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“Yes, but he’s my asshole, and I don’t want anything to happen to him. He gets reckless when he’s mad, and I don’t want him to do anything stupid. You can help me with that, can’t you? You’ll go straight home, right?” Gone is the affable teenager he portrayed this morning, and in his place is a grown man who knows how to get what he wants.
I roll my eyes, trying to play off that I’m not affected by any of this, even if that’s so not true, but I have an idea brewing, and it’s one that I’m going to have to think about a little longer before sharing with the team. “Fine, but if he’s a dick, I can’t guarantee he won’t be unharmed. I might just kick him off the bike and leave him in my dust.”
His lips curve into another smirk. “That’s okay. Sometimes he needs to be punished.” With a light brush of his lips against mine, he disappears back into the house.
My fingers come up to my lips as I blink in surprise. A quiet chuckle has me looking over at Miller, who is still leaning against the garden shed.
“Ryland is a quiet force of nature. You don’t know he’s after you until you’re caught firmly in his web. You better watch out. He has his eye on you.” He pushes off the shed and starts walking in the direction of the bike, which is parked in the driveway.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask, hurrying after him, but by the time I get to him, he’s already shoved the helmet on his head and thrown his leg over the bike. I guess it’s my turn to ride bitch, and Miller doesn’t answer my question or share how he feels about his… boyfriend hitting on me.
The ride home is quiet. My body is wrapped around his, and my hands rest against his sculpted abs. I lean my head against his back, both of us lost in our own thoughts—mine swirling between the case, Bishop’s threats, and Ryland’s last comments to me. I’m assuming he and Miller are a couple, so how does Miller feel about Ryland sort of kissing me? Is he pissed? Is that why he’s been quiet all the way home? I couldn’t believe it when he stood up for me against Bishop. Miller has been nothing but antagonistic, so I’d have thought he would have taken Bishop’s side. Yet not only did he defend me, but he got mad enough that he wanted to damage Bishop. Maybe he’s not as indifferent to me as he pretends.
We bump down the dirt access road, returning the bike to the bushes we found it in. Together, we pull the tarp back over it, concealing it from any potential eyes.
We start the short trek back to the house. I take a deep breath, about to talk to him about what just happened, but he hurries ahead of me. I can’t talk too loudly because I don’t want to get caught, and I guess he’s not ready to talk to me. He’s back to his previous state of hating on Mac. It’s fine, I don’t need or want his friendship or approval anyway.
When I get to the tree, he’s already halfway up it, so I wait for him to enter the house before making my own climb. It’s not as easy as it was on the way down, and my boots slip a couple of times, but I finally make it to the window. I climb in, and Miller is already in his bed, his back to me and his covers pulled up over his head.
“Shut the window,” I hear him mumble, and I do as he asks. It slides into place quietly, and I leave without saying another word to him. I can certainly take a hint.
Tiptoeing down the stairs, I crack the door open at the bottom to make sure no one is in the hallway. It’s all clear, thankfully. It would have been hard to explain why I am dressed like I am instead of being in pj’s. I hurry to my shared bedroom, and just like before, Jessica is fast asleep, the rattling sounds of her snoring loud in the quiet room. Fuck, I’m never going to be able to get back to sleep with that sound.
I remove my boots and jeans and pull my bra off from under my shirt, but I leave that and my undies on, before climbing into bed. I roll over and pull the blankets high up over my ear in an attempt to block out the noise. My thoughts turn to the conversation that I’m assuming is still happening over at the governor’s house. I wonder what options Dad will give Bishop. Hopefully, I will get a quiet moment to ask one of the guys about it at school tomorrow.
I think about how everyone reacted to learning about all the orgasms today, and I guess I’m a little surprised that no one was more upset about it. I thought with the way the team had originally reacted to learning about me using my body to get information that there would be more disgust, but they all seemed strangely okay with it, apart from Bishop.
I wish I had a chance to talk one-on-one with each of the people involved in said orgasms just to make sure that they were okay and to assure them I was too. They are all sexy men, so I can guarantee it was no hardship for me, even the one that wasn’t strictly business. Seeing the sharp, sedate Dayton flustered more than made it worth it, and discovering this evening that maybe he’s not as straightlaced as I thought was a nice surprise. Although I still don’t want to join their team, I think I’m going to enjoy working with them even if it is temporary. Maybe Mom and Dad were both partly right. It would be nice to have some more friends.
Jessica makes a weird sound, and I pull the blankets back to check on her, but she’s just rolling over. It looks like it’s quite the process, and she flings back her covers, hauls her body over, and then pulls the covers back up. I don’t think she actually wakes, but the snoring does cease now that she is on her side. She snuffles a bit then settles. I go to pull my blankets back up, but there’s a strange sound coming from her now. I strain my ears to listen and feel a smile spread across my lips when I recognize what she’s doing. She’s humming in her sleep. It’s not one long continuous song, but little brief hums almost like musical sighing. It’s kind of cute and much more preferable to the grizzly bear sounds she was making previously.
I roll back over and close my eyes. Her humming is actually soothing in the quiet room, and I find myself drifting quickly to sleep.
* * *
The next morning is much like the first. We have breakfast together and then walk down the drive to the bus. Miller has gone back to ignoring me, and despite Jessica’s somewhat kind warning the night before, she does nothing but glare at me with disdain, so it’s business as usual. The same car as yesterday pulls up, and the passenger side window lowers. Lathan smiles at me but speaks to Miller, offering him a ride again. The sun isn’t in a weird spot today, and I can see Ryland in the driver’s side. He stares at me while everyone else is distracted by the others. He slowly lowers his glasses and winks at me before raising them again. Damn, the Turner brothers have some potent energy, and I find myself wanting to lean into it.
I need to kick myself in the ass. I do not need anyone else, I’ve been on my own for years. I’m a self-sufficient, confident woman who needs no man, but there’s a small, albeit tiny, part of me that yearns to be taken within their fold, to be spoiled and looked after for once in my life. If anyone asked, though, I would shoot myself in the foot before I would admit it.
I turn my back on the car as Miller and Jessica climb in once more. I don’t catch sight of Bishop, but then he did say he had an early start with the football team, so maybe they dropped him off before. I need to corner one of them discreetly and ask what the outcome of their conversation was when we left. Miller won’t be able to ask in the car because Jessica is with them. Lathan waves a cheery goodbye, and the tires kick up dirt as they pull out of the bus stop.
“Why didn’t you go with them? I’m sure they would have made room for you too. Lathan seems really friendly, maybe you could have sat on his lap,” Cassie teases, nudging me in the side.
“I’m not here to make friends. I’m going to work hard, graduate, and blow this popsicle stand,” I tell her. “I don’t have time for schoolyard drama.”
She frowns. “Yeah, well, let’s just hope schoolyard drama is all you have to worry about. You be careful at that job of yours. You may find out you’ve bitten off more than you can chew.”
The bus arrives, and before long, we’re at school. The guys take off in one direction, leaving me to walk with the three girls, but as we traverse the front steps, there’s more attention on me today than there was yesterday. People are talking and whispering and pointing.
“What did you do?” Sally asks, glaring at me. I guess she’s still not over her bad mood from yesterday.
“Nothing that I know of,” I tell her, grabbing a nearby kid by the arm. He’s probably a senior like me, but he smells like weed and has greasy hair. He’s wearing tight black skinny jeans and a Pantera T-shirt. “What is going on?” I ask him, and he does a double take before looking me up and down.
“How much?” he asks, raising an eyebrow cockily, and my frown deepens.
“Huh? How much for what?”
“Well, I always wanted to try anal, so how about that?”
