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"Don't run away too fast or anything. I mean. I don't want you to sleep in the guest room. Okay?"

My heart leaps. "That is so much more than okay."

"Good." A wide smile spreads across his sultry, full lips. "Because I can not wait to get you in my bed. Believe me, Haley. I have got so many plans for you."

11

"You sure you don't want any more?" Adam pauses on his way to get up and grab another helping of roast chicken for himself.

I shake my head. "I couldn't eat another bite."

"Okay." He leans over and presses a kiss to the crown of my head.

My cheeks burn as I lean into the touch. Instinctively, my gaze darts to Cayden, who's definitely watching, but still doesn't seem upset by the display of affection.

Neither does anyone else, and this is all so fucking weird. It's definitely going to require a conversation at some point, but how do you bring up something like that?

For now, I'm just going with it.

Cayden and I returned from my grandmother's house to find the guys all back from whatever it was they did around the lumber yard. Sergio and Jax were playing video games in the den while Adam and Deandre worked on dinner.

Now we're all sitting around the big oak table in the dining area attached to the kitchen, finishing up another delicious meal. I spare a thought of sympathy for Adam as he portions outthe last drumstick. Every one of these guys eats like a horse, and it's not like there are a lot of good take out options on Lonely Peak. The guy must spend half his life cooking just to keep up. He doesn't seem to mind, though.

And I sure as hell don't mind watching. From behind, the lean lines of his body are on display. He's wearing jeans that show off his firm ass, and I clench down inside, imagining how it must have looked as he hovered over me this morning, wiry muscles bunching as he took me hard from behind.

Under the table, Cayden grips my knee. A different, more immediate wave of heat washes through me, and I remember viscerally the way his eyes glinted with hunger when he asked me to sleep in his bed tonight. Shame twists in my belly, mixing with my arousal and driving it higher. Cayden slipping his hand up my thigh doesn't help the situation as he gets dangerously close to the inner seam of my jeans.

It's so wrong to be thinking about getting fucked by one guy while being all but felt up by another.

But it also feels so, so right.

These men are clearly a unit. They move around each other as if they can anticipate each other's actions. The lack of jealousy among them is weird to me, but there's something natural about it, too.

As Deandre and Jax laugh about something at the other end of the table, my curiosity finally boils over.

"So how did you guys all end up living together like this anyway?" I nominally direct the question at Cayden, but the wider group picks up on it. A few glances are traded across the table.

"Well," Cayden says. "We met in the army."

"Right. My grandma told me—you signed up right after." I stutter. Should I be bringing this up? "After—"

"After my parents died." Cayden's mouth curls into a soft, sad smile. "It's okay."

"I mean, it's not, but…"

"But it is. I lost them, and I kind of lost my focus. But the military helped me get it back."

"It has a habit of doing that," Adam says, quiet. He puts the lid back on the pot and returns to the table, sinking down to sit beside me again.

"Right." Because he told me his story this morning, and it was awfully similar.

"Don't worry, girlie," Deandre says. "Not all of us have tragic backstories."

Thank God. I glance between him and Sergio. "How did the rest of you…"

Jax volunteers, "Some of us followed our idiot best friends."

"No one made you sign," Cayden says, holding up his hands.