfiá.”

“Stop that. Sit!”

“It’s late. We’re not playing, boy. Sit. Let me tidy up.” I gently tap his nose with the half-eaten shoe. “Don’t eat that. That’s not food.”

😂😂

Thalia: Please let me be there when you’re chasing him down the beach screaming, “Come here, little shit!”

woke up to a toilet paper roll ripped to pieces in my bedroom. I think he does that shit on purpose. I locked him in the bathroom for now.”

“You named your dog Ares? What happened to little shit?” “It was Thalia’s idea, but the jury, namely the triplets and I, is still out. If he pees somewhere again, it will be little shit.”

“There. Have fun with that, and don’t chew on Daddy’s shoes.”