The laugh rumbles from his throat. “You think?”
The sudden push sends me rolling, Gray pushing me down into the leaves and following the line of my body with his own, pressing against me until my breath catches.
He gives me a self-satisfied smirk. “Looks like I win.”
I wriggle beneath him. “You sure about that?”
His cock is a solid length between us, his breath catching as I lean up and capture his lips. Gray groans into my mouth as he cups my face, tasting me leisurely before he pulls away.
“I can’t,” he whispers, his eyes searching my face. “I want to, Lo. But it doesn’t feel right.”
“I know.” I get it. What kind of mates would we be if we messed around out here whilst Sienna sits a few paces away from us, suffering for our shitty fuck-ups?
Gray shifts down until his ear is pressed directly against my chest, listening to my heartbeat. Leaning back, I watch the sky as my hands drift into his hair, pushing the growing strands back and letting them spring back into place.
“That feels nice,” he murmurs.
I hum in acknowledgement, but before I can respond, I pick up the sound of footsteps heading our way.
A muted curse filters through the trees, and my lips press together as Tristan stalks out of the trees, covered in forest debris. He freezes when he sees us, the limp flowers in his hands drooping almost as much as his shoulders.
“Uh… hey,” I try. “Out for some flower picking?”
Gray shakes against my stomach as he tries to hold in his laughter.
“Fuck off,” Tristan grunts. “There’s no damn florists out here.”
“Tris, those are the saddest looking daisies I’ve ever seen,” Gray points out, his voice choked. “You can’t give her those.”
Tristan stares down at his hands. “It’s bad.”
It’s not a question. Nudging Gray, I sit up, squinting. “If we use some of the foliage, we could probably make it a bit better.”
Tristan looks slightly desperate. “Yeah? I’m not… I’m not great at this stuff.”
“I’ll help.” Getting to my feet, I hold out a hand for Gray and pull him up. We work our way into the trees so I can grab some of the longer, thinner leaves, and I strip them off to create a frame for Tristan’s flowers.
“Have you heard anything?” I ask him as we look around a clearing. “From home?”
He shakes his head. “We might not,” he says quietly. “Not for a long time. I have no idea what’s going on, but it was chaos when we left.”
“If we don’t hear anything,” Gray says slowly. “Then we need a plan, Tristan. We can’t stay here forever.”
“I know.” Tristan leans down to grab some orange flowers, adding them to the growing bundle in his hands. “But we’ll work it out.”
He sounds so relaxed about it all. Catching my skeptical look, he sighs. “I can’t control everything around me, Lo. It only causes more damage. So we’ll wait, and if we need a plan, we’ll make one. I’ll follow Sienna’s lead. But my focus is her.”
Nodding, I take the flowers from him, sitting down and tying them into a small but better bouquet. Tristan exhales with relief when I hold them up.
“Thanks,” he mutters, taking them. “I’m going to head back.”
“We’ll walk with you.” Brushing off my hands, we head back to the house, and I scoop up my pad as we walk past. As we reach the yard, the door opens, and we all pick up our pace as our Soul Bonded emerges with a tray. Jax is right behind her, trailing her steps and looking like he’s won the damn lottery.
“One,” I hear her saying as we get closer. “You can haveone, Jax.”
“But I want cookies,” he pouts. “All the cookies.”
My eyes widen when his arms slide around her waist. She can’t shove him off with the tray in her hands, but to my shock, she doesn’t move away, although her brows crease in a frown.
