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Kai and North returned. Both of them were wet again.

“You saw,” Kai said.

“Yeah. It’s big and ugly.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I want two people on patrol. We’ll have to cover being one man down. Kai and North, you take first shift, since you’re already wet.”

“Yay,” North muttered. “Come on, Kaitoa. Let’s babysit the monster.”

“We’ll find some rooms,” Marc said, giving me a chin lift. “Get some shut eye.”

With a nod, Zeke followed behind his brother.

That left me alone with Greer.

“You okay?” I asked.

She scrubbed a hand over her face. “Two people are dead. I should’ve anticipated this.”

I gripped her shoulders. “How? We never know when the damn hybrids are going to appear. We all know the risks.” We’d grown up knowing the monsters were out there.

She gave me a tired nod.

I pulled her close and hugged her. She pressed her face against my chest and held on tight.

Damn, that felt good. Too good.

I cleared my throat. “So, how are things with Toby?” I tried to keep my tone even and not show exactly how I felt about the douchebag.

She looked up. “You want to talk about my love life?”

“Just catching up.”

“Well, Toby and I broke up over a month ago.”

My pulse skipped. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She spun away. “That dinner we shared was horrible. I saw some of his true colors. And then, he told me that I needed to give up my work. So I could support his greatness.”

I frowned. “What?”

“He decided I should be a stay-at-home mom and have lots of his babies. That his work was more important than mine.”

My hand flexed. “I always thought he was an idiot.”

She laughed. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“You seemed to like him, for some reason. I know that he was smart, with all his degrees.”

“Well, I don’t like him anymore, and I’ve sworn off men. I have an important job to do. I don’t need a man or sex getting in my way.”

Hearing Greer say the word sex made my cock twitch.Shit. “Right.”

She nodded. “Right.” Then she sighed. “I’d better get to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

I nodded. “Good night, Greer.”

She gave me a small smile. “Night, Jameson.”

I stayed there for a long time, remembering how it felt to hold her. My hands flexed. Mostly, I tried not to think about the fact that she no longer belonged to someone else.