AMBER POV
“I *already* took a shower!” I shrieked, my fists beating against Alan’s broad back, but it was like pounding on solid rock. He didn’t so much as flinch, striding through the hall with me slung over his shoulder as if I weighed nothing.
“Yeah, but then you decided to be naughty with us, didn’t you, Jewel?” Alan chuckled, his voice low and teasing. His palm smacked lightly against the curve of my thigh, sending a jolt of indignation—okay maybe something else—through me.
“So now, you pay the consequences.”
I gasped, twisting in his grip. “Alan, I swear—”
“Swear all you want,” he interrupted smoothly, his tone maddeningly casual. “It’s not gonna change anything.”
Behind us, Aaron’s laughter boomed through the hallway. “You’ve got to admit, sweetness, you kind of walked
