Besides, I didn’t mind all of them together as a group either. It was so normal, so comforting, like we had been together like this a hundred times when we absolutely hadn’t. Internally, I shook my head. Would I ever understand any of it?
I just loved it. That was all there was to it. Every moment I was with them, I loved. The thought should have scared the shit out of me, but it didn’t. It hadn’t, and I doubted it ever would.
Oh man.
It looked like we were having steak.
It was delicious, but I liked the company more than the food. I loved the laughter. The quiet moments that didn’t last long because one of them would usually fill the space. And when they sang happy birthday to me, it ranked among the happiest moments of my life.
“Gotta go.” Caesar sighed. “Griffin and I have a task to take care of at Wanda’s. I’ll see you all later.”
“Yep.” Griff jumped up, kissing me on the cheek as he passed by.
The rest of us cleaned up and ended up getting ready for bed. It was very quiet after that. I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but they all seemed to have things on their minds. That was fine. How could they not?
I put on some new pajamas, which earned me a grin from Tanner before he pulled out his guitar. “Good taste there, Rowan.”
I touched the strap of the pink tank top I wore. “You?” I asked Rowan.
“I thought you’d look pretty in the matching set. I was right.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I know it’s technically my turn, but you’re not a toy we’re passing around. You can decide who you sleep with. You can also decide to sleep alone. What would you like for tonight?”
I gestured toward the bed. “Please. Join me.”
His smile was huge, and it lit up my soul. Rowan so rarely grinned like that. I wanted to roll around in it. We climbed into the bed together, but it wasn’t really time to sleep yet. Ace flipped on the television, and a movie came on that I didn’t recognize. But while Tanner strummed quietly on his guitar, we watched a story about a man who had to solve a mystery even though he couldn’t remember what happened to him.
“What should I do as a last hurrah?” Rowan asked me quietly. “What last thing should I do?”
“Are you a last hurrah person? Do you have a bucket list?”
He played with a string of my hair. “Lie in bed with a beautiful girl. Check. But I feel like I should do something else.”
“Well, if you get a tattoo, you won’t know if your vampire self will like it. You could really fuck that guy by doing something terrible he has to live with for a very, very long time.”
I’d been kidding, but he sat up straight like he intended to dash from the room. “I am going to fucking do that.”
“Really? I was not serious.”
“Well, I am. I am going to go get a big, giant rose on my back. Or a daisy. Or a cat. Or something. And that dude is going to have to walk around wearing my body in whatever I pick out forever. That is what I am going to do.”
I guessed we knew what he was going to do for his last hurrah. “Should I do something?”
“Not as a last hurrah, because trust me, gorgeous, you’re not going to die.” He took my hands in his, then a second later, he kissed me. It wasn’t goodbye, but it felt that way.
Fourteen
Rowan heldme in the comforting darkness when the bed dipped. I knew it was Caesar. I’d gotten so used to him being in the bed that, as his scent moved over me, it tried to drag me even further into dreamland. I smiled.
“Did you get them?” Rowan’s voice was low, almost a whisper.
“Wanda took care of us. It’s done. Griffin set them all up, and we tested them in the forest. All is good to go. They’ll work, if we end up needing them to.”
Rowan pressed his nose into my neck. “Last resort.”
I wanted to wake up to see what they were talking about, but the night was cold and my brain refused. When Caesar threw his arm over me in the way he always did, I quit fighting the urge to dig deeper into my dreams.
Morning came too fast.
Being concussed, even though I felt fine, meant that I had a lot of down time to wander around the grounds while the guys studied whatever vampire strategy and history they had to have stored in their brains minutes before they died. I cooked in their kitchen. I watched movies. Napped, like I was a lady of luxury.