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“Daisy,” Cash said just before I moved so I could slip beneath the covers and lie down next to Sage’s back.
“Yeah?”
I looked up at him and saw another hint of that vulnerability that made me feel like I was being handed something precious every time I saw it.
“Don’t hurt him.”
The words were spoken in a whisper and they came out as a plea instead of a command.
And it broke my heart.
Because I knew what he’d really meant to say.
Don’t hurt us.
I didn’t answer him because I wasn’t sure how to make such a promise. None of this made any sense to me. I wasn’t even sure I understood what these men wanted from me. But I knew even as I pressed up against Sage’s warm back and wrapped my arm around him, and thereby covering Cash’s arm in the process, that it was a promise I’d keep even if it killed me.
The lights shut off a moment later and I felt Cash shift on the bed. But when he began to pull his arm from beneath mine, I grabbed his fingers to keep us connected and spoke softly enough not to wake Sage, but loudly enough to make sure Cash heard me.
“I won’t, Cash. I promise.”
Chapter 9
Sage
The hand toying with my hair wasn’t Cash’s. I knew that because I could feel the slim fingers skimming over my temple, cheek, nose, and jawline every now and again.
I wanted to pretend I was asleep both so that I could enjoy Daisy’s gentle caresses and so I wouldn’t have to face the truth about what I’d done the night before.
It wasn’t often that I lost time like that, but I never forgot the events that followed. I didn’t remember the moment I’d put the knife to my skin, but I remembered hearing Mouse’s voice in my ear as if she’d really been lying right next to me. I’d felt her chilled skin against mine, absorbed the tremors causing her body to violently shake as we’d waited for them to come for us. But it had been that piece of metal from the bed in my hand, not a knife, when I’d cut my skin. I needed to make sure Cash understood that.
Because I knew he’d be blaming himself enough already. I’d heard it in his voice as he’d tried to calm me down.
“You’re a terrible faker, Sage,” Daisy said softly.
I couldn’t help but smile.
And choke up a little.
Of all the things she could have said to me, she was choosing to go with lightness this morning. No accusations, no tears and histrionics, no disgust or judgment or quiet condemnation. Just Daisy being Daisy and calling me on my shit.
“I’m hoping you’ll be tempted to molest me a bit farther south if you think I’m still asleep,” I said.
Daisy chuckled. “Tempting, but since your gigantic boyfriend is just ten feet away, I’ll pass.”
I could hear the shower in the attached bathroom running.
I forced my eyes open and felt something inside of me burst at the sight of her. She looked tired and her eyes were puffy, probably from crying and probably because of me. But her expression was soft, not pitying.
“Do you make a habit of sneaking into men’s beds and hogging their pillows?” I asked. We were facing each other.
“I do when I don’t have a big, beefy arm to rest my head on all night.”
I chuckled. “I can’t wait to tell Cash you think his arm is ‘beefy.’”
We both fell silent as she continued to touch me. It was both comforting and arousing, and with her pressed up against me and one of her bare legs resting over one of mine, that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
“Why didn’t you say anything, Sage?” she asked. I wasn’t sure what she meant until she added, “Why didn’t you let Cash give you what you needed before things got too bad?”
I stiffened, but when I tried to put some space between us, she wrapped her fingers around my upper arm.
“He told you,” I whispered.
She nodded, then leaned in to kiss me.
It was barely a kiss. Just her mouth brushing mine.
So soft and so fleeting I barely felt it.
“Enough to make me understand how important you are to each other and how what you have is what you both need. Neither of you have anything to be ashamed about.”
I didn’t sense anything in her voice that said she was lying to spare my feelings, so I forced myself to relax. “He gives me what I need. Not the other way around.”
“That’s not true,” she countered. “You two were so busy this week trying to hide things from me, that I don’t think you even noticed that you were each suffering.”
I began shaking my head, but she moved her hand to my cheek to stop me. “I saw him, Sage. I heard him. He wasn’t the real Cash until the moment he sent you to your knees last night.”
