We’re on a mattress on the floor. I’d forgotten that part, when they’d gone out and brought their mattresses to make a bed big enough for all of us.
This is truly insane.
The light outside the window is gray like Ashton’s eyes. Dawn hasn’t really broken yet but it’s bright enough for me to see everything in the room clearly, cast in muted shades of gray.
Planting my elbow on the mattress, I prop my cheek on my hand, taking it all in. I’ve strayed from my path but it’s hard to find remorse when I gaze at them, relaxed in sleep, limbs loose, the strong lines of their faces peaceful.
So beautiful.
Looks like nobody shifted overnight, judging from the lack of broken furniture, torn limbs, and pools of blood.
Thank God.
This was a one-off. Not necessary after today. We should have a month to find a more permanent solution.
God, I’m again thinking of how to help them when my goal is to bring them down. No wonder my conscience is jumping through hoops, using dreams to let me know I’m making a mess of this.
“This can’t happen again,” I whisper.
Jason blinks, blond lashes lifting at half-mast. “Didn’t you like it?”
“I…” I bite my lip as I find myself under scrutiny by four pairs of eyes. Jason slides a hand over my hip and my face has to be bright like a beacon by now. “I did, but that doesn’t matter.”
“Doesn’t it?” Jason whispers. “We could take our time, do it properly. It would be so much better.”
“No doubt,” I manage, the thought of full-out sex with Jason frying my brain. “But I have to go to my room, change, get ready for class… I haven’t even done any homework.”
“Mm…” Emrys reaches over Sindri to brush my bangs out of my eyes. “You look great. I can’t wait to see you in the lingerie I picked out for you.Hot, baby.”
“Rys, stop. All of you. What happened last night… it means nothing and won’t happen again.” Hastily, I get up, step over their bodies, almost kicking Ashton in the jaw, and go looking for my blouse, my skirt, and my shoes. “I won’t be wearing clothes you buy for me, won’t be sleeping in a bed with all of you. Any of you.”
“So…” Ashton sits up, wraps his arms around his knees. “You’re just going to walk out on us, still thinking that this, what happened last night, means nothing?”
“I don’t know what you want!” I throw my hands up. “What isthisexactly? You hate each other, but now you’re okay with sleeping together, with me?”
“I don’t mind,” Ashton says mildly.
“But she has a point,” Emrys counters.
“I don’t see the problem. I slept fine,” Ashton says. “Better than I have in ages.”
“Well… me too,” Emrys admits sheepishly.
Jason yawns and stretches, distracting me for a moment with rippling muscles shifting under golden skin. “Don’t get any ideas, vampire.”
Ashton snickers. “Look, this wasn’t so bad, was it? We need to figure this out together. Strength in numbers and all that.”
“I’m sure that doesn’t refer to numbers in bed,” I mutter, pulling on my clothes and hunting for my shoes under Jason’s desk, not sure how they got there.
“You don’t know that for sure.” That’s Sindri, lifting his head from the crook of his arm.
“You, too?” I finally locate my shoes and sit on the bed to pull them on. “What are we going to do? A girl doesn’t sleep with more than one guy at a time. Oh God, what am I saying? She doesn’t sleep with any guy, period.”
“Says who?” Sindri mutters.
I stare at him. “Are you seriously asking me to consider sleeping with all of you?”
He stretches his arms over his head, his abs tightening into a six-pack, and it’s just… “What if it helps with the magic?”