by Logan Fox
I shake my head. “Not even a little.”
“You should rest.”
She takes my hands, laces our fingers, and leads us toward the bedroom. And then my heart does that thing I hate so much—twisting in place before thumping around like a tooth in a loose socket.
“Why didn’t you just say you wanted to fuck?” I tell her as I leer at her ass through the silk robe she’s wearing.
She stops dead in her tracks, and turns to frown at me. “Who said that’s what I want?”
I blink, exhale hard. “What?”
She points at the bed. It’s a king-size, covered with pillows and furry blankets. A girl’s bed. “Sit.”
I don’t like the mischievous light in her eyes. “Or what?”
“Or you can leave, Zach.” She quirks an eyebrow. “Forever.”
At first I think she’s dead calm about it, her face not even twitching…but then I see her hands. They’re in fists at her side.
So I go over to the bed.
I sit.
And she smiles at me like I deserve a fucking treat.
Trinity turns her head without taking her eyes off me, and calls out, “Guys? I need a hand.” And then, with a twist of her mouth, adds a reluctant, “Please.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Apollo
“Shut it, would you?” I whisper, waving a hand behind me. “I can’t hear if you two keep yakking like that.”
“You shouldn’t be eavesdropping in the first place,” Rube says.
“Aw, leave the kid alone,” Cass says.
I turn and scowl at Cass over my shoulder. “Kid?” I’m almost two years older than him.
He smirks at me from where he’s lounging in the hot tub. He practically lives in the thing. I’m surprised he hasn’t sprouted scales yet.
I put my ear back to the crack in the sliding door. Rube pulled it closed when he came back a few minutes ago, and then scolded me when I tried to open it.
Zach and Trinity are talking so quietly, I can barely make out more than a word or two. It’s driving me nuts.
“Apollo, chill,” Cass calls out.
“Shh!” I hiss.
There’s a splash, and the slap of wet feet on the deck. The balcony is covered in slats of wood that stretch all the way to the eight-seat hot tub. A yard away, the balcony ends with a glass railing so you can soak up the bubbles while staring out at the ocean.
I fucking love this house.
I’ve never loved anything as much in my life…
Okay, that’s a lie.
“...forgive you, Trinity Malone. I don’t think...”
I strain to hear more.
Screw this.
I grab the sliding door. “I need the—” I begin.
Rube lets out a low, “Not a chance,” a second before Cass grabs the door and slides it closed all the way.
Right in my face.
“Come on, man. I won’t bug them.”
“Let them talk,” Rube says. He’s standing by the railing, leaning on crossed arms as he stares out at the ocean. He faces forward again as Cass splashes back into the hot tub.
“Come and get in,” Cass says. “Knowing those two, this could take hours.”
Hours?
I sigh, and stand for a few more seconds by the door. I guess Zach will tell us everything anyway when they’re done…but how am I supposed to wait that long?
As I’m about to turn around, I hear something.
I’m right up against the door a second later.
“What?” Cass demands behind me. “What is it?”
I love you. But I won’t ever...
I turn wide eyes to Cass, then to Rube, who’s facing me now.
I creep away from the door like Zach and Trinity are the ones listening to us, and beckon Rube over when I reach the hot tub.
He frowns, but walks over anyway.
Cass glances up at him and then shields his eyes with a flat hand. “Dude, can you put on some shorts or something?”
Rube is still wearing the towel he came out of the bathroom with. “How about you stop looking?”
Cass rolls his eyes, and then trains them on me. “What did you hear?”
“He said he loves her.” I step back, clapping my hands together in front of me as I wait for their response.
Cass rolls his eyes again and mutters, “Christ, finally.”
Rube looks like he turned to marble. “He said that? You’re sure?”
I nod feverishly. “I know what I heard.”
Rube shakes his head. “You must have—”
“Jesus, Rube, don’t put on that act. We all fucking knew it.”
Rube’s one eyebrow cocks up. “We did?” he says dryly.
“Fucking obvious from day one. She pushes his buttons just right, and he loves that shit.”
And Rube doesn’t argue, because I guess he did know. We all did, just like Cass said.
Zach’s mental, but under all that repressed rage, and hate…he’s just a guy. It’s been brutal for us, even after we got out of that basement, and it fucked us up in different ways. Zach went on the offensive. He’d push people away the moment he saw them as a threat. To himself, to us—it didn’t matter, because to him, we’re one and the same.
I’m so fucking glad he was the one who said it first. Because holy crap, I’ve been wanting to tell her that for a while now.
Zach’s not our leader anymore. We don’t need that kind of structure. But maybe it was some kind of respect.
Unspoken, but unanimous.
I love that about us.
We have an unbreakable bond, the four of us. With Trinity…
I don’t know if she’ll ever be on the same level as us—mentally, emotionally—but we have the rest of our lives to figure it out. And I’m not going anywhere.
Now that Zach’s told her how he feels…I’m pretty sure he’s not going anywhere either.
“So you think she’ll let him upstairs?” I ask them.
Cass rolls onto his back and sticks his toes out of the water, not bothering to humor me with a reply.
“Don’t know,” Rube says. He comes closer, grabs my shoulder, squeezes. “But that’s her decision, not—”
“Guys!”
All three of us spin around to face the door. And I’m sure my heart isn’t the only one that goes thump at the sound of Trinity’s voice.
“I need a hand.”
Cass lets out such a delighted chuckle, the hair on my arms stands up. He jumps out of the hot tub, streaming water over the deck as he races for the door. We shove and push at each other, jostling for pole position, but all it takes is a disapproving rumble from Reuben to make us stop.
We look back at him. Cass shrugs, mouthing, “What?”
Rube holds up a finger.
And then Trinity lets out a sulky, “Please.”
Rube nods his head.
All it takes is elbowing Cass in the stomach, then I’m the first through the door.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cass
“You called,” I say, walking up behind Trinity and sliding my hand onto her shoulder. The black robe she’s wearing does all sorts of delicious things to my fingertips, especially when I trace her collarbones through the silky fabric.
Zach is sitting on the edge of her bed, looking mighty out of place against the pale pink bedspread.
Rube comes up behind me, but doesn’t pass. I guess he’s waiting to find out what she wants, just like me. Just like Apollo.
And, judging from the frustrated look in Zach’s eyes, he doesn’t have a fucking clue what this is about either.
“This is going to get a little tricky,” Trinity says, but without taking her eyes off Zach. But she puts her hand over mine, molding my palm over her shoulder. “Where do you think he’s going to sleep?”
Apollo’s about to say something stupid, I can see it, so I cut in with a quick, “It’s a king. There’s enough room.”
“Is there though?�
� Trinity muses. She glances up at me, pouting like she’s legit having to think about it.
Fuck, I could eat her whole right now. But rather than wolf my way through a delicacy like her, I’d rather take my time and slowly nibble my way over every inch of her.
“So what are you saying?” Rube says.
She looks over at him, and starts stroking the back of my hand. “I don’t think he’ll fit.”
Jesus Christ, she’s doing this on purpose. I don’t care how innocent she sounds, she’s got to know every single word coming out of her mouth is a double entendre. I mean, the guy’s sitting on her fucking bed. She’s wearing nothing but a silk robe. And I can practically smell how desperate she is for a fuck.
We’ve spent many nights in that pastel pink bed of hers—me, Rube, Apollo. Nothing more than some light petting and some serious kissing though. She’s constantly leaving us with blue balls, and then walking around like she doesn’t have a fucking clue how close we came to holding her down and just taking what she seems so ready to give.
I know it has to do with Zach. And I know Rube has this fucked up notion that he’ll rip her in half with his giant dick.
If I thought it would make even the slightest difference, I’d have told them all to spend some quality time on PornHub and see how many cunts get ripped apart on there.
We can’t break her any more than we already have…and I didn’t hear anyone complaining back then.
But after all the shit with Zach getting shot, Gabriel getting away, and our last chance at revenge decomposing in its own shallow grave…I guess we all suffered a bit of a setback.
Hopefully, that shit’s all settled now.
“Fit where, my little slut?” I ask her, sliding my hand down the front of her body and cupping a breast.
Zach’s eyes move to my hand, then up to my face. I grin at him.
He’s the sadist in the house, sure, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like fucking with him.
“On the bed,” she says, as if it’s painfully obvious what she was referring to. I give her tit an extra hard squeeze for that, and she lets out an indignant little gasp.
“Then he sleeps on the floor,” Rube says.
I barely stop a laugh, glancing at him from the corner of my eye. Rube walks up and comes to stand beside Trinity. He crosses his arms over his chest, and then cocks his head to the chaise lounge pushed against the glass wall opposite the bed. “Or the couch.”
“Hmm,” Trinity muses. “Maybe the couch.”
There’s a long, drawn out silence. Then Apollo ducks toward Zach and whispers, “I think she wants you to go over to—”
“Yeah, fuck,” Zach growls, standing in a rush. He comes close as he walks past, and gives all three of us a scathing glare.
I almost fucking giggle. It must be eating him up, trying to keep his temper in check.
I’ve been there to pick him up after each therapy session, and shit gets fucking real in those first few minutes as we fuck off out of Dana Point.
When Zach ratted on me to his shrink, telling the guy I helped him control his urges, I was dragged in there for a session or two myself.
Ain’t fuck all wrong with me, so I refused anything more permanent, but I was happy to help out Zach.
Except, now I can’t. I’m not allowed to be his pin cushion anymore. We’ll never get to finish the smiley face of cigarette burns on my stomach.
The shrink was horrified when I lifted up my shirt, which I found hilarious…which Zachary didn’t.
That was my last co-session with them.
So when he walks past and throws us a glare, it feels like it lands harder on me. Like I’m the one who said he has issues he needs to sort out.
Well…he did abandon us. And he didn’t do fuck all when Gabriel took our Trinity away.
So yeah.
Therapy is his punishment.
And he can glare at me all he wants for thinking I’m a hypocrite.
But I do feel for him. I can’t imagine what it’s like, having to deal with our shit on top of the maelstrom of pain and suffering churning around inside his head.
So I grin at him.
That makes him huff and turn his back on us. Big mistake.
Don’t ever turn your back on a wild animal.
Rube grabs the back of Zachary’s neck and shoves him forward, pinning him down on the bed.
Trinity gasps. Apollo shoots forward. I barely manage to grab the back of his shirt and haul him back before he can interfere. When he turns to give me an incredulous stare, I shake my head.
We all have shit to work out with Zach. Trinity, in essence, opened the flood gates.
“You really think he deserves to sleep up here?” Rube grates, looking back at Trinity.
I’m shocked—and a little amazed—that her voice is calm when she says, “Yes.”
Rube lets him go.
Zach scrambles up, turns, and Rube’s hand is around his neck again. Zach lifts his arms as if he wants to grab Rube’s wrist, but then he looks over at Trinity, and his hands fall down beside him as he lowers himself onto the edge of the bed.
Now I’m wishing Apollo had heard more than Zach apparently confessing his love for Trinity, because the fact that Zach’s allowing this shit to happen? I’m guessing we missed some serious drama.
Although, “allowing” isn’t quite accurate, judging from the expression on Zach’s face. I’m guessing there’s a hurricane brewing inside his head.
I feel sorry for him, I do. But it’s about time he starts manning up.
“How about we use a reward system?” I say, and start stroking Trinity’s shoulder again.
“I’m listening,” she says.
Rube glances at me over his shoulder. “Reward for what?”
“If he’s good, then he gets to sleep on the couch.” I move my head beside Trinity’s, like I’m the devil whispering into her ear. “If he’s bad, he sleeps on the floor.”
Zach clears his expression, and no wonder. I like whatever game Rube and Trinity are playing. I want in.
Who knows…tonight we could all be winners.
Apollo’s lips tug into the wickedest smile I’ve ever seen on him.
Trinity steps forward, out of my grasp. And then over to Rube and Zach, gently moving Rube out of the way.
And the sonofabitch goes.
But I guess we’d be in just as much shit if we disobeyed Trinity right now.
She touches Zach’s chest, and then points to the pink, padded headboard with its big rhinestone studs.
“Sit.”
Zach’s mouth twitches, but he manages to keep his expression neutral as he shifts back on the bed until his back is against the headboard. He grabs a handful of her pillows, and he’s about to toss them over the side of the bed when Trinity clicks her tongue.
“Leave them alone.”
He grits his teeth, but then he subsides, looking totally out of sorts amid the mountain of girly throw pillows. And then Trinity climbs onto the bed. And then she takes off her fucking robe.
“Hey,” I call out.
She turns to look at me, eyebrows quirked up.
“What the fuck, woman?”
Now it’s one eyebrow.
“Impatient, much?” Apollo mutters next to me.
“Yeah, obviously.” I wave at Zachary. “How is this any kind of fair?”
Rube chuckles.
The motherfucker actually fucking chuckles at me.
“Do you want to sleep on the floor?” she asks.
I drop my gaze. Shake my head.
Trinity faces Zachary and slowly crawls over the bed toward him. He sits up a little taller, glancing over at us with a blank face before looking back at her. Like he thought he knew how this game would go, but now he’s fucking clueless.
You and me both, buddy.
I feel like going off and having a sulk. I didn’t sign up for a spectator sport. I love a good tennis match, but nothing beats actually holding the racket in your hand
s and slamming it into a fucking tennis ball.
But she doesn’t care. Trinity knows we’re all fucking salivating over her tight, curvy little body as it sways over to him.
She taps each of Zach’s ankles, and he spreads his legs so she can kneel between them.
This is goddamn animal cruelty. Why the hell are we being punished?
She tugs at his belt, biting her bottom lip as she eases his pants off and down his legs. She doesn’t even leave him with a pair of boxers.
I’m shocked he doesn’t have a boner yet, because I’m already rocking a semi.
Oh, right. He’s not wired like that.
That makes all of this even worse. This tease show won’t work on him.
She retreats, taking his pants with her. Then she tosses them over the side of the bed.
“Apollo.” She turns to look at the guy, and his face lights up like a Christmas tree.
He steps closer, and then pauses. “Yeah?”
Trinity lures him onto the bed with a crook of her finger, and then sits up on her knees when he gets closer. She looks up at him, for all the world like he’s the sun and she’s the head priestess of a sun-worshiping cult.
She runs her fingers through his hair.
Takes off his shirt. Helps him out of his pants. Then she pats his chest and turns to look at me. Beckons me.
I’m up on that bed so fast I get carpet burn from the fucking sheet. She doesn’t have to help me out of my pants—they’re off before I get within a foot of her.
Trinity looks down at my dick and then back up at me with rosy cheeks. For all the world like the fact that she’s made me this hard is something she’s struggling to come to terms with. Then she pats me on the chest.
But I dart forward and kiss her instead. Because fuck the rules—I’ll go mad if I don’t taste her right this second. She responds with a moan that makes my dick throb, and then pushes me away.
“Wait,” she says through a laugh. “Just wait.”
“Fuck, woman,” I growl. “What do you think we’ve been doing the last six months?”
“Cass,” Rube says, voice low.
My skin prickles in warning, and I sit back on my haunches like the good little pet I am because that’s how desperate I am to ensure she’ll let me stay on the fucking bed.