“You’ve got to be kidding?” Dex asks, arms crossed over his chest with an angry scowl on his face.
Jagger places a hand on my shoulder from behind, and I glance up at him as Sly speaks. “That’s not going to happen.”
I manage to tilt my body to the side so I can see between them, right at Elias’ confused face. “I thought we were past this? I’m not going to hurt her.”
“Regardless, she’s not sleeping with you,” Sly tells him.
“She doesn’t even know you,” Pete adds from where he’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed with annoyance darkening his glare.
“We’ve known each other our whole lives!” he yells back angrily.
“But you haven’t spoken to her in seven years, and you expect her to what? Jump into bed with you?” Sly asks.
I have to admit, he makes a valid point. And did Elias expect me to never cuddle with the other guys again? It’s notlike he and I were ever a couple. Sure, I had a huge crush on him ever since I was a teenager, but we’d never crossed the line of friendship.
“I didn’t mean it like that! I just don’t want her sleeping alone.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Dex says, his tone confident and knowing as he takes a step back to stand beside me. “She never has to sleep alone again.” He wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his side.
Elias’s eyes bounce between us, and his frown grows bigger by the second, as if he’s confused by what he’s seeing. I feel like he is judging me, and it makes my stomach tighten in a way I don't enjoy. I know he explained why he couldn’t contact me, but at the end of the day, he’s the one who left me without so much as a word. Now he suddenly shows up and thinks he has any say in who I share a bed with?
I wrap my arms around Dex from the side, as close as I can considering his size.
“What’s going on here? What does that mean?” Elias finally asks.
“He’s my boyfriend,” I tell him. His eyes widen in shock, and I glance up at Dex to make sure that was okay to say. From the huge smile on his face, I can tell I just made his day.
“Oh, hell no!” I whip my head back to Elias as he cuts his hand through the air, shaking his head repeatedly. “No fucking way are you dating a murderer, Wren.”
“Excuse me? Who are you to tell her who she can date?” Sly asks, keeping his place between us and Elias.
“I’m the one who got her out of that place!” he yells angrily. “I’m the one who grew up with her, who took care of her, who shared secrets with her, and the one who spent thelast seven years of his life trying to get her out of that hellhole!”
He takes a few heavy breaths before continuing, a bit calmer this time. “You guys were writing to her for a few months?—”
“Nine,” Pete corrects.
“Forninemonths, and only met her in real life two weeks ago, and you think that gives you the right to fuck her?”
Immediately, Jagger, Pete, and Sly are all standing in front of me, as Dex holds me tighter to his side.
“If you ever talk about her like that again, I’ll rip your tongue from your mouth and shove it up your ass,” Pete seethes.
“I’m not talking abouther, I’m talking about Dex! Acting like he has some claim over her.”
“He does, because she says he does,” Sly says, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“She’s not some toy he can just call dibs on!” Elias seethes.
“Did you just call her a toy?” Sly asks, his voice radiating malice and barely controlled restraint.
“No! I said she’snota toy.”
“Then stop treating her like one,” Pete shoots back.
“I don’t know what the fuck is even happening right now.” Elias runs his hand through his hair, pacing side to side until his eyes catch mine. Then he stops, his arms dropping to his sides, and a look I can only describe as pain crosses his face.
“Is this really what you want?” he asks, sadness etched in his tone.
