Oh, I doubted that.
Before I could respond back with something probably embarrassing, a large figure stumbled past us, a tired groan breaking from their throat. I turned in King’s arms, leaning against his chest, as I watched Sterling turn on the sink faucet. He began to scrub his face before pressing a dry rag to it and squeezing his eyes shut, seemingly in pain.
“You okay, man?” King asked, seeming half concerned and also amused.
“No,” he muttered. “I feel asleep with my damn contacts in.”
I couldn’t help but smile, because I wasn’t surprised. This happened often. Often enough that I was able to walk over to the fifth drawer on the right of the vanity and pull out one of the many spare, empty contact cases and solution kits I kept for exactly this reason. Sterling did a lot of amazing things, but one of those things wasnotbeing good at remembering to take out his contacts. He let out a sigh of relief and kissed the top of my head before leaning over to take them out.
Turning towards the door, I flashed King a smile and squeezed past him, his eyes tracking me with amusement and a string of happiness that I loved seeing. I had no idea how the man’s emotions changed so easily. I mean… It was literally like a switch. Somewhat impressive, if we were being honest.
My memories returned to finding him covered in blood in Dermot’s kitchen and the stark, almost empty expression that had filled his face. Was it wrong that I found his unpredictable emotional range sort of fascinating? My fingers twitched at the idea of capturing all of them on camera.
Yes, even the one when he was covered in blood.
Lord, there was something very wrong with me.
Shrugging off the concern, knowing I had much larger worries, I made my way over to my closet. Lincoln was standing near my balcony door, letting out a yawn and stretching. His muscular back distracted me enough that I had to look away before I slammed into something.
Lord, his sexiness that was so easy to gawk at. Who did he think he was?
Searching through my clothes, I pulled out a paisley pink and blue sundress that tightened at the waist, along with a matching blue pair of panties. I tilted my head, looking at the lace item and wondering if I should pick something sexier…
“I like that color blue on you.” A heated voice brushed against my ear, causing me to jump and nearly throw my elbow back instinctively. The man behind me chuckled at my surprise. Luckily for him, his firm grip on my arms didn’t allow for any drastic movements, so I didn’t end up gut-punching him by accident. I winced, knowing I would have felt bad about that as I tilted my head up and scowled at an amused Lincoln. His bright blue eyes were filled with a happy light behind his glasses, and I found I couldn’t be too upset, especially considering how much lighter and more relaxed he seemed than he was last night. I still wanted to kick his butt.
I turned into him and poked his chest. “You scared the mess out of me.”
“Sorry,” he mused at my admonishment, not looking apologetic in the least. In fact, the only thing he was thinking of doing seemed to be kissing me because of the way he was looking at my lips.
Clearly not an apology… but I would take it. I’m nice like that.
“Not very believable,” I teased as he chuckled softly, the sound tinged with a dangerous edge, before he stepped back and lifted my finger from his chest, nipping the tip of it. I shuddered, and without another word, he walked out after winking at me. I swallowed as my heart skipped a beat, feeling the pulse from his bite through my core.
Did he even realize how much he affected me? Lord. I hoped not.
Grabbing my clothes and turning back towards the room, I found King and Sterling talking near the door that Lincoln passed through to go downstairs. Yates was still sleeping, spread out and looking perfectly comfortable.
They were everywhere.
I mean, seriously. These large, muscular, sexy men were all in my space, and if King was telling the truth, then I was for sure going to need to get used to it. Honestly though, it was nothing new. They had always been around, this just seemed more claiming. Before, they offered me the choice to have them leave, but now? I don’t think I was going to get that option, especially since I told them I felt the same.
Which was good, because this was literally all I had been wanting. Them. In my space. Touching me. Kissing me. For sure more than that as well. Although I had a feeling I was going to need to step up my seduction game if that part was going to happen as soon as I would like.
Slipping into the bathroom, I quickly got dressed and then nodded at my reflection, already feeling far better about today. I imagined coffee would make me feel human, so that was next on the agenda. Hopefully the boys would be okay with sitting by the pool and drinking coffee? There was something to be said for keeping habits in times of crisis, and I had been doing this morning routine all summer.
Partly, and I could admit this now, in a bid to see Stratton, who was usually up early. He always tended to be in the back yard at some point in the morning, which I was realizing now may have been on purpose. That he may have wanted to see me as much as I wanted to see him. It didn’t hurt, I guess, that I always had a bikini on. I wondered what exactly he had thought of that, because I could tell you exactly what I thought of how he looked shirtless as he worked.
Suddenly I frowned, doubting my earlier assumption about him having stayed overnight. I knew he didn’t like to leave Ms. Lori for long. Was it too early to go over there and wake him up? He would probably be up, but I didn’t want to ring the bell. Ms. Lori would be sleeping, so maybe I should call instead.
The smell of coffee wafting up from the kitchen urged me to get downstairs. I looked back at my closet, considering the stack of the boys’ clothes that I kept, and wondered if I should bring any down. Or would everyone leave to go home and change? I didn’t want to hand my collection over… I mean, it wasn’t that far of a walk… but I also hated the idea of them leaving.
Honestly, I was a bit possessive over their clothes that they gave me. For the longest time, that was the closest I would get to having them in bed with me on a regular basis.
I know, that made it sound way better, right?
I tilted my head in thought. Maybe now I wouldn’t have an issue giving them back since I had the real thing. Speaking of which, I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, wondering if I should wake Yates. He looked so peaceful.
Part of me wanted to wake him up just to see if he would be cranky, and then there was an equal part of me that wanted to cuddle.Choices, choices.My fingers reached out to brush a messy piece of hair from his face. The moment my fingertips brushed his skin, his eyes flashed open and… I was pinned underneath him on the bed.