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Piper noticed Larkin’s smile dim as the harpy then looked down at her lap, as if to veil her expression.
Khloë jumped to her feet. “This calls for shots. We need shots.” Then she was making a beeline for the bar, stumbling here and there.
Harper sighed. “I’ll go with her to make sure she doesn’t drop any glasses.” The sphinx probably thought she was much steadier on her feet than her cousin but, in actuality, she was no better.
Piper had to smile when both females got distracted by the change of song and then hit the dance floor.
Larkin gently nudged Piper with her shoulder. “Levi will be thrilled, you know. And relieved. And smug. I know why you didn’t want to rush into things, but I’m glad you’re finally ready to bond with him.”
“Me, too,” said Devon, her eyes tearing up. She flapped her hands at her face. “Ignore me, it’s the hormones.” She leaned into Raini, who began rubbing her back.
“It’s gonna be weird not seeing him every day,” said Piper. “I’ve gotten a little too used to having him there all the time.” And spending every night with him would surely stop, since there’d no longer be any need for it. She wouldn’t like that much either.
Larkin smiled. “He made sure you got used to it. He wanted you to feel like you couldn’t imagine not having him around. He’s sneaky that way.”
Piper snickered. “Agreed. Just do me a solid, Larkin, and make sure he doesn’t take stupid risks when doing sentinel stuff. I can’t be there to watch over him, so I need you to do it.”
Larkin’s face went all soft. “I like that you’re his anchor. He deserves someone like you, who won’t resent how hard or much he works. There’s never been a woman in his life who hasn’t held that against him at some point.”
“People suck,” said Piper.
“You won’t be second best to his positions.” Larkin leaned in, adding in a voice not loud enough to carry over the music to the other two females, “Even if certain things cool between you two, he’ll still be up in your space often. And no, he didn’t tell me that you were getting down and dirty. I sensed it for myself.”
“And you didn’t mention it to him?”
“Of course I did. He told me to mind my own biz. I only wanted to know if you guys were exclusive. He doesn’t usually do exclusivity, but I think it’d be a bad idea for either of you to be expecting the other to share, given there’s already a lot of possessiveness at play.”
Piper puffed out a breath. “Can something be exclusive when it isn’t really a thing? I mean, we’re not having any kind of relationship—not even a fling. We just … have sex. So we’re like, what, anchor bed-buddies or something? I don’t know what you’d call it. But we both agreed it would end the moment we formed the bond.”
Larkin twisted to better face her. “He agreed to that?”
“It was his suggestion.”
“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that.” Larkin pursed her lips. “How do you feel about this ‘thing’ between you having an expiry date? Is that really what you want?”
“It’s better that way. I know some anchored pairs fall into relationships. But Levi doesn’t have relationships. Not serious ones, anyway. He’s given up on them. I think—” She cut off with a soft curse as someone drunkenly stumbled into the table hard enough to cause the drinks to splash onto its surface.
Said someone blinked hard, righting himself. Then his eyes settled on Piper, and he snarled. “Well, look who it is, Sefton,” slurred none other than Jasper.
Oh, freaking wonderful.
Larkin stiffened beside her and then went to stand.
Piper put a hand on her arm. Let’s not scare him off. He’s one of Levi’s main suspects. Maybe he’ll blurt out a few things while drunk. She telepathically said the same to both Devon and Raini.
Sefton tugged on his brother’s sleeve. “Come on, let’s go get another drink.”
Water would probably be best, given the asshole’s current state.
“But don’t you want to say hi?” Jasper asked him, smirking. “I want to say hi.”
Sefton cringed. “Jas.”
“Come on, it’s rude to ignore people.” Jasper slid his gaze back to Piper. “Knox tortured him. Did you know that?”
Piper shrugged one shoulder. “It was an easy enough guess.” Noticing Enzo and Dez creeping close, she sent them the same telepathic message she sent the other females at the table.
Jasper jabbed a finger at her. “You convinced that bitch to fals-fals-falsely accuse him. You know he didn’t do shit to her. My brother went through hell because of you.”
Sefton pulled on his arm. “Jasper—”
“Before, he used to shout his innocence,” the asshole went on. “Now? Now he won’t even talk about what happened. Because he’s too scared to be sent back to that fucking Chamber.”
