Page 45 of Reaper and Ruin

I eyed the two guys sitting on the couch and realized that maybe I should have bought a couple more.

I shrugged and pulled some beers out of the fridge instead. Maybe if I got Whip drunk enough, he’d stay.

But I already knew that would be impossible. He was too controlled. And he never would have had more than one when he knew he had to drive later.

My fingers brushed a bundled-up package of oysters that I’d bought with full intentions of making Violet horny. “Do you guys like oysters?” I handed a bottle each and then went back to the fridge for two more for me and Violet.

“Not for me,” Violet replied. “Had them once when Toby and I went to a fancy restaurant for his birthday. Horrible.”

Levi cracked open the lid on his beer. “Never had them before but have zero desire to try. They look nasty.”

Whip just took a sip of his beer and shook his head. “You two don’t know what you’re missing. They’re the best.” He leaned back over the couch, twisting in my direction. “I’m in if you are.”

I pointed at him. “That’s the spirit!”

I gathered up the oysters and set them on the countertop.

It was only after Violet swiveled on her stool to take in some of the game playing on the TV behind her that I noticed the expiration date on the oysters was two days earlier.

I cringed and went to throw them in the trash can, but then Whip pulled Violet off the stool and onto his lap, and her laughter tinkled around the room.

She smiled happily in his arms, both of them sipping their beers, watching the game, all loved-up.

How could he even think about leaving her when she looked like that? She’d been so sad all day, but now she was smiling and relaxed wrapped around him, the two of them the perfect couple.

He couldn’t leave. He couldn’t just walk out the door and go have sex with someone else.

I eyed the out-of-date oysters again. And then shrugged.

If getting him drunk wasn’t going to keep him here with us, then maybe a minor case of food poisoning would.

14

VIOLET

Isank into the warmth of Whip’s body, letting his strong muscles and the slight buzz from the beer soothe away all the sad parts of me that hadn’t wanted to say goodbye to my best friend. The football game provided a hum of background noise, though I didn’t really pay attention to it. I was more interested in the three humans in the space around me, my heart squeezing at the knowledge they’d all shown up for me today, and that they were still here, keeping me company, making me food, distracting me from the grief that came in fits and starts, sometimes so heavy it felt like it would drown me, and then at others, barely a thought.

This was the only place I wanted to be. With them.

And yet I knew this was limited, because at some point in the next few hours, Whip was going to walk out the door to go have sex with someone who wasn’t me.

That thought left me feeling so sick I could barely think about it.

I knew it was his job. Knew if I wanted to be with him then I would need to get over it.

But I didn’t know how.

Every time I thought about him touching another woman, I just felt like I was going to get sucked down into a gaping void of despair and jealousy. Sharing him with Levi felt good. Right.

Sharing him with some random off the street felt like I might take up killing as a hobby right alongside the rest of them.

X’s encouragement to tell him rang in my ears, but I couldn’t do it. I was terrified of being that whiny girlfriend who laid down rules for her man. I didn’t want to be a controlling bitch. What he was doing wasn’t cheating. Hell, we weren’t even in an official relationship, he had the right to see whoever he wanted. He wasn’t even seeing this woman. It was work. A transaction.

So I bit my tongue and tried to just enjoy the moment and not worry about the fact he was going to walk out the door in a few hours, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.

If he stopped, it had to be his decision. Not because I’d forced his hand by being a nagging bitch.

X brought over a tray of oysters, fresh, still in their shells.