Page 19

What have I done? My instinct is to pull away, but there's no point. Adam and I weren't exactly quiet just now. These guys must have heard everything.

And I thought it was bad last night when I only suspected that they might have heard me getting myself off.

Flames of embarrassment rise on my face. They grow hotter as I look to Cayden. Have I just ruined everything with him? We reconnected yesterday, and I thought it was going somewhere. Only I just went ahead and let one of his best friends fuck me.

And yet I can't bring myself to regret it. What just happened between me and Adam…Ineededthat. I feel a hundred pounds lighter than I did when I arrived last night. My body hums with satisfaction, and my heart is this tiny bit less empty. Adam offered me a shoulder to lean on and a kind ear. He listened without expectations, and I never could have gotten that with someone like Cayden. Our history would have loomed over us. This was easy. It was freeing.

And now it's done, and is it just me or is Cayden…fine with it? There's definitely something knowing to his gaze. He's not a fool.But no matter how I probe his expression, I can't find any trace of judgment. If anything, I just see…hunger.

Oh.

My body, well-fucked and sated as it is, experiences a low tremble of heat. My clit twitches, and every mark Adam left on my body glows under Cayden's examination.

A chair leg scrapes against tile. I jerk my gaze to the side to find Jax rising. His stormy eyes connect with mine, piercing as ever.

"Nice of you guys to join us," he says, dry.

Adam clears his throat. "Got held up."

"Yeah, sure." Jax goes to the stove and produces a spatula. "Saved you some bacon and eggs if you want em."

And just like that, everything's normal again. My head swims as Adam thanks him for cooking and accepts a plate. He guides me to the table we ignored last night in favor of eating by the fire. I sit, and Cayden places a plate in front of me. He touches my shoulder as easily as he did last night, and I don't understand. Not a single freaking thing makes sense.

Who am I to complain, though?

Beneath the table, Adam squeezes my knee. He gestures toward my breakfast. "Go ahead."

So I tuck in. The eggs are still warm, and the bacon is deliciously crisp. Around me, conversation starts back up again. There's talk of the work set out before them all today, and something about some show a couple of them are binging on Netflix, and it's just sonormalis the thing.

I almost get lost in it. Right up until Cayden sits down on the other side of me.

I nearly choke on my bacon, but manage to recover.

"Hey," he says, all casual like. "What are you planning on doing today?"

I chew more slowly than I really need to, considering. I should say I need to head back to my grandmother's house. It's the right thing to do. These guys took me in when I was feeling low and scared. They got me through the power outage and the storm, and Adam breathed some new life into me. I can't possibly impose on their hospitality anymore.

Worse, a cowardly part of me is itching to escape before the consequences of sleeping with one member of this set of army brothers can catch up with me. This idyllic morning seems too good to be true. It has to break at some point, right?

Carefully, I answer, "I'm not sure. I need to head back at some point…"

"To get your stuff?" His eyes twinkle. Oh, he thinks he's so clever.

"No, not just to get my stuff."

"Well, I don't know why else, since you're obviously staying here now." He leans over and plucks a piece of bacon off my plate.

"Hey!" I swat at him.

"First rule of Tucker Lumber and Woodworking. You snooze, you lose." He takes a crunching bite.

Is it just me or is he talking to Adam as much as he is to me? I glance his way to catch him nodding, and yeah, there's definitely some sort of silent communication happening between these two. Probably about me, but if they're not going to get into a catfight about things, then I'm willing to ignore it and just carry on.

Guarding the rest of my bacon jealously, I shake my head. "Whatever. I do have to go back at some point, though. It's not like I can stay here forever."

"Why not?" Deandre asks from the other end of the table.

I startle. I hadn't realized he was listening. Suddenly, the whole room seems to get awful quiet. Like they'realllistening.