I felt him smile against my neck, sending another shiver down my spine, and then he backed off.
Before he stepped away completely, I dropped one last chaste kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Josh. I really do love it.”
“You’re welcome,” he said before moving over to the double doors to make sure the coast was clear.
He took the box with him and disappeared into the back of the house as I gingerly carried my new dress up the stairs. I was smiling to myself, the feeling of Josh’s soft lips still present on mine, so I didn’t notice until I was halfway up that Dot was standing on the landing, hands on her hips and a deep frown on her face, her damp black hair falling in a mess around her shoulders.
My heart sank. How much had she seen? I was supposed to be Ethan’s girlfriend, yet I had just come out of a room with Josh, and if he was having as much trouble containing his smile as I was, we were definitely busted.
Seventeen
“Finally!” Dot huffed, throwing her arms up and letting them flop down at her sides. “Where have you been? We’re behind schedule already.”
“There’s a schedule?”
“Come on. I need you to help me straighten my hair. Do you know what you’re wearing?”
She took off, climbing the second set of stairs to the level where all the guys’ bedrooms were. I followed, breathing a sigh of relief. Maybe she hadn’t seen anything after all.
At the top of the stairs, in answer to her question, I held up my new dress, letting the delicate fabric tumble down between us.
She gasped and took it from me. “I love it! When did you have time to go shopping?”
I shrugged, hoping she wouldn’t press me too much on it, and we headed toward one of the spare rooms—the one she used when she stayed the night.
Even though we were “behind schedule,” instead of following her in, I found myself gravitating toward Ethan’s room.
Josh’s room seemed to be where everyone congregated during our rare moments of freedom, but Ethan’s room was the same size and had almost as impressive a bookshelf. But where Josh’s shelves were crammed with books and music, Ethan’s were bursting with cookbooks.
I’d discovered Ethan’s love of cooking one night when I came over for training. Ethan was at practice for one of his many sports, so the session had been between only me and Josh, with Tyler supervising. It was around dinnertime when we finished and headed downstairs, the smell of something incredible hitting me before I even entered the kitchen.
Ethan was at the stove, several steaming pots and pans in front of him as he expertly bustled between them, lifting the lid to peer into this one, stirring that one, adding something to a third. He looked completely in his element and was so engrossed he didn’t even hear us come in.
“So, my ‘boyfriend’ cooks!” I used air quotes around the word boyfriend. “The plot thickens.”
He looked up, flashing me a quick smile but keeping his attention on the food. “I don’t think I could get any thicker, babe,” he spoke over his shoulder as he grabbed something out of the fridge. “It would just be gratuitous to go any bigger. People would think I was on steroids.”
I laughed and took a seat at the bench.
“Ooh, gratuitous! Someone learned a big new word,” Josh teased, sitting next to me.
Ethan just flipped him off before dipping a spoon into one of the pots and bringing it to my lips. I let him spoon the sauce into my mouth, immediately closing my eyes and moaning at the taste. It was creamy and rich but not heavy, with an amazing earthy flavor.
I opened my eyes to find them both staring at me with amused smiles.
“Ethan, this is incredible,” I declared, already wanting more.
The usually confident guy surprised me with his quiet and sheepish “Thanks.”
“You’ll stay for dinner then?” Josh asked, and I nodded enthusiastically. Ethan could feed me any damn time he wanted.
He may have been big and naturally talented at sports, but Ethan’s real passion was food. I learned more about it over dinner, as he told me all about the dishes we were eating, what he wanted to try to cook next, and what his favorites were.
After dinner he took me to his room to show me all the cookbooks. I couldn’t believe how many he had. He told me he had bought some but that most were his mother’s. She was a chef before she died, and they used to cook together when he was little. My heart broke over the bittersweet look that came into his eyes, but he didn’t speak about his parents very long, changing the conversation to something lighter. I understood that—I didn’t like talking about my mother either. I was glad he’d felt comfortable enough to tell me a little bit about his.
I enjoyed learning about each of them as we spent more time together. I learned that Ethan could cook and that he had a sweet side under that bravado. I learned that Josh liked to read with music on—actually, Josh liked to do almost everything with music on. I learned that Tyler was a workaholic, but he loved his job, and that he was a bit of control freak.
The door to Ethan’s room swung open just as I reached it, bringing me back into the present. He stood on the other side, barefoot and shirtless, in nothing but jeans, slung low on his hips.
“Hello, dearest.” Another new pet name, delivered with a bright smile.
“Hey, sexy,” I shot back without even thinking about it, my focus on his broad chest and the way his fire tattoo wrapped around his shoulder. I had seen him shirtless plenty of times, but there was something more intimate about it at the threshold of his bedroom.
At hearing my choice of nickname, his smile widened. “Damn. Now I can’t use that one. I was saving it for a special occasion.”
He turned, giving me a view of his back, the muscles rippling as he reached for a T-shirt on his bed. I followed him into the room.
“Were you? That’s good to know.” Even though we joked and flirted all the time, somehow it felt heavier in that moment, less lighthearted.
He took his time pulling the white T-shirt over his head. Then he turned to face me, and, just as with Josh, we seemed to gravitate toward each other.
He pulled me into his arms, and I had to lift up onto my toes to reach his shoulders and return the hug—which wasn’t a simple hug for long. Within seconds, his lips were on mine.
I quickly forced myself to pull away, making a conscious effort to bring my Light flow back under control. I couldn’t indulge in this kiss as I had with Josh. While Josh’s ability could be destructive, Ethan’s was downright dangerous.
He tightened his hold on my waist.
“Ethan.” I gave him a warning look. I couldn’t speak about the danger with Dot so close by.
He frowned, loosening his grip a little. “What’s happening?” he whispered, his face still only inches from mine. “Why . . . ?”
He trailed off, but I knew what he was asking. Why were we so drawn to each other so suddenly?
“It might be because I kissed Josh just before,” I whispered back. “The Light. It wants to deepen the Bond evenly. I . . .” I want to deepen the Bond.
“Did you?” The cheeky smile had returned. He wasn’t jealous that I’d kissed his best friend; he was pleased by it. I smiled back, intrigued at his reaction. Maybe it had something to do with the Light fusing us all closer together and not just deepening my Bond to each of them individually?
That’s how Dot found us—holding each other and whispering.
“For fuck’s sake, Eve. Did I not say we were on a schedule? You can make out later.”
She marched over, yanked me away from Ethan with a vicelike grip on my forearm, and dragged me into the next room.
Thankfully, instead of teasing me or asking question about our relationship, she just launched into talking about dresses and makeup and asking my opinion on which shoes she should wear.
We put some music on and took our time doing each other’s hair and talking about pointless things. Squiggles was curled up on the bed, watching us with a contented look on
her furry little face. From time to time Dot would look at her with concentration, and Squiggles would spring into action, retrieving a tissue from the bathroom or digging a tube of mascara out of a bag across the room. It was adorable and handy at the same time.
As I was halfway through straightening Dot’s silky black hair, Charlie wandered past the room and stuck his head in.
“Charles!” Dot yelled before he’d even had a chance to say “hello.” “Come!”
“Dorothy.” He glared at her but walked toward us anyway. “What do you want?”
She glared back at him through the mirror as he gave me a kiss on the cheek in greeting. “Juice me up. I’m feeling a little drained, and I still need Squiggles to fetch things for me.”
“You could just get off your lazy ass and fetch things yourself.”
“And you could stop being an ass and fulfill your birth-given duty to be my living battery.”
“Whatever.” He slapped a hand half over Dot’s face, and the half that I could see smiled a little at the pleasant sensation of the Light coursing into her.
“You’re lucky I haven’t started my makeup yet.”
Charlie ignored her and turned to me. “How are you, Eve? Excited for tonight?”
My eyes were glued to his hand on his sister’s face. I burned to ask him more about how the Vital-Variant connection worked between siblings, what it felt like to expel Light, how he managed to control the flow, if he too had experienced the crazy itching and energy that came with overflow. But they didn’t know I was a Vital, so I had to keep my mouth shut and focus on the conversation. What was he asking about?
“Oh, I guess. Yeah?” I didn’t sound convincing at all, and they both chuckled.
Charlie released his sister’s face, and I went back to straightening her hair as he chatted with me about what to expect that evening, trying to give me all the facts so I wouldn’t be so nervous.
Not that snooty social events were complicated, but he was—just like Tyler—really good at explaining complicated things in simple language. Charlie was writing his thesis in the Variant studies field, so he had joined a few of my study sessions with Tyler, helping to advance my knowledge where he could. I appreciated his insights and company, despite his presence meaning I couldn’t transfer Light to Tyler or practice controlling my Light flow.
It was also a bit ironic that the knowledge I most craved was about the biggest thing we had in common.
“Just stick with one of us during the night and you’ll be fine,” he finished, and I nodded, hoping he hadn’t noticed I’d barely heard a word. “Anyway I’ll leave you girls to . . . whatever this is.”
He waved a hand in our general direction, already walking backward toward the door.
“You’re welcome to join us.” I smiled at him.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I may be gay, but I’m still a man and won’t need more than half an hour to get ready. I’ve got better things to do with my time.”
He was teasing us, a wicked grin falling over his face as he turned and ran for the door. Dot grabbed the first thing her fingers found on the vanity, and so did I, the lipstick and comb landing lamely in the spot Charlie had just dashed away from.
His laughter echoed in the hall as he disappeared down the stairs, and Dot and I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled forth in his wake.
By the afternoon, my hair and makeup were done. All I had left to do was put on the amazing dress Josh had given me, but my stomach was grumbling, and I decided it would be safer to have a snack without it on.
I left Dot to finish her own makeup—she had been drawing on and repeatedly wiping away something she called a “dramatic brow”—and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
Some of the bread Ethan had baked from scratch the other day was still left over, wrapped up in the pantry. I did a fist pump; it was just enough for two thick slices with butter and jam—also homemade by Ethan.
I was just putting the jam back in the fridge when Alec stormed into the kitchen. He never just walked anywhere—he stormed in, radiating hostility, or stalked, unseen, startling you when you finally spotted him.
His features immediately hardened upon seeing me. I was having that effect on him a lot. The nice gesture with the latte after I’d saved Ethan’s life was the first and last time he’d shown me any kindness since the plane crash. As the weeks wore on, he avoided me more and more.
I knew he was helping Ethan and Josh gain better control of their abilities, sharing all he had learned over years of striving to master his own. They talked about it often—Alec’s tips on meditation, his patience when they messed up, the laughs they shared when some mishap inevitably happened.
Those conversations made me feel a little left out. While Tyler was being incredibly attentive with my own training, Alec was never around during our group sessions. I’d briefly mentioned this to Tyler once, and he’d said something about Alec not wanting to intrude when we were all together as a Bond. Then he’d quickly changed the subject. I caught how his brow furrowed though, making me suspect there was more to the story.
“Is that the last of Ethan’s bread?” the man in question asked me in the kitchen.
“Yeah . . .” I was about to offer some to him, then realized there wasn’t enough, and if I went back upstairs without food, I was pretty sure Dot would sic Squiggles on me. Or a bear.
He huffed, mumbled something about me “taking his brothers and his bread,” and stormed back out of the kitchen. I rolled my eyes at his retreating form. His behavior was beginning to border on juvenile.
As I trudged back up the two flights of stairs, plate of delicious bread in hand, I tried to put Alec out of my mind. He was just so frustrating!
“Earth to Eve!” Dot snapped me out of it before I could start obsessing again. She grabbed one of the slices of bread off the plate.
“Sorry. How did it go with the brows?” I bit into the other slice, reveling in the deliciousness of homemade bread and jam.
In answer she wiggled the brows in question and smiled around her mouthful of bread. They were perfectly symmetrical and, I had to admit, dramatic.
I gave her an appreciative look and a thumbs-up.
“What’s got you all distracted?”
“Nothing.” I rolled my eyes. “Just Alec being . . . Alec.”
“What’s he done now?” She chuckled, pushing various clothes and bits of makeup off the bed so she could sit down. Squiggles scampered into her lap and intently watched her eat.
“I just don’t know what his problem is. He can’t even stand to be in the same room as me. What have I ever done to him?” I joined her on the bed, leaning back but being careful not to ruin my hair. Dot had expertly put it up into a smooth low bun.
“Don’t stress. He’s just worried you’re going to take away his family since you’re their Vital. He’ll get over it once he realizes how awesome you are.”
I sighed and nodded. I had figured the same thing. Those boys were really close, and Alec didn’t seem to have many other people in his life due to his ability. Now all of a sudden here I was—Bonded to all three of them and changing the dynamics.
“Wait! What?” I snapped my head up, nearly choking on my last bite of bread. She grinned at me wickedly.
How did she know we were Bonded? I hadn’t told a soul, and I was certain the boys hadn’t either.
“Oh, come on, Eve.” She rolled her eyes. “You three might be fooling everyone else, but I can see how attached Ethan is to you, and I can see the secret looks you share with Josh when you think no one is paying attention. Ethan doesn’t get close to anyone outside his family, and he’s telling you about his parents and his cooking after a few weeks? And Josh used to lock himself in his room for days on end, his head buried in books, but now he’s constantly hanging out with you, noticing things even Ethan, your boyfriend, doesn’t? It’s kind of obvious, really.”
“Well . . . shit.” How could we be failing so badly at keeping our secret? At l
east she didn’t seem to know about Tyler. Maybe that connection wasn’t as obvious because he was keeping the kind of distance between us that Josh and Ethan wouldn’t or couldn’t.
“Is it really so obvious?” I asked on a desperate whisper, fighting the urge to track my guys down to make sure they were OK. If Dot knew, maybe everyone knew, and what if they were in danger?
“Chill.” Dot chuckled.
I’d started to get up, and she grabbed my arm and pulled me back down to the bed. It reminded me of the first time we’d met and she’d done the same thing as I went to chase after Alec. Those were simpler times . . .
“It’s not that obvious. I only know because I know them and I’m smart and I notice stuff. Also Squiggles saw you guys training in the pool one night, and she told me all about it. She is such a gossip!” She was talking about Squiggles as if she were a person and not a ferret, and for a second I questioned her sanity, but when I looked down at the elongated ball of fur, the look on her little face was guilty.
“You used your ability and your ferret to spy on us? Dot!” I was no longer paranoid about our safety, but I couldn’t believe she’d done that.
“Spy is such a negative word. I . . . inquired . . . surreptitiously.”
I gave her a look that made it clear I wasn’t buying it. “Who else knows?”
“Charlie.”
“Dammit, Dot!”
“I’m sorry! But he’s my Vital, not just my brother. Could you keep anything from someone in your Bond?”
She had a point; I couldn’t imagine lying to any of them. My time in the storage closet with Ethan and Josh had proven that—although I was pretty sure that wasn’t how Dot and Charlie got information out of each other.
“He already suspected anyway, and I haven’t told anyone else. Squiggles might be a gossip, but I’m not. You’re lucky she can only talk to me.”
“Dot, this is serious. You guys can’t tell anyone.”
“I know.” She put her serious face on. “Charlie went on about the dangers of the situation for, like, an hour after I told him. We don’t want to put any of you in danger. We just want to help.”
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