Dex grabs his shirt, rolls again, and they end up sprawled side by side in the grass, both laughing too hard to keep fighting.
I notice Sly watching from where he leans against the SUV, shaking his head with a sigh. “You two are an embarrassment to men everywhere.”
Pete, still lying flat on his back, points at Sly without lifting his head. “You’re just jealous of my athleticism.”
Dex snorts. “Yeah, sure, kid.”
I can’t stop laughing. “You two are ridiculous.”
Pete, still sprawled in the grass, grins up at me. “Ridiculous and winning.”
“Winning what?” Dex asks, brushing off his jeans.
“Her attention.”
Dex’s eyes flick toward me. There’s a hint of heat there that makes me forget to breathe for a second. “Think we already have it.”
The air feels charged for half a heartbeat too long, and unsure what else to do, I quickly slip off my socks and shoes and take off running into the grass, doing my usual cartwheels and twirls.
The grass is cool and damp beneath my feet, the smell of earth and wildflowers sharp in theair. For a moment, the weight of the world falls away. No aliases, no running, no danger—just me, laughing under a sky that stretches on forever. I can almost pretend we’re normal, that we’re just a group of friends on a road trip, not fugitives chasing safety.
But then I catch the sound of Pete’s boots pounding after me, and the illusion shatters in the best possible way. When I see him coming, I duck out of his grasp with a laugh, not wanting to make it too easy for him.
“I see how it is, playing hard to get, are we?”
A smirk pulls at my lips as we face each other, circling slowly as I wait for him to pounce.
“You’re the ones who have been playing hard to get.”
His head tilts as he asks, “How do you figure that?”
“You know exactly what your touches do to me. And it’s been almost a week since… you know…”
A huge grin splits his face as he laughs. “Oh, is our little Wren feeling horny and neglected?”
I narrow my eyes at his taunt. “It’s not like I can just go take care of myself in the shower likeyoudo.”
His eyebrows raise as he chuckles. “You heard that, did you?”
“No, but you just confirmed my suspicions."
Suddenly, he lurches forward, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me against his chest. “And why haven’t you been touching yourself, Wren?” he whispers before his teeth graze over my earlobe, sending another bolt of lust to my center.
I gasp, not expecting that as my body stops trying to get away and instead melts in his embrace.
“Hmm? Why, Wren?” he asks again, right before his lips seal over a spot right below my ear that causes me to whimper with need.
“Because Sly told me not to.”
“You hear that?” I think he’s talking to me, but he turns us around, and I find Dex and Sly standing only two feet away, staring down at me with heated eyes.
My breath comes fast, and not just from the chase. Every time one of them touches me, the rest of the world blurs away. It still amazes me how different they all are—Pete’s wild energy, Dex’s careful hands, Jagger’s quiet steadiness, Sly’s control—and yet somehow they all fit together around me.
“I did,” Sly says, taking a step forward, his hand reaching out to cup my jaw as he tilts my chin up to him. His eyes roam my face, and he slowly nods. “You’ve been such a good girl, obeying me like that, even though I know you’ve been desperate for release.”
“Why are you making me wait?” I pout as I press my thighs together to try to relieve some of the pressure there. Of course, that never works.
“I wanted to see if you would remember what I told you.”
