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Something about his words sends a prickle of unease running through me. There’s an implication, whether he meant for it to be there or not, that he hasn’t always been able to help it.
That he has hurt people. Because he had to.
A dozen questions filter through my mind, but I hold them on my tongue. There are some threads that aren’t worth pulling on, and this feels like one of them. It was a mistake to come here, and it would be an even bigger mistake to get to know this dark, magnetic, mysterious man any better than I know him now.
I already gave him too much of myself, and with every piece of ourselves that we exchange, the strange, undeniable bond between us grows stronger.
So I just nod in acknowledgement of his answer. Then I pull the bedroom door the rest of the way open and slip outside.
I was lost in a haze of lust when he carried me up the stairs, completely blind to my surroundings, so when Marcus steps out of the bedroom behind me, I let him take the lead, following him down the hallway and the wide wooden stairs in the foyer.
When we reach the front door, he grasps the handle and pulls it open for me.
My pulse picks up a little as I step forward. Memories of being kissed by him, touched by him, fucked by him filter through my mind, and heat flares inside me as I move to pass by him.
His hand shoots out before I step through the door, catching me by the shoulder. He turns me slightly, then grasps my chin and tilts my head up.
His lips don’t crash against mine like they did the first time we kissed. Instead, he buries his face in my hair, inhaling a soft breath before running his nose over my ear and pressing a gentle kiss to my cheek.
It’s so unexpectedly intimate that it shocks me, and I quickly tug my upper arm out of his grasp, muttering something incoherent and pointless as I dart out onto the stoop.
I trot quickly down the front steps and am partway down the walkway that leads to the street when I notice the dull thrum of an engine running.
Glancing up, I see an expensive looking sleek gray car idling in front of Marcus’s house.
The tinted passenger window rolls down, and bright blue-green eyes twinkle at me as Theo dips his head to peer out the window.
“Oh, hey. Did somebody call for a bus?”
Chapter 10
I freeze mid-step, then turn to glare back up at the house.
Marcus is lounging in the door frame, his arms crossed over his bare chest and the half-smile I’m learning to both love and hate curving his lips.
He shrugs slightly. “You said you wouldn’t let me drive you home. I said okay. So Theo will.”
I grit my teeth. Jesus. That’s why he relented so easily back upstairs. And that’s what he was tapping out on his phone after he checked the time. He was calling in his backup.
And that backup arrived in less than five minutes.
It’s both impressive and disturbing how close these three men all seem to be—the way they function as a unit and always have each other’s backs.
I’m almost envious of it, in a weird way. Although right now, I hate it.
“I hope you have exact fare, because that’s all I can accept.” Theo winks at me, clearly amused by his own joke. “Sorry. City policy.”
Goddammit. Why does he have to be so fucking charming?
My gaze shifts from the man in the car to the one still leaning against the door frame. They’re both watching me, and
even though there’s a few yards of space between me and each of them, I still feel boxed in.
Marcus knew exactly what he was doing when he sent that text to his friend. He was taking away my other options, narrowing my choices down to exactly two.
Accept a ride home from him. Or accept one from Theo.
“Fine.” I turn back once more to meet Marcus’s gaze as I speak. My voice is hard, and something about my angry, cold expression makes him straighten a little, as if he wants to step toward me.
