My head darts around in confusion, unsure where their anger is aimed. When I take a step away from Pete, his jaw snaps shut, cutting off whatever he was saying, then he drops to his knees and reaches out a hand toward me.
“Come back,” he pleads with giant puppy dog eyes that instantly soften me, reminding me of his tender, playful side that I got to know through his letters.
I give him my hand, and he pulls me closer. “Angel, there is no man in this world who is above you, including me. Your brother’s an asshole. You need to forget what he said. If he were here, I’d rip out his insides and have him stuffed in a kneeling position, so he’d be groveling at your feet for the rest of eternity.”
I blink twice, trying to take in the casual threat of murder alongside such a romantic gesture.
Not sure how to respond to that, I ask, “How should I greet you then?”
“Ideally, with your tongue down my throat, but I’d settle for a hug?”
“Pete!” Sly says his name like a curse.
I decide to ignore the first part of what he said, unsure what he means, as I lift my arms and wrap them around his neck. His slide around my waist, pulling me tight against him. He’s still on his knees, pressing his head against my chest as I hug him.
My heart beats happily at finally being close to him. After months of mailing letters back and forth, he is actually here, holding me.
“Are you sure this isn’t a dream?” I whisper just loudenough for him to hear as I thread my fingers in the back of his soft brown hair.
He squeezes me a little tighter. “It’s real, angel. I’m here.”
I pull back to get a better look at his face, since it’s much closer to my own height now. I push his brown hair away from his enticing green eyes and study his face. I take in the small scar on the edge of his cheek, the slight upturn of his lip, then my eyes trail down to the short beard covering his chin, barely more than stubble.
“Can I touch?” I ask, my eyes darting to his in question.
“My body is yours; you can touch me anywhere.” He smirks as I run my fingers across his jaw, bringing them back up to scrape my nails through his beard on a second pass. It’s coarse, but something about it makes me want to keep touching it. It was the same way yesterday with Dex and Jagger.
My finger follows a small scar that disappears into his beard, and when our eyes meet again, the air shifts. The look he gives me steals my breath, intense and unreadable. It makes something deep inside me tighten, caught somewhere between fear and excitement.
Someone claps, and I jump in surprise, turning to see Jagger motion to his mouth.
“I think he’s hungry,” I guess, and his nod tells me I’m right.
Pete jumps to his feet behind me. “Me too. Wren, did you say you had some money left?”
“Oh, yeah, here.” I take my bag off and pass it to him. “I’m not very good with it; you can probably make better use of it than I can.”
He takes it over to the bed and sets it down beside whereSly is sitting as Dex asks, “What do you mean you’re not good with it? Do you like to shop or something?”
“No,” I shake my head as the rest of us move to surround the bed. “I’ve never used money before.”
Pete frowns as he stares at me a moment before asking, “What, like ever?” I shake my head, and his frown increases.
He opens my bag and reaches in, pulling out my spare dress first, followed by my undergarments, making me blush. I forgot those were in there. He gives me a wink before setting them aside.
Next, he pulls out stacks of envelopes tied together with twine.
“Are those our letters?” Dex asks in disbelief, his wide eyes turning to me. My blush increases, and I nod. He wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me to his side. “I wish I could have brought mine, too.”
“I’ll write you more,” I say, tilting my head up to him with a smile.
“No need. Now I have the real thing, I don’t need them anymore.”
“Holy fucking shit balls!” Pete exclaims, his wide eyes lifting to meet mine.
“What?” Sly and I both ask, confused. He doesn’t answer, he just pulls out the remaining cash and places it on the bed.
Dex lets out a long whistle, and I look around at all their stunned faces.
