Page 69
Story: Gather the Storm
“Ah,” he said. “The buzzkill to end all buzzkills.”
“You’re not… I don’t know…” Disappointed? Hurt? A million words flew through my mind but all of them seemed presumptuous. For all I knew, Wolf didn’t care at all who I fucked around with. “Mad? Jealous?”
He reached up to stroke my cheek. His blue eyes were mesmerizing, a deep sea in which I was all too happy to drown. “I’m jealous as fuck. But you deserve to feel good, and if someone besides me is going to make you feel good, if someone besides me is going to make you come, I’d rather it be Otis or Jace — someone who knows how to do it right — than some dumbfuck off the street.”
“Jace?” My voice had raised a pitch, not because I hadn’t thought about fucking Jace but because I had. Still, I wasn’t about to cop to it. “I wouldn’t fuck Jace if he was the last man on earth.”
Wolf chuckled and I don’t mind saying it went straight to my pussy. “There’s a thin line between love and hate, sunshine.” His expression darkened. “A very thin line.”
We stood there like that for a minute, right up until Otis stepped into the kitchen from the back staircase. “Morning. Nofair if you get to make Daisy come again. Sounds like you’ve had your share.”
Wolf stepped away. “No one is making Daisy come right now. She has to go to work.”
“Daisy is right here,” I said. My cheeks burned but I didn’t know if it was because I was embarrassed or because the thought of coming — with both of them — was more than a little appealing. “And I have to go.”
I picked up my bag and headed for the hall.
“Have a good day at work, sunshine,” Wolf said.
“Thanks for breakfast, doll,” Otis called out.
I took a deep breath as I stepped onto the porch, hoping the morning air would clear my head.
Because frankly? Living with Blake’s best friends was confusing as fuck.
Chapter 35
Daisy
Istopped at Cassie’s Cuppa on my way to work, both because I needed some caffeine to get my head on straight for work and because I knew Ruth would stop there on her way to school.
Our texts had been chilly since I’d moved out of the house and I wanted to be sure she was okay, wanted to be surewewere okay.
I knew she was mad that I’d invited the Beasts to move into the house, but she’d understand later, when I told her what I was doing.
Except what was I doing? Because so far I’d been so distracted juggling the testosterone overload in the house with my own raging lust that I hadn’t had a chance to do anything since asking Wolf about Blake when we’d been at Syd’s.
Then I’d blown my chance to snoop in their rooms — my next plan of action — by forcing them to take me to fight night.
These guys were fucking with my head. I needed to get it on straight.
Like, now.
I needed to remember why I’d invited them to the house — not to mess around but to figure out if they’d really murdered Blake, and if so, why.
The little bell on the door to Cassie’s coffee shop tinkled as I opened it and I stepped into the inviting space, the smell of coffee mingling with the pastries Blackwell Bakery delivered fresh every morning.
It was after 8 a.m. on a Thursday and the early morning commuter crowd had dispersed, leaving mostly locals and a couple kids from Aventine grabbing coffee before class.
Cassie was behind the long counter, moving smoothly between coffee and espresso machines and talking to Kaylee, one of her employees who usually worked the morning shift, while Sarai leaned at the end of the counter and chatted to Cassie.
Sometimes I still couldn’t believe Cassie owned her own business. I’d come in to the coffee shop and see this woman who obviously knew what she was doing and it would take me a second to realize it was my best friend. Then I’d remember how she used to trip jumping rope and the fact that she’d forgotten her locker combination every day for three months in junior high school. Life was weird.
Her face lit up when she spotted me. “Hey!”
“Hey!” I said, joining Sarai at the end of the counter.
“What are you doing here?” Sarai asked, giving me a hug.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69 (Reading here)
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125