Chapter 6
Texas flung himself on my bed and groaned loud and long. I lifted one eyebrow, staring at him for a brief moment before I rolled my eyes and held up the yellow dress I'd taken out of my closet and then tossed it on the bed next to him. "I don't need to go shopping," I said insistently, knowing exactly why he was behaving so obnoxiously. "I have enough clothes. Besides, we don't havetime."
Texas narrowed his eyes at me from the bed as I opened my closet door and went rummaging around for another choice. "I offered to take you as soon as you got home from work. I offered to take you yesterday. I offered to take youthis morning!" he huffed. “But no, you wait until the last second to make sure you have something to wear. What if you don’t? If you don’t then you’ll have no one to blame but yourself. I could’ve takenyou.”
“You weren’t the only one who wanted to go,” I said. “It’s not like Marv is in here throwing afit.”
“I understand how important this is!” Texassnapped.
“I have dressy dresses,” I assuredhim.
The door opened and Bellamy popped his head inside. Seeing Texas throwing a temper tantrum on my bed, he chuckled and moved further into the room, leaning back against the wall as I selected a green slip dress. "How long are you going to complain?" Bellamy asked, amused as he directed his attention at the big cry baby lying on mymattress.
"Until she apologizes," Texas said with apout.
I smirked, dropping the green dress next to the yellow and leaned over his chest. I kissed his lips and they parted in surprise, his eyes widened as I pulled back. "I'm sorry," Isaid.
He gaped at me for a minute, his lips parting and coming back together like a fish. "I-I...did...you..." A blush stole across his upper cheeks and he sat up abruptly, pointing at me accusingly. "You did that onpurpose!"
"I don't know what you mean," I replied with a smile, turning to give both him and Bellamy my back as I grabbed the green dress and stepped into it. I shimmed the fabric up my legs and then over my butt underneath the robe that Iwore.
"You saw what she did, didn't you, Bell?" Texas turned to Bellamy as though he were tattling. I rolled my eyes again and finished pulling the dress up to cover from my breasts down before I dropped therobe.
"Can one of you zip me up?" Iasked.
Bellamy pushed off the wall and strode over. His fingers found the edge of the zipper, the warmth of his hands against the bottom of my spine. I shivered as he tugged, sliding the zipper up and over the ridges of my back until it stopped above my bra. "I like this dress," he saidquietly.
I turned. "Thanks." He leaned down and brushed a kiss on my cheek. Tingles raced through my flesh. My musclestightened.
"Knix’s ready," he whispered against my skin, bending down to press a butterfly light kiss to my neck. I sucked in a tense breath. "He's waiting foryou."
"O-okay," I stuttered out my reply. "Thanks for letting meknow."
Texas eyeballed us when we pulled away, but it wasn't in any sort of accusatory way. To be honest, I was surprised he hadn't yet asked about my date with Grayson. Speaking of Grayson... my eyes moved to the half-opendoor.
"Do either of you know when Marv and Grayson will get back?" Iasked.
Bellamy and Texas exchanged a look that I couldn't read. I frowned. "You wouldn't be hiding anything from me, would you?" I said, lifting a brow. I still hadn’t managed to pin them all down in one place. I needed to and soon. That check was still burning a hole in my purse. I honestly wished I had just left it on the counter at the Cancer Care Center. Right then, I felt like I was carrying around a dirty little secret and I didn’t like keeping secrets from theguys.
Texas shook his head. "No. We're not sure when they're gettingback."
"And no," Bellamy answered, "we're not hiding it from you. You'll know when they get back as soon as weknow."
"Or sooner," Texas said. "They'll probably come looking for you as soon as theydo."
"Why don't you text them to see if they're okay?" Bellamysuggested.
I started. He was right. I could've texted them. I hadn't even thought of it. I shook my head and shot both of them an apologetic smile. "You're right," I conceded. "I'll text them when I get home tonight if they’re not homealready."
They both followed me out into the hallway. “I’ll see you when you get back,” Texas said, pressing a quick kiss to mycheek.
I nodded as he turned and disappeared around the corner. “You excited?” Bellamy asked, his hand reaching formine.
I let him take my hand and raise it to his lips. He pressed his mouth against my knuckles as he waited for my answer, but I couldn’t think with his mouth on my skin. My thoughts were all jumbled, stumbling over one another. All they cared about was the way he dragged his lips from one knuckle to the next, watching me, waiting for ananswer.
“Yeah,” I finally managed to choke out. I hoped it was answer enough to whatever he had asked me. It seemed to work as he smiled brilliantly and then leaned in close, backing me up against thewall.
“I hope you have a good time tonight, Sweetheart,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Don’t worry about Marv orGrayson—”