Page 18 of Their Pup to Tame

Huffing, I deflated and willed the growing stiffy in my sleep pants to go down since it didn’t seem like there was destined to be a good time in my future until I healed from this latest misfortune.

“Tease,” I grumbled, pouting as I glared at the screen.

He chuckled as the movie started playing again, while I pouted, not finding one thing funny about being denied once the offer was on the table.

“Guess it would be cruel to offer to be the demo sub if you wanted a preview of what he had in store for you,” Parker said in between snickers.

“It would be par for the course for you,” Aspen declared dryly.

“You are not a nice human,” I told Parker. “Do not expect help if the flying foxes and trash pandas get ahold of you.”

He gasped, and it was so fake it was hilarious the way he pressed his hands to his lips, eyes widening dramatically. “How dare youcast such dastardly and disparaging remarks upon my person with no proof of the villainous deeds for which you speak?”

“Spelldastardly,” Aspen said. “Spelldisparagingfor that matter andvillainouswhile you’re at it. If you can spell any one of the three, I will personally apologize for suggesting that your default setting is sarcastic taunts.”

“Daste… No, wait, Dast… Despair…hang on, that’s not right. Dasterdly? No, that’s off somewhere. Let me just…okay, so villinis!”

“Not even fuckin’ close,” Aspen declared. “Now sit there and look pretty so we can see how much shit the tornados destroy before I tell Phoenix all about your battles with spellcheck.”

Parker blew a raspberry at him, totally unbothered by the comment.

“Alright, precious, don’t make me stick a gag on you,” Aspen declared.

Dammit, so much for willing my hard-on to go down. Groaning, I wiggled, trying to subtly shift myself in my sleep pants.

“Problems?” Parker asked.

“As I mentioned before, you are not a nice human,” I declared. “I’d like to amend that now to say that you suck.”

“I can if you want me to come over there,” he offered, as nonchalant as could be.

My gaze darted to Aspen, who watched us with such a blank expression I couldn’t tell what the fuck was going on in his head.

Was I supposed to say yes to the offer?

No?

Hell, I was no longer sure if I was flirting with one, both, or if we were all testing limits together.

It felt more like the third. I just wished I had a clue as to what Aspen’s response would be if I invited Parker over to my couch.

“What’s taking you so long?” I replied, deciding to take the plunge.

Looked like we were about to find out.

6

PARKER

“Ow! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!” I hissed when my shin connected with the coffee table.

So much for suave. Instead of crawling on the couch with Phoenix, I wound up hopping around on one foot, rubbing my throbbing leg, until my hip hit Aspen’s easy chair and I tumbled into his lap.

“Oof,” Aspen groaned when my elbow caught him in the side, while Phoenix laughed at the calamity.

“You’re not as graceful as you used to be,” Aspen grumbled and shoved me off his lap.

I landed on the floor at his feet, grateful for the fluffy carpet beneath it and the thick padding I could feel under that. He’d never been a fan of the cold, so every time I stepped foot on a rug in his house, I knew to be prepared to sink at least an inch.