Page 8

Maybe he really had been jerking off in the parking lot at the beach.

He blinked at me like he’d never seen me before, which was bullshit because he’d been in my own damn house once.

“Uhh… Romero? What are you doing here?” He scratched the back of his neck nervously. “How did you even find me?”

He didn’t look concerned to see me here, just surprised, and it was very obvious he’d had no idea I’d followed him here. If I gave a shit about him, I might have had a conversation with him about being more aware of his surroundings because none of us witches could afford to be so oblivious, even with our local Council members having so recently been wiped out.

It was just plain ole stupid and asking for trouble.

Hence me standing here on his doorstep.

Something I couldn’t quite catch passed over his face before he schooled his features and wiped everything blank.

“You followed me here from the tattoo parlor,” he accused in a voice that sounded bored, even though I knew him to be anything but.

I shrugged my shoulders carelessly. “Aren’t you going to invite me in? Offer me something to drink? I could really use a cup of coffee. My daughter-in-law has me hooked on the stuff.”

He grinned, but his eyes remained empty. “Your daughter-in-law is kind of an asshole, but sure, you can come inside. It’s nothing fancy like Alexander’s house though, you’ve been warned.”

He stepped aside and held out his arm for me to enter. I walked in and looked around as he continued to speak. “Honestly, I think she’s worried one of her men is going to get a load of my charms and turn to the dark side.”

This caused me to pause and made me frown. I wasn’t in the least bit concerned about one of Ariel’s men turning on her. They were all blindly devoted, even the ones who liked to get it on with each other. But still… recently, I had more than just Ariel Kimber to concern myself with and to look after.

There was Isobel now and, well… “Why were you flirting and making dates with Isobel if you’re so into men?”

That was one thing I knew about him—he’d had a pseudo boyfriend he’d been obsessed with, and I thought he might even have a hard-on for Quinton Alexander. There was no issue with that for me. I was bisexual and the last person to judge. Also, Quinton was loyal to no one more than he was Ariel, with his nephew, brother, and coven coming in after her. Then the rest of her family.

All Isobel had was our crazy, made-up family of misfits, and even if I wasn’t interested in her, I’d still look out for her because she meant something to both Ariel and Rain, and they both meant a whole hell of a lot to me. That’s not even mentioning what Isobel was starting to mean to me, which was quite a bit.

Finn eyed me as if he thought I was a piece of shit, the empty smile long gone. “I like women too, asshole. I’ve just never actually been with one before. I’ve never wanted to be with a woman before unless she was a witch, and I’ve never found one I actually liked outside of my sisters… and sometimes Ariel. And that’s not in a sexual way, so don’t try to make anything sick out of it.” He grimaced.

“Sisters?” I asked curiously, but my mind was filling with horror. If he had sisters and they needed protection, he should have been protecting them from people like the Council and all the other bad shit out there that women with magic faced and had to fear.

I immediately rejected such thoughts because they weren’t my problem, and I already had enough of those, so I wasn’t interested in taking on any more.

Ugh, I probably shouldn’t have even followed this fucker here.

What I should have done was wait until their date or whatever the fuck they were calling it andthenfollow him. Too late to turn back now.

I looked around the apartment, and once again, my lip curled in disgust.

The carpet in here was far worse than the carpet out in the hallway, and the shabby loveseat looked as if it had been pulled out of a dumpster. It looked like perhaps it had been off-white at some point but was more of a dirty brown now, and was that a mustard stain on the arm?

Over my dead body would I be sitting my ass on that disgusting thing.

“What are you really doing here, Romero?” he questioned as I propped my shoulder up against the wall. Even that little contact made me cringe. “Is this because I went to your home, so you decided to pay me a visit here at mine? Well, yours is better than mine, and I only went there in the first place because Ariel forced it on me and refused to take no for an answer. You know how she is.”

I absolutely did know exactly how she was, and he was not wrong.

“I did follow you,” I told him honestly. “Why are you living in a dump?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a glare at me. “What the fuck do you care if I live in a dump or not? It’s home. Now tell me why you followed me.”

If this was home, then he really did have a reason to be a little sad. Spending your time in a shithole would cause anyone to have a bit of depression.

Christ, there weren’t even windows here in the living room. A little bit of sunshine could really go a long way toward improving one’s mood.

“What are your intentions toward Isobel?” That wasn’t what I’d meant to say, but it is what came out of my mouth.