Page 37 of Taming the Beasts

His response came almost immediately: “Don’t worry, I have eyes all over her.”

I shook my head. “Stop ogling her.”

“Oh, I’m planning on doing way more than ogling her.”

I rolled my eyes. Grudge didn’t live anywhere near here. Or maybe he did. I had no idea where he lived.Regardless, he wasn’t going to meet up with Kebe if he’d never met up with me.

I looked around at the mess the guys had left in the kitchen. I grabbed the plates off the counter and started to clean up. I kicked the dishwasher door closed and opened the fridge to see if there was anything I could bring them for lunch. Besides for beer, there wasn’t much in there. Some boxes of leftovers, energy drinks, and a container I was pretty sure was just filled with moldy produce weren’t what belonged in a fridge. I’d go grocery shopping for them later.

I had nothing to worry about with giving them the cure. They definitely needed me.

By the time I finished cleaning everything up, it was almost time to head out. I hurried upstairs and pulled the Anubis coin out of my pants pocket from last night. I slid it into the front pocket of my hoodie, keeping my hand wrapped tightly around it. There was no way I was going to let go of this coin again.

I stopped by one of the closed doors in the hallway. Ace had told me not to snoop around my new room, but I had no idea which room was going to be mine. And I loved doing things I wasn’t supposed to do. I tried the knob, but it was locked. I stared at one of the other closed doors on the same side of the hall. I walked over and it was locked too.

For guys that claimed they shared everything, they sure enjoyed their privacy.

My phone buzzed with a text from Emma: “On my way.”

I pressed my lips together and then hurried down the stairs. I knew exactly what I’d be breaking into next.Maybe I could convince Emma to come back here and help me get into all their rooms.

Chapter 10

Friday

Zoey

It wasn’t weird for me to walk down Main Street and feel everyone’s eyes on me. But I knew today they were staring at my mismatched outfit, not my hot bod. Yet, I still felt more confident than I did in my most revealing workout gear. I guess the attention of five men could do that to a girl. Well, four men. Titan was too busy trying to prove I was a thief

I beat Emma home. Kebe’s suitcase was by the door where we’d left it and there was no sign of her downstairs. She must have still been sleeping.

I shivered. Was Kebe messing with my thermostat? That was not proper house guest etiquette. And somehow it was so fitting for her. I walked over to adjust the temperature back up, but it hadn’t been changed.Huh.Emma had asked last night if my thermostat was broken. Maybe I could ask Ace to check it out.

I made myself a cup of coffee to warm up. I made one for Emma too and walked back into the living room just as Emma walked in.

“Just what I needed,” Emma said and grabbed one of the mugs as she sat down on the couch.

We had a lot to talk about. But I needed to get the most important thing off my chest. “I know we have alot of research to do,” I said. “But I think we need to loop the guys into it today. As soon as possible, really.”

“Oh, thank God,” Emma said. “I was thinking the exact same thing. We can just tell them everything we know so far and figure out the next steps together.”

“Exactly. Kebe just messed with my head last night. We can’t keep this from our boyfriends any longer. Sorry, your fiancé,” I said with a smile and patted her shoulder.

She winced.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she quickly said and blew on her coffee. “Mmm, this smells amazing.”

I did make amazing coffee, but she wasn’t distracting me that easily. I stared at the thick sweater she was wearing. It was like she was trying too hard to hide something. No one wore something so itchy unless they had to. “Did you hurt yourself?” Emma was kind of a klutz. It wouldn’t be unheard of.

Emma shook her head, her eyes focused on her coffee instead of me.

I stared at her. If she hadn’t hurt herself, it meant someone else had. “Show me your shoulder.”

“What?” She laughed. “No. It’s freezing in here, I’m not stripping.” She grabbed a blanket and put it over her shoulders for extra warmth. “Brrr.”

“You’re being weird.”