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Spinning around, my back to the counter, I prepare to defend my actions.
It’s a girl. She seems to be about my age, very pretty, with dark hair and eyes.
“Hi,” she says and flashes me a faint smile. “Didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Raylin.” At my uncomprehending look, she says, “Storm’s girlfriend.”
Oh. Right. “Um. Nice to meet you. I was… uh, hungry.”
And why am I so nervous?
“Oh, sorry, go ahead! I’m hungry, too.” She pats her stomach and makes a face. “Mind if we share?”
“What? Oh not at all.” As long as we don’t share Hawk.
And what in the frigging hell, Layla? She has a boyfriend. Besides, is that the green-eyed monster I saw peeking over the table top?
Can it. Get something to eat. Calm the heck down.
“I convinced Storm to keep some basics in his fridge and send the chef home once in a while. Sometimes nothing beats a sandwich.” Raylin grabs the bread and a plate and lays on the butter thick. Then she does the same with the jam, and I follow her example, because hey, she lives here.
These must be the house rules.
“How’s Hawk?” she asks.
“Still out. He’s tired.” Although he has staggering stamina for sex, as I’ve discovered, even when bruised and bleeding.
“Glad you both came out okay. Storm was going out of his mind with worry. He’d never admit it, but I know his tells.”
Jealousy pricks at my chest again. What must it be like, to know someone so well? To be with them, body and soul, to comfort them through hard times and enjoy the good ones?
No, Layla. No more tears. What the hell’s wrong with you?
Christ.
“You all right?” Raylin is watching me, brows drawn together. “You look upset.”
“It’s nothing. I’m tired, too.”
“Have a seat then.” She goes ahead and sets the example, sliding into one of the cushioned chairs at the table. “Tell me about yourself. And Hawk. How did you two meet?”
He hasn’t told them about me. Well, he obviously told the guys I’m a good lay, that I am a hot body, but that was all.
And? There wasn’t anything to tell, Layla.
I really am hopeless.
“We met some time ago,” I say brightly, sitting down and biting into my bread. It tastes like ashes in my mouth. “At a restaurant. My boyfriend at the time had just dumped me for another girl, and Hawk just… came out of nowhere and asked me if I’d join him for dinner.”
“That’s so cool.” Raylin smiles wide, and I manage to smile back, because yeah.
“It was spectacular. You should’ve seen my boyfriend’s face. We spent the night together, and later he called me to meet again.”
For sex. Strictly.
“So romantic,” Raylin gushes, and I wince.
“We’re not… like that,” I say and then wish I could take my words back, because her face falls. “I mean… we’re not romantic.”
She nods. “Oh, that’s fine. When I first met Storm, we basically only had sex and ran from bullets, which might be romantic in some people’s book but not in mine. No, it wasn’t until months later that things settled down, and we started actually dating.”
