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“Sexy?” Zane supplies.
“Perfect?” Dom adds.
“Irresistible?” This comes from Landon, who winks at me, having obviously heard our conversation.
“All of the above,” I agree, and I relish the smiles that curl up their lips. Sometimes, I wonder if they might be just as insecure in this strange relationship thing as I am. Maybe I need to remind them how amazingly wonderful they all are. And I will—for the rest of my life, if I have to.
“Dominic, truth or dare?” a sugary-sweet voice asks.
I turn just in time to see Charlie watching the three of us, her eyes narrowed and raw hatred flicking across her face.
What the heck have I ever done to her?
Is this just because I’m with the guys?
Dominic rolls his eyes at me dramatically and barely spares her a glance—thank god, because she’s still topless and seems to have no intentions of putting her bikini top back on.
“Dare,” he drawls, placing a comforting hand on my knee and giving it a squeeze.
“I dare you to kiss me,” Charlie says smugly, her lips already puckering.
The uneasy feeling from before doesn’t make a reappearance. I don’t know how the guys were able to calm the maelstrom in my mind with just a few words, but they have. I trust them. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they love me.
Maybe we haven’t clarified what exactly this “thing” is between the six of us, but I know they won’t be smacking lips with Charlie, Elizabeth, or any other girl who may try.
Dominic stands immediately, and Charlie’s eyes glow with excitement. She straightens, pushing her breasts out, her eyelids fluttering shut…just as Dominic runs and cannonballs into the pool.
All the guys laugh, and Piper gives Charlie a look filled with so much venom that even I’m stunned. “Don’t try to kiss a taken man, Charlie. It’s not a good look on you. It just makes you look pathetic and needy,” my friend snaps, though her voice is still slightly slurred.
Charlie tosses a strand of hair over her shoulder and attempts to appear nonchalant. “Whatever. It’s not as if all five guys can really be taken by the same girl.” She places a hand to her mouth in mock horror and then cringes. “Oops. I meant four. Sorry about Ryker, Ellie. I heard he died just because he associated with you.”
Anger pulsates within me—white-hot, blistering, and capable of searing the flesh off anyone who gets too close—and I jump to my feet, my hands curling into fists. Zane and Landon both reach for me at the same time and hold me back.
“She’s not worth it,” Landon whispers in my ear, rubbing my arm up and down soothingly.
“We can just put dead fish in her vents later this week,” Zane assures me. “Or we can cut up her boyfriend and?—”
“Zane,” I admonish, whacking at his thigh.
He simply plants a kiss to my cheek, but I can tell the wheels in his mind are spinning rapidly. There’s a dark glint in his eyes that I’ve only seen a few times before—when he reaches that precarious breaking point that I fear he’ll never recover from.
Zane really doesn’t like it when people talk bad about me or his friends.
And if Charlie hopes to keep her life, she better shut the hell up.
I don’t know when I turned so…impassive in regards to death and murder. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been around it so often in the last few months. Either way, the thought of my guys doing what needs to be done doesn’t scare me the way it once would’ve. Does that mean I think Charlie needs to die for being a petty bitch? Not at all.
Fortunately for Charlie, I’m the one person I believe Zane will listen to.
I place my hand in his and smooth my fingers across his knuckles, hoping to calm him. He’s still way too stiff beside me, the muscles beneath his tawny shoulders rigid with tension, and I yearn to kiss away his stress.
Dominic returns then, platinum hair dripping with water and his green eyes flashing with mirth, and he reclaims his seat beside me.
“Okay, Peter, truth or dare?”
The game continues for a few more rounds without any hiccups. We don’t learn anything concrete through the game, but Aric stiffens when he hears the name Cassia, and Elizabeth appears uncomfortable when we ask her about her religion. But then again, it could be because Aric has an ex named Cassia, and Elizabeth doesn’t want to be judged for what she believes in. Those tiny tells aren’t guarantees that they’re members of the Paragons of Prosperity.
God, I really want to get Beckett alone and ask if he discovered anything.
