Gray shakes his head. “No one wants me there. Give me a job to do on my own. The busses are fine.”
I purse my lips and decide to let that one go. “Whatever you like.”
Paxton pokes at his scrambled eggs. “I know nothing about cars, and you promised me you’d teach me how to fix them when we got out of prison.”
Gray’s elbows rest on the table. “Working on busses is boring. There’s nothing sexy about a bus. You don’t want to do that.”
Paxton frowns. “I just said I do. If you think I’m useless and can’t learn something like that, then just say so.”
Gray’s eyebrows raise at Paxton’s mild-mannered outburst. “It’s nothing like that. Fine, fine. I’ll show you all you need to know. But when it’s exactly as boring as I told you it would be, I get to say ‘I told you so.’”
“Deal.” Paxton scoops up the rest of his eggs in quick bites. “Sloan’s taking you to your meeting, Arlanna?”
I nod. “He doesn’t know it yet, but yes.”
“And if he’s busy?”
I shrug. “I’ll go by myself.”
This is clearly the wrong thing to say. Gray and Paxton both protest with plenty of hand gestures and overprotective points that, well, I guess are accurate, but still sting.
Yes, there is tons of opposition to our camp still.
Yes, I’m the head of the group, and if something happens to me, it could mean the collapse of our ring of safety.
“Fine! If Sloan is busy, I’ll take one of you.”
“Much better.” Paxton casts Gray a conspiratorial look, as if to say, “sheesh, this woman.”
I don’t mind it, because I love their friendship. It’s cute. Watching them eat and start up a back-and-forth about car repairs gives me a sense of satisfaction I can’t brush under the table. It’s homey, this glow that blooms in my chest. I never dreamed I’d be lucky enough to have a man who wasn’t Sloan at my table. To have two? It’s more goodness than I deserve.
Paxton pauses his conversation with Gray to point his fork in my direction. “You’ve got a strange look about you. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
I shrug, tempted to pass off my feelings as nothing. But then I remember that this is a safe place. It’s my place. Ours. So I unearth my private musings for the guys to dissect. “This is what I’ve been missing? I’ve been busting my butt out there, when I could have been spending at least some time right here, doing exactly this. I like having breakfast with you two, where no one is bullying me. No one is timing our meals. We can just be a family. The only thing missing is Sloan.”
Paxton chokes on his strawberry. “Sloan would murder me if he was here. He has a sixth sense for when people are looking at you like they shouldn’t.”
Gray chuckles into his meal, which is a welcome sound. “Agreed. Love the guy, but it’s good to know he can take the occasional morning off.”
“Sloan isn’t that bad.” Though as I say it, I can taste the sting of the lie on my tongue.
Paxton guffaws. “You clearly didn’t hear the coming-of-age speech he gave to me when he learned we would be living together. Nearly peed myself.”
Gray raises his hand. “That makes two of us. If anything should happen to you on my watch, I can kiss… pretty much my entire life goodbye.” Gray grins, like it’s some grand rite of passage or something. “Sloan is an old softy.”
I bristle in Sloan’s defense. “He’s not that worried, clearly. He’s not here this morning, is he?” My nose crinkles. “Did he even come home last night?”
Paxton grins, like I’ve just said something funny. “No, he certainly didn’t. I wonder where he could be? Two unruly men sitting at your table with you so scantily clad? I should think his internal radar would be buzzing. Whatever could be holding him back at such an hour?”
I don’t know what he’s hinting at, but his giggly smirk tells me I’m not going to like it. “What do you know, you sneaky sneak?”
Gray’s also out of the loop, which is something that happens when you leave your home for days. “He alright?”
Paxton finishes off his breakfast. “I’d say our collective big brother is more than alright. Last night, he went out on a date with Nurse Jen, and no doubt got all his booboos tended to.”
My mouth falls open. “What? He is not. He would have told me.”
Paxton brushes off my indignation. “Like you told him you were snogging two men? He’s allowed a little fun. So are you.”
His innuendo doesn’t miss either one of us.
Paxton stands and clears the table once Gray and I finish our meals. “I’m going to brush my teeth and get dressed for the day.”
I swallow hard. Something about Sloan not being at the camp feels off.
I’m being ridiculous, though. Paxton is right; it’s good for Sloan to take some time for himself. With Nurse Jen. How under a rock have I been that I didn’t see that coming?
Gray takes my hand and helps me to stand, but before he can lead me up the steps, I pause, tugging off the undershirt Paxton loaned me. “Here you go.”
Gray moans his approval as the shirt leaves my shoulders and returns to its rightful owner. His arm winds with purpose around my hips, his thumb stroking the small of my back just because he can. “This scrap of lace is even better in the daylight.”
The lower pitch of his voice sends a thrill through my body.
It’s a slight pinch to my hip that has me turning toward Gray, as Paxton disappears up the stairs and into the bedroom. “You’re really staying here today and helping Paxton with the busses?”
Half a smile quirks the left corner of his mouth. “I’m afraid so. I hope you enjoyed the space we’ve had, because I’m not leaving this property again for a while.”
“Are you really okay with that?”
“With the five of us being a pack?” Gray shrugs, as if this whole thing is nothing to fret about. It’s a bad act, but I appreciate the effort and the spirit behind it. “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather live with.”
I gaze up at Gray with more questions than answers, but I decide to save them for another day.
There’s nothing I want more than to start my day, but we don’t make it two steps up the staircase before a desperate kiss overtakes us. The restlessness in Gray hasn’t left, but for the moment, he summons up the strength to put in on the shelf so he can heft me up in his arms.
My legs feel long and strong as they wrap around Gray’s waist. He leans me backward until my butt rests on a stair. His kiss drives into me, drawing gasp upon gasp as I feel him come to life. This is where he belongs. Exactly here, in my arms. I don’t care that the stair is digging into my back. There’s no part of me that would trade his low moans and noises of desperate desire for anything.
Gray is strong, but trusts me with his vulnerable spots. All he asks is that I do the same in return.
I miss relying on him, clinging to him when I feel weak, and then being solid enough to prop him up when he’s not entirely himself.
His lips are a luscious combination of supple and firm. He’s so very tall and bulky. When his hand holds tight to my thigh, I cannot help but surrender the entire length of my leg to his will. When he spreads my knees further, I don’t tense up or wonder if he’s the right man for this adventure. I know that the man who held me through the nights my demons taunted me can be trusted to direct my body how it best suits us both. He doesn’t do anything unless it’s good for all involved.