Afterburn

to me.
    Nico grinned. “Fine. Get off your ass and help me clean up so we can get the hell out of here.”
    With a sigh, I slid off the bar stool. “Shit. I should’ve stuck with sappy instead.”
    * * *
    A N INSISTENT POUNDING on Nico’s door woke me Sunday morning. I rolled off the couch with a curse, stumbling over with the intention of bitching out whoever it was.
    When I blinked wearily through the peephole, however, I saw beloved faces.
    Pulling off the security chain and turning the dead bolt, I opened the door to my brothers and Denise. “What the hell?” I groused.
    “Yeah. What the fuck?” Nico wandered in from the bedroom wearing sweatpants that barely clung to his hips. Brother or not, I could still appreciate what a good-looking man he was. “You know what time it is?”
    Vincent came in first. “Time to get up.”
    Angelo followed Denise in, holding her hand in his. “You put Gianna on the couch? Seriously?”
    “I offered her the bed.” Nico crossed his arms. “She wouldn’t take it.”
    “Don’t blame her,” Vincent said. “If that bed could talk, it’d have its own reality show.”
    “Don’t be jealous,” Nico returned. “I’m sure your bed will see some action eventually. Despite everything, you’re still a Rossi.”
    “What are you doing here?” I interjected. I was really happy to see them. Having my family around brought back normalcy I’d lost the night before in Jax’s bed. I was back to feeling like Gianna Rossi—and not absolutely sure I was the writhing, moaning, clawing woman who’d enjoyed a half-dozen orgasms in a matter of hours. It was as if I were two different people.
    And you’re mad at Jax for having two sides....
    “We’re waiting for you to get dressed so we can grab some breakfast,” Denise answered. Her hair was pulled into pigtails that framed her pale face. She’d matched her lipstick to the pink in her hair, making her look like some sort of anime superheroine. “I’m starving.”
    “Something’s wrong with you people,” Nico muttered. “It’s too fucking early for food or anything else.”
    “It’s nine o’clock,” Vincent pointed out.
    Nico shot me a look and drawled, “As I said.”
    * * *
    B Y NOON , WE ’ D eaten and hit the basketball court at Nico’s apartment complex. Not to brag, but I was pretty good at the game—enough that I’d gotten a partial scholarship to UNLV for my skills. Of course, I’d learned everything I knew from my brothers.
    I had just cleared a three-pointer and was waving off the usual good-natured taunts and ribbing when I caught sight of Jax walking up. I stopped right where I was, admiring his long legs in shorts and his loose-fitting T-shirt. He wore shades and twirled his keys around his finger. When Nico bounced the ball to him, Jax caught it up and dazzled me with his dimpled grin.
    “Hey,” he said, coming to me first and pressing his lips to my flushed forehead.
    “You found us.” A hot rush of pleasure surged through me. He’d picked me up and dropped me off at Rossi’s, so finding Nico’s place had taken initiative and effort.
    “I missed waking up to you,” he whispered against my skin.
    His damned sunglasses made it impossible to read him. I took the ball and backed up so I could breathe.
    “Rutledge,” Angelo greeted him, bristling.
    “Kick back, killer,” Denise admonished, rising from the chair her husband had dragged over from the pool area. “Hi, I’m Denise. Angelo’s wife.”
    Jax shook her hand. “A pleasure.”
    “I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said. “None of it good. I hope you prove the guys wrong.”
    Jax glanced at me with raised brows.
    “Oh, she doesn’t talk about you at all,” Denise qualified, making me smile. The woman knew how to get her digs in.
    Vincent and Angelo both reluctantly shook hands with Jax, then Vincent said, “Are we playing or what?”
    “I’d like to jump in when there’s a chance,” Jax said, surprising me.
    “Shit.” Nico ran a hand through his hair. “Take my spot on Gianna’s team. I’m wiped, thanks to some too-fucking-early-in-the-morning visitors.”
    “Pussy,” Angelo muttered.
    “Whatev. We were kicking your ass.”
    “We were going easy on you,” Vincent answered, catching the ball when I tossed it his way. “So we wouldn’t have to hear you bitch.”
    “You wouldn’t hear me if you’d stayed home.”
    “Shut up,” I told them. “Let’s do this.”
    “There’s my girl,” Jax said