"Seatbelt," he orders, starting the engine.
Jinx reaches past me before I can comply, and the heat of his hands brushing over my body reignites that spark in my core. He gives me a devastating wink before he buckles his own seatbelt and settles unnecessarily close so his thigh is pressed against mine. The car smells like leather and Cyrus's cologne as well as his.
More proof they spend most of their time together.
A part of me wants to just come out and ask, but what would I even say?"So, are you guys fucking now?"
We pull away from the curb, and I watch the ice cream shop disappear in the side mirror.
So much for my great escape.
"That was stupid," Cyrus says. His eyes are on the road, but I can still feel his attention on me. "Monumentallystupid."
"Running or getting caught?" I ask, going for flippant but sounding defensive.
"Both." He takes a turn that leads back toward the house. "You think we wouldn't have cameras? Tracking on your phone? That we'd just let you wander around unsupervised?"
I sigh. Knew it. "You watched me climb out the window."
"Watched you, timed you, placed bets on how far you'd get." His smirk in the rearview mirror is vicious. "I won, by the way. Jinx thought you'd make it to the other coffee shop down the road before losing your nerve."
"I didn't lose my nerve," I snort. "I got ice cream."
And now Iknowthey're watching me. Now I know the level of their security and that it's not just a bluff.
That's a victory, even if it's a small one.
"You got caught," Jinx corrects, his hand landing on my thigh. The touch is casual, possessive, and it makes my breath hitch. "Big difference."
"Speaking of caught..." Cyrus's eyes flick to where Jinx's hand rests on my leg. "Want to explain what I walked up on back there?"
Jinx's grin turns downright sinful. "Princess wanted to play chase. I obliged."
"That's not what it looked like."
"What did it look like?" I ask, the desire to be a smartass winning out over self-preservation.
The look Cyrus gives me in the mirror could melt steel. "It looked like Jinx was about thirty seconds away from fucking you into the forest floor."
Heat floods my face, but I force myself to hold his gaze. "And?"
"And," he says, drawing out the word, "Kade's going to lose his shit if anyone touches you before he does. You know how he gets about firsts."
A dry laugh escapes me. "Kade's a little late. I'm not a virgin."
The confession is out before I can stop it, and both of them go still.
Jinx's hand tightens on my thigh.
Cyrus's knuckles go white on the steering wheel.
"Since when?" Jinx's voice is neutral, but I can hear the edge underneath. He may look and act like a golden retriever, but that glint in his eyes is the look of a rabid junkyard dog about to go for someone's throat.
"Does it matter?"
"Yeah, actually." Cyrus pulls into the driveway and kills the engine, turning to face me fully. "It matters a lot. Who?"
The possessiveness in the question makes my thighs squeeze together. "Some guy at a party freshman year. It was..." I shrug, trying to look casual. "Forgettable."
