HARPER: LOL. I’m not saying no, but tell me what’s going on.
SUNNY: Sebastian is staring at me. My stomach is on fire (from eating jalapenos). A car followed us home. Did I mention Sebastian won’t stop glaring at me?
SUNNY: Can you send your demon to pick me up? I’m an excellent houseguest! I bet you need a maid for your mansion.
Instead of a text, the phone rang in her hand, and she answered with a groan, making Harper belly laugh.
“Why is he staring at you? Do you have your shirt off?”
“Oh, my god, you’re ridiculous. Everyone is here. Why would I be shirtless? Don’t answer that. Cain is corrupting you.” She joked.
“Sunny thinks you’re corrupting me,” then she heard Cain’s deep voice answering. “I’m trying to, but my wife chooses to make a phone call instead of riding me.”
Sheesh, did her friend and favorite cousin ever put that man down?
Usually, Sunny would have hung up immediately, but she was in a crisis and close to spiraling.
“Babe, if he’s staring, pull a face or ignore him. You did the running, and he rejected it. So fuck him. Not literally. Not yet, not until he shows he deserves it. And if he doesn’t…”
She waited for Sunny to fill in the blanks.
“Then move on.” The words felt wrong on her tongue.
“That’s my girl. Cain’s friends are wild and would hit on you. We’ll host a party when this stuff is behind us.”
Catching Sebastian still staring, she swallowed and tried to imagine having her first kiss with any other man who wasn’t him, and her belly recoiled from the idea.
She’d never even considered kissing anyone but Seb; he was the only one for her.
She didn’t care that he’d aged faster and wouldn’t be able to give her his firsts, too, as long as she had his lasts. But the realization settled in like quicksand when she’d offered herself up on a platter, only for him to tell her that would not happen.
She’d saved all those firsts for nothing.
And now she didn’t know what she wanted to do with them.
SEVEN
Sebastian
“Priest, if Hawk catches you glaring at Sunny like you’re a Jaguar and she’s a fresh kill, he’s gonna peel the skin off your bones.” Seb tuned back into his father’s words as Preacher chuckled.
His eyes traced the shape of her lips as she spoke, and they curved when she laughed; he felt energized by her nearness.
“He’d have to catch me first,” he told Preacher, smirking. “You oldies have creaking bones these days. It takes you all an hour to get out of a chair.”
“You little shit,” he boomed a laugh. “No goddamn respect from these mouthy kids, all ego and swinging dicks.”
“You taught me how to piss standing up, Dad. I’d say someof it is your fault.”
“True enough,” smiled Preacher, still the powerhouse of a man Seb had grown up with. He’d follow him into a burning building without question. They didn’t share a drop of DNA, but in every other way it counted, Preacher was his dad, and they loved each other better than a biological family could. “You should grab some sleep. I’m gonna hunt your mom down to get some shut-eye. I think she’s updating Tag’s ink in her old room.”
He was beat, but couldn’t leave while Sunny was awake. Though there was more manpower in this room alone than anywhere else. And everyone was ready to dive into action at a moment’s notice.
Though Seb had only gotten a partial license plate, Lawless was working on it.
“Can we figure out who it is, or are we waiting for them to move again?”
“We always find out who it is. When? That’s the question. Sometimes, we gotta sit and do nothing.”
