Page 122 of What We Become

I sit in the armchair and reach for my tea. Holden doesn’t look at me. I don’t look at Holden. The TV plays something nobody is watching.

Micah looks at Holden. Looks at me.

“You two know I have ears, right?”

“Don’t,” Holden says.

Micah just smirks and leans back against the couch.

The front door opens, and Sage, Eli, and Knox file in. Sage kicks her shoes off and collapses onto the couch, putting her feet up on my knee. Eli drops onto the arm of the couch. Knox locks the door behind them.

“How’d it go?” I ask, setting my tea aside and digging a thumb into her arch.

“Clean,” Knox says. “Dean’s handling the rest.”

“Good. Great. Wonderful. Anyone else want tea?”

Micah looks at me with an expression of pure, delighted torture. Then he looks at Sage.

“Holden fucked Milo,” he says.

Sage’s head snaps toward me. “Fucked you as in finally fucked you?” She makes a circle with the thumb and index finger of one hand, then thrusts a finger through it with the other.

My face burns.

“The shower has excellent acoustics,” Micah says. “I heard enough to establish probable cause. Milo even has a hickey as a souvenir.”

“It’s not a hickey. It’s a skin irritation from the hot water. Possibly a welt left over from the fucking knife debacle.”

“It’s a hickey,” Knox confirms from the door.

Sage grabs my arm and pulls me toward her, practically vibrating. “Okay. Positions. We need to talk about positions, because this opens up an entirely new wing of the building that I very much want to see.”

“We are not talking about positions,” Holden says.

“We’re absolutely talking about positions. Milo, was he⁠—”

“My attorney has advised me to remain silent if I ever want his dick in my ass again.”

Sage squeals while Holden drops his face into one hand.

Knox settles into an armchair, looking more relaxed than he has all night. Eli catches it first.

“You look pleased,” Eli says.

“Means Milo might shut up for five minutes.”

“I heard that.”

“He’s calculating how much more Fury time he gets whenever two of us pair off,” Micah says.

Knox’s mouth quirks into a barely there grin—which on Knox is a seismic event.

“Strategic advantage,” he says.

Sage laughs. “Oh my God. This is going to be so much fun.”

Holden drops his head back against the couch and stares at the ceiling like he’s praying for an extraction team. Micah pats his knee.