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“No way.” Asher walks into the living room with his hand raised. “I call dibs.”
“Shut up, you can’t dibs my woman.” I throw my arm wide while tucking Rachel against my side.
“Ooo. Mr. Possessive.” Casey waves his fingers in the air, then gives Rachel an emphatic look. “Do you really want that?”
She grins, wrapping both her arms around my waist. “I really want him, so…”
“Fine.” Casey throws his arms up in jest. “I could make you scream louder, but whatever.”
Rachel gasps, her cheeks turning beet red while I chase after Casey. His hoots echo through the house as I jump on his back and we scuffle on the living room floor, our antics turning into side-splitting laughter. Asher stands there, nibbling on green beans out of the bowl as Ethan walks into the room carrying Mick on his back.
“What the hell is going on in here?” he asks.
“They’re just fighting over me.” Rachel rolls her eyes. “Actually, not me. They’re fighting over my cooking.” Her eyebrows rise with a pointed look at Casey, who gives her his best smile before jumping up and pulling me off the floor.
“I would also love your body too.” His gaze skims the length of her. “I feel like I need to make that clear.”
I slap him in the stomach with the back of my hand, and he bends over with a dramatic “Oof.”
Thankfully, Rachel starts serving up the meals, and we’re soon camped around the table, chowing down on some kind of beef stew that I can’t stop eating. Conversation flows easily between us, as usual. Even Baxter’s come out to feed.
Riley’s muscled in on our mealtime, too, and is sitting at the head of the table, laughing his way through a story about Connor, who’s not even here to defend himself.
I stay quiet, checking out my girl as she sits there smiling along. But something’s not quite right. She’s nibbling on the edge of her nail… and her fingers are shaking a little. Something happened at work today. Did she have to face off with a shitty customer? Did she get scared being in the house by herself? It was daylight when she drove home, and I had a class I couldn’t miss. As much as I hated it, I figured she’d be okay. But was I wrong?
Shit. We haven’t been to the gym in a couple days. It was definitely making her feel more confident. Maybe I should offer to take her there right now. My assignment can wait. She needs this.
Leaning forward, I glide my hand over her thigh and give it a gentle squeeze.
“Hey.” She turns into me so I can whisper against her skin. “Want to get out of here?”
She leans back, her green eyes studying my expression. She’s worried about something; I can tell by the soft tremble of her bottom lip when she nods.
“I was thinking the boxing ring?”
Her nose wrinkles. “Actually, can we just go upstairs?”
“Sure.” I nod, concern flickering through me as I brush the hair off her cheek and try to read her mind.
She looks away from me, gathering up the plates when she stands.
“Oh no you don’t.” Ethan stops her. “You cooked. We’ll clean up.”
“Thanks.” She grins at him, then shares a look with Mikayla.
Her best friend sits up with a curious frown, but she mouths something I can’t lip read, and Mick sinks back with a little nod, flicking a glance at me before resting her head on Ethan’s shoulder.
I don’t know what the fuck is going on right now, but I don’t like it.
Following Rachel up the stairs, I rest my hand on her lower back as we walk into my room. I click the door shut and lock it as well. I’m sensing a need for privacy, and as soon as I turn to face her, I know this isn’t a good kind of privacy.
“Liam.” She sighs my name, then plunks down onto the end of my bed.
“Cariña?” I crouch on the floor in front of her, resting my hands on her knees. “What happened?”
“Someone came to the house today.” Her eyes are big and scared, and it puts me on instant alert.
“Who?” I growl, my fingers curling into the fabric of her floaty dress. “What did they want?”
