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Wilder busts up laughing, grazing his knuckles across my cheek as he glances at Xavier. “Now do you get it?”
Xavier shakes his head, his jaw set tight. “You seriously have no boundaries.”
Wilder lifts a shoulder, shrugging. “Maybe you just have too many boundaries.” His eyes wander to me. “Besides, I don’t think Zhara minds.” He waits for me to say something.
I open my mouth, but no words come out. I’m unsure if my silence is from not wanting to be mean and tell him I don’t like him kissing me whenever he wants to, or if deep down, I really like it when he kisses me. Then I mentally shake my head at myself, realizing how messed up my thoughts are.
Three guys, Zhara. You’ve kissed three guys within the last hour.
I swallow hard. Does that make me slutty, even if I’m only doing it as an undercover thing?
I glance at Benton to see what he thinks about all of this. His eyes are trained on me, his expression indecipherable, which might be more unnerving than if he was disgusted with me.
Tearing my gaze off Benton, I step out from underneath Wilder’s arm to open the front door and get everyone inside, before we give my neighbors more to gossip about. Like when Benton first came to my house, the guys start glancing at the photos of me and my family hanging on the walls. Not wanting them to see all the unflattering pictures of me, I usher them up to my room.
Halfway up the stairs, Xavier gets a phone call and heads outside to answer it, muttering that he needs to talk to the caller in private. After he leaves, we go into my bedroom, but Benton asks to use the bathroom, so Wilder and me are left alone.
Like when I was alone with Benton in my bedroom, nervousness ravels in my stomach. My nerves only escalate when Wilder stretches out on my bed and eyes over all the photos and posters on my walls, the books on my bookshelf, and my stuffed animals.
“Your room reminds me of a princess’s room,” he states, tucking his arms underneath his head. “Maybe that’s what I’ll start calling you instead of Pink Cheeks.”
“You want to call me princess?” I ask, lingering near the doorway.
His lips quirk, his eyes glimmering. “What? It’s not that bad.”
“No, it’s not,” I admit. “At least compared to Pink Cheeks. But why do you have to give me a nickname at all?”
“Oh, don’t pretend like you don’t like it.” He pats the spot beside him. “Now, stop worrying and come sit down by me for a few minutes.”
My pulse quickens with fear and excitement. “I’m supposed to be changing my clothes and then Benton is taking me to the training pit.”
“I know. I’m going with you.” He pats the spot again. “But I promise you won’t get in trouble if you lie down with me for a second.” While he isn’t smiling, his eyes sparkle.
He wants me to lie down beside him? On my bed!
I want to tell him no, mostly out of fear, but apparently my feet have other ideas and carry me toward the bed. I tentatively lay down beside him, keeping some space between us. But he steals the distance, scooting toward me and slipping his arm underneath my head like a makeshift pillow. Then he plays with my hair, lightly tangling his fingers through his strands.
“How are you doing with everything that happened this morning?” he asks, staring up at my ceiling.
“I’m doing okay,” I say, wondering how much he knows about this morning.
He turns his head toward me, meeting my gaze. “Okay is just a placement word when people don’t want to admit the truth.” With his free hand, he cups my cheek. “I know what happened with Tank and Ralpho and I know that had to be fucking scary as hell for you.”
“How do you know about that?” I whisper, unsure whether I feel ashamed or just confused.
One side of his mouth pulls into a half smile. “The first thing you should know about us is that we know everything.”
“But how?”
“Because we’re super smart,” he teases with a wink.
I resist an eye roll. “No, really. How did you know about what happened? Did someone tell you?” I can’t remember Benton or Xavier being on their phones much when we were in the car, but maybe they texted everyone about what happened.
He shakes his head. “Nah. We just have cameras in the parking lot and I was with Ridge, watching surveillance footage when Tank and Ralpho showed up.”
My lips form an o, warmth rushing to my cheeks. So, not only did Tank and Ralpho watch me make out with Benton and Xavier, but Ridge and Wilder saw it.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed, princess.” His lip twitches at the nickname.
I shake my head, but don’t protest, since I have bigger things to worry about at the moment.
“You did well in the situation,” he continues while tracing his finger across my cheekbone. “And we needed you to do good because getting those invitations was important. Not to mention Jackson would’ve been in some deep shit.”
“I was really nervous,” I admit. “And I’m still a little nervous about talking to Tank and Ralpho again tonight.”
“That’s not going to happen tonight.”
“But they said I had to.”
“Yeah, but that was before the distraction.”
“What distraction?” I ask curiously.
He sketches a path across my jawline and my eyelashes involuntarily flutter. He totally notices too and a smile rises at his lips.
“It’s better if you don’t know,” he tel
ls me. “But I promise you that you won’t have to talk to them tonight. All you need to do for now is focus on going to the training pit and seeing your sister.”
I nod, hoping he’s right. That nothing else will happen. Still, my anxiety isn’t completely gone. There are so many unanswered questions about my family. Not to mention, my neighbor might be a Rogue. Plus, Drake invited me to his masquerade ball, which means that in the future I’m going to have to meet another drug lord.
Sensing my worry, he strokes my cheek with his fingers. “Everything will be fine, princess. I promise you.”
“You make a lot of promises,” I tell him.
His brow quirks. “And have I broke a single one yet?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“See. So, if I say you’ll be fine, you will.”
I nod, but doubt weighs on my shoulders.
Wilder sighs. “You know what, I think you need a distraction.” He mulls over something then a wicked smile curls at his lips. “And I think I have the perfect idea.” He leans in, as if to kiss me.
I freeze, my heart pounding in my chest. “What’re you doing?”
“Kissing you.” Hilarity rings in his tone. “Wasn’t that obvious?”
“Yeah, but what isn’t obvious is why?”
“I already said—to distract you, which FYI, kissing and tongue rings can be very distracting.” A playful smile tugs at his lips. “I thought it was pretty obvious what I was doing, but apparently I need to work on my game.” He winks at me. “Don’t tell Jackson I said that, though.”
I can’t help but smile. But the smile fades as he leans in to kiss me. I could move away. In fact, I probably should. But instead, I lie there, watching his lips near mine, and secretly kind of wanting to kiss him. I don’t know what kind of girl that makes me. A bad one? A confused one? The answer is unclear and the question disappears the instant his lips softly touch mine.
But as quickly as the kiss started, his lips are leaving mine.
“Fuck.” He jumps off the bed and rushes toward the window.
Dazed and confused, I sit up, worried I did something wrong. But then I see a red light shining through the window and realize something is really wrong.
