She held up her hands, “I know that! I think you’ve proved that several times over. I just don’t want you to have to deal with it.”
My face softened, “I’m sorry, I just can’t stand the thought of hiding my relationship with Oren because of her.”
“I couldn’t give a fuck about her. But we need information, and she definitely won’t spill it if she knows about us.” Oren reassured me.
I knew I was acting ridiculous, but our bond was so new that I didn’t want to sneak around to be with him. Plus, the Nexus in me was pissed at the thought of other women not knowing he was mine, even if he was a giant dick most of the time.
“Guess who doesn’t have to keep it secret, bitches?” Nathan crowed, “This motherfucker right here!” He pointed to himself and started twerking.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Jet looked at Nathan in disgust.
“All the things,” Zane laughed. “But especially that twerking game. This is how it’s done.” Then he started twerking.
Damn, that boy had some moves. He could’ve starred inMagic Mike—my poor Nathan…not so much.
“Holy shit! My eyes! Please stop. I’ll do anything.” Chloe begged, covering her face with her hands. Oren closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Okay, enough of this shit.” He leveled a finger at Nathan and Zane. They both froze instantly. Their eyes were the only thing they could move.
I tried to contain my laughter, but it was impossible. They both had frozen mid-twerk, and it wasn’t flattering at all.
Oren attempted to maintain a stern expression, but he was losing the battle. “Now the men can talk.”
The grin fell off my face, and I teleported behind him, pinching his ass hard.
“The men…. hey!” I ended the sentence with a squeal when Oren swatted me firmly on the ass in retaliation.
“What the fuck, woman!” He frowned, rubbing the spot I’d pinched. Before I could respond, Jet had a huge knife at Oren’s throat.
“Don’t ever hit her again.” He growled.
He wasn’t fucking around because he was holding enough pressure that a drop of blood seeped out and slowly ran down Oren’s neck, disappearing into his shirt.
Oren was so stunned he must have lost concentration, because Zane and Nathan were released from his hold.
I slowly raised my hand and gripped Jet’s arm. He stopped glowering at Oren and transferred his gaze to me.
“I’m okay, Jet. It was nothing. Oren didn’t mean anything by it and wasn’t trying to hurt me.”
Jet didn’t comment and narrowed his eyes back at Oren. Briefly, I wondered if he was going to slit his throat no matter what I’d said. I didn’t release my grip on his arm until he lowered the blade.
“I don’t approve of men hitting women.” Jet stepped back and leaned against the round bale of hay beside the barn. His face was expressionless, as if nothing had ever happened.
The rest of the guys were so shocked at his reaction that nobody said anything for a few minutes.
“Just a friend, huh?” Nathan smirked, breaking the silence.
Oren stared at Jet chillingly, “I would never hurt my Nexus. But since we both know it’s not just ‘any woman’ you’re worried about,” he made finger quotations in the air. “I’ll let you have this one.” He narrowed his eyes, “But next time, I won’t hold back. Passive or not.”
Jet nodded his head, but his expression never changed. There wasn’t even the tiniest bit of fear on his face at Oren’s words. I got the impression that there was a lot more to Jet thanany of us knew. He had no fear and seemed a lot older than Chloe and me. It felt like he had seen some shit.
What was he hiding?
“I would like to seal our bonds as soon as possible,” Zane said, trying to ease the tension.
Zeke nodded his head in agreement. “It’s time. I want to check on our parents and make sure everyone is okay. But I agree with Zane; it can only strengthen our Faction and help us in the long run.”
Everyone looked at Oren to see what he thought. Me included. It was starting to feel like Oren was the leader of this Faction, and I was okay with this… to a point. I was secure enough in myself to know when I needed help, and this was one of those times.
