Page 27 of Taming the Beasts (Crooked Point #3)

Saturday

Zoey

Titan liked what he couldn’t have. It was a game I could play. And I was planning on playing it dirty.

I had my hair up in a high ponytail to show off my choker and hickey.

Fortunately I’d grabbed more clothes from my house yesterday.

So I had more choices than just the baggy stuff Bennett had picked out.

I was wearing a pair of tight yoga pants and a sports bra that was a little too small so that it pushed my boobs up sky high. Titan could eat his heart out.

“I missed you in my bed last night,” Otto said and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

I tilted my head back so he could kiss me. “I missed you too.” It was true. I’d gotten so used to falling asleep in his arms. I’d loved every second of my alone time with Bennett. But I never wanted Otto to feel left out. I spun around to deepen the kiss.

His hands settled on my waist.

It felt so normal. Like we were already in a perfect routine.

“But I tried to make it up to you,” I said as I pulled back. I pointed to the box of doughnuts I’d grabbed this morning. “I got your favorites.” Otto had brought me lots of doughnuts when we were sneaking around together. It was about time I returned the favor .

Otto smiled. “Pretty sure those are your favorite.”

“Wait, you don’t like them?”

He laughed. “I’m just kidding. I like them too.” He opened the lid. “And I almost get first dibs.”

“You know I already stole a Boston cream.”

He lightly slapped my ass. “Only four cups of coffee, huh?”

“No, there’s five.” I grabbed mine and took a sip.

Otto raised his eyebrow at me. “Titan’s going to be pissed.”

“Then he’s going to be extra pissed that I didn’t pack him a lunch either.” I pointed to the four packed lunches I’d just finished up.

Otto laughed. “Yes, he will be.”

“I don’t see why. He didn’t want the potpie I made last night.” I shrugged.

Otto grabbed a doughnut and his to-go coffee cup. “I wish I could stay and see this. But I gotta go open the bank.” He placed a soft kiss against my lips.

“Don’t forget your lunch.” I handed him an insulated container.

“Does this mean we won’t see you for lunch then?”

I shook my head. “I have wedding planning to do with Emma.”

Otto raised his eyebrow. “I feel like I missed something.”

“Emma and Callum moved up their wedding to next Saturday. He wants to take the cure as soon as possible. But they want to get married first. Just in case something bad happens.”

“Then maybe Callum should just put off the cure for longer,” Bennett said as he walked into the room. “This all feels a little rushed. ”

Otto made a face at me. “I’ll catch you later, baby.” He kissed my cheek, nodded at Bennett, and walked out of the kitchen.

I stared at Bennett. “Is it rushed? They’ve been in love for ten years.”

“They barely know each other.”

I pressed my lips together. This wasn’t the first time I’d been worried he still had feelings for her. “I think you can learn a lot of important stuff about a person pretty quickly. I had a lot of fun with you last night.”

“I had fun too.”

I knew it was my choice of words. But for some reason being called “fun” didn’t feel like a good thing this morning.

I didn’t want being with them to just be a good time.

I wanted it to be serious. I cleared my throat.

“I should get going. I packed you guys lunch.” I gestured to the lunches and tried to step past him.

But he caught my wrist. “Hey. Is something wrong?”

“No.”

He raised his eyebrow at me.

“It’s nothing.”

“Zoey, talk to me.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just in my head this morning.

Really, it’s nothing.” I wasn’t really upset about his reaction to Emma getting married.

I just couldn’t get Kebe’s dumb warning out of my head.

That all the guys would go their separate ways.

And I was too worried to voice my fears to Bennett.

I just wanted to hold on to the hope that Ace and Huxley had given me.

“Is this about Emma? Because I already told you I liked the idea of what we could be more than I actually liked her. I don’t have eyes for anyone but you. ”

“Then why did you seem upset that she’s getting married?”

“Because she’s insane for marrying a fucking vampire.”

I laughed. “You can’t help who you fall in love with.”

Bennett’s eyes dropped to my lips. “No. You can’t.”

Something about the way he said it and the way he was looking at me made me think that maybe he was falling in love with me. “Bennett?”

His eyes met mine again.

I could stand here forever getting lost in the ocean blue hue.

The thought terrified me. Because I was thinking about forever and forever could be just a few more days.

I thought I could get Kebe’s words out of my head, but they were stuck.

And if I didn’t talk to Bennett about it, I was going to explode. “I...”

“Hey, princess,” Huxley said as he walked into the room. “This all looks amazing. Wait, did you make us lunch too?”

I stepped away from Bennett and nodded. “Absolutely.”

“I don’t know what we ever did without you,” Ace said as he walked into the room. He kissed my cheek. “That’s quite the hickey you have. And here I thought I was the only one that liked to bite.” He reached out and traced the bruise beneath my necklace as Titan walked into the room.

Titan’s eyes fell to my hickey.

I swear his eyes darkened.

“She brought breakfast and made us lunch,” Huxley said to Titan.

Titan reached for one of the coffees .

“Well, for the three of you and Otto,” I said. “That coffee is Ace’s.”

Titan frowned and looked down at the name scrawled across it.

“Titan probably wants soup anyway,” I said. “I think there’s still more cans in the pantry. Enjoy.”

Bennett tried to hide his smile.

The twins just looked at each other.

And Titan didn’t react at all. He just set down the coffee and didn’t even look at me.

“I really do need to get going.” I turned to Bennett. “Any word from your contacts yet?” I’d thought I’d heard his phone buzz last night. But we’d been a little preoccupied in bed.

“Yeah. My friend who’s not on the dig site texted last night. He said he’d call me around lunchtime.”

“Really? Our time or his time?”

“I’m guessing our time.” He glanced at his watch. “We already slept through lunchtime his time. It’s strange that he didn’t just text me back the info though. He must know a lot about the coin or he wouldn’t need to call.”

“Well, that’s amazing.” I couldn’t believe our luck. “I can’t wait to see what he has to say.”

“Me too.”

“I hate to run, but I’m late meeting up with Emma. I’ll see you all at dinner.” I kissed Bennett’s cheek and was surprised when Ace pulled me into a heated kiss.

“I have a surprise for you later,” he whispered against my lips.

“What kind of surprise?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

I smiled up at him. I really loved the sound of that .

Huxley took a bite of doughnut and then stole me from his brother. His kiss was softer this morning. And the chocolate goodness on his tongue made me moan.

I lifted my chin a little higher as I passed by Titan.

I was hoping he was staring at my hickey.

But I didn’t look at him to see. I walked right past him and grabbed my jacket.

I was pretty sure I’d played that perfectly.

Hopefully he enjoyed his canned soup as he watched everyone else eat their delicious sandwiches.

Emma was already waiting for me in the little boutique on Main Street. Her eyes immediately landed on my neck. “And you were worried about Callum biting me?”

I laughed and sat down next to her on the plush couch. “In my defense, it was a lot less dangerous than your biting situation. But it was so hot.” I smiled as I touched the spot, remembering Bennett’s mouth on me.

Emma just shook her head. “I already talked to the owner. She seemed stressed and went right into the back room to see if she had anything that might work.”

“Well, it is last minute, but we’ll figure it out. Even if we need to drive all over today.”

“I’m worried. We only have a week and...”

I patted her leg. “We’ll figure it out,” I said more firmly.

“I’m glad you’re feeling optimistic about it.”

“I’m in a very optimistic mood this morning. One of Bennett’s contacts is calling him during lunch. Apparently he knows all about the coin.”

The worry eased from Emma’s features. “Really? Thank goodness. Having an outside perspective is just what we need. ”

My phone started buzzing. “Maybe he called early!” I pulled out my phone. But it wasn’t Bennett calling. It was Grudge. I looked around to make sure we were still alone and then put him on speaker. “Hey, Grudge. What’s up?”

“Hey, hot stuff. Where are you? And are you topless?”

“I’m out.”

“That doesn’t answer my second question.”

“Of course I’m clothed if I’m out.”

“If you say so. You still wanted me to be keeping an eye on Kebe, right?”

I certainly did. I didn’t trust her at all. I glanced at Emma.

She nodded.

“Yeah, that would be great,” I said.

“Good. Because I was watching her.”

Of course he was.

“And Kebe did that thing again.”

“What thing?” I asked.

“That thing where she makes the cameras glitch.”

Oh no. What was she up to now?

“Apparently it’s not a camera glitch,” Emma said.

“Hey, gorgeous. How are you doing? And are you topless?”

I rolled my eyes. “Stop flirting with Emma. We’re literally out shopping for her wedding dress.”

“Am I invited to this wedding?”

“No.”

“Sure,” Emma said at the exact same time.

Emma! I hadn’t told the guys about Grudge yet. “What are you doing?” I mouthed silently at her.

She just shrugged .

“Awesome,” he said. “When is it?”

“It’s actually next Saturday,” I said. “Way too last minute, I’m sure. Sorry about that.”

“It’s not a problem. I’ll be there.”

What the hell?

“Kebe will be excited to meet me in person.”

I sighed. “Only to suck your blood.”

“She has a blood kink? Interesting. That’s not really my thing, but I’ve done a lot of weird stuff for hot girls.”