“Do…do…you think he likes me?” I ask.
Pink reaches out for me again but then stops himself. His brown eyes are full of kindness.
“I don’t know,” he admits. “But I think there is a good chance that he might. You two seem awfully close.”
I huff and drag my hands through my hair, tugging as I go. The hiss of pain pulls my thoughts together.
“It doesn’t matter. I can’t do sex.”
There is no point being prudish with Pink. We were literally sex slaves together. We’ve seen each other being used. Talking about it is nothing compared to that.
“Maybe Sammy doesn’t care about that?”
I snort. “Nobody wants a sex-less mating.”
Pink’s eyes fill with sympathy and pity, and I can’t stand it. I drop his gaze to stare at my toes. Red is with Brodie. Lello is mated to Carter. Even Gray, who was chained and screaming in the harem, is mated to Mal. Pink is having sex with his mage. It’s only Jade and Ned who are single, and I don’t think either of them are averse to the idea of sex.
Everyone else can move on. Why can’t I? I wasn’t treated any worse than the others in the harem. In fact, I dealt with less because they all tried to protect me by offering themselves and distracting any of Ritchie’s friends that looked my way.
Why am I more broken than everyone else?
Footsteps sound in the hallway. I whirl to face the door. My heart is racing even though I know who it is, or maybe that is precisely why my heart has gone crazy.
Sammy opens the door. He looks sleepy. Like he just woke up from a nap. He is wearing that cute fluffy robe of his.
His beautiful eyes flick between Pink and me and his brow scrunches.
“Are you okay, Blue?” he asks.
Oh Amphitrite. I was stressed enough that it spilled down the bond and now my sweet precious Sammy is checking up on me.
“I…er…have to go!” says Pink, and he hurries out of the room, leaving half his laundry in the dryer.
Sammy watches him go with a puzzled expression on his face. And I understand. Pink is kind and lovely. He would never upset me.
“I was struggling with the washing machine,” I say. “Pink helped me, but I felt like an idiot.”
Sammy nods as if my nonsense makes perfect sense. “I felt stupid the first time I tried to use that thing, too. It’s like an industrial one or something. Which is a good idea with the amount of people living here.”
Now I’m the one nodding.
Sammy stares at me. I stare back. The air grows heavy and weighted. My skin is tingling. He opens his mouth just as the washing machine rattles into a deafening spin. Sammy winces.
I move away from the ear-splitting noise.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” asks Sammy and I’m pretty sure that’s not what he was going to say.
I nod and flash him my best grin. He smiles back at me, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. They don’t sparkle. They just look sad.
“Alright, I’m going back to bed then,” he says and just like that, he is gone.
And I’m left all alone.
Chapter twenty-two
Blue
Ican hear Sammy’s footsteps on the stairs. Immediately my heart goes crazy. I roll over in my bed and face my closed door. It’s the middle of the night and dark. I hope Sammy can see okay.
