AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What do you want to do?”
The question took me off guard. It wasn’t that they never allowed me to do what I wanted so much as they didn’t normally ask it so officially. Typically, they simply asked for my plans for the day, expecting to sort their days around what I had to do.
Those times it had been about my plan and schedule, but not about whatIwanted. This time, they asked me directly.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, feeling put on the spot.
“We shouldn’t really go anywhere,” Hayden hedged, his tone saying he didn’t like giving me any restrictions. “But if you need something, one of us can go grab whatever it is. We could pick up something for dinner and spend the day here doing whatever you want.”
I thought back, then smirked at him, unable to help but poke at him a bit for fun. “Well, Idoneed a little art practice.”
He smiled, as though that idea was somehow exciting to him as well. “That’s fine. You can spend the whole day painting if you want.”
“The thing is, my life art class was a little rough becausesomeonekept glaring. And since you didn’t seem to like me using someone else as a model, how about you pose for me?”
He froze, just as I expected. It had been a joke, since he wasn’t the sort who would happily strip down and just stand there for me. In fact, before he even responded, I couldhearhis response, telling me he was too old for that, that his body wasn’t like the guy I’d looked at earlier.
And just like I heard his answer without saying it, I came up with my own.
My reaction came by way of a memory, of how he’d looked the morning we’d all slept together. His tan skin, the dark hair on his chest and at his groin, the scars that covered his body as proof of the fact he put himself in the way of danger to protect others. He might not have looked much like the man who had modeled, but I also hadn’treactedthe way I had to that model.
I’d felt nothing for the model, had stared at him only to take in the lines of his body, detached and professional. He’d been no more appealing than a bowl of fruit or a pitcher used as reference. In fact, I doubted I could actually draw Hayden like that, because I’d be distracted for far less appropriate reasons.
“I mean, if you really needed me to,” Hayden stuttered, the reaction beyond adorable. “I think Vance would be a better choice, though.”
Char busted out laughing, going so far as to basically roll over, to the wood of the deck, holding his stomach.
Hayden shot a glare at Char, a look similar to the one Tor had given Char earlier.He gets threatened by everyone, doesn’t he?
Even if it was a fair reaction, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing right along with Char. He’d broken that weird tension between us, made things comfortable again. It made me remember just how much I enjoyed being here, with these men.
Thiswas why I’d leapt from that motorcycle, because I’d wanted this back, because I hadn’t wanted to lose moments like these. I hadn’t wanted to losethem.
“I was just kidding,” I said.
Hayden sighed heavily.Are you that relieved?“That was just mean.”
“Be glad,” Char said from his spot, still lying on the deck. “Because I have a feeling you wouldn’t have gotten out of that painting lesson with your dignity intact. Shame on you, Kenz, for lusting after a professional model that way! Poor Hayden could file sexual harassment charges on you.”
I twisted to find Char smirking at me, his expression like that of a little boy who was having the time of his life. It reminded me of how young he really was, and right then, all I wanted was to see more of that carefree smile, to see him happy and relaxed.
Which told meexactlywhat I wanted to do.
Anything, so long as it’s with them.
* * * *
The sun had set and dirt smudged my cheeks.
“You know,” I said, “my mother and father would have had a meltdown if they saw me like this.”
“Like what?” Hayden asked from my side, where he sat on the edge of the flower bed. He’d helped me with all the work, just like the others, and between all five of us, we’d planted the entire other flower bed. Instead of flowers, however, I’d picked vegetables.
“With dirt on me. My mother would have said this was work for the gardeners, and my father would have lectured me on getting dirty and not looking lady-like.” That took me back to both of them, to the people who had raised me, the ones who had created me.
It was strange, because I struggled to think fondly about them, but at the same time, I didn’t hate them as I perhaps should have.
“What’s with that look?” Char asked.
