“Yeah, then you argued about inappropriate physical contact and the rest of us ran off,” Jasper finished, smiling. He stood up, looking uncomfortable for a moment. “I’m going to read until our run.”
She rose at that and kissed his cheek softly. He turned into it and slowly, tentatively took her mouth for a deeper kiss. She ran a hand over his smooth skin, the flat, defined planes of his chest. It pulled a groan from him.
“That’s a sight to wake up to,” Zander’s voice cut in, sounding sleepy and pleased. Jasper and Sawyer stepped apart and she glared at Zander. “Don’t stop on my account.”
“I’ll see you later,” Jasper whispered. His cheeks were flushed, and she knew he was embarrassed. He didn’t appreciate Zander’s ‘who cares who’s watching’ attitude. It just wasn’t for him. “Are we still on for-”
“Movies?” she finished. “Yeah. We’re still on for that.”
“That’s sweet,” Zander teased. “You two are actually doing the dating thing. Movies and dinners and kisses. It’s adorable to watch.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Sawyer whispered to Jasper.
“Your call. I’m out of here.” Jasper chuckled. “He’s all yours.”
“He’s yours too,” Sawyer called as Jasper retreated. She muttered a curse before turning to Zander. “You need to be like that?”
“Why was he up here?” Zander asked innocently.
Sawyer was glad to see he was waking up in a good mood. She knew she was about to ruin it, though. “I had a nightmare. He pulled me out and came up to make sure I was okay.”
“You could have woken me up,” Zander mumbled, his contented mood vanishing. She knew Zander wasn’t going to like that she hadn’t just cuddled with him for security…and maybe some morning sex.
“Jasper was in there with me. He knows more than you and everyone else does about them. He’s seen them. You don’t need to be in every piece of my business.” Sawyer crossed her arms and glared at him. “We’ve been over this.”
“How often does he come in here?” Zander demanded.
“Every few nights. A few of those while you’ve been here.”
“No one else?”
“Zander, you’re the only person I actually sleep with.” That was a truth they all knew. Zander was the only person who she spent the night with. She and Jasper weren’t having sex and Vincent was…She had shit to work out before she crawled back into that bed, with its black silk sheets. “So, no. No one else.” Sawyer sighed, shaking her head. “We’ve got forty-five minutes until we need to meet for the run. I’m going to get ready and maybe even get down there early. You can sit there and pout, or leave. Your choice.”
“I just want you to talk me about this,” he mumbled.
“I have nightmares,” Sawyer snapped. “Of Axel beating the fuck out of me. Of Henry dying. Of killing people. It’s hard to talk about. It’s a fact of life for me. It’s new enough just trying to let Jasper help me. That was a big fucking step for me. Don’t be an ass about this, Zander. It’s four in the fucking morning and I’m not in the mood to argue about this.”
“Jesus fuck, Sawyer,” Zander said with a groan. He threw the blankets off and rolled out of her bed. As he walked closer, his gorgeous, inked form nearly diverting her attention, he opened his mouth again. “I’m sorry for caring.”
She looked up at him, all of his six foot five and pissing her off. “Don’t you fucking go there with me,” Sawyer snarled. “Get out.” She pointed to her door.
“Don’t-”
“Shut. Up. And. Leave.” Sawyer commanded, saying it slowly so it would get through his thick skull.
He glared down at her and she bared her teeth in warning.
“You spend too much time with Quinn,” he muttered, his eyes on her mouth.
She twisted the snarl into a grin. “He doesn’t shove his foot in his mouth every time he fucking opens it,” she retorted. “I appreciate that about him.”
Zander didn’t say anything after that, collecting his clothes and putting on his sweats before storming out of her room. She ran a hand over her face.
Two weeks of this. Since coming back from Texas, she and Zander found a way to argue over fucking everything, and she was running out of patience. How often they slept together, where they slept, whether she would let him shower with her, who ate off whose plate. Everyone thought it was funny, but she had thought once they settled the relationship stuff it would have stopped.
It had gotten worse.
Sawyer sat back down at her desk and ran a hand over the journal. Complicated. The very thing she had worked so hard to avoid. It was making her annoyed, cranky. She liked simplicity, knowing where she stood, and that was still out of her reach and even more unreachable than it had been.
She flipped through her journal, thinking about the nightmares for a moment. Better than thinking about the rest of her complicated life. She’d had some strange ones after Texas, of children she didn’t know, couldn’t save. She and Jasper had talked about that for long hours. After a week, they had returned to her normal nightmares: Axel, and Henry, and nameless victims.
She didn’t do anything else except stare at the journal until it was time for her to get up and get ready for morning PT. She made it down there before anyone else except Quinn, who - like every morning - was as shirtless as the day he was born. His back was to her, showing her the myriad of crisscross scarring that she didn’t know the origin of. Scout and Shade were in the grass, lying out, panting softly from the run he had already taken them on.
“Good morning, Quinn,” she greeted him as she walked down the steps of the back porch.
“Good morning, Sawyer,” he replied.
“Sleep well?” she asked, stopping beside him and just staring into the woods as well.
“I normally do,” he said simply. “You?”
“As well as can be expected.” She didn’t know what else to say. Quinn knew sleep was tortured for her, and they didn’t talk about it. He was accepting he couldn’t stop the nightmares; she was accepting she could try.
He turned and looked down at her. As down as he could. Zander was much taller than her, but Quinn wasn’t. They were nearly even, her five foot eleven to his six foot two. They were on more even ground in some ways, and in others Quinn outclassed her completely. She was coming to terms with the feral, strange, and immensely powerful Magi she called a friend, even if he could kill her with barely a thought. At least they were more similar in height, right?
“Zander?”
“Nightmare, then Zander,” she corrected.
“You might need to beat him up again,” Quinn suggested. She would have guessed he was joking, but his tone was so bland and matter of fact that she knew he was being completely serious.
“I’m convinced he likes that more than arguing,” Sawyer mumbled petulantly.
“Probably,” Quinn conceded. “Maybe that’s why he likes riling you up.”
“It’s whatever. Let’s move on from it. How’s everything? I haven’t seen you for reading in a couple of days.”
“Good. I…leveled up? Progressed? I’m now considered a high school reading level. Thank you. I think you are the reason for it.” Quinn gave her a very rare smile. “We should celebrate, I think?”
“Are you asking to hang out and celebrate something with me?” Sawyer smiled at him. Now this was a serious step. They had kept everything about books and learning since Texas. He hadn’t wanted to do anything else with her and she didn’t press him for more. She wanted it. She had a soft spot growing in her chest for the feral Magi who had such secret capacity for tenderness. “I would love that. I’m really proud of you, Quinn. I knew you were going to get better - we just needed to find a reason for you to want it.”
“Thank you,” he whispered, staring intently at her. “It’s still a long road, but you…you gave me a gift. I will always remember it.”
Sawyer’s heart skipped an odd beat and she had to break eye contact. She’
d always found him attractive, but she would never act on it. He wouldn’t want her. Their friendship was just beginning, and she didn’t think he would want to join the tangled mess of her relationships.
The conversation ended, neither of them finding anything else to say, leaving Sawyer to absorb the dark silence of the world around her. At nearly five in the morning in October, the world was still asleep, but slowly beginning to wake up. She began to hear some birds rustle in the trees and begin their days. Vincent and Elijah walked out, followed closely by Zander and Jasper, who were quietly bickering over something.
Since coming back from Texas, Jasper had convinced them to let him join in on the outdoor runs, to get up to speed with his new prosthetic.
She stretched in silence, Vincent coming to do his own next to her. They exchanged a glance and he sent her a telepathic thought.
“Good morning. How was your night?”
She gave a heavy, over-exaggerated sigh and eyeroll to give him the gist of it. It made him chuckle softly. She should have found it weird to be asked by one of her boyfriends about another, but Vincent was always polite and just seemed to want to see how she was doing with all of it. Everyone on the team could sympathize with the exasperating nature of Zander Wade.
“Well, if you need someone a little less pushy, you know where to find me.”
She pursed her lips and looked at him. It was basically saying ‘are you serious?’ and she hoped he got it.
“I’m just saying.” He shrugged minutely.
She finished stretching, shaking her head a little with a smile. The bickering between Zander and Jasper had quieted down, leaving them all in a companionable silence.
“Everyone ready?” Vincent called down after nearly ten minutes.
Once everyone gave affirmatives, he led them out, letting them fall into a line behind him. It was an easy morning, even though they moved faster than normal. It was for Jasper’s benefit, as he continued to grow accustomed to running on uneven terrain with his prosthetic. They had picked up the speed regularly every day they ran, giving him a little more of a challenge. His cardio was exceptional, and he was just as tired as the rest of them at the end, but they didn’t want to cause him to fall as he got used to it. They hadn’t had the chance to work on it before Texas, so this was untried ground for him.
Back near the plantation house, Vincent slowed and stopped them for a cooldown walk for the last five minutes.
“We’ll do legs starting in one hour,” he announced. “I figure we can try out the new protein shakes first. Elijah?”
“Yeah, I’ll get them made up for all of us,” Elijah confirmed.
Sawyer looked back at him and wondered how he was doing. He hadn’t pranked on her all morning, teased her or anything else. It wasn’t that it worried her - it just didn’t happen that often. He caught her looking and grinned. She smiled back. That was uncomplicated right there. Elijah still flirted, she still denied him, and things were still good.
Sawyer ended up following Elijah to the kitchen while the others went downstairs or to do their own thing.
“How are you, little lady?” Elijah asked her, as he pulled down a huge tub of protein and several other powders and mixes.
“I’m doing good,” she answered, propping herself on the counter next to where he was working. “We haven’t hung out much.”
“You’ve been busy,” Elijah told her with a teasing tone, grinning. “I mean, how do I compete with Zander?”
She looked him straight in his hazel eyes and made a show of looking down his massive form, the broad shoulders, the huge chest, the fit waist that was still thick. He was a man that a woman could hold on to. A tree to climb, she remembered thinking when she’d met him. A tree she was going to climb eventually because she wanted to. Then she slowly went back up to his eyes.
“There’s no competition,” she replied innocently. There really wasn’t. Zander had that bad playboy thing going for him and a lean, gorgeous swimmer’s body. Elijah was a working man who had an easy-going nature that only wanted to see people smile. They weren’t comparable men. Not to her.
“I’m sure there is,” he said, winking. “But you have yet to take me up on my offer. I know things that Zander could only dream about.”
“I’m not so sure.” Sawyer chuckled. “He’s very good in bed. I’m just so satisfied.”
“Too bad he opens his mouth,” Elijah reminded her, pointing at her with a spoon he was using to dish out the different powders. Then he went back to what he was doing.
“He says some good things too,” Sawyer replied, feeling a little defensive of her redhead.
“How much he loves you?” Elijah whispered, looking at her again. There was something soft on his face.
She nodded. He did say it a lot. Not just during sex, but when they were arguing, and when they weren’t. He didn’t miss a chance to stop reminding her.
“I mean, he does. It’s as obvious as the sun.”
“I know,” Sawyer mumbled, looking down. She loved him too, but damn, he annoyed the hell out of her at every opportunity.
“Want to hang out later? Get you away from the fan club? Maybe if you and Zander get some distance every so often, it won’t seem so rough.” Elijah elbowed her, and she sighed.
“Tomorrow. Today, I’m going to the movies with Jasper,” Sawyer explained, smiling.
He chuckled and nodded. “All right. Tomorrow. Me and you. Quinn too. We’ll head out to the swimming hole before it gets too cold. Still warm enough for it right now. Wouldn’t want to pass up the chance to get more hours in.”
“No, we wouldn’t,” she agreed. “That sounds like a good, relaxing day away from the house. Plus, Quinn told me before the run that he wants to celebrate hitting a high school reading level. We’ll have fun.”
“Yeah, the swimming hole isn’t Zander’s thing. Mutters about water safety, of all things, like Quinn would let us swim in a gross stagnant pond or something,” Elijah muttered, rolling his eyes. “It’ll give you some time away from him and Jasper…and Vincent.”
“The other two aren’t argumentative monsters,” Sawyer mumbled with a groan.
The conversation ended as Elijah turned on the blender. A minute later, a glass was pushed into her hands and commanded to drink. Strawberry flavoring helped cover up the bland powder, but the weird grainy feeling in her mouth was unavoidable. She finished it dutifully as the rest of the team started coming into the kitchen since they heard the blender.
The leg day in the gym was as easy as the run. She partnered with Jasper, keeping a close eye on him as he proceeded through the workout on the new leg. His perseverance to make it work made her a little proud.
“You did good today,” she said to him as she grabbed a towel. She frowned and realized it was the last one. She tossed it to Jasper, deciding he deserved it more.
“Thank you,” he replied, looking a bit bashful. “It’s been a long time since I could do squats without my body protesting. Can you throw a second towel?”
“There’s no more,” Sawyer said, pointing into the bin where clean towels were normally kept.
“Shit,” Jasper hissed. “We need to call her. I thought we already did.”
“The nice old cleaning lady you have banned from the house?”
“Yeah,” Jasper sighed. “Vincent!”
“What?” Vincent called back before walking over. “What’s wrong?”
“We need Estella to come back. We’re falling behind on the household chores,” Jasper quickly told him. “It’s time. Sawyer has settled in. She’s not a danger to Estella. Elijah said she was going to start coming back.”
“I’ll call her later today,” Vincent replied casually, shrugging. “Other things came up and I forgot to tell her it was okay for her start her weekly visits again. It’s not a problem.”
“What’s going on?” Zander cut in.
“You were supposed to clean towels.” Jasper threw the last one, now wet with sweat, at him.
/>
Zander made a disgusted face and looked at the towel that had hit the side of his face and fallen to the floor. Sawyer couldn’t hold back a snicker. “Shit. My bad,” he mumbled, leaning down to pick it up. “I’ll get them done today, or at least get them started.”
“Thank you. I’ll ask Estella to start coming over again. Sawyer, I hope you’re ready. She’s a great little old lady.” Vincent walked away after that, leaving the gym with Elijah. Quinn, Sawyer noticed, was already long gone.
“I’m going to get in the shower before you guys,” Sawyer announced. She left the gym before Zander or Jasper could beat her to the bathroom that she shared with them. She didn’t use Elijah and Vincent’s ever, because Elijah left it a constant mess to piss off Vincent. She’d made the mistake of going into it once and regretted it. Quinn had his own attached to his bedroom, something private, and she’d never been in his room or his bathroom. She would never go in without his permission either, unless she had a death wish.
She smartly locked the bathroom door. If she left it unlocked, Zander would get frisky and want to play. While sometimes that was appreciated, today she wanted space from him. She needed it, or one of them was going to get hurt.
She took her time, ignoring one of them knocking on the door. What she hadn’t expected when she got out was both of them waiting on her.
“I’m going. You two can fight over it.” Sawyer chuckled, waving to the steamy bathroom. As long as it wasn’t her doing the fighting, she didn’t care what they did.
“I’m going first. When I get out, we’re going to the movies,” Jasper said quickly, diving into the bathroom.
Sawyer was unable to stop the laugh at Zander’s annoyed face. She was still laughing all the way up to her room.
2
Sawyer
She met Jasper in the garage. She’d never been on a date like this, and it excited her in a weird way. A date. It was so simple and also so incredibly Jasper. He’d asked her after they got home from Texas, and things had repeatedly come up to stop them from going. From paperwork over Texas to visiting the kids at the orphanage, stuff just never stopped coming their way.
The Redemption Saga Box Set Page 65