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“I’m over pretending I don’t need to exert control,” Seth admitted. “I can’t imagine the struggle you’re going through. But you’ll have to cage your dark side because she’s nowhere near ready for that, man.”
“She’s not. And she might never be.” He’d once told Gloria that making the sadist in him stop wielding a paddle or whip would be like the surgeon in him cutting off his hand. He’d been wrong. To his shock, the need to protect, nurture, and provide Heavenly respite had superseded his desire to inflict sweet pain.
Seth commiserated with a bob of his head. “So, we’re going to tell her everything?”
“We have to.”
“It’s risky, especially for you.”
“We’ll stress the importance of anonymity.”
“Yeah. And open, honest communication.”
Beck chuckled. “That’s the first damn thing we start with.”
“If we’d been ourselves from the start, I wonder if we’d be in this clusterfuck.”
“You mean if we’d spent our time helping her down her path, instead of trying to win her by peeing on her like a fire hydrant? Probably not.”
“We could have saved ourselves a shitload of stress.” Seth exhaled, then sent a narrow-eyed glare over Beck’s shoulder. “Is he trying to piss me off?”
“Who?” Beck turned to see River, one arm slung over Heavenly’s shoulders, as they approached. Thankfully, she’d donned the T-shirt and yoga pants she’d been wearing when they’d dropped her off at Pepp-E-Roni’s. “You’re the genius who offered him a job.”
“Don’t remind me,” Seth groused.
When the four of them met up near the hostess stand, Beck scowled at River. “Hands off her, GI Joe.”
River lifted his arms in the air. “Just trying to keep her from being accosted by a drunk coming out of the john.”
Beck took Heavenly’s hand. “Time to go.”
She nibbled her bottom lip once more. “I know. I just feel like…I failed.”
“Why would you think that? No. You’ve been drowning for a long time, little girl. You stayed afloat as best you could.”
“Let us give you a life preserver, angel. Hang on and we’ll pull you to safety, all right?” Seth cupped her shoulders.
“I’ll try.”
They wrapped their arms around their girl and followed River out the door. Beck and Seth climbed into the back of the massive pickup, situating Heavenly between them.
River jumped in behind the wheel, then twisted and grinned. “Hey, Seth. I got licensed, like you said. You wanted me to prove I had some PI skills. Did I pass the test tonight?”
“How did you do it, man?”
“You’re the one who snitched?” Heavenly gaped.
“Twice. But I especially owe you an apology for blurting out your personal shit in my sister’s kitchen last night. I didn’t mean to embarrass you or air your business where anyone at the party might have overheard.”
“And you have the nerve to call Raine a troublemaker,” Heavenly chided. “How did you find out I was waiting tables at Bazookas?”
“Good detective work.” River preened, then laughed. “And luck. When I called the guys earlier to apologize and they told me where they’d dropped you off for your shift, I was leaving the gym not far away, so I decided to swing by the pizza place and apologize in person. When I got there, I saw you walking away from Pepp-E-Roni.”
“We watched you walk in,” Seth pointed out.
Heavenly nodded. “I know. I stayed for about ten minutes.”
“In other words, long enough for us to leave the area?” Beck raised a brow at her.
She nodded and sent him a little grimace.
“I followed you,” River told her. “Imagine my surprise when you went inside Bazookas. When you didn’t come back out, I peeked in and saw you in your…um, uniform. Since I’d already violated the guy code once, I called Beck and Seth back and invited them to join me for a beer.” River turned an expectant stare to Seth. “Did I get the job?”
“All right. You’re hired. Now drive.”
“Where to?” River asked.
“My condo.” Beck tried to tamp down his impatience.
Heavenly clasped her hands together and nervously worried her thumb over her finger. Long minutes of thick silence stretched through the car. She broke it with her soft voice. “I know you’re both upset with me right now, and—”
“We’re not happy. But we’re not going anywhere.” Seth threaded his fingers through hers.
Beck seized her other hand, strumming his thumb over her wrist. “Later, we’ll talk about what happened tonight. Right now, there’s something more important.”
She tensed, trepidation crawling across her face.
“Stop,” Beck admonished. “We’re not leaving or kicking you out or even asking you to pay us back. Get those fears out of your sexy little head.”
“We’re simply going to open more lines of communication,” Seth assured. “So we don’t have any more…surprises.”
“Okay.” Heavenly lowered her lashes and nodded.
“Is there anything—big, small, or seemingly insignificant—you’re still keeping from us?” Beck prodded.
She shook her head.
Oh, no. If they were going to let their kink flag fly, reinforcing rules started here and now. “We expect verbal answers, little girl.”
