Page 18

17

RAVEN

W hen I wake, feelings flood me so fast, I sit straight up.

I slept with Wraith.

And I slept with him.

I touch his pillow and it’s cool beneath my fingers. He’s been gone from bed for a while, and I wonder when he crept out and left me.

I shake my head.

Now is not the time to jump to conclusions.

I asked him, specifically, to teach me how to be a one-night stand. I’ve never done it before.

And now I understand why. It feels a little icky.

Especially after everything we did together last night seemed like it was more than sex.

Or maybe that’s just me.

Because the way his body felt next to mine, the way he seemed to know what I needed, the way he caressed me so gently when it was over was perfect.

“Urgh. Stop romanticizing,” I grumble as I throw the covers back.

The cool air hits me as I simultaneously realize I’m naked.

Quickly, I grab my bag and head into the bathroom. After a quick cleanup, I pull on some dark jeans and a soft sweater in a deep burgundy. It takes a few minutes more to braid my hair and throw on some simple make-up.

When I’m done, I pause to study myself.

Do I look any different?

My eyes seem a little clearer.

Do I feel it?

“Can great sex be enough?” I ask myself.

I took a walk on the wild side. Now I have to practice seeing Wraith and hopefully finding some breakfast without getting flustered. I pull my shoulders back, then take a deep breath.

“You’ve got this,” I mutter.

Wraith didn’t say whether it was okay to leave my room this morning, but I decide I’ll be okay.

I walk down the corridor, and my cheeks heat at the sound of someone having sex. It feels voyeuristic, or whatever the right word is for listening to someone rather than seeing them. It’s hot, but also makes me wonder if people could hear Wraith and me. I definitely didn’t remember to be quiet.

A door opens farther down the corridor, and two young women step out ahead of me. One is Karlie. I don’t know the other.

“And don’t forget the coffee,” a masculine voice shouts from inside.

“Breakfast and coffee,” Karlie says. “We’ll remember. Back soon, Butcher.”

They link arms as they wobble down the hallway in tall heels. I envy their easy, unapologetic confidence.

“You think Wraith fucked that bitch he brought with him?” the other girl asks.

Karlie chuckles. “She looked like she had a broom stuck up her ass, so I doubt it.”

“She’s so old, I bet her coochie has cobwebs.”

I’m annoyed they think nearly thirty is old.

And any coochie cobwebs have been well and truly cleared out.

With a shiver, I think about the way Wraith’s piercing rubbed me in all the right places.

A part of me wants to say something to them, but it would be a childish, ego-driven reaction.

Let them think what they will of me.

But I follow them, hoping they are headed for the kitchen to get Butcher’s coffee. When we get there, women move around with ease, making different meals as kids run beneath their feet.

But the smell of coffee and fried food is undeniable.

“Morning, Raven,” Ember says when she sees me. “You want some bacon?”

“I’d love some, please.”

The two girls I followed in turn around and gape at me for a second. Trying to be the bigger person, I ignore them.

“You wanna take Wraith some breakfast? I think I saw him headed to the armory,” Ember asks.

“If you think I should.”

She nods. “You should. That man forgets to eat in the morning. He just mainlines coffee.”

I wonder for a second how she knows. It would be supremely awkward if she had slept with him.

Ember throws together two plates. One is stacked with eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes. The second is a little smaller with the same assortment. “There you go. Go into the bar and take the immediate left. Cutlery is in the drawer.”

Now that my hands are full, I realize I’m not going to be able to carry coffee. But the food gives me a reason to talk with Wraith.

The bar is a hive of activity as people try to pack up the temporary sleeping situations.

I turn phrases over in my head as I walk.

Hey, I grabbed you some breakfast.

Ember said you hadn’t eaten yet.

You wanna grab some breakfast with me?

I wonder if any of these suggest I’m failing at a one-night stand.

The door to the armory bursts open as I approach it, and Grudge steps out still talking to whoever is inside. “And we need to find out what made them turn around instead of coming straight here,” he says before he turns and grins at me. “Morning, Raven. One of those for me?”

“Oh, no… I mean, sure. I can get another.” I offer him the plate with the least food.

“Just teasing you, Raven. Go feed your man. He’s like a bear with a sore head this morning. Gets hangry when he hasn’t eaten.”

My man.

I know I shouldn’t read anything into that, but it’s a little hard not to.

Grudge holds the door open for me so I can duck under his arm.

When I enter, I see banks of locked cupboards and Wraith standing with his hands on a large wooden block in the middle of the room.

“Hey, I got you some breakfast,” I say.

“You didn’t need to do that.” His words are surly.

“I know. But Ember said you hadn’t eaten, and I thought you might want something.”

He looks at the plate like I just served up a platter of shit coated in poison. “I’m fine. You need one of the guys to give you a ride back into town?”

His words hit hard. I don’t know what I thought the morning after a one-night stand with him was going to be, but it wasn’t this.

“Did I do something wrong by coming in here with food?” I ask.

Wraith barely makes eye contact. “Danger’s over, and Ma probably needs you at the diner.”

“I’m not on shift today.” I put the plates down on the counter. “I didn’t realize your definition of a one-night stand meant you would be a dick in the morning.”

He looks up at me, and the look in his eye catches me off guard. For all they usually look cold, they are now filled with…turmoil. “And I told you that you weren’t a one-night stand kind of woman. Stop playing at being an old lady bringing me food because you aren’t even close.”

And suddenly, I’m over getting half a life and trying to convince myself to be nice. I didn’t need romance and flowers, although a ride home would have been nice. What I didn’t expect was to be dismissed like something used and dirty over a plate of fried food.

“You know what? I’m clearly not the one who struggles with a one-night stand, but I’ll leave anyway, seeing as you don’t have the emotional range or maturity to handle one.”

He stands quickly and marches over to me. “You seem to forget who I am.”

I fold my arms. “No. You’re showing me exactly who you are. I just don’t like what I see.”

I spin on my heel and turn straight out of the armory. When I push the doors open into the bar area, people are looking at me. Some are smirking. Two of the club girls’ mouths are open.

Fuck, they must have heard.

Now I’ve likely embarrassed him.

But I don’t have it in me to care.

I head toward the doors to Wraith’s bedroom corridor. The sooner I get my things and get out of here, the better.

Ember reaches for my hand to stop me. “He has his reasons.” Her words are quietly spoken. Concern filters across her features.

“Not to treat me like that, he doesn’t. And the mature thing to do would have been to talk about it.”

The double doors slam open again. This time, Wraith storms through them. “You don’t get to say shit like that to me and then just walk away.”

The room falls silent, but I snatch my hand away from Ember.

“You had your chance for a civil conversation five minutes ago.” With that, I head for the room.

“Raven, get your fucking ass back here.” His words fade as the doors close behind me.

Instead, I run down the hallway, back to his room. I grab my bag. I may have left a few things in the bathroom, but I am not stopping to pack them now. I ram my arms through the sleeves of my coat, then hustle through the side exit next to Wraith’s room.

It’s a four-mile walk back into town, and it’s pouring rain, but I just learned a really important lesson. I deserve it all and don’t have to accept less.

As I’m thinking, I slam into Grudge.

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

He looks at my bag and my exit. “You running out on Wraith?”

I almost laugh, because crying with embarrassment is the alternative. “You should ask him if he cares.”

And with that, I march away as best I can in the downpour.