"Boss, did you just check me out?" Zed asked, and I jerked like I'd been electrocuted.
"What? No." I cringed inwardly but kept my face smooth. "I should get home and let Seph know I'm still alive." I grabbed my gun and holster from where I'd left them on my desk the night before and shrugged it on.
Zed did the same with his weapons, which he'd left on the lamp table beside the couch, then grimaced as he flexed his fingers. "Fucking Vega has a hard face, I'll give him that. Come on, I'll buy you breakfast; Seph will already be at school."
I started to decline, but my stomach rumbled loud enough to raise the dead and I grimaced. "Yeah, good call. I'm not eating that health food bullshit though; take me somewhere that serves bacon and coffee."
He just laughed at me, shaking his head, then packed up the first aid kit that we'd left out on the coffee table and put it back on my shelf where it lived.
"Yes, sir," he chuckled, holding the door open for me to leave ahead of him, "bacon and coffee. Your wish is my command."
I glared at his teasing, then almost stumbled when he shot me a wink.
What the fuck?
As we made our way through the Copper Wolf headquarters, already busy with people well into their workday, I couldn't help but notice a difference between us. Somehow the forced reminder of our past, of how we'd both been fooled by Chase's charms and what we eventually done to fight back, had also reminded us of who we used to be. How close we’d once been.
In a way, being my second meant Zed was closer to me than any person alive. But I could see now how we'd lost the closeness of friendship, and damn, I'd missed it.
Now definitely wasn't the time to start rekindling my eight-year-old crush on him.
28
It was afternoon by the time I made it home, and after a long soak in the bathtub, I fell back into my bed for an afternoon nap. I needed it.
When I woke up again, my internal clock was all screwed up, and it took me several minutes of blinking at my clock to work out if it was seven in the evening or morning. Eventually, the darkness clued me in to the fact that it was, indeed, evening.
I could smell pizza, so it was a safe bet that Seph had sorted out dinner for herself with takeout, seeing as she was a lousy cook. Yes, I was failing at parenting her, but on the upside, she was still alive. So, fuck it. She had plenty of time to learn how to cook.
Driven by hunger, I dragged my ass out of bed and made my way out to the kitchen to check if she'd ordered enough for me too.
"Seph!" I yelled when I found the kitchen empty. "Where's the pizza?"
"Get your own!" she shouted back from the living room. "I didn't even know you were home, so I didn't get you one!"
Grumbling insults at my little sister under my breath, I stomped through to the living room to steal a slice. Then froze midstride and let out a string of silent curses.
"Dare, what the fuck?" Seph shrieked when she saw me standing there like an idiot. "Put some clothes on!"
I glowered at her. "Maybe you need to tell me in advance if this is going to be a regular thing. How was I supposed to know you had company?" With a shrug, I sat my ass down on the sofa and grabbed a slice of pizza from the open box on the table. "Hey, Lucas. Nice to see you again. Still working on that art project?"
He shook his head, a wide grin splitting his face, and quickly flicked his gaze over my outfit. Or lack thereof. I had come straight from bed and was only wearing a pair of red bikini briefs and a loose tank top that did nothing to hide my nipples or generous side boob. In my defense, he'd already seen me naked plenty of times, so this wasn't so scandalous... But Seph didn't know that.
"Actually, we finished that last week," he replied, subtly shifting in his seat and pulling a pillow into his lap. "Seph generously offered to tutor me in economics so I could catch up. My homeschooling over the last few years has been a bit lacking, so I'm behind."
Seph was still glaring brutal death at me, so she hadn't seen the way Lucas's line of sight kept dipping to my hard nipples. But I was probably pushing my luck, so I scooped up another slice of pizza and stood up once more.
"I should leave you to it, then," I told her with a teasing smile. "Good luck on your homework, Lucas. Seph sucks at economics."
"I do not!" she hissed, throwing a pillow at me as I left the room laughing.
I didn't go far, lurking in the kitchen to eat my stolen pizza and eavesdrop on my sister's study session. Yes, I was at that level of pathetic, but fucking whatever. The distraction of my naughty little liaison with Lucas was the perfect mental relief after the stress of Saturday night at Anarchy. Like he’d said... I needed him in my life right now. He was keeping me sane, reminding me that I was still human. That I was more than the image I'd built for myself.
For the most part, their voices were low enough that I couldn’t hear anything that was being said, so I just ate my food, then went to the fridge to find a drink. Just as I was opening a bottle of orange juice, Lucas's words met my ears clearly.
"...really sorry," he was saying, and I froze to listen. "I thought I was really clear; I don't want to lead you on, Seph. You're crazy beautiful, obviously, and an awesome girl. But I have a girlfriend. I've already told you that."
Oh shit. That had to sting. I bit my lip, torn between wanting to comfort my sister—because she was a goddamn catch—and cursing her out for not respecting his boundaries when he'd made it clear he wasn't available.
"Yeah, sorry," Seph replied, giving a forced laugh. "Yeah, I know. Sorry, I wasn't trying to... Look, can we just forget it and move on? I didn't—"
"It's cool," he cut her off before she could ramble anymore. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable either; I just want to be transparent. Your sister would probably cut me into a million tiny pieces or something if I led you on." He said it with a small laugh, but he damn well knew he was right. I would.
Seph groaned. "Fuck, she totally would. Christ, can we just keep this between us? She can be a bit of a psycho..."
Ouch. That hurt.
"She just loves you," he told her, his tone serious. "You're lucky to have her."
Seph made a sound like she disagreed but didn't argue. Instead, she changed the subject back to their homework, and I drummed my fingertips on the counter. I should go back to my room and leave them to study in privacy. I didn't mistrust either of them, I was just fucking curious. I'd lost so much of my own teen years that it was fascinating for me to observe from the outside.
Just as I was about to retreat into my room, Lucas said he was going to the bathroom. A second later, he appeared around the corner to the kitchen with a look of determination on his face.
My lips parted to ask what he was doing, but he pressed a finger to his lips. Two long strides saw him cross over to me, then he grabbed my wrist and dragged me around the corner into the guest bathroom with him.
His lips slammed into mine a split second before the door closed behind us, his hard body shoved me against the tiled wall, and his hands cupped my face.
Fuck it. I kissed him back, digging my fingers into his back and pulling myself closer. He gave a quiet moan against my mouth, his hands sliding down my body to cup my ass, then he lifted me until my legs wrapped around his waist and his hard cock ground against my panties.