Page 49 of Gray

He thought I was the sun. But didn’t he know?

The sun would burn you up if you got too close.

***

“Nice room.” I pounced on the bed and rolled to my back, staring up at the stained ceiling.

“Right?” Mason pulled clothes from the drawer, shoving them into a duffel bag. “The Four Seasons doesn’t have anything on this place.”

I grinned at him and wiggled around to get comfortable.

One day had passed since our talk by the shore. Alastair had wanted to keep a close eye on Mason, not trusting him to leave the mansion. Raiden had loaned him clothes yesterday, since they were roughly the same size, apart from my brother being taller than him. Then finally that afternoon, Alastair agreed to let Mason grab his things from his motel room. He’d be staying with us from now on. For a few weeks at least. Maybe longer.

Hopefully longer.

“How do you really feel about all this?” I asked. “The war. Staying with us. Raiden’s cooking.”

Mason cracked a smile, though it quickly fell as he resumed packing. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been to war. I joined the Corps right out of high school and served for almost twelve years, five of those years in special forces. War is what I’m good at. Or, I guess I should say killing is.”

“We have that in common.”

His cognac eyes moved to me. “I still find that hard to believe.”

“Well, believe it. I’m cute and deadly.”

“Cute I can believe.” Smirking, he opened another drawer.

My gaze roamed over his tall, muscled body. I wasn’t as full of lust as Bellamy, but I definitely got around. Frequently. I missed being pounded into oblivion.

Was he not attracted to me in that way?

“Why are you pouting?” he asked.

“I’m not pouting. You’re seeing things, Mason. I think you need to get your eyes checked.”

“Uh-huh.”

I sat up on the bed, crisscrossing my legs. Needing to feel enclosed, I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders and put it over my head like a hood. “Hey. Serious question. Do I look like E.T. in that basket on Elliot’s bike when I sit like this?”

Mason barked out a laugh. “Yeah, kind of. But you’re the cutest E.T. I’ve ever seen.”

“Awesome. As long as you think so.” I snuggled into it more. “What about my other questions?”

“Raiden is a great cook.”

“He really is.” I lightly bounced in place. “This mattress is squeaky. Can you imagine having sex here? The whole motel would know.”

“You’re thinking about sex, why?”

“Because.” I shifted around and sighed. Sleeping on a rock would be more comfortable than this bed. “So how do you feel about having to stay with us? Are you mad?”

“No. I still have a lot to learn about Asa. And it’s easier for me to put the other hunters and Alastair in contact.”

“How’s that going by the way?” The bed creaked as I bounced in place again. “I tried to eavesdrop on your meetings but fell asleep.”

That made him smile again. God. I wanted to see that expression every single day. “It’s going well enough. Storm gathered a bunch of hunters and video chatted with Alastair this morning to get a game plan.”

“So Storm doesn’t look like Chris Hemsworth fromThor?”