Page 27 of The Silent Hour

If I bent another rim, Ethan would never let that shit go.

"Great," I muttered, wishing I could turn invisible.

I gave up pretending I knew what the hell I was doing and tapped the button for the car's self-parking feature, watching as the Escalade eased itself neatly into the spot I'd been mangling.

Should've done that from the start.

I climbed out to find Toya waiting on the sidewalk, sunglasses perched high on her nose and an amused grin tugging at her mouth.

She hadn't had any trouble, but she also drove something half the size of mine.

"Well, well," she drawled. "Mrs. Marcelli, conqueror of all, undone by a curb yet again."

"Shut up," I said with a laugh.

We strolled past a row of boutique windows, sunlight glinting off glass and gold lettering.

Toya slowed, her sunglasses slipping down her nose as she cut me a look.

"Do you think they've thought about it?"

I frowned. "Thought about what?"

"Knox and Ethan."

I already knew what she meant, but I bought myself another second anyway.

"I think they notice beautiful women the same way we notice attractive men."

"That part I'm okay with. It's normal." She shrugged. "Sometimes I admire a nice ass and point it out to Knox. He's wise enough to say mine is the best, though."

I chuckled. "That's because he has some sense in that head of his."

"Damn right," she muttered.

Then her voice dipped lower.

"But do you think they ever want to sleep with them? Taste the forbidden, so to speak?"

I shook my head, the thought catching in my chest like a burr.

"I can't even let myself imagine Ethan wanting to fuck someone else. If he did, it wouldn't have shit to do with anything lacking between us. It would be his choice. His weakness."

She shot me a sidelong glance, this one knowing.

"Because y'all are some big ol' freaks. I won't ever share a hotel wall with you two again. Knox wanted to make it a challenge." She considered that for a second. "On second thought, I did get my insides rearranged quite nicely thanks to y'all, so maybe I'll reconsider."

I laughed, my mind flashing back to earlier that morning, or, as Ethan kept insisting, the night before.

"See?" Toya pointed at me with feigned disgust. "But seriously, what do you think?"

"You know me. I won't say Ethan would never cheat on me, because anyone can. But I will say he chooses not to. Just like I choose not to. I could just as easily cheat on him, but I don't." I exhaled. "And you also know I wouldn't handle it well. At all."

"Me and you both," she agreed.

I studied her profile, catching the hard line of her jaw.

"Is everything okay, T?"