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I open my mouth and choke out one word. “No.”
Taking a deep, steadying breath, I blow it out, and focus on his shoulder. “No. It’s fine. Good. I’m just really confused. You and then he, and yet you’re—” He steps forward and places his finger over my lips.
“It’s too soon,” he says softly.
“We’ve all been through something extreme, and sometimes that makes us act more rashly than we normally would. To remind ourselves that we’re alive.”
“There is no pressure, Salem. The last thing we want is for you to be uncomfortable around us,” Oz adds as Zig moves his hand from my mouth.
“Right. Okay. I think I’m just going to sit down for a minute.”
And that’s what I do—walk a few feet away from them both and plop my ass down on a rock while I resist touching my lips, which tingle from being thoroughly kissed.
CHAPTERNINE
Zig
“Shit,” I curse before turning back to Oz, keeping my eye on Salem from a distance.
“It’s fine, Zig. I don’t think she’s freaked out that you kissed her. I think it has more to do with the fact that we both kissed her. We’re so used to being around people that share partners that it’s easy to forget that it’s not the norm.”
I sigh, knowing he’s right. Almost everyone at Apex engages in sharing their hookups with their teammates. They spend so much time together that they have a sort of relationship anyway. Though, as far as I know, it’s platonic with everyone unless there is someone between them.
The only exception is Greg and Cooper. Cooper married his high school sweetheart, Kay, long before he joined Apex. Not that sharing a wife is unheard of. Creed and Hawk shared a wife until she up and left them one day. Even our sister joined an MC where group relations are part of their charter. Yeah, Oz is right. We’re so used to it that we don’t know what normal looks like anymore.
“She doesn’t seem into the idea,” I murmur, trying to keep the disappointment at bay.
“I don’t think it’s that. I think we blindsided her.”
I look over at her as she closes her eyes and tips her head back, the sun through the trees casting shadows across her skin.
“She almost seemed shocked that we’d be interested. Knowing we both want her. Well, she’s struggling to believe it’s true,” Oz explains.
“Why? I mean, look at her. She’s been through hell, and yet I’ve never seen a woman more beautiful in my life.”
“I don’t know, Zig. But if I had to guess, I’d say it stems from what she was saying before about how people look at her when they know what she can do. She’s been forced to either hide who she is or face being treated like shit because of it.” Oz turns to look at Salem with a soft smile.
“When did you get so fucking wise? Did the crash knock something loose?”
“Way to ruin the moment, bro.” He grins, looking back at me. “You were right, though. We are moving too fast. We have more pressing things to worry about than sex.” He pauses and looks at me in horror. “Shit, I think you’re right. Something must have come loose.” He holds his head, looking as if something might fall off.
I laugh at the idiot, which catches Salem’s attention. With a sigh, I bite the bullet and walk over to her. Crouching, I offer her my hand.
“Hi, my name is Ziggy, but if you ever want me to answer, you’ll just call me Zig. I’m not good with words, and I don’t always think things through before I act. I like you. I think you’re funny, sweet, and brave. If I promise not to maul you again anytime soon, do you think we could be friends?”
She looks at my hand before looking up at my face, a smile slowly spreading across her lips, much to my relief.
“Yeah, I think I’d like that.” She places her hand in mine so we can shake on it.
“Good.” I help her back to her feet and keep her hand in mine as I walk her back over to Oz.
“You good?” Oz dips his head and asks her.
She blushes and nods. “Yeah, I’m good. So, what else did you find besides that?” She points at the mattress we carried over.
“A few things, actually, but we’ll have to run back for the rest. We figured having somewhere to sleep other than the hard ground would be more important right now.”
She looks around and shivers as she looks up. “Um… I’m not sure how I feel about sleeping out here where there are things that can bite me.”
