Chapter 17
The red light on my phone flashed. The car swung out of the empty spot that Knix had parked in after being kicked out of the party earlier, and headlights crossed over the front windows. The phone flashed again. Lizzie had called. She had texted. So had Kelsey, who had apparently gotten my number from Lizzie aswell.
“You okay, Harlow?” Grayson looked over his shoulder at me from the frontseat.
I shook my head, still reeling over the events of the evening and shaking as adrenaline coursed through me. “It’s overnow.”
“How long were you alone in the room with him?” Knix asked me. “What did he do? What did hesay?”
I sighed, scooting closer to the door and leaning my head against the glass. “I already told you everything that happened,” I replied. “I’m finenow.”
“You’re sure you’re okay?” Marv insisted, moving closer to me across thebackseat.
I lifted my head and turned towards him. “I promise,” I assured him, flipping my gaze from his to Grayson and Knix’s. “I’m okay.” Grayson’s mouth firmed into a straight line, but he nodded and then turned back to face thefront.
After several minutes of riding along in silence, I broke it. “So, what now?” Iasked.
Marv and Knix exchanged looks in the rearview mirror. “We head out in the morning,” Knix saidfinally.
“We’re going after her?” I sat upstraighter.
“Yes.”
I swallowed reflexively. This was good. Things were finally moving forward. Time to getErika.
We arrived back at the duplex the guys had rented. It felt different walking in through the doors, knowing that it may well be my last nightthere.
"Are we sleeping in shifts again?" Texas asked as he came in right behindus.
Knix shook his head, pulling his phone from his pocket. "No shifts," he said, sharply. "Everyone sleeps tonight. We're heading to the dockstomorrow."
"The map?" I nodded towards the folded-up paper in Marv's hand. Marv nodded and handed it tome.
I spread it out across the living room floor, pushing unwanted furniture away as I stared at the red lines that marked the pathways H. B. Holdings’ boats had, or might have, taken. I pointed to a mark on the paper. All of the lines converged on only three spots so far. "Which one are we going to?" Iasked.
Knix turned around, holding a finger to his lips as he held the phone to his ear with the other hand. "Yes, sir," he said. "Will do,sir."
All of us waited as he finished the phone call and hung up. He turned to us and ocean blue eyes met mine. "I'll know in the morning. Alex wants an image. He's sending other teamsout."
Marv rolled to his feet. "Come on, Sunshine. Let's catch somesleep."
Texas yawned and reached for the map. He held it up and looked at it briefly. "I'll scan it with what I have here and send it to Alex," hedetermined.
Everyone else got up and dispersed. I could feel the waves of exhaustion pouring off them. They were pouring off me too. "Wait," Texas called quickly, just as I was about to follow Marv back to thebedrooms.
Already halfway turned, I paused and looked back. Texas bounded up to me and smacked a kiss on my lips lightly. "Just needed a boost. Good night, SpiderPrincess."
I blinked in pleasant surprise before rolling my eyes. "Pick one nickname," I muttered in reminder. "Justone."
I hesitated when I felt eyes on me. Craning my neck as I left the room, I realized that Knix, Bellamy, and Grayson all stared openly at Texas, then I realized why. None of them had ever kissed me in front of the others the way Texas just had. To Texas, it hadn't been a big deal. A simple form of affection, but they knew it went deeper. I went deeper with all of them. I strained my ears as I kept walking, hoping to continue to act casual despite my knowledge. There were no sounds of yelling, no fists being thrown. Maybe casual was all it had been. It didn't feel like it though. Kissing any of them, no matter how chaste felt like an acknowledgment of my feelings—of ourfeelings.
Before I could settle my thoughts or even dive deep into Texas’ intentions behind the kiss, Marv called from inside one of the bedrooms. “Which side of the bed do you want?” heasked.
My mouth slid back open. I had seen Marv like this before—casual, half undressed, mussy-headed—but each time was like a swift kick in the stomach. He was, in a word, gorgeous. Lines along his abdomen defined the musclesthere.
They don’t seem to mind me sleeping with one of them,my brain chose that exact moment to pointout.
“Harlow?” Marv said again, and I jerked my gaze up from his abs and chest to his face, my own cheeks heating up. Caught red handed—now technically red-faced.