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Wild laid down next to me, hauling me into his embrace and giving me a questioning look, no doubt wondering what all the chaotic emotions I was feeling meant.
“I’m okay,” I assured him, resting my palm over his beating heart. “Everything is a mess and I don’t know what I’m doing with my life, but I’m okay.”
Wild snorted.
“And I just want you to know…” I swallowed thickly, gathering my courage. I wasn’t going to tell Wild I loved him, but I wanted to support us getting to that point in our own time. “If you and Bullet want to spend time alone together like… well, likethis, I’m okay with that. More than okay. I want you two to be happy, whatever that looks like, and—”
Wild cut off my rambling with a kiss, shaking with silent laughter as he tangled his fingers in my hair. He pulled back after a moment, pressing his forehead against mine and searching my eyes as thoroughly as I was searching his.
‘Thank you,’he mouthed.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk since Dare arrived. Does it bother you, him being here?” I’d been so worried about Dare getting here, about Bullet and Riot’s responses and the tension that still existed between them, that I hadn’t really had a moment to make sure Wild was doing okay too.
Wild shook his head, squeezing my hips. Without any explanation, I knew that he was telling me that I was still his, that he was feeling a little possessive, but not in a jealous kind of way.
It eased some of the worry in my chest that I didn’t know I’d been harboring. Our situation was unique, and I so wanted the guys to get along and find their rhythm, whether that looked like a regular group of soul bonds or something that was completely us.
I let out a long exhale, knowing I’d been hiding up here long enough. I could face anything with my bonded at my side.
Chapter 8
“Thisisawesome,”Itold Dare as he examined the contents of the silver case his weirdo “friend” had given him.
“Right?” Dare agreed. Footsteps on the stairs cut him off before he could say more, his head shooting up like a meerkat to watch Grace emerge down the steps with a very satisfied-looking Wild, hot on her heels.
Through the bond, I already knew that Grace was a lot morerelaxedafter her brief interlude with Wild than she had been before she went upstairs, but Dare didn’t have that insight into her yet. He was watching her like a hawk, trying to determine from her body language how she was feeling, though Grace didn’t give much away. Not these days, with so many eyes on her.
Dare had missed the days when Grace had been even a little carefree. When she’d smiled easily and hadn’t carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. Bullet shifted slightly in his spot on the further-most side of the L-shaped sectional from where Dare and I sat like he knew what I was thinking. With a soft smile and a hint of concern through the bond, Grace dropped down next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder.
Bullet murmured something in her ear that eased her worries, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Dare bumped me softly, a silent encouragement to sort my shit out. I thoughthe’dbe the one mad at Bullet, but Dare had always been better at letting go of grudges than I was.
“What is that?” Grace asked, tipping her chin at the case on the coffee table while Wild stalked behind us to look over our shoulders, glaring at it like it was a bomb threat.
“Tattoo kit,” Dare replied with a laugh. “Apparently, Jack had it in the back of his van, which I honestly don’t want to think too hard about, but it’s brand new—everything is still all packaged up.”
Dare held up his left arm, examining the scar that ran down the center of the beautiful koi fish tattoo sleeve. He’d always taken pride in the symmetry of his ink, and I knew it was bothering him.
“I vote you let me fix it,” I suggested with a smirk, only half joking. “Blue did that one, right? I doubt you’ll see her again any time soon.”
Dare snorted. “I’m not against teaching you an employable skill, but you’re not starting your tattooing career on my skin, that’s for fucking sure.”
The little shit. Bullet shook with quiet laughter and Dare shot him a grin that wasn’t quite easy, but wasn’t strained either. Nope, the problem was just me.
“I want a tattoo,” Grace admitted a little wistfully, catching everyone’s attention. “They’re not very agathos, but I always thought they were so beautiful.”
“Yeah?” Dare perked up instantly. It was maybe the mosthimselfI’d seen him since he got here. “I’ll give you one.”
“How much does it hurt?” Grace asked with a nervous laugh.
“Depends where you get it,” I answered. I’d napped through some of my arm tattoos, and made Dare swear not to tell anyone I’d cried for the hand ones.
‘Me too,’Wild signed, shifting around the couch so we could all see him.
“You’ll get one with me?” Grace confirmed, excitement flooding the bond almost instantly. “Like a matching one?”
Wild shrugged, mouthing, ‘Sure, you choose.’
“What? I want a matching tattoo with Grace,” I said, sounding more affronted than I meant to.
