Chapter 4
RAYN
With one handholding three coffees in a drink carrier and the other holding a box of donuts, I turn my back to the door and push it open with my butt. A heavy breeze blows my hair in my face, so I shake my head to try and move it.
A grunt comes behind me, indicating I just whacked somebody with the door.
I spin around. “Oh crap. I’m so sor–” My words cut off when I see who the person is.
Generally, I’m a nice person and get along with everyone. I’ve never hated a person so much that I’ve wished them to perdition. I truly believe most people are good, but sometimes make mistakes.
But the man looking back at me? Yeah, he can go to hell. Danny Larson. The man who, up until a few weeks ago, stalked me. I can still mentally feel the marks he left on my wrists when he cornered me at home a while back. We dated for all of two months when I broke things off because he was acting too possessive. He clearly didn’t like my decision and decided to follow me around, then send me shit at home and my job that freaked me the fuck out. Jamison noticed the bruises on my wrists and took off before I could stop him. I knew he was going to find Danny. By the time I made it to Danny’s house, Danny’s face was already busted up. To stop Danny from pressing charges against Jamison, I threatened to call the cops myself and report all the shit he had been doing to me, along with showing the bruises on my wrists.
My gaze catches on the slight bump on the bridge of his nose from when Jamison broke it, and a spark of satisfaction goes through me. He deserved more than what he got.
Surprise flickers in Danny’s expression before his lips curl up. “Rayn,” he sneers my name.
“Danny,” I return icily. “Did you have a nose job?” I tack on the end, my inner bitch making herself known.
The muscles in his jaw twitch and his eyes turn to slits. “You know what the fuck happened to my nose.”
I slide my eyes to the woman beside him, feeling it’s my duty to warn her. “Be careful with this one.” I jerk my chin in Danny’s direction. “He can be heavy handed at times.”
“You fucking bitch,” he growls.
I don’t respond. I simply hold the woman’s gaze for a moment longer, praying she makes the right choice, before I turn and walk away.
I go to my car at the end of the block and set the box of donuts on the top so I can dig my keys out of my pocket. Feeling eyes on the back of my head, I look over my shoulder to find Danny still looking at me. The woman is gone: either inside the coffee shop or having left Danny on the street.
Unlocking my car, I grab the donuts and quickly get inside, not realizing until then how unsteady my heart is. If Jamison hadn’t stepped in when he had with Danny, I don’t know how far things would have gone. Each time I caught Danny following me or I received a weird gift from him, I told myself the next time he did something, I would call the cops. I was stupid and never did. I just kept hoping he would stop on his own. Jamison beating the crap out of him did the trick. This is the first time I’ve seen or heard from him.
Pushing Danny to the back of my mind, I turn my car on and pull away from the curb. The guys are at my place, already packing some things for me. I ran out to get coffees and donuts for us. Technically, I still have a couple of weeks before I have to move out, something I’ve told Reed and Jamison, but they insisted I go ahead and move in with them. The rest of my stuff will be packed over the next couple of weeks and put in storage.
I pull in beside Jamison’s truck and get out with my load of refreshments. Hearing their deep voices toward the back of the house, I set the box of donuts on the kitchen counter and take the coffees with me as I hunt down my boys. I find them in my bedroom.
Jamison is in my closet, tossing clothes into a box. Reed is over by my nightstand with his back facing me.
“Delivery,” I say cheerily.
My mouth pops open and the drink carrier almost slips from my hand when Reed whips around, holding my handy dandy, used very frequently, vibrator.
Mortification doesn’t begin to cover what I’m feeling right now. I know my face has to be beet red. And of course, I just stand there like an idiot, my eyes very much stuck on the item in Reed’s hand. An item I’ve shoved in my coochie on multiple occasions. Not only that, but an item I’ve used to get myself off when my thoughts of Reed and Jamison get to be too much and I need relief.
It’s not until Jamison appears in the closet doorway that I spring in to action. I practically jump across the bed, somehow managing to not drop the coffees, and shove them against Reed’s chest as I jerk the toy away from him. Standing on my bed and looking down at him, I immaturely hide it behind my back.
“Why in the hell are you going through my nightstand?” I ask with a glare. “Everyone knows a nightstand is a no-go zone.”
Reed looks at me and a slow grin spreads across his face. “Are you embarrassed, Ray?”
My glare turns into a scowl. “What do you think? How would you feel if I found something of yours that you use to pleasure yourself?”
Off to the side, I hear Jamison make a grunted noise, but I keep my eyes pinned on Reed.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve met them all. The only things I use to pleasure myself are wet pussies and tight ass–”
I slap a hand over his mouth before he can finish his crass sentence. His grin grows behind my hand, and a second later, I feel the warm, wet sensation of his tongue.
I snatch my hand away and scrub it down my leg. “You’re gross.”
One shoulder lifts. “I’m not the one who shoves that monster behind your back in my–”
“Reed!” I yell his name.
Some of the mirth fades from his face. After setting the coffees on the nightstand, his hands wrap around my waist and he picks me up from the bed with ease to set me on the floor.