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Both guys only paused for those said two seconds.
Noah poofed. I reported he was gone, and they immediately went back to doing what they were doing.
I loved it. Maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I should’ve been in my head about what this all meant, but I didn’t care at the moment.
“Okay.” Lee hoisted himself up, disappearing from the room. We heard water running. A toilet flushed. Water ran again. A few minutes later, he called out, “Running upstairs. Cass, you want clothes? Cole, you want something too?”
Cassian pumped his fist in the air and made a gargling sound.
I called out, “He’s incapable of speaking, but yes. He does. I’m good.”
Lee laughed shortly. “Got it.” His feet pounded up the stairs, walked above us on the main floor, and we heard a softer thumpity thump thump thump from there. I was guessing his room was on the second floor.
How many floors did this place have? I’d done a tour last night looking for ghosts, but I couldn’t remember if there were three floors.
“Hey.” I nudged Cassian’s shoulder.
“Yeah, babe?” He flipped over, giving me one of those adorable and slightly drowsy grins. His hand came to rest on my stomach.
Babe. That made my stomach flutter.
I asked, a little hoarse now, “How many floors does this place have?”
His face scrunched up. “Counting the basement?”
“I have no idea.”
“Uh.” He held up a hand and lifted up a finger as he named them. “Basement. Main floor. Second floor. And there’s a third half floor. So, count it how you’d like. Why are you asking?”
I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. I suck at being nonchalant. “I’m out of my depth.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Cassian pushed up, sitting against the couch, but I hadn’t moved so most of his body was still touching me.
“It’s true.”
“It’s not. What are you talking about?”
The back of my neck was getting hot, and my stomach was twisting. The flutters from him calling me babe were still there, though. They just made room for the nervous twisting. I’d never been someone’s babe. And while I didn’t want to tell him this, it was better for all the cards to be seen. “You, you’re like, from a loving family. Right? I mean you talked about your grandpa being obsessed with you and your parents care how late you’re out tonight. That means they care. They love you. That’s awesome.”
“Yeah…?” He was dubious.
“I don’t have that. No one cares when I go home, or even if I go home.”
“That’s not true.”
It was, but he was doing what some people did. It didn’t make sense to them. They couldn’t fathom it, so it wouldn’t be true for them. That didn’t mean it wasn’t true for others. I ignored that. “And, like, Lee is rich. Or wealthy. Or whatever all this is.”
“Lee’s family is a mess.”
“Are you rich too? I’m not asking because I’m a gold digger or something like that. I—I think I need to know what I’m stepping into, moving forward.” I knew my whole face was red. Why was this so hard? These guys would figure it out, that people left me. They’d be pissed at that time. Pissed like I had duped them or something.
He wrinkled his nose up, his hand beginning to rub back and forth over my stomach. “We’ve got money. Hockey is expensive, and my folks can afford it. I don’t know if that means we’re rich, but I can’t say we’re middle-class either. Lee’s wealthier.”
“Cool.” Awesome. Not.
Cassian was frowning a bit more fiercely at me when Lee came down the stairs. We hadn’t even heard him walk across the main floor. “Here.” He tossed clothes our way. It was a pair of sweats. He grinned, cheekily. “Figure you could free-ball it going home.”
Cassian fixed him with a dark look, swiping up the sweats. “You’re an ass.”