Page 34 of Watch Your Back (Devil’s Backbone #2)

Let’s find out as soon as Heath goes to shower.

I slept like the dead, barely moving an inch after falling asleep between the guys as they watched the end of their sports game, until I woke up. As it was, I woke to Royce hastily lubing up my asshole before stuffing his rock-hard, pierced cock inside with one forceful thrust.

“Holy shit,” I gasped, my eyes popping open with the sudden intrusion. His hand clapped over my mouth to muffle any more noise as he fucked me hard from his big-spoon position. The running shower clued me in to Heath’s whereabouts, and I relaxed back into Royce’s embrace…if it could be called that.

I was still so sleep fuzzy that I didn’t even try to fight it when my orgasm stole through me, then Royce triggered an encore by finger-fucking my pussy at the same time as he came, grunting and gasping into my tangled hair.

Then, all of a sudden, with no warning at all, the bed started violently vibrating.

“What the fuck?” Royce exclaimed, but I was incapable of doing anything but lying there, laughing so hard tears rolled from my eyes while he frantically tried to find the off switch on the stupid thing.

“I guess it does work after all,” he commented with a bemused smile when the ancient thing stopped jiggling.

I yawned and chuckled as I snuggled back into the pillow, fully ready to go the fuck back to sleep.

A few minutes later, a knock sounded at the door, and I cracked my eyes open just long enough to see Heath, fresh from the shower and wrapped in a towel, go to answer it.

“…tow is heading out now to pick up your car,” I vaguely heard the woman from the reception desk saying to him. “…keys… address of where to deliver it?”

“Yeah, one second. I’ll ask my girlfriend,” he replied, closing the door and turning to look at me. “Oh, hey, you’re awake.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like I had a choice.” I elbowed Royce, who just laughed smugly. “Keys are in my bag there.” I gestured to where my handbag sat beside the sofa. “Can they just tow it to your place? I’ll need to transport it to my mechanic back in Panner Valley.”

“What’s the business? I’ll make sure it’s taken straight there.

” Heath fished out the keys, then grabbed his phone to google the exact address when I told him where I wanted it to go.

He passed the info along to the motel manager, then turned back to us with a rueful shake of his head.

“Reception is back, in case you were curious, but also, we need to get up. Nate will be here to pick us up shortly.”

As much as I wanted to stay in bed all damn day, it was a Monday, so we all had lectures to attend. And I for one did not want Nate catching the three of us taking a trip to Paris. So I groaned and complained but also dragged my ass into the shower and denied Royce access while I freshened up.

We had just enough time to grab some bitter black coffee at the pancake shop across the road before Nate pulled up in his beast of a truck with Carter in tow.

They all did the manly bro-hug/handshake business, and I trailed along behind, sipping my disgusting coffee and trying not to gag with each swallow.

“…sure no one got hurt?” Nate was asking when I refocused my attention on the guys.

“Yeah, we were lucky Royce managed to swerve; otherwise, the fucking thing would have hit the side of the car right where Ashes was sleeping,” Heath replied, shaking his head. “Though, I’ll admit, when he swerved into the buck, I thought he was insane for a moment.”

Carter scowled at me, his gaze scanning me from top to toe, then his eyes narrowing at Heath suspiciously.

“We’re fine,” I growled, officially grouchy from lack of sleep and the bitter coffee. “Can we just go please?” I tried to brush past them to get into the truck, but Nate caught my arm in his.

“You sit in the front. The three stooges can take the back.”

Confusion made me blink, then I jerked a nod.

“Okay, sure, whatever.” I was too tired to argue, instead just circling around the front of the truck to get to the passenger door.

Then I groaned a little as I hauled myself up on the running board to get inside and spent way too long trying to find a comfortable position to sit.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” Nate asked, making me freeze. “You were walking a bit stiff and seem…uncomfortable right now.”

“I’m fine,” I snapped, forcing myself to sit back in my seat as normally as I possibly could while attempting to ignore my aching bits. Avoiding eye contact, I buckled my seat belt and folded my legs. Totally normal. Nothing to see here.

From the back seat, Carter groaned. “God damn it,” he cursed, punching Heath in the shoulder. “We had an agreement.”

“Ow, dickhead,” Heath protested, punching him back. “Don’t get mad at me!”

Carter gasped, and I glanced over my shoulder to see him staring at Royce in shock. “No! You?”

Royce just grinned like a fucking Cheshire cat, not even the slightest bit guilty. “Me, motherfucker. You snooze, you lose.”

Christ. Was this how it was always going to be? Boys were stupid.

“What the hell is going on?” Nate asked in bewilderment as he started up the truck and headed out of the little town. “What are you all talking about?”

“Absolutely fucking nothing,” I snapped before anyone could go explaining in great detail about how Carter had just put two and two together and not only realized Royce and I were fucking but also that Royce had fucked my ass so hard, I was walking funny. Great. So great.

Reaching out, I turned on Nate’s sound system and cranked the volume up enough that no one could talk. Much better.

He only tolerated it for about twenty minutes, but that was long enough for the boys in the back seat to get the message that we would not be openly discussing our sex lives in front of Nate. Not today, when I was in this mood, anyway.

“So how bad was the damage to your car?” Nate asked after turning the music down a few notches. “Can it be fixed?”

I grimaced, thinking of the twisted metal of my front end. “I don’t know. Maybe not. The cost to repair a vintage car like mine…not to mention sourcing the parts…” I sighed heavily, propping my elbow on the door. “If anyone can do it, it’s my mechanic, Rex.”

“It’s your dad’s car, isn’t it? Is he going to be upset?” Nate—for once—wasn’t being a jerk about it. He sounded genuinely concerned, which was confusing.

“Probably. He told me to sell it years ago, but I was too attached to the memories.” Now it was probably only worth as much as the parts would sell for. Damn it.

“I’ll fix it, Squirrel,” Royce promised from the back seat. “And in the meantime you can drive my car.”

I flashed him a grin over my shoulder. “As tempting as that sounds, I definitely can’t afford to scratch your Chiron. It’s fine. You guys seem to love playing chauffeur anyway, right?”

“Anytime, Spark,” Carter replied, and I had to remind myself I was still mad at him. Sexy bastard.

I pursed my lips, remembering how I was technically homeless now and definitely couldn’t squat in Nate’s room forever. At the same time, I couldn’t just bed-hop between the other guys each night like some kind of freeloading whore. Maybe one of the girls at work needed a roommate?

“Do you think we will make it back in time for my humanities class?” I asked, checking the time on Nate’s dash. My class wasn’t until ten, but I had no clue how far we were from Nevaeh, thanks to the detour last night.

“Maybe,” Nate murmured thoughtfully. “Do you have work tonight as well?”

I nodded, a little thrown off that he remembered my schedule. Then I heaved a sigh at the idea of working a massage shift while walking like a cowgirl. Damn it, Royce.

Nate fiddled with the stereo while the guys chatted in the back seat about some society party coming up.

Part of me wanted to listen, but at the same time, I was just tired.

Nate finally decided on a playlist that was oddly relaxing piano music set to a rain background.

At first I found it a strange choice, but then my eyelids started drooping, and I lost the energy to question anything.

I often found sleeping in cars horribly uncomfortable, my neck always ending up with a kink from my head flopping around, but I slept deeply on the drive back to Nevaeh.

Dimly I registered that we’d arrived home, but before I could shake off the heavy blanket of sleep, someone lifted me out of my seat with strong arms.

“Shh, go back to sleep,” Heath whispered, kissing my hair. I relaxed into his hold, despite the nagging feeling that I should be awake for…something? Couldn’t be that important, surely. Sleep was a better idea.

I didn’t remember getting into the apartment or being tucked into bed, but when I eventually woke up some time later, I was a hell of a lot less cranky. Which meant I’d probably slept for far too long during the day.

Blinking sleep from my eyes, I glanced around with confusion.

Where the hell was I? This wasn’t Nate’s room, it was…

I wanted to say it was Carter’s, but that didn’t seem right either.

The sheets and bedding were unfamiliar, not his usual dark-gray-and-crimson vibes.

Instead they were a soft sage green and the quilt was subtly floral. Feminine.

“What the shit?” I muttered, sitting up to glance around the room with more focus. The furniture was still Carter’s, but all of his personal belongings had been removed. Instead of the signed sports memorabilia on the dresser, there was now a makeup mirror and vase of flowers.

Sliding out of the huge bed, I padded over and pulled open the top drawer. Gone were Carter’s socks and underwear, and instead it was full of my own panties. Shocked, I looked through the rest of the drawers, then crossed to the closet to find it also stocked with all my things and none of his.

Had Carter moved me into his room? Sure seemed that way. But where were all of his things? Another glance around had me spot a folded note on the bedside table, and I sat on the edge of the bed to read it.

Spark, you needed the rest, so Royce is getting notes from your class for you. I’m sorry for being a pushy fuck, but I hope you like your new room. Text us if you need anything.

—Eternally yours, C.B.

I groaned, knowing full well I couldn’t stay mad at him for long. It was a very sweet gesture to give me his room, but it couldn’t be a permanent solution. Maybe Carly would want to get an apartment with me? I should ask her.

Yet when I reached for my phone to text her, I hesitated. Nate’s words echoed through my head, suggesting that maybe deep down I liked being pushed into this arrangement. That I really wasn’t as mad as I pretended to be, because I enjoyed living with the guys.

“Fuck,” I whispered aloud. Because I hated that Nate was right. I was happy with them…all of them. For better or worse, but hopefully now it would just be better. Dr. Fox was gone, and the hypnosis was over.

Right? I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I still needed to watch my back, though. That maybe it wasn’t so simple. Maybe we weren’t ready to live our happily ever after just yet…