I felt the sheet slip from under me, leaving me on the mattress cover, which was honestly better than the expanse of the wet spot we’d left behind. Scotty cuddled up close. “I know you have to sleep, but will you tell Sky later that you’re home?”
Through thick lips, I said, “You tell him. Everyone. Sky’s going to need support when he finds out I’m…”
I trailed off as sleep claimed me, but I was pretty sure his whispering the word, “Perfect,” followed me into the darkness.
Chapter 14
Scotty
Slippingout of Ego’s bed just past sunup shouldn’t have been so hard. I’d had plenty of one-night stands where one or the other of us had bailed without a goodbye. This felt different.
Maybe because Sky had become one of my best friends, and I totally just fucked around with his brother. Even worse, I’d started it. I didn’t know what had come over me. I’d gone over, frustrated after sitting through dinner listening to Sky worry about his cousin—yet again—and knew that enough was enough.
I’d planned to reason with him—again—maybe yell at him, or beg him if necessary, but nowhere in setting my alarm and choosing to show up here in the middle of the night had part of my plan been to sex him into compliance. For fuck’s sake, I was pretty sure I’d never talked another man into anything with my dick before.
I stared down at his pale face, completely relaxed in sleep in a way that he hadn’t been able to manage in his waking hours, and I sighed. My heart hurt for him in an unexpected way. I wasn’t lying to him when I told him I thought he was being a baby and that he needed to at least tell Sky.
But I did understand. His world had been thrown into chaos. So many options had been taken away from him in one nightwithout his consent, so I got it. I also knew to the core of my soul that if he would get the support he needed and let Lysandro train him, he’d gain things that weren’t available to him as a human sound witch.
Resisting the urge to kiss his forehead in some kind of sweet goodbye—this had been sex fueled by anger, then desire, nothing more—I stood up and stared down at him one last time. The stillness was disconcerting, reminding me of Stevie as he lay dead in my arms after taking the knife that was meant for me.
Enough.
I shook myself out and collected my clothes from where we’d left them littered across the floor. Now that he’d agreed to tell Sky, he was no longer my problem. It would be up to his cousin to wrangle him into submission for Lysandro to guide him. He wouldn’t need me to be a part of the healing of his heart or the changes in the future now laid out for him.
It was best to…I laid my head against the wood of the front door, giving myself a minute to breathe. It would be fine.Iwould be fine. It was time for me to go back to my studies, anyway. Sneaking over here every night had been hard. If it wasn’t for the fact that my brother and the rest of them thought I was still hanging out at the library, I wouldn’t have managed it.
Technically, I’d still been going there, but just long enough to return the thermos to Lysandro from the night before and let him replenish it before I drove out here to Ego. They wouldn’t need me for that anymore.
Shit. I needed to get out of here.
After driving back to the manor, I opened the front door and about jumped out of my skin to find several pairs of eyes staring at me expectantly. “Uh. Hello.” My gaze roamed from Chance and Jetty to a disheveled Sky, who leaned into King, over to the stairs where Elyse sat between Marc’s legs, and Rosie sat two steps above them. “Um, good morning.”
“Yes, it is morning,” Harry said, popping into existence next to the banister. “And we have quite enough to worry about with Ego without having to worry about you, too, Master Scotty.”
“Seriously,” Sky said with a thickness that told me he was on the verge of tears. “Your brother is out at the pond with Trixie, almost as distraught by you shutting him out as I feel about Ego icing me out of his life.”
“Shit,” I mumbled.
“Shit indeed,” Harry said, startling me. The historic ghost rarely succumbed to cursing. “Why don’t you all join me in the kitchen so we can talk. Buck’s gone to get Stevie.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat when no one moved, all eyes focused on me. Some with concern, others accusatory. It was a good thing Ego had given me permission to reveal his truth or I had no idea how I’d have gotten out of this. Figuring that they were all waiting on me, I made the trek to the kitchen, letting them follow behind.
Once we got there, Chance pointed at the seat at the head of the table. For the first time since I woke up this morning, I really wanted to tell Ego off. It was so unfair that I was in trouble because I’d been protecting his secret.
Everyone sat quietly around the table, still staring at me, so I focused on the sugar bowl to avoid meeting anyone’s gaze. Harry hustled about the kitchen, setting everyone’s favorite beverage in front of them, along with fresh-baked pecan rolls, a fruit salad, and a platter of bacon.
Just as he finished distributing small plates to each of us, Buck appeared near the stove, and Stevie and Trixie faded in next to the door leading from the kitchen to outside. My gaze moved quickly to my brother, but he stared at the floor, looking lost and dejected.
“This is all Ego’s fault,” I mumbled.
Sky gasped. “What? What about Ego? Have you talked to him?”
Okay, that wasn’t the way I planned to broach this topic. I cleared my throat. “Actually?—”
“Food first,” Harry said.
“But—”
