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Dawson shook his head. “You know mine already.”
“And mine,” I grunted. “I’m not into guys.” I waited for the comments or the looks, but none came. Fox simply nodded. “But I know we’re in this together, so you don’t need to avoid me. I get that if you’re touching me, it’s because you want to touch Lea and I just happen to be in the way.”
I hoped the hurt I felt in my chest didn’t reflect in the timbre of my voice.
Lea leaned forward, taking my hand in hers and pulling it to her thigh. “Hey, you know you are never in the way. Ever.”
Unsure what to say to that, I shrugged.
Lea twisted to look at Fox. “Hey, can you both give Marshall and me a minute?”
“Sure.” He slipped out from behind her, pulling up his jeans that had slipped dangerously low, his muscles rippling under the skin of his bare torso. “I’m going to go change the sheets, as I suspect the aircon will stop working again tonight and we’ll all have to share a bed again.”
Lea’s eyes flared. “There will be no sex, Le. Cuddles only. Your body needs time to recover.”
“Spoilsport,” she whispered.
Fox held out his hand for Dawson. “Come on, you can come and help me.”
And then there were two.
We sat for a few minutes in silence, my hand still in hers, resting on her thigh.
“I’m sorry, Sugar,” I said eventually. “For what I said this morning and earlier. The last few days… in fact, every day since I started working for the band, has been a lot. I’m used to being on my own. And now suddenly I have to think about other people’s feelings.”
“I meant what I said. I don’t want you to do this if you’re not into me.”
I moved closer, pushing a stray strand of hair away from her face. “I don’t really know you, Sugar.” Which was the truth. “But I like being around you. It’s just all of this is so fast and it feels like a lot because…”
Silence filled the space between us. “Because?”
I wondered if I should spill my secrets, tell her about my past, explain about the relationship I’d been in, but the truth of it made me feel sick.
“Because I don’t just get you. I get them as well.” I twitched my head to the staircase, where I could hear the low murmur of conversation between Fox and Dawson.
“And you’re not attracted to them?”
“Exactly,” I lied. “But not only that. You and they have been together a while. You have a bond.”
She cupped my face. “And you feel on the outside?”
I offered the smallest nod.
“Jealous?”
“Maybe,” I whispered.
Her thumb dusted over my lips and they parted on a silent sigh. “I like you Marshall. I’ve not known you for long, but you make me smile. You set off an army of butterflies in my belly and you seem to have a kind heart… when you’re not being a wanker.” She dropped her hand and I let out a light laugh. “I get why you’re freaking out. I get why you feel like this is all because we pissed off a witch, but I asked you to take over working for Fox for a reason. I wanted you around. Yes, you watching us was hot and maybe that started all this, but like I told you before, there are too many coincidences that brought you into our lives for me not to believe that you’re meant to be with us… my romance books would call us fated mates. If you were a werewolf, you’d be desperate to bite me and cement our bond.”
I shook my head, a smirk spreading across my face. “I’m not a werewolf. If I was I’d be knotting you and fucking you through your out of the blue heat, that’s crept up on you after being around so many hot men.” I couldn’t contain my laughter when I saw the look on her face. “What? Can’t a man like a good shifter romance, Sugar?”
Creasing forward, she let out a laugh that made my heart melt.
We stayed like that for a while, sitting next to each other, comfortable in each other’s silence.
“Have you ever been in love, Marshall?” she asked eventually.
I paused. “No.”
