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“Hey, Cora! S’up!”
In the living room, Misael lifted his chin from where he sat sprawled on the sofa next to Kace. They both seemed surprised but not unhappy to see me.
I smiled and gave a wave before turning to face Bishop as he closed the door.
“I just wanted to come over here and apologize for how my mom was earlier.”
Bishop waved it off and shrugged.
“It’s whatever. I figure it’s a plus that she didn’t call the police on me and only gave me a stern talking to.” His grin was sinful.
“Ooh, Bish got a talking to from our girl’s mooooom.” Misael cackled. Then he patted the sofa seat beside him. “But I guess that’s good? Means she’s up and about and stuff after everything, right? She’s okay?”
“I think she is,” I said, plopping onto the couch. The spicy scent of cloves and the warmth of his body made me unconsciously scoot a little closer to him, like I was trying to soak up his essence through my skin. “She has a little more… pep? I suppose. Enough that she was totally rude earlier.”
Bishop’s eyes glittered as he gazed down at me. He’d followed me into the living room but hadn’t sat down yet. “It’s nice to see you care, Princess.”
His voice had a teasing lilt, and I rolled my eyes at him.
“You should be so lucky that I care.”
“I never said I wasn’t.”
A deep blush crept up my cheeks, and I cleared my throat as Bishop arched a brow slightly and then turned to head for the kitchen. It wasn’t fair that sometimes, just sometimes, he was the weirdest, most alluring balance of dangerous and soft. It put me completely off balance and left me thinking about things I had no business even considering.
Like what it would be like to really be with these boys. Not just owned by them, not just in an arrangement that ensured my protection, not just… whatever this was.
But with them.
I settled more co
mfortably into the couch, and Misael put his arm over my shoulders, tugging me a little closer into his side. He pressed a kiss to my temple.
“Seriously though. Don’t tell me the only reason you came over here was to make sure Bish’s feelings weren’t hurt.” He chuckled. “That would be boring as fuck. And also a little lame. We all know Bish doesn’t have feelings.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he yelped loudly. Bishop had come behind the couch and pressed a fresh, cold beer to the back of his neck. There was a faint smirk on Bishop’s lips, and he winked at me when our gazes met. I was sure my blush deepened, which only made him grin wider.
“Hey, why don’t we cut out of here?” he suggested. “We weren’t going to stay in tonight anyway. Since you’re here, might as well make it a party.”
We ended up all the way across town again, back at the warehouse we’d gone to the first time I’d “chilled” with the Lost Boys. It was a lot more relaxed this time. After all, we knew each other a lot better by now, and the darkness of the night and the whooping laughter of three boys with nothing better to do on a school night than hang out in abandoned buildings was actually… comforting.
I didn’t want to hang out around the rental house, having one-word conversations with my mother, or worse, having to listen to her trash people who had made it possible for me to survive in this world and even feel a little bit happy.
Of course, the excitement of hanging out was short lived. We’d only been there for about an hour when Bishop got a message. He groaned.
“What is it?” I glanced over, peeling absently at the label on my beer.
The warehouse was chilly and dimly lit, but there were enough missing chunks and holes in the walls to let light filter in from the street. It’d taken my eyes a little while to adjust, but now I could see the boys’ features easily through the shadows.
Bishop looked over to Kace and Misael. “Work,” he grumbled.
The other two frowned.
“Maaan, that sucks balls. Ask if he can meet us here? We got company.” Misael jerked his chin at me.
For the first time, I saw Bishop hesitate. He looked to me with an actual measure of concern.
“What?” Misael’s gaze darted between the two of us.
