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Char smirked and tilted his head, clearly enjoying his own personal show since he was behind her still.
She twisted, keeping us in front of her, as she backed away. She tripped on the steps a few times, but eventually, made her way to the top and took off.
Once she was out of sight, Hayden let out a groan that suggested holding himself back hadn’t been any easier than it had been for me.
“Welcome home,” Char said, a self-satisfied grin on his face.
“That girl is going to be the death of me,” Hayden muttered and took off toward the kitchen, shaking his head. “I’m too damned old to deal with this. Think about my heart, for fuck’s sake.” Even when he left the room, the low rumble of his continued complaints floated back to us, telling me he hadn’t been able to wipe the memory from his mind.
Tor snorted and shook his head, then took off toward the steps, turning toward his room at the top of them.
“Well, I’ve come home to worse sights,” I said with a laugh. “Though I could have done without the glimpse of your dick.”
“Jealous?” Char asked.
“A bit. Now cover up—you’ve already had your fun so you don’t need to be waving that around like a fishing lure while we talk.”
He tucked himself back into his boxers, then winced as he buttoned the slacks. His expression said he wanted me to feel bad for him, but that wasn’t going to happen.
I wasn’t about to pity the asshole for a hard-on. In fact, the idea of him being uncomfortable while we all talked struck me as fair turnabout.
After seeing Kenz looking so sweet and well-used, I had a feeling we’dallbe grinning and bearing it until we got some alone time later tonight.
Misery loves company, after all.
* * * *
Tor
By the time Kenz showed back up, she’d showered and seemed to shore up her courage. She’d changed, too, which was a damn good thing.
I couldn’t stop myself from recalling how tempting she’d looked earlier, how much I’d wanted to touch her, to ignore the stresses of life and set them aside for the pleasures of her body.
However, now wasn’t the time for such things. It meant that after I finished cooking something for dinner—a simple meal of spaghetti and a meat sauce since we didn’t have much in the kitchen—we had to focus on what had happened with Pauline and where we went from that.
We sat in the backyard, probably so no one looked toward the living room and recalled what we’d walked in on. Kenz was already on the swing out back, wearing a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of pajama pants like armor to erase how little she’d worn before.
Good luck with that.She could have worn a tarp and it wouldn’t have dimmed my memory at all.
I balanced three large bowls of food in my arms, with Hayden holding another two behind me. I used a foot to open the slider, then went out to the patio area.
I handed one of the bowls to Char, then the other to Kenz. She didn’t meet my gaze but mumbled out a soft thank you. I nodded, even if she didn’t see it, then took a seat on the patio, my legs crossed.
Hayden sat in a chair he’d pulled over after handing Vance the last bowl of food.
Kenz had her legs crossed in front of her, leaving the swinging to the men on either side of her. She poked at the noodles, but made no move to actually put any of them into her mouth.
“Eat,” Hayden said.
“I’m not that hungry,” she answered.
“Food is important. You learn pretty quick to eat even when you don’t feel like it or you won’t have the energy when you really need it. It’s like only filling up your gas tank when it’s already on empty—don’t wait until you need it or you’ll end up stuck on the side of the road.”
Kenz looked up at him, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “You do realize that is the most old-man way you could have described that?”
Hayden snorted. “You’re such a brat.”
At least that broke some of the discomfort, and Kenz went ahead and took a bite of the spaghetti. She appeared pleased, which warmed me. Cooking only felt worth it if someone enjoyed it, after it.
