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“Like my dad beat the shit out of me, and then burnt me over a stove like a pot of spaghetti,” I teased with a light smile. Calax did not seem to find it funny; his scowl deepened.

“This isn’t fucking funny!” As if his agitation demanded a physical response, he jumped from his seat.

“It’s fine, Calax,” I whispered. “This happens all the time. I’ll feel better in a few days, tops. I’m used to it.”

I had meant to comfort him - though I didn’t know why because he hated me, and likewise, I hated him - but my words only appeared to make him angrier. A hundred different emotions flickered across his handsome face before settling on despair.

“You shouldn’t have to get used to something like this.” All at once, as if his legs couldn’t hold his body up, he collapsed onto his knees before me. “Baby, I am so sorry this happened to you. It shouldn’t...you shouldn’t have...” Unshed tears glistened in his wide eyes. Somehow, that vulnerability made him seem less like an evil giant, and more like a handsome young man. I had the irresistible urge to wrap my arms around his thick neck and cuddle against him.

Woah. Where did that come from?

I settled for awkwardly patting him on the head like a dog.

“Calax,” I began softly. When my voice faltered over that one word, I cleared my throat and tried again. “Calax, you have to understand that there’s nothing you or I can do about this. My parents are...well, they’re powerful people. And obviously they’re not the good guys. I know-”

“You don’t know shit if you think I’m just going to sit back and allow you to be tortured!” Calax snapped, rage-filled eyes meeting mine. I knew his anger wasn’t directed at me, but I didn’t like seeing him upset. Absently, I used two fingers to smooth over the furrow between his eyebrows. I moved those same two fingers to his lips, turning them up. He shivered beneath my touch, and I wondered if my hands were cold.

Of course, that meant I had to keep them on his face longer. For torturous reasons only. Nothing else.

Calax sighed deeply and turned his face into my palm. Was that-

Were his lips pressing against the skin there?

“I promise that we’ll figure something out, Baby. You don’t have to go through this alone anymore.”

Somehow, despite everything, I believed him.

“I know, Big Guy. I know.”

* * *

The third timeI woke up - because third time’s a charm - I realized males surrounded me. Hot males.

It’s official. I must’ve died and gone to Heaven.

Deep chuckles greeted that statement.

Chicken shit. Butt groper, piece of-

“Princess, you’re doing it again,” Ronan said, still chuckling.

I huffed. “Oh please. You guys find it adorable.”

“She’s not wrong,” Ryder pointed out and was simultaneously whacked in the head by the two grumps of the group, Calax and Declan.

“Ow!” he whined. “Addie! They hit me!”

His lower lip protruded out into a pout, and I nearly fell off the bed in my hysterical fit.

“You...look like...a constipated puppy!” I managed to wheeze out, very eloquently mind you. The rest of the boys burst into laughter at my statement, even Declan. Ryder’s face flamed.

“That face usually works on the females,” he whispered to Asher, but that only made me laugh harder. Those females must’ve been blind or desperate. I said as much to Ryder.

The boys doubled over in laughter, and Ryder leaned forward to pinch my arm.

“You’re such a little shit!”

“Hey!” Calax bellowed, grabbing Ryder by the back of his shirt. “Careful of her injuries!”