Torin sprawled on his back, one arm flung over his face, softly snoring.
No woman.
I back out of the room and close the door quietly so I don’t wake him. Then I turn to Archer, who’s leaning against the dining table in the kitchen part of the open-concept living and dining area.
“We’ve been taking it in turns to watch over you,” he tells me quietly. “Torin volunteered to take the nights, so he sleeps during the day.”
“Why are you taking turns to watch me?” My heart spikes in alarm, and I glance at his partially open apartment door.
He crosses his arms. “None of us can stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Wanting to be close.” His eyes are as hungry as they are possessive. “Wanting to protect you. None of us deserves you, but we can’t stay away.”
“The bond between us is broken.”
“Is it?”
A tingle hits down low, a spark of heat flaring to life at his soft whisper.
I walk away, so fast it almost feels like I’m running from a feeling I wish I could kill. Maybe I am. “Well, stop doing it. It’s just the echo of the mate bond dying.”
Before I can step out, his quiet voice halts me. “Is that why you slept with Callum?”
I keep telling myself that I’m not even close to forgiving the three men who crushed my heart, but it didn’t feel like a mistake when I pried myself out of Callum’s arms.
“He told me to use him,” I say, with my back to him. “That’s all it was.”
“If that were true,” he says softly, “you’d have kicked him out of your bed the second you were through using him.”
Angry, I spin around to face him. “So, because I didn’t kick him out, I suddenly want him back, and you think I’ll want you back too? Is that it? Well, it doesn’t.”
And I walk out, slamming the door behind me, and march toward my apartment.
I fight with the new lock on my door, angry and frustrated, and not just at him.
At me.
I’m fine talking to Archer if we dance around the past and how he hurt me. I’m okay with talking about TV shows and theweather, or about how good that coffee shop is down the street. But thesecondI have tothinkabout the way he fucked me against a bookcase and left me on the floor, I’m not okay.
I’m angry, and I feel so used and so…dirty, that I can’t even look him in the eye.
Callum was cold, and he shut me out. Archer used me and threw me away.
In my apartment, I slam the door shut behind me and dump my bag on the floor, wanting to kick it when I remember that stupid pawnbroker who will sell my bracelet to someone before I can buy it back.
I’m still stewing in my anger when a soft knock sounds on my door. Twisting around, I grip the doorknob and yank it open.
Chapter 35
June
Archer has one hand in his pocket, but I don’t wait to hear what he knocked on my door to say.
“It was just fucking,” I tell him.
But it rings hollow. Like a child repeating a lie and hoping if they say it enough, everyone else will believe it too.
